Yale Universi 39002013730073 YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY NEW YORK By George Baker Anderson PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE TROY PRESS SYRACUSE, N. Y. D. MASON & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 1897 PREFACE. It is manifestly impossible to record, in a volume even so large as this, all of the interesting occurrences in a political division so rich in history as the county of Rensselaer. Realizing the vast expenditure of labor and time involved in making a trustworthy compilation of the most important facts connected with the his tory of the county, and the utter impotency of man when an endeavor is made to collate all of the data necessary to make a local historical work complete and correct in all its various departments, the author of " Landmarks of Rensselaer County" and his assistants have confined themselves principally to chronicling the most im portant events, with separate historical sketches of leading industries and institutions in each locality. When the first white men — Henry Hudson and his little band of navigators — visited, in the fall of 1609, what is now known as Rens selaer county, the latter was the abode of a tribe of friendly Indians, the Mohicans, or Mohegans, since made famous by the writings of' the novelist, James Fenimore Cooper. About two decades later, as near as can be determined, the first settlements were made by the Dutch within the limits of what is now Rensselaer county, on or near the site of the village of Greenbush. For a century and a half there after the territory now embraced in the county formed the "east dis trict" of the manor of Rensselaerwyck, granted originally by the Dutch West India Company to Killiaen Van Rensselaer, who became the first 'patroon of the colony. November 1, 1683, the province of New York was divided by the English into ten counties — Albany, iv PREFACE. Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, Westchester, New York, Richmond, Kings, Queens and Suffolk. From that time until 1791 Rensselaer county re mained a part of Albany county. The limits of the former county have since remained as originally fixed, though there have been many changes in the boundaries of the various towns. It is difficult to divide the history of Rensselaer county, aside from its civil history, into distinct epochs. Its geographical location made it, in most respects, neutral ground during the period of Indian occu pancy of which we have definite knowledge. During the long series of French and Indian wars its early inhabitants suffered occasionally from the depredations of the contending forces; and the capture of innocent and neutral families, sometimes their wanton massacre, is chronicled. During the War of the Revolution one of the most important and de cisive battles was fought entirely within the limits of the town of Hoosick, in Rensselaer county, yet historians have given to it the name of < the Battle of Bennington. In the long struggle between landlords and tenants, known as the A_nti-Rent War, many exciting events occurred in the county. When the Rebellion of the Southern States compelled the President to ask for volunteers for its suppres sion, Rensselaer county was the first to respond to the call. With these exceptions the inhabitants have been left to take part in the peaceful development of the community. The history of the county for the past century and a quarter, for the most part, is a history of this development. The facts illustrating this growth have been gleaned by personal inquiry throughout the county and by reference to the most reliable historical works heretofore published. Material for the sketches in the biographical department of the work has been gleaned by agents of the publishers, and the matter as pre pared has been reviewed by those persons best able to guarantee its accuracy. The author is indebted to many persons in all parts of the countv for valuable assistance. It is impossible to enumerate all these but PREFACE. v it is desired to acknowledge practical help and suggestions received from Hon. Martin I. Townsend, Reed B. Bontecou, M. D., Jesse B. Anthony, Hon. Gilbert Robertson, jr., De Witt Clinton, William Bayard Van Rensselaer, Prof. J. H. Willets, Nelson Gillespie, Hon. Lewis E. Griffith, E. Ogden Ross, Frank W. Thomas, Jonathan Denison, Jeffrey P. Thomas, Richard F. Hall, Gilbert Geer, jr., Capt. James H. Lloyd, Capt. Wait H. Stillman, Capt. John P. Treanor, Major Isaac F. Handey, Milford H. Fancher, the pastors of the various churches, the principals of schools and academies, the officers of Masonic bodies and other societies, the officers of banking and other corporations, public officials, the custodians of city, village, town and county records, and many others. Frequent reference has also been made to and valuable assistance received from numerous earlier volumes, including "Troy's One Hundred Years," by A. J. Weise; " History of Rensselaer Count)-, " by N. B. Sylvester; "Rem iniscences of Troy," by Hon. John Woodworth; "The Iroquois Trail," by William H. Beauchamp: "Documentary Colonial History of New York;" Professor Pearson's " Albany County Records;" Joel Munsell's "Annals of Albany;" "History of Lansingburgh and Troy," by A. J. Weise, and many other books of record. There doubtless are some mistakes in " Landmarks of Rensselaer County;" but as all statements of more than ordinary importance, and those regarding which serious questions have arisen, have been re ferred to the best authorities accessible, the work is submitted in the belief that it will be found to be, on the whole, a trustworthy record of the origin and development of the county and the doings of its inhabitants. GEORGE BAKER ANDERSON. Troy, N. Y., October 1, 1896. CONTENTS. PART I. CHAPTER I. Early Settlements in the Valley of the Hudson — Explorations of Henry Hudson — Records of His Journey — The First White Man to Set Foot on the Soil of Rensselaer County — Privileges Extended to Traders in the Newly Discov ered Territory _._ 1- (j CHAPTER II. Early Indian Occupancy — The Mohicans the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Rensse laer County — The Five Nations: Their Organization and Development — Warfare Between the Mohicans and Mohawks — Uncas and Miantonomoh — Origin of the Schaghtieoke Indians _.. 6 — 14 CHAPTER III. Killiaen Van Rensselaer, Founder of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck — The Fa mous Charter of Freedom and Exemptions — Jealousy Over the Patroon's Large Grant — Early Administration of the Colony — Collision Between the Colony and the Province — The Early Trade in Furs — First White Settlers in Rensselaer County 14-32 CHAPTER IV The French and Indian War — Cause of the Hostilities — Expeditions Against Canada — Origin of Yankee Doodle — English Control of the Colony — The Strife Over the Government of the Hampshire Grants — Outrages Committed by the Bennington Mob — Temporary Government Organized bv the Insur gents 32-4G viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER V The War of the Revolution and the Participation Therein of the Colonists of Rensselaerwyck — General Schuyler Deposed — Baum's Proclamation — The Famous Battle of Bennington and the Events Leading up to It — Fought Entirely Within the Town of Hoosick — The Accounts of General Stark and Lieutenant Glick — Losses on Both Sides — Direct Result of the Battle — The Decisive Action at Saratoga ... . -.46-65 CHAPTER VI. Division of New York into Counties and Organization of Rensselaer County — Work of Developing the Resources of the County Renewed — Act Erecting Rensselaer County — The First Judges and other Civil Officers — Description of the County, its Geography and Geology _ _._ 65-75 CHAPTER VII. The Erection of the First County Buildings — Rivalry Between Troy and Lan- singburgh as to Which Should Secure the Court House — Formation of New Towns — Rapid Development of the County and Its Increasing Needs — Or ganization of the State Militia — Appointments for the Rensselaer County Brigade — Its Evolution in the Early Days of the Nineteenth Century r. 76-90 CHAPTER VIII! The Famous Anti-Rent Troubles in Rensselaer County and Vicinity— The Cen- * tres of the Scenes of Disturbance — Anti-Rent Associations — Refusals of the Occupants of Farms to Pay Rent — The Murder of Griggs — Arrest, Trial and Acquittal of Witbeck, the Alleged Murderer 91-94 CHAPTER IX. Rensselaer County in the War of the Rebellion — Organization in Troy of the First Regiment of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served in the War — History of the Second Regiment— Operations of the Thirtieth, One Hundred and Sixty- ninth, and One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiments — The Twenty-first New York, or the Griswold Cavalry 95-130 CHAPTER X. Closing Days of the Nineteenth Century — New County Buildings — History of the Railroads — Rensselaer County Citizens Who Have Held High Public Office — The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument — Statistics of the Development of the County J, 130-153 CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER XI. BENCH AND BAR OF RENSSELAER COUNTY 154-167 CHAPTER XII. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION ....167-185 CHAPTER XIII. MASONRY IN RENSSELAER COUNTY 185-199 CHAPTER XIV RENSSELAER COUNTY'S NATIONAL GUARD 200-216 CHAPTER XV. TROY AS A VILLAGE 217-245 CHAPTER XVI. TROY AS A CITY > 246-304 CHAPTER XVII. Industries and Institutions of Troy — The Leading Manufactures and Mercantile Establishments — Troy Famous for Collar and Cuff Industries — The Manufacture of Iron and Steel, Stoves. Ranges and Valves — Other Big Industries — Troy's Celebrated Educational Institutions — History of its Churches — Municipal Departments — Statis tics Showing Development Along Various Lines .304-374 i CHAPTER XVIII. TOWN OF LANSTNGBURGH 374-402 CHAPTER XIX. TOWN OF GREENBUSH ...: 402-416 CHAPTER XX. TOWN OF HOOSICK ._ 416-437 s CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXI. TOWN OF SCHAGHTICOKE , ..438-456 CHAPTER XXII. TOWN OF SCHODACK 456-468 CHAPTER XXIII. TOWN OF PITTSTOWN 468-481 CHAPTER XXIV. TOWN OF BERLIN 482-489 CHAPTER XXV. TOWN OF STEPHENTOWN : ...490-501 CHAPTER XXVI. TOWN OF PRTERSRURGH _ _ ....501-509 CHAPTER XXVII. TOWN OF SAND LAKE... 510-520 CHAPTER XXVIII. TOWN OF BRUNSWICK 521-530 CHAPTER XXIX. TOWN OF NORTH GREENBUSH 530-537 CHAPTER XXX. TOWN OF EAST GREENBUSH ..537-543 CHAPTER XXXL TOWN OF NASSAU , L 543-555 CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER XXXII. TOWN OF POESTENKILL 555-561 CHAPTER XXXIII. TOWN OF GRAFTON 561-570 PART II. BIOGRAPHICAL 571-735 PART III. FAMILY SKETCHES 1-407 INDEXES 409-460 Landmarks of Rensselaer County. CHAPTER I. Early Settlements in the Valley of the Hudson — Explorations of Henry Hudson — Record of His Journey — The First White Man to Set Foot on the Soil of Rensselaer County — Privileges Extended to Traders in the Newly Discovered Territory. The history of the county of Rensselaer up to the year 1791 is iden tical with that of the county of Albany, of which it formed a part up to that year. The foundation of the colony was the result of an at tempt to establish in the New World the European feudal system of land tenure and local government which was then beginning to be un popular in the Old World. The main peculiarity of this system was that the bulk of the land was divided into feuds or fiefs, held by their owners on condition of the performance of certain duties to a superior lord who, in default of such performance, could reclaim the land. The lord was entitled to the fealty of his tenants, but not to that of their subtenants, every man being responsible only to his immediate lord. In a new and comparatively free country it was but natural that this system should fail, as it did. The system prevailed in New York, however, until the War of the Revolution, but the changes then wrought were not of a radical nature, else we should never have been called upon to chronicle the Anti-rent War, as it became known. The settlement at Fort Orange, now Albany, was made in 1614, five years after the exploration of the Hudson by Sir Henry Hudson and six years before the foundation of Plymouth by the Pilgrim Fathers. Hudson was followed by a number of Dutch adventurers, he having taken possession of the country in the name of Holland, prominent among whom were Cornells Jacobsen Mey, Adrian Block and Hendrick Corstiarnsen. Gerrit Jacob Witsen, a former burgomaster of the city 2 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. of Amsterdam, and twelve associates received, Oct. 11, 1614, a grant giving them the exclusive right to navigate and explore for three years the lands then called New Netherlands. The company sailed up the Hudson, which they called "De Riviere van den Vorst Mau ritius," and in the spring of 1615 they built two posts — one at the southern end of the island of Manhattan, and the other on Castle island, in the southern part of the city of Albany. The latter, called Fort Nassau, was begun in the spring of 1614 by some of the members of the company. It was in command of Jacob Jacoby Elkinz and a gar rison of less than a dozen men, all in the employ of the company. In the spring of 1618, at which time the special grant of the company ex pired, the fort was injured by a freshet and the company abandoned it, building one on the mainland a short distance further down the river, at the mouth of the creek now known as the Norman's Kill. Soon after the completion of the fort the Dutch settlers made their first treaty with the Mohawks, representing the Iroquois nation, gain ing for the former a friendship with the red men which was never broken. July 1, 1621, the powerful Dutch West India company took possession of the lands granted it by the States-General June 3, 1620, the province of the company including New Netherlands. The year afterward permission was granted several families of Walloons, then settled at Amsterdam, to establish in the New Netherlands a colony to be governed by magistrates which they themselves were to select. The Walloons were descended from the ancient Belgae, mixed with Germanic and Roman elements. They were one of the divisions of the Huguenots and spoke the French language. They were very conscientious, industrious and persevering; cleanly in their habits and lived on an unusually high moral and spiritual plane. The ship "New Netherland," which was sent out from Texel in the spring of 1623 by the West India company, carried about thirty families, .mostly Walloons, and in May, after a voyage of about two months, arrived in New York harbor. Fort Orange, which had been started the year before, was the destination of these immigrants, over half of whom, under the leadership of Adriaen Joris, immediately settled there and began the work of completing the fort. This was early in the summer of 1623. Joris at once renewed the original treaty with the Iroquois. In the following year Cornells Jacobsen Mey was made first director of New Netherlands. The name of Henry Hudson is ineffably associated with Rensselaer SIR HENRY HUDSON'S VOYAGE. 3 county. Under the grant of King James I of England, dated April 10, 1606, the territory embraced within the limits of the present county of Rensselaer became a part of the grant to the Plymouth company, which embraced all the land on the continent between the forty-first and forty-fifth degrees of latitude. When the Council of Plymouth succeeded the original Plymouth company, Rensselaer county still re mained in the same grant, which was increased, however, by the addi tion of the territory lying between the fortieth and forty-first degrees on the south and the forty-fifth and forty-eighth degrees on the north. The English at once began the settlement of New England. But the voyages and explorations of the illustrious Sir Henry Hudson resulted in the settlement of a portion of the Plymouth grant by the Dutch. Hudson was employed by a company of London merchants to en deavor to discover a new route to the Indies. His two voyages while in the employ of the Englishmen, his fellow countrymen, resulted in failure and he offered his services to the Dutch East India company. This company furnished him with a small ship — the Half Moon — hardly more than a yacht, and in April, 1609, he set out on his third voyage for the Indies. Baffled, but not discouraged, at his inability to pass through the ice fields of the north, he turned toward America once more. He touched at Newfoundland, the coast of Maine, Cape Cod, Chesapeake bay, Delaware bay, and finally the harbor of New York. September 10, 1609, he entered the picturesque river which now bears his name and sailed northward. "On the evening of the fifteenth he arrived opposite the mountains which lie from the river side, where he found ' a very loving people and very old men,' and the day following reached the spot hereafter to be honored by his own illustrious name. One day more wafts him up between Schodac and Castleton ; and here he landed and passed a day with the natives, greeted with all sorts of barbarous hospitality; the land ' the finest for cultivation he ever set foot on;' the natives so kind and gentle that when they found he would not remain with them over night, and feared that he left them — poor children of nature ! — because he was afraid of their weapons, — he, whose quarterdeck was heavy with ordnance! — they 'broke their ar rows in pieces and threw them in the fire!' " Hudson, then, undoubtedly set foot on the soil of the present town of Schodack before his crew sailed up the river to Albany. There is little doubt, by reason of the long stops he made and the slowness with which he proceeded up the stream, that he spent considerable time on 4 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. the shores on both sides of the river. On the 19th he anchored again a short distance further up the river. From here a small exploring party rowed up the river to a point not far from the present city of Troy. Two voyages in row boats were made — the first on the 20th of the month and the second on the 22d. At noon of the 23d the Half Moon weighed anchor, Hudson finding that navigation was impossible be yond the islands at the mouth of the Mohawk, and started on the journey homeward. In the journal in which he recorded his daily doings we find the following records for the period from Sept. 15 to 23 inclusive : The fifteenth, in the morning, was misty until the sunne arose; then it cleered. So we weighed with the wind at South, and ran up the riuer twentie leagues, passing by high mountains. Wee had a very good depth, as six, seven, eight, nine, twelve and thirteen fathoms, and great store of salmons in the river. This morning our two savages got out of a port and swam away. After we were under sayle they called to us in scorne. At night we came to other mountains which lie from the river's side. There wee found very loving people and very old men; where we were well used. Our boat went to fish, and caught great store of very good fish. The sixteenth faire and very hot weather. In the morning our boat went againe to fishing, but could catch but few by reason their canoes had beene there all night. This morning the people came aboard and brought us eares of Indian corne and pompions and tobacco, which wee bought for trifles. Wee rode still all day and filled fresh water; at night wee weighted and went two leagues higher and had shoaled water ; so we anchored till day. The seventeenth, faire sunshining weather and very hot. In the morning as soon as the sun was up we set sayle and run up six leagues higher and found shoales in the middle of the channel and small islands but seven fathoms water on both sides. Toward night we borrowed so neere the shoare that wee grounded, so wee layed out our small anchor and heaved off againe. Then we borrowed on the banke in the channel and came aground againe. While the floud ran we hoved off againe and anchored all night. The eighteenth, in the morning was faire weather and we rode still. In the afternoone our master's mate went on land with an old savage, a governoer of the countrey, who carried him to his house and made him goode cheere. The nineteenth was faire and hot weather. At the floode, being neere eleven of the clocke, wee weighed and ran higher up two leagues above the shoals and had no lesse water than five. We anchored and rode in eight fathoms. The people of the countrie came flocking aboord and brought us grapes and pompions which wee bought for trifles. And many brought us bevers' skinnes and otters' skinnes, which wee bought for beades, knives and hatchets. So we rode there all night. The twentieth in the morning was faire weather. Our master's mate with four men more went up with our boat to sound the river, and found two leagues above us but two fathoms water and the channell very narrow, and above that place be tween seven or eight fathoms. Toward night they returned and we rode still all night. JOURNAL OF HUDSON'S VOYAGE. 5 The one-and-twentieth was faire weather, and the wind all southerly. We de termined yet once more to goe farther up into the river, to trie what depth and breadth it did beare ; but much people resorted aboord, so we went not this day. Our carpenter went on land and made a foreyard, and our master and mate deter mined to trie some of the chief men of the countrie whether they had any treacherie in them. So they took them down into the cabin and gave them as much wine and aqua-vitae that they were all merrie; and one of them had his wife with him, who sat as modestly as any of our countrie-women would do in a strange place. In the end one of them was drunke which had been aboord of our ship all the time we had been there; and that was strange to them, for they could not tell how to take it. The canoes and folke went all on shore, but some of them caime again and brought stropes of beades — some had six, seven, eight, nine, ten — and gave him. So he slept all night quietly. The two-and-twentieth was faire weather. In the morning our master's mate and foure more of the companie went up with our boat to sound the river higher up. The people of the country came not aboord till noone ; but when they came and saw the savages well, they were glad. So, at three of the clocke in the afternoone, they came aboord and brought tobacco and more beades, and gave them to our master, and an oration, and showed him the countrey all around about. Then they sent one of their companie on land, who presently returned and brought a great platter full of venison, dressed by themselves, and they caused him to eat with them. Then they made him reverence and departed, — all save the old man lhat lay aboord. This night, at ten of the clocke, our boat returned in a shower of raine from sounding of the river, and found it to be at an end for shipping to goe in. For they had been up eight or nine leagues, and found but seven-foot water and unconstant soundings. The three-and-twentieth, faire weather, at twelve of the clocke, wee weighed and went downe two leagues, to a shoald that had two cannells, one on one side and an other on the other, and had little wind, whereby the tide layed us upon it. So there wee sate on the ground the space of an houre, till the floud came. Then we had a little gale of wind at the west. So wee got our ship into deepe water, and rode all night very well. Hudson gave the river which he had explored the name of " River of the Mountains." Not until his countrymen had captured New Netherland was it honored with his name. In 1524 John Verrazzano, a Florentine, had entered the river; about the same time Stephen Gomez had sailed a short distance up the stream and had called it Rio de San Antonio. Hudson himself learned that the French had ascended the river in boats to trade with the Indians, and it is hardly to be doubted that he saw the ruins of the fort on Castle island which the French had built. But as Hudson was the first man to navigate the waters of the river as far to the north as he could sail and leave a de tailed record of his exploration it is but just to accord to him the honor which the world has bestowed, just as Columbus, though by no means the actual discoverer of America, was the first navigator to carry on his 6 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. explorations to that point where his successors were given material on which to operate. Verrazzano discovered the Hudson just as Leif Erickson discovered America; but of what value were his explorations at this point? On the year following the explorations of Hudson under the employ of the East India company several Dutch traders left Holland, visited the Indians on the banks of the Hudson, secured a quantity of valuable furs and sold them in Holland at a handsome profit. This was the signal for a general awakening of interest in the new country among the Dutch. Other traders followed their example, and Oct. 11, 1614, a three years' license to trade exclusively with the native inhabitants of the New World was granted these traders, who called the country Nieu Nederlandt, meaning in English New Netherland. The map of the territory which they prepared is still preserved. Upon the termi nation of their three years' license, in 1618, the Dutch government ex tended a similar privilege to several other traders who were anxious to take advantage of the opportunities presented. The number of traders was multiplied year by year, trading posts were established, Dutch names were substituted for those given the various streams, hills and posts by the French, and within a few years almost every trace of the previous attempt at colonization by the French was obliterated. CHAPTER II. Early Indian Occupancy — The Mohicans the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Rensselaer County — The Five Nations: Their Organization and Development — Warfare Between the Mohicans and Mohawks — Uncas and Miantonomoh — Origin of the Schaghticoke Indians. The Mohican Indians ] were the aboriginal inhabitants of a tract of land embracing what is now Rensselaer county and a portion of the States of Vermont and Massachusetts. They were one of the most conspicuous tribes of the great Algonquin family, which occupied the greater part of Canada and nearly all that portion of the United States east of the Mississippi and north of the thirty- seventh parallel of lati- ' Also spelled Mohegan. THE MOHICAN INDIANS. 7 tude. One of the principal villages of the Mohicans was in the county of Rensselaer, covering a portion of the site of the present city of Troy. At the time when our first knowledge of them begins they were already beginning to decay, and when the white settlers made their appearance the decadence of all the tribes of the family was accelerated. In the reign of Atotarho XII, one of the kings of the Five Nations, perhaps about fifty years before Columbus discovered America, we are told by an authority on Indian history 1 that the Tehatirihokea, or Mo hawks, were at war with Ranatshaganha, "supposed Mohegans, who occu pied the opposite bank of the river Skaunataty or Hudson. The warfare was maintained by small expeditions; the Mohawks would cross the river and attack the enemy; the canoes were kept in the river contin ually to cover their retreat; but after a while the Mohegans expoliated the war; the chief of the Mohawks received orders from the king, and invited the two confederate nations, the Oneidas and the Onondagas, to unite against the common enemy ; the band of the combined forces immediately crossed the river and revenged a part of the country, and the enemy were compelled to sue for peace." In the centre of the great expanse of territory occupied by the Al- gonquins, and entirely cut off from communication with other nations, except in the event of war, lived the powerful nations called the Iro quois and the Hurons. By some these two families were called one nation, the Huron-Iroquois. The Iroquois Indians, or the Five Nations as they were called by the French (subsequently, by the amalgamation with them of the Tusca- roras, becoming the Six Nations), occupied practically all the territory now known as New YTork State when the first white man penetrated the wilderness through which they roamed. The English called them the Confederates; the Dutch, more particularly those who settled the Mohawk valley, called them the Maquaas; and the Indians called them selves the Agannschioni, meaning " United People." They also called themselves the Hodenosaunee, meaning "the people of the long house," all their houses being low, narrow and as a rule very long. They also likened their confederacy, stretched for 200 miles along a narrow valley, to one of the long wigwams containing many families. 2 The Five Nations were composed of the Mohawks, on the east; next 1 "David Cusick's Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations. 2 Credit is due George S. Conover, the well-known authority on Indian history, for much of the information contained in this chapter. 8 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. west being the Oneidas, then the Onondagas, the Cayugas and the Sen- ecas. When the Tuscaroras, from the Carolinas, joined the Confeder acy which existed among those nations they became amalgamated with the Oneidas and gradually lost their identity. It is not positively known when the Confederacy was established. In David Cusick's his tory of the Six Nations he relates the Indian traditions relative to the origin of the kingdom, which was called "a Long House, the Wars, Fierce Animals, " etc. He says: By some inducement a body of people was concealed in the mountain at the falls named Kuskehsawkich (now Oswego). When the people were released from the mountain they were visited by Tarenyawagon, i. e., the Holder of the Heavens, who had power to change himself into various shapes ; he ordered the people to proceed toward the sunrise as he guided them and come to a river and named Yenonanatche, i. e., going round a mountain (now Mohawk), and went down the bank of the river and come to where it discharges into a great river running towards the midday sun; and Shaw-nay-taw-ty, i. c, beyond the pineries (now Hudson), and went down the bank of the river and touched bank of a great water. . The people were yet in one language ; some of the people went to the banks of the great water towards the midday sun, but the main company returned as they came, oh the bank of the river, under the direction of the Holder of the Heavens. Of this company there was a par ticular body which called themselves one household; of these were six families and they entered into a resolution to preserve the chain of alliance which should not be extinguished in any manner. The company advanced some distance up the river of Shaw-na-taw-ty (Hudson), the Holder of the Heavens directs the first family to make their residence near the bank of the river, and the family was named Te-haw- re-hogeh, i. e., a speech divided (now Mohawk) and their language was soon altered; the company then turned and went towards the sunsetting, and travelled about two days and a half, and come to a creek, which was named Kaw-na-taw-te-ruh, i. e., Pineries. The second family was directed to make their residence near the creek, and the family was named Ne-haw-re-tah-go, i. e., Big Tree, now Oneidas, and like wise their language was altered. The company continued to proceed towards the sunsetting ; under the direction of the Holder of the Heavens. The third family was directed to make their residence on a mountain named Onondaga (now Onondaga) and the family was named Seuh-now-kah-tah, i. e., carrying the name, and their language was altered. The company continued their journey towards the sunsetting. The fourth family was directed to make their residence near a long lake named Go- yo-goh, i. e. , a mountain rising from the water (now Cayuga) and the family was named Sho-nea-na-we-to-wah, i. e., a great pipe, their language was altered. The company continued to proceed towards the sunsetting. The fifth family was directed to make their residence near a high mountain, or rather nole, situated south of the Canandaigua lake, which was named Jenneatowake and the family was named Te. how-nea-nyo-hent, i. e. Passing a Door, now Seneca, and their language was altered- The sixth family went with the company that journeyed towards the sunsetting' and touched the bank of a great lake, and named Kau-ha-gwa-rah-ka, i. e. , A Cap, now THE GREAT IROQUOIS FEDERATION. 9 Erie, and then went towards between the mid-day and sunsetting, and travelled considerable distance and came to a large river which was named Ouau-we-yo-ka, i. e., a principal stream, now Mississippi. . . The family was directed to make their residence near Cau-ta-noh, i. e., Pine in water, situated near the mouth of Nuse river, now in North Carolina, and the family was named Kau-ta-noh, now Tuscarora and their language was also altered. . . The Holder of the Heavens returns to the five families and forms the mode of conf ederacy which was named Ggo-nea-seab- neh, i. e. , A Long House, to which are 1st — Tea-kaw-reh-ho-geh ; 2d — New-haw-teh- tah-go; 3d — Seuh-nau-ka-ta; 4th — Sho-nea-na-we-to-wan ; 5th — Te-hoo-nea-nyo-hent. This organization is supposed to have taken place between 1900 and 2000 years before Columbus discovered America, or between 400 B. C. and 500 B. C. While this account is purely traditional it is the most authentic in existence. When the white intruders first discovered that such an alliance ex isted, all that was known of the organization of the form of govern ment so remarkable among a savage people was, as we have shown, mere tradition Each nation of the Confederacy was independent of every other in all matters of a local character, and in the councils no sachem was superior to another, except by reason of higher intellectual attainments, such as they might be. The fifty offices created at the organization of the Confederacy were distributed among the nations according to their numerical strength. Of these offices the Mohawks had nine, the Oneidas nine, the Onondagas fourteen, the Cayugas ten and the Senecas eight. Although these offices were hereditary, no one could became a ruler or sachem until elevated to such a place by a council of all the sachems of this original American Confederacy. The sachems who, in council, constituted the legislative body of the union were also the local rulers of their respective nations. While a sachem or chief had civil authority, he could not be a chieftain in war until elected to that position. Every sachem went on the warpath as a common warrior unless he had been doubly honored and made a military leader as well as a civil officer. The Iroquois nation then was practically a Republic, founded on much the same lines as the United States of America, marvelous as it may seem. The policy of the Iroquois nation in war appeared to have been not alone for the sake of war, but for conquest and the extension of the nation's power and influence. Instead of trying to exterminate their foes the Iroquois strove to subjugate and adopt them, and as far as they could in their weak way, to enlighten them. So successful were they in their efforts that at the end of the seventeenth century they 2 10 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER. COUNTY. dominated a very large portion of what is now the United States. The Iroquois of New York and the Algonquin tribes of New England were perpetually at war. The Mohawks and Oneidas occupied the Mohawk valley mainly, and the three nations west of them were compelled to pass through this region when starting out upon the eastern warpath. The most natural and convenient pathway for them to traverse was from the Mohawk valley eastward, leading them up from the Hudson to the valley of the Hoosick river, then across the Berkshire hills or the southern spur of the Green mountains to the valley of the Connecticut river. Over this trail the Five Nations marched on many occasions, according both to history and early tradition, and in and near the county of Rensselaer many a bloody battle was fought by the red men of the wilderness. At the time the Dutch first ascended the Hudson the war against the Mohicans was carried on mainly by the Mohawks. "The Mohe gans occupied its banks, and the Mohawk villages were no nearer than Schoharie creek. The Dutch at first took sides with the Mohegans and were defeated, but afterwards were friends of their opponents. The Mohegans made their last invasion in August, 1669, unsuccessfully attacking a Mohawk town. The Oneidas and Onondagas joined the Mohawks and invaded the Mohegan country in return, with even smaller results, but it led to peace. The Mohegans were called Loups, or Wolves, this being the meaning of their name. They were of Algonquin stock, and kindred to the Delawares."1 Even many years after its settlement by the Dutch bands of the Iro quois, then of the Algonquins, passed through it on their way to carry out their plans for laying waste the villages of the enemy; but fortu nately for the colonists of the manor of Rensselaerwyck but few of these savage contests occurred after the foundation of the colony. The famous old Wampanoag chieftain, King Philip, once invaded the county, in the winter of 1675-76, at the head of a band of 500 warriors bound for the north. His followers encamped about fifty miles north of Albany and prepared to strike a decisive blow at the Mohawks. In February, 1676, the Mohawks assembled and marched northward and, by reason of superior numbers and a better acquaintance with the field of the campaign, succeeded in driving the brave old chieftain and his band back -through the Hoosick valley to the other side of the moun- 1 W. M. Beauchamp's notes on David Cusick's Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Na tions. EARLY INDIAN WARS. 11 tains. The famous old chief, Graylock, of the Woronoaks, the last chief of his tribe, also frequently passed through the Hoosick valley with his band of warriors. In the Connecticut valley there was a band called the Pacomptucks. During an invasion they wandered down the valley of the Hoosick, ac companied by straggling members of the Wampanoags, the Narragan- setts and the Nipmucks, and settled about the junction of that river with the Hudson. They evinced a friendly disposition, frequently visited the white settlers, traded more or less with them and were known among the Dutchmen of the manor as the Schaghticoke Indians. The Mohegan or Mohican Indians, who occupied the east side of the Hudson, had a fortified village on the present site of the city of Troy, and as a rule were friendly with the whites. Tradition says that in, this village Uncas, the famous Mohican chief, who went down when his tribe was exterminated, was born. The original central home or capi tal of the Mohicans was mainly the southern part of Rensselaer county, of which they were complete masters until 1628. The northern part of the county, in the valley of the Hoosick, was the original home of the Horicons. Beside the village on the present site of Troy the Mohicans had a still larger village in the present town of Schodack. They de voted much time to agriculture, their principal crop being corn. The flat lands in the river valley produced great quantities of this grain an nually. The Indian name for Troy, " Paanpaack, " means " The field of standing corn " Three years before Killiaen Van Rensselaer's colonists sailed up the Hudson the Mohicans and the Mohawks declared war, the principal scenes of their hostile demonstrations being about Fort Orange and the present site of West Troy, and the Mohican village on the east side of the river. For nearly two years the war continued. The Mohawks were the more powerful nation and they pursued their foes relentlessly. In the spring of 1628 they captured the castle of the Mohicans and drove the few remaining members of that tribe to the valley of the Connecticut. As late as fifty years afterward, according to tradition, Uncas and his little body of Mohicans, now greatly reduced numer ically, returned to their aboriginal home and even crossed the Hudson to the present sites of Albany, West Troy and Waterford, where they succeeded in slaying many of their old enemies among the unsuspect ing Mohawks. Later on some of the Mohicans emigrated westward 12 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. and joined the Five Nations, some of them amalgamating with their old enemies, the Mohawks; others finding a new spot in the Schoharie valle}-, where they established villages. The Iroquois, as we have said, were constantly at war with the Al gonquin tribes, and usually for the purpose of conquest. The Mohi cans suffered greatly at their hands. After driving the Mohicans from their home into the Connecticut valley, in 1628, they continued to an noy them in many ways. The Mohicans appeared to be the especial target for their spite. After this tribe was driven out of the way the Iroquois turned their attention to the Hurons on the north, completely overrunning the country of the latter. The next year, 1651, they de stroyed the Neutral nation, and the year after that they made war against the Eries, practically wiping them out of existence. Elqven years later they marched over into the Connecticut valley, presumably in search of the remnant of the Mohicans, and laid waste the country of the Squakheags and the Pacomptucks. Most of these expeditions were led by the Mohawks, whose name was dreaded by every tribe in the Algonquin family. When on the war path their fury knew no bounds. They were relentless when once a campaign had been begun, and even in the dead of winter, when the members of most tribes would be found hugging the wigwam fire, the Mohawks often would start out on an expedition against the foe, traveling hundreds of miles through the snow and returning at the season of the year when progress was even more difficult on account of melting snows. Every tribe of the Algonquin within easy marching distance of the Mohawks paid tribute to the latter. The title, "Romans of the West," was one which they justly deserved. When, in 1628, nearly two years before the founding of the colony of Rensselaerwyck, the Mohicans were driven by the Mohawks from their ancestral home into the Connecticut valley, they located near the mouth of the Connecticut on its east bank, with the Pequods, their friends as neighbors on the east. The Pequods were exterminated by the whites a few years afterward — the tribe ceased to exist in 1637 and the Mohicans on the west and the once powerful Narragansetts on the east occupied that portion of the former Pequod territory not appro priated by the whites. Uncas, who fled with the Mohicans from the aboriginal home in Rensselaer county, was still their chieftain. For many years the Mohicans and Narragansetts had been enemies. Their hatred was intensified upon the destruction of the Pequods by UNCAS AND MIANTONOMOH. 13 the whites. The Pequod captives were divided among the other two nations, but the former home of the extinct tribe was a subject for much quarreling. In 1643 the two tribes engaged in war, the Mohicans still being under the leadership of Uncas and the Narragansetts under Miantonomoh. Hostilities were begun by the latter, who gathered his braves and started across the territory the possession of which was in dispute. Uncas learned of the contemplated invasion, and mustering his forces started eastward to intercept his enemies. When the rival tribes met they were in the centre of the old hunting ground of the Pequods. That meeting and the subsequent develop ments form one of the most romantic and at the same time one of the most tragic scenes in Indian history. The tribes halted within sight of each other and the two brave chieftains advanced to within speaking distance. In the brief conference that followed Uncas, in full confi dence of what he believed to be his superior prowess, demanded that his rival should fight him, man to man, and that the victor should be come the chieftain of the braves of the vanquished leader. The pro posal was haughtily scorned by Miantonomoh who declared: "My braves are here to do battle, and they shall fight." No sooner had these words left the mouth of the Narragansett chief than Uncas, with out a word, suddenly fell to the ground. His act was a signal previously agreed upon. Hardly had he become prostrate before the Mohicans, with a wild war-whoop, sprang over his body and savagely attacked the Narragansetts. After a brief but fierce struggle the latter were van quished and Uncas made Miantonomoh a prisoner. The latter, as haughty as ever, refused to ask for quarter, but Uncas held him a cap tive and handed him over to the English authorities at Hartford. His case was brought before the colonial commissioners and it was ordered that the old chieftain should die, and at the hands of his captor. The English claimed a protectorate over both nations and their verdict was taken as final. Miantonomoh was returned 'to the field of battle and one of the braves of Uncas buried a hatchet in his brain. The Schaghticoke Indians, who occupied the northern part of Rens selaer county near the junction of the Hoosick river with the Hudson, were, as we have said, fugitives from New England tribes, who were driven from their hunting grounds by the whites at the close of King Philip's war in 1676. They were made up for the most part of strag glers from the remnants of the once powerful Wampanoags, or Poka- npkets; the Narragansetts, the Nonotucks and the Pacomptucks. The 14 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. history of King Philip's war is well known. Throughout the greater portion of the years 1675 and 1676 it wrought ruin on all sides. It was practically a war of extermination between the white settlers and the Indians. At the close of King Philip's first summer campaign, in 1675, he and some of his followers visited Saratoga and Washington counties and, as has been related, war was waged against them by the angry Mohawks. In February, 1676, Philip and his band were driven back into the Connecticut valley by the Mohawks, and soon afterward he resumed the struggle for supremacy with the whites. Being routed on all sides, those who were left of his tribe — the Wampanoags — with some of the braves from the three other tribes mentioned, moved up to the fer tile valley of the Hudson, and the Mohawks, having nothing to fear from them, consented to their occupancy of the land about the mouth of the Hoosick river. Having no name they became known to the white settlers as the Schaghticokes. They remained in Rensselaer county for over 77 years when, in 1753 or 1754, they moved to the lower end of Lake Champlain, near the Canada and Vermont line, and joined the Woronoaks, their former neighbors, who had settled there at the close of King Philip's war, under their old chieftain, Graylock. CHAPTER III. Killiaen Van Rensselaer, Founder of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck — The Famous Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions — Jealousy Over the Patroon's Large Grant — Early Administration of the Colony — Collision Between the Colony and the Province — The Early Trade in Furs — First White Settler in Rensselaer County. Killiaen Van Rensselaer, a wealthy merchant of Amsterdam, Hol land, was a member of the famed Dutch West India company, the greatest trade organization and monopoly of its day, which was per haps more closely identified with the early history of the colony of New York, and particularly of the region of which Fort Orange or Albany was the centre, than any other single influence which affected the career of the infant colony. He was the founder of the colonv of Rensselaerwyck, which formed the major part of the territory now known as Rensselaer county. In 1630, the year in which the West THE CHARTER OF FREEDOMS AND EXEMPTIONS. 15 India company made its great offer to its members, the attention of Killiaen Van Rensselaer was directed to the rich region, as yet totally undeveloped, of the valleys of the Hudson and the Mohawk rivers. The offer which this great trade organization had made was one well calculated to tempt such capitalists as he. The charter of the company provided, among other things, that any member who, within four years, should found a colony of fifty adults in any part of the New Netherlands grant, excepting the island of Manhattan, or "Mannatans, " should be acknowledged as a Patroon and accorded powers similar to those granted lords under the estab lished feudal system of Europe. An American Patroon, while he con tinued as such in the full enjoyment of the powers accorded him, was just as much a landed lord as those of England or Germany or France, with the exception that he was not a member of his country's parliament. But this was of trifling importance from the standpoint of the wealth-seeking Hollander, for a Patroon in America en joyed commercial advantages and many opportunities for amassing wealth that were entirely unknown in the Old World. He was the feudal lord of the territory he colonized and the main profit from the development of its resources went into his own private purse, unless he happened to be unselfish and public-spirited to a degree that was seldom known in the days of the Patroons of the New Netherlands. To arrive at a correct understanding of the circumstances which in duced the early colonists to accompany Killiaen Van Rensselaer tc America, and of the conditions which surrounded them and shaped their lives, and which have left an indelible impress upon their numer ous descendants in and about Rensselaer county, it is proper and neces sary to notice the principal features of the Dutch West India com pany's famous Charter of " Freedoms and Exemptions" for the coloni zation of the New Netherlands under its great feudal system. These, in brief, were as follows : The head of each colony might select lands extending sixteen miles in length, if confined to one side of a navigable river. If both sides were occupied eight miles was the limit ; but they might extend inland from the river as the situation of the colonists would demand or permit. This provision applied to colonies comprised of fifty adults. The limits described might be proportionately enlarged upon the addi tion of a sufficient number of immigrants. Each Patroon was to receive the free title to his lands by inheritance, with testa mentary rights. He was first in command of his manor, with exclusive privileges as to fishing, hunting and agriculture. In the event of the development of his little 16 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. empire to that point where he should be able to found a city, his charter gave him power to establish officers and magistrates. He was empowered absolutely to make rules for the government of his colonists, providing that they should conform to the laws of the parent government. In order to appeal from a decision made by one of the Patroons' manorial courts, it was necessary that the judgment should be for fifty guilders or more, in which event the case might be carried to the director and coun cil in New Netherlands. The tenants of the manor were to be free from taxes of all lands during the first ten years. No colonist was allowed to leave the colony during his term of service without the written consent of the Patroon, and the company contracted to do everything in its power to capture and return fugitive colonists. The trade arrangements between the company and the Patroons were very liberal for the times, it would appear. They were allowed to trade along the Atlantic coast of North America, with the single provision that all cargoes were to be sent first to Manhattan, where a duty of five per cent, should be paid to the company before shipment to Holland. The company, however, reserved the sole right to trade in the skins and furs of all animals. The colonists also were not allowed to weave any cloths, on pain of punishment. This restriction applied to all, whether independent or under patroons. The company, on the other hand, contracted to protect and de fend all the colonists against all wars and powers, whether inter-colonial or internal. The company also agreed to furnish as many negro laborers as they conveniently could, for as long a time as was convenient to the company. A wise provision was that the colonists should provide and support a minister and a schoolmaster. One of the first of the Dutch capitalists to accept the tempting offer of the Dutch West India company was Killiaen Van Rensselaer.1 Bastiaen Jansen Krol, commissary, and Dierck Cornelissen Duyster, under-commissary at Fort Orange, having learned that a tract of land called by the Indians Sannahagog, or Sanckhagag, on the west side of the Hudson, or the North river as it was then known, extending from Beeren island, called Passapenock by the Indians, up to the Smackx island, and " extending two days' journey into the interior," was for sale, purchased it from Paep Sikenekomptas, Nancouttanshal and Sick- oussen, the native proprietors, for Killiaen Van Rensselaer, who had heard of it from Krol. The sale was effected April 8, 1630. In July of the same year Gillis Hoossett purchased for Van Rensselaer "from Cottomack, Nawanemit, Abantzene, Sagisguwa and Kanamoack, the lands lying south and north of Fort Orange and extending to within a short distance of Moenimines Castle, then situated on what is now called Haver island;" and from Nawanemit, one of last named chiefs, his grounds, "called Semesseeck, stretching on the east side of the river, 1 The references employed in writing the history of the Colony of Rensselaerwyck, were sug gested by William Bayard Van Rensselaer, esq., of Al bany, a direct lineal descendant of Killiaen Van Rensselaer. VAN RENSSELAER ORGANIZES A COLONY. 17 from opposite Castle island to a point facing Fort Orange, and thence from Paetanaek, the Mill creek, north to Negagons. " These convey ances were ratified on the same day that the charter of 1629 was pro claimed at Fort Amsterdam. April 13, 1637, an intervening district "called Papsickenekaas, or Papsskanea as the name was afterwards pronounced, lying also on the east side of the river and extending from opposite Castle island south to the point opposite Smackx island, and including the adjacent islands and all the lands back into the interior, belonging to the Indian owners, was purchased ' for certain quantities of duffels, axes, knives and wampum,' also for Van Rensselaer, who thus became proprietor of a tract of country twenty-four miles long and forty-eight miles broad, containing, as is estimated, over seven hun dred thousand acres of land, which now compose the counties of Al bany, Rensselaer, and part of the county of Columbia."1 Determined that no one should take advantage of -what he believed to be, and what subsequently proved to be, a great opportunity in the way of acquiring a naturally rich and exceedingly fertile country, he made hasty arrangements to send out a colony and take possession of the lands on both sides of the noble Hudson river at the head of navi gation. With the keen eye of an experienced Dutch trader he foresaw the great benefits which would fall to the colony which should be es tablished at this point, where ships might be loaded with ease and at small expense and sail direct for any part of the world, making allowance for the customs restrictions imposed by the company from which he was to receive the privileges referred to. Early in the spring of 1630 he gathered together a small body of emigrants, farmers and their families, with a small stock of cattle and horses and what farming utensils they would need at the start, and put them in charge of a trusty overseer, or "upper bouwmeester," named Wolfert Gerritson. These men and women, after being told exactly what would be expected of them and the benefits which would fall to them by diligent efforts on their part, embarked for the New World at the Texel in a small ship called the "Eendragt," or "Unity," of which John Brouwer was captain. Upon their arrival at Fort Orange they at once began the settlement of the colony of Rensselaerwyck after the plans which had been laid out for them by their patroon. Soon after their arrival Gillis Hoos- 1 Munsell's Annals of Albany, Vol. I, p. 1H7. 18 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. sett, acting as the special agent of the patroon, secured from the Indians the second grant of land on the west side of the river north of that obtained by Krol. The council at Manhattan retained exclusive con trol of Fort Orange and the land immediately surrounding it, which was in the midst of the Van Rensselaer grant, so that Fort Orange itself, and its successor, the city of Albany, were never a part of the domain of the patroon. The council, however, confirmed the two purchases made by the patroon, on Aug. 8 and 13, 1630, respectively, and at the same time issued the formal patents therefore, placing under feudal rule a territory which now forms the larger part of the counties of Rensselaer and Albany. This domain for generations thereafter was known as the colony of Rensselaerwyck, and subsequently as the manor of Rensselaerwyck. The large grant received by Van Rensselaer caused feelings of jeal ously to arise among other capitalists. This sentiment of dissatisfac tion increasing, the patroon decided that it would be politic for him to make a show of dividing his estate. He therefore divided it into five parts, retaining two of the shares for himself and deeding the balance about equally among Samuel Godyn, John De Laet and Samuel Bloem- maert. With the latter were associated Adam Bissels and Touissaint Moussart, who were by the terms of the contract, co-directors of Rensselaerwyck. De Laet received that portion which now includes the village of Greenbush; Godyn's island is on the same side of the river a short distance to the south; Bloemmaert's share was about the mouth of the small stream which later was known as Patroon's Creek. Notwithstanding this division it will be seen that the portion reserved for Van Rensselaer was the most extensive and most valuable portion of the grant. The English confirmation of the patent to Killiaen Van Rensselaer given by Thomas Dongan, an English Governor, dated November 4, 1685, describes the boundaries of the several purchases made by the agents of Van Rensselaer as follows: Beginning at the south end of or part of Berrent Island on Hudson's River and extending northwards up along both sides of the said Hudson's River unto a place heretofore called the Kahoos, or the great falls of the said river, and extending itself east and west from each side of the said River backwards into the woods 24 English miles, as also a certain tract of land situate, lying and being on the East side of Hudson River beginning at the creek by Major Abraham Staet's and so along the said river southward to the south side of Vaxtrix Island by a creek called Waghan- kasigh, stretching from thence with an easterly line into the woods 24 English FOUNDATION OF RENSSELAERWYCK. 19 miles to a place Wawanaquiasick, and from thence northward to the head of said creek by Major Abraham Staet's aforesaid, i In 1630 a commissary of the Dutch West India company had pur chased of the Indians two tracts on the west side of the Hudson River for Killiaen Van Rensselaer. Seven years later (1637) Van Rensselaer purchased the tract on the opposite or east side of the river for certain quantities of duffels, axes, knives and wampum, and thus became the proprietor of a tract of country 24 miles along the river and 48 in ex tent east and west. Over this tract he possessed all the authority of a sovereign and made a large outlay for its settlement, giving it the name of Rensselaerwyck. A copy of a map of that portion of the manor of Rensselaerwyck lying east of the Hudson River, comprising the major part of what is now Rensselaer county, is herein given, showing the farms or different parcels of land as they were originally laid out in the manor, under the manorial leases, many of which retain their original boundaries to this day. 2 Every year new immigrants arrived and the colony became even more prosperous and the patroon more wealthy than he had anticipated. All the settlers had live-stock, seeds and farming utensils. The land was leased of the patroon at an annual rental, payable in grain, beeves and wampum, or a share of the products of the land such as they might be. The average rate of rent demanded was ten bushels of wheat per hundred acres per annum. The patroon and his partners were in vested with full authority in civil and military affairs, subordinate only to the Dutch West India company and the government of Holland. They had their forts, soldiers, cannon and courts of justice. The management of the colony was vested in a court or board consisting of four persons or votes, of which Van Rensselaer held two ; Bloemmaert, or Bissels, one; and De Laet, or Moussart, one. Van Rensselaer was not to have any authority superior to his associates except the title of patroon, which, with all its feudal honors, was vested in him alone. The other partners bound themselves to do fealty and homage 1 This Patent excepted Fort Albany from the southernmost end of the pasture lying over against the north end of Martin Garrittson's Island to the post on the north side of the said town, where it was formerly inarked by Gov. Stuyvesant, and so backward into the woods northwest l(j English miles. 2 This map is a copy of the originalmap of the eastern half of the colony of Rensselaerwyck, now in the possession of Jeffrey P. Thomas, civil engineer and surveyor, of Troy. It is believed to be the only map of its kind in existence. 20 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. for the fief on his demise, in the name and on behalf of his son and heirs. The court of the colony exercised executive, legislative or municipal, and judicial functions. It was at one time the governor, the legisla ture and the supreme court. It was composed of two commissaries called " gecommitteerden " and two councilors called " gerechts per- soonen," also raetspersoonen, raedtsvrienden or "schepenen." The former were legislators more than anything else, and the functions of the latter were more like those of the country justice of to-day. There was also a sheriff or " schoutfiscaal;" a constable, or "gerechts-bode," and a secretary or clerk for the court and the colony in general. The office of sheriff was the most important in the colony. The first sheriff of Rensselaerwyck was Jacob Albertsen Planck, and the first colonial secretary, who was also superintendent of the colony, was Arendt Van Corlaer or Van Curler. He was succeeded in 1642 by An thony de Hooges. Brant Peelen, Gerrit de Reus, Cornelis Teunissen van Breuckelen, Pieter Cornelissen van Munickendam and Dirck Jans- sen were among the earliest magistrates of Rensselaerwyck. Sheriff Planck's successor was Adriaen van der Donck, who in turn was suc> ceeded by Nicolaus Coorn. Andries Jansz was the first schoolmaster, beginning his service in 1645. Arendt Van Corlaer (or Van Curler) came from Holland in 1630 as assistant commissary of the patroon, but soon after his arrival he was appointed commissary-general, or superintendent of the colony, and acted as colonial secretary until 1642. His jurisdiction extended from Beeren island to the mouth of the Mohawk on both sides of the river. In 1642 he rescued Father Jogues from the Mohawk Indians; in 1646 he married Antonia Slaghboom and visited Holland; and on his return moved to the flats above Albany, where he had a farm ; in 1659 he held a conference with the Mohawks at Caughnawaga and renewed the treaty of sixteen years' standing with them. He was one of the leaders in the settlement of Schenectady in 1661-62. The original journal of Arendt Van Corlaer's expedition to the coun try of the Mohawks and Senecas in 1634-35, which was translated for the first time in the summer of 1895 by General James Grant Wilson of New York, is justly considered as of great historical value, inasmuch as it antedates any other existing document relating to the history of New Netherland, and also in that it comes from the pen of one of those JOURNAL OP ARENDT VAN CORLAER. 21 who were very closely identified with the early life of the colony of Rensselaerwyck. He was the Indians' great friend and they were all his friends. As General Wilson says, in his preface to the translation of the journal of Van Corlaer : A monument, perhaps without a peer on the pages of the history of New Nether- land, was that erected in the hearts of the Mohawks, Senecas and other native tribes, as well as in the hearts of the French of Canada, to Arendt Van Corlear, a man of large benevolence and unsullied honor, in remembrance of the kindness, the justness, and the mercy by which he so won the affections of the simple sons of the forest, ever open to the manifestations of regard for their welfare, that, when taken from them by death, they extended his name to every governor of the province of New York for many years, with the signification "good friend," and all that that title implies. Van Corlaer was a cousin of Jeremias Van Rensselaer and a nephew of Killiaen Van Rensselaer. He took up his residence in Rensselaer wyck at what afterward was known as Fort Orange. He was at once thrown in contact with the Indians, and by his uniform fair ness and kindness to them he so won their esteem that his wishes were law to them. Many a time when they were greatly provoked by the whites he restrained them from acts of violence. His great strength with the red men was so generally recognized that when the English succeeded the Dutch in the control of the province in 1664, Governor Nicoll consulted him on the interests of the country generally and on Indian affairs particularly and through him paved the way to the ag gressive alliance between the Five Nations and the Government, an alliance which was maintained for more than a century. Early in the summer of 1667 Van Corlaer started on a visit to Quebec, in response to an urgent invitation from his friends there. He never returned. While attempting to cross Lake Champlain in a frail canoe he was over taken by a storm and drowned near Split Rock, in the bay called by the French " Baye Corlar, " now Perne bay, Essex county, New York. In 1643 Arendt Van Corlaer married Antonia Slaghvoorn, widow of Jonas Bronck, a patentee of lands in Westchester county. In 1661 he organized an association and purchased the Schonowe flats west of Albany, which he named Schaenedestede, "the beautiful town," near Schenectady, which was his home at the time of his death. Upon the death of his widow in 1677 his estate passed into the hands of strangers. December 11, 1634, Von Corlaer started on a journey "to the Ma- quas and Sinnekens Indians" — the Mohawks and Senecas. In his jour- 22 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. nal he states that "the reason why we went was that the Maquas and Sinnekens very often came to our commissioners (Martin Gerritsen and me) stating that there were French Indians trading in their land, and that the Maquas wished to go there and trade with their skins, because the Maquas Indians wanted to receive just as much for their skins as the French Indians did." Von Corlaer was accompanied by Jeronimus la Crock, William Tomassen and five Maquas Indians. On the first of January, 1635, a treaty of peace for four years was signed by the Ma quas and Sinnekens and the French Indians. Von Corlaer and his party did not reach Fort Orange on their return until January 21. Johannes Megapolensis was called from Holland to serve as first pastor of the little colony. For the convenience of the settlers at Green- bush, called Tuscameatick by the Indians, a ferry was soon after es tablished near the foot of the creek called Beaver's kill, and from that day to this it has continued in constant operation. In 1052 Gerrit Swart received his commission as schout, or sheriff, of Rensselaerwyck and was sent to this country from Holland to per form the duties of that office, the most important executive office in the colony. In his commission were these words: " He shall use for his dwelling the house formerly used by the former preacher, situated in Greenbush, and there reside with his family, and exercise and dis charge his aforesaid office with all diligence and fidelity, according to the laws, edicts and ordinances already or to be enacted there." On his departure he received- instructions which contained these important clauses: "Having arrived with God's help at the island of Manhattan, he shall proceed by the first opportunity to the Colonie and report him self to Jan Baptist Van Rensselaer and make known unto him his qual ity by exhibition of his commission and instructions. He shall above all things take care that Divine worship shall be maintained in said Colonie, conformably to the Reformed Religion of this Country, as the same is publicly taught in these United Provinces. He shall in like manner pay attention that the Lord's Day, the Sabbath of the New Testament, be properly respected both by the observance of hearing the Holy Word as well as the preventing all unnecessary and daily labor on said day. And whereas it is a scandal that the Christians should mingle themselves unlawfully with the wives or daughters of the heathen, the officer shall labor to put in execution the placards and ordinances enacted or to be enacted against the same and strictly exact the fines imposed hereby without any dissimulation." AUTHORITY OF THE SHERIFF. 23 The winter of 1646-47 was remarkably long and severe and caused much suffering among the colonists. The Hudson froze over at Rens selaerwyck as early as November 24, and remained closed until the lat ter part of March. Upon the melting of the snow and ice at that time a great freshet occurred. The water surrounded Fort Orange, nearly carrying it away, and a number of horses were drowned in their sta bles. At the same time the inhabitants on both sides of the river were amazed at seeing a fish of great size, "snow white in color, round in the body and blowing water out of its head," swimming up the stream. The ignorant and superstitious among them feared that the visit of this monster of the deep would bring with it some dire calamity, and their fears were heightened when the first thunder and lightning of the year came, while this mysterious monster swam hither and thither, evidently looking for a way to escape. This monster had hardly disappeared when another, more mysterious still, forty feet long, brown in color, having fins on its back and also ejecting water from the top of his head, put in an appearance. This visitor was at once pronounced a whale by some mariners who were familiar with the leviathan, and the strain upon the public nerve was relieved. Soon after it was learned that this whale had become stranded on an island at the mouth of the Mo hawk river, and within a few days the flesh of the animal was roasted, and most of the oil extracted. F.our other whales grounded in differ ent parts of the Hudson in the same year. Why they should have as cended the river so far is a matter of conjecture. Johannes Van Rensselaer, heir to the patroonship, was a minor at the death of his father and the duties of the office devolved on his uncle, Johannes Van Wely, and Wouter Van Twiller. The immediate man agement of the estate was entrusted to Brant Arent Van Slechtenhorst of Nieukerke, in Guilderland, who assumed most of the powers of the patroon. Van Slechtenhorst made an attempt to extend the colony of Rensselaerwyck to the south, but he met with opposition and the scheme was abandoned. In 1645 the colonists were threatened with an attack by the Mohawk Indians, but an embassy of diplomatic Dutchmen visited the redmen, made them presents and returned with assurances that there would be no trouble. There was a collision between the authorities of the colony and the provincial government in 1651 on account of a demand for a subsidy 24 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. from Rensselaerwyck. The colonists had already refused to pay the excise on wines and liquors consumed by them, on the ground that such a policy was an invasion of the freedoms and in direct opposition to the customs of the Fatherland. Van Slechtenhorst was commis sioned to proceed, to New Amsterdam to remonstrate with the directors and council against it, and while there he was arrested and held four months, on order of Stuyvesant, the governor, notwithstanding his protests and those of the authorities of Rensselaerwyck. He finally escaped and returned to Fort Orange. But feeling continued to run high over the question as to whether Fort Orange was properly under the jurisdiction of Rensselaerwyck or not, and if so, what constituted Fort Orange proper. Several collisions occurred between the two fac tions. Stuyvesant sent a placard to the fort defining the limits of that settlement, but Slechtenhorst protested against its reading and in the confusion that followed the document was torn up by Jean Baptist Van Rensselaer. Stuyvesant immediately dispatched another decree to Joannes Dyckman, the company's commissary, declaring the jurisdic tion of Fort Orange to extend within a circumference of 600 paces from the fort. This act, violent and illegal, contrary to the charter and in defiance of the rights of property, severed the town of Beverwyck from Rensselaerwyck. Despite the protests of the authorities Bever wyck was finally given a separate tribunal, not many years after be coming the city of Albany. Jeremias Van Rensselaer succeeded his brother Jean Baptiste as director of the colony in 1658, his administration extending over a period of sixteen years and being characterized by rare discretion. He was highly respected and very influential among both the French and the Indians. He died Oct. 12, 1684. The eldest son of Jeremias, named Killiaen, was the first lord of the manor of Rensselaerwyck, which he represented in the provincial assembly twelve years, beginning in 1691. In 1703 he was called to the council, and in the following year he conveyed Claverack, or the " lower manor," as it was known, with the Cralo estate at Greenbush, to his younger brother Hendrik. In the early days of the colony of Rensselaerwyck the population consisted of three classes principally. The most influential of these were the freemen, men and women of fair intelligence, who had emi grated from Holland at their own expense. A second class was com- erA^^~r ^f i ^ ' ¦ THE SYSTEM OP LAND TENURE. 25 posed of the farmers, a highly desirable lot, mostly adult men, whose expenses were paid by the patroon, except in rare instances. The third class was made up of farm laborers and other servants, who were sent from Holland by the patroon. The extensive resources of Killiaen Van Rensselaer were freely applied to furthering the interests of those who had helped him to settle his colony, for he realized that their suc cess meant his success and their failure meant his failure. Whenever he learned of any difficulties which had beset them he, through his agents, was quick to extend a helping hand. Considering the times and the conditions surrounding the colony and its inhabitants it may be said that he was in a certain sense a benefactor. Lack of capital rarely embarrassed any of his dependents. In the beginning he laid out sev eral fine farms on the fertile flats on both sides of the river. On these he erected substantial dwelling houses, barns and stables, and at his own expense stocked them with cattle and horses, and in some cases with sheep. He also paid for the necessary farming implements, and whenever the occupant of a farm applied to him for other necessities the appeal was not allowed to go unheeded. Thus it was that the first patroon caused to be established the most substantial colony, in many ways, in the New Netherlands, and which has been evolved into one of the richest and most prosperous communities which has succeeded any colony formed in America in the first half of the seventeenth century. The famous anti-rent troubles and their tragedies, which for years agitated not only the territory formerly known as the colony and later as the manor of Rensselaerwyck, but also a large section contiguous thereto, grew out of the ill-advised, pernicious system of the lease-hold tenure of the soil which formed one of the principal institutions in the foundation of Rensselaerwyck. It was the one weak spot in the great plan of the promoters of the early settlement. It was not in accord with the principles for which the average immigrant forsook the Old World for the New, and in the natural order of things the system was doomed to fall. An idea of what this system was may be gleaned from the following, which is a copy of the lease granted to Arendt Van Corlear, by which he came into possession of the property on the west side of the Hudson, at Port Schuyler, which subsequently fell into the hands of the Schuyler family : We, guardians and tutors of Jean Van Rensselaer, Patroon of the colonie called Rensselaerswyck, situate on the North River, in New Netherlands, &c, have leased i 2G LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. and farmed unto Arent van Curler, who hereby also acknowledges to have leased and farmed from us, under the following stated conditions, restrictions, and stipula tions, the Bouwery named the Flatte (de Vlachte) and the hereafter mentioned ap purtenances for the term of six successive years, the farm lease beginning and termin ating on the first of September, and that of the house on the first of May, one thousand six hundred eight and forty. I. Firstly, the Patroon retains for himself the tenths of all grain fruits, the products which shall be raised off this bouwery. II. This bouwery contains about morgens of farm land, of which the lessee shall be bound yearly to cultivate morgens, and may, in addition, clear as much land as he shall be able to till with his people, without subletting or farming the same during the continuance of the lease, with the understanding that the lessee shall take the crops standing in the field on the commencement hereof, such as they are, paying the Patroon therefor according to the valuation of impartial persons, the Patroon agreeing on the other side to take the crops which shall be standing on the expiration of this lease at a valuation. III. The lessee shall be entitled to so much pasture as he shall require for his cattle without paying any extra rent further than only one guilder for every swine that ranges in the woods. IV. And for the cultivation of the said bouwerie there shall be delivered to him for his use six cows, two heifers (veers picken), six mares, and two studs or oxen from among those on this bouwery, and that on halves, to wit, one-half the produce shall be for the Patroon, and the other half for the lessee, it being well understood that the lessee is bound to restore the given number, according to the choice of the Patroon, and to divide the remainder, half and half, without the lessee pretending to have any claim for their maintenance or payment, or for. the above-mentioned restitution. V. And it is specifically conditioned that the lessee shall not have power to keep on this bouwery any other cattle of private individuals, nor to lend, alienate, or give away during the continuance of the lease of this bouwery, any of the received stock, without our special consent, and he shall duly convey and ride all the manure on and over the land. VI. For the use of which bouwery, and occupancy of the house, the lessee shall pay yearly to the Patroon the sum of 500 guilders [$200] ; but for the first year a deduction of 150 guilders [§60] shall be made in regard that he convey his laborers thither at his own expense,— which payment shall be made, the first half in Novem ber, and the other half in February, in merchantable beaver hides, at four guilders the pound, or in grain at the current rate as the same is sold in the colonie, or in ready current money. VII. The lessee shall be holden to keep the houses and buildings m good repair and to preserve and maintain the bouwerye in good order, at his own expense, pro vided the house shall be first delivered to him wind- and weather-tight, and at the expiration of the lease, he shall deliver it up in the same state. VIII. It is well understood that the lessee is holden over and above the aforesaid rent, during the winter season, to cut in the forest for the Patroon, ten pieces of oak or fir wood, which shall be pointed out to him, and bring the same to the shore- CONDITION OF THE EARLY COLONISTS. 27 also, every year, to give three days' service with his wagon and horses, to the Patroon or his guardians ; also, each year, to cut, split, and bring to the water-side, two fathoms of hickory or other fire-wood; further, to deliver yearly to the Director, as quit-rent, one-half mud (two bushels) wheat, five-and-twenty pounds of butter, and two pair of fowls. IX. The lessee shall not lodge any strange traders in his house nor bring nor receive their goods, on pain of forfeiting all the conditions granted to him, and to be ejected as a perfidious man. X. And in case any question should arise between the lessee and others, the same shall be submitted to the commissioners there, without any appeal or further com plaint being allowed. XI. The lessee submits himself, moreover, as a faithful subject to all the regula tions, orders, and conditions made by the Patroon, and read before him, regarding dwelling together, and to all the statutes and ordinances to be hereafter made. XII. The lessee promising, on the passing of the aforesaid lease, to comport him self faithfully in the said quality, and to fully follow the same; nor to defraud the Patroon in the least, nor in the most directly nor indirectly, all under mortgage of his person and goods, moveable and immoveable, having and to have, submitting the whole thereof, and the adjudication thereof, to the constraint of all laws and judges. XIII. Finally, have the guardians and lessors reserved, in case the aforesaid bouwerye should be leased by the commissaries there, before the arrival of the lessee there, that this lease shall be null, and the aforesaid Curler being shown another bouwerye, the commissaries there shall in that case agree with him there upon, wherewith Curler is satisfied and agreed. A good idea of the condition of the Dutch settlements in Rensse laerwyck and elsewhere along the Hudson river in their earliest days may be gleaned from the following contribution to a London publica tion — the Planter's Plea — -in 1630, from the pen of an Englishman: This which they have settled in New England upon Hudson's river, with no extra ordinary charge or multitude of people, is knowne to subsist in a comfortable manner, and to promise fairlie both to the state and undertakers. The cause is evident: The men whom they carrie, though they be not many, are well chosen, and knowne to be useful and serviceable; and they second them with seasonable and fit supplies, cher ishing them as carefully as their own families, and employ them in profitable labors, that are knowne to be of speciall use to their comfortable subsisting. This was the view taken by a disinterested critic who evidently had learned much of the character of the persons who were to become colonists before the first expedition left Holland. The extract quoted is of value in reminding us of the qualities of the early colonists and the care taken in selecting them and providing for them by the first patroon. Ten years after this was written the thrifty Dutchmen who had located on both banks of the Hudson, or North river, as it was com- 28 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. monly known in the earlier days, had become such a body of traders that they found it almost impossible to supply the Indians, particularly the ferocious Mohawks, with the muskets and powder which the latter sought with great avidity. The business grew to great proportions and for some time about every settler, whether a farmer or not, was a trader principally. The Indians willingly paid as much as twenty beavers for a musket, many times its worth, and from ten to twelve guilders or its value in barter for a pound of gunpowder. As soon as the great profits accruing from these transactions became known outside the colony other traders from Holland brought over large quantities of guns and other munitions of war and the Mohawks, the best customers of the Dutchmen, soon became the best armed of the Indian tribes and made raid after raid upon neighboring tribes from the north end of Lake Champlain to the island of Manhattan. From the original records of the transactions of the colony which have been preserved it is evident that one of the principal aims of the founders of the colony was to secure for themselves the valuable trade in furs, the principal market for which centered at the point where they made their purchases and began their settlement. To secure to them selves this trade they rigidly excluded from the colony all foreign and unlicensed traders. The Dutch West India company had ceased to keep Fort Orange supplied with foreign goods and the patroon and his partners were alone privileged to import foreign merchandise of any character. In the beginning all the colonists were bound under oath not to purchase any furs from the Indians without first having obtained a license so to do. It was comparatively easy to enforce this rule, by reason of an article in the charter defining the rights of the patroon in this direction. Later on most of the settlers procured this license and thereafter they were privileged to trade with the Indians in furs as well as other articles. The patroon, however, under this arrangement retained half the profits of all the transactions for awhile, his agreement with the colonists, who became dissatisfied, subsequently entitling him to only one sixth of the beavers and one guilder duty on the other five-sixths. Under this plan prices became so high that the authorities of Fort Orange and Rensselaerwyck were obliged to fix a limit to the price to be paid and to prohibit one trader from taking advantage of another by going into the woods to trade, all the traders thereby being placed on an equal footing. EARLY RIVALRY IN TRADE. 29 The license system introduced by the patroon and the great profits which resulted incited a number of private individuals to embark in the fur trade surreptitiously, in defiance of the restrictions imposed by the patroon. Within a short time the private traders secured prac tically all the benefits of exchange with the Indians by meeting the latter secretly, paying higher prices than the colonists were allowed to pay and securing all the most valuable skins, while the servants of the patroon arid the company could rarely buy a skin. Sailing vessels came up the river in defiance of the rules laid down and carried away thousands of furs, and the colony was soon on the verge of impoverishment. To put an end to this infringement on his charter rights the patroon caused to be erected a fortified trading post on Beeren island, the southern boundary of the colony, determined to prevent illicit traders from entering his domain. This plan caused so much trouble that the council at Manhattan was compelled to interfere, on the ground that the patroon had no right to prevent vessels from navigating the Hudson, nor to impose any tax on them for so doing. The principl.e upon which the council stood was that the patroon had no authority over Fort Orange and that to interfere with traffic to and from that Fort would be disastrous to its interests. Notwithstanding this decision, over which there was so much wrangling, the patroon con tinued to hold the fort some time and to levy taxes upon all strangers who entered the colony by that route for the purpose of trade. Although we have no positive record of the fact, the first white man to make a settlement in any part of what is now Rensselaer county was probably Gerrit Tunnis De Reue, who located opposite Fort Orange in the present town of Greenbush. That he had become established at that point and begun the tilling of the soil and the raising of stock even before the colony of Killiaen Van Rensselaer was founded is evidenced by the fact that as early as 1631, according to authentic information, his farming interests were well advanced. How many years before that time he actually took possession of the lands is not shown by any records extant. Judging from accounts of the condition of his farm in 1631 it must have been under cultivation for three or four years when reference to it in existing records was made. Fort Orange was built in 1628. Previous to that time, however, the Dutch had made settle ments on an island just south of Fort Orange, called Fort Nassau, and at the mouth of the Normans Kill; and it is highly probable that some 30 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. settlement was made on the east bank of the river fully as early. The fact that the settlers on both sides of the river — as is shown by the early records for many years — considered themselves as belonging to the same little colony would indicate that settlements were made on both the west and east banks at about the same time. It is certain, however, that Gerrit Tunnis De Reue had occupied his farm in Greenbush for one year, if not for three or four, when his name and property first appear upon the public records. Some writers have assumed that it would not be amiss to fix the date at 1628, but this question is one that never can be settled, nor is it of prime importance. While there doubtless were several other settlements of land on the east bank of the Hudson earlier than 1646, the authentic records re lating to them have been lost, with rare exceptions. In that year we learn that Thomas Chambers leased a bouwery between the Poesten kill and the Wynants kill, opposite the farm called the Flatt, which was leased to Arendt van Curler in 1647 and which afterward became the Schuyler farm. Chambers's farm occupied much of the land embraced in the site of the southern part of the city of Troy. The lease given to Chambers by the authorities of the colony of Rensselaerwyck has been preserved among the archives of Albany county. It reads as follows : This day, 7th of September, anno 1646, the presiding officers of the colonie Rens selaerwyck on one side, and Thomas Chamber on the other, have agreed and con sented about a certain parcel of land, lying right opposite the bouwerie called tbe Flatt (de Vlachte), on the east bank of the river, between the two kills, which land he, Thomas aforesaid, shall occupy as a bouwerie for the term of five successive years, commencing the 15th of November, anno 1647, on the following conditions: Thomas Chamber shall build free of all cost and charges, and without claiming a doit in return from the Lord Patroon, at his own expense, a farm house sixty feet long, twenty feet wide in the clear, the projection and all in proportion as occasion may require, all faithful and firm work, without further specifying the same; but in all its parts and members similar to the barn of the Poenje. A dwelling house apart and separate from the barn, thirty-two feet long, eighteen feet wide, with a projec tion on one side, the posts above the beams projecting two feet and a half, honest work, without specification, and without any expense to the Patroon as aforesaid. Further, tbe haggarts, palisades, and in fine everything free of charge to the Patroon. On condition of receiving in hand two mares and two studs, and moreover, two milch cows, the increase being on halves; but herein he shall enjoy the privilege of the bouweries which shall be leased on the arrival of the Director ; the risk is also half and half, except such as the Indians may kill, which shall be at the sole risk of the Patroon, on sufficient proof being brought thereof. In case any opportunity shall THE ORIGINAL CHAMBERS LEASE. 31 offer to erect a mill on the aforesaid bouwerie, the said Thomas shall be preferred before all others, on the same condition as others, or as shall then be agreed upon. For the summer sowing of the year 1647 shall be given tenths, and therewith be quit. The last seed which he shall plant in the bouwerie he is at liberty to thresh without payment. The tenths of the lease years remain, as on the other bouweries. The risk of the houses and barns remain at the charge of Thomas Chamber. The said Thomas shall preserve the said house and barns above and around, and within, in firm and fast repair, without allowing any damage to befall them, and the land all around, as far as is necessary, enclose with fences not over two years old, delivering up and transporting to the Lord Patroon, or his resident agent here, free of cost and charges, at the expiration of his lease. And the said houses, barns, and fences, shall be the Patroon's rent for the aforesaid five years. In case it should happen, which God forbid, that war should break out between us and the Indians, and Thomas be obliged to fly from the bouwerie, the time that he shall be absent shall be allowed him, and the time begin again when "he shall return. And whereas Thomas Chambers demands assurance that these couditions shall be ratified by the Lords Masters without diminution, addition, or annulment, therefore do we, in the name of the Lords aforesaid, promise and garanty to the said Thomas that there shall be no failure or neglect in whatever is mentioned and agreed upon here, but, on the contrary, all shall be maintained even as if our Lords aforesaid themselves drew them up. Thomas Chambers shall yearly pay, as an acknowledgment, five and twenty pounds of butter, during his lease. He shall make use of his pasture above and below his bouwerie without let or hindrance. Their worships, the presiding officers aforesaid, agree that he, Thomas, at the expiration of the above five successive years, shall cultivate the said bouwerie still three further years, provided he pay in addition to the tenths five hundred guilders yearly from the produce of the said bouwerie, at a valuation according to the rate that grain shall sell for at that time, and in addition to the aforesaid horses, one mare and one stud shall be delivered to him, according to agreement. Chambers was a farmer of the first class ; rich, for those days, and a man of influence. He paid his own expenses over from Holland and stocked his own farm. He was ambitious and consequently became restless and dissatisfied under the restraint to which he was subjected as a simple colonist in the feudal system established by the patroon. Less than six years after having obtained his valuable lease he left Rensselaerwyck with some of his neighbors and removed to Atkarkar ton or Esopus, he and his companions becoming the pioneer settlers of the county of Ulster. All other traces of the earliest occupation of lands within the limits of the county of Rensselaer are either de stroyed or are so vague that nothing definite or satisfactory is to be gleaned from them. 32 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. CHAPTER IV. The French and Indian War — Cause of the Hostilities — Expeditions Against Canada — Origin of Yankee Doodle — English Control of the Colony — The Strife Over the Government of the Hampshire Grants — Outrages Committed by the Bennington Mob — Temporary Government Organized by the Insurgents. The history of the tremendous struggle known as the French and Indian war, in reality a succession of wars extending over a period of about a century and a half, properly exploited, would require volumes in the telling. The part which Rensselaer county played in this long continued war was not of great importance, still it deserves a place in the archives of the county. The struggle was one for the control of the continent by three great nations. On the one hand were arrayed the Dutch and the English and their Indian allies in New Netherlands and New England ;¦ opposed to them were the French and their Indian allies in the north country, mainly the valley of the St. Lawrence. In reality it was the final struggle between France and England for co lonial supremacy on the great American continent. A sense of com mon danger led the colonists on the Atlantic coast in and about New York to unite to resist the impending domination of the French. The causes of the war were of long standing, but the actual contest did not begin until 1754. The territorial claims of the French and English conflicted on all sides. The sea coast had been colonized by Holland and England, and the Dutch, many years before, had surrendered the gov ernmental functions in New Netherlands to the English and the colony had become New York. The interior of the continent had been col onized by France, and England had few inland colonies. The French knew that if they could obtain control of the great valley of the Ohio they could confine the provinces of Great Britain to the country east of the Alleghany mountains. To accomplish this became for the time the sole ambition of the French ; to prevent the success of the scheme became the determination of the English. Thus matters stood at the opening of the French and Indian war. EARLY FRENCH AND INDIAN STRUGGLES. 33 The immediate cause of the hostilities was a conflict between colo nists of the two nations on the frontier during the initial attempts to colonize Ohio. Each knew, in general, something of the designs of the other and there was a hot strife to see which should first success fully occupy the land. The troubles in the eastern part of the colony of New York began in 1665 or 1666. In the latter year two expeditions against the Mohawks left Canada. The first was under Governor Courcelle and left Quebec January 9, but proved unsuccessful. The second left Fort St. Anne, on the Isle La Motte, at the northern end of Lake Champlain, in Octo ber, under Marquis de Tracy, lieutenant-governor of New France, and was composed of 600 regular troops. They passed through Saratoga county and reached the Mohawk valley not far from Schenectady. Their campaign was a triumphant one. Throughout the entire Mohawk valley they met with no opposition and the}' laid waste the Indian castles and cornfields, taking possession of the country in the name of France. They then returned unmolested to Canada and the savage Mohawks, now completely humbled, made no demonstration against any of their neighbors for a score of years. From 1686 to 1695 the Mohawks and the French continued the strug gle, which had been renewed by the former in revenge for the spoliation of their beautiful valley twenty years before. In August, 1689, the Mohawks, 900 warriors strong, journeying most of the distance in bark canoes through Lake George and Lake Champlain, invaded the very stronghold of the French on the island of Montreal, carrying death and destruction with them. Late in the following winter the bloody mas sacre at Schenectady occurred, when Lieutenant Le Moyne de St. Helene, with a band of French soldiers and their Indian allies from the north, swept down upon the little hamlet at midnight on the 8th of February, 1690, slaughtered most of the inhabitants and drove the rest from their homes. The first call for a general congress of the American colonies was made by Massachusetts in 1690 in accordance with a popular demand that the colonies should organize an armed force for common defence against the French and Indians. In accordance with the call commis sioners from the colonies of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia and Maryland met in the city of New York May 1, 1690, and agreed to raise a force of 855 men to repel the French and Indian in- 34 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. vasion and if possible to wrest Canada from the French. The cam paign was a disastrous one. In accordance with the suggestion of the congress an expedition was fitted out and placed in command of Gen. Fitz-John Winthrop of Connecticut. Winthrop left Hartford July 14, 1690, and August 2 met Major Peter Schuyler of Albany at Saratoga. They pushed on a short distance north, but finally aban doned the idea of fighting, leaving the first expedition of the united forces a complete failure. A short time afterward, however, Capt. John Schuyler, brother of Peter, made a raid upon the Canadian settle ment of La Prairie. The year afterward Major Peter Schuyler at tacked the same place; but the raid was of no practical benefit to the united colonies. In 1709, during Queen Anne's war, another expedition against Can ada was planned, and June 1 it started out in command of Gen. Nich olson. Divisions of the little army were in command of Peter Philip Schuyler, now a colonel, and his brother, John Schuyler, who had be come a lieutenant-colonel. They built several forts along the upper Hudson, which they named respectively Fort Ingoldesby, after the lieutenant-governor of the province of New York; Fort Saratoga, Fort Miller Falls, Fort Nicholson, in honor of the commanding general; and Fort Schuyler, later called Fort Anne. This expedition also was a failure. Aug. 24, 1711, Gen. Nicholson headed another expedition from Albany, but returned after reaching Fort Anne and learning that the English fleet in the St. Lawrence, which was to co-operate with him, had been almost destroyed by severe storms and 1,000 men lost. This ended this campaign, which the first continental congress thought would be successful, every expedition having accomplished practically nothing. For over thirty years after Nicholson's last expedition peace reigned throughout the valleys of the Hudson river and Lake Champlain. The latter had become a province of France and the construction by the French of Fort St. Frederick, at Crown Point, was evidence that they proposed to defend what they considered their rights in that region. The most northerly of the English settlements was at Sara toga when hostilities were renewed, in 1745. The attacking party were the French and their northern Indian allies, who, at the dead of night on Nov. 15, descended without warning upon the settlement at Saratoga, killed and scalped 30 of the inhabitants and took nearly 60 THE WAR OP 1755. 35 prisoners. This raid was the signal for general hostilities. For over two years massacres followed one another in rapid succession, the methods of warfare pursued being those of the Indians. They usually came without a moment's warning, descending upon the settlers with a rush, murdering or scalping large numbers in Saratoga, Washington and Rensselaer counties and completing the desolation of the country by the application of the torch. Peace was once more proclaimed in May, 1748, and for seven years thereafter the colonists were allowed to clear the land, till the soil and indulge in trade without molestation. The greatest of all so-called French and Indian wars, and the last, by which French dominion in the colonies came to an end forever, was that which began in 1755. The war was simply the culmination of all the previous unsettled" disputes. Both France and England realized that it was the final struggle — the fight to the death. In anticipation of the impending struggle, a congress of the colonies, the second con gress of the kind in the history of the country, was held at Albany June 19, 1754. The" objects of the congress were twofold: First, to renew the treaty with the Iroquois Indians; second, to arouse the colonial authorities to the necessity of some concerted action against the French. It was at this congress that Benjamin Franklin offered his famous plan of union, generally called the " Albany plan," by which he pro posed to unite all the English colonies in America under one general government, with headquarters in Philadelphia. This was the plan most generally favored and it was adopted by the congress; but both the colonial legislatures and the British Parliament promptly rejected it, and the first attempt at federal union failed. In the mean time the Iroquois had renewed their treaty. England, though refusing to rec ognize the right of the colonies to form a union, even for protection, realized that her honor and the welfare of the colonies were at stake, and Parliament decided to send an army to America to help the colo nists repel the French invaders. The frontier must be protected against further invasions at all hazards, said the English. While war had not been declared, it was decided to take immediate steps to repel the French on the western and northern frontier. A commander was assigned to each colony. Sir William Johnson of Johnstown, who had been appointed colonel of the Six Nations in 1744 by Governor George Clinton, in April, 1755, was placed in command of the army in the colony of New York by General Braddock and given the rank of major-general. He was directed to enroll a force of vol- 36 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. unteers and Mohawks in British pay, and to capture the French post at Crown Point. The expedition entrusted to Gen. Johnson was most important. Its object was not alone to capture the enemy's fort at Crown Point, but also to drive the French from the shores of Lake Champlain. His army numbered 3,400 men, including a body of excellent fighters from among the Mohawk warriors. The active work of the campaign began early in August, when General Phineas Lyman, in command of the New England troops, proceeded to the Hudson above Albany and built Fort Hardy in Old Saratoga. Further up he built Fort Edward. Gen. Johnson, too, constructed several forts. The scenes in this war, how ever interesting they may have been to the early inhabitants of Rens selaer county, must be dropped here with this passing mention, as they had no bearing, except in a general way, upon the interests of the county. During the last of the French and Indian wars Major-General James Abercrombie, with more than 10,000 British troops, in 1758, encamped in the lower part of what is now Greenbush. Soon after sixteen co lonial regiments arrived and a little later four more regiments from Connecticut. It was while these troops were in camp at this point that the song known as Yankee Doodle, originally intended as a satire on the Connecticut regiments, was composed by Dr. Shackburg, a surgeon in the British army. The general appearance of these troops greatly amused the well drilled and well uniformed British soldiers, and they were laughed at and derided until they became a by-word, not only in the camp but in Albany. They were called Yankee Doodles, and the song which Dr. Shackburg composed was dedicated to and named after them. , The music was adapted from an old song written in England many years before, and for a long time preserved in rhymes of the nursery : " Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; Nothing in it, nothing in it, But the binding round it." Just what Dr. Shackburg's composition was it is impossible at this day to tell, for parody after parody has been written since that time. The tune, however, is practically the same to-day as it was when the original Yankee Doodle was written, except for the interpolation of a few notes to fit the increased number of syllables in the stanzas. The s^rh.^ --;-• ¦ "_ ¦ "¦¦¦¦ :'¦¦- --_- _/._-.- _- .' "-¦' tsL^l DUTCH CONTROL AT AN END. 37 purpose of the composition was fulfilled and the Connecticut soldiers, who took the joke good-naturedly, called it "Nation Fine." Less than a score of years afterward, upon the surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga October 17, 1777, the captured enemy marched between the lines of the victorious Yankees to the tune which a British soldier had composed, and which by that time had become the only national air which the Americans had. It was during the first of the long series of French and Indian wars that New Netherlands ceased to exist and New York took its place, Dutch control being succeeded, mercifully without resort to blood shed, by English. The story is one familiar to all. The Dutch had tired of the narrow, selfish dominion of the Dutch West India Com pany. England and Holland were at peace. March 12, 1664, Charles II, king of England, gave to his brother, the Duke of York, two ex tensive patents for American territory. The first of these embraced the district reaching from the Kennebec to the St. Croix river, the sec ond included all the territory between the Connecticut and the Dela ware rivers. Thus, with one stroke of the pen, the unscrupulous Eng lish monarch robbed the friendly kingdom of Holland of the great American province which it had so hardly earned. The Dutch West India Company, through whose efforts the valley of the Hudson and the contiguous territor)' was populated and the development of its re sources begun, was treated with the highest contempt. In order to leave no time for the frustration of his designs the Duke of York made immediate preparations to take possession of the vast territory granted him. Richard Nicolls was immediately placed in command of an Eng lish squadron, which reached Boston in July and proceeded from there to New Amsterdam. The fleet anchored in Gravesend bay August 28, an English camp was pitched without delay at Brooklyn ferry and be fore the sleepy Dutch were aware of the fact that the supremacy of Holland was threatened the whole of Long Island had been subdued. Peter Stuyvesant, the brave and loyal governor of the colony, sent i commissioners to inquire the meaning of the hostile demonstration. Nicolls quietly demanded the surrender of New Amsterdam and New Netherlands in the name of the King of England and the Duke of York and an immediate acknowledgment of the sovereignty of England. Stuyvesant thereupon convened the council of New Amsterdam. The burgomasters, who truly represented the spirit of the majority of the colonists, decided to surrender. The Dutch had been witnessing the 38 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. prosperity and development of the English colonies in New England, while they themselves were held in check for the sake of enriching the West India company. The English colonies had better schools, lighter taxes and there were practically no poor among them. From Troy to New York, in the Dutch colony, there was not an institution of learn ing worthy of the name. Liberty and personal rights were hardly known in the Dutch district, while the English were comparatively free men. Everything tended to render the Dutch dissatisfied with their lot. Stuyvesant doubtless realized these facts, as did the burgo- rnasters of New Amsterdam, but he was loyal to his country and en- ' deavored to excite those under him to fight. But he was forced to capitulate, and Sept. 8, 1664, New Netherlands ceased to exist and New Amsterdam became New Y^ork. Sixteen days afterward Fort Orange surrendered and thereafter was known as Albany, these two principal cities receiving their new names respectively from the Duke of York and the Duke of Albany. No conquest on American soil was ever more complete or more bloodless. English supremacy was established at once and for all time. The history of New York under the English during the few years immediately succeeding their assumption of control is well known. Richard Nicolls, the first English governor of New York, began his duties by settling the boundaries of his province, a work of a very vexatious character. In 1667 he was superseded by Lovelace, a still greater tyrant than Nicolls. The Dutch and English colonists were always friends, even while England and Holland were at war. The reconquest of the colony by the Dutch was little more than a brief military occupation of the country, the civil authority of Holland never being re-established. The administration of Sir Edmund Andros, a miserable failure, witnessed the rapid growth of the popular demand for fuller civil rights for the people and a legislative assembly. Thomas Dongan, a Catholic, became governor of the province in 1683, with instructions to accede to the popular demand and call an assembly of freeholders. This was done and for the first time in the history of the province the people were permitted to have a voice in the selection of their rulers and the framing of the laws which were to govern them. The new assembly granted all freeholders the right of suffrage. Trial by jury was established; taxes should no more be levied, it was de clared, without the consent of the assembly; soldiers should not be quartered on the people; martial law was to prevail no more, and religious liberties were guaranteed. EARLY CAUSES OF THE ANTI-RENT WARS. 39 In July, 1684, the governors of New York and Virginia met the chiefs of the Iroquois and adopted a treaty which provided for a last ing peace. The French Canadians, particularly the Jesuits, made desperate efforts to induce the Indians to go back on their word, and even invaded the Mohawk valley twice — in 1684 and 1687 — as described elsewhere, with the intention of frightening the Mohawks and Oneidas into submission; but without avail. The friendly Iroquois from this time on were a bulwark of strength to the English and Dutch, and it was through their assistance that the French invaders were finally driven back to Canada forever. By the surrender of the colony to the English in 1664 the personal rights of the colonists were secured and a new charter was granted to the patroon, restricting his civil power but confirming the relations existing between landlord and tenant. By laws enacted by the colonial legislature a few years subsequent to the close of the Revolution the feudal tenure was abolished, but the proprietors of manor grants were unwilling to relinquish their feudal claims, and continued a form of deed by which the grantees agreed to perforin certain duties and make certain payments precisely similar to those abolished by the laws. The people who had settled on these manors had long been dissatisfied and restive under the feudal exactions. This dissatisfaction increased as the years went by and became the one thing above all others which tended to make the inhabitants of the manor discontented with their lot. The taxes imposed were not very high but the principle on which they were levied and the general plan of land-tenure was one which, though originally freely accepted by the colonists, was not in harmony with the spirit of freedom which had begun to pervade the new country and which was rapidly developing in Rensselaerwyck as elsewhere. It was this increasing spirit which finally culminated in the famous Anti- Rent Wars, during which the distasteful and unpopular feudal system was finally overthrown. It is not necessary to trace the history of the manor of Rensselaer wyck through all the subsequent years. The main points of interest are found in the brief sketch of the various wars — if the}' may properly be called wars — between the French and Indians of the north and the combined forces of the English, Dutch and Iroquois on the south. After the English came into control affairs in Rensselaerwyck went on much as before. Development on all lines was gradual and marked by no event worthy of a prominent place in the annals of the colony. New 40 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. settlers continued to arrive and trade was gradually expanded in all directions. During the long years of the French and Indian wars the* inhabitants of Rensselaerwyck were in constant fear that their pros perous colony would become the scene of some conflict such as those with which the country to the north of them was afflicted, but their fears proved groundless. They were peaceful, contented, happy, till ing the soil, erecting new farms, indulging in trade with the Indians and in turn with the inhabitants of the rapidly growing city of New York and with English ports. Large ships ascended the river and departed richly laden with the wares which constituted the foundation of their wealth. There was little poverty. The inhabitants were sturdy and resolute and gradually worked their way into the wilder ness surrounding them. They lived simply and in harmony with one another. Their houses were humble, but there was no lack of that hospitality for which the Dutch were noted in those days. Perhaps the fact that many years passed by without events that go to make up sen sational history accounts, more than any other single thing, for the conservative spirit which characterized the inhabitants of Rensselaer county in succeeding years. From the close of the last French and Indian war up to the scenes connected with the inauguration of the War of the Revolution little is to be said of the progress of Rensselaer county. The population in creased at a satisfactory rate and the natural resources of the county were developed, gradually and thoroughly. The inhabitants were too busily occupied in attending to their industrial interests to pay more than passing attention to the events preceding that memorable struggle for independence and which engrossed the attention of the cities and more populous communities. When the time came that men and money were needed to fight to secure the independence of the colonies, Rensselaer county was not found lacking' in patriotism, as the annals of the county show. Before the actual operations of this great struggle were begun the colony of New York, and particularly that portion of it now embraced in Washington and Rensselaer counties, were deeply agitated over a bitter controversy respecting the title of certain lands in the southern part of the " Hampshire Grants." The Hampshire Grants constituted practically the present State of Vermont, and the ownership of the territory was disputed by New Y7ork and New Hampshire. New York set up a stout claim to that section comprised in the town of Bennington and vicinity. Rensselaer THE HAMPSHIRE GRANTS. 41 county still formed a part of the original county of Albany, and Wash ington county was embraced in Charlotte county. The disagreement began in provincial times over the boundary line between the provinces. In the Great Patent of New England granted in 1620 by King James the territory was described as follows : " All that circuit, continent, precinct and limits in America, lying and being in breadth from forty degrees northerly latitude from the equinoctial line to forty-eight degrees of the said northerly latitude, and in length by all the breadth aforesaid, throughout the mainland from sea to sea, with all the seas, rivers, islands, creeks, inlets, ports and havens within the degrees, precincts and limits of the said latitude and longitude." Charles II, in his grant to the Duke of York, defined the boundaries of the province of New York " from the west side of the Connecticut river to the east side of the Delaware bay. " These boundaries, as defined, led to many years of bitter contro versy, which was not terminated until the colony of New York became a State at the close of the War of the Revolution. Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire and Governor Clinton of New York endeavored to settle the boundary in 1649 to allow prospective settlers from New Hampshire to take up lands in the disputed territory. Gov ernor Clinton maintained that the Connecticut river was the eastern limit of the province of New York, and Governor Wentworth, who had sent out a surveyor to mark the line, insisted that a continuation of the western boundary of Massachusetts struck the Hudson about eighty poles above the mouth of the Mohawk. Governor Clinton still object ing to have his domain thus narrowed, Governor Wentworth wrote that inasmuch as Connecticut and Massachusetts laid claim to the land west of the Connecticut river to a line about twenty miles east of the Hudson and running about parallel with the stream, he should insist upon the same line for the western boundary of New Hampshire, thus laying claim for New Hampshire to all the present State of Vermont. To made good his claim he announced that he had already made one grant to colonists of about thirty-six square miles of land north of the Massachusetts line and about twenty-four miles easterly of Albany. This township Governor Benning Wentworth named Bennington in his own honor. Governor Clinton asked Governor Wentworth to annul the grant he had made, but this the latter executive firmly declined to 42 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. do. This wrangle was kept up for fourteen years, and in the mean time the colony at Bennington continued to flourish. With the evident intention of settling officially and for all time the controversy, on Dec. 28, 1763, Cadwallader Colden, lieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief of the province of New York, issued a long proclamation declaring the eastern boundary of his province. After citing the conditions of the grants issued by King Charles March 12, 1663-64, and June 29, 1674, to the Duke of York, and calling attention to the limits of New Hampshire as defined in the letters patent of July 3, 1741, the ruler of New Y"ork declared and ordered: And whereas it manifestly appears by the several grants or letters patents above recited, that the province of New York is bounded to the eastward by the river Con necticut ; that the province of New Hampshire, being expressly limited in its extent westward and northward by His Majesty's other governments, is confined to the same river as to its western boundary ; and that the said government of New Hamp shire is not entitled to jurisdiction westward, beyond the limits of that river. And whereas the said government of New Hampshire, tho' fully apprized of the right of this government, under the Letters Patent aforementioned to the Duke of York; and sensible also that His Majesty had not been pleased to establish other boundaries between his said two provinces, hath granted lands westward of Con necticut river, within the limits and jurisdiction of the government of New York; in virtue whereof, sundry persons, ignorant that they could not derive a legal title under such grants, have attempted the settlement of the lands included therein, and have actually possessed themselves of soil before granted within this province; while others claiming under the said government of New Hampshire, have endeavored to impose on the inhabitants here, by offering to sale at a low rate, whole townships of six miles square lately granted by the government westward of Connecticut river. To prevent therefore the incautious from becoming purchasers of the lands so granted, to assert the rights, and fully to maintain the jurisdiction of the govern ment of this His Majesty's Province of New York ; I have thought fit, with the ad vice of His Majesty's council, to issue this proclamation, hereby commanding and re quiring all Judges, Justices and other civil officers within the same to continue to ex ercise jurisdiction in their respective functions, as far as to the banks of Connecticut river, the undoubted eastern limits of that part of the province of New York, not withstanding any contrariety of jurisdiction claimed by the government of New Hampshire, or any grant of lands westward of that river, made by the said govern ment, and I do hereby enjoin the High Sheriff of the county of Albany, to return to me or the commander in chief, the names of all and every person and persons, who under the grants of the government of New Hampshire, do or shall hold the posses sion of any lands westward of Connecticut river, that they may be proceeded against according to law. On March 13 of the next year Governor Wentworth issued a counter- proclamation which, after citing the salient points in the grants re- GOV. WENTWORTH'S COUNTER PROCLAMATION. 43 ferred to, with a vastly different interpretation, however, and referring in a sarcastic vein to Colden's proclamation, contained these clauses: The said proclamation carrying an air of government in it, may perhaps effect and retard the settlement of His Majesty's lands granted by this government, for pre venting an injury to the Crown of this kind, and to remove all doubts that may arise to persons holding the king's grants, fhey may be assured that the patent to the Duke is obsolete, and cannot convey any certain boundary to New York that can be claimed as a boundary, as plainly appears by the several boundary lines of the Jerseys, on the west, and the Colony of Connecticut on the east, which are set forth in the proclamation as part only of the land included in the said patent to the Duke of York. To the end thereof, that the grantees now settled, and settling on those lands under His Late and present Majesty's Charters, may not be intimidated, or in any way hindered or obstructed in the improvement of the land so granted as well as to ascertain the right and maintain the jurisdiction of His Majesty's government of New Hampshire as far westward as to include the grants made, I have thought fit, by and with the consent of His Majesty's council, to issue this proclamation hereby encouraging the several grantees claiming under this government, to be industrious in clearing and cultivating their lands agreeable to their respective grants. And I do hereby require and command all civil officers within this province, of what quality soever, as well as those that are not, as those that are inhabitants on the said lands to continue and be diligent in exercising jurisdiction in their respective offices, as far westward as grants of land have been made by this government, and to deal with any person or persons, that may presume to interrupt the inhabitants or settlers on said lands as to law and justice doth appertain, the pretended right of jurisdiction mentioned in the aforesaid proclamation notwithstanding. The court of St. James decided the contest in favor of New York by an order issued July 20, 1764, in which it was declared that ' ' the western banks of the river Connecticut, from where it enters the province of the Massachusetts Bay, as far north as the forty-fifth degree of north ern latitude " were " the boundary line between the said two provinces of New Hampshire and New York." But the controversy was not to end here. Many settlers from Connecticut and New Hampshire had entered the disputed territory, built homes and commenced the cultiva tion of the land. In 1768, 138 townships had been laid out in the Hampshire Grants with the permission of the governer of New Hamp shire. The colonists organized and desperately resisted the continued attempts of the authorities of New York to evict them. They were de termined not to be compelled to pay New York for their land, having already paid the government of New Hampshire therefor. In retaliation for the efforts of the New York officials to dispossess them they ad ministered many a sound threshing to the colonial agents who visited 44 L,AJNUMAKK.S UF KKN SSELAER COUNTY. them for the purpose of enforcing the decree of the English govern ment. Not content with this these sturdy pioneers, goaded to despera tion, organized small bands and invaded Rensselaer and Washington counties, killing stock, burning buildings, destroying growing crops and committing other depredations. They were led in their numerous raids by Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, Remember Baker and others — all true patriots during the fight for in dependence which followed a few years later — who were referred to by the New York authorities as "the Bennington mob." The Walloom- sac patent of 12,000 acres, which lay partly in Rensselaer county, partly in Washington county and partly in Vermont, was the theatre of considerable contention. As an illustration of the character of the clashes which occurred the following old account will suffice: James Breakenridge owned a farm on the Walloomsac Patent, which was situated in the town of Bennington, near the line of Hoosick. In July, 1771, Henry Ten Eyck, the Sheriff of Albany County, summoned a posse, numbering 200 or "00 of the principal citizens of the city, and started to take possession of Breakenridge's farm, held under a grant from New Hampshire. The first day they proceeded to Sancoik, near North Hoosick, where they remained over night. The citizens had received warning of their approach and had assembled, resolved to defend the rights of their neighbor. When the Sheriff's posse arrived at what is now known as the Henry Bridge, they were stopped by a small guard placed there for that purpose, while a large number was concealed at a little distance, awaiting further developments. After a short parley, the Mayor of Albany and a few of the most distinguished of the com pany, were allowed to proceed to the house of Breakenridge, which they found bar ricaded, loop-holed and guarded by about twenty armed men The Sheriff on being re fused admittance caused the writ of possession to be read, but no attention was paid to it. A large part of the Sheriff's posse, seeing that they had a resolute band of men to contend with and that peaceable possession could not be gained, thought discretion the better part of valor, and all finally retreated without any shedding of blood. Affidavits of several of the party are found in ' ' Documentary History of New York," Vol. 4, among which is that of John R. Bleeker, who says he had "great reason to think that if the Sheriff had attempted to break open the said house he would have been in the utmost danger of losing his life, and all those that would have assisted him in the attempt." Among the outrages committed by the Bennington Mob, it was alleged that they had "seized, insulted and terrified Magistrates and other civil officers, so that they dare not execute their respective functions ; rescued prisoners for debt, assumed to themselves military commands and judicial powers; burned and demolished the houses and property and beat and abused the persons of many of His Majesty's sub jects, expelled them from their possessions, and put a period to the administration of justice, and spread terror and destruction throughout that part of the country which is exposed to their oppression." In consideration of these outrages and the JURISDICTION OP NEW YORK ESTABLISHED. 45 recommendation of the Assembly of the State of New York, the Governor says: " 1 have therefore thought fit with the advice of His Majesty's Council to issue this Proclamation hereby strictly enjoining and commanding all Magistrates, Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs and other civil officers of the Counties of Albany and Charlotte to apprehend and take the before named Ethan Allen, late of Bennington in the County of Albany, yeoman, Seth Warner late of the same place, yeoman, Remember Baker, late of Arlington in said County, yeoman, Robert Cochran, late of Rupert in the County of Charlotte, yeoman, Peter Sunderland, late of Socialborough in the said County, yeoman, Sylvanus Brown, late of the same place, yeoman, and James Breakenridge, late of Wallumschaick in the County of Albany, yeoman, and John Smith, late of Socialborough in the said County of Charlotte, yeoman, and them to commit to safe and secure custody in the Gaol of the City and County of Albany to answer for several offenses and to be dealt with according to law." The Governor, in the Proclamation, offers a reward of one hundred pounds for apprending each of them the said Ethan Allen and Remember Baker, and the sum of fifty pounds for apprehending each and every one of them the said Seth Warner, Robert Cochran, Peleg Sunderland, Sylvanus Brown, James Breakenridge and John Smith to be paid to the person or persons who shall take and secure the said offenders that they may be proceeded against as the law directs. For nearly a score of years these doughty pioneers terrorized the eastern frontier of New York. The authorities of New York, though making a show of attempting to quell the disorder, were either help less or indifferent. At the close of the war the little rebellion was continued. The settlers knew they were legally under the jurisdiction of the State, now independent, but they nevertheless refused to recog nize the right of the government to deprive them of their possessions. For a while all was chaos. A temporary government was organized by the insurgents, who, to annoy the New Y^ork authorities, mockingly set up a claim to jurisdiction over Rensselaer and Washington counties. They frequently attempted to serve legal processes in the very heart of Rensselaer county, and more than once their officers came within sight of the land now embraced in the city of Troy on these errands. This anarchy — it can hardly be called a government — existed under the name of New Connecticut, or Vermont, until the territory in dispute was admitted as a State in the Union in 1791, the same year in which Rensselaer county was erected from Albany county. Nine years be fore that date the towns of Granville, Cambridge and White Creek, in Washington county, which had been induced to join the insurgents withdrew from the outlawed organization and acknowledged the au thority of the State of New York. During the early years of the Revolutionary War the inhabitants of the east district of the manor of Rensselaerwyck were in a state bor- 46 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. dering on terror on account of the numerous robberies which occurred in that section. Complaint was made to the local authorities without avail and finally, March 11, 1780, the State Legislature, which had been organized September 10, 1777, passed a law directing the super visor of the east district to raise by taxation a sum not exceeding 1,500 pounds, "together with a sum not exceeding one shilling in the pound for collecting the same," to be employed in the payment of "rangers," whose duties should be to arrest the freebooters and bring them to justice. Many arrests followed under this authority, but the work of arresting and punishing the robbers was continued for several years before their depredations were finally brought to an end. CHAPTER V. The War of the Revolution and the Participation Therein of the Colonists of Rensselaerwyck— General Schuyler Deposed— Baum's Proclamation— The Famous Battle of Bennington and the events Leading up to It— Fought Entirely within the Town of Hoosick— The Accounts of General Stark and Lieutenant Glick— Losses on Both Sides— Direct Result of the Battle — The Decisive Action at Saratoga. We do not think it possible for any historian to shed any new light on matters relating to the participation of the inhabitants of Rens selaer county in the War of the Revolution. One of the greatest battles in the history of that memorable struggle for independence on the part of the American colonies was fought entirely within the limits of the county of Rensselaer — yet all the credit of it, so far as the casual student of the present generation may be interested, goes to a village in the neighboring State of Vermont ! This great fight, which is known as the battle of Bennington, should have been called the battle of Hoosick or the battle of Walloomscoick or Wal- loomsac or Walloomsack. The fight retains the name of the Battle of Bennington, by which it at once became known, for the reason that the secret expedition which started out for the Connecticut valley by the orders of Gen. Burgoyne, had for its first objective point the little vil lage of Bennington, which fortunately was never reached. The events which preceded this battle may be summarized in a few GENERAL BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN. 47 words. Every child knows the "causes which led up to the War of the Revolution and we will waste no words in a description of them. The campaign of Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne is acknowl edged to have been one of the most important events of the whole war. This officer, one of the most valiant and distinguished in the British service, arrived at Quebec in March, 1777, superseding Sir Guy Carle- ton in command of the British forces in Canada. He occupied the first two months after his arrival in the organization of a powerful army for the invasion of New York.. Early in June his forces numbered over ten thousand men. Of these seven thousand were British and Hes sian veterans, and the remainder were Canadians and Indians It was understood to be his plan to move upon Albany by way of Lake Cham plain, Lake George and the Upper Hudson. After reaching Albany it was his intention to continue down the river to New York and there join the main division of the British army. He hoped by this means to cut off New England from the Middle and Southern colonies and thus leave the whole country at the mercy of General Howe. He had no idea that it was possible for the colonial forces to offer any serious resistance to his progress, for his army was one of- the strongest Great Britain had mustered on American soil. Reaching St. Johns, at the north end of Lake Champlain, June 1, on the 16th of the month he began his journey down the lake to Crown Point. This place had been left undefended by the colonial forces and a British garrison was left in charge. Three thousand men under General St. Clair held Fort Ticonderoga, and Burgoyne, with practically his entire army, marched to this point. After capturing Mount Defiance the British planted a battery seven hundred feet above the American works. Mount Hope was next captured and retreat by way of Lake George was thereby cut off. The American forces un doubtedly would have been. compelled, to surrender had they attempted to maintain their position. St. Clair, realizing this fact, decided to abandon Fort Ticonderoga, which he did on the night of July 5, leav ing with his garrison by way of Mount Independence and Wood Creek, Vt. The Americans fled through Vermont until they reached Hub- bardton, at the north end of Lake Bomoseen, where they were over taken by the pursuing British forces. A sharp engagement followed, in which the Americans were defeated; but the latter succeeded in checking for awhile the progress of the enemy, finally retreating to Fort Edward. The British reached Whitehall the next day, where they captured a large quantity of baggage, stores and provisions, 48 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Fort Edward was at this time the temporary headquarters of the colonial Army of the North, under command of General Philip Schuy ler. Upon the arrival of St. Clair the combined American forces at Fort Edward numbered less than five thousand men, most of whom were militiamen, while the forces of Burgoyne, now at Whitehall, were about double. Furthermore many of Schuyler's men were with out arms and accoutrements. Schuyler felt the weakness- of his posi tion and decided to evacuate the fort. He retreated southward through the valley of the Hudson until he reached the islands at the mouth of the Mohawk river. Upon reaching Van Schaick's, now Adams's island, he pitched camp, determined if necessity compelled it, to prevent Burgoyne's army from reaching the navigable waters of the Hudson river. Haver island, the most northerly of the group in the delta of the Mohawk, was the most advantageous position for defense in the locality through which Schuyler believed Burgoyne must pass in order to reach New York. It was opposite the fords in the Mohawk river at Half Moon Point, now the village of Waterford. At this point Gen. Schuyler's men, under the direction of Thaddeus Kosciusko, engineer of the northern department, a noble Pole who greatly endeared himself to the Americans, threw up intrenchments and planted behind them several cannon, which commanded the river at this point. These small fortifications still exist on either side of the tracks of the Dela ware & Hudson railroad just south of the most northerly branch of the Mohawk. At this time an event occurred which caused the most profound regret among the friends of General Schuyler. The colonial Congress, probably not fully cognizant of all the facts in the case, deposed Gen. Schuyler and placed the Army of the North in command of the vain and incompetent General Horatio Gates. General Schuyler had suffered greatly from the intrigues of jealous officers, who represented that his capabilities as a warrior had been overestimated. The difficulties under which he labored were not understood. On all sides he was acknowledged an undoubted patriot with the highest motives, and while his bravery was never brought into question Congress was led to believe by his jealous rivals that he was not endowed with sufficient discretion properly to conduct the important campaign with which he had been intrusted. A retrospect of the famous Burgoyne expedi tion leads to the inevitable conclusion that the critics of General * x W * >~^ COLONEL BAUM'S EXPEDITION. 49 Schuyler were actuated by selfish motives alone, in all probability, and that he acted with good judgment. Had Burgoyne not been inter cepted at Saratoga he eventually must have attempted to cross the ford at Half Moon point in his march to New York. The advantageous position which Schuyler had selected there, coupled with the fact that he could easily have had the entire Army of the North where they could perform the most effective service, must have led to the defeat of the British forces ; and if he had not been superseded by General Gates one of the world's decisive battles would have been fought on the border of Rensselaer county. Burgoyne had made a boast that he would eat his Christmas dinner in Albany ; but he failed to appre ciate the fighting qualities of the men who were determined to stop him and the grand generalship of the commanders of the Army of the North. Colonel Friedrich Baum was a German officer in the service of the British, and a valiant soldier. He accompanied Gen. Burgoyne in his memorable expedition from Canada into New York, and upon his sagacity and military training Burgoyne placed great reliance. Baum was in command of a regiment of Hessian dragoons, well drilled, but like the Hessians who became an easy prey of the Americans at Tren ton, they were hirelings and they fought like hirelings. There was every reason why they should have won an easy victory over superior numbers of Americans, for the latter were poorly armed and inexperi enced in the field of battle. Burgoyne's supplies were fast disappear ing and he was obliged to branch out from the path he had outlined in order to secure provisions and stores for his army. - Leaving Whitehall he came on by way of Fort Ann, which the Americans had despoiled before leaving it, and thence through the woods and across obstructed roads to Fort Edward. He arrived at the latter point July 30 and de cided to wait there with the main body of his troops until he could obtain additional supplies, of which he had become in urgent need. Accordingly he dispatched Colonel Baum with five hundred picked men to Bennington, where he had ascertained there was a large quantity of provincial stores. Most of these stores had been brought across from the New England provinces. They consisted for the most part of cat tle, horses and wheel-carriages, which were guarded by a small body of militia only. In Burgoyne's written instructions to Col. Baum he made no mention of Bennington. He wrote that Baum should feel the public pulse, or "try the affections of the country;" that he should 7 50 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. "mount the Riedesel dragoons" and "complete Peters's corps;" and further that he should obtain large supplies of cattle, horses and car riages. The number of horses to be brought was thirteen hundred at the least. "You will use all possible means," he continued, " to make the country believe that the troops under your command are the ad vance corps of the army, and that it is intended to pass the Connecticut on the road to Boston. You will likewise insinuate that the main army from Albany is to be joined at Springfield by a corps of troops from Rhode Island." The expedition was practically a big foraging expedi tion. Burgoyne never told what secret instructions he had given to Baum, but there is no doubt that his written directions were intended to disguise his real plan, and that Bennington was the objective point of the expedition which terminated so disastrously. Burgoyne's instruction continued, in epitome, as follows: Baum was to go Battenkill, thence to Arlington, where he was to wait for a de tachment of the provincials under Capt. Sherwood. From there he was directed to go to Manchester, a few miles east, and take possession of the mountain road to Rockingham, sending the few Indians in his command and the light troops toward Otter Creek If no enemy ap peared on the Connecticut river, on their return he was to continue in his journey to Rockingham, the limit of his expedition. He was directed to use his judgment as to whether he should send his Indians and light troops up the Connecticut valley, but if he did on their return he was to march to Brattleboro and proceed thence by way of the turn pike to Albany, where he was to join Burgoyne and the main army, Burgoyne had planned well, but Baum never reached Rockingham, nor Manchester, nor Bennington ; and his superior, who believed his army invincible in the province of New York, never came any nearer to Albany than half way down Saratoga county. Burgoyne met defeat and capture; Baum met death and his force was almost annihilated within the limits of Rensselaer county. The battle with Burgoyne at Saratoga is now recorded among the decisive battles of the world ; but the outcome of that fight might have been different had Baum's mis sion succeeded. Baum was especially instructed to seize everything he could find in the way of horses and vehicles, also draught-oxen and cattle fit for slaughter. He was directed to give receipts to all persons who had complied with the "orders" contained in Burgoyne's proclamation, but the property of rebels was to be taken without exchanging vouchers. GENERAL BURGOYNE'S PROCLAMATION. 51 The proclamation to which the commanding general referred was is sued by Burgoyne while at Crown Point. After exhorting all the in habitants of the country through which he expected to pass to remain loyal, he offered employment to those who would join his forces and pay to all of whom he would demand provisions or stores. The proc lamation concluded as follows: If, notwithstanding these endeavors and sincere inclinations to effect them, the frenzy of hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted, in the eyes of God and man, in denouncing and executing the vengeance of the state against the willful outcasts. The messengers of justice and wrath await them in the field; and devas tation, famine, and every concomitant horror that a reluctant but indispensable prosecution of military duty must occasion will bar the way to their return. July 10 he issued another proclamation, addressed particularly to the inhabitants of Granville, Pawlet, Wells, Rutland, Castleton, Hubbard- ton and Tinmouth and to the people living in the districts bordering on Cambridge, White Creek and Cambden, calling upon them to send representatives to Castleton to meet Col. Skene, who would give them further encouragement and advice, if they had paid heed to the first proclamation; or, if they had not acknowledged allegiance to Great Britain, to learn of the conditions which they must fulfill in order to be spared from the righteous wrath with which they had been threat ened. Three days after Burgoyne's second proclamation, July 13, General Schuyler issued a counter proclamation to the inhabitants of the same locality in which, after reminding the persons interested of the manner in which the British in New Jersey had made and broken similar prom ises, he informed them that all persons who gave any assistance to or corresponded with the enemy would be treated as traitors and subject to punishment as such. While, as a rule, Burgoyne's proclamation had an effect directly op posite to that intended, there were a number of persons in the district referred to who disregarded the decree of Schuyler and in various ways gave evidence of Toryism. But the assistance which this class gave to the enemy was not important enough to seriously affect the interests of the patriots. The universal feeling throughout the country on the eve of the battle of Bennington was one of extreme anxiety. This sentiment began to be profound upon the surrender of Ticonderoga by St. Clair. The gallant General Montgomery had failed to carry Quebec, a fortification 52 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. invulnerable except by strategy; Crown Point had been abandoned, and the superiority of the British flotilla on Lake Champlain had been demonstrated. Mount Independence and Ticonderoga, which were con sidered at that time as almost impregnable, had been lost through our negligence in not properly fortifying Mount Defiance, which com manded both points. Mount Defiance, or Sugar Loaf Hill, from its height and proximity overlooked all our works at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. It was extremely difficult of access and, prop erly fortified, could have been held by a comparatively small force who might have expelled Burgoyne's army with little trouble. The aban donment of the two other points was entirely unexpected and severely felt. Washington was greatly depressed by the news of the abandon ment of Ticonderoga. On hearing of the disaster he wrote to General Schuyler: " The evacuation of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence is an event of chagrin and surprise not apprehended nor within the compass of my reasoning; " and he predicted: "As matters are going, Burgoyne will have little difficulty in penetrating to Albany." At Hubbardton the day had gone against us, and the patriot army, fleeing to the southward, had abandoned Skenesborough, Fort Ann, Fort Edward, Moses Creek and Saratoga. When the news of these successive disasters reached Albany and Rensselaer county the inhabitants were well-nigh distracted, for they feared, and with good reason, that the British general and his power ful army would soon be marching victoriously through the valley of the lower Hudson, devastating everything in his path. People packed up their household goods and sent them to distant points, and many be gan to flee in terror from the awful punishment that had been threat ened by Burgoyne in his proclamation. In Stockbridge, Mass., it is recorded that the inhabitants were " greatly burdened with people who had fled from the New Hampshire grants." General Howe had de feated us on Long Island and in New York, and obtained a foothold in New Jersey and Newport, R. I. Burgoyne's valor was thoroughly appreciated, and his spirit of enterprise and desire for military glory led people to believe he was almost certain to accomplish that which he had undertaken. This feeling of insecurity and dread later on was in creased by the murder of Jane McCrea near Fort Edward, July 27, 1777. Miss McCrea was a young woman, daughter of a Presbyterian clergyman of New Jersey. Though she was a member of a patriotic family she was betrothed to an officer named Jones in Peters's corps THE ADVANCE TOWARD BENNINGTON. 53 of loyalists. She was a guest at the house of Jones's mother, within the British lines near Fort Edward, and started under an escort of two Indians to go to the house of Jones's brother, near the British camp about four miles distant, to meet her betrothed. A barrel of rum had been prom ised to her Indian guides upon their delivering her safely at her desti nation. The Indians quarrelled over the reward and one of them, in order to prevent the other from securing any pay for his services, buried his tomahawk to the handle in Miss McCrea's skull. This form of barbarity at the hands of the Indians who had allied themselves with the British frightened the colonists further southward, who feared that the scene might often be re-enacted as the British advanced toward the ocean. It was while the McCrea case was yet fresh in the minds of the inhabitants of Eastern New York and Vermont that Burgoyne issued his proclamation threatening to let his Indian forces loose in that section should his mandates be disobeyed. The people were instantly aroused to action when it was learned that Burgoyne, in order to support Col. Baum in case of necessity, had stationed Lieutenant-Colonel Breyman-at Battenkill, about twenty-two miles from Bennington, with two large cannon and a strong body of Brunswick grenadiers, German regulars, light infantry and chasseurs. In order to be himself more advantageously situated to render further support with his army, should it be needed, Burgoyne moved his main forces to a point on the Hudson river east of Saratoga, and went into camp on the east side of the river. The country in the vicinity of Bennington was thoroughly aroused over the prospects. At a special town meeting in that town a resolu tion had been adopted to " raise ninety dollars as an encouragement to those who may enlist in the service of guarding the frontier towns in the Grants" — the northern portions of the Hampshire grants being then greatly exposed. The feeling of insecurity was augmented by the fact that the gallant Colonel Ethan Allen had been taken a prisoner by the British and Colonel Seth Warner had been defeated at Hubbardton. Great dependence had been placed on these two brave and daring patriot leaders, and the capture of Ethan Allen in particular was deemed a severe blow. Notwithstanding the gloomy and discouraging outlook the inhab itants of a large section of country about Bennington and in Rensselaer county made the best preparations possible to meet the enemy and try the issue as desperately as patriots alone can. All arms found in the 54 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. • possession of Tories were seized without compunction or apology and their property was confiscated to the purposes of the patriots. The preparatory operations were carried on under the direction of the Ver mont Council of Safety. Massachusetts had presented a stand of 150 rifles to the sturdy Vermonters and as many more had been purchased in Marlborough. Patriots sold the property to procure arms for de fence, and lead and flints were purchased. General John Stark, who had been the comrade of Israel Putnam at Bunker Hill, a brigadier with Washington at Trenton and Princeton, had retired to private life because, while other officers, his juniors and inferiors, had been promoted, his services had not been officially recog nized. The name of Stark was to the Green Mountain Boys what the name of Schuyler was to Albany. He was their guiding star, whom they would have followed to the end of the world without questioning his wisdom or sagacity. When the New Hampshire Legislature offered him the command of the forces it had decided to raise, he cast his old grievances behind him and announced his willingness to take to the field, stipulating, however, that he was not to be bound to join the main army, but to lead the forces which volunteered to protect the borders of the country. The news of his acceptance of the commission was hailed with great joy everywhere, and volunteers rallied to his side, pledged to do or die. Almost the first thing that happened was the refusal of the doughty Yankee general to submit to orders from Gen eral Schuyler through General Lincoln, who ordered him and his recruits to Albany. Congress censured the New Hampshire Assembly for al lowing Stark to take command under the agreement entered into, but the matter was finally settled allowing him to remain with his recruits to defend "the people of the Grants." General Stark himself first ex pressed the conviction that Bennington was the objective point of Burgoyne's side-expedition. On the ninth of August General Stark and his brigade, about 750 strong, reached Bennington and encamped about two miles west of the historic meeting-house near the Dimmick place, then the residence of Colonel Herrick. The first five days were spent by him in gaining information as to the location and plans of the enemy. The Council of Safety and Colonel Warner gave him valuable advice, upon which he acted in planning future operations. The Council issued orders, the first in the history of the war, for seizing and selling the property of Tories and sent numerous messengers in all directions for men and THE SKIRMISH AT VAN SCHAICK'S MILLS. 55 material. One of these orders, issued August 15, 1777, the day be fore the battle, read as follows : Sir : You are hereby desired to forward to this place, by express, all the lead you can possibly collect in your vicinity, as it is expected every minute an action will commence between our troops and the enemy within four or five miles of this place, and the lead will be positively wanted. At five o'clock on the morning of August 12 Baum began his march from Saratoga to Bennington. Before he had travelled more than a mile he was overtaken by a messenger from Burgoyne who carried orders from the latter to post his corps at Battenkill and wait further instructions. The next morning, in pursuance of further orders, he marched nearly sixteen miles to Cambridge, arriving there at four o'clock in the afternoon. On his way, and after he reached the place selected for his encampment, he was joined by a considerable number of Tories residing in Washington and Rensselaer counties, many of whom were under the lead of Colonel Francis Pfister, a half-pay British officer of wealth and widespread influence, who occupied an imposing residence built by him on the west bank of the Hoosick near what is now known as Hoosick Corners, or Hoosick. While en route Baum dis patched a party of provincials and savages, who took five prisoners from an American army guard, and some cattle, horses and wagons at Cambridge. General Stark was apprised of the advance as far as Cambridge of a band of hostile Indians, but did not know of the ap proach of Baum and his little army. He thereupon sent out two hun dred men, under Lieutenant- Colonel Gregg, to stop them. Gregg's company reached Van Schaick's Mills on the morning of the four teenth and took possession a short time before Baum's forces ar rived. What occurred there is best told in Baum's own words, his official report to Burgoyne: Sancoik, Aug. 14, 1777, 9 o'clock. Sir: I have the honor to inform your Excellency that I arrived here at eight in the morning, having had intelligence of a party of the enemy being in possession of a mill, which they abandoned at our approach, but in their usual way fired from the the bushes, and took the road to Bennington. A savage was slightly wounded. They broke down the bridge, which has retarded our march about an hour. They left in the mill about seventy-eight barrels of very fine flour, one thousand bushels of wheat, twenty barrels of salt, and about one- thousands pounds' worth of pearl and pot ashes. I have ordered thirty provincials and an officer to guard the provisions and the pass of the bridge. By five prisoners here they agree that fifteen hundred to eighteen hundred men are in Bennington, but are supposed to leave it on our ap- 56 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. proach. I will proceed so far to-day as to fall on the enemy to-morrow early, and make such disposition as I think necessary from the intelligence I may receive. People are flocking in hourly and want to be armed. The savages cannot be con trolled ; they ruin and take everything they please. I am, etc. , F. Baum. Beg your Excellency to pardon the hurry of this letter ; it is written on the head of a barrel. After the engagement at Van Schaick's mills Baum proceeded as far as Sancoik without serious molestation. On the way his company was fired on by the Americans from ambush and sev eral of the advance guard of Indians fell. That night he reached " the farm of Walmscott, 1 about four miles from Sancoik, and three from Bennington," where he encamped. The farm was divided by the Walloomsac river. Meantime General Stark, on the night of the 13th, learned more fully of the approach of the Indians, and also ascertained for the first that they preceded a larger body of regulars and provincials. The next morning he hastily rallied his brigade and the militia at Bennington ; dispatched a courier to Manchester for the company of Colonel Warner, gave orders that all the militia and others bearing arms should follow him as rapidly as possible, and without further delay he and his brigade left Bennington to meet the enemy. His force consisted of three regiments of New Hampshire militia respect ively commanded by Colonels Hubbard, Stickney and Nichols; a small body of militia from the east side of the mountains, under Colonel William Williams of Wilmington; a corps of rangers then forming under the authority of the Vermont Council of Safety, commanded by Colonel Herrick; a body of militia from Bennington and vicinity, under Colonel Nathan Brush, of which there were two companies from Ben nington — one commanded by Captain Samuel Robinson and the other by Captain Elijah Dewey; and militia from Berkshire county under Colonel Simmons. It has been estimated that the entire force of General Stark numbered about 1,800 men. He had proceeded between four or five miles when he met Colonel Gregg and his forces, who were retreating before Baum. Without further delay Stark drew up the entire force and prepared for battle. It was now the afternoon of the fourteenth. Stark was not satisfied with the field chosen for the battle, but while he was preparing to change the location of his brigade the ' Wallum'scoik or Walloomsack. STARK'S PRELIMINARY MOVEMENTS. 57 enemy appeared on a small hill in front of him. Stark sent out small skirmishing parties, who killed and wounded about thirty men, with no loss on the American side. As soon as this little party returned Stark moved his entire brigade about two miles back toward Bennington and there took his final stand. He had determined to fight the next day, but late in the night a heavy rain set in and he decided to delay general hostilities until the condition of the ground was more favorable for action. It rained nearly all day the 15th, but several small skirmish ing parties were sent out with indifferent success. General Stark's plan of battle was as follows: Colonel Nichols, with 200 men, was to make a circuit northward through the woods and was to reach the rear of Baum's left without discovery until the last possible moment. Colonel Herrick, with 300 men, was to perform exactly the same service to the southward. The attack was to be commenced by these two forces of 500 men, leaving 1,300 for the main work in front. In order to divert the attention of the enemy from that proceeding Colonels Hubbard and Stickney were ordered to get before the breast works which protected the tory volunteers and 100 men were to march toward Baum's front. At the proper time General Stark and the re mainder of his army, about half the entire force, was to charge Baum's intrenchments in front. How faithfully the plan was carried out is told in General Stark's account of the battle. During Stark's preliminary movements on the 15th, Baum spent the time in strengthening his position. On a small hill to the left of the farm of Walmscott he posted his dragoons and threw up small breast works. Bodies of Canadians were sent to occupy a few detached houses near by, and these were supported by detachments of grena diers and chasseurs, behind intrenchments of their own construction. His main army he kept on the north side of the river, "holding the woods upon his flanks, in his front and rear by the Indians." Both armies held the positions described when the night of the 15th caused the suspension of further operations. Baum had not counted on such strong opposition as confronted him, and he had been com pelled to make his position as strong as possible. Stark, likewise sur prised by the force of the enemy, had strengthened his position in the best manner possible. As General Stark gave his orders, which have been outlined, and the several companies were about to take the positions assigned them, he rose in his saddle and, pointing toward the hill occupied by the enemy, 8 58 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the bold warrior exclaimed: "There are the red-coats, and they are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow." This laconic address has become one of the best known in history. The battle which followed on the 16th has been variously described, but the accounts given by General Stark himself and Lieutenant Glick, one of Baum's officers, giving as they do the two sides of the story from totally different standpoints, may be considered the most authentic ac counts extant. Gen. Stark's graphic story is contained in a letter which he transmitted to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety two days after the battle, August 18. This letter was as follows: Bennington, August 18, 1777. Gentlemen : I congratulate you on the late success of your troops under my com mand, by express. I purposed to give you a brief account of my proceedings since I wrote to you last. I left Manchester on Sunday the 8th inst. , and arrived here the 9th. The 13th I was informed that a party of Indians was at Cambridge, which is twelve miles distant from this place, on their march thither. .1 detached Col. Gregg, with two hundred men under his command, to stop their march. In the evening I had information by express that there was a large body of the enemy on their way with their field -pieces in order to march through the country commanded by Gover nor Skene. The 14th I marched with my brigade and a few of this State s militia to oppose them, and to cover Gregg's retreat, who found himself unable to withstand their superior number. About four miles from this town I accordingly met him on his return, and the enemy in close pursuit of him, within half a mile of his rear. But when they discovered me, they presently halted on a very advantageous piece of ground. I drew up my little army on an eminence in open view of their encamp ments, but could not bring them to an engagement. I marched back about a mile and there encamped. I sent out a few men to skirmish with them, killed thirty of them, with two Indian chiefs. The 15th it rained all day. I sent out parties to har ass them. The 16th I was joined by this State's militia and those of Berkshire county. I divided my army into three divisions, and sent Col. Nichols with two hundred and fifty men on the rear of their left wing, Col. Herrick in the rear of their right with three hundred men. In the mean time I sent three hundred men to oppose the enemy's front to draw their attention that way. Soon after I de tached the Cols. Hubbert and Stickney on their right wing, with two hundred men to attack that part, all which plans had their desired effect. Col. Nichols sent me word that he stood in need of reinforcements, which I readily granted, consisting of one hundred men, at which time he commenced the attack, precisely at three o'clock in the afternoon, which was followed by all the rest. I pushed forward the re mainder with all speed. Our people behaved with the greatest spirit and bravery imaginable. Had they been Alexanders or Charles of Sweden they could not have behaved better. The action lasted two hours, at the expiration of which time we forced their breastworks at the muzzles of their guns, took two pieces of brass can non, with a number of prisoners, but before I could get them into proper form again I received intelligence that there was a large reinforcement within two miles of us THE BATTLE AT HOOSICK. 59 on their march, which occasioned us to renew our attack. But, lucky for us, Col. Warner's regiment came up, which put a stop to their career. We soon rallied, and in a few minutes the action begun very warm and desperate, which lasted till night. We used their own cannon against them, which proved of great service to us. At sunset we obliged them to retreat a second time. We pursued them till dark, when I was obliged to halt for fear of killing my own men. We recovered two pieces more of their cannon, together with all their baggage, a number of horses, carriages, etc., killed upwards of two hundred of the enemy in the field of battle. The num ber of the wounded is not yet known, as they are scattered about in many places. I have one lieutenant-colonel, since dead, one major, seven captains, fourteen lieuten ants, four ensigns, two cornets, one judge-advocate, one baron, two Canadian offi cers, six sergeants, one aide de-camp, and seven hundred prisoners. I almost forgot one Hessian chaplain. I enclose you a copy of Gen. Burgoyne's instructions to Col. Baum, who commanded the detachment that engaged us. Our wounded are forty- two. Ten privates and four officers belonging to my brigade are dead. The dead and wounded in the other corps I do not know, as they have not brought in their returns as yet. lam, gentlemen, with the greatest regard and respect, your most obedient, humble servant. John Stark. The account written by Lieutenant Glick, Colonel Baum having been mortally wounded by a rifle ball which penetrated his body, is deemed an impartial story of the battle. As will be observed he was very complimentary to the skill and sagacity of General Stark and the bravery of his troops. In his letter Lieutenant Glick wrote: It has been stated, that during the last day's march our little corps was joined by many of the country people, mo'st of whom demanded and obtained arms, as persons friendly to the royal cause. How Col. Baum became so completely duped as to place reliance on these men, I know not; but having listened with complacency to their previous assurances that in Bennington a. large majority of the populace were our friends, he was somehow or other persuaded to believe that the armed bands of whose approach he was warned were loyalists on their way to make a tender of their services to the leader of the king' s troops. We might have stood about half an hour under arms, watching the proceedings of a column of four or five hundred men, who, after dislodging the pickets, had halted just at the edge of the open coun try, when a sudden tramping of feet in the forest on our right, followed by the re port of several muskets, attracted our attention. A loud shout, followed by a rapid though straggling fire of musketry, warned us to prepare for a meeting the reverse of friendly. Instantly the Indians came pouring in, carrying dismay and confusion in their countenances and gestures. We were surrounded on all sides; columns were advancing everywhere against us, and those whom we had hitherto treated as friends had only waited till the arrival of their support might justify them in advancing. The column in our front no sooner heard the shout than they replied cordially and loudly to it; then, firing a volley with deliberate and murderous aim, rushed furiously towards us. Now, then, at length our leader's dreams of security were dispelled. He found himself attacked in front and flank by thrice his 60 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. numbers, who pressed forward with the confidence which our late proceedings were calculated to produce, whilst the very persons in whom we had trusted, and to whom we had given arms, lost no time in turning them against him. These fellows no sooner heard their comrades' cry than they deliberately discharged their muskets amongst Riedesel's dragoons, and dispersing before any steps could be taken to seize them, escaped, with the exception of one or two, to their friends. If Col. Baum had permitted himself to be duped into a great error, it is no more than justice to confess that he exerted himself manfully to remedy the evil and avert its consequences. Our little band, which had hitherto remained in column, was in stantly ordered to extend, and the troops lining the breastworks replied to the fire of ' the Americans with extreme celerity and considerable effect. So close and destruc tive, indeed, was our first volley that the assailants recoiled before it, and would have retreated, in all probability within the woods; but ere we could take advantage of the confusion produced, fresh attacks developed themselves, and we were warmly engaged in every side, and from all quarters. It became evident that each of our detached posts was about to be assailed in the same instant. Not one of our dis positions had been concealed from the enemy, who, on the contrary, seemed to be aware of the exact number of men stationed at each point, and they were one and all threatened by a force perfectly adequate to bear down opposition, and yet by no means disproportionately large, or such as to render the main body inefficient. All, moreover, was done with the sagacity and coolness of veterans who perfectly under stood the nature of the resistance to be expected and the difficulties to be overcome, and who, having well considered and matured their plans, were resolved to carry them into execution at all hazards, and at every expense of life. It wasat this moment, when the heads of columns began to show themselves in the rear of our right and left, that the Indians, who had hitherto acted with spirit and something like order, lost all confidence and fled. . . This vacancy, which the retreat of the savages had occasioned, was promptly filled up by one of our two field-pieces, whilst the other poured destruction among the enemy in front as often as they showed themselves in the open country or threatened to advance. In this state things continued upwards of three-quarters of an hour Though re peatedly assailed in front, flanks, and rear, we maintained ourselves with so much obstinacy as to inspire a hope that the enemy might even yet be kept at bay till the arrival of Breymann's corps, now momentarily expected, when an accident occurred, which at once put an end to this expectation, and exposed us, almost defenseless, to our fate. The solitary tumbril which contained the whole of our spare ammunition became ignited, and blew up with a violence which shook the very ground under our feet and caused a momentary cessation in firing, both on our side and that of the enemy. But the cessation was only for a moment. The American officers, guessing the extent of our calamity, cheered their men on to fresh exertions. They rushed up the ascent with redoubled ardor, in spite of the heavy volley which we poured in to check them ; and, finding our guns silent, they sprung over the parapet and dashed within our works. For a few seconds the scene which ensued defies all power of language to describe. The bayonet, the butt of the rifle, the sabre, the pike were in full play, and. men fell, as they rarely fall in modern war, under the direct blows of their enemies. But such a struggle could not, in the nature of things, be of long t5,jSr*r.jW3?~ THE SECOND BATTLE. 61 continuance. Outnumbered, broken, and somewhat disheartened by late events, our people wavered and fell back, or fought singly and unconnectedly, till they were either cut down at their posts, obstinately defending themselves, or compelled to surrender. Of Riedesel's dismounted dragoons few survived to tell how nobly they had behaved. Col. Baum, shot through the body by a rifle ball, fell mortally wounded ; and, all order and discipline being lost, flight or submission was alone thought of. For my own part, whether the feeling arose from desperation or acci dent I cannot tell, but I resolved not to be taken. As yet I had escaped almost un hurt, a slight flesh wound in the left arm having alone fallen to my share, and, gathering around me about thirty of my comrades, we made a rush where the enemy's ranks appeared weakest, and burst through. This done, each man made haste to shift for himself, without pausing to consider the fall of his neighbor, and, losing one-third of our number from the enemy's fire, the remainder took refuge, in groups of two or three, within the forest. Neither of these gives a complete description of all the fighting that occurred, for a second battle, though not a severe one, occurred. Baum and the remnant of his army were still exchanging shots with the Ameri cans when Col. Breyman, who had been dispatched by Burgoyne, through Sir Francis Clark, to relieve Baum, arrived at Sancoik. He was delayed by bad roads and did not reach his objective point until about 4.30 p. m. Very soon after he was fired on by a small body of Americans. General Stark's forces had fought desperately and were in no condition to meet the reserve forces of Breyman. The latter immediately opened a steady fire. Stark was at the point of retreating, but he heeded the appeals of Colonel Warner and resisted Breyman. But they could not hold out for long against the fresh foe and soon began slowly to retreat, keeping up a steady fire meantime. Colonel Warner's reinforcements soon appeared, in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Safford, and the day was saved to the Americans. But not without hard work. Brey- man's cannon was taken and retaken and finally remained in possession of the Americans. Little by little Stark's forces made gains and Brey man retreated, gradually at first and then with increasing rapidity. The British forces were completely routed. General Stark wrote: "Our martial courage proved too hard for them. " And again: "We pursued them until dark, but, had daylight lasted one hour longer, we should have taken the whole body of them." The battle ended prac tically where it began, at the Sancoik mill. Breyman's forces reached Cambridge that night, and the next day, Sunday, August 17, arrived at Burgoyne's camp at Saratoga. Among the trophies of the two battles were four brass field cannon, twelve brass drums, 250 sabres, four ammunition wagons, several hun- 62 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. dred stand of arms and 658 prisoners. Two hundred and seven British were left dead on the field. Of the prisoners taken by the Americans, thirty were officers, thirty-six were British soldiers, 398 were Hessians, thirty-eight were Canadians and 155 were Tories, many of whom were personally known to their captors. The loss of the Americans in both engagements was about thirty killed and forty wounded. Colonel Baum and Colonel Pfister were both so badly wounded that they died within a couple of days. According to a map made by Lieutenant Durnford, Colonel Baum's engineer, and published in Burgoyne's State of the Expedition, the land in front of Baum, east of the river, also southward over the Cam bridge (Sancoik) road and in other places, was extensively cleared. The breastworks on the hill had woods immediately in front and down the river and on the right down the road, " with the exception of a cleared lot and an unbroken wilderness on Baum's left to the north ward, and on his rear to the westward." The hill occupied by the main body of troops was abrupt and of some height, between 300 and 400 feet. At its base lay the Walloomsack river, which ran nearly south. Within the main fortifications on the top of this hill were most of Riedesel's dragoons and a body of Canadians, while in front of them, further down the hill, were the balance of this corps. Chasseurs held the foot of the hill in front. To the right of these, near the river, were Canadians and grenadiers, while on the opposite side of the river, about a thousand feet ahead, Peters's corps of provincials had been posted behind fortifications in command of Col. Pfister, a retired British lieu tenant of the French war. Canadians were also posted across the bridge and grenadiers held a point a quarter of a mile west of the bridge. The whole country was electrified by the news of the victory at Walloomscoik, as it was then commonly called, for the battle was fought entirely in the town of Hoosick and not at Bennington at all. Consid ering the numerical strength of the opposing forces, the raw and un trained troops of the Americans, who were poorly armed, and the experience and high training of most of the enemy, whose equipment was very much superior to that of the Colonial forces, the victory was indeed a great and cheering one. The undisciplined farmers with their hunting guns and without bayonets stormed, without the slightest hesitancy, entrenchments manned with regular troops and defended by heavy cannon. Bancroft, in his review of the GENERAL STARK HONORED BY CONGRESS. 63 battle, refers to it as "one of the most brilliant and eventful of the war." The enemy felt the loss of men and material severely. On the other hand confidence in the American army had been inspired and patriots began flocking from all quarters to the recruiting stations. The spirits of the British were correspondingly depressed. Historians now agree that the fate of Burgoyne was sealed at Walloomsack. The British general had become disheartened and undoubtedly realized that his plan of campaign could not possibly succeed with such a widespread feeling of patriotism. General Stark had been censured by Congress for his refusal to move his forces to the west, side of the Hudson, as he had been ordered to do by General Schuyler; but after the battle at Walloomsack the national legislature, determined to make amends for what they now considered an injudicious act, on October 4, 1777, unanimously passed the follow ing resolution : Resolved, That the thanks of Congress be presented to General Stark of the New Hampshire Militia, and the officers and troops under his command, for their brave and successful attack upon and signal victory over the enemy in their lines at Ben nington ; and that Brigadier Stark be appointed Brigadier-General in the army of the United States. Two weeks after the adoption of this resolution, October 17, 1777, Burgoyne and his army surrendered at Saratoga, an event which was made practically certain by the great victory at Walloomsack, or Hoosick, and the inspiring effect it had upon the patriots in all sections of the country. The two desperate engagements in the town of Hoosick, recorded in history as the battle of Bennington, terminated the active operations of the War of the Revolution within the limits of what is now known as Rensselaer county. As soon as the inhabitants of the northeastern part of the county had recovered from the effects of the short, sharp and decisive campaign of Colonel Baum, preparations were renewed on all sides in anticipation of the threatened invasion of the main army of General Burgoyne. The British general, however, was unable to con tinue his march to the southward. He had been compelled to halt at Saratoga until he could obtain provisions and stores, and he stood in great need of additional supplies of horses, vehicles and cattle for beef. The expedition of Baum, which he had firmly believed would result in bringing him several hundred horses and large quantities of provisions, had failed miserably and he had lost, in killed, wounded and prisoners 64 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. of war, over one-ninth of his army. Many of his Indian allies had also deserted him. He had been obliged to reduce the rations of his sol diers and many other circumstances had combined to render his condi tion a critical and disheartening one. To advance would have been extremely hazardous under the existing conditions, yet he hardly dared to risk the loss of another thousand men by sending out another forag: ing expedition. The patriot troops under General Gates, who had suc ceeded General Schuyler immediately after the battle of Hoosick, were gradually advancing toward his position and spreading out preparatory to surrounding his army. Day by day his position grew critical. He could not turn back, for his army could hardly have found means of subsistence on the march to Canada. A few days after the battle of Hoosick General Burgoyne received intelligence of a still greater reverse. In the early days of his invasion a large force of Canadians, Tories and Indians under General St. Leger had been sent by way of Oswego against Fort Schuyler, at the head of navigation on the Mohawk river, which was occupied by a small garri son under Colonel Gansevoort. The fort was invested by St. Leger August 3, 1777, but the gallant General Nicholas Herkimer, at the head of militia rallied from the surrounding country, marched to the relief of the garrison. While approaching the fort the patriots fell into an Indian am buscade and a desperate hand to hand fight ensued in the woods. Herki mer was defeated, losing 160 men in killed, wounded and prisoners. The Indian loss was but slightly smaller. Hardly had the tumult of the conflict died away when the garrison made a sally from the fort and carried every thing before them, returning with many prisoners. The fearless General Benedict Arnold was on his way from Albany with a detachment for the relief of the fort, and as soon as it was learned that he was near, the treacherous Indians plundered the British camp and fled precipitately. In dismay St. Leger abandoned the siege and re treated and Fort Schuyler was safe in the hands of the patriots. Burgoyne naturally was dismayed. As the Americans advanced from the south he crossed the Hudson, September 14, and encamped at Saratoga. On the 19th he attacked the patriot army, but the result was a victory for neither side. The patriots were besieging him. In desperation, October 7 he hazarded another battle, in which he lost about 700 men, including several officers on which he placed the greatest reliance. Arnold's wild charge, at the head of the command he had resigned, and made without authority, brought a complete THE END OF THE WAR. 65 victory for the American forces. Burgoyne now found himself hemmed in on all sides, with but three days' short rations for the soldiers. He had been entrapped, and the battle of Hoosick was the first great step toward his defeat. On October 17 he agreed to terms of capitulation, and his entire army, numbering 5,791 men, became captives of the ex ulting American forces. Among the further fruits of the victory were forty-two pieces of splendid brass artillery, nearly 5,000 muskets and an immense quantity of ammunition and stores. It was one of the most decisive battles in the history of any war. Upon learning of the result of the battles of Saratoga the colonists of Rensselaerwyck were overjoyed. Knowing that there was nothing more to fear from the British, at least for some time to come, prepara tions to abandon their homes and farms ceased as if by magic. The timid were emboldened, those who had been secretly dissatisfied were overawed, and great numbers of the colonists, many of whom, it must be related with sorrow, had belonged to that class known as Tories, and others who had been lukewarm in their support of the cause for which the patriots were fighting, now openly committed their fortunes to the cause of freedom. The proprietor of the manor of Rensselaer wyck, who had been considered by some as inclined to be tyrannical and selfish, showed his devotion and true friendship by extending every possible assistance to the distressed families who had been fleeing from the path of the invaders. CHAPTER VI. Division of New York into Counties and Organization of Rensselaer County — Work of Developing the Resources of the County Renewed — Act Erecting Rensselaer County— The First Judges and other Civil Officers— Description of the County — Its Geography and Geological Formation. Rensselaer county is in the eastern tier of the counties of New York State. It is bounded on the north by Washington county, on the east by Vermont and Massachusetts, on the south by Columbia county and on the west by Albany and Saratoga counties, being separated from the land of the two latter counties by the Hudson river. It is situated between latitude 42 degrees 25 minutes and 42 degrees 55 minutes 9 66 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. north, and longitude 73 degrees 15 minutes and 73 degrees 45 minutes west from Greenwich, or 3 degrees 15 minutes and 3 degrees 45 minutes east from Washington, approximately. Its length from north to south is about thirty-two miles and its width from east to west is about twenty-two miles. Its area is 690 square miles, and its popula tion, according to the census of 1890, was 124,511. Its estimated population in 1896 was 138,000. The county formerly constituted the eastern half of the manor of Rensselaerwyck, a patent to which was granted the heirs of the first Patroon, Killiaen Van Rensselaer, by ' Governor Andros in 1678. The warrant given by the Duke of York to Governor Andros authorizing the latter to make the grant is as follows: 1 Whereas I have perused ye peticon of ye heires of Killian Van Renselaer setting forth their right to certaine lands called Renselaers-Wicke (heretofore called William- stadt and now Albany) and have heard the opinions of yourselfe and of my Councell at Law thereupon : these are to will and require you to cause Letters Patents under the Seale of your governm' to be granted to ye said PetrB to graunt and confirme unto ym y" Renselaers-Wicke Colony wth such privileges and imunities as formerly they had (excepting y° fort called Oranges Fort and its outworkes, if any be, and y« lands they stand upon) and whereas dureing ye time they have beene out of posses sion, viz* since ye yeare 1652. divers persons have built severall houses upon some part of the prmisses, you are to take care y* such prsons and all deriveing undr ym shall remaine in quiet possession of yc same yeilding and paying dureing the terrae 31 yeares to Commence from ye date of ye Lres Patents abovemenconed, unto y' said peticdners or their assignes such yearely rent as you wth the advice of yor Councell shall thinke reasonable, not exceeding ye value of two Beaver skins for y e great houses and of one Beaver skin for ye middle sort of houses, and of halfe a Beaver skin for the lesser sort of houses, and from and after y6 expirac6n of ye said 31 yeares the rent for ye future to be agreed on betweene ye said partyes themselves, or as you or your success™ for ye time being, wth ye advice of your Councell shall judge reason able. All wcb yG sd Pet™ do assent unto. And further you are to take care y' f Petvs and all y' claime undr y™ shall from time to time well and truly pay and prform all publique dutyes and impositions as formerly have beene by ym or their prdecessrs and all such as shalbe imposed by my selfe or by you or other my L' Govern'" for ye time being upon ye other persons y4 hold and enjoy any part of f lands or Colonyes wthin the territories of New Yorke or Albany or their Depend- encyes in America. For all wcl' y" shalbe your Warr'. Given under my hand & Seale at S'. James's ys 7th day of June 1678. To Sr Edmd Andros Kn' and Governr of ' New Yorke and its Dependencyes ' in America. Just sixty years after the Walloons landed at Fort Orange Nov. 1 1683, during the reign of Charles II of England, the colony of New 1 Doc. Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. 3, p. ggg DIVISION OF NEW YORK INTO COUNTIES. 67 York was divided into counties for the first time. For a period of 108 years thereafter all the territory lying northerly and westerly of the division known at that time as Ulster county and adjacent thereto formed Albany county. It was a vast expanse of territory, and for a long time its northern and western boundaries were vague and indefi nite. The county was again divided by an act of the provincial legis lature March 24, 1772, and from it two new counties in addition to Albany were erected. They were the counties of Tryon and Charlotte. Tryon county took its name from William Tryon, the last of the colonial governors of New York. Within its borders lay all that sec tion of the colony west of a line running from the Mohawk river north to the Canada line, at a point near the old village of St. Regis and passing south to the Mohawk between Schenectady and Albany. From north to south its eastern border covered a distance of nearly 200 miles, while its western limit was Lake Erie. Its seat, or shire town, was Johnstown, now the seat of Fulton county and for many years the residence of Sir William Johnson. Tryon and Charlotte counties em braced practically the entire northern half of what is now New York State. Charlotte county, named after Princess Charlotte, daughter of George III, was nearly as great in extent as its neighbor on the west. Its western boundary was identical with the eastern boundary of Tryon county. Its southern boundary was the territory now embraced in Saratoga country on the west side of the Hudson, and the Battenkill, in the present Rensselaer county. Most of the present State of Ver mont which formed a part of the New Hampshire grants, was then claimed by New York, and the western part of this territory also formed a part of the county of Charlotte. Its county seat was at Fort Edward. The southern and eastern boundaries of the county of Albany, which was the original county, were unchanged at this time. The division of Albany county, briefly stated, was as follows : Tryon and Charlotte counties were taken off in 1772, Columbia in 1786, Rensselaer and Saratoga in 1791, a part of Schoharie in 1795, a part of Greene in 1800 and Schenectady in 1809. The manor of Rensselaer wyck was erected into a district March 24, 1772. The whole of the present county, except the towns of Schaghticoke, Pittstown, Hoosick, the north part of Lansingburgh and a part of Troy, was comprised in the Rensselaerwyck patent. At the time of the division of Albany- county referred to, the section was formally divided into four districts — 68 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. Rensselaerwyck, Hoosick, Pittstown and Schaghticoke. Pittstown had previously been organized as a township of Albany county July 23, 1761. Sixteen years after the formation of these four districts the other three were organized as townships of Albany county, and three years later, Feb. 7, 1791, the county of Rensselaer was set apart from Albany county by act of the legislature of the State of New York and named after the old patroon, Killiaen Van Rensselaer. As soon as peace had supplanted the excitement caused by the local troubles incident to the campaign of General Burgoyne, the farmers of the manor of Rensselaerwyck renewed with greater vigor than ever the work of developing the resources of their possessions. The exist ing official records of Albany county, in which Rensselaer was in cluded, show many transactions in real estate during that period. The war continued for six years more in various parts of the united colonies, but its bloody hand was felt no more in the valley of the Upper Hud son. The threatening clouds of war had passed southward from Northern New York when Burgoyne had handed over his sword to the victorious General Gates, to reappear no more. Long before peace was finally proclaimed prosperity began to be seen on all sides in the inhabited portions of the county. The superior advantages of the ter ritory adjacent to the Hudson on both sides rapidly became known. Immigrants from Vermont and the valley of the Connecticut, hearing of the opportunities of trade which presented themselves to the settlers in the vicinity of Troy and Albany, and appreciating the ad vantages of a location near such a market as Albany and within a few days' sail down the Hudson to New York, began flocking to Rensselaer county and purchasing land. New farms were laid out by the dozen, substantial new houses were erected and the trade which had been languishing under the weak colonial government gradually but surely revived. With the advent of farmers came merchants, and these were speedily followed by professional men, mechanics and manufacturers, The signing of the treaty of peace in 1783 was the signal for great rejoicing. It gave a great impetus to trade, and nowhere was its effect more felt than in this county. The reorganization of the government in all departments was followed by many changes in the county bound ary lines in New York State. Albany county was divided and re- divided, as has been described in a previous chapter. So rapid had been the growth of that portion on the east side of the Hudson that it was deemed advisable to erect a new county, and on February 7 1791, ACT ERECTING RENSSELAER COUNTY. 69 the county of Rensselaer was set off, receiving its name from the Patroon, who established the first lasting colony therein — Killiaen Van Rensselaer. The act erecting Rensselaer county is contained in Chap ter 4 of the laws of 1791 and is entitled: "An act for apportioning the representation in the Legislature according to the rule prescribed by the Constitution ; and for dividing the county of Albany. " Omitting the unessential parts of the law it reads: That the towns of Cambridge and Easton in the county of Albany, shall be and hereby are annexed to, and shall hereafter be considered as part of the county of of Washington. All that part of the residue of the said county of Albany, which is on the east side of a line drawn through the middle of the main stream of Hudsons river with such variations as to include the islands lying nearest to the east bank thereof shall be one separate and distinct county and be called and known by the name of Rensselaer. . . And the bounds of the several towns in the said respective counties adjacent to and limited by the Hudsons river and Mohawk river, are hereby extended to and limited by the bounds of the said respective counties herein described, provided nevertheless that the rights and privileges heretofore granted to the corporation of the city of Albany by charter shall not be in any wise affected or abridged. And the freeholders and inhabitants of the said several counties, shall have and enjoy within the same respectively, all and every the same rights, powers and privileges as the freeholders and inhabitants of any other county in this State and by law entitled to have and enjoy. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be held in and for each of the said counties of Rensselaer and Saratoga respectively, a court of common pleas and a court of general sessions of the peace, at such suitable and convenient place within each of the same counties respectively, as such judges of the court of common pleas and such justices of the peace as shall be appointed for each of the same counties respectively, or a majority of them, shall respectively ap point: And that there shall be two terms of the same courts in each of the same counties respectively, in every year, to commence and end on the following days, that is to say, the first term of the courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace in and for the said county of Rensselaer, shall begin on the first Tuesday of May, and may continue to be held until the Saturday following inclusive ; and the second term of the same courts in the the same county of Rensselaer shall begin on the second Tuesday of November, and may continue to be held until the Saturday following inclusive.' . And the said courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace, shall have the same jurisdiction, powers and authorities in the same counties respectively, as the courts of common pleas and general sessions in the the other counties of this State have in their respective counties. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful to and for all courts and officers in the said counties of Rensselaer and Sara toga respectively, in- all cases civil and criminal, to confine their prisoners in the gaol of the county of Albany, until gaols shall be provided in the same counties respect ively. Provided nevertheless that nothing in this act contained shall be construed to affect any suit or action already commenced or that shall be commenced before 70 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the third Tuesday of May next, so as to work a wrong or prejudice to any of the parties therein, or to affect any criminal or other proceedings, on the part of the people of this State, but all such civil and criminal proceedings shall and may be proceeded to tryal judgment and execution as if this act had never been passed. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that this State shall be, and is hereby divided into four great districts. The southern district to comprehend the city and county of New York, and the counties of Suffolk, Queens, Kings, Rich mond and Westchester ; the middle district to comprehend the counties of Dutchess, Ulster and Orange ; the western district to comprehend the city and county of Al bany, and the counties of Saratoga, Montgomery and Ontario ; and the eastern dis trict to comprehend the counties of Columbia, Rensselaer, Washington and Clinton. And that the number of senators to be chosen in the said districts shall be as follows: In the southern district eight ; in the middle district six ; in the western district five, and in the eastern district five. And that John Williams, Alexander Webster, Ed ward Savage and Peter Van Ness shall be considered as senators from the said eastern district, and as they respectively go out of office, senators shall be chosen in the said eastern district in their places respectively, and at the next annual election, another senator shall be chosen in the said eastern district in the room of Samuel Townsend, deceased. And Stephen Van Rensselaer, Peter Schuyler, Volkert P. Douw, Leonard Gansevoort and Jellis Fonda, shall be considered as senators from the said western district, and as they respectively go out of office, senators shall be chosen in the said western district in their places respectively ; and that no person shall be chosen in the southern district in the room of the said Samuel Townsend deceased; and the clerk of the Senate is hereby directed to give give notices of the elections accordingly. Provision was also made for the election of five members of the Assembly from the county of Rensselaer. The first judges of the new county were Anthony Ten Eyck, who had the title of First Judge; John Van Rensselaer, Israel Thompson, Robert Woodworth and Jonathan Brown, who were designated simply as Judges; John Knickerbocker, jr., John W. Schermerhorn, Jonathan Niles, Benjamin Hicks, Nicholas Staats, Robert Montgomery, Moss Kent and John E. Van Allen, known as Assistant Justices. The First Judge was the presiding judge. The Assistant Justices were appointed by the Governor from among the Justices of the Peace. The first Justices of the Peace who held office in 1791 were: Anthony Ten Eyck, John Van Rensselaer, Israel Thompson, Robert Woodworth, Jonathan Brown, John Knickerbocker, jr., John W. Schermerhorn, Jonathan Niles, Benjamin Hicks, Nicholas Staats, Robert Montgomery, Moss Kent, John E. Van Allen, Levinus Lansing, Jonah Martin, Hosea Moffrt, Daniel B. Bradt, Joseph Spencer, David Brown, Moses Vail, James McKown, Abner Newton, Stephen Gorham, Jacob Van Alstyne, Ephraim Morgan, Josiah Masters, Gerrit Winne, Jacob A. Lansing, FIRST COURTS AND COUNTY OFFICERS. 71 Rowland Hall, Hezekiah Hull, William Douglass, Daniel Gray, Jonas Odell, Benjamin Randall, Benjamin Hanks, Harmon Van Veghten, Benjamin Milks, Ebenezer Darling, Jacob Vanderheyden, jr., Jacob C. Schermerhorn, Nathaniel Jacobs and Simeon Button. Moss Kent was the first surrogate, Silas Weeks was the first coroner, Nich olas Schuyler was the first county clerk, Aaron Lane was the first county treasurer and Albert Pawling was the first sheriff, all in 1791. The first general election of the county, in 1792, resulted in the choice of Jonathan Brown, John Knickerbocker, John W. Schermer horn, Thomas Sickles and Moses Vail as representatives in the New York State Assembly and Robert Woodworth as the first member of the State Senate from the new county. The first member of the federal Congress was John E. Van Allen, who was elected in 1792 and served from 1793 to 1799, and the first presidential elector was Abraham Yates, jr., in 1792. Tuesday, April 15, 1791, the first officers of the county held their first meeting, pursuant to law, in the tavern of Ananias Piatt in Lans- ingburgh. The first Court of General Sessions of the Peace and the Court of Common Pleas was held the first Tuesday in May, 1791, at the same place in which the first county officers held their first meeting. It was presided over by the First Judge, Anthony Ten Eyck, associated with whom were all the "Judges" and Assistant Judges Hicks, Mont gomery and Kent. At this term of court these persons were admitted to practice as attorneys and counselors at law: John Woodworth, Dirck Ten Broeck, Moss Kent, John V. Henry, Peter D. Van Dyck, Abram Hun, John Waters Yates, Nicholas Funda, Gerrit Wendall, John D. Dickinson, Guert Van Schoonhoven, Cornelius Vandenbergh, John Lovett, Peter E. Elmendorf, Sanders Lansing and Francis Silvester. The court adopted thirty three rules, provided for a county seal — a plow, with the words "Rensselaer County Seal " engraved around, the edge — and after a session lasting three days adjourned to meet at the house of Stephen Ashley in Troy. Thereafter the county courts were held alternately, until the erection of the court house, at the two taverns mentioned. The first Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery in the county was held July 5, 1791, at Piatt's Inn in Troy. The county of" Rensselaer is described as follows in the Revised Statutes of the State of New York, Section 2, Title I, Chapter II, Part I : 72 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The county of Rensselaer shall contain all that part of this State bounded easterly by the eastern bounds of this State ; southerly by the county of Columbia ; westerly by the middle of the main stream of Hudson's river, with such variations as to in clude the islands lying nearest to the east bank thereof ; and northerly by a line be ginning at the mouth of Lewis' creek or Kill, and running thence south eighty-four degrees east, to the middle of Hoosick river ; then up along the same until it is inter sected by a continuation of the before mentioned line, and then along such continua tion to the east bounds of the State. The county is centrally distant from New York north 157 miles and from the capital at Albany east a trifle over eleven miles. The east ern portion of the county is broken and hilly and in some places rather mountainous and interspersed with fertile valleys. The central and western portion is diversified with hills and a gently undulating surface. It has extensive valleys and alluvial flats with a rich soil, and the up lands generally are well adapted to the various purposes of agriculture. On the streams there are an abundance of excellent mill sites, and the numerous rivers, creeks and brooks irrigate every part of the county. The county lies almost in the centre of the great valley extending from the mouth of the Hudson northward to the valley of the St. Lawrence, and at the eastern end of the valley of the Mohawk. It is midway between the Green mountains of Vermont and the Catskill mountains of New York. The central part of the county, though over 150 miles distant from the sea, borders upon that part of the Hudson river at which the ebb and flow of the tide ceases. Properly speaking, however, it is not the tide but the set-back from the tide which causes the regular rise and fall of the water at this point. The hills in the county are a part of the great Appalachian system. None of them are very high, except in the eastern part of the county. Though they are a part of the Appalachian system and no part of the Laurentian system enters into their make-up, their close proximity to the Adirondacks, which form the most southerly part of the Laurentian system, makes their study highly interesting to geologists. Two ranges of hills which connect the Green mountains on the north with the Cats- kills on the south, traverse Rensselaer county almost directly north and south. They are the Taghkanic mountains on the east and the Peters burgh mountains in the centre and west. Between them flows Kinder- hook creek to the south and the Hoosick or Hoosac, and Little Hoosick, toward the north, the Hoosick taking a westerly turn in the northern part of the county, continuing on its course in a general westerly direction until it reaches the Hudson. The Petersburgh mountains occupy the GEOLOGICAL FORMATION OF THE COUNTY. 73 larger part of the county between these rivers and the Hudson, and their highest peaks average 1,200 to 1,500 feet above the level of the sea. One or two peaks approximate nearly 2,000 feet in height. In some parts of the county the tops of the range form plateaus, the land of which in many places is unfit for cultivation. The principal peak in the northern part of the Petersburgh range is Bald mountain, located partly in Schaghticoke and partly in Lansingburgh. In the south the highest is Meshodac, located in the town of Nassau. The latter peak is the highest in the county and reaches an altitude greater than that of any other moun tain between the Catskill and the Hancock mountains. It received its name from the river Indian name, Isodac, which means " a burned district." The Hoosick river, which is the principal stream in Rensselaer county, is one of the principal tributaries of the Hudson river. The latter was known by the Mohawk Indians as the Skanektade, which means " the river beyond the open pines." Its Algonquin name was Cahotatia, meaning " the river that comes from the mountains lying beyond the Cahoos falls." As is told elsewhere, the Algonquin name was trans lated by Sir Henry Hudson to mean "River of the Mountains." It was also sometimes called the Nassau by the early Dutch settlers, and the Mauritius by others, in honor of the reigning family of Holland and Prince Maurice, respectively. The Hoosick rises in Berkshire county, Mass. , entering Rensselaer county in the northeast corner of the town of Petersburgh. The Little Hoosick has its source in the southeastern part of the county, principally in the town of Berlin, and flows almost directly north into the Hoosick. which it joins in the town of Petersburgh. Kinderhook creek rises in the town of Berlin and flows south through Stephentown into Columbia county. Several smaller streams flow westerly into the Hudson, including the Poestenkill, whose mouth is in the city of Troy ; the Wynantskill, which enters the Hudson two or three miles to the south; Valatiekill, which flows south from Nassau, and scores of other small streams. To describe the geological formation of the county properly would require more space than can be devoted to it in this work. It has been difficult to correlate the various groups in the county, which belong partly to the peculiar development in Western New England and partly to the more regular gradations of the New York system. Probably most of the rocky strata which forms the ground work of Rensselaer county belongs to the Silurian age, or age of inverte- 10 74 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. brates, the first age of the Palaeozoic era, coming immediately after the first or Archaean era. The rocks of the Lower Silurian age are mainly sand stones, shales, conglomerates and limestones. In the early part of the age sandbeds, now sandstone, were spread out over wide areas in North America, including practically all the territory of what is now Rens selaer county. The earliest Silurian sandstones and shales have the layers sometimes marked with ripples, or with mud-cracks, or with the tracks of the animals of the era; and they thus show that they were not made in deep water, but that they were either the sea-shores or the sand flats or mud deposits off-shore in the age. Part of the time they were above the water's level, exposed to the sun and air, or no mud cracks or ripples or tracks of animals would now be visible. The lower of these rocks are what is known as Potsdam sandstone, next coming the calciferous sand-rock. The latter rock crops out in many places throughout the county, particularly along the western borders, as in the vicinity of Lansingburgh. The only plant forms found among these rocks are sea-weeds of that period. As far as has been discov ered by geological research the only animals which have left their im press in these rocks are marine animals, principally mollusks. Along the eastern boundaries of the county are found the talcose and chloritic rocks and the limestones, more or less modified in various places by metamorphic agencies. In some places the limestone is white, crystalline, granular, dolomitic stone ; in others it is yet practi cally the primordial calciferous rocks and the solid blue limestones. The character of the slate varies. In some localities it is highly tal cose or chloritic, with common red slate; in other the slate is argilla ceous, the roof slate of commerce. In no part of the county is it firm enough or near enough to the surface in large quantities to make it valuable commercially. Through the valley of the Little Hoosick river are found rocks of the same character in abundance. The surface of the Taconic mountains abounds in boulders and milky quartz, with a profusion of chlorites. The chlorite is in small bodies of green scales, and the quartz is in loose bodies, caused by decomposition and disinte- tegration. In many places where the slate rock has been despoiled by the action of the elements, quantities of the quartz, which withstands the decomposing effect of the atmosphere better than does slate, are still found essentially uninjured. On the western descent of the Ta conic range talcose slate predominates, though argillaceous and chlorite slate is also to be found. In the Petersburgh valley is found a mixture COUNTY GEOGRAPHY. 75 of chlorite and quartz, and on its western side are distinct traces of chlorite slate. In some sections of the western half of the county quantities of slate and shale belonging to the Hudson river group of the Trenton period are found. The Post-Tertiary period is also distinctly characterized above the Old Silurian in parts of the county. The first part of this period, or the Ice Age, shows in all parts of the county by the sand, gravel, cobblestones and boulders which almost everywhere' appear; while the Champlain and Terrace epochs are conspicuous on the banks of the Hudson river, where soft clay beds abound. Along the banks of the Hudson river, the western boundary of the county, is a stretch of flat, low land varying from a few rods to half a mile in width and bounded by a series of bluffs from 100 to 200 feet in height. From the summits of these bluffs the surface is a broken and hilly upland, composed of the drift deposits, mixed with disintegrated slates, clay and sand predominating in different places. Hoosick and Little Hoosick rivers and Kinderhook creek flow through the valley in the eastern part of the county. The summit level in this valley, be tween the waters flowing north and those flowing south, at South Ber lin, is 600 feet above tide. The streams flowing from the Petersburgh mountains westward to the Hudson have worn deep ravines through the clay bluffs, forming lateral valleys which extend eastward from the valley of the river. Numerous small lakes and ponds are interspersed in the wild and rocky region of the Petersburgh mountains, forming one of the most beautiful features of the landscape in this section of the county. The narrow flats along the streams and a large portion of the uplands are adapted to the cultivation of grain and produce excellent crops, but the soil generally is better adapted to grazing and dairying, especially in the eastern towns of the county, where these occupations form the leading pursuits, except in the villages. The manufacturing industries are large and constantly growing in Troy, Lansingburgh, Hoosick Falls, Valley Falls, Schaghticoke, Greenbush, Castleton and some other villages, the city of Troy being known as the greatest cen tre for the manufacture of shirts, collars and cuffs in the world. The commerce and leading industries of Rensselaer county, however, are fully described in succeeding chapters. 76 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. CHAPTER VII. The Erection of the First County Buildings— Rivalry Between Troy and Lansing- burgh as to Which Should Secure the Court House— Formation of New Towns— Rapid Development of the County and its Increasing Needs— Organization of the State Militia— Appointments for the Rensselaer County Brigade— Its Evolution in the Early Days of the Nineteenth Century. The question of the erection of the first court house in Rensselaer county was settled in a manner which naturally resulted in locating it in the village of Troy. By an act of January 11, 1793, the sum of six hundred pounds was appropriated by the State Legislature for the erection of a court house and jail, to which was to be added such amount as the inhabitants of the county might decide to give. Troy and Lansingburgh were the two principal towns in the' county, and they were bitter rivals. To avoid the unnecessary increase in the jealousy which existed between them the authorities decided that the court house and other county buildings which it was decided to build should be located in the town subscribing the most money toward their con struction. The people of Troy, with that enterprise which has char acterized them ever since the close of the war of the Revolution, quietly went to work to secure the necessary amount of money. A paper reading as follows was circulated, receiving the signatures of, sixty-four Trojans, who pledged themselves to pay the joint sum of one thousand pounds, or nearly five thousand dollars: To all whom these presents shall come or may concern : Whereas, by an act of the Legislature of the State of New York at their present session it was enacted that a court house and gaol should be erected and built in the county of Rensselaer, within sixty rods of the dwelling house of Stephen Ashley, in the village of Troy in the town of Troy, and that the sum of one thousand pounds should be made payable to the treasurer of said county for the time being, for the purpose aforesaid, by the in habitants of the said village in the town of Troy. Now therefore know ye, that we whose names are hereunto subscribed do respectively promise to pay unto Albert Pawl ing and Christopher Hutton, or to one of them, to their or one of their executors, ad ministrators, or assigns, the sum of money annexed to our respective names on de mand, which money is to be appropriated to the building of the court house and gaol as aforesaid. Dated this fourteenth day of January, in the year of Our Lord one thousand and seven hundred and ninety-three. THE FIRST COURT HOUSE. 77 To make doubly sure and hasten the work, on March 22, 1793, Jacob D. Vander Heyden, owner of most of the land on which the busi ness portion of the city of Troy is located, deeded to Robert Wood- worth, Cornelius Lansing, Jacob A. Lansing, Benjamin Milks, Thomas Sickles, Jonas Odell and John Wylie, supervisors of the county, the lots on the southeast corner of Second and Congress streets, numbered respectively 145, 146 and 147, on which to erect the court house and jail which the citizens of Troy had decided should be erected in that village. Work on the court house was begun at once, the building occupying the site of that which is now occupied by the handsome new court house erected in 1895 and 1896. It was a handsome and sub stantial building for its day. While it was in course of construction Benjamin Gorton, county clerk, on Nov.' 11, 1794, advertised for pro posals for the erection of the jail, which was built east of the court house. On February 3, 1794, the Legislature passed this law: Whereas a court house has been lately erected in and for the county of Rensselaer. Therefore Beit enacted, etc., That it shall be lawful for judges and assistant justices of the same court of common pleas [referred to in the title of the law], who shall hold the next court, or the major part of them, and for the justices of the peace who shall hold the next court of general sessions of the peace in the same county, or the major part of them, on the first day of the next term or sessions of the same courts respect ively, or at any time thereafter, to adjourn the same courts respectively to the said court house in the same county, and there to hold the said courts. The first court, the court of common pleas, convened in the court house the second Tuesday in June, 1794. The jail was completed the next year. In addition to its original appropriation, in 1794 the Legis lature voted the further sum of eight hundred pounds, in 1797 it voted five thousand five hundred dollars and in 1798 five hundred dollars more. The first county clerk's office was in a house in Lansingburgh, previously occupied by N. Jacobs, near that of Col. John Van Rensse laer. From this time on many events of interest to posterity occurred in the county of Rensselaer; but all of these excepting those which relate directly to the county as an institution, those which have a local bear ing only, will be found preserved in their proper places, in the history of the various towns in which they transpired. From time to time in the early days of the county, and even before Rensselaer county was set apart from Albany, road improvements were provided for by legislative enactment. April 1, 1799, a turnpike com- 78 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. pany was incorporated " for improving the road from the springs in Lebanon to the city of Albany. " At the same time a company was. incorporated " for improving the road from the village of Bath to the Massachusetts line. " The directors of the first named company were John Tryon, Eleazur Grant, John W. Schermerhorn, Jonathan Hoag, Elisha Gilbert, James McKown, Nathan Hand, Moses King, John Darling, Jacob C. Schermerhorn, Nathaniel Brockeway and others, who were empowered to " make a good and sufficient road from the line of the State of Massachusetts, where the road from Pittsfield and Hancock leads by or near the springs in Canaan, commonly called New Lebanon Springs in the nearest and most direct route, as far as cir cumstances will admit by the house of Elisha Gilbert, John W. Scher merhorn, Jonathan Hoag and James McKown, to the ferry near the house of John I. Van Rensselaer." John Tryon, Elisha Gilbert, John W. Schermerhorn, Jonathan Hoag and James McKown were appointed commissioners to direct the work. By the provisions of the same law Abraham Schuyler, Thomas Hun, Teunis T. Van Vechten, Barent Bleecker, John C. Cuyler, David Fonda, Barent G. Staats, John Maley, Gerrit W. Van Schaick, John E. Van Alen, Daniel Gray and James Main were empowered, under the name of "the President Directors and Company of the Eastern Turn pike Road," to make " a good and sufficient road from the village of Bath in the county of Rensselaer, in the nearest and most direct route to the house of James Main in Petersborough in said county and from thence to the line of the State of Massachusetts, where the road from Williamstown to the city of Albany crosses the said line." David Fonda, John C. Cuyler and Sanders Lansing were appointed commis sioners to direct the construction of the road. The law directed that both the roads should be at least four rods wide, " twenty-four feet of which shall be bedded with wood, stone, gravel, or any other hard sub stance compacted together, a sufficient depth to secure a solid found ation to the same, and the said road shall be faced with gravel or other hard substance in such manner as to secure as near as the ma terials will admit an even surface rising toward the middle by a grad ual arch." The rates of toll which might be charged were fixed by the same law. It may not be amiss to describe here the formation of the several towns. The setting apart of the four districts of Rensselaerwyck, Hoosick, Pittstown and Schaghticoke, which were made towns of ORGANIZATION OF TOWNS. 79 Albany county March 7, 1788, and the formation of Stephentown from Rensselaerwyck in 1784, are described in another chapter. By the act which set apart the county of Rensselaer the town of Troy was erected from Rensselaerwyck. March 18, 1791, Petersburgh was erected from Stephentown. When the first board of supervisors met in 1791 there were therefore but seven towns in the county, viz.: Rensselaerwyck, Troy, Schaghticoke, Hoosick, Pittstown, Stephen- town and Petersburgh. The remainder of the sixteen towns in the county were organized thus: Greenbush was formed from Rensselaerwyck April 10, 1792. A second act of incorporation bears date of March 17, 1795. In 1812 a part of the town of Sand Lake was set off. February 23, 1855, East Greenbush was set, off under the name of Clinton, and at the same time North Greenbush was taken from Greenbush. This left the boundaries of the town of Greenbush and the village of Greenbush identical, as defined by the act of April 9, 1852, incorporating the village. Schodack was erected from the remainder of Rensselaerwyck March 17, 1795, when the name of Rensselaerwyck as a town ceased to exist. Berlin was taken March 21, 1806, from parts of Schodack, Stephen- town and Petersburgh. Nassau was formed on the same date from parts of the same town. Brunswick was taken from Troy March 20, 1807. Grafton was formed on the same date from Troy and Petersburgh. Lansingburgh was also formed in the same way from parts of Troy and Petersburgh. In 1819 a part of Schaghticoke was annexed; in 1836 a part of Troy was set off and added to the town, and three years later its size was still further increased by the addition of a part of the town of Brunswick. Sand Lake was erected June 19, 1812, from parts of Berlin and Greenbush. Poestenkill was taken from Sand Lake March 2, 1848. East Greenbush, originally called Clinton, was set off from Green bush Feb. 23, 1855. Itshame was changed from Clinton to East Green bush April 14, 1858. North Greenbush was set off from Greenbush at the time Clinton was erected, Feb. 23, 1855. Troy was formed as a town March 18, 1791. The first village charter was granted in the latter part of the same year, a second one March 80 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. 25, 1794, and another in 1798. A part of Brunswick was annexed in 1814, and two years later, April 12, 1816, Troy received a city charter. As the population of the county and the consequent litigation in creased the court house constructed in the latter part of the eighteenth century became inadequate to the needs of the county and the demand for a more commodious and more convenient building became general. At a meeting of the board of supervisors held Nov. 15, 1826, at the hotel of William Pierce it was decided to' petition the State Legislature to pass a law authorizing the county Legislature to raise by taxation a sum (together with the money which might be contributed by the city of Troy) not exceeding $25,000, for the construction of a new court house. The board at the same time decided that, to insure the erec tion of said building, the city of Troy must guarantee the payment of two-fifths of the cost of the building in addition to the city's portion of the remainder of the cost. The proposition was accepted by the com mon council of the city of Troy on the understanding that the munici pal authorities should have accommodations in the building and that the new court house should be erected not far from the site of the old one, and under the direction of a joint commission of the board of su pervisors and the common council. The supervisors agreeing to the conditions a committee was appointed, consisting of Townsend Mc- Coun, Ephraim Morgan, and Jeremiah Dauchy. May 13, 1827, the State Legislature, in compliance with the request of the county, passed an act authorizing the supervisors to raise by tax a sum not exceeding $15,000, for the work of rebuilding the court house. Work was begun at once. The old building was razed and temporary headquarters for the courts were engaged in the Methodist meeting house on the north west corner of Fifth and State streets. The foundations of the new building were begun in 1829 on the site of the one described. The Doric hexastyle order of architecture was followed, the structure being of Sing Sing marble and modeled principally after the temple of The seus at Athens. In March, 1831, upon the completion of the building, a very handsome and imposing one for its day, the supervisors, in ac cordance with their agreement, set apart two rooms on the north side of the first floor, one for the mayor's court and the other for the com mon council. Three rooms in the basement were also assigned for the use of the other city officers. The remainder of the building was reserved for the use of the county. The total cost of the court house was about $40,000. In it the municipal courts and the sessions of the MOSES WARREN. EARLY PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 81 common council were held until October, 1876, at which time the new city hall was occupied. Even before it was decided to build a new court house the necessity for a new jail had become apparent. May 17, 1825, the common coun cil of Troy voted to submit to the board of supervisors of the county a proposition to build a more commodious and safer jail, and a committee consisting of Ephraim Morgan, Thomas Clowes and Jeremiah Dauchy was appointed to confer with a committee from the board of super visors with that end in view. The next spring, April 6, 1826, the supervisors presented to the common council a proposition toward the same end. The two bodies agreed to the plan in general and it was contracted between them that the jail should be erected on lot No. 435 on the east side of Fifth street on the north side of Ferry street in the city of Troy; that the foundation should be constructed of stone and the superstructure of brick; that the roofs should be of slate; that the city of Troy should give the county a deed to the land on which the building was to be erected, and that the city should pay all taxes or other charges which should ever be levied or assessed on the property. The lot cost the city $1,125, and it also cost $175 for the city to level the lot and make the excavations Upon the completion of the jail the common council voted, Aug. 2, 1832, to place the old court house bell in the cupola of the jail to be rung in the event of the escape of a pris oner and in case of fire. The House of Industry had already been built when the new court house and jail were first decided upon. The common council of Troy requested the supervisors, Oct. 4, 1821, to raise $1,500 for the construc tion of the building. The supervisors were in accord with the plan and purchased a farm southeast of the city, about a mile from its in habited limits. Its cost was $4,502.28, and the cost of the new build ing and the repairs to the old one and the barn was $3,062.56, making the total cost, with other necessary expenses, $9,064.84. To meet this expense the city was assessed $4,647.94, the county paying the balance. Just when the first regiment of State militia in the county was formed is not known. Though it is known that militia companies existed in the county very early in the nineteenth century, and possibly some were organized during or immediately after the Revolutionary war, there are no official minutes on the subject until the year 1802. We have knowledge of the action of militia companies in various parts of the State during the War of the Revolution, and Rensselaer county, with 11 82 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. its increasing population and patriotic spirit, undoubtedly supported one or more companies before the days in which official records began to be made. However, in the year 1802, on February 28, Sol. Van Rens selaer, the adjutant -general, issued general orders, which read: "You are requested to deliver the ordnance in your possession to Capt. Joseph Alexander, of the Artillery, in the limits of your regiment." That there was a militia company in the county at least two years prior to that time is shown by the fact that the name of Nathaniel Adams ap pears as brigade quartermaster June 8, 1800. The list of appoint ments for the Rensselaer county brigade of the militia contains these names: Field and Staff. — February 22, 1803, Michael S. Vandercook, inspector. March 22, 1806, Hosea Moffitt, brigadier-general. June 8, 1800, Nathaniel Adams, brigade quartermaster. Captains.— -March' 7, 1803, Amos Potter (2d); March 18, 1803, Jacob Lansing; May 24, 1809, Henry Koon — riflemen. First Lieutenants. — March 7, 1803, Thomas Osborne; March 18, 1803, George Young; May 24, 1809, David Bell— riflemen. Second Lieutenants. — March 7. 1803, Joseph Potter; May 24, 1809, James De Freest — riflemen. ARTILLERY. Field and Staff. — March 27, 1805, Francis Saltus, second major. Captains.— April 6, 1807, James D. Wallace. Second Lieutenants. — April 6, 1807, George R. A. Picketts; April 6, 1807, Nathaniel Richards. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIFTH REGIMENT. Field and Staff.— March 18, 1803, Abram Ten Eyck, lieutenant-colonel command ing; Stephen Andres, adjutant. April 2, 1803, Dirck Vanderheyden, quartermaster; John Loudon, surgeon. April 5, 1805, Adam Yates, lieutenant-colonel commanding; Henry T. E. Schuyler, second major. March 22, 1806, Henry T. E. Schuyler, first major; Levinus R. Winsor, second major; Gurdon Corning, adjutant. April 6, 1807, John G. Vanderheyden, paymaster. June 8, 1806, Thomas Davis, second major; Barent Schuyler, paymaster; David Butler, chaplain; Hugh W. Henry, surgeon's mate ; John Sampson, quartermaster. May 24, 1809, Ely Burritt, surgeon. March 12, 1810, Barent Schuyler, adjutant; Martin Van Alstyne, paymaster. Captains.— March 18, 1803, Abraham Lansing, Francis Collison, Nathaniel Adams; March 16, 1804, Joseph Stead; April 5, 1805, Solomon Buckley, Henry Searles, James Adams, John I. Fonda; March 22, 1806, Jonathan Hatch, Daniel Simmons, John I. Fonda, jr. ; April 6, 1807, Hazard Kimberly, Sylvanus Jenks Pen- mman, Thomas Davis; June 8, 1808, William S. Parker. Ebenezer W. Walbridge, Guilford D. Young, Amos Salisbury; November 11, 1808, Guilford D. Young, Will- jam S. Parker; May 24, 1809, Frederick G. Bergen, Cornelins Swartwood ' John RENSSELAER COUNTY BRIGADE. 83 Newman; May 31, 1809, Zachariah Curtis; March 12, 1810, John De Freest, jr.; April 10, 1811, Ebenezer W. Walbridge. Lieutenants. — March 18, 1803, Daniel Goewey, Patrick Agan, Jonathan Hatch, John C. Redmund; April 16, 1804, Daniel Simmons; April 5, 1805, Hazard Kim- berly, Reuben B. Crowner, Isaac Hasbrouck, John De Freest, jr., Joseph Chambers; March 22, 1806, Jacob Bishop, Sylvanus J. Penniman, Amos Salisbury, Joseph Seers, John McManus, John Newman ; April 6, 1807, Guilford D. Young, Ebenezer W. Walbridge, Zachariah Curtis, W. S. Parker, June 8, 1808, Benjamin Higbee, Stephen Warren, Stephen Clark, Frederick Barringer, Elam Lyndes; November 11, 1806, Benjamin Higbee, Stephen Warren ; May 24, 1809, Philip D. Berger, Abraham Lansing, Nathan Barber, Oliver Lyon; May 31, 1809, Stephen Clark, Gurdon Corn ing; March 12, 1810, Martin De Freest, William Case, Cornelius Adriance, James Giles. Ensigns. — March 18, 1804, Samuel Comstock, William Lamport, Jacob Bishop, Joseph Chambers; March 16, 1804, John McManus; April 5, 1805, Stephen Chandler, John Newman, William P. Rathbun, Martin Van Alstyne, John F. Whipple; March 22, 1806, Zachariah Curtis, Ebenezer W. Walbridge, Jared Bells, Jacob J. Wager, William Schoby, Jacob Wygant; April 6, 1807, Benjamin Higbee, Stephen Clark, Cornelius Adriance, Abraham R. Winne, Stephen Warren ; June 8, 1808, Jedediah Tracey, Norman Hickok, Cornelius Swartwout, Samuel P. Hawley, Oliver Lyon; November 11, 1808, Samuel P. Hawley, Jedediah Tracey; March 21, 1809, Luther Eddy, Eliphalet King, Nathaniel Challis, Josiah G. Kinne, Cornelius Slyter; May 31, 1809, Cornelius Adriance; March 12, 1810, William W. Slyter, Richard J. De Freest, Luther Bliss. Additional appointments in the 155th are as follows: Field and Staff. — Adam Yates, lieutenant-colonel. April 10, 1811, Thomas Davis, first major; April 10, 1811, Amos Salisbury, second major. February 29, 1812, Thomas Davis, lieutenant-colonel; Amos Salisbury, first major. May 20, 1812, Guil ford D. Young, second major. Captains.— April 10, 1811, Oliver Lyons, Philip D. Barringer; June 5, 1811, Cor nelius Adriance, Hiram Reynolds ; May 20, 1812, Benjamin Higbee ; May 22, 1812, Joseph Ballard. Lieutenants. — April 10, 1811, Roger King, Isaiah G. Kinney, Richard J. De Freest, Stephen Clark; June 5, 1811, Artemus Osgood, John North; February 29, 1812, Joseph Ballard, Nicholas Coon, Luther Eddy; May 10, 1812, James A. Lander; May 23, 1812, Samuel B. Hedges. Ensigns. — April 10, 1811, William Bogardus, Cornelius M. Vanderburgh, Edward A. Cook, Cornelius Beekman ; June 5, 1811, Solomon Wilber, jr., Philip Coons; Feb ruary 29, 1812, James A. Lander, Samuel P. Hedges, Jacob P. Barringer, Samuel Lockwood, James Swartwout; May 20, 1812, Abraham W. De Freest, William L. Marcy ; May 23, 1812, Nathan Morey. FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENT. Field and Staff. — February 26, 1803, Gilbert Eddy, lieutenant-colonel command ing; Samuel Douglass, major; William Knickerbocker, second major; Will Van Vleck, second major. March 21, 1803, John Brown, adjutant. March 2, 1804, Henry 84 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Warren, second major; Nehemiah King, surgeon's mate. June 8, 1808, William Knickerbocker, first major; Tisdale Eddy, second major; Andrew Ryan, quarter master; Theodore May, surgeon. March 12, 1810, John J. Groesbeck, paymaster, February 11, 1811, Thomas Smith, surgeon's mate; Simon Newcomb, surgeon, February 29, 1812, Thomas Smith, surgeon. Captains. — February 26, 1803, John Groesbeck, Benjamin Agan ; March 2, 1804, Bethel Mathers, Darius Thurber, Stephen Gasten; April 3, 1804, Tisdale Eddy; March 22, 1806, Amaziah Herrick; April 6, 1807, Samuel S. Storm, Myndert Groes beck, George Bruce; June 8, 1808, Courtland Elliot; May 24, 1809, Jonathan Row land, Daniel Kiser; February 11, 1811, Munson Smith; April 10, 1811, Burwell Betts, David Bryan, James Anderson; February 29, 1812, John Fake, John Downing. Lieutenants.— Pebruary 26, 1803, Tunis Viele, Asahel Marvell; March 2, 1804, Amaziah Herrick, James Mallery, Stephen Cushman, John I. Filkins; April 3, 1804, Andrew G. Weatherwax; March 22, 1806, Jonathan Rowland, Courtland Elliot, Samuel Wilson ; April 6, 1807, Henry S. Vandercook, David Bryan, Daniel Kiser; June 8, 1808, John Downing; May 24, 1809, Charles Lounsbury, James An derson, Burrell Betts; February 11, 1811, Peter Vandenbergh; April 10, 1811, Adam Clum, John W. Groesbeck, John Fake; February 29, 1812, Stephen Yates, Matthew De Graff, Jacob Williams; April 1, 1812, Richard Bryan. Ensigns. — February 21, 1803, Daniel Cadwell, John Agan; March 21, 1803, Myn dert Groesbeck ; March 2, 1804, Jonathan Rowland, Ira Hawley, James Van Name, William Rice, Noah Levins; April 5, 1805, Courtland Elliot, Charles Lounsbury, Samuel Storm; March 2, 1806, James Anderson, John Downing, Nathan Burden; April 6, 1807, Samuel Cole, Cornelius Yates, James Anderson, Burrell Betts; June 8, 1808, Matthew Graff, William Groesbeck ; May 24, 1809, Jacob Williams, John Fake, Adam Clum, John W. Groesbeck, Thomas Weatherwax; February 11, 1811, Joseph Reed; April 10, 1811, James Morrison, Jacob Backman, Stephen Yates; February 29, 1812, Stephen L. Viele, John Lamport, Richard Bryan, Peter I. Yates; April 1, 1812, Isaac Talmadge. EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT. Field and Staff. — April 5, 1805, Randall Spencer, lieutenant-colonel commanding; David Wilcox, paymaster. June 9, 1807, Zebulon Scriven, lieutenant-colonel com manding ; Samuel McChesney, first major ; Jonathan Irish, second major. May 24, 1809, Samuel McChesney, lieutenant-colonel commanding; Thomas Reynolds, first major; Matthew Randall, second major; Asa Maxon, quartermaster. March 12, 1810, William Clark, paymaster; Eben Moffitt, adjutant. April 10, 1811, Thomas Reynolds, lieutenant-colonel commanding; Matthew Randall, first major; Gideon Palmer, second major. June 11, 1811, Elijah Brown, chaplain; Jeffrey W. Thomas, surgeon's mate; Thomas W. Phillips, paymaster. February 29, 1812, William H. Murray, adjutant. , Captains.— March 18, 1803, Thomas Reynolds; April 5, 1805, John Nichols, James Allen, Benjamin Lee; March 22, 1806, James Godfrey; June 9, 1807, Josiah Hall, Rufus Waite, Gideon Palmer, Matthew Randall; Jnne8, 1808, Joseph Crandall, Enos Larkin, Daniel Arnold, Aaron Sedgwick; May 24, 1809, Aaron Worthington, Ben jamin Rogers, Asa Stillman, Asa Prosser, William C. Barber; March 12, 1810, David RENSSELAER COUNTY BRIGADE. 85 Mattison, Joseph Burdick, Munson Smith, Benjamin Babcock; June 10, 1811, Elisha Coon, Hezekiah Hull, jr., Oliver Wellman ; February 29, 1812, Reuben Babcock. Lieutenants. — March 18, 1803, Solomon Root; April 5, 1805, Josiah Hull, jr., Joseph Crandall, James West, George Stillman, Asa Stillman, James Godfrey, Caleb Wells, jr. ; March 22, 1806, Benjamin Rogers, Gideon Palmer, Daniel Arnold; June 9, 1807, John Enos, Andrew Whipple, Elisha Coon, Asa Maxon, jr., Aaron Worth- ington; June 8, 1808, Edward Whitford, William C. Barber, Samuel Hutton, David Mattison, Elisha Eggleston ; May 24, 1809, George Brimmer, Joseph Burdick, Thomas S. Harvey, Sanford Hewitt, Benjamin Babcock, Pliny Miller, jr. ; March 12, 1810, Hezekiah Hull, Solomon Smith, jr., William Childs, Peter Vandenburgh (of Riflemen), Elisha Burdick; April 10, 1811, Robert Davis, Rodman Thomas, Reuben Babcock, jr. ; June 41, 1811, John Brimmer; February 29, 1812, Joseph Amidon. Ensigns.— March 18, 1803, Caleb Wells; April 5, 1805, Stephen McChesney, Eliphalet Johnson, Benjamin Rogers, Gideon Palmer, Thomas S. Harvey, Daniel Arnold, Aaron Worthington ; March 22, 1806, Joseph Burdick, Elisha Coon, David Mattison; June 9, 1807, William C. Barber, Robert Davis, Asa Prosser, George Brimmer; June 8, 1808, Sanford Hewitt, William Childs, Hezekiah Hull, Pliny Mil ler; May 24, 1809, Joshua M. Scriven, William Coon, Elisha Burdick, Thomas Phil lips, jr., Robert Godfrey ; March 12, 1810, Jarvis Green, Zebulon Scriven, John Hut ton, Joseph Reed, John Brimmer ; April 10, 1811, John Worthington, William H. Murray, Jonathan Barry, Joseph Amidon; June 11, 18 1, Archibald Jones, Daniel Palmer; February 29, 1812, Otis Gould, Asa Burdick, jr. FIFTH REGIMENT. Field and Staff. — April 5, 1805, Hosea Mofifitt, lieutenant colonel commanding Jon athan Denison, second major; William L. Gardner, adjutant; Rufus Sweet, pay master; Willet Vary, quartermaster; Joshua Griggs, surgeon; Joab H. Gardner, surgeon's mate. April 3, 1806, Elisha Stewart, lieutenant-colonel commanding; Caleb Kerr ; first major ; Adil Swan, secondmajor; Matthew Jones, paymaster. June 9, 1807, Barnel Van Vleck, quartermaster; June 8, 1808, John Younglove, chaplain. March 12, 1810, Caleb Carr, lieutenant- colonel commanding; Eliphaz Spencer, first major; Rufus Sweet, second major; Eben Mofifitt, adjutant; William K. Scott, sur geon. April 10, 1810, Nathan Howard, paymaster. May 23, 1812, George Forsyth, quartermaster. Captains. — March 25, 1803, Elisha Adams, Bernard Hix, William Vary; April 5, 1805, Charles Dennison, EliVickery; April 3, 1806, Benjamin Chase, Richard H. Vary, Eliphaz Spencer ; June 9, 1807, Fenner Palmer, Amos James, Rufus Sweet, Henry Tucker; May 24, 1809, Cyrus Spencer, Willet Vary; March 12, 1810, James Jones, Abner Bull, Bernard Hix, Samuel E. Gibbs; April 10, 1811, Simon Tifft, Pliny Miller, Josiah Humphrey, Nathan Gale; May 23, 1812. Pliny Miller. Lieutenants. — March 25, 1803, James Hempstead, Nathan B. Gardner, Eliphalet Reid, Silas Thomas (Grenadiers); April 5, 1805, Paul Brayman, Henry Tucker, Eliphaz Spencer, Benjamin Chase ; April 3, 1806, Amos James, Willet Vary, Rufus Sweet; April 4, 1806, Stephen Benton ; June 9, 1808, Darius Phillips, Abner Bull, jr., Ebenezer Martin, Cyrus Spencer; June 8, 1808, John Blaney; May 24, 1809, James Jones, Josiah Humphrey; March 12, 1810, Thomas L. Adams, Samuel Post, Solomon 86 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. W. Lawrence, Chauncey Foster; April 10. 1811, John B. Adsit, Martin Field, Benja min Rogers, Cornelius W. Schermerhorn, Henry Reynolds; May 23, 1812, John Curtis. Ensigns.— March 25, 1803, Minor Jones, Benjamin' Chase, Eliphaz Spencer, Will iam Lamport Gardner (Grenadiers); April 5, 1805, Daniel Arnold, Aaron Sedgwick, Stephen Boughton, Matthew Jones, Daniel Greene; April 3, 1806, Cyrus Spencer, Jeremiah Marks, James Jones, Abner Bull, jr. ; June 9, 1807, William Sheldon, Sam uel Coleman, Samuel Post, John Blaney; June 8, 1808, Jacob P. Heermance; May 24, 1809, Chauncey Goold, Simon Tifft, Thomas P. Adams; March 12, 1810, William Jones, Henry Reynolds, John Adsit, jr., Daniel St. John, Benjamin Sweet; April 1(1, 1811, Daniel M. Gregory, Sylvester Howard, William Kittle, jr., Henry J. Dusen- bury ; May 23, 1812, David Tifft. David Brainerd, jr. FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT. Field and St aff.— March 30, 1803, Nicholas Staats, lieutenant-colonel command ing; John Billings, adjutant; Joachim N. Staats, quartermaster. April 5, 1805, Philip Staats, lieutenant-colonel commanding; Cornelius J. Schermerhorn, first major; Nicholas J. Kittle, second major ; John J. Kittle, adjutant; Benjamin Rowe, surgeon ; Nicholas B.~ Harris, surgeon's mate. April 6, 1807, Daniel Van Buren, paymaster; John W. Van Vechten, quartermaster. June 8, 1808, John L. Zabriskie, chaplain; Nicholas B Harris, surgeon ; Cornelius Heermance, surgeon's mate. June 13, 1808, Jacob G. Vandenburgh, quartermaster. March 12, 1810, Cornelius J. Scher merhorn, lieutenant-colonel; Nicholas J. Kittle, first major ; John J. Miller, second major. April 10, 1811, John J. Miller, first major; Joshua Griffiths, second major; John S. Miller, surgeon's mate. January 25, 1813, James Elliot, quartermaster. Captains.— March 30, 1803, Silas Welmoth, John J. Miller, Joshua Griffith, Zach ariah Faller; April 5, 1805, Garret Yates, Jacob Barhite; April 6, 1807, James G. Myers, John H. Van Rensselaer; June 8, 1808, Abraham Herrington, William N. Staats; May 24, 1809, Jonathan J. Witbeck, James Livingston; March 12, 1810, Stephen J. Miller, Erastus Lyman; February 11, 1811, Joel Bristol; April 10, 1811, Hugh Gordon, Abraham Huyck, Jonas Miller, David E. Gregory, Samuel Myers; February 29, 1812, Bradman Yates, Manesseh Knowlton. Lieutenants. — March 30, 1803, Samuel Hammond, Samuel Comble, John Witbeck, Henry Row, Henry Dunspoe; April 5, 1805, Eber Wilcox, Jonathan J. Witbeck, John H. Van Rensselaer, Samuel R. Campbell, William Crandall; April 6, 1807, Abraham Huyck, Jonathan J. Witbeck; June 8, 1808, Manessah Knowlton, Anthony Breese, Aretus Lyman, Peter Ostrander; May 24, 1809, Joel Bristol, Hugh Gordon; March 12, 1810, Bradman Yates, David E. Gregory. Simeon Welch ; February 11, 1811, William Carmichael; April 10, 1811, Martin Witbeck, John Carpenter, Samuel Myers, Henry Livingston, Stephen Cole, Abraham V. D. P. Gregory; February 29, 1812, Abraham P. Staats, Almon R. Bostwick, James Elliot. Ensigns. — March 30, 1803, Abner Wilcox, John Weaver, jr., Jonas Miller, David Cravour; April 5, 1805, Pownal Hitchcock, Anthony Breese, jr., Stephen J. Miller, Abraham Huyck ; April 6, 1807, John Carpenter, Joel Bristol ; June K. 1808, Nathan iel Paine, James Livingston, David E. Gregory, Simeon Welch ; May 21, 1809, Sam uel Myers; May 31, 1809, William Van Schaick; March 12, 1810, Abraham I. Staats, RENSSELAER COUNTY BRIGADE. 87 Abraham V. D. P. Gregory, Adam Smith; February 11, 1811, Stephen Tripp; April 10, 1811, John N. Kittle, James Elliot, Stephen Cole, Abraham P. Smith, Thomas Phillips, John Ladue; February 29, 1812, Henry Vadenburgh,, Adam Smith, An drew Gibson, Jacob H. Harrington, Matthew Conklin. SEVENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT. Field and Staff. — April 2, 1803, Jacob A. Fort, lieutenant-colonel commanding; Asher Armstrong, surgeon; Aaron D. Patchin, surgeon's mate. March 22, 1806, John Carpenter, adjutant; Jeremiah Schuyler, paymaster; Jacob Lansing, quarter- mas'er. June 8, 1808, Sylvester Noble, second major. March 12, 1810, Joseph Dorr, lieutenant-colonel commanding; Sylvester Noble, first major; John Haynes, second major; Charles H. Wetmore, surgeon's mate. June 5, 1811, James Olmstead, first major; Samuel Wilson, second major; Abram Hallenbeck, surgeon's mate; James Glass, chaplain; Nathaniel Cole, junior quartermaster. February 29, 1812, Samuel Wilson, first major; John H. Haynes, second major; Russell Dorr, surgeon; Archi bald Ball, quartermaster. Captains.— April 2, 1803, Henry Van Ness, John Mattison ; April 5, 1895, Nathaniel Bishop, Gideon Gifford, Azariah Haskins; March 22, 1806, Daniel Rogers; April 6, 1807, Darius Thurber; June 8, 1808, Samuel Fanson, Russell Chase; May 24, 1809, Henry Warren, Samuel Faxon, John Haynes, Royal Abbott; March 12, 1810, James Olmstead, John H. Haynes, John Spicer, Lemuel Sherwood, Samuel Wilson, Abra ham Keach; June 5, 1811, George R. Davis, Abraham Van Wart, Russell Granger, Allen Spicer; February 29, 1812, Moses Wright, Jesse Holmes. Lieutenants. — April 2, 1803, Henry Hartsough, Nathaniel Bishop, Charles Shep herd; April 5, 1805, Joseph Stearns, Gilbert Barnes, James Olmstead, Samuel Wil son ; March 22, 1808, Barnet Salisbury, John H. Haynes ; April 6, 1807, Samuel Wil son ; June 8, 1808, Aaron Baldwin, Lemuel Sherwood, Royal Abbott; May 24, 1809, John Spicer, Abraham Keach; March 12, 1810, Abraham Van Wort, John Wallace, jr., Allen Spicer, Garret Hallenbeck, Conrad Raymond, John B. Ryan; June 5, 1811, Joseph I. Northrup, Reuben Williams, Jesse Holmes, Earl Pearce, Moses Wright; February 29, 1812, Daniel Halstead, Samuel Van Surdam, Noah Baker. Ensigns. — April 2, 1803, Samuel S. Munroe, Sherman Baker, Royal Abbott; April 5, 1805, John H. Haynes, Samuel Faxon, Isaiah Austin, Nathan Burden ; March 22, 1806, Russell Chase, John Spicer, John Wallace, jr. ; April 6, 1807, Nathan Burden ; June 8, 1808, John Manchester, Jonas Halstead, Garret Hallenbeck ; May 24, 1809, Conrad Raymond, Allen Spicer, John B. Ryan; March 12, 1810, Reuben Williams, Moses Wright, Earl Pearce, Rix Green, Roswell Halstead, Daniel Delavan ; June 5, 1811, James Van Surdam, David S. Wing, Stephen Hunt, Rufus Sturges, Clark McGowan, Noah Baker, Daniel Rogers, jr. ; February 29, 1812, Israel T. Holmes, Levi Cronkhite, George R. Keach. THIRD REGIMENT OF CAVALRY. Field Officers. — March 12, 1810, Herman Knickerbocker, major. February 11, 1811, John Chester, chaplain ; Moses Burt, surgeon's mate. February 29, 1812, David Kittle, second major; Theodore RomeynBeck, surgeon; John M. Bradford, chaplain; Henry Jones, paymaster, 88 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Captains. — March 12, 1810, Wooster Brookins; June 5, 1811, Everet Van Alen; February 29, 1812, Joseph Rogers. Lieutenants. — March 12, 1810, Braddock Hall, Alanson Clark, Richard Yates, Martin Overocker; April 10, 1811, Braddock Hall, Alanson Clark; June 5, 1811, Martin Overocker, Alanson Brookins, Charles Doughty, Gilbert Riley; February 29, 1812, Paris Green, Jonathan Carpenter, James Rogers, John Coon. Comets.— March 12, 1810, Joseph Amidon, William Dunn; April 10, 1811, Paris Green; June 5, 1811, John Fellet, George W. Staats; February 29, 1812, Israel Piatt, Simeon Cranston. FIRST BATTALION ARTILLERY, SECOND BRIGADE, SIXTH REGIMENT.1 Field and Staff. — June 5, 1811, Joshua Hamden, paymaster; Levi Cooley, first major; Cornelius Holmes, surgeon's mate. Captains. — February 11, 1811, Rapine Andrews, David St. John; June 5, 1811, Stephen C. Miller; May 20, 1812, James Vanderpool; May 23, 1812, John Blakesly; August 11, 1812, Ruggles Hubbard (flying artillery). First Lieutenants. — February 11, 1811, Mordecai Bull, Lewis Finch, Joseph Bene dict; June 5, 1811, Nathaniel Payne; May 20, 1812, Freeman Fellows; May 23, 1812, Gideon Reed, Daniel Gordon, Elias Worden, Thomas Stevenson; August 11, 1812, Richard M. Livingston. Second Lieutenants. — February 11, 1811, Isaac Woodle, Gideon Reed, Joshua Phillips; June 5, 1811, Adam Smith, Moses Younglove; May 20, 1812, Ira Stone, Caleb Ward, Samuel T. Vary, Samuel Gifford, John C. Conklin, Philo Doane; Au gust 11, 1812, William McManus (flying artillery), Jacob Springer (cornet). The next official order, as far as can be ascertained, issued to a com manding officer of the Rensselaer county brigade, is found in an order dated March 15, 1808, in conformity to "an act of Congress authoriz ing a detachment from the militia of the United States," and pur suant to a requisition of the President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, calling for 14,389 men from the State of New York. Gen eral Moffitt, in command of the Rensselaer county brigade, was di rected to furnish 411 men. How long General Moffitt had been in command of the brigade and who his predecessors were cannot be ascertained. In the following year Michael S. Vandercook was ap pointed inspector and major of the brigade, Francis Adincourt was appointed adjutant of the battalion of infantry which formed a part of the brigade, and John E. Wool was appointed quartermaster of the squadron of cavalry in the brigade. In pursuance of a law passed March 29, 1809, general orders were issued providing for the Third Regiment of Cavalry from Rensselaer and Columbia counties, to con sist of two squadrons, one from each county. May 27 of the same 1 Counties of Rensselaear and Columbia. GERRIT VAN SCHAICK QUACKENBUSH THE MILITIA REORGANIZED. 89 year A. Lamb, Lieut. -Col. and Aid-de-Camp, sent out the follo.wing general orders under direction of the commander in-chief: "The company of Trojan Greens in the village of Troy having been organized into a rifle company pursuant to the thirty-third section of the militia law of the State, but their uniform not having been pre scribed, the commander-in-chief directs that the uniform of said com pany shall be green short coats, with black facings trimmed with yel low cord; caps of the description heretofore worn by the company, with green or white underclothes." In pursuance of general orders issued May 10, 1810, a rifle com pany was organized in Lieut. -Col. Cornelius J. Schermerhorn's regi ment in this county. Joel Bristol was assigned as captain, William Carmichael as lieutenant and Wallace St. John as ensign. The orders directed that the uniform should be " green rifle frocks and plantations, with yellow fringe and buttons, black gaiters, round black hats, witb yellow buttons, black loops and short green feathers." A company of artillery was organized in accordance with general orders issued Sep tember 15, 1810, with Daniel St. John as captain, Joseph Benedict as first lieutenant and Nathan Durry as second lieutenant. Another com- . pany of artillery was organized in pursuance of orders issued July 24, 1810, with Brevet Martin Van Alstyne as captain, Nathan Payne as first lieutenant and Rinier Van Alstyne as second lieutenant. The early militia of Rensselaer county evidently had excellent stand ing at the headquarters in Albany, for the following highly compli mentary order was issued by the commander-in-chief April 6, 1811: The commander-in-chief has heard with much satisfaction of the enterprising spirit and military ambition which1 prevails among the officers and soldiers of the companies of riflemen in the county of Rensselaer, and it having been represented to him that there are already three companies in the brigade of militia in said county, each of which contains more than thirty men uniformed and equipped ac cording to law, he does hereby direct that the rifle companies in the said brigade be henceforth organized into a battalion of riflemen, to be commanded by Major Wil liam S. Parker, of Troy. In pursuance of these orders the three companies were at once or ganized into a brigade with the following officers : William S. Parker, First Major, Commandant; Henry Coon, Second Major; Stephen War ren, Captain; David Bell, Captain; Joel Bristol, Captain; Jedediah Tracy, Lieutenant ; James De Freest, Lieutenant ; William Carmichael, Lieutenant; Sidney Dole, Ensign; Stephen Tripp, Ensign; Abraham 12 90 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. H. Lansing, Junior Ensign. Pursuant to general orders issued June 18, 1812, there was a general reorganization of all the militia of the State, in anticipation of their employment in the war of 1812. In this reor ganization Tisdale Eddy of Rensselaer county was appointed Second Major in the Ninth Regiment of the Third Brigade, and Michael Van- dercook was appointed Brigade Major and Inspector in the Second Brigade. On the 13th of April, 1812, the Rensselaer county brigade formed a part of the Third Division, which was in command of Major-General Henry Livingston. The brigade was called the Eighth Brigade of Infantry and was under the command of General Jacob A. Fort. The six regiments comprising it were commanded respectively as follows: First, Colonel Caleb Carr; Forty-third, Colonel Cornelius J. Schermer horn; Forty-fifth, Colonel Gilbert Eddy; Seventy- eighth, Colonel Joseph Dorr; Eighty-sixth, Colonel Thomas Reynolds; One hundred and Fifty-fifth, Colonel Thomas Davis. The war in which this country and Great Britain had become in volved in 1812 had now assumed threatening proportions and new militia companies were organized all over the country. Rensselaer county promptly fell in line, and another rifle company was organized, pursuant to orders issued by the commander-in-chief December 4, 1812. It consisted of forty-two persons and was officered as follows: Junior Captain, Reuben Babcock; Lieutenant, Ellis Foster; Ensign, Henry Tracey. It will be seen from the roster of officers of the militia of Rensselaer county in the early years of the nineteenth century that this county had more than its quota of soldiers prepared to assist in repelling any invader that might attempt to desecrate American territory. It is a matter of keen regret that those intrusted with the duty of keeping a record of the State guard did not more carefully keep and preserve the minutes of the Rensselaer county militia. THE ANTI-RENT WAR. 91. CHAPTER VIII. The Famous Anti-Rent Troubles in Rensselaer County and Vicinity — The Cen tres of the Scenes of Disturbance — Anti-Rent Associations — Refusals of the Occu pants of Farms to Pay Rent — The Murder of Griggs — Arrest, Trial and Acquittal of Witbeck, the Alleged Murderer. The anti-rent troubles, which culminated in the organization of the Anti-Rent Party and the inauguration of what was known as the Anti- Rent War, form one of the most exciting chapters in the history of Rensselaer county. These troubles were not confined to Rensselaer county alone but affected thousands of farmers and landowners through out the eastern and southeastern parts of the State of New York. The Anti-Rent War grew out of a series of disputes between landlords and tenants over leasehold tenures. As we have said the original grant of the manor of Rensselaerwyck was made by the Dutch in 1630. The grant extended from the Mohawk river at the Cohoes falls on the north twenty four miles down the Hudson river, and had a width of sixteen miles, eight miles each east and west from that stream. When the Dutch were succeeded by the English and New Netherland became New York, Thomas Dongan, governor of the colony of New York from 1683 to 1688, was instrumental in causing another grant to be made by the English government. This second grant was called the Dongan Patent and extended the manor of Rensselaerwyck twenty-four miles east and west of the Hudson, thus taking in the whole of what is now Rensselaer county, with the exception of the northern tier of towns. Under this system the occupants of the lands could not own their farms or homes but leased them for a long term of years from the proprietors, paying an annual rental therefor — "ground rent, " as it was called. Nearly all the county was occupied by husbandmen underper- petual leases, which were executed by General Stephen Van Rensse laer, a descendant of the first patroon, Killiaen Van Rensselaer, who received the estate by entail. Under the constitutional provisions the entail ended with him. General Van Rensselaer was respected and beloved by all his tenants. 92 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. He never adopted any oppressive methods, and every farmer in the county looked upon him as his personal friend. When he came into possession of the vast estates the leases previously held by the tenants were surrendered and others given in their places. The rents were re served in wheat, fowls and services with horses and wagons, in addi tion to " quarter sales," which entitled the landlord to one-fourth of the proceeds of every sale ; but no rights from descent were granted, General Van Rensselaer died in 1839, leaving the west manor, which embraced Albany county, to Stephen Van Rensselaer, his oldest son by his first marriage ; and the east manor, most of Rensselaer county, to William P. Van Rensselaer, his oldest son by his second marriage. Fearing that these young men would enforce the quarter-sale forfeiture, which had never been enforced by their ancestor, the tenants of the land sent a delegation to negotiate, if possible, a purchase of all the reservations in the leases and terminate their tenure. But they were too late. While this doubtless could have been done during the life of Stephen Van Rensselaer, his sons refused to consider any proposition, and the tenants in all localities at once organized to oppose the enforce ment of the lease tenure. Anti-Rent associations were organized everywhere, and though some of the tenants were conservative men they dared not oppose the powerful enemies of the landlords; neither did they dare to pay ground rent to the Van Rensselaer brothers. The condition of affairs in Rensselaer county, as well as in Albany and other counties, especially in the rural districts, soon became very exciting. Conflicts constantly occurred between the Anti- Renters and the authorities. Parties of the former went about the country in dis guise and committed many depredations, often becoming a terror to the community in which they existed. As a rule the members of these bands were unknown to those not interested in the raids made. Finally the crimes committed by them became so numerous that laws were passed making it a felony for any person to wear a disguise over the face. The first conflict between the anti-renters and the authorities which resulted in a fatality occurred in the town of Grafton, where a band of the most lawless of the anti-renters killed a man named Smith on the public highway. The affair was investigated but the authorities were unable to ascertain the authors of the crime. The next important step on the part of the anti-renters was the or ganization of a political party, whose policy should be to elect to office THE WITBECK MURDER CASE. 93 none but sympathizers with the cause if possible. The result was that during the five years from 1842 to 1847 the Anti-Rent party succeeded in electing about one-eighth of the members of the Legislature. Some of the most able men in the constitutional convention of 1846 were friends of the cause of the anti-renters, and through their influence there was inserted in the new constitution a clause abolishing all feudal tenures and prohibiting the leasing of agricultural lands for more than twelve years. After this the condition of the tenants was ameliorated by the passage by the Legislature from time to time of laws bearing heavily upon landlords. No sensational incidents developed after the year 1847 or 1848, the principal efforts of the anti renters being extended toward testing in the courts the validity of titles to lands held by landlords. In 1854 Col. Walter S. Church of Albany, who already had obtained con trol of large tracts of land, purchased the rights of Stephen and Will iam P. Van Rensselaer, subsequently bringing over one thousand suits in ejectment on a forfeiture of his leases for non-payment of rent, and recording judgments in about every case, in Rensselaer county alone. The courts sustained the contracts in every case. Three offi cers of the law were killed in the efforts to serve processes, but the work was prosecuted to the end, until every case was settled. The most famous incident in the fight between Colonel Church and the tenants of his lands was the Witbeck murder case, in which the Hon. Martin I. Townsend of Troy took a prominent part. In the Troy Press of December 10, 1890, Mr. Townsend related the story of the murder and trial as follows : Colonel Church was in his day a very notable man in the county of Rensselaer. In 1834 or 1835 a great excitement arose in the county in regard to the rents re served upon lands in the central ana more southern part of the count}' to the Van Rensselaer family in deeds made varying in time from the middle of the eighteenth century to 1834 or 1835. It was said that the Van Rensselaers had never received any proper grant for the lands they had obtained from the Netherlands, and that the then existing family of Van Rensselaers, claiming lands and rents growing out of them, were not the true heirs of those to whom the Netherlands had originally granted lands-on the right and left banks of the Hudson. It was also claimed that the attempt to hold them was mere usurpation, and that it was a rule of law that has been proved under the English common law that a man who took leases from others should be held to have assented to the ownership of his landlord. When the Van Rensselaers came to claim rent, they argued that they had the right to prove not only that the tenant had agreed to pay rent, but that the lessor 94 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. really was possessed of the land he agreed to lease. The courts held otherwise, and there was great excitement in Albany and Rensselaer counties. Hundreds of farmers, bound by an agreement to resist the payment of rents, turned out disguised and armed to prevent the sheriff from levying on personal property to pay the rent demanded. A large number of residents of Rensselaer, as well as Delaware and other counties, were resisting the enforcement of these laws. Troops from Rensselaer county were called to the Helderberg mountains in Albany county to join the troops of that county in resisting the efforts of the rebels, and over and over again the sheriff and a posse of police sent by him were driven back in attempts to pass into the eastern and southern parts of Rensselaer county for the collection of rents arid the enforcement of processes for that purpose. The result of these acts was a great reduction in the value of the Van Rensselaer rents, and they became scarcely available at all to their owners. Under these cir cumstances Colonel Church and others associated with him became large purchasers of these reserved rents. Colonel Church was among the most prominent in seeking to enforce their collection. Controversies arose everywhere and sheriffs met with great difficulty in serving processes. There were many men in Rensselaer, Albany and Columbia counties who became frantic on the subject of resistance of rents and to feel inspired almost to do great work in resisting the collection, or in the lan guage of that day, " putting down rents." One of the most resolute of these men was W. W. Witbeck of Greenbush, who was a large holder of land inherited from his father. With Colonel Church he had a great deal of trouble, incurring large expense and setting up such defenses as were always overruled by the courts. Judgments accumulated and his property, originally very abundant, was largely swept away by these judgments for unpaid rents. Colonel Church finally had a judgment issued turning Witbeck from one of his farms. The deputy sheriff who held the writ was Willard Griggs di Alps, in the town of Nassau, The land was in Greenbush, a couple of miles from the Bath ferry. It was next to impossible to get a posse of citizens in Greenbush to aid the deputy, and the law required that the posse should be summoned from among the citizens of the county. But Col. Church and Griggs collected twenty-one roughs in Albany and went to Witbeck's farm to dispossess him. Witbeck, his two sons and a hired man wete found on the place with a few neighbors, who seemed to have been there accident ally. When the attempt was made to get possession of the farm open resistance was offered. Pistols were fired, clubs used and missiles thrown. Mr. Griggs was badly hurt and was taken to al neighboring house. Col. Church and the rest of the posse left. Griggs died the next morning. Pistol wounds were found on him. but the cause of death was a blow on the head, fracturing the skull. Witbeck, his sons and the hired man were arrested on the charge of murder and indicted. The trial was at Ballston, Saratoga county, a change of venue being had owing to the intense condition of public opinion in Rensselaer county. The judge was Hon. A. B. James of Ogdensburg. and the lawyers for the people were: Hon. T. S. Banker, district attorney of Rensselaer county ; Hon. William A. Beach of Troy, and Hon. Matthew Hale of Albany. For the defense there were Hon. Henry Smith of Albany and Hon. E. L. Fursman and myself of this city. All of the defendants were acquitted. This was the most important struggle in which Church ever was engaged and re sulted very much to his pecuniary disadvantage. But he kept up the fight and there are now in the courts twenty-five or thirty cases in which he is plaintiff. IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 95 CHAPTER IX. Rensselaer County in the War of the Rebellion — Organization in Troy of the First Regiment of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served in the War — History of the Second Regiment — Operations of the Thirtieth, One-hundred and Sixty-ninth, and One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiments — The Twenty-first New York, or the Griswold Cavalry. To the county of Rensselaer, and particularly to the city of Troy, belongs the credit of organizing the first volunteer regiment of Union soldiers which served in the War of the Rebellion. Months before the inauguration of hostilities by the firing upon Fort Sumter the patriotic citizens of Troy resolved to offer their services to the government to assist in the preservation of the Union ; for the air was full of portent ous rumors and many predicted that a resort to arms would be neces sary before the rebellious believers in the right of secession could be induced to lay down their arms Three months before the first gun of that bloody war had been fired at Charleston the Freeman cadets were organized, the first formal meeting being held at the Mansion house in Troy on the evening of January 11, 1861. Five days later organiza tion was perfected by the election of John W. Armitage as captain, George A. Hitchcock as first lieutenant and Charles H. Woodruff as second lieutenant. There is no record in history of the organization of any military company for this express purpose before this date. The day on which the bombardment of Fort Sumter occurred, April 12, 1861, the news was carried to Troy by telegraph and the wildest excitement prevailed. Nothing but talk of war was heard on every side. One company having already been organized, the loyal citizens at once took steps to form a regiment, for the aid of the government. Within the next two or three days the national colors floated to the spring breezes from all the public buildings in the city and from busi ness houses and dwellings. A martial feeling pervaded the whole at mosphere. On the evening of Monday April 15, a largely attended mass meeting of citizens was held in Harmony hall for the purpose of endorsing the attitude of the national administration and to tender it 96 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. the support of Trojans in its efforts to crush the rebellion. The Hon. John A. Griswold was chairman of the meeting and he and the Hon. Martin I. Townsend and the Hon. Isaac McConihe, jr., made addresses which voiced the patriotic sentiment of the meeting. Resolutions were adopted pledging volunteers and money for the aid' of the government and condemning the Southern States for their treason in seceding from the Union. So great was the crowd in the hall and in the streets, where thousands of men waited while the meeting was in progress, that it was deemed advisable to make an early adjournment and repair to some place where the multitude could be accommodated. The meeting accordingly reconvened in the Union depot, where an other strong and patriotic speech was made by Mr. Townsend, who pictured in eloquent phrases the great danger that menaced the nation through the ill-advised course pursued by the rebel States. Speeches were also made by Clarence Buel and George W. Demers, who urged upon those present the necessity of tendering immediate assistance to the nation in its critical hour. The two mass meetings had the desired effect, if indeed they were needed to arouse the patriotism of the men of Troy. The next day en listing offices were opened at the following places: At No. 2 Second street, by Captain John W Armitage ; at the Troy Citizens Corps's armory, by William A. Olmstead; at No. 132 River street, by John Arts; at No. 4 Chatham square, by Michael Cassidy; at the corner of Adams and Fourth streets, by William McConihe; at the Troy City Artillery's armory, by Captain Sidney A. Park; at the Rendezvous, by George H. Otis; at No. 123 Congress street, by William B. Tibbits;at Lansingburgh, by George W. Wilson; and at Green Island, by Joseph G. McNutt. The required number of men having been enlisted by Captain Armitage April 18, he went that day to the State capital and tendered the services of his command to Governor Morgan — the first company offered to and accepted by the State in response to the call of President Lincoln. On that evening the Troy Common Council appro priated the sum of $10,000 for the support of the families of the enlisted men while they were engaged in the war ; and at the same time a mass meeting was held in Harmony hall tov provide means for the same pur pose. The citizens quickly responded to the call, and within two days the fund amounted to more than $26,000. The Rensselaer County Agricultural and Manufacturers' society hav ing offered the use of its buildings and grounds to the volunteer com- ^^r™- j&cfj^r ^ c^&f&st-ns zSj3j-o a/5 £Z Jfb^^- ORGANIZATION OF THE SECOND REGIMENT. 97 panies, on the following Monday, April 22, the four companies organ ized by Captains Armitage, Olmstead, Otis and Wilson, all under command of Colonel Joseph B. Carr, marched to the fair grounds of the society, there to rendezvous until the completion of the organiza tion of the regiment. The next day the remaining companies en camped there with them. April 24 Lieutenant George L. Willard, U. S. A., then on the staff of General John E. Wool, was chosen colonel; Joseph B. Carr was chosen lieutenant-colonel, and R. Wells Kenyon was chosen major. Through a clerical error made in the order of fil ing the papers in the office of the adjutant-general the regiment was designated as the Second Regiment of New York State Volunteers, while it should have been called the First Regiment, as it in reality was. On the same day Colonel Willard appointed Captain Timothy Quinnof the Republican Guards to the office of adjutant of the regi ment, and Charles L. MacArthur of the Troy Citizens Corps to the office of quartermaster. When Colonel Willard was appointed to the command of the regi ment he accepted the honor conferred upon him, with the proviso that the War Department would allow him, an officer in the Regular Army, to retain the position. But the regiment was doomed to disappoint ment, for soon after he received orders from headquarters in Washing ton to resign his command as an officer of volunteers, which order he obeyed May 6; and May 10, Joseph B. Carr was elected colonel, R. Wells Kenyon, lieutenant-colonel and Richard D. Bloss major. Dr. Reed B. Bontecou was appointed surgeon and Dr. Le Roy McLean assistant surgeon. The regiment now numbered thirty-seven com missioned officers and 725 enlisted men, and organization having been perfected it was mustered into the service of the United States for two years May 14, 1861, by Captain L. Sitgreaves of the Topographical Engineer Corps of the United States Army. The company officers on the day on which the regiment was mustered in were as follows : Company A. — Captain John W. Armitage, First Lieutenant Calvin W. Link, Second Lieutenant George A. Hitchcock. Company B. — Captain William A. Olmstead, First Lieutenant T. Clement Had dock, Second Lieutenant Lee Churchill. Company C. — Captain George H. Otis, First Lieutenant S. D. Perkins, Second Lieutenant, William H. Pitt. Company D. — Captain Michael Cassidy, First Lieutenant John Maguire, Second Lieutenant John McCaffrey. 98 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Company E. — Captain George W. Wilson, First Lieutenant John H. Quackenbush, Second Lieutenant Edgar T. Wilson. Company F. — Captain Sidney W. Park, First Lieutenant James A. Cross, Second Lieutenant Henry Harrison. Company G. — Captain William B. Tibbits, First Lieutenant James A. Savage, Second Lieutenant Thomas Sullivan. Company H. — Captain Joseph G. McNutt, First Lieutenant Thomas O'Brien, Second Lieutenant William McPheters. Company I. — Captain William McConihe, First Lieutenant Joseph Lafuira, Sec ond Lieutenant George Taffe. Company K. — Captain John Arts, First Lieutenant Henry Jansen, Second Lieu tenant August Kolbe. The scene of the departure of the Second Regiment for the seat of war on the morning of Saturday, May 18, was one of the most memo rable incidents in the history of Troy. Practically the entire popula tion turned out and the streets were wellnigh impassable to all except the brave volunteer soldiers. The regiment left the fair grounds, which had been named Camp Willard in honor of the first commanding officer, and marched through River street to Washington square, thence down Second street to the court house, where the Hon. George Gould presented a beautiful regimental flag to the command, in behalf of a number of the women of Troy; and the Rev. J. T. Duryea pre sented to Colonel Carr, in behalf of the Rensselaer County Bible So ciety, a handsomely bound Bible. The regiment was escorted by Do- ring's band, sixty police officers, the Troy Citizens Corps, the Troy City Artillery, the Irish Volunteers, the Columbian Guards, the Jack son Guards, the Wool Guards, Washington Volunteers, Premier En gine company, Torrent Engine, company, Niagara Engine company, La Fayette Engine Company, Rough and Ready Engine company, Trojan Hook and Ladder company, Franklin Hose company, Joseph C. Taylor Hose company, and the members of the Common Council. At the wharf at the foot of Albany street the regiment embarked on a barge for Albany, under the escort of the Troy Citizens Corps and Doring's band, from which city it left Sunday evening for New York on the steamboat New World. William Kemp was appointed pay master of the regiment by Governor Morgan June 7, filling that office until the government discharged the paymasters appointed by the various States. During its stay in New York the regiment was quartered at Devlin's building on Canal street. May 21 knapsacks, canteen, haversacks and THE FIRST TASTE OF BATTLE. 99 camp equipage were provided, and the next day the command em barked on the steamer James Adger, which arrived at Fortress Mon roe May 24. After disembarking the regiment marched that noon to the main land, where tents were pitched and pickets thrown out. This encampment was the first in Virginia outside of Fortress Monroe of volunteer troops in the service of the United States after the com mencement of the war. The camp was named Camp Troy by Colonel Carr, but it was soon changed to Camp Hamilton by order of General Pierce. Soon after the arrival of the Troy regiment at Camp Hamilton, five other regiments arrived and camped near by. June 7 companies E and G, of the 2nd Regiment, under Major Bloss, were ordered to pro ceed by land to Hampton, three miles away, on a reconnoitering expe dition. The next day a small force was met near New Market Bridge, where one of the' Union soldiers was captured. This was followed by a skirmish, when the Union forces retreated to camp. As soon as it was learned at the fort that a rebel force was so near, the remaining companies of the regiment marched beyond Hampton, two field-pieces being carried by Company F. On tbe evening of June 9 Company F, in command of Lieutenant Cross, marched to Hampton with the two field pieces. Part of his men were left there with the artillery, and soon after midnight the remainder, twenty -seven in num ber, took two twelve -pound howitzers and proceeded toward Big Bethel in company with the Third New York Vols. Before it was yet day break they were met near Little Bethel by the Seventh New York Vols, under Colonel Bendix who, mistaking them for the enemy, opened fire upon them. The fire was returned and a hot fight had just begun when the two bodies recognized each other and a useless slaughter of friends by friends was averted. The forces then united and proceeded toward Big Bethel under command of General Pierce. As they were approaching this place they were fired upon by partially masked rebel artillery. After recovering from their surprise they placed their artil lery in position and returned the fire. The battle then commenced continued for nearly five hours, from nine o'clock in the morning till nearly two in the afternoon. As soon as this engagement began the remaining companies of the Second Regiment and the First Regi ment left Camp Hamilton and proceeded toward the scene of action. Lieutenant Greble at once brought into action the piece of artillery brought with the reinforcements, but after it had been fired the third 100 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. time he was struck by a cannon ball and instantly killed. During the engagement but one other man was wounded. July 6, after examination of the regiment by a medical board, 118 men were reported as discharged and soon afterward were returned home. Many of these were unquestionably in good health and the majority of those relieved of duty re-enlisted. August 5 the regiment broke camp and was taken by water to Camp Butler at Newport News. Lieutenant-Colonel Kenyon and Major Bloss had resigned soon after the battle of Big Bethel, and August 7 announcement was made of the appointment of Captain Olmstead of Company B to be lieutenant- colonel and Captain Otis of Company C to be major. An incident occurred at Camp Hamilton August 15 which for a time threatened the peace of the little military colony. The men had re ceived no money since the first pay day, June 15, when they had been paid by the State. When the morning of August 15 arrived, therefore, the camp was a scene of disorder, the arms of the regiment having been stacked in the company streets and the men themselves having refused to perform further duty. A score or so of men who were sup posed to have led the insurrection were at once sent as prisoners to the " Rip-Raps," a fortified prison on a small island at the mouth of the James River. In the afternoon about eighty-five more men who had refused to perform guard duty in the morning were likewise impris oned. To the men who were left General Phelps explained the duty of the soldier and the rights of the government and gave all till the following morning to make up their minds whether they would be obedient or not. So great was the determination of the men, how ever, that on the following day 210 still refused to perform the duties to which they were assigned and they, too, were sent as prisoners to the " Rip-Raps." After a week's imprisonment most of the men sent in a request that they might be allowed to return to their regiment. Their request was promptly granted by General John E. Wool, then in command of Fortress Monroe, and August 23 all the prisoners except a dozen or thereabouts, leaders who were held for trial, were taken back to their regiment. It having become evident that many more men would be needed to put down the rebellion, August 28 Lieutenant-Colonel Olmstead, ac companied by a non-commissioned officer, was detailed to return to Troy and recruit the regiment to the maximum strength allowed— 1,046 men. September 23 Captain Arts and an enlisted man were THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMAC. 101 sent to Troy to assist him. As a result of their labors 181 men, besides Doring's band of Troy, consisting of sixteen musicians, enlisted and were sent to the camp. The regiment was still further increased in numbers, at various times, by the transfer thereto of volunteers from other regiments. Still more men being needed Captain William McConihe, Lieutenant James A. Cross and four enlisted men were de tailed to go to Albany on recruiting service January 1, 1862, but they succeeded in securing the enlistment of only seventeen men. After the spring of 1862 this section became the theatre for more stirring and important incidents. Captain John Ericsson of New YTork had invented and built an entirely novel war- vessel with a single round tower of iron exposed above the waterline. It was called the Monitor. The Confederates, meanwhile, had raised the United States frigate Merrimac, one of the sunken ships at the Norfolk navy yard, and had plated its exposed surface with iron. As soon as this vessel was ready it was dispatched to attack the Union fleet- anchored off Fortress Mon roe. Reaching this point about ten o'clock on the morning of March 8 she began the work of destruction. Before nightfall the Cumberland and the Congress, two of the most valuable vessels in our navy, were sent to the bottom with a heavy loss of life. After the surrender of the Congress an effort was made to remove the prisoners on her by a- small steamer sent out from the Merrimac, but the sharpshooters on shore kept up such a hot fire upon the craft that it was obliged to re turn without having accomplished its mission. The ironclad again opened fire on the Congress and after setting her afire moved away. Soon after most of the officers and crew of the Congress were taken ashore. The Cumberland, meantime, had gone down with the Union flag flying. During these naval battles a detachment from the Second Regiment under Lieutenant George Gould of Company B was engaged with artillery in trying to assist the federal warships to drive the iron clad away, but their shots did little or no injury to their antagonist. During the night the Monitor arrived from New York and on the fol io-., ing morning the two strange monsters fought each other for five hours — the strangest naval battle that had ever been fought. At the end of the engagement the Merrimac, badly crippled, was obliged to give up the contest and return to Norfolk. April 24, 1862, was the anniversary of the organization of the regi ment. On this day the regiment, excepting Company F, was stationed near Newport News. The day was celebrated by a full dress parade 102 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and review by General Mansfield and addresses by Quartermaster MacArthur, General Mansfield and Colonel Carr and others. The gains and losses of the regiment were reported to be as follows on the anniversary of the day on which the regiment was mustered into the service of the United States, May 14: Officers.— Mustered into the United States service with the regiment May 14, 1861, 37; appointed from civil life, 10; appointed from enlisted men of the regiment, 9; promoted out of the regiment, 2; resigned, 19; belonging to the regiment May 14, 1862, 35; total 56. Enlisted Men. — Mustered into the United States service with the regiment May 14, 1861, 742; others enlisted before the regiment left New York State, 60; enlisted Oct. 11, 1861, band in New York State, 16; enlisted by recruiting parties in New York State, 198; enlisted with the regiment in Virginia, 6; transferred from Second Maine, Thirteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-first New York Vols., 130; total, 1,152, Appointed commissioned officers of regiment, 9 ; transferred to the Tenth Infantry, First Mounted Rifles, New York Vols., 6; discharged July 6, 1861, result of medical examination ,118; discharged at other times for physical disability caused by disease, 67; discharged by special order, musician, 1; discharged for incompetency, 3; dis charged for refusing to take the oath of allegiance, 9 ; discharged for crime, and by sentence of court martial, 4; died, accidentally killed, 1; died of disease, 7; deserted before leaving New York State, 39; deserted after reaching Virginia, 13; belonging to regiment May 14, 1862, 875. One year after the departure of the regiment from Troy, on May 18, 1862, it once more broke camp and embarked at Fortress Monroe for Portsmouth, oh the opposite. side of the mouth of the James river. Thence it proceeded to the famous battlefield of Fair Oaks. The battle which had been fought here a few days before had left this spot in a sickening condition. The heat, following a rain, was extreme, and the stench from tbe decomposing bodies of men and horses that had been killed in battle and only half buried was extremely nauseat ing, even to the most hardened. The brigade was placed in command of Colonel Carr and the regi ment in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Olmstead June 12, Brigadier- General Patterson being absent on account of sickness. On the morn ing of the 16th, the enemy having made an attack on the Union picket line, Companies D and E were sent to reinforce the regiment on duty, and forced the Confederates back without any loss to the Second. June 21, about 6 p. m., the regiment, then occupying a redoubt near the Williamsburg road, was attacked but after a sharp engagement repulsed the rebel forces, losing in the fight one man killed and six wounded, the only loss occurring during the entire engagement at Fair Oaks. MALVERN HILL. 103 On the afternoon of the 30th, just after the regiment had entered a piece of woods to rest and escape from the direct rays of the sun, the sound of fighting was heard near by and orders were given to proceed to the left of General Sickles's Brigade, where Company F, without loss of men, captured Lieutenant-Colonel Marge, four line officers and about 40 men, with their arms and equipments, also a battle flag, all belonging to the Seventeenth Regiment, Virginia Vols. During the night the company captured several more of the enemy, losing one man- killed and one officer and two men prisoners. The next engagement into which the regiment entered occurred July 1 at Malvern Hill, where it gave splendid support to a body of artillery. Early in the evening, after fighting all day, the enemy made a desperate assault, being repulsed with considerable loss after a hard fight of nearly three hours. Colonel Carr resumed command of the regiment on the 6th, General Patterson having recovered from his sickness. During the next few days the Brigade was increased b3^ other regi ments which had been ordered thence, and August 4, at 6 p. m., the Second Regiment proceeded toward Malvern Hill. After manoeu vring for a position, the intention being to surround and capture the enemy on the hills by storm, everything was about ready for an assault when General Patterson unwisely sounded a bugle call. This alarmed the Confederatt camp and the Union forces for the time abandoned the contemplated attack. This was August 5. That evening General Patterson was relieved, Colonel Carr was given command of the Brig ade and the Second Regiment was placed in charge of Captain Wilson. More skirmishing followed and on the 7th the Confederates were driven from their position on Malvern Hill, the loss of the Second Regiment in the action being one man, taken prisoner. Exhaustion, disease and accident had thinned the ranks of the Second during this trying campaign of the early summer. It was calculated about July 1 that by these means the effective strength of the regiment had been reduced about 250 men, which, with eleven casualties in the engagements that occurred and ten desertions, left about 400 men who might be depended upon for active service. Consequently Company H was detailed as division provost guard and Captain Boutelle, Lieu tenant Harrison and ten enlisted men were detailed as a recruiting party. The latter left at once for Troy and entered upon their duties. October 6 these officers were relieved by Captain Ouackenbush and Lieutenant Dickie, who were recovering from wounds they had re- 104 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. ceived, and returned to their regiment. Of the 80 men who enlisted on this recruiting tour but 36 joined the regiment at the front. Captain George W. Wilson of Company E, then in command of the regiment, was promoted August 12 to the position of major, made vacant by the resignation of George H. Otis. Three days later Harri son's Landing was vacated by the Army of the Potomac. The occupa tion of this point had been a terrible experience for the army, and the Troy regiment suffered with the rest. The excessive heat, bad water, poor food, constant exposure and lack of rest or recreation, added to the disgusting experiences at Fair Oaks, had rendered many of the men useless as soldiers, having caused a large number of cases of chronic disease. No less than 108 members of the regiment, who but a short time before had been in perfect health, were transported to hospitals, the majority of them finally being discharged for disability. About three o'clock in the afternoon, the 27th, the enemy was found near Bristoe Station near the railroad. Colonel Carr was then in com mand of the brigade. Soon afterward another regiment of the brigade joined the Second, and the enemy opened a brisk fire by both artillery and musketry. In the sharp battle that followed a large number of our men were either killed or wounded. Included among the latter were Captains Ouackenbush, Maguire and Perkins, and Lieutenants Egolf, Kirker and Temple. Captain Park, who had been placed in temporary command of the Second on account of the prostration of Major Wilson by the heat of the day, seeing that the regiment was un supported and that it would not be able to maintain its position, ordered a retreat to the edge of the woods in the rear, where the regiment re mained until the close of the engagement. Roll call that night revealed the fact that ten men in the regiment had been killed, and six officers and forty-nine men wounded. About 11 a. m. of the 29th the Second Bull Run battle field was reached while that bloody fight was in progress. Line was formed and at 2 p. m. the brigade was ordered to the front and given a dangerous position to maintain. Regiment after regiment broke and retreated, but the Second maintained its position until the supporting regiment next on its left gave way. Then the enemy were seen both on its left and in its rear and the order to fall back was given, the Second firing as it retreated in good order. The loss during the battle was found to be one killed, three wounded and nine prisoners. Action was renewed about two o'clock on the afternoon of the 30th. At twilight Colonel THE WINTER'S CAMPAIGN. 105 Carr, in response to orders, moved the brigade in retreat towards Cen- treville, where it arrived completely tired out soon after midnight and bivouacked. September 10 Lieutenant-Colonel Olmstead, having recovered from his long sickness, returned and resumed command. Three days later Colo nel Joseph B. Carr, on the recommendation of Major-General Hooker, received his commission as brigadier- general of the the United States Volunteers. Several other changes among the commanding officers took place about this time. In addition to the promotion of the brave General Carr, he was, on September 24, relieved of the command of Third Brigade and assigned to that of the First Brigade, Second Divis ion. September 27, Brigadier-General Daniel E. Sickles succeeded General Grover in the command of the Second Division. September 30 Brigadier-General F. E. Patterson assumed his old command, that of the brigade of which the Troy regiment formed a part. October 15 General Carr was assigned to the command of the Second Brigade, formerly General Sickles's command. October 17 Captain Sidney W. Park of Company F, having been appointed colonel of the Second Regiment on the recommendation of General Carr, received his com mission and assumed command. On the morning of November 1 orders were received to be ready to move at a moment's notice. The regiment proceeded to near Fairfax Seminary, there joining the rest of the division; thence moving to a point about six miles back of Alexandria. The next day it proceeded past Centreville and Bull Run, and that night bivouacked near Black burn's Ford. On the 9th', while the regiment was encamped at Manas sas Junction, Lieutenant-Colonel Olmstead was relieved of duty with the Second Regiment and given the command of the One-hundred and Fifteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. On the 10th announce ment was made of the promotion of Captain William B. Tibbits of Company G to be major, to succeed Major Wilson resigned. December 4, while the regiment was encamped on the road between Boscobel and Falmouth, its officers presented to their late commanding colonel, Brigadier-General Joseph B. Carr, a fine set of cavalry equip ment, as a token of their remembrance of him and the high esteem in which he was held. On the morning of the same day the entire Second Division was tendered a reception by General Hooker. The great battle of Fredericksburg began on the morning of Decem ber 11 . Early on the afternoon of the 13th the Third Brigade followed 14 106 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. other bodies of men to the support of Franklin's Division, the left wing of the army. Crossing the pontoon bridge the Second Regiment led the brigade to the front of the scene of action, near the first line of battle. The only loss to the Second Regiment during this engagement was four prisoners, all stragglers. Christmas day brought another surprise to the soldiers, when Briga dier-General Joseph W. Revere was transferred to the command of the Second Brigade, and Brigadier-General Gershom Mott assumed com mand of the Third Brigade. Little of importance transpired after this until April 30, when word was received that the Union forces had succeeded in crossing the Rappahannock above Fredericksburg, at the United States Ford, and had turned the enemy's left. The brigade at once proceeded towards this point, crossing the ford May 1 and going at once on picket duty, Two days later firing became general and several men in the regiment were either killed or wounded. Captain McConihe received a severe wound in the breast, and while the regiment was advancing to the front line Colonel Park was shot in the knee, the injury being so great that his leg was amputated at once. Lieutenant-Colonel Olmstead succeeded Colonel Park to the command, and the regiment changed its position and opened fire on the enemy. But ammunition soon became scarce and the brigade was ordered to the rear. While Lieutenant-Colonel Olmstead was looking for ammunition he learned that the brigade had been ordered to return to the United States Ford, and consequently he hastened to rejoin his regiment. It was on this occasion that the good judgment of Brigadier-General Carr doubtless saved a great and un necessary loss of life. Colonel Olmstead's information was correct. The entire division had been ordered back to the ford by General Revere, who had assumed command on the death of General Berry, and the Second Brigade had started to obey; but General Carr, in command of the First Brigade, had refused to recognize the order and had at once communicated the same to General Sickles. The result was that the foolhardy Revere was placed under arrest while General Carr was ordered to take command of the entire division. ' When Lieutenant-Colonel Olmstead arrived at the fort he reorgan ized the regiment and started for the front. Soon after the rebels attacked the left flank, but were repulsed and driven back beyond their breastworks by the Third Brigade, which were held by that body as a shelter. After nearly an hour's continuous fighting in this THE SECOND RETURNS TO TROY. 107 position a heavy body of the Confederates advanced. The Second regiment was kept well under cover until the enemy had reached the right point, when our men opened a severe flanking fire upon them. Many of the enemy were driven within the lines of the brigade and hundreds of men and seven or eight flags were captured. Following this temporary victory a large force of the enemy were massed in front and attacked our lines, which were soon driven back to a second line which had been formed while the Third Brigade had been fighting in front. Before daybreak on the morning of the 8th the regiment joined in the retreat of the whole army. Fifty men of the Second were killed, injured and taken prisoners in the engagement, as follows : Three enlisted men were killed ; three officers were severely wounded and two slightly; two enlisted men were mortally wounded, twelve severely wounded and twenty-six slightly wounded ; one enlisted man was wounded and taken prisoner, and one man capable of service was captured. But little more remains to be told concerning the work of the Sec ond Regiment. On the morning of May 14 orders were received from General Sickles, in command of the Third Corps, directing that the regiment should start that day for Troy and there be mustered out of the service of the United States. Those who had enlisted for three years, however, were transferred to the Seventieth New York Vols. to serve out the balance of their time. In General Sickles's orders he called attention to the fact that the regiment had shared with Hooker's veteran division "the honors and perils of the campaign before Rich mond. It served with credit under General Pope in front of Rich mond, and with increased distinction under General Hooker in the recent operations on the Rappahannock. Fair Oaks, Glendale, Mal vern Hill, Bristoe, Manassas and Chancellorsville should be borne on the regimental colors and ever remembered by the officers and soldiers of the regiment. " The regiment arrived at Jersey City on the afternoon of the 13th, where it was met by a committee of the citizens of Troy, accompanied by Doring's band, and escorted to New York, where it embarked on the steamer Cornelius Vanderbilt for Troy. On the morning of May 14, about seven o'clock, the troops arrived home, where a rousing demonstration of welcome awraited them. The wharf and the streets were filled with friends of the returning soldiers, including the wives and sweethearts of many of them ; and when at eight o'clock the regi- 108 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. ment took up the line of march through the principal streets, escorted by the Common Council, the Twenty-fourth Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., the Fire Department and the Young Men's and Moulders' Associations, the enthusiasm was intense on all sides. The regiment was welcomed home in a speech by Mayor William L. Van Alstyne, to which Lieu tenant-Colonel Olmstead responded, when the parade was continued until it was dismissed at noon. The arms and accoutrements were deposited in the State armory and the men were dismissed with orders to report May 19, on which date it was announced they would be mus tered out of the service. But many of the regimental and company records having been lost or destroyed the muster-out rolls were not completed until May 26. On the afternoon of that day the regiment ' made its final appearance upon the streets of the city, after which, at the armory, Captain C. H. Corning of the Seventeenth Infantry, United States Army, performed the brief service by which the regi ment, consisting of 36 officers and 437 enlisted men, was mustered out of the service of the United States. Two days later the regiment pre sented to the Common Council, for the city, the flag received on the day it left Troy for the front, which flag is now in the State military museum in Albany. The official statement of the gains and losses of the Second Regiment during its second year's service is as follows : Officers — Belonging to the regiment May 14, 1862, 35 ; appointed from civil life, 3; appointed from enlisted men of the regiment, 18; promoted out of regiment, 4; honorably discharged by War Department on account of disability caused by wounds received in action, 2; resigned, 11; died of wounds received in action, 1; dishonor ably dismissed from the United States service by order of the War Department, 2; mustered out of United States service with regiment, 36 ; total, 56. Enlisted Men. — Belonging to regiment May 14, 1862, 874; enlisted by recruiting parties in New York State, 36; appointed commissioned officers of regiment, 18; transferred back to Second Regiment Maine Volunteers, 52 ; transferred to Seven tieth New York Volunteers, May 11, 1863 (three years' men), 120. Discharged.— Appointed commissioned officer in Third New York Volunteers, 1 ; enlisted in regu lar army, 4; expiration of service, 1; for physical disability caused by wounds, 17; for physical disability caused by disease, 117/ by sentence of court martial, 2; total discharged, 142. Died. — Killed and died of wounds received in action, 24; killed accidentally, 1 ; died of disease, 14 ; total died, 39. Deserted, 90 ; reported on muster-out roll as killed, but was taken prisoner (three years' man), 1 ; mustered out of United States service by order, July 22, 1862 (band), 11 ; mustered out of United States service with regiment, May 26, 1863, 437 ; total enlisted men, 910. GROVETON, bull RUN AND CHANTILLY. 109 Record of the Thirtieth Regiment. • The Thirtieth Regiment, New York State Volunteers, ranked second to none in Rensselaer county in faithfulness of service and valorous deeds in the time of war. It was composed of Co. A of Lansingburgh, Co. B of Troy, Co. C of Schenectady, Co. D of Saratoga, Co. E of Poughkeepsie, Co. F of Saratoga, Co. G of Saratoga county, Co. H of Hoosick, Co. I of Troy, and Co. K of Valatie and Kinderhook. Co. D of Lansingburgh enjoyed a unique distinction, being composed of members of the village fire department, which was mustered in with the recruits attired in firemen's uniforms, consisting of red shirts, black trousers and regulation fire hats. The organization of the regiment was completed June 1, 1861, when it was mustered into the service of the United States for the term of two years. June 26, they left Albany for the front. The regiment consisted of ten companies which had been sent to Albany to await organization, and were afterward transferred to the Rensselaer county fair grounds between Troy and Lansingburgh. Edward Frisby of Albany was colonel of the regiment and led it in the various marches in front of Washington to Fredericksburg and along the line of the Rappahannock under McDowell and then under Pope, fighting at Groveton and Bull Run, and losing his life in the battle of Chantilly, August 30, 1863, in front of Stonewall Jackson's division of Lee's army, which was fight ing protected by a railroad cut. The regiment, which went into the battle with 500 men, could scarcely muster half that number on, the following day. Captain Samuel King and Lieutenant Frank Dargen of Co. A, Lansingburgh, were killed in the engagement. Captain Harrison Holliday of Poughkeepsie died in a few days from wounds received and Lieutenant Philip Rice of Co. G, Saratoga, was killed in the night attack at Groveton, August 29. Charles E. Brintnall of Troy, who had been influential in recruiting Cos. I and B, went out as lieu tenant-colonel of the regiment. Col. Brintnall subsequently resigned and Major William M. Searing, who was appointed to fill the vacancy, became colonel of the regiment when Colonel Frisby was killed, and remained in command until the close of the term of enlistment in June, 1863. Richard C. Bentley of Albany was adjutant ; Charles E. Russ, also of Albany, quartermaster; Francis L. R. Chapin of the same city, now of Glens Falls, surgeon; Dr. Julius A. Skilton, assistant surgeon; Robert W. Cross, sergeant-major; Bernard Gilligan, quartermaster- HO LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. sergeant, and Thomas Tilley, standard bearer. The regiment went to the front via the Hudson River and was armed with Enfield rifles. After the first battle of Bull Run the command marched across the Potomac river into Virginia. When brigades were organized under General McClellan the Thirtieth was brigaded with the Twenty-second and Twenty fourth regiments and the Fourteenth Brooklyn militia, forming the First Brigade of the First Army Corps under Gen. Mc Dowell. This brigade participated in several heavy engagements and became known as Hatch's iron brigade or foot cavalry, being highly complimented for their behavior under fire. After the battle of Bull Run the regiment went over into Maryland and took part in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. October 16, 1862 they went into camp near Harper's Ferry. At that time the regiment, by hard fighting and marching, had been depleted to seventv-five men. They afterwards served under General Hooker in the army of the Potomac. The regiment came home at the end of its term and was formally mustered out of the service of the United States at Albany a few days before the battle of Gettysburg. A num ber of the men subsequently joined Colonel Chrysler in organizing the Second Veteran Cavalry. The Thirtieth was organized under the^ first call of President Lincoln for 75,000 men to serve two years. The proclamation was issued in April and tbe quota from this State, consisting of thirty-six regiments, was organized and on the way to the front within two months. The line officers of the several companies of the Thirtieth were as follows: Co. A, Lansingburgh. — Captain Samuel King, Lieutenants John H. Campbell and Francis Dargen. Co. B, Troy. — Captain Walter L. Lanning, Lieutenants Philip Casey and Sey mour Scott. Co. C, Schenectady.— Captain B. M. Van Vorst, Lieutenants M. V. V. Smith and Edward Van Vorst. Co. D, Saratoga. — Captain Miles D. Bliven, Lieutenants Mervin G. Putnam and John H. Marston. Co. E, Poughkeepsie. — Captain Harrison Holliday, Lieutenants Edgar S. Jen nings and Nathaniel Palmer. Co. F, Saratoga. — Captain Albert J. Perry, Lieutenants Andrew M. Franklin and James M. Andrews, jr. Co. G, Saratoga county. — Captain Morgan H. Chrysler, Lieutenants William T. Conkling and Asa L. Gurney. THE IRON BRIGADE. Ill Co. H, Hoosick. — Captain Walter P. Tillman, Lieutenants Lemuel Ball and F. W. Barnes. Co. I, Troy. — Captain John M. Landon, Lieutenants Samuel W. Potts and Alonzo Alden. Co. K, Valatie and Kinderhook. — Captain Bartholomew Pruyn, Lieutenants Gil bert W. Becker and Albert Lampman. The regiment participated in the following battles: Falmouth, April 9, 1862; Massapomax, August 6, 1862; Rappahannock Crossing, August 21, 22 and 23, 1862; Sulphur Springs, August 26, 1862; Gaines ville, August 28, 1862; Groveton, August 29, 1862; Bull Run, August 30, 1862; South Mountain and Antietam, September 4, 1862; Freder icksburg, December 13, 14 and 15, 1862; Chancellorsville, April 29 to May 6, 1863. A permanent organization of the regiment was effected at Saratoga June 28, 1886 and the name "Thirtieth Infantry New York State Volunteer Association " was adopted. The controversy which for years existed as to which brigade was en titled to be called the iron brigade, was decided in favor of the brigade to which the Thirtieth regiment belonged and it is so recorded in his tory. The Western regiment which claimed the title is now known as the "Western iron brigade." On the official list giving the percentage of losses incurred at the battle of Bull Run the Thirtieth stands third with nineteen per cent. The regiment is one of the few which received from the United States government a flag of merit. Operations of the One Hundred and Sixty-ninth. The nucleus of the One Hundredth and Sixty-ninth N?w York Vol unteers was one of the companies recruited for service with the 125th Regiment. When the latter regiment was organized eleven companies reported for duty, one too many. It being necessary to drop one com pany out the War Committee of the county did not assign this company to a position and when the 125th Regiment left for the front this com pany, nameless and without official standing, was left home. The company had been recruited by Captain James A. Colvin, First Lieu tenant Jerome B. Parmenter and Second Lieutenant Bernard N. Smith for the 125th Regiment. When it was found that the company's serv ices would not be needed by the latter regiment no time was lost in securing from the adjutant-general of the State an order directing that the company should be mustered into service and giving its officers 112 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. their proper rank. The determination of the men comprising the company to go to the front created great enthusiasm throughout the county, and as recruiting was still in progress and the war spirit ran high, the war committee decided to organize still another regiment. Company A, Captain Colvin's original company, remained in barracks at Batestown, near the city of Troy. August 29, 1862, the field officers and a part of the staff were named, and by September 20 the remain ing nine companies were organized. September 25 Companies A and E were mustered in by Captain Hager of the United States army, but the mustering in of the rest of the companies was prevented by the great difficulty experienced in keeping the men together. Few of the recruits, patriotic though they were, had gained a proper idea of the true position of a soldier and the officers of the new regiment experi enced difficulty in maintaining the proper discipline. Finding it prac tically impossible to muster in the entire organization in Troy it was determined to change the base to New York, where it was believed the men could be kept under better restraint. Accordingly September 25 the regiment left Batestown and proceeded by cars to New York, going into quarters at the Park Barracks. But city life offered too many temptations to the new soldiers, many of whom were young and fond of diversion, and it was decided to make still another change. The regiment therefore was ordered to New Dorp, Staten Island, where it remained for sixteen days while its ranks were filled up, and the work of mustering in was completed October 6, 1862. Nine days later the 169th Regiment, fully equipped for war, proceeded to Washington, where it arrived October 18, and was quartered at the Soldiers' Rest, near the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad depot. The next day it crossed the Potomac into Virginia and, bivouacked near Fort Ethan Allen. Four days afterwards it went into camp near the chain bridge, which was called Camp Abercrombie, so named in honor of the general command ing the post and the division. Here drills were at once begun by Col onel Clarence Buel, commanding the regiment. The officers' roster of the regiment at this time was as follows: Colonel Clarence Buel (Captain H. L. Cavalry August 14, 1861); commissioned September 11, 1862; mustered October 8, 1862. Lieutenant-Colonel John McConihe (Captain 1st Nebraska Volunteers June 30, 1861); commissioned September 17, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. Major Alonzo Alden (second-lieutenant June 1, 1861, and first-lieutenant and ad jutant May 28, 1862, 30th Regiment New York Volunteers); commissioned Septem ber 20, 1862 ; mustered October 6, 1862. OFFICERS OF THE 169th. 113 Adjutant William E. Kisselburgh; commissioned September 1, 1862; mustered September 1, 1862. Quartermaster Sidney N. Kinney; commissioned September 1, 1862; mustered September 2, 1862. Surgeon John Knowlson ; commissioned September 3, 1862 ; mustered September 3, 1862. First Assistant Surgeon Joseph T. Skinner; commissioned September 18, 1862; mustered September 19, 1862. Second Assistant Surgeon Porter L. F. Reynolds; commissioned September 22, 1862 ; mustered September 22, 1862. Chaplain Joel W. Eaton ; commissioned September 23, 1862 ; mustered October 6, 1862. Captains. — James A. Colvin, A; commissioned August 21, 1862 ; mustered Septem ber 25, 1862. Nathaniel Wood, B; commissioned September 13, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. Joseph H. Allen, C; commsisioned September 16, 1862: mustered October 6, 1862. Warren B. Coleman, D; commissioned September 17, 1862; mus tered October 6, 1862. L. M. Wright, E; commissioned September 17, 1862; mus tered September 25, 1862. Augustus D. Vaughn, F ; commissioned October 11, 1862 mustered October 6, 1862. John T. McCoun, G ; commissioned September 20, 1862 mustered October 6, 1862. William H. Wickes, H ; commissioned September 20, 1862 mustered October 6, 1862. Michael Murnane, I ; commissioned September 20, 1862 mustered October 6, 1862. Daniel Ferguson, K; commissioned September 20, 1862 mustered October 6, 1862. First Lieutenants. — Jerome B. Parmenter, A; commjssioned August 21, 1862; mustered September 25, 1862. David P. Benson, B; commissioned September 13, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. Frank W. Tarbell, C; commissioned September 16, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. Robert O'Connor, D; commissioned September' 17, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. John F. Croft, E; commissioned September 17, 1862; mustered September 25, 1862. James F. Thompson, F; commissioned Sep tember 25, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. George H. Gager, G; commissioned September 20, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. William S. Hartshorn, H; commis sioned September 20, 1862 ; mustered October 6, 1862. Spencer W. Snyder, I ; com missioned September 20, 1862 ; mustered October 6, 1862. Daniel J. Carey, K ; com missioned September 20, 1862 ; mustered October 6, 1862. Second Lieutenants. — Bernard N. Smith, A; commissioned August 21, 1862; mus tered September 25, 1862. Michael Holmes, B ; commissioned September 13, 1862 mustered October 6, 1862. Charles E. Morey, C ; commissioned September 16, 1862 mustered October 6, 1862. John H. Hughes, D ; commissioned September 17, 1862 mustered October 6, 1862. Charles H. Palmer, E; commissioned September 17, 1862 ; mustered September 25, 1852. Thomas D. Jellico, F ; commissioned Septem ber 23, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. Thomas B. Eaton, G; commissioned Sep tember 20, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. William H. Lyon, H; commissioned September 20, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. Patrick Connors, I; commissioned September 20, 1862; mustered October 6, 1862. Edwin R. Smith, K; commissioned September 20, 1862 ; mustered October 6, 1862. The boys of the 169th Regiment soon realized that army life was not 15 114 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. one round of pleasure. Though they were located on the very edge of scenes of some of the bloodiest conflicts of the war in which they were soon to participate, the officers of the regiment experienced the great est difficulty in bringing them down to the stern realities of the situa tion and in enforcing discipline and a proper amount of respect for their superiors. Soon after the regiment went into camp the War De partment directed Colonel Buel to designate Major Alonzo Alden reg imental referee, with powers similar to those of a court-martial. His decrees often seemed to be unnecessarily severe and for a time the major, who had seen more than a year's service in the 30th Regiment and was familiar with all the details of discipline, was more or less unpopular with the majority of men; but later on, when they began to see what active service meant, this feeling of antagonism turned to ad miration and respect and the major was as popular before the regiment returned home as he had been unpopular in the early days of camp life. Little occurred to break the monotony of camp life during the sum mer and early winter aside from a few changes in the personnel of the officers. Major Alden was appointed as a member of the court-martial for the trial of Colonel Doubleday of the 4th Heavy Artillery, and after serving three weeks he was put in command of the regiment and Col onel Buel was made president of a new court. Upon its dissolution the latter was given the command of the brigade, then composed of the 169th, the 118th and the 152d New York Volunteers. Adjutant Kissel burgh was assigned to Colonel Buel's staff and Lieutenant Jerome B. Parmenter succeeded Adjutant Kisselburgh. February 12, 1863, the 169th Regiment was ordered to Washington for provost guard duty, about two weeks later making its headquarters in the new Martindale barracks. Soon afterward Lieutenant-Colonel McConihe, who had been absent since November on account of illness caused by the break ing out of an old wound received at Shiloh, returned to the regiment and Colonel Buel was appointed on a military commission at the Old Capitol prison, Captain Jerome B. Parmenter acting as judge advocate on the same body. About the same time Major Alden was assignedto the command of the district of Georgetown, remaining in that capacity until the regiment left Washington. April 15, 1863, the regiment left the capital for Suffolk, Va., for the defense of that place. It was there assigned to the brigade commanded by Colonel Robert S. Foster, of the 13th Indiana Regiment, which was THE BATTLE ON THE EDENTON ROAD. 115 a part of the division commanded by Brigadier-General Michael Cor coran. April 24 General Corcoran started with 3,000 troops, artillery and infantry, including the 169th regiment, to ascertain the position and test the strength of the enemy on the Edenton road. The artillery opened upon the rebel forces, strong in numbers and firmly intrenched, and forced the enemy's skirmishers behind the breastworks. The Union artillery had been at work some time when it was deemed best to pass through the woods in front to a position in sight of the Con federate breastworks. That position was at once occupied by three pieces of artillery in Major Alden's command, and immediately after ward Colonel Buel received a bad wound in the hand, which compelled him to leave the field. An hour later the position was abandoned and the artillery was withdrawn and sent to support the other forces. During this brief engagment Major Alden was wounded in the left thigh by a shell and his horse was shot from under him. One of his men was also killed and several wounded. Colonel Buel's wounds were found to be so severe that he was sent to his home in Troy, where he remained for three months before he could return to his command, then stationed at Folly Island. The day following the engagement, April 25, Colonel J. C. Drake, commanding the 2d Provisional Brigade, issued a special order presenting his thanks "to the 169th Regiment New York Volunteers for their good behavior in the action of yesterday, and his sympathy to those who sustained injuries." About this time General Robert E. Lee was making his great march into Pennsylvania — the campaign which resulted in the awful battle of Gettysburg and a victory for the Union. There being no further necessity for a concentration of troops about Suffolk the 169th Regi ment, with others, was sent to Hanover Court House July 4, under command of General Getty. An unsuccessful attempt was made to destroy the bridge over the South Anna river at that point, but the enemy's force was too strong to permit of any protracted assault. That night the regiment, nearly exhausted on account of the heat, fell back to Taylor's Farm and rested. From that point it inarched back to Bower's Hill, near Portsmouth, Ya. , enduring many hardships on the way. The peninsula, then as now, was covered with luscious blackberries, which grew wild along the roadside. The men, tired and hungry, devoured the berries as fast as they could pick them, many of them being made sick by the unusual feast. The greatest raid made during this brief expedition was upon the blackberries, and from this fact it has always been known as the " Blackberry Raid." 1L6 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. August 2 the regiment left Portsmouth for Folly Island, a few miles south of the entrance to Charleston Harbor, S. C. The troops were transported on the steamer Nelly Pentz. The voyage was a stormy one and most of the men were seasick. Folly Island was reached on the evening of August 5 and the regiment proceeded at once to go into camp with the rest of Foster's brigade, where it remained for six months, doing little but routine camp duty. At the capture of Fort Wagner the regiment occupied the trenches near the fort and shared with honor in the reduction of that stronghold. Colonel Buel having recovered from his wounds and returned to his command, Lieutenant-Colonel McConihe, who had taken his place, was relieved and went back to his old position. A few days later Colonel Buel was stricken with a fever and returned to Troy. Too feeble to continue fighting he resigned his command February 13, 1864. In the mean time Major Alden had been assigned to command the station at Pawnee Landing and Adjutant Kisselburgh had been detailed as aid- de-camp on the staff of General Vogdes, which position he held until he left the service in March, 1865. Colonel Buel was by no means the only sufferer at Folly Island. Many men were stricken before Charles ton, but the 169th probably lost fewer men than any other regiment stationed there. Several men' died of disease, however, and a few were killed and wounded during the summer. December 20, 1863, Major Alden was relieved from his post at Pawnee Landing to take command of the regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel McConihe leaving that day for the north with a recruiting detail. Nothing of moment oc curred after this until February 8, 1864, when the regiment joined a force ordered to make a demonstration towards the flank and rear of the defenses of Charleston. Nearly two weeks after this, or on Febru ary 23, the 169th started in light marching order with other regiments to assist General Seymour at Jacksonville. The regiment embarked on a transport, reaching Jacksonville the next day, where it assisted in constructing extensive earthworks just outside the city. After these were completed the regiment went into camp in a beautiful grove of oaks on the opposite side of a creek which emptied into the St. John's river, where it remained for about a month. April 1 the pleasures of camp life were brought to a sudden termina tion when the regiment was ordered out to meet the enemy. Skirmish ing began on the King's road about two miles from Jacksonville, but as soon as it was found that the enemy had a much superior force and THE ADVANCE ON RICHMOND. 1 17 were strongly fortified our troops returned to Jacksonville. Ten days later Lieutenant-Colonel McConihe returned to his command with a number of recruits, bringing also his own commission as colonel, one for Major Alden as lieutenant-colonel and one for Captain James A. Colvin as major, all direct promotions caused by the retirement of Colonel Buel. The stores left behind on Folly Island and sent on by the steamer Maple Leaf were all lost when that vessel was sunk by a torpedo in the St. John's river and it was necessary at this time to equip the regi ment again. As soon as this had been done the 169th left Jacksonville April 20 for Fortress Monroe, where it arrived six days later. In the evening it disembarked at Gloucester Point and joined the forces under command of General Butler. May 4 a portion of the troops, the 169th included, quietly sailed for Bermuda Hundred, thence marched seven miles towards Petersburgh, where they constructed rifle pits at Foster's Plantation. A short time later movements were begun against the rebel lines of communication between Richmond and Petersburgh. May 7 there was a brisk action with the enemy, in which the 169th lost a few men. Three days later the regiment, supporting two pieces of the 1st New Jersey Battery, engaged the rebel troops between Rich mond and Petersburgh, the 13th Indiana holding a position on their left. The rebels soon massed for action and firing began by both bat teries and the infantry. An attempt was made to break the centre of the 169th, the rebels attacking in a force vastly superior to our regi ment. A flanking movement was also tried on the right of the 169th; but was repulsed by Lieutenant-Colonel Alden in a hot engagement. Rebel reinforcements were then thrown forward, overlapping the right wing of the regiment, and our men found themselves fighting a force superior to themselves. Shortly after this a part of Company A were captured and it was necessary to order a retreat. The men continued firing as they retreated, doing good work and maintaining the best of discipline, though they saw at once that they were overpowered. The rebels captured one field piece and our men continued to retreat; but soon reinforcements came up and all returned to the charge, recaptur ing the gun and gaining a material advantage over the enemy. Colo nel McConihe had a horse shot under him and several wounded men were burned to death in the underbrush, which caught fire during the fight. After continuing the action some time firing ceased, neither side being able to claim a victory. 118 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. May 14 about a thousand men, including the 169th, in command of Brigadier-General Ames, was dispatched to the left flank of the army, then operating against Drury's bluff on the James river. The follow ing day most of the command were sent to join the forces operating against Fort Darling, the 169th remaining. On the morning of the 16th word was received that the rebels were close at hand. Firing soon began, Sanger's Battery, situated in the rear of the 169th, opening the battle for the Union forces. This was quickly returned by the other side and a sharp fight was inaugurated at once, in which Lieutenant W, S. Birdsall was killed. But here, too, it was soon found that the rebels outnumbered our force and the Union outpost retired slowly. Soon the entire regiment fell back, crossed a ravine and halted on its crest, when reinforcements arrived. Our forces then advanced to their former position, where they drove the rebel line back to the railroad, In this action the 169th lost in killed, wounded and missing, 36 officers and men. Again, in the three rebel attacks upon the Bermuda Hun dred front, which occurred May 18, 20 and 22, the 169th lost 27 more men, but the rebels were repulsed in every attack. The next important move of the regiment occurred May 27 when, with the rest of the 3rd Brigade, it embarked for West Point, whenceit marched to White House, Va. , reaching there May 30. It had been ordered there to support General Grant and was at once assigned to the 3rd Division of the 18th Corps, commanded by General Charles Devens. Cold Harbor was reached about 5 o'clock on the afternoon of May 31 and before there was any time to rest, which the troops sorely needed, having been on a hard march, they were ordered to attack a wooded height crowned with a strong rebel rifle pit flanked and supported by equally strong batteries. In response to the order to "double-quick, march," the 169tb, with its division, sprang forward with a cheer. They had to cross a level open field half a mile wide, during which they were subjcted to a terrible fire of shot and shell, grape and canis ter; but they never faltered. Men fell by the dozen but their comrades stayed not. When the foot of the hill was reached and while the ranks were being closed up preparatory to the final grand charge the slaugh ter was terrible. Colonel McConihe, one moment full of life, cheering his men to press forward, fell with a bullet through his heart, and Colo nel Drake, in command of the brigade, received a mortal wound. Privates and other officers fell by the score under the deluge of leaden hail. Still undaunted the regiment, under the encouraging shouts of DISASTER TO THE REGIMENT. 119 Lieutenant-Colonel Alden, who had assumed command, rapidly-ascended the hill and mounted the intrenchments, driving the enemy wildly be fore them. At this point Captain Allen was shot through the arm and compelled to retire; and the gallant Lieutenant Colonel Alden was badly wounded in the head when, seizing the regimental color from its bearer,' who had fallen, he mounted the parapet and planted the staff in the fortifications which had been so hardly won. It was first thought his wound was mortal, but he recovered. The regiment was a heavy loser in this awful charge, 103 officers and men having shed their blood for the victory — one of the most brilliant of its class in the history of the war. The troops held the ground they had taken. A number of prisoners were captured by the 169th, and with them some of the knap sacks bearing the mark of Company F, 169th Regiment, which had been lost on the day of the battle at Drury's Bluff. For several days the regiment remained at Cold Harbor. June 13 it marched with the 18th Corps to White House to help carry out General Grant's plan of operation. The advance on Petersburgh was made June 15, ' line of battle having been formed on Petersburgh Heights. Just after sundown the order to charge was given and the line swept forward with a rush. Tbe rebels behind the fortifications made a sharp, but short and useless resistance, and almost in the twinkling of an eye the rifle pits and earthworks were captured, with several pieces of artillery. The loss to the 169th was very small. Im mediately after the charge the rebel rifle pit was reversed in front of its position and preparations were made to capture Petersburgh itself. General Lee, at Richmond, had been informed at once of the result of the action in front of Petersburgh and he made rapid preparations to avert the catastrophe which he realized was impending. All that night the rattling and rumbling of trains and the screeching of loco motive whistles told our men that the gallant commander-in-chief t>f the Confederate army was hurrying his troops to Petersburgh. The next morning found Lee in front in full force and the long siege of Petersburgh began. The history of that siege is well known. General Grant had changed his base to the James River with a view to the cap ture of Petersburgh and the conquest of Richmond from the southeast. General Butler had already moved with his strong division from For tress Monroe, and May 5 had taken Bermuda Hundred and City Point at the mouth of the Appomattox. Advancing against Petersburgh he was met on the 16th by the Corps of General Beauregard and driven 120 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. back to his position at Bermuda Hundred, where he was obliged to in trench himself and act on the defensive. Here, on June 15, he was joined by General Grant's whole army, and the combined forces, as has been told, moved against Petersburgh. Before Petersburgh fighting was of frequent occurrence, generally consequent upon an attempt of the Union forces to change their posi tion. June 30, during a demonstration for the purpose of diverting the attention of the Confederates from the main attack, the 169th was ordered forward and while attempting to change its position it was met by the most deadly fire it had encountered during the whole war. The men fell like grass before a summer hurricane. Tbe foe was close and a wholesale slaughter was inevitable from the moment the men left their trenches. After standing the deadly fire a few moments the men fell back to their old position — what there were left of them— and awaited further orders. Fortunately for the little handful left they were not ordered to expose themselves in this manner again. Only 150 men were available when this last move was made, and in the few minutes that the men were outside their protecting trenches the regi ment lost of this number 74 killed and wounded — one half of the entire fighting force of the regiment ! During the following month the regiment remained in the trenches, losing an average of three men every day, though its efficiency was fairly well maintained by the return of some of the soldiers who had been in the hospitals. July 30 it again went into action in one of the most thrilling battles of the campaign — the dashing charge which fol lowed the explosion of a mine under one of the forts in front of Cemetery Hill. This daring attack was planned to be made early on the morning of July 30. The night previous the regiment was or dered to the rear, and the next morning was sent forward to the rear of the works fronting the mine. The rebels, unconscious of the awful fate that was to overtake them, began their usual duties. The mem bers of the 169th were ordered to lie down behind their works and remain quiet until they received orders, no matter what might happen. Our siege batteries were fully manned and loaded and the men ready for instant action. Suddenly there was a great roar and a violent earthquake, and the rebel fort with all its contents, which a moment before had stood so trim and defiant, was thrown high in the air as from the crater of some volcano. Hardly had the debris, with the human victims, settled back to earth, when the Union batteries opened BENJAMIN ALLEN TILLINGHAST. JOSEPH J. TILLINGHAST. BATTLE OP CEMETERY HILL. 121 upon the enemy with a cannonading such as is seldom heard, even in the thickest of war. As the whole line of our artillery sent forth the first awful challenge our troops sprang to the front with loud cheers and the carnage was increased two-fold. But surprised as they had been the brave Confederates were already in action in response to the grim invitation of our guns and the battle now so prominent in history was under way in all its fury, with a suddenness that can hardly be comprehended except by those who participated in the dreadful event. The 169th regiment was brought almost immediately to the head of General Turner's division. At the word of command the brave men dashed over the breastworks and crossed the space between the two lines. The rebel defenses were easily reached, but the masses of men in front who had charged and occupied the inside of the enemy's rifle pits prevented further progress. The regiment succeeded in holding its position, though the charge as a whole was not successful, the Con federates finally regaining their defenses. The loss of the regiment in this engagement was twenty-three men, including Captain Vaughn of Company F, who was killed. Two days after the unsuccessful assault upon Cemetery Hill, August 1, 1864, the regiment returned to Bermuda Hundred. Lieutenant- Colonel Alden, having recovered from the injuries he received at Cold Harbor, once more assumed command. At this time General Butler was busily engaged in digging Dutch Gap, the historic canal which cut off a long bend in the James river about half way, by the water course, between Bermuda Hundred and Richmond, and by means of which it was hoped the Union gunboats would be able to pass up the river to Richmond and evade the strong rebel batteries located at the sharp turn in the river a few miles to the south. August 10 the regiment was assigned to duty at this point to defend the parties engaged in cutting the canal. Early on the morning of the 13th the regiment, which was encamped on the plateau beside the gap, was attacked by rebel gunboats and batteries, and in the action which instantly fol lowed the 169th lost twenty-two men. Lieutenant Crippen was killed, Assistant Surgeon Mandeville was badly wounded and Lieutenant Swartwout had his left arm shot off. The rebels were repulsed and the work was continued with slight delay. August 20 the regiment returned to Bermuda Hundred and thence, five days later, left for Petersburgh, where it assisted in the siege until September 28. Soon after the regiment arrived at Petersburgh Lieutenant-Colonel 16 122 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Alden was sent to Troy for a detail of drafted men, with whom he returned October 1, rejoining the 169th at Chapin's Farm. At this point an im portant battle was fought, and the famous assault on Fort Gilmer was made September 29. The vigorous assault made on this occasion by the Troy regiment was too much for the body of Confederates attacked, and the latter were compelled to flee to their intrenchments for pro tection. Immediately after this bold charge the troops were reorganized and without wasting a moment made the attack upon Fort Gilmer, one of the defenses of the Confederate capital. It was a risky thing to do, considering the disparity in the forces, and after a gallant charge the brigade was compelled to fall back, being subjected all the time to a heavy fire from the enemy's guns. The 169th lost 30 men all told, in cluding the brave Captain Henry Mulhall, who was severely wounded by a canister shot which passed through his thigh. After the retreat the regiment constructed a formidable line of breastworks. At this time a few changes were made among the officers of the regiment. Lieutenant-Colonel Alden was mustered in as colonel, Major Colvin was promoted to succeed him as lieutenant-colonel, and Captain J. H. Allen was promoted to succeed Major Colvin. Nothing of importance occurred after this until October 8, when the enemy made a charge on the right. They were repulsed with no fatalities to the 169th Regi ment. After the fight at Chapin's Farm and the charge on Fort Gilmer the regiment had a long time with little to do but recuperate from the try ing campaign of the summer. After two months of comparative rest it started December 8, 1864, under command of General Butler, on the famous expedition against Fort Fisher, N. C. Hampton Roads was reached by steamer, where the troops were transferred and carried by another steamer to a point about 25 miles from the objective point of the expedition. The first attack, by both land and naval forces, which continued through the 24th and 25th of the month, was unsuccessful, though the 169th captured 260 of the enemy. General Butler believing that the fort could not be carried by storm, orders were given to re turn to Chapin's Farm. January 3, having remained at the latter place three days, during which the attacking force was increased by troops under command of General A. H. Terry, all were ordered to return to Fort Fisher. The entire body of troops, under command of General Ames, arrived on the 13th and landed about four miles north of the fort. ANOTHER REVERSE TO THE 169™. 123 At three o'clock on the afternoon of the 15th the grand charge against the fort was made by the 2d Division, in which the 169th Regiment was stationed. Colonel Alden having been assigned to the command of the 3d Brigade, which formed a part of the division, the regiment was commanded on this occasion by Lieutenant-Colonel Colvin. Once inside the men fought their way inch by inch, the enemy offering a stubborn resistance. One gun platform after another was captured, the Union forces gradually but surely winning at every turn. Soon Lieutenant-Colonel Colvin discovered a white cloth waving from the entrance to one of the subways under the platforms and traverses. Thereupon firing was ceased and 170 prisoners were taken in charge by a squad of the regiment. But after this small capture fighting was continued until 10. 30 p. m. , when the entire rebel force began to' flee from the fort. The loss to the 169th in this assault was about 50 killed and wounded, including Lieutenant Ryan, who was killed, and Ma jor Allen, wounded. This victory was followed by a great catastrophe to the regiment. Having been ordered with its brigade to take charge of the fort, it had bivouacked about six rods from the large magazine therein. Early on the morning of the next day, the 16th, this magazine exploded with terrific force, killing Captain Ferguson and Lieutenants Cipperly and McGregor, wounding Colonel Alden and killing and injuring about eighty other men. Colonel Alden was found under heavy timbers and sand and at first was supposed to be dead, but finally rallied, though for six weeks afterward he remained totally unconscious. This was one of the worst blows the regiment received during the entire war. The next movement of the regiment was directed upon Fort Ander son. The regiment remained in Fort Fisher until February 11, one week later crossing Cape Fear river in company with other troops, capturing Fort Anderson with a large quantity of arms and ammuni tion. It next advanced on Wilmington, N. C. , occupying that place February 22. Two days later it marched to North East and took charge of about 15,000 exchanged prisoners, retaining custody of them until March 1, when it returned to Wilmington. During this time, since the capitulation of Fort Fisher, Lieutenant-Colonel Colvin had been in command of the 2nd Brigade of the division and Captain James H. Dunn had had charge of the regiment. March 13 Lieutenant-Col onel Colvin resumed his old command. April 11 the regiment joined its old division under General Terry at Faison's Station. From there 124 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. it marched to Bentonville, where on the 12th news was received of the surrender of General Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant. All knew that this practically ended the war, and the rejoicing in camp over the victory was of a character that defies description. The details of the operations and movements of the 169th from this time on are of little interest. A few days later Colonel Alden, still in a feeble ' condition as a result of the terrible injuries he had received in the magazine explosion in Fort Fisher, returned to his regiment, acted as president of a court-martial and military commission and took charge of brigade and post of Raleigh. Upon recommendation of Gen eral Terry and in recognition of his faithful services at Cold Harbor and Fort Fisher, he had been commissioned brevet brigadier-general. Peace soon being declared orders were received July 6 mustering out the 169th Regiment, which was accomplished July 19, with the under standing that the term of service would expire on the day of final pay ment in Albany. Before leaving camp orders were received from Brigadier-General J. S. Littell, of the 2d Division, 10th Corps, and from Brigadier-General Alonzo Alden, commanding the 3d Brigade of that division, paying the highest compliments to the officers and privates of the regiment for their gallant conduct during their trying service of three years. In Brigadier-General Littell's orders attention was called to the fact that the regiment had participated in twenty- eight battles, " and on every occasion your conduct has been not only unimpeachable, but such as to secure complimentary notice from your commanding generals." July 20, 1865, the regiment started for home, arriving in Troy early on the morning of the 24th, where an immense throng waited to wel come it. x After a brief parade, in which the most intense enthusiasm reigned, a formal reception of the regiment occurred at Washington Square. After an invocation by the Rev. Dr. Baldwin, Alderman Smart introduced the Hon. John A. Griswold, who in an eloquent ad dress told in brief the story of the regiment's career since the organ ization and gave it a renewed welcome. William A. Merriam, formerly a lieutenant in the regiment, also made an address, after which the men marched to Harmony hall, where luncheon was served. In the evening the command marched to. the barracks five miles away and remained there until the men were paid off August 3 and were allowed to return to private life. The twenty-eight engagements in which the 169th participated dur- THE ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT. 125 ing its service of nearly three years were as follows : Edenton Road, Carrsville, Blackwater Ford, Zuni, Providence Church, Nansemond, Hanover Junction, Fort Sumter, Fort Wagner, Rantoul Bridge, Siege of Charleston, Cedar Creek, Walthall Junction, Chester Station, Drury's Bluff, Hatcher's Run, Foster's Plantation No. 1, Foster's Plantation No. 2, Cold Harbor, Petersburgh Heights June 15, Peters burgh June 30, Petersburgh Mine July 30, siege of Petersburgh, Dutch Gap, Deep Bottom, Malvern Hill, Chapin's Farm, Fort Gil mer, Darby town Road, Siege of Richmond, Fort Fisher No. 1, Fort Fisher No. 2, Wilmington, North East and Raleigh. In his last gen eral orders General Alden made the following official statement : October 6, 1862, this regiment was organized with an aggregate of 915 officers and men, since which time it has gained, by recruits, transfers and otherwise, an aggre gate of 953, making 1,868 officers and men connected with it since its organization ; and the regiment has lost by casualties in battle, disease, etc., 963 officers and men. Since its organization there have been connected with the regiment 87 commissioned officers. Because of resignations, casualties in battle and other causes, 52 officers have been dropped from the roll. The One Hundred and Twentv-fifth Regiment. A history of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth regiment, New York Volunteers, would almost necessitate the compilation of the en tire record of the war, as that regiment participated in nearly all the great battles that contribute to make up that most memorable conflict of modern times. The regiment was mustered into the United States service August 27, 1862, and left Troy under command of Colonel George Lamb Willard, on the 30th of the same month, for New York. From New York it went to Martinsburg, Va., arriving September 3. The regiment had 1,255 men all told. After a brief stay it left Mar tinsburg and went to Harper's Ferry, where it arrived September 12. Here the members of the regiment had their first engagement and upon the surrender of the Union forces were taken prisoners of war on September 15. On the 16th of the same month they took up the line of march for Camp Parole at Annapolis, Md. They left there Septem ber 20 for Camp Douglass at Chicago, where they remained until No vember 28, when they were exchanged. They left for Washington and soon were again on the march to the front, arriving at Union Mills December 3. In the afternoon of the same day the regiment marched to Wolf Run Shoals. Here a battery of artillery and a company of 126 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. cavalry were placed in command of Col. Willard. Rumors were rife that the enemy was at hand but the report proved groundless. The men had a rough time, being compelled to pitch their tents in the snow. December 11 the regiment was again on the move, this time with Woodyard Ford as the objective point. The regiment remained there four days, and on the 15th marched to Union Mills. It reached there at night, and owing to the non-arrival of the tents was obliged to camp on the ground during the prevalence of a heavy snow storm. January 23, 1863, the regiment was transferred to Fairfax Court House, Va. February 1 orders were received to proceed to Centreville, Va., where the men arrived the same day and remained until June 23. June 24 the command took up the line of march for Gum Springs, where the Second army corps, Gen. Winfield S. Hancock commanding, was joined. The One Hundred and Twenty-fifth was in the Third division, commanded by Brig. -Gen. Alexander Hayes. Col. Willard commanded the brigade. On the 26th of June the 125th crossed the Potomac at Edward's ferry and went into camp the next morning. From there the command went a distance of thirty-three miles to Uniontown, Md., and the next day to Gettysburg, arriving there July 1. That morning the rebel army was in the vicinity of Gettysburg The 125th participated in the memorable three days en gagement. On the evening of July 2 there was fierce fighting in Devil's Run, below Round Top, and the ,125th was ordered to fall in to the support of its corps. In company with the 111th and 126th New York regiments they repulsed the rebels under General Longstreet, who withdrew to Peach Orchard. During this brief engagement Col. Willard, the idolized commander of the regiment, was struck by a shell and instantly killed. On the third day the 125th formed part of the Third brigade of the Second corps, which repulsed Pickett's famous charge. July 18 the regiment crossed the Potomac to Harper's Ferry, passed up Loudon Valley to Manassas Gap, from there through Warrenton, and arrived at Elkton July 31. Here they supported Gen. Kilpatrickin his expedition on the lower Rappahannock and returned to camp Sep tember 10. On the_14th they again crossed the Rappahannock and assisted in several engagements around Culpepper, in which the enemy was driven across the Rapidan The regiment crossed the Rappahan nock October 10, skirmished at Auburn Hills, October 14, and fought THE RAPPAHANNOCK CAMPAIGN. 127 at the battle of Bristow Station. During this engagement the 125th captured a battery of five guns. The command left Bristow on the night of the 14th and on the fol lowing day skirmished at Blackburn's Ford. November 7 they assisted in routing the enemy at Rappahannock. On the 26th they crossed the Rappahannock at Germania Ford, and on the 27th and 28th skirmished near Robinson's tavern. November 29 and 30 and December 1, they were engaged in skirmishing at Mine Run and December 2 they turned to the north side of the Rapidan. December 7 they went into winter quarters near Martinsburg. On the morning of February 6, 1864, the regiment marched to Mar tin's Ford on the Rapidan at which place they led the charge across the river, waist deep under fire. On landing they deployed two officers and twenty-five men as a skirmish line and advanced under heavy fire until within sixty rods of the breastworks. They were then ordered to fall back to the brow of a hill and await reinforcements. None came, and at 10 o'clock a. m., they were ordered to retreat. Under a heavy fire they recrossed the river without the loss of a man. They then camped near Stevensburg and remained there until March 30, 1864. After that the regiment participated in the following engagements : Chancellorsville, May 1 to 5, 1863; Spottsylvania, May 8 to 21 ; North Anna, July 23; Cold Harbor, May 31 to June 12; Petersburgh, June 10, 1864, to April 10, 1865: Ream's Station, June 22, 29 and August 25, 1864; Hatcher's Run, March 31, 1865; Appomattox Court house, April 9, 1865. being the occasion of General Lee's surrender. During its term of service the regiment lost in killed 26 ; wounded 104 ; miss ing 9. The survivors of the 125th, 111th and 126th regiments have a monu ment at Gettysburg,- on one of the tablets of which is the following in scription : One Hundred and Twenty-fifth New York Infantry, Third brigade, Third division, Second corps. Recruited in Rensselaer county, New York. Mustered in at Troy, N.Y., August 27, 1862. Engaged in twenty-three battles. Mustered out at Albany, N.Y., June 5, 1865. As first organized the regiment comprised the following officers : Field and Staff. — Colonel George Lamb Willard, Lieutenant Colonel Levin Cran- dell, Major James C. Bush, Adjutant Elias P. Sheldon, Quartermaster L. Chandler Ball, Chaplain Joseph L. Barlow, Surgeon W. S. Cooper, Assistant Sur geons H. E. Benedict, Washington Akin, 128 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. Company A. — Captain D. E. Cornell, First Lieutenant E. A. Hartshorn, Second Lieutenant W. H. Hakes. Company B. — Captain A. B. Myer, First Lieutenant Charles H. Taylor, Second Lieutenant John Quay. Company C. — Captain F. S. Esmond, First Lieutenant W. H. Plumb, jr., Second Lieutenant David Comeskey. Company D. — Captain S. C. Armstrong, First Lieutenant T. F. Sheldon, Second Lieutenant P. Carden. Company E. — Captain William Dimond, First Lieutenant Calvin Bush, Second Lieutenant Egbert Jolls Company F. — Captain Nelson Penfield, First Lieutenant Frank Chamberlain, Sec ond Lieutenant W. D. Taylor. Company G. — Captain George E. Lemon, First Lieutenant W. K. Newcomb, Second Lieutenant L. H. Stevens. Company H. — Captain Ephraim Wood, First Lieutenant Joseph Hyde, Second Lieutenant D. Hagadorn. Company I. — Captain E. P. Jones, First Lieutenant A. Buchanan, jr., Second Lieutenant E. Fink. Company K. — Captain J. V. W. Vandenburgh, First Lieutenant Charles A. Pickett, Second Lieutenant M. G. Steele. The Griswold Cavalry. The 21st New. York Cavalry, known as the Griswold Cavalry; was organized in the summer of 1863, and was composed of men mustered from various sections of the State. It was due principally to the efforts of Colonel William B. Tibbits, formerly of the Second Regiment, that the regiment was organized. For a long time he struggled to obtain enough mounted men to present a formidable appearance in the field, and his labors were finally rewarded. Many of the men enlisted from Rensselaer county, though there were representatives of various locali ties, some many miles distant. Colonel (later Brevet Major-General) Tibbits received his commission as colonel of the Twenty-first New York Cavalry January 5, 1864. The field and staff officers from Troy, besides Colonel Tibbits, were: Major, George V. Boutelle, formerly captain of Company A of the Second Regiment; adjutant, James F. Hill; quartermaster, William B. Laithe; surgeon, Benjamin S. Catlin, M. D. The company officers from Troy were : Company A — Captain Charles G. Otis, afterwards colonel; First Lieutenant William H, Mitchell, Second Lieutenant Thomas Maxwell. Company D — Captain William G. McNulty, First Lieutenant Henry E. Snow. Company E— Captain Edwin N. Wright, Second Lieutenant H. G. Hickok. Com pany F — Captain Francis McCue, First Lieutenant Andrew Smith, i EDGAR LUYSTER FURSMAN. CAREER OF THE GRISWOLD CAVALRY. 129 Second Lieutenant James H. Ronalds. Company I — First Lieutenant Nelson B. Holcomb. As soon as a company was formed it was promptly sent to Staten Island, when it awaited orders to move to the front. The first com pany raised for the regiment was organized by Captain Charles G. Otis, afterwards colonel. It left Troy, on the steamer Vanderbilt, for Staten Island, August 30, 1863. ' Through the influence of Colonel Tibbits the regiment was named the Griswold Cavalry in honor of that staunch patriot, John A. Griswold, who devoted a great share of his time, energy and personal influence toward placing the organization in the field. From the day the Griswold Cavalry reached the front it was almost continuously on the move. It participated in many battles, and some times met with heavy losses. In the valleys and mountains of Virginia, the passes and natural fortifications of the Blue Ridge, the brave men from Rensselaer county fought desperately for their country. The battles in which they were called into action were those of Newton, Piedmont, Waynesburg, Lynchburg, Leesburg, Bucklestown, Solo mon's Gap, Frederick, Purcellville, Snicker's Gap, Ashby's Ford, Kearns- town, Winchester and Charlestown. The regiment left Troy so suddenly, and its movements in the field were so rapid, that the presentation of a stand of colors was delayed for some time. But finally, in October, 1864, a beautiful set of colors was presented to the brave body of men at Cumberland, Maryland. Mr. Griswold, who was the giver, was not present, but the following patriotic letter from him was read on the occasion : Troy, N. Y., October 11, 1864. — To the officers and soldiers of the Griswold Cavalry: Since your organization as a regiment I have entertained the hope of be ing with you and in person asking your acceptance of the colors which I desire now to place in your charge. The constant duties you have been called upon to perform, and the changes of locality incident to those duties, have prevented the consumma tion of this desire, and I am forced to greet you from a distance when I would be with you face to face. You need not be assured that I have watched with anxious solicitude your progress since entering the service, and that I feel a grateful pride in the history of your military career. Already your record is one that may safely challenge comparison. In this consideration of the great cause for which you are contending, and in behalf of the communities of which you are a part, I desire to thank you. If the colors which are now placed under your ownership and keeping were to be re-embellished, there would be emblazoned on their their folds — New Market, Piedmont, Lynchburg, Leesburg, Ashby's Gap, Kearnstown, Winchester, Martinsburg, Charlestown — a long array, showing that your place has been where 17 130 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the fight was the thickest. How well you have borne yourselves in these conflicts is attested in the reports of your commanding officers and their commendation of your gallant services. Of those who went from our city marshalled in your ranks, many, very many, have fallen by the way, and are now sleeping undisturbed alike by the falling leaf and the tramp of armed hosts. The valley of the Shenandoah has been moistened by the blood of your comrades, and bitter tears for their memory have fallen on the soil of their homes. Remember that upon you, the army, now hang the destinies of our country. The front of the rebellion must be broken by your prowess that the avenues of peace may again be opened. God speed the day of this achievement, when you and your companions in arms may be welcomed again to your homes in a land no longer stricken by war. Till that time, be true to your own reputation and the colors which I now have the pleasure to present by the hands of your gallant colonel. John A. Griswold. The ranks of the Griswold Cavalry were greatly thinned during its campaign. It remained in service until the close of the war, and on the occasion of its return home from the front it received a rousing demonstration of welcome. CHAPTER X. Closing Days of the Nineteenth Century — New County Buildings — History of the Railroads — Rensselaer County's Citizens Who Have Held High Public Office— The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument — Statistics of the Development of the County. The corner stone of the handsome memorial to the deceased soldiers and sailors of Rensselaer county was laid in the city of Troy with Im posing ceremonies on Memorial day, Friday, May 30, 1890, by Colonel Charles L. MacArthur, president of the Rensselaer County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument association, which had been incorporated No vember 12, 1886. The site selected for the monument was Washing ton square in Troy. The city conveyed the title to the ground on which the shaft stands to the society in 1887. Two years later the Legislature authorized the supervisors of the county to appropriate $25,000 toward the monument, which they did. The design offered by Fuller & Wheeler, architects of Albany, was accepted August 7, 1889, and February 24, 1890, a contract for the erection of the memorial was awarded to Frederick & Field of Quincy, Mass. At the laying of the corner stone Colonel MacArthur delivered a historical address, and SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' MONUMENT. 131 other speeches were made by the Rev. Peter Havermans and the Rev. Dr. J. W. Thompson. The exercises of the day included a great parade, under the direction of General Joseph B. Carr. On September 15, 1891, the dedication of the magnificent memorial took place, in a manner well befitting its noble and patriotic purpose. But few times before in the history of the city had there been a public demonstration equal to that of this day. One of them was fifteen months before, when the corner-stone was laid. The early morning • trains brought large crowds of people to the city from surrounding towns and villages. Many of the mills and factories gave their em ployes a holiday. All the business houses and most of the residences along the route of the parade and also on other streets were elaborately decorated. Many portions of the business district were bowers of gay colors, including many large and handsome portraits of the nation's heroes in war — Grant, Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan, Hancock, Logan and others. The parade, a large and imposing one, started at 11 a. m. Colonel Lee Chamberlain acted as grand marshal, and his staff was composed of Col. Charles S. Francis, Lieut. -Col. John Don, Col. D. M. Greene, Col. George H. Gillis, Col. M. H. Burton, Col. W. H. Lawton, Col. Marcus D. Russell, Col. Francis N. Mann, Jr. , Col. Edward L. Gaul, Col. George P. Lawton, Lieut. -Col. Harry M. Alden, Lieut. -Col. J. A. McDonald, Major C. H. Stott, Jr., Major E. M. Green, Major W. G. Carr, Major Isaac F. Handy, Major Arthur MacArthur, Major A. W. Hoysradt, Major H. W. Thompson, Major Le Grand C. Tibbits, Capt. E. R.Thompson, Capt. Charles G. Cleminshaw, Capt. I. W. Copeland, Lieut. J. L. Thompson, and Major Waldo K. Chase. The first division was commanded by Col. James W. Cusack, and acted as escort to the veterans. It was headed by Doring's band and comprised the Troy Citizens Corps, Tibbits Cadets, 12th Separate Company, New York National Guard, and the National Guard companies from Cohoes, Hoo sick Falls, Schenectady and the 10th Battalion of Albany. Next came in carriages Col. Charles L. MacArthur, Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, Gen. Stewart L.. Woodford, Gen. Henry Slocum, Gen. Alonzo Alden, Capt. John Palmer, Col. Frederick Phisterer, and other well known military men. The other divisions were in command of James M. Snyder, Col. Levin Crandall, Capt. E. F. Ormsbie, Edwin A. Frear and Cornelius F. Burns. The line of march was down First street to Liberty, to Second, 132 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. around Washington park, to Third, to State, to Fifth avenue, tojacoh, to King, to River, to Third, to Broadway, to the monument, where the parade passed in review and was dismissed. It is estimated that there were fully 10,000 people about the monument when the parade reached that point. Col. C. L. MacArthur, president of the monument association, had charge of the exercises. After prayer by. the Rev. J. W. Thompson, a telegram was read from Gen. Joseph B. Carr, who was detained in New York by illness, in which he said he was "present, in spirit if not in person." Col. MacArthur then made the opening ad- dress, in which he said: We have put an insignia on this monument to commemorate the bravery of the men of Rensselaer county in the Mexican war. We were first in the field. In 1812, when we had a war with Great Britain, a, Troy man was the first to capture a flag in that war. I refer to Hon. William L. Marcy. When troops were called for in the late war Troy was the first to raise a regiment and send it to the Adjutant- General's office. A Troy man, Frank Brownell, was the first to shed blood when he shot Jackson at Alexandria. The next address was made by General Daniel E. Sickles, who spoke in glowing terms of the part taken by Troy soldiers in the Civil war. Among other things he said : One of the earliest regiments to take the field was the Second New York Infantry, organized in Rensselaer county by your townsman, General Carr. This regiment was for some time in the Third Army Corps and often fell under my personal observa tion. Carr raised his standard here on the 17th of April, 1861, while the echoes from Sumter filled every ear and stirred every loyal heart. All troops reflect, sooner or later, the character and qualities of their commanding officers. Therefore, I need not tell you, who know General Carr so well, that the Second New York was at admirable regiment. It was not long, however, before the signal abilities shown by General Carr proved his fitness for higher command. He always enjoyed, and still enjoys, the confidence and respect alike of his troops and of his superior officers, Always ready to obey orders with alacrity, he taught his commands that discipline makes good soldiers. An earnest patriot, he inspired his men with his own zeal for the cause of the Union. Fearless and calm in battle, his example made his battalion trustworthy under all circumstances. The next speaker was Captain John Palmer of Albany, commander- in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic of the United States, and his address was listened to with the closest attention. Rain began falling at 1.30 v. m. and the exercises at the monument were necessarily shortened, an adjournment being taken fifteen minutes later. At three o'clock the ceremonies were resumed in Music hall, Colonel C. L. MacArthur, presiding. After prayer by the Rev. Dr. George C. EARLY COUNTY BUILDINGS. 133 Baldwin, Benjamin H. Hall read an original poem, written by Captain William B. Gordon, of the Watervliet arsenal. The Troy Vocal Society sang "On, Gallant Company," after which the dedicatory address was delivered by General Stewart L. Woodford, of Brooklyn. It was a masterpiece of oratory and was frequently interrupted by applause. General Sickles and Colonel MacArthur followed with brief addresses. At the conclusion the Troy Vocal Society sang "The Star Spangled Banner," the immense assemblage rising and making the walls of the big building ring as they joined in the chorus. Rev. Father John Walsh of St. Peter's church closed the exercises with the benediction, and the large audience slowly dispersed. The first almshouse in the county was known as the house of indus try. It was built in the winter of 1821 and 1822 by the county and the city of Troy jointly, at a total cost of $9,064,84. It was located about a mile and a half southeast of Troy. A wooden building was erected in 1860. As the limits of the city were extended the property became a part of the city. In 1882 the brick buildings were erected, including two apartment buildings, two hospitals, the keeper's house, a dining hall, a kitchen and a laundry. The Marshall Infirmary, founded in 1850 by Benjamin Marshall, a gingham manufacturer of Troy, is one of the most worthy institutions in the county. In that year the first buildings were erected by him at a cost of over $30,000. June 20 of the next year the institution was in corporated, the management of its affairs being placed by its charter in the hands of twenty-seven governors, to be elected annually. The articles of incorporation provide that every person contributing ten dollars to it and paying at least three dollars per annum towards its maintenance, is a member of its corporation; and every person con tributing one hundred dollars, and paying five dollars per annum may, in addition to being a member, recommend one sick person to be cared for at the infirmary for six weeks in each year, free of charge. Every person contributing one thousand dollars becomes a life member, and is also allowed to recommend one sick person to be cared for an entire year free of charge; and every person paying ten dollars a year may recommend one sick person to be cared for four weeks free of charge. Before the death of the founder he had given to the institution money and property valued at $70,000. The three story brick building on the south side of the infirmary was erected by the county for an insane asylum in 1859. Two years later 134 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. the county built another structure beyond the hill east of the infirmary building, for exclusive use as a lunatic asylum. In 1880 still another building, for the care of refractory patients, was erected south of the insane asylum. In 1896 sixteen acres of ground were occupied by the institution. In an earlier chapter the establishment of the Rensselaer & Saratoga railroad, the Troy & Greenbush railroad, the Schenectady & Troy rail road, the Hudson River railroad, the Troy and Boston, afterward the Fitchburg railroad, and the Troy Union railway has been described. Since those early days the development of the railways running through Rensselaer conn ty has been rapid and extensive. The Hudson River road has become a part of the greatest system in the world ; the Rensselaer & Saratoga, like the Hudson River, by absorption into another system, has a great and rapidly increasing patronage; the Fitchburg and the Boston & Albany, too, have grown until their business requires the constant attention of thousands of employes. The New York Central & Hudson River railroad was organized No vember 1, 1869, by the consolidation of the New York Central Railroad company and the Pludson JRiver Railroad company. The Hudson River Railroad company was chartered May 12, 1846, and the road opened through its entire length from New York to East Albany (Greenbush) October 3, 1851. Previous to the consolidation referred to the Hudson River road had leased the Troy & Greenbush road, which was chartered in January, 1845, and leased to the Hudson River road June 1, 1851, for seven per cent, on $275,000 capital stock. On consolidation the lease was assumed by the New York Central & Hud son River Railroad company. v The New York & Albany Railroad company was incorporated April 17, 1832, but the extension from Albany to Troy was not constructed until 1840 and 1841. These directors of the northern extension of the road were chosen in February, 1844: Stephen W. Dana, Le Grand Cannon, Jonas C. Heartt, Thaddeus B. Bigelow, HoratioAverill, John L. Thompson and Alsop Weed, Troy; William P. Van Rensselaer, Greenbush; with four Boston men. The officers elected were: Presi dent, Stephen W. Dana; vice-president, Jonas C. Heartt; secretary, Thaddeus B. Bigelow. The Troy & Boston Railroad company, chartered April 4, 1848, was consolidated with the Fitchburg Railroad company May 4, 1887, under the laws of the State of New York and the Commonwealth of Massa- RAILROAD LINES. 135 chusetts. By this consolidation the following leases, in force with the Troy & Boston Railroad company, were assumed: Southern Vermont railroad, New York line to Massachusetts State line, owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, leased in perpetu ity to the Troy and Boston Railroad company at an annual rental of $12,000; Troy & Bennington railroad, Hoosac Junction to Vermont State line, owned by the Troy & Bennington Railroad company, a corpora tion of the State of New York, leased at an annual rental of $15,400. Lease expires May 27, 1901 ; Tbe Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western railway, and its leased line, the Troy, Saratoga & Northern railroad, were purchased June 1, 1887. The Troy, Saratoga & Northern was incorporated September 2, 1886. The western terminus of the Fitchburg railroad is in Troy ; the eastern terminus is in Boston. The consolidation of the Troy & Boston and the Fitchburg Railroad companies was ratified by the directors of the Fitchburg January 25, 1887, and by those of the Troy & Boston March 28 of the same year. The Castleton (N. Y.) & West Stockbridge (Mass.) Railroad com pany was incorporated by the State of New York May 15, 1834, and work was begun soon after. The name was changed to Albany & West Stockbridge Railroad company May 5, 1836. November 11, 1841, a permanent contract of transportation was made by the Western Railroad company (incorporated in Massachusetts March 15, 1833,) and the Albany & West Stockbridge Railroad company for the opera tion of the latter by the former. By an act of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed May 24, 1867, the Boston & Worcester Railroad! corporation was consolidated with the Western Railroad corporation under the name of the Boston & Albany Railroad company. In May, 1869, the Boston & Albany Railroad company and the Albany & West Stockbridge Railroad company were united and consolidated and all became known as the Boston & Albany Railroad company November 2, 1870. The western terminus of this road is in Albany, via Green bush, and the eastern terminus is in Boston. The Greenwich & Johnsonville Railroad company was chartered September 10, 1879, and soon after the construction of a railroad be tween Johnsonville, in Rensselaer county, and Greenwich, in Wash ington county, was begun. The road was originally known as the Johnsonville & Union Village Railroad company. August 30, 1879, the 136 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. property was sold under foreclosure, suit having been brought by the holders of the first mortgage bonds, and was purchased by a committee representing the bondholders, who organized the new company. Since that time there have been no changes in the company, except in the cases of some of its officers. The New York Central, Hudson River & Fort Orange Railroad company was formed on or about September 1, 1S84, in pursuance of an act of the Legislature, for the purpose of carrying freight to and from the Fort Orange Paper company's works, situated near Castleton, Prior to the 1st day of September aforesaid the bedway of the New York Central, Hudson River & Fort Orange Railroad Company be longed to the Fort Orange Paper company, and the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad company loaned and furnished the ties and rails for a railroad track over the same from the eastern line at a point near Castleton to works of said company under an agreement that in consideration thereof the Fort Orange Paper company should deliver all their freight to be transported to the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad company for transportation. The object of the incor poration of the New York Central, Hudson River & Fort Orange Railroad company was to do business as an independent corporation and to carry all of said freight over its line under contract with the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad company and the Fort Orange Paper company. The Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad company was organized and chartered April 14, 1832, to run from Troy to Ballston, a distance of twenty-five miles. The present length of road now owned and leased by the company is about 200 miles. In June, 1860, the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad company leased the Saratoga & Schenectady rail road and the- Albany & Vermont railroad. In 1865 the company leased the Saratoga & Whitehall railroad and the Rutland & Wash ington railroad. In 1868 it leased and became owner of all the capital stock of the Glens Falls railroad. In February, 1870, it leased the Rut land & Whitehall railroad. May 1, 1871, the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad company leased all its roads and leased lines to the Delaware & Hudson Canal company, which are now operated by the latter corporation. The Troy & New England Railroad company opened a part of its line, from Albia to Averill Park, in the winter of 1895. The motive power is electricity. The road connects with the Troy City Railroad company's lines at Albia, COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 137 The Rensselaer County Agricultural society dates from 1819, its organization having been perfected June 3 of that year, in the court house, by the election of George Tibbits, president; Herman Knicker bocker, first vice president ; Simon Newcomb, second vice-president; Edmund C. Genet, third vice-president; Philip Heartt, treasurer; George R. Davis, corresponding secretary; and Henry Hoyle, record ing secretary. The first managers, elected at the next meeting, July 14, 1819, were: Thomas Clowes, Stephen V. R. Schuyler, John P. Cushman, Stephen Ross, Thomas Turner, Hugh Peebles, Troy; Jacob C. Lansing, Wooster Brookins, Smith Germond-, Lansingburgh ; Bethel Mather, Schaghticoke; Moses Warren, John Carpenter, jr., Hoosick; Burton Hammond, Berlin; Henry Piatt, Stephentown; Fenner Palmer, Nassau; Asa Gardner, Samuel J. McChesney, Martin Springer, Bruns wick; Michael S. Vandercook, Pittstown; Joseph Case, Petersburgh; Ziba Hewitt, Grafton; William Carmichael, Sand Lake; Cornelius Schermerhorn, Schodack; John Briere, Greenbush. October 12 and 13 following the first annual fair was held on the society's grounds in Troy, south of Hoosick street. From that time on fairs were held annually, generally in Troy, sometimes in the meadows in the southern part of the city, sometimes on the bank of the Hudson between Troy and Lansingburgh and sometimes in the southern part of Lansing burgh. The grounds at the intersection of Market and Canal streets, east of Lansingburgh, were purchased in 1857 of George Vail and others, and for three years thereafter fairs were held there. In 1860 new grounds in the southern part of Lansingburgh, on Vail avenue, were purchased, commodious buildings were erected and a driving track laid out. During the two latter years of the war the society leased its grounds and buildings to the United States government for use as a convalescent hospital, at the rate of $300 per month. When the government relinquished possession the society improved the grounds and purchased some of the buildings. From time to time large expenditures for further improvements continued to be made until 1874, when the society, finding itself deeply involved financially and with income entirely too small for its maintenance, released the grounds upon foreclosure of heavy mortgages, and the property was sold by the sheriff. One of the most thriving county associations, the Rensselaer County Sunday School union, was established in 1832 under the auspices of and auxiliary to the American Sunday School union. The union was 18 138 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. made up of representatives of numerous evangelical churches, all Sun day schools in the county connected with evangelical churches being admissible as members. The union does much commendable mission ary work, and under its directions Bibles are distributed at intervals throughout the county. The union regularly corresponds with the State association and with the various town unions in the county, all of which are in close sympathy with one another. The Rensselaer County Bible society was organized July 11, 1815, in the court-house, by the election of these officers: Rev. Jonas Coe, president; Rev. Ralph Westervelt, first vice-president; Rev. Samuel Blatchford, second vice-president; Daniel Buel, Jr., corresponding secretary ; Rev. Francis Wayland, recording secretary ; Derick Lane, treasurer: Rev. Parker Adams, Tobias Spicer, Rev. John Younglove, Jr., Rev. Justus Hull, Dr. Ely Burrett, Hon. Josiah Masters, Jacob A. Fort, Hon. Hosea Moffitt, and James L. Hogeboom, board of managers. The society's chief work is to supply Bibles to the needy. The Mohawk and Hudson River Humane society was originally in corporated as the Albany County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which was organized April 27, 1887. The original title was changed to the existing one May 3, 1889, the change being made as the title indicates, for the double purpose of enlarging its territorial scope and including suffering brutes in its humane endeavors. March 7, 1892, the executive committee of the society was formally incorporated in Albany county as the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. April 13, 1894, a special act of the Legislature took effect, which consolidated the two societies under the title now held. This constituted the first combined society in the State of New York uniting the care of children and animals. One of the most memorable storms which ever fell upon the county was that occurring on the afternoon of August 27, 1891. For several days the streams had been swollen by heavy rains. During the day many of the small streams overflowed their banks and the Hudson river rose rapidly. This immense raging torrent was still further in creased late in the afternoon by a disastrous cloudburst, the result being the total destruction of a number of bridges and dams, heavy damage to many mills, hotels and dwellings, and the loss of one life. The valley of the Wynantskill was the scene of the greatest destruction, and here many cattle were drowned, besides which thousands of dollars' worth of property was devastated. The bridges destroyed were val- EFFORT TO DIVIDE THE COUNTY. 139 ued at $25,000. At Poestenkill William McChesney, aged twenty-one, was carried away on a bridge, with four other men, and was drowned. His companions were saved. The greatest damage was sustained in the city of Troy and the towns of Sand Lake, Poestenkill, Berlin and Petersburgh. November 30, 1895, the New York State board of assessors rendered a decision favorable to the city of Troy and against the towns in the matter of the equalized valuation of the city. The decision took off from the equalized assessed valuation of the city the sum of $2,280,064 and divided it among the country towns. It made the total valuation of the city $42,187,813 and the total city and county valuation about $72,000,000. Complaint had been made by the people of Troy that the city had been paying more than its share of the taxes, and the State assessors upheld this contention. The total real and personal equaliza tion, as corrected by the State assessors, was : Troy, $43,886,522; Berlin, $472,851 ; Brunswick, §2,553,631 ; East Greenbush, SI, - 523,233: Grafton, $295,204; Greenbush, $3,525,496; Hoosick, $6,056,914; Lansing burgh, $6,589,375; Nassau, $823,409; North Greenbush, $2,004,626; Petersburgh, $514,408; Pittstown, $2,738,712; Poestenkill, $552,828; Sand Lake, $868,376; Schagh ticoke, S3,123,176; Schodack, 83,770,455; Stephentown, $523,413. As a result of the strained relations between the inhabitants of the city of Troy and of the country towns over the question of taxation, an effort was made by the latter in the years 1895 and 1896 to divide the county, setting off all the towns under the name of Morton county, in honor of Governor Levi P. Morton, and leaving the city of Troy identi cal in its limits with the county of Rensselaer. The matter was brought up on several occasions in the board of supervisors and an effort was made on the part of the advocates of division to secure the co-operation of State Senator Le Grand C. Tibbits and the county's representatives in the State Assembly; but the movement came to naught. An agitation, covering a period of several years, in favor of free raads in the county, finally culminated in 1895 and 1896 in an endeavor to secure legislation abolishing all the toll gates within the limits of the county. It was argued that the existence of the toll gates was detri mental to the interests of Troy, Albany and the villages along the Hud son, as well as to the farming interests. No legislation to the end had been obtained as late as 1896, but in this year the advocates of free roads were still agitating the subject in a spirited manner which event ually doubtless will be greeted with success. 140 Landmarks op Rensselaer county. The population of Rensselaer county at the close of each decade dur ing the nineteenth century is given as follows in the eleventh census of the United States : 1800,30,351; 1810,36,309; 1820,40,114; 1830,49,424; 1840, 60,259; 1850, 73,363- 1860, 86,323; 1870, 99,549; 1880, 115,328; 1890, 124,511. The population of the county in 1890, by towns, including the prin cipal villages, was as follows: Rensselaer county. Berlin town _ Brunswick town East Greenbush town Grafton town _ _ 1 Greenbush town, coextensive with Greenbush village Greenbush village _ _ Hoosick town, including Hoosick Falls village Hoosick Falls village. _. Lansingburg town, including Lansingburg village Lansingburg village _. Nassau town, including Nassau village _. Nassau village _ North Greenbush town, including Bath on Hudson village... Bath on Hudson village ___ Petersburg town Pittstown town _ Poestenkill town _ __ _ Sandlake town ._ Schaghticoke town, including Schaghticoke village Schaghticoke village Schodack town, including Castleton village Castleton village _ __ Stephentown town __ _• Troy city, __ _ "Ward 1. "."."."/." 3^693" Ward 2 _ 4,744 Ward 3 , '.'.'...'... 2,664, Ward 4 _ 4,504 Ward 5 _._ 6,023 Ward 6._ 4,825 Ward 7 5,735 Ward 8. 3,865 Ward 9 4,375 Ward 10 . .. 6 175 Ward 11 j .....'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 4^056 Ward 12... __ 5 024 Ward 13. 5,222 1890 1880 124,511 115,328 1,704 2,202 3,654 3,402 2,171 2,127 1,457 1,676 7,301 6,743 7,301 3,205 10,471 7,914 7,014 4,530 10,871 7,759 10,550 7,432 2,273 2,629 356 449 4,768 4,131 2,399 2,046 1,461 1,785 4,056 4,095 1,602 1,672 2,555 2,550 3,059 3,591 1,258 4,388 4,319 1,127 912 1,764 1,986 60,956 56,747 According to the same census these interesting figures are gleaned: Native born— males, 46,514; females, 50,291. Foreign born— males, 13,228; females, 14,478. Total native white— males 46,171; females, CENSUS STATISTICS. 141 49,860. Native white, native parents — males, 26,444; females, 28,635. Native white, foreign parents — males, 19,727; females, 21,225. For eign white — males, 13,203; females, 14,475. Total colored, including persons of negro descent, Chinese, Japanese and civilized Indians — males, 368; females, 434. The foreign born population of the county, according to the census of 1890, was 27,706, representing the following countries: Canada and Newfoundland, 2,218; South America, 18; Cuba and West Indies, 25; Ireland, 14,000; England, 3,390; Scotland, 895; Wales, 151; Germany, 4,570; Austria, 130; Holland, 175; Belgium, 30; Switzerland 91; Norway, 144; Sweden, 267; Denmark, 516; Russia, 312; Hungary, 20; Bohemia, 6; Poland, 326; France, 153; Italy, 150; Spain, 6; China, 13; Australia, 20; Europe (not specified), 13; born at sea, 12; other countries, 55. The total number of dwellings in the county in 1890 was 20,236; the total number of families, 27,731 ; the number of persons to a dwelling, 6.15, and the persons to a family, 4.49. Following is a complete list of the inhabitants of Rensselaer county who have served in the important offices in the county: County Judges.— February 18, 1791, Anthony Ten Eyck; March 9, 1803, Robert Woodworth; March 19, 1805, James L. Hogeboom ; March 10, 1808, Josiah Masters; February 7, 1823, David Buel, jr. ; February 2, 1828, Harmon Knickerbocker; March 17, 1838, George R. Davis; June, 1847, Charles C. Parmelee; November, 1855, Archibald Bull; November, 1859, Gilbert Robertson, jr. ; November, 1867, Jeremiah Romeyn; January 31, 1871, E. Smith Strait; September, 13, 1881, James Forsyth; November, 1882, Edgar L. Fursman ; January 1, 1890, Lewis E. Griffith. Surrogates. — 1791, Moss Kent; 1793, John Woodworth; 1803, Jeremiah Osborne; 1806, Alanson Douglass; 1813, David Allen: 1815, William McManus; 1818, Benja min Smith; 1820, Nicholas M. Masters; 1821, Thomas Clowes; 1827, Philip Viele; 1835, Job Pierson ; 1840, Cornelius L. Tracy ; 1844, Stephen Reynolds ; 1847, George T. Blair; 1855, Robert H. McClellan; 1863, Moses Warren; 1867, E. Smith Strait; 1871, Moses Warren; 1883, William Lord; 1889, James Lansing; 1896, Albert C. Comstock. District Attorneys. — 1818, William McManus; 1821, Job Pierson; , Samuel Cheever; 1824, Job Pierson; 1833, Jacob C. Lansing; 1836, John Coon; 1839, David L. Seymour: 1842, Martin I. Townsend; 1847, Robert A. Lottridge; 1853, Anson Bingham; 1856, Robert A. Lottridge; 1859, George Van Santvoord; 1862, John H. Colby; 1865, Robert A. Lottridge; 1869, Timothy S. Banker; 1872, Francis Rising; 1873, John C. Greene; 1875, Albert E. Wooster; 1878, Samuel Foster; 1881, La Mott W. Rhodes; 1887, Lewis E. Griffith; 1889, John P. Kelly. Sheriffs.— 1791, Albert Pawling; 1795, William Guilliland; 1798, James Dole; 1800, Moses Vail; 1801, Michael Henry; 1806, Thomas Turner; 1807, Levinus Lans- 142 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. ing; 1808, Thomas Turner; 1813, Gerrit Peebles; , Jeremiah Schuyler; 1815, John Breese; 1819, Michael Vandercook ; 1821, Moses Warren; 1825, H. Vanden- burgh; 1828, William P. Haskin ; 1831, Ebenezer C. Barton; 1834, Augustus Filley; 1837, Cornelius Schuyler; 1840, Volney Richmond; 1843, Gideon Reynolds; 1846, Gilbert Cropsey; 1849, Abraham Witbeck; 1852, John Price; 1855, William Wells; 1858, Gerothman W. Cornell; 1861, Joseph F. Battershall; 1864, Gerothman W, Cornell; 1867, Matthew V. A. Fonda; 1870, James McKeon ; 1873, John A. Quack- enbush; 1876, Albert L. Hotchkin; 1879, James H. Ingram; 1882, Eben C. Reynolds; 1885, James Keenan; 1888, Shepard Tappen;* 1891, Hammond Harrington. County Clerks.— 1791, Nicholas Schuyler; 1806, Ruggles Hubbard; 1813, James Dole; 1815, Benjamin Hiby; 1818, Joseph D. Selden ; 1821, Benjamin Smith; 1825, Archibald Bull; 1832, Henry R. Bristol; 1838, Leland Crandall; 1841, Charles Hooper; 1844, Ambrose H. Sheldon; 1850, Henry A. Clum; 1853, Ambrose H. Shel don ; 1856, John P. Ball; 1859, J. Thomas Davis; 1862, Edwin Brownell; 1865, J, Thomas Davis; 1869, E. W. Greenman ; 1872, William Lape; 1875, E. C. Reynolds; 1878, James Keenan; 1884, Shepard Tappen; 1887, Daniel E. Conway; 1892, Charles C. Greenman; 1893, Francis Riley; 1896, Richard H. Van Alstyne. Coi'nty Treasurers. — 1791, Aaron Lane; 1801, Benjamin Smith; 1826, Daniel Paris; 1831, Isaac McConihe; 1834, Thomas Clowes; 1836, Waters W. Whipple; 1844, Russell Sage ; 1851, Horace Herrington ; 1854, Myron Hamblin ; 1857, Henry E. Weed; , Charles Warner; 1860, Oliver A. Arnold; 1863, Roger A. Flood; 1864, Samuel 0. Gleason; 1873, Albert L. Hotchkin; 1876, Edmund Fitzgerald; 1879, Franklin P, Harder; 1888, Thomas Dickson; 1891, David Morey; 1894, George H. Morrison: County Superintendents of Schools (from 1843 to 1847). — Zebulon P. Burdick, Philander H. Thomas, Alexander H. Thompson, J. B. Wilkins. School Commissioners. — First district, E. C. Reynolds, William S. Buckley, War ren W. Knowlton, James C. Comstock, Amos H. Allen, Edward Wait, J. Russell Parsons, jr., Thomas H. Betts, Byron F. Clark. Second district, J. W. Boyce, Allen Barringer, Jabez F. Gilman, William L. Cottrell, George W. Hidley, Gardner Morey, Lewis N. S. Miller, Representatives in Congress from Rensselaer County. — 1793-1799, John E. Van Alen; 1799-1803, John Bird; 1803-1805, George Tibbits ; 1805-1809, Josiah Masters; 1807-1809, James I. Van Allen ; 1809-1811, Harmon Knickerbocker; 1813-1817, Hosea Moffit ; 1817-1819, John P.Cushman ; 1819-1821, John D. Dickinson ; 1823-1825, James L, Hogeboom ; 1825-1827, William McManus ; 1831-1835, Job Pierson ; 1835-1843, Hiram P. Hunt; 1837-1839, Henry Vail; 1843-1845,' David L. Seymour; 1845-1846, Richard P. Herrick ; 1845-1847, Thomas C. Ripley ; 1847-1851, Gideon Reynolds; 1851-1853, David L. Seymour; 1853-1857, Russell Sage; 1857-1863, Abram B. Olin ; 1863-1871, John A. Griswold; 1871-1873, Joseph M. Warren; 1875-1879, Martin I. Townsend; 1879- 1883, Walter A. Wood; 1887-1889, Edward W. Greenman; 1889-1893, John A. Quackenbush ; 1895-1897, Frank S. Black. United States Senator.— Edward Murphy, jr., January 17, 1892, to the present time. Justices of the Supreme Court, Third District, from Rensselaer County.- George Gould, November 6, 1855 ; Charles R. Ingalls, November 3, 1863 ; Edgar U Fursman, January 1, 1890. Circuit Judge.— John P. Cushman, February 9, 1838. PROMINENT OFFICIALS. 143 Regents of the University from Rensselaer County. — March 28, 1796, Rev. Jonas Coe; February 18, 1803, Charles Selden; April 2, 1830, John P. Cushman ; February 18, 1839, Joseph Russell ; March 24, 1842, David Buel ; April 29, 1869, John A. Griswold; April 24, 1873, Martin I. Townsend. United States Officials Residing in Rensselaer County. — William L. Marcy, secretary of war in the cabinet of President Pierce, and secretary of state in the cabinet of President Buchanan. John M. Francis, minister to Greece United States District Attorney. — 1879-1885, Martin I. Townsend. State Oeficers Residing in Rensselaer County. — 1793, Robert Woodworth, council of appointment; 1704, Zina Hitchcock, council of appointment; 1798, Moses Vail, council of appointment ; 1804, John Woodworth, attorney-general; 1821, 1823, William L. Marcy, adjutant-general; 1823, William L. Marcy, comptroller; 1825, 1831, Joseph D. Seldon, canal appraiser; 1829, William L. Marcy, puisne judge; 1829, 1831, William L. Marcy, justice of the supreme court; 1830, George R. Davis, bank commissioner; 1832, 1834, 1836, William L. Marcy, governor; 1836, Caleb Briggs, geological survey, 1836, James Hall, geological survey; 1848, George V, Huddleston, surgeon- general; 1850, John C. Mather, canal commissioner; 1853, Gardner Stow, attorney general; 1859, Thomas Clowes, State assessor; 1860, Thomas B. Carroll, canal appraiser; 1868, James S. Thayer, new capitol commissioner; 1874, Francis S. Thayer, auditor canal department; 1874, Adin Thayer, canal commis sioner; 1879, Henry L. Lamb, acting superintendent of banking; 1880, Joseph B. Carr, secretary of state; 1882, Charles E. Patterson, speaker of the assembly; 1889, Edward Hannan, superintendent of public works ; 1890, Martin I. Townsend, mem ber of judiciary commission ; 1888, John Sherry, manager Hudson River State hos pital at Poughkeepsie; 1891, Martin Schenck, state engineer and surveyor; 1893, Gilbert Robertson, jr. , member of State board of mediation and arbitration ; 1895, Francis N. Mann, manager of Hudson River State hospital at Poughkeepsie; 1894, David M. Green, member of commission to devise charters for cities of the third class. Members of Conventions to Revise the Constitution. — 1801, Cornelius Lansing, Jonathan Niles, William W. Reynolds, J-onathan Rouse, John Ryan, Jacob Yates. 1821, Jirah Baker, David Buel, jr., James L. Hogeboom, John Reeve, John W. Woods. 1846, William H. Van Schoonhoven, Perry Warren, Abram Witbeck. 1867, Jonathan P. Armstrong, David L. Seymour, Martin I. Townsend, John M. Francis. 1872-1873 (commission), Cordelius L. Tracy, George C. Burdett. 1894, William J. Roche, John M. Francis. Following is a complete list of the representatives in the State As sembly from Rensselaer county, from the first session of the Legislature to the present time : 1 1792. — Jonathan Brown, John Knickerbacker, John W. Schermerhorn, Thomas Sickles, Moses Vail. 1 Rensselaer county remaining a part of Albany county tmtil the fifteenth session of the State Legislature in 1791, the representatives from this county are included in the Albany county list up to the close of that year. The names are copied from the New York State Civil List, 144 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. 1792-1793. — Benjamin Hicks, Christopher Hutton, Josiah Masters, Jonathan Niles, Nicholas Staats. 1794. — Jonathan Brown, Benjamin Hicks, Hosea Moffit, Jonas Odel, Thomas Sickles. 1795. — Jonathan Brown, Daniel Gray, Benjamin Hicks, Hosea Moffit, Jacob C. Schermerhorn. 1796. — John Bird, David Gray, Rowland Hall, John Knickerbacker, jr. 1796-1797.— John Bird, John Carpenter, Jacob A. Fort, Daniel Gray, James Mc Kown, Hosea Moffit. 1798. — John Bird, Jacob Fort, Daniel Gray, Jonathan Hoag, Hosea Moffit, Israel Thompson. 1798-1799. — Jacob A. Fort, Daniel Gray, Jonathan Hoag, Cornelius Lansing, John W. Schermerhorn, John I. Van Rensselaer. 1800. --Jacob A. Fort, Daniel Gray, James McKown, Josiah Masters, John W. Schermerhorn, George Tibbits 1800-1801. — -Jonathan Brown, John Lovett, James McKown, Josiah Masters, Hosea Moffit, John E. Van Alen. 1802. — John Carpenter, Jacob A. Fort, John Green, Burton Hammond, John Knick erbacker, jr., John Stevens. 1803. — John Green, Jonathan Rouse, John Ryan, John Woodworth. 1804. — Asa Mann, Jonathan Rouse, Charles Selden, William Steward, Samuel Vary, jr. 1804-1805. — Jonathan Burr, James L. Hogeboom, Nehemiah King, Asa Mann, John Ryan. 1806. — Jonathan Niles, William W. Reynolds, John Ryan, Nicholas Staats, Jacob Yates. 1807.— Gilbert Eddy, Asa Mann, William W. Reynolds, Robert Woodworth, Adam Yates. 1808. — James L. Hogeboom, Ebenezer Jones, Adam Yates, Jacob Yates. 1808-1809. — Derick Lane, Henry Piatt, Cornelius I. Schermerhorn, Israel Shepard, 1810. — Timothy Leonard, Henry Piatt, Cornelius I. Schermerhorn, Jeremiah Schuyler. 1811. — William M. Bliss, Daniel Hull, jr., Cornelius I. Schermerhorn, Cornelius Van Vechten. 1812.— George Gardner, Stephen Gregory, Abraham L. Viele, Stephen Warren. 1812-1813.— David Allen, James H. Ball, John Carpenter, jr., John Stevens. 1814.— William Bradley, Burton Hammond, Bethel Mather, Barent Van Vleck. 1814-1815.— David Allen, Henry A. Lake, Jacob A. Ten Eyck, Zebulon Scriven, 1816.— Job Greene, David E. Gregory, Herman1 Knickerbacker, Samuel I. McChes ney, Samuel Milliman. 1816-1817.— Daniel Carpenter, John D. Dickinson, Burton Hammond, Henry Piatt, Ebenezer W. Walbridge. 1818.— Abijah Bush, Andrew Finch,2 Myndert Groesbeck, Cornelius I. Schermer horn, Munson Smith, Thomas Turner. 1 Occasionally spelled Harmon in the old records. 2 Contested by Cornelius I. Schermerhorn, who succeeded February 2. JOHN A. CIPPERLY. ASSEMBLYMEN' FROM THE COUNTY. 145 1819.— George R. Davis, Andrew Finch, Henry Piatt, Daniel Simmons, Stephen Warren. 1820.— John Babcock, David Doolittle, William C. Elmore, George Tibbits, Ebe nezer W. Walbridge. 1820-1821.— William C. Barber, Richard P. Hart, William B. Slocum, Calvin Thompson, John Van Alstyne. 1822. — Daniel Gray, James Jones, Harper Rogers, Levi Rumsey, Gardner Tracy. 1823. — Joseph Case, Gilbert Eddy, Chester Griswold, Stephen Warren. 1824. — Caleb Carr, Henry Dubois, Martin Van Alstyne, Stephen Warren. 1825. — John Carpenter, Jacob C. Lansing, Fenner Palmer, John G. Van Alstyne. 1826.— Robert Collins, Augustus Filley, John F. Groesbeck, William Pierce. 1827. — Jeremiah Dauchy, John Defreest, jr., Reuben Halstead, Henry Piatt. 1828. — Samuel S. Cheever, Alonzo G. Hammond, William Peirce, Joseph Wads- worth. 1829. — Nathaniel Barnett, jr., Martin Defreest, William P. Heermans, Henry Mallery. 1830. — Abial Buchanan, George R. Davis, Ziba Hewitt, Abraham C. Lansing. 1831. — George R. Davis, Chester Griswold, Martin Springer, Aaron Worthington. 1832.— Hosea Bennett, Henry J. Genet, John C. Kemble, Nicholas M. Masters. 1833. — William P. Haskins, Alonzo G. Hammond, John I. Kittle, Seth Parsons. 1834. — Archibald Bull, Smith Germond, Nicholas B. Harris, James Yates. 1835. — Chester Griswold, Jacob W. Lewis, Daniel Simmons, Martin Springer. 1836. — David L. Seymour, Alexander O. Spencer, John J. Viele, Nathan West. 1837. — Randall Brown, Alexander Bryan, Abraham Van Tuyl. 1838.— Hezekiah Hull, Jacob A. Ten Eyck, James Wallace. 1839.— Richard P. Herrick, Day O. Kellogg, Gideon Reynolds. 1840. — Garrardus Deyoe, Samuel W. Hoag, William H. Van Schoonhoven. I «41.— Claudius Moffit, John Tilley, William H. Van Schoonhoven. 1842. — George R. Davis, Martinus Lansing, Silas W. Waite. 1843. — George R. Davis, Samuel Douglas, Henry Vandenburgh. 1H44. — John L. Cole, George B. Warren, Jonathan E. Whipple. 1845. — Henry Betts, Ryer Heermance, William H. Van Schoonhoven. 1846.— Henry Z. Hayner, Samuel McClellan, Justus Nolton. 1817. — Joseph Gregory, Amos K. Hadley, David S. McNamara. 1848. '—Amos K. Hadley,3 George T. Denison, George W. Glass. 1849.— Amos K. Hadley, Benajah Allen, William H. Budd. 1850. — George Lesley, Edward P. Pickett, Lansing Sheldon. 1851. — George Lesley, William Russell, Oliver C. Thompson. 1852.— Jonas C. Heartt, 3 Albert E. Richmond, William H. Herrick. 1853.— Jason C. Osgood, Charles B. Stratton, Peter G. Ten Eyck. 1854. — Jonathan Edwards, Lyman Wilder, George Brust. ' Under the constitution of 184(5 the county was divided into districts, from each of which one member of Assembly was elected. The names of the members given after the above date are arranged to correspond with the districts in their numerical order. 2 Also speaker of the Assembly. 3 Also speaker. 19 146 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. 1855.— Jonathan Edwards, Nicholas M. Masters, Edmund Cole. 1856.— George Van Sautvoord, Augustus Johnson, Sanford A. Tracy. 1857.— Darius Allen, Volney Richmond, Ebenezer S. Strait. 1858.— J. C. Osgood, Daniel Fish, Martin Miller. 1859.— Thomas Coleman, Henry B. Clark, Anson Bingham. I860.— Thomas Coleman, James Culver, Anson Bingham. 1861.— Charles J. Saxe, L. Chandler Ball, Anson Bingham. 1862.— Charles J. Saxe, David G. Maxon, Sylvester Waterbury. 1863. — James McKeon, John A. Quackenbush, Ebenezer S. Strait. 1864.— James McKeon, George W. Banker, James Dearstyne. 1865.— George C. Burdett, Robert M. Hasbrouck, Matthew V. A. Fonda. 1866.— James S. Thorn, Marshall F. White, Eleazer Wooster. 1867.— William Gurley, Marshall F. White, Eleazer Wooster. 1868.— John L. Flagg, Jared A. Wells, Harris B. Howard. 1869.— John L. Flagg, Edward Akin, Harris B. Howard. 1870.— John L. Flagg, Eugene Hyatt, J. Thomas Davis. 1871. — John L. Flagg, Horace C. Gifford, Sylvester Waterbury. 1872.— Jason C. Osgood, John L. Snyder, Castle W. Herrick. 1873.— William V. Cleary, John L. Snyder, Castle W. Herrick. 1874. — William V. Cleary, Robert Dickson, Jacob M. Whitbeck. 1875.— William V. Cleary, William F. Taylor, Jacob M. Whitbeck. 1876.— William V. Cleary, William F. Taylor, Thomas B. Simmons. 1877.— John H. Burns, John J. Filkin, William H. Sliter. 1S78.— John H. Burns, Solomon V. R. Miller, William H. Sliter. 1879.— Francis N. Mann, Jr., Eli Perry, Thomas B. Simmons. 1880.— La Mott W. Rhodes, Albert C. Comstock, Barnis C. Strait. 1881. — Charles E. Patterson, Richard A. Derrick, Barnis C. Strait. 1882.— Charles E. Patterson,1 Richard A. Derrick, Rufus Sweet. 1883.— William V. Cleary, Richard A. Derrick, Rufus Sweet. 1884.— James P. Hooley, Sylvanus D. Locke, William T. Mills. 1885. — James P. Hooley, Eugene L. Demers, Charles C. Lodewick. 1886. — Michael F. Collins, Eugene L. Demers, Thomas Dickson. 1887. — Michael F. Collins, J. Irving Baucus, James Ryan, jr. 1888. — George O'Neil, J. Irving Baucus, James Ryan, jr. 1889. — George O'Neil, Joseph S. Saunders, James Ryan, jr. 1890.— James M. Riley, Joseph S. Saunders, John W. McKnighl. 1891.— James M. Riley, Levi E. Worden, John W. McKnight. 1892.— James M. Riley, Levi E. Worden, John J. Cassin. 1893.— William M. Keenan, John M. Chambers, John J. Cassin. 1894. — William M. Keenan, John M. Chambers, John J. Cassin. 1895.— John T. Norton, John M. Chambers, John J. Cassin. 1896. — John T. Norton, Edward McGraw, George Anderson. State Senators from Rensselaer County. — 1793-1796, Robert Woodworth; 1797-1798, Moses Vail; 1799-1802, Ebenezer Foote; 1802, Christopher Hutton; 1804- 1807, John Woodworth; 1808-1811, Charles Selden; 1812-1815, Ruggles Hubbard; 1 Also speaker of the assembly. SENATORS FROM THE COUNTY. 147 1815-1818. George Tibbits; 1820-1822, Thomas Frothingham; 1834-1836, John C. Kemble; 1841-1844, Henry W. Strong; 1846-1847, W. H. Van Schoonhoven; 1848- 1849, Albert R. Fox; 1850-1851, Thomas B. Carroll; 1852-1853, W. H. Van Schoon hoven; 1854-1855, Elisha N. Pratt; 1856-1857, Amos Briggs; 1858-1859, John D. Willard; 1860-1864, Volney Richmond; 1864-1865, Frederick H. Hastings; 1868- 1871, Francis S. Thayer; 1874-1875, Roswell A. Parmenter; 1876-1877, Thomas Coleman; 1880-1881, Isaac V. Baker, jr.; 1882-1883, Charles L. MacArthur; 1884- 1887, Albert C. Comstock; 1888-1895, Michael F. Collins; 1896 , Le Grand C. Tibbits. Following is a statement of the several incorporated companies liable to taxation in Rensselaer county in the year 1896 : Citv and Towns. Troy. Names of Corporations. Assessed value of personal prop erty subject to local taxation for all purposes. Central National Bank of Troy National Bank of Troy . Mutual National Bank of Troy Manufacturers' National Bank of Troy National State Bank of Troy. Troy City National Bank _. Troy Savings Bank United National Bank of Troy Union National Bank of Troy — Troy Laundry Machinery Company jWiles Laundry Machinery Company, limited . Wayside Knitting Company _ . _ Hudson River Railroad Corporation Laureate Boat Club Ionic Club National Express Company . . Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad Company.. Troy Union Railroad Company Fitchburg Railroad Company Troy City Railroad Company Troy Citizens' Steamboat Company Troy Gas Company Eastside Club . _ Rob Roy Hosiery Company __ Troy and West Troy Bridge Company Troy Club Troy Steel and Iron Company Trustees of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church Trustees of Levings' Chapel Trustees of Father Matthew T. A. B. Society. _ Trustees of United Presbyterian Congregation. Trustees" of North Baptist Church Trustees of Woodsicle Presbyterian Church Trustees of St. Paul's Church . f St- Mary"s Church . Trustees . $206, 852 00 162,000 00 352,985 88 141,621 00 430,431 25 449,379 30 "448^984" 44 289,788 60 20,000 00 25,000 00 50,000 00 " 10,000 00 Assessed value of Real Estate. $13,000 00 38,000 (10 35,000 00 88,500 00 20,000 00 35,000 00 465,000 00 6(1,000 00 60,000 00 11,000 00 "35, 566 "66 383,980 00 6,500 00 15,000 00 13,500 00 120,000 00 30.000 00 222,200 00 190,071 00 "460, 666 "66 12,000 00 27.000 00 125,000 00 50,000 00 624,350 00 2,400 00 800 00 4,00(1 00 5.800 00 7,700 00 a, 500 00 is. 000 00 11.200 OO Total Valuation. $219,852 00 200,000 00 387,985 88 230,121 00 450,431 25 484.379 30 465,000 00 508,984 44 349,788 60 31,000 00 25,000 00 35,500 00 383,980 00 6,500 00 15,000 00 13,500 00 120,000 00 30,000 00 222,200 00 190,071 00 50,000 00 460,000 00 12,000 00 37,000 00 125,000 00 50,000 00 624,350 00 2,400 00 800 00 4,000 00 5,800 00 7,700 00 2.5O0 OO 18.000 On 11.300 ,*o f> S3 D>S3 O *3fO S3 CO u. IS> O O 53O > si COO ¦=>Wwroro P3f>K P3Ooa S3i-3 Lansingburgh Schaghticoke _ . Pittstown . Hoosick. Petersburgh. Danish Society Leonard Hospital Deborah Powers Home for Old Ladies Grant Ferris Company Greenwich and Johnsonville Railroad Company a Fitchburg Railroad Company Cable Flax Mills Company Western Union Telegraph Company Schaghticoke Woolen Company Schaghticoke Powder Company Hudson River Telephone Company Postal Union Telegraph Company Fitchburg R. R. Company, Troy and Boston Div American Axe Manufacturing Company Greenwich and Johnsonville Railroad Company Fitchburg R. R Co., Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Division . _ Hudson River Telephone Company Commercial Union and Postal Telegraph. b Lebanon Springs Railroad Company c Fitchburg Railroad Company, T- & B. Division. d Rutland and Washington Railroad Compan}'. . Hoosick Falls Gas Company Walter A. Wood Reaping Machine Company e Fitchburg Railroad Company, B.,H. T. & West ern Division /Western Union Telegraph Company Hoosick Falls Water Works Company £- Commercial Union Tel. Company h N. Y. and Vermont Telephone Company Hoosick Falls Knitting Company First National Bank / Hoosick Falls Electric Light Company Prflyn Manufacturing Company j Hoosick Falls Electric Railway Company Hoosick Falls Brewing Company k Fitchburg Railroad Company, T. & B. Div Fitchburg Railroad Company, B., H. T. & W Division _ Western Union Telegraph Company 8570,000 00 6,000 00 40,800 00 84,000 00 2,000 00 4,000 0(J 3,930 00 12,000 00 233,820 00 43,000 00 1,630 00 51,100 00 51,550 00 030 00 765 00 144,000 00 21,600 00 4.500 00 133,380 00 490 00 244 00 16,803 00 281,478 75 6,000 Oo 12,000 00 180,900 00 210,960 00 2,055 28 25,000 00 S48 00 950 00 4,000 00 84,000 00 2 000 OO 4,000 00 3,93(5 00 12.000 00 233,820 00 43,000 00 1,630 00 51,100 00 51,550 00 630 00 O 765 00 C 144,000 00 EOn 21,600 00 4,50(1 0(1 Ed > 133,380 00 490 00 o 244 OO "A 16,803 00 281,478 75 S3 6,000 00 12,000 00 IT 750,900 00 K 210,960 (10 OO 2,655 28 a 25,000 00 3 848 OO < 16,000 00 3,000 00 15,000 00 2,500 00 45,750 00 42,480 00 1,300 00 950 00 10.000 00 40.800 00 16,0 0 00 3 000 00 15,000 00 2.500 00 45,750 00 42,480 00 H 1,300 00 2 Citv and Towns. Names of Corporations. Assessed value of personal prop erty subject to local taxation for all purposes. Assessed Value of Real Estate. Total Valuation. Petersburgh . Nassau North Greenbush. Grafton . . . Greenbush. East Greenbush Lebanon Springs Railroad Company American Telephone Company Lebanon Springs Railroad Company Bankers' and Merchants' Telegraph Company.. Wynantskill Improvement Association Hudson River Bridge Company at Albanv Troy and Greenbush Railroad Corporation Troy Steel and Iron Company Western Union Telegraph Company. Greenbush Water Works Company American Telegraph and Telephone Company. _ Burden Iron Company.. _ __ N. Y. Central & Hudson River R. R. Co . ... Homestead Savings and Building Loan Asso... East Albany Gaslight Company . _ Troy Industrial Building and Loan Association . . / American Telegraph and Telephone Company Boston and Albany Railroad Corporation Hudson River Railroad Corporation Hudson River Bridge Company (North) Hudson River Bridge Companv (South) American Long Distance Tel. Company __ Hudson River Bridge Company (Creek Bridge) Commercial Tel. Company Troy and Greenbush Railroad Corporation Commercial Union Telegraph Company ._ Greenbush and Albany Bridge Company in Greenbush Water Works Company ... Western Union Tel. Company Bankers and Merchants' Tel. Company . East Albany Gas Light Companv . Post 400 G. A. R _" _ Boston and Albany Railroad Corporation n Hudson River Railroad Corporation nerican Union Telegraph Comj>anv §S,500 00 $8,500 00 3,000 00 3,000 00 40!) 00 400 00 300 00 300 00 4,0(10 00 4,00(1 00 120.000 00 120,000 00 120,000 00 120,000 00 12,000 00 12,000 00 1,300 00 1,300 00 20,000 OO 20,000 00 5,000 00 5,000 00 31,850 00 31,850 00 4,000 0(1 4,000 00 800 00 800 00 500 00 500 00 1,000 00 1,000 00 2,500 00 2,500 00 473,600 00 473,600 00 306,450 00 306,450 00 123,600 00 123,600 00 350,000 00 350,000 00 1,825 00 1,825 00 100,000 00 100,000 00 1,000 00 1,000 00 21,900 00 21,900 00 600 00 600 00 163.800 00 163,800 00 26,000 00 26,000 00 2,025 00 2,025 00 850 00 850 00 13,300 00 13,300 00 (500 00 600 00 137,000 00 137,000 OO 143,000 OO 300 oo 143. OOO (10 3<>o OO r1o> EdWGOo Ed55 COCO P3r1>E0 ao ciai-3 DERICK L. BOARDMAN. East Greenbush. Schodack Stephentown Berlin Brunswick . . Sandlake . _ . Western Union Telegraph Company Mutual Union Telegraph Company American Rapid Tel. Company Hudson River Telephone Company Commercial Union and Postal Telegraph Comp'y American Telephone and Telegraph Company. _ Boston and Albany Railroad Corporation Hudson River Railroad Corporation . . National Bank, Castleton . Knickerbocker Ice Company Commercial Union and Postal Telegraph Co o Western Union Telegraph Company ¦b American Telegraph and Telephone Company Hudson River Telephone Company ... Oak Grove Mills Fort Orange Paper Company $75,000 00 Lebanon Springs Railroad Company s Western Union Telegraph Company t Lebanon Springs Railroad Company Western Union Telegraph Company Berlin Water Supply Company Hudson River Telephone Company Brunswick Telephone Company Commercial Telephone Company u American Telegraph and Telephone Company v Wynantskill Improvement Association Troy Tel. and Tel. Company Commercial Union Postal and Telegraph Co. Total 84,238,826 47 SI, 300 00 1,200 00 400 00 300 00 1,200 00 1,200 00 456,741 00 342,000 00 2,800 00 31,000 00 1,600 00 10,600 0(1 1,500 00 1,200 00 5,000 00 40,000 00 24,000 00 500 00 25,000 00 470 0(1 50 00 150 00 100 00 350 00 2,750 00 10,400 00 250 00 300 00 810 285,201 03 §1, 300 00 1,200 00 400 00 300 00 1,200 00 1,200 00 456,741 00 342,000 00 7 7,800 00 31,000 00 1,600 00 10,600 00 1,500 00 1,200 00 5,000 00 40,000 OO 24,000 00 500 OO 25,000 00 470 00 50 00 150 00 100 00 350 00 2,750 00 10,400 00 250 00 300 00 814.524.117 50 oo EC TiOEO > i-3i — i O 25 GO IS QOa 55i-3 a Troy Div. $7114.01, B., H. & T. $1,218.35; b $17.64 highway labor; c $200.35 arrearage, highway; d $11.30 arrearage, highway; e $178.24 ar rearage, highway; /"S2.77 arrearage, highway; ,^S9c. arrearage, highway labor; // SI. (10 arrearage, highway labor; / $10.50 arrearage, highway labor; j §'.1.4.5 arrearage, highway labor; k $35,211 arrearage, highway labor; / highway $15,011, school $111.22; m arrears school $83.00, n 61c. rm. ; o includes school $4.61; / includes school 70c; 3, which position he held until 1838, when he was appointed circuit judge of the third circuit. . In addition to the offices held by him already named, he was a regent of the University of the State of New York from 1830 to 1834, and was a trustee of Union college. Roswell A. Parmenter, in commenting upon the services of the Hon. William A. Beach, said: In his professional career William A. Beach survived three epochs. While, com paratively speaking, a young practitioner, he attained the leadership of the Saratoga bar. In his mature years and more perfected judgment he selected the city of Troy as the theatre of his local practice of the law, where, by common consent, he became the trusted oracle of the Troy bar. Subsequently he removed to the city of New York, then, as now, the commercial metropolis of the western hemisphere. There, also, in the midst of giants of the profession, he again took a front rank and main tained it with undimmed lustre for fifteen years, when he retired from the arena of professional contest with colors still flying at masthead, but with a clear forecast of 158 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. his own early demise. . . Whatever fame now belongs or shall be hereafter awarded to William A. Beach was acquired by him in his private capacity, and in the ordinary practice of his professional life, when engaged in establishing or defending the legal rights of others and not of himself. . . He demonstrated the great truth that man at times makes the circumstances under which he acquires distinction among his fellow men. ... He possessed in a large degree quick perception, sound judgment, critical discrimination and an analytical mind. . He never lagged behind when duty called him to the front. That characteristic was eminently displayed by him in the celebrated trial of Theodore Tilton against Henry Ward Beecher. On either side the array of eminent counsel was formidable, but their strength and courage had become exhausted, so great had been the labor, strain and responsibility imposed upon them. One of them, however, faced the closing ordeal with unparalleled heroism and undaunted resolution. That man was William A. Beach. . Not unmindful of the responsibility here assumed, or of the criticism it may invoke, I shall in this presence firmly contend, as I do sin cerely believe, that as an orator in the judicial forum William A. Beach was the peer of Demosthenes or Cicero, or both combined. Of David Bull, jr , Benjamin H. Hall said: He was born in Litchfield, Conn., on October 22, 1784, and came to Troy when he was fourteen years old, with his father. Here he prepared himself for college, and was graduated at Williams in 1805. His legal studies were pursued in Troy in the office of his brotber-in law, John Bird, and subsequently at Albany, first with Daniel Jones, then with Mr. Beers, and then with the great lawyer, long beloved as the " Father of the Bar,'' Abraham Van Vechten. With the latter he remained as a student until he was admitted to the bar as an attorney of the Supreme Court in 1808, soon after which he began the practice of his profession in Troy. . . In 1818 he was appointed a judge of the County Court of Rensselaer county, and on the death of Josiah Masters in 1823, was made first judge of the same court, and con tinued in this position until his resignation in 1828. His high social position, coupled with his studious life, and his recognized ability, made him the trusted friend and adviser of the most prominent citizens in this portion of the State, and his advice and direction were eagerly sought. The tribute paid to his great worth, his scholarly attainments and his unsullied career, is thus recorded by one of his sons, who for many years was a member of our profession and an honored citizen of this municipality: " The united expression of the community, in the midst of which he passed a long and honorable life, was one of veneration and regard for a citizen whose life was distinguished by its purity and integrity, not less than by its high intellectual achievements.'' Of George Gould, Franklin J. Parmenter said : George Gould was the son of that eminent jurist and legal instructor, James Gould, LL.D., who kept the famous school in Litchfield, Conn. Here, under the paternal roof, George Gould was born on the 2d of September, 1807. . . . Gould graduated with distinction at Yale college in 1827. . . Sixty years ago our city was not so beautiful and attractive as it is to-day, nevertheless at that time THE BENCH AND BAR. 150 thither came George Gould, then a handsome young man with twenty-two years sitting gracefully upon an ample white brow surrounded by a profusion of irresi.stible black curls. . He formed his first law partnership with the late Hon. George R. Davis, a gentleman whom the past generation held in affection and esteem for his pleasant, genial companionship and for his sterling qualities as a lawyer and legis lator. . . Judge Gould continued in active practice at the Troy bar for about twenty-five years, though for some years before he left the bar to assume the duties of a justice of the Supreme Court, his labors as treasurer and legal adviser of the Troy and Boston Railroad company, the management of the large estate of his father-in law [George Vail], and various other matters drew him away from the courts. But during the period named his industry, his classical scholarship, his quick perception of legal principles, his readiness to turn them against an adversary, combined with his great natural abilities, had brought him to the front rank of his profession. . . He held various offices, more of trust than of profit. Our citizens in 1852 gave proof of their esteem and confidence by electing him for their mayor. When elevated to the bench of the Supreme Court in 1855, Gould was an active member of the American party, to which he was indebted for his nomination. . As a judicial officer Judge Gould has had few superiors. - He brought to the discharge of his duties a mature judgment, a ripe scholarship, a more than ordinary acquaintance with the literature of Greece and Rome, a thorough knowledge of law in its multifarious bearings and a quick application of its principles. In 1860 he conferred an enduring favor on the bar of our State by editing and adapting to our code his father's celebrated "Treatise on the Principles of Pleading." . In the full vigor of his great mental powers, in the sixty-second year of his age, at his residence in Troy, on the 6th day of Decem ber, 1868, this eminent and much loved man, peacefully and quietly and with hope that springs from a blameless and useful life, passed to a higher court than ours. John Woodworth was born at Schodack November 12, 1768; was graduated from Yale college at the age of 20 years ; immediately began the study of law ia Albany and was admitted to the bar in 1701, when he removed to Troy to practice his profession. In 1793 he was ap pointed surrogate and held that office until his appointment as attorney- general of the State of New York in 1804. He was postmaster for Troy from 1797 until 1799 and was one of the most influential of the organ izers of the Troy library. Comparatively early in life he became one of the most distinguished lawyers in the State, and on March 27, 1819, he was honored by an appointment to the Supreme Court bench. In later life he removed to Albany, where he died July 1, 1858, at the age of 90 years. He was the author of a historical work on Troy, which is considered about the most valuable of the earliest compilations of facts and reminiscences of prominent men and things of the city. John Bird was the son of Dr. Seth Bird of Litchfield, Conn., and a graduate of Yale college. He commenced the study of law in 1786 and 160 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. was admitted to practice in his native State. In 1794 he removed to Troy and practiced his profession there with great success until his death, which occurred in 1806. His integrity was never questioned and his character was in all ways above reproach. Although he died at the early age of 37 years, his reputation as a lawyer was very high. He was a genius of high order, a brilliant and impressive orator, a sharp debater and reasoner and frequently " charming in his display of eloquence." John D. Willard, the son of a clergyman, was born at Lancaster, N, H., November 4, 1799, was educated at Dartmouth college, where he was graduated at the early age of 19 years. He began the study of law in Chenango county, New York, and completed it in Troy with Judge McConihe, being admitted to the bar in 1826. A year later he was appointed surrogate of Rensselaer county by Governor De Witt Clinton, but the Senate refused to confirm the appointment for politi cal reasons. In 1834 Governor William L. Marcy appointed him judge of the Court of Common Pleas, an office in which he served for six years. At the end of this time he voluntarily retired to private prac tice. He was a prominent Mason and grand master of the Grand lodge of the State of New York at the time of the memorable division of the order. He also edited the Troy Sentinel before he became judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1857 the Democrats sent him to the State Senate, where he served with ability. He died October 9, 1864. Samuel G. Huntington was the son of Rev. Enoch Huntington and was born May 21, 1782, at Middletown, Conn. He was also a nephew and namesake of Samuel Huntington, one of the signers of the Decla ration of Independence, president of the colonial congress and after wards governor of Connecticut. He was graduated from Yale college at the-age of eighteen years and a few years later was admitted to the bar in Middlesex county, Connecticut. In 1806 he removed to Water ford, Saratoga county, N. Y., and in 1825, then a distinguished law yer, he removed to Troy. He was an authority on real estate law and his counsels were largely sought by his contemporaries. During the term of office of Governor Clinton he was made judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Rensselaer county. He died July 5, 1854. Rufus Marsh Townsend was born August 1, 1806, at Hancock, Mass., the son of Nathaniel and Cynthia Marsh Townsend, and a brother of Martin Ingham Townsend. With his two brothers he was fitted for Williams college in his father's house tinder private instructors. He THE BENCH AND BAR. 161 was graduated from Williams in 1830. After teaching in an academy at Stockbridge, Mass., for one year he removed to Troy and studied law with John P. Cushman and David L. Seymour, and at the end of three years began what proved to be a very successful practice. His death occurred January 14, 1888. Francis Norton Mann was a native of Milton, Saratoga county, where he was born June 19, 1802, the son of Jeremiah Mann and Lydia Nor ton. He was educated at the Lansingburgh academy and Union col lege, being graduated from the latter institution in 1825. The follow ing fall he began the study of law in the office of Ashley Sampson and John Dickson in Rochester, then with Daniel Cady in Johnstown, com pleting his studies with Samuel G. Huntington in Troy. He was ad mitted to the bar in 1828 and immediately opened an office in Troy. After serving as supervisor and alderman, he was a judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1840 to 1845, and in 1847 was chosen mayor of Troy, being re-elected three times by increasing majorities. During his long career he was distinguished for his integrity in his professional, his official and his business life. He died February 8, 1880. Robert Henry McClellan was born in Schodack December 28, 1826, and was graduated from Union college in 1845. He began the study of medicine in the office of his father, Dr. Samuel McClellan, but aban doned it for the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. In 1849 he went to California, and in 1852 returned and located at Nassau. In 1854 and 1855 he served that town as supervisor, and in the fall of the latter year was elected surrogate as the candidate of the American party. In 1860 he resumed his private law practice, in Troy, and seven years later formed a partnership with James Lansing. Mr. Mc Clellan was the author of a legal guide for executors, and also a treatise on practice in the Surrogate's Court, and the duties of executors, ad ministrators and guardians. His death occurred April 21, 1893. James Forsyth was born in the town of Peru (now Ausable), N. Y., September 8, 1817. He was educated at the Keeseville academy and the University of Vermont, from which he was graduated in 1839. He was admitted to the bar at Keeseville in 1842, and came to Troy the following year and formed a law partnership with Hiram P. Hunt, then member of congress. Three years later he began to practice alone, but subsequently became associated consecutively with Charles R. Richards, Sewall Sergeant, Edgar L. Fursman and Esek Cowen. Governor Morgan made him chairman of the war committee of Rens- 21 162 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. selaer county in 1861, and by appointment of President Lincoln he was provost marshal of this district from July 1, 1864, to the end of the war. In 1868 and 1869 he was United States collector of internal revenue in this district. Among the other important offices he filled were those of attorney and then secretary and treasurer of the Rens selaer and Saratoga railroad and the Troy Union railroad; director, attorney and counsel of the Commercial bank of Troy and of the Troy City National bank ; president of the Troy and West Troy Bridge com pany; trustee of the Union Trust company of New York; trustee of the Troy Female seminary and of the Rensselaer Polytechnic institute, and president of the latter institution from 1868 to 1886. His career, which was in all respects an honorable one, ended August 10, 1886. Giles B. Kellogg, who in his declining years has removed to Ben. nington, Vt. , may properly be classed among the members of the Rensselaer county bar, for in this county his legal career began, and we might say ended. He is the Nestor of the Rensselaer county bar. Mr. Kellogg was born at Williamstown, Mass. , March 28, 1808, and was graduated from Williams college in 1829. He studied law at Salem, removed to Troy in 1830 and was admitted to the bar two years later. For ten years he was editor of the Troy Northern Budget; and before the abolition of the Court of Chancery he was for several years a master and examiner therein. He has also held other positions of trust. From 1868 to 1878 he was a trustee of Williams college, and for many years was an influential member of the Third Presbyterian church of Troy. He gave up the practice of the law February 4, 1883, having removed to Bennington, Vt. , his present home, two years previous. Ebenezer Smith Strait was a native of Stephentown, Rensselaer county, where he was born May 28, 1824, the son of Meshach Strait and Aphia Smith. In 1849, after a three years' course of study, he was admitted to the bar, and soon after removed to Nassau to practice. He represented his district in the Assembly in 1857 and 1863; in 1867 he was elected surrogate of Rensselaer county and removed to Troy, where he resided until his death. February 1, 1871, he resigned the surrogateship to become county judge to succeed the Hon. Jeremiah Romeyn, who had died, and the next fall was elected to succeed him self. At the expiration of his term of office in 1877 he was re-elected by a large majority. Judge Strait was always regarded as a pains taking lawyer and a faithful and devoted servant to public interests. He died September 7, 1881. THE BENCH AND BAR. 16;* Isaac Grant Thompson was born in Rensselaer county in 1840. Early in life he taught school, but later studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1865. In 1869 he became city editor of the Troy Daily Press, at the same time beginning the compilation of some of his legal treatises. In 1870 he founded the Albany Law Journal and the year following began the publication of the American Reports. He contin ued to edit the Albany Law Journal and American Reports up to the time of his death, which occurred at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., August 30, 1879. In the mean time he wrote a treatise on the Law of High ways, a treatise on Provisional Remedies, edited an edition of Warren's Law Studies, supplying a chapter on the study of Forensic Eloquence; compiled a volume of National Bank Cases, a manual for supervisors, assessors, town clerks and collectors ; wrote a digest for the first twenty-four volumes of the American Reports, assisted in editing the Supreme Court Reports of New York, which effected a revolution in the court reporting system in this State; and at the time of his death was engaged upon the most important law treatise of his life, which he left unfinished. Irving Browne, now a resident of Buffalo, is the son of Rev. Lewis C. Browne and Harriet Hand, and was born at Marshall, Oneida county, N. Y., September 14, 1835. In 1853 he began the study of law in Hudson, N. Y., and was graduated from the Albany Law School in 1857. After spending six months as a law clerk in New York city he entered into partnership with Rufus M. Townsend and Martin I Townsend in Troy. These relations ceased in 1878 and for over a year Mr. Brown practiced alone. In the fall of 1879, upon the death of Isaac Grant Thompson, he became the editor of the Albany Law Jour nal, a position he has filled until recently with great credit to himself and to the benefit of thousands of lawyers in every State in the Union and in about every other civilized country. He has since removed to Buffalo. Thomas Clowes was born at Marblehead, Mass., August 5, 1791. In 1808 he went to live with an uncle in the town of Brunswick and later removed to Troy and entered the law office of Ross & McConihe as a law student. For several years he was owner and editor of the Troy Northern Budget. He was appointed postmaster of Troy by President Taylor, and served fifteen months. He was subsequently appointed to the office by President Lincoln, and then by President Johnson, but died April oon subscribed and in the latter part of October in that year the lot '.. >n the northeast corner of Hutton and North Second streets was deeded ¦ o the society by John D. Dickinson and others in consideration of the .'payment of six cents The work of constructing a small frame build- Jig was begun soon after and February 19, 1827, " the trustees of St. ' eter's church " were incorporated. The building was consecrated in 1830 by Bishop John Du Bois of New York. ';' The years 1827 and 1828 were marked by wonderful prosperity in all nes of trade and industry in Troy. In the former year the city grew s it had never grown before, no less than 330 buildings of all kinds ¦eing constructed. The business of the city was the greatest that 256 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. year it had ever known. Money was plentiful and everybody was happy, from the greatest capitalist to the poorest mechanic or laborer, Travel to the city had increased so that it was found necessary to make considerable additions to the principal hotel, the Troy house, and to build another hotel, the Mansion house, which was begun in the latter year by Nathan Warren. In the following year, 1829, the work of pav ing River street with cobblestones was begun, the houses on the prin cipal streets were numbered and the proud growing city began to take on metropolitan airs at a rapid rate. The local census of 1828 showed the population to be 10,840, an increase of more than 3,000 souls in three years — phenomenal development even for those days. A year later it was deemed advisable to organize another bank, which was in corporated April 29, 1829, under the name of the Merchants' and Me chanics' Bank of Troy. It opened its doors for business February 12, 1830, with a capital stock of $300,000. The bank was at first located in the Mansion house, with George Vail as president and Alanson Douglas as cashier. Its brick building at No. 16 First street was occu pied for the first in 1830. May 1, 1830, the Daily Troy Sentinel, the first daily newspaper issued in Troy, was published for the first time by Tuttle & Gregory. Its office was at No. 225 River street and it was edited by O. L. Holley. It was well patronized, both by subscribers and advertisers, and the mer chants and manufacturers looked upon it as a valuable addition to the industries of Troy. It was issued every afternoon except Sundays, A number of the members of St. Paul's church having determined to form a separate congregation and erect another church, independ ent religious services were held by them, in charge of a layman, in the Presbyterian session house at No. 71 Fourth street. November 22, 1830, officers were elected and the new church was named St. John's church. January 13 of the next year the old St. Paul's church on State street was purchased and the Rev. John A. Hicks of Easton, Pa., was called to the pastorate, assuming his duties the following May. April 18, 1831, an act was passed by the Legislature incorporating the Troy Turnpike and Railroad company, the stockholders of which were Lewis Burtis, Stephen Ross, David Gleason, Stephen Eldridge, Anson Arnold, Abraham Van Tuyl, John Burtis, jr., Alsop Weed and Robert D. Silliman. The charter authorized them to construct a turn pike road from the west end of the Troy and Bennington road in Hoo sick street in Troy, to the town of Bennington or the town of Pownal, WILLIAM E. HAGAN. TROY AS A CITY. 257 Vt. It also gave them power to build a single or double railroad from Troy to either or both of the Vermont towns. The capital stock was limited to $100,000. Work upon the turnpike was begun at once and for many years it was an important highway and stage route. The "burying ground on the hill," as it was generally known, hav ing become about filled with graves, January 1, 1832, the city authori ties purchased 12^ acres of land on the south side of the Poesten kill and east of the road to Albia, which they named Mount Ida Cemetery. Three years afterward, February 5, 1835, a portion of it was sold to St. Peter's Catholic church, and was used as a burying ground by that denomination. When the Asiatic cholera was expected in Troy in 1832, on its awful journey throughout the country, the militia were ordered out to keep from the city several canal boats loaded with emigrants and reported as having cholera victims aboard. These boats came down the Cham plain canal from Canada. In describing the ravages of cholera in Troy William E. Hagan, esq., writing in the Troy Press June 19, 1890, said: Some of the proceedings which the excitement at that time stimulated were ridic ulous in the extreme, and particularly the conduct of one Col. Dillon Beebe, who commanded the militia here that Sunday afternoon, when he, in full uniform and with a great array of rooster feathers in his cocked hat, strode up through the aisle of the First Presbyterian church (Dr. Beman's), and without ceremony broke in upon the doctor's discourse in a loud stentorian voice ordering all the members of the militia there present to immediately appear armed and equipped as the law directed at Washington square. Some of the women present fainted, others laughed at the ridiculousness of the performance, but at all events it broke up the meeting. . . . But it was found that the boats contained a colony of Swedes bound for the West, and that there was not a sick person amongst them. But the cholera did visit Troy within a fortnight after the departure of the Swed ish emigrants. . . The first person to die of the cholera in 1832 was James E. Prescott. The next death was that of one Henry O'Neal, and after the latter occurred there were many others. Amongst the old residents Asa Anthony was the first to pass away. He was the father of Prof. Charles H. Anthony, for many years the principal of the Troy academy, and long since dead. Capt. Snow, a prominent North River captain who lived at No. 43 Third street, was also one of the victims. The most remarkable death occasioned was that of Archie Weaver, a blacksmith whose shop stood on the southwest corner of Congress and Third streets. He was a man of large size and of great strength. He was boasting in the morning of how he would conquer the disease should it attack him. He was taken ill about three o clock in the afternoon and died at nine o'clock in the evening, and was buried the same night. The cholera victims of the epidemic of 1833 were in the main buried in the Mount Ida cemetery, where a long row of the graves may still be seen. . . . 33 258 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Since 1832 the cholera has twice visited Troy, in 1849 and in 1853. During the latter year it was more fatal in its effects than before. Fortunately for the people of the present day, Dr. William P. Seymour was health officer during the prevalence of the cholera in 1853, and he was by education and personal ability well fitted to tabulate all the phenomenal statistics which attended its visitation. A new era was opened in the history of Troy with the construction of the first line of railroad having the city for a terminus. In 1826 a railroad was projected, to run from Troy to Schenectady, but the people were enthusiastic supporters of the Erie and the Champlain canals and few friends for the railroad proposed could be found. Such an enter prise was not deemed necessary and few believed that it would provide superior transportation facilities to those of the canals or that it would pay its builders. Nevertheless the people of Albany thought otherwise and plans were soon made for and work begun upon the Mohawk & Hudson railroad, extending from Albany to Schenectady. This road was completed in 1832. At this time the trade of Northern New York, especially of Saratoga and Washington counties, was assuming consid erable proportions. In order to draw this trade from Troy, to which it most naturally would flow, the people of Albany attempted to divert it from that channel by the construction of a branch line from Schen ectady to Saratoga Springs. Undaunted, the business men of Troy at once set to work to secure a charter for a new road from Troy to Ballston Spa, a distance of nearly twenty-six miles. This franchise was granted them April 14, 1832, the articles of incorporation naming as the first directors George Griswold, John Cramer, Elisha Tibbits, John Knickerbacker, Richard P. Hart, Townsend McCoun, Nathan Warren, Stephen Warren, Le Grand Cannon, George Vail, Moses Williams, John P. Cushman and John Paine. Work upon the road, which was called the Rensselaer & Saratoga railroad, was begun the next year and October 6, 1835, the first passenger train crossed the bridge between Troy and Green Island. The northern terminus of the road was in the south end of the village of Ballston Spa, and the southern terminus was at No. 10 First street, Troy, the present site of the Athenaeum build ing. From the bridge the cars were drawn by horses down River street, turning into First in front of the Troy house, the engine leaving the train at the bridge. While the Rensselaer & Saratoga road ex tended only as far north as Ballston Spa, the Schenectady branch of the Mohawk & Hudson road had been built as far north as Saratoga Springs, the latter road thereby securing a monopoly of the traffic be- TROY AS A CITY. 259 tween Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa. As soon as the Rensselaer & Saratoga road had been completed an endeavor was made to enter into an agreement with the other road whereby the passenger and freight traffic of the Rensselaer & Saratoga might be carried on north of Ballston Spa over the tracks of the Schenectady & Saratoga road. The project was selfishly opposed, however, by the management of the latter road, comprised almost wholly of inhabitants of Albany, who were jealous of Troy's commercial success, and doubtless would have come to naught had it not been for the fact that the directors of the Rensse laer & Saratoga road had an unexpected opportunity to purchase of a New York broker a sufficient number, of shares of stock of the other road to give them its control. This settled the question and the two roads thereafter worked in harmony. Direct communication between the village of Troy and the village of Saratoga Springs was at once established, giving additional prestige to Troy as a commercial centre and securing for its merchants and manufacturers that of which the rival city of Albany had tried to deprive them. The first cars used on the Ren sselaer & Saratoga railroad were made by Gilbert, Veazie & Eaton, then famous Troy car builders. The passenger cars were looked upon as marvels of beauty, crude as they were, and were twenty-four in number. They were twenty-four feet long, eight feet wide and a little over six feet high inside, and each was divided into three apartments. The seats were "cushioned and backed with • crimson morocco, trimmed with coach lace ; each apartment is sur rounded by movable panels, thus affording the comforts and facilities of either a close or open carriage to suit the convenience of the passen gers." The existing improved system of waterworks in Troy had its incep tion in 1833 and 1834. The old Conduit company, to which reference has been made in preceding pages, supplied the residents of Troy i with water until 1833, when anew reservoir was constructed for the .purpose of increasing the supply and the storage capacity. April 18, > 1829, the Troy Water Works company had been incorporated, with a ;: capital stock of $250, 000. Surveys having been made and an abundance (Of excellent water having been found, the old corporation surrendered :,its rights to the city and its property was soon afterward purchased for a small sum. The necessary land and the water privileges of the : Piscawen kill were soon obtained, and in the spring of 1833 the con struction of a dam and reservoir was begun. These were completed 260 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the next year and showed a total capacity of about 450,000 gallons. The streets were piped for the distribution of the water, and soon two more reservoirs, holding 1,000,000 gallons were constructed. Other reservoirs were constructed on the Piscawen kill in 1843 and again in 1853 as the demand for water grew, and thus the system developed gradually to its present proportions. April 5, 1831, the Troy Insurance company was incorporated, re maining in business ten years. Its predecessor, the Rensselaer & Sar atoga Insurance company, passed out of existence in 1840 after doing business 26 years. May 14, 1836, the Mechanics' Mutual Insurance company of the City of Troy received a charter, which it retained until 1856, when it wound up its affairs and discontinued business. One of the most important industries established in Troy about this time was the Troy India Rubber company, which was granted a char ter by the Legislature May 4, 1836, with a capital stock of a quarter of a million dollars. The company's factory, a big one for those days, was a brick structure located on the west side of the Greenbush road a short distance south of the Poesten kill. The factory with its contents was destroyed by fire the same year, but new buildings were at once erected and 120 people were employed. An exciting event of the year 1836 in Troy was the mobbing of The odore D. Weld, a distinguished philanthropist, in the Bethel, amission church founded for the spiritual benefit of boatmen, located on the northwest corner of Fifth and Elbow streets, the present site of the Fifth Avenue hotel. At that time the majority of the inhabitants of Troy were opposed to the then increasing movement for the abolition of slavery, and many bitter controversies had arisen between the abolitionists and those who advocated non-interference with the South. Mr. Weld had delivered several lectures on the subject of slavery and had attracted large audiences to the Bethel. Soon after he had arrived in Troy there appeared in one of the city papers an incendiary com munication regarding him and his teachings which stirred the pro- slavery people up to a high state of excitement. On the afternoon of June 2 Mr. Weld was delivering a lecture in the church before a large audience, when a mob entered and attacked him, attempting to drag him from the pulpit. A struggle between members of the congrega tion and the mob ensued, in which the former were victorious, after which the lecturer was conducted from the church to a place of safety by Henry Z. Hayner, a prominent lawyer who had held the leader of TROY AS A CITY. 261 the mob at bay. The incident created intense excitement throughout the citv and doubtless strengthened the ranks of the local abolitionists. A memorable event in the history of Troy was a catastrophe which occurred early in the evening of Sunday, January I, 1837, when an immense quantity of clay, which had been loosened through the com bined influences of frosts and thaws, slid down the west side of Ida hill, or Mount Ida, burying three dwelling houses, in which were seven per sons and two stables, containing twenty two horses. The avalanche came with such terrific force as to carry everything before it for a dis tance of four or five hundred feet westward on the level, covering i several acres of land. John Grace and his wife were instantly killed and two young sons of Mrs. Leavenworth were crushed in a shocking manner. Sixteen of the twenty-two horses were killed. The accident ! created the wildest sensation for a time. The St. Patrick's Day mob in Troy, March 17, 1837, was another sensational incident in which several persons were badly injured and : considerable property ruined or damaged, all on account of the antics of a lot of young boys. Early in the morning effigies were suspended i from trees and buildings in different sections of the city for the evi dent purpose of bringing the holiday into disrepute. During the morning one Irish resident, incensed at the sight, attempted to pull ^down one of the figures which was suspended at the foot of Ferry , street but was prevented from doing so by a crowd of men and boys. , Soon afterwards he returned to the scene with a crowd of his fellow . countrymen and an incipient riot at once followed. Missiles were thrown through the air, injuring several persons, some quite severely. Among these were John P. Cole, whose wounds were of a very serious nature, and another man who was knocked down and beaten by the i enraged 'Irishmen. Several buildings were attacked, the store of Theo- ; dorus Valleau being badly damaged. Mayor Richard P. Hart, at tended by other city officials, commanded the rioters to disperse, which . they did temporarily, but they soon returned to renew their depreda- tions. Finding they could not be controlled by peaceable means the Citizens Corps was ordered out under arms at noon, but even this sum- mary proceeding was not effectual, as the rioting continued at intervals 1 the rest of the day and during the evening, when the mob went so far as to fire guns into the crowd, seriously injuring several persons. The rioters finally dispersed, being overawed by the militia. As a result of f the trouble about twenty of the ringleaders were sentenced to jail. 262 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. During the period of business depression in the United States which began in 1837 Troy was seriously affected with other cities. The Troy banks were finally compelled to suspend specie payments and for the purpose of continuing business James A. Zander, then city commis sioner, assumed the personal responsibility of- issuing temporary local currency, a plan followed in many other cities of the country. Bills of four denominations — one, two, three and four shillings, of l%y2 cents each — were printed and widely circulated for several years. These read as follows : On demand, I promise to pay to the bearer, cents in New York Safetv Fund bills, on the presentation of Five Dollars at my office. Troy, July 1st, 1837. James A. Zander. The people had confidence in Mr. Zander, who was famed for hi: integrity, and the bills practically saved the business of Troy. They were eventually redeemed by the city. The city was increased in size in 1836 by the addition of a part of the town of Lansingburgh, the northern boundary of Troy then being established as it has since remained. April 22, 1837, the Legislatnre passed an act dividing the fourth ward into two wards, that part lying north of a line running through the middle of Jacob street becoming the seventh ward. Those parts of the first and sixth wards lying be tween Liberty street and Canal avenue by the same law became the eighth ward. The market facilities of Troy were greatly improved during the years 1839 and 1840 by the erection of two brick market buildings. The first was Fulton market, which was built on the site of the old ship yard on the southwest corner of River and Elbow (Fulton) streets; the other was Washington market, situated on the southwest corner of Division and Second streets. In the second story of each building was a large hall in which public meetings of all kinds were held. Both markets were opened to the public in May, 1841. The first market in Troy had been established forty years before in a long, low wooden building in the middle of State street between First and Second streets, Six years later, in 1806, a new market building was erected on the northwest corner of Third and State streets, and in 1812 two other markets were built, one in the northern part and the other in the southern part of the village. To meet the increasing demands, sixteen years later a new North market was erected on the south side of Fed eral street, between River street and Fifth avenue, and a new South TROY AS A CITY. 263 market was built on the northeast corner of Division and Second streets. The market on Third and State streets then became Centre market. All these markets were finally abandoned when the new markets were established in 1839. ' April 13, 1839, the Troy Episcopal Institute, which had been estab lished the preceding year by Rev. William F. Walker, rector of Christ Episcopal church, was incorporated. It was located on the east side of Eighth street between Federal and Jacob streets, one of the finest sites in the city. The school was not a paying institution and after a career of less than three years it was closed. I In the summer of 1840 transportation facilities to and from Troy were greatly enhanced by the construction of the handsome passenger and freight steamer Troy, which began regular trips between Troy and New York July 17. The steamer was 294 feet in length and 61 feet in width and cost $100,000, a large sum to be put into a steam vessel in that period. The Troy was well patronized by all classes of trade and its owners soon realized that it would not be long before they ^wouldbe compelled to put a companion boat on the line. : Five years after the people of Troy had shown the inhabitants of Albany that they were not dependent upon the latter for railroad facil ities and had begun the operation of the Rensselaer & Saratoga rail road, the construction of another line of road was begun under circum stances somewhat similar. When the Rensselaer & Saratoga road was -constructed the Trojans consulted the business men and capitalists of Albany, with the end in view of securing their consent to the extension ,)f the Utica & Schenectady railroad to Troy. The application was vigorously opposed by Albanians, however, who believed that by refus- ng to give their consent to the plan the matter would be dropped in Troy, and the rapidly increasing and very valuable trade of Central md Western New York would continue to be monopolized by the busi ness men of Albany. But the latter evidently had not reckoned upon he indomitable energy which characterized the people of Troy, though It had been illustrated in an emphatic manner, for the Legislature was "mraediately petitioned, May 21, 1836, to pass an act incorporating the >chenectady & Troy Railroad company. This request was granted ¦ml, the Rensselaer & Saratoga railroad having been found to be a >aying institution, work was begun in 1840 upon the road connecting 'froy and Schenectady. The expense of the work, $649,142, was borne ;iy the city of Troy, which bonded itself for that amount. The first 264 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. regular trains were run over the road beginning in November 1842 the cars being drawn by horses across the Rensselaer & Saratoga rail road bridge to the company's office on River street. In the spring of the following year the tracks were extended along River street from the Troy house to State street, in order that both roads might land and receive passengers and freight at the steamboat landing. The business of both the railroad company and the steamboat company had begun to assume large proportions. The steamer Empire, a companion boat to the Troy, began running regularly between Troy and New York May 17, 1843, bringing additional business to the railroads. The Empire was much larger than the Troy, being 330 feet in length, with 360 berths and 72 staterooms, The development of local transportation facilities boomed in those days. With a railroad from Troy to Saratoga and another from Troy to Schenectady; with a double line of steamboats from Troy to New York and adequate ferriage across the Hudson, the people of Troy be gan to see great possibilities in a railroad to New York city. As early as April 17, 1832, a charter was granted the New York and Albany Rail road company, upon the application to the Legislature of a number of the representative men of Troy and Albany. The act permitted the construction of a railroad from the junction of Fourth avenue and the Harlem river in New York to a point opposite or near the city of Albany, with power to extend the road to Troy. The building of the road was delayed for several years, but in 1840 and 1841 a track was laid from Greenbush to Troy ; but its use was temporarily prohibited by the passage of a law in 1842, which provided that that section of the road was not to be used until $250,000, in addition to the amount previously expended, were actually paid out for the construction of that portion of the New York & Albany railroad south of the northern boundary of Columbia county. This legislation was enacted, it was charged, at the instance of Troy's old-time enemy, Albany, which was still jealous of the commercial supremacy of the former city. Within three years, however, the $250,000 called for by law had been expended on the New Y^ork & Albany road, and May 11, 1845, the peopleof Troy secured a charter for the road which they had built, under the name of the Troy & Greenbush Railroad company, and one month later trains on the road began making regular trips. The road extended to Wash ington street, at which point it intersected the Schenectady & Troy railroad, and the cars were drawn by horses over the track on River JOHN W. BURNS. TROY AS A CITY. 265 street to the station built in 1845 at the intersection of River and King streets. The office of the road was at No. 161 River street. June 1, 1851 the road was leased to the Hudson River Railroad company, the ocal company retaining the management of the business between Troy md Albany. In July, 1851, an office was established at No. 197 River street by the Hudson River Railroad company and in December of the iame year through trains between Troy and New York began running )n the new road. A good idea of the general impression of Troy among strangers at his time may be gathered from the following extracts from " Histor- cal Collections of the State of New York," etc., written by John W. Barber, a noted historical writer, and Henry Howe, also a writer of :onsiderable repute, and published in New York in 1841 : The city of Troy is regularly laid out, on a plan similar to that of Philadelphia. The principal street is River street, which extends along the Hudson the whole length if the city, and is ornamented with many splendid and spacious stores. It is thethea- ,re of a very extensive business. The remaining portion of the place generally ex- libits the quiet aspect of the country. Many of the buildings, both public and pri- /ate, are spacious and elegant. The court-house, built of Sing Sing marble, isa .plendid edifice, after the Grecian model. St. Paul's church isa noble Gothic edifice, irected at an expense of about 50,000 dollars. There are in Troy twelve places of pub ic worship— viz., 3 Presbyterian, 2 Episcopal, 2 Methodist, 1 Scotch Presbyterian, 1 Ro- nan Catholic, 1 African church and 2 Friends meeting houses. On the Wynant and 'oestens Kills, which here empty into the Hudson, are several manufacturing estab • ishments. The city is abundantly supplied with excellent water from the neighbor- ng hills. Hydrants are placed at the corners of the streets with hose attached, which n case of fire, as the natural head of the water is 75 feet above the city level, super- edes the use of fire engines. Troy is indebted in a great measure for its pros- lerity to its advantageous situation, and the enterprise and industry of her inhabi- ants. She has extensively availed herself of the facilities afforded by the river and he Erie and the Champlain canals. The tides of the Hudson frequently as- end to a dam thrown across the river about a mile and a half above the centre of lie city. By means of a lock, sloop navigation is thus afforded to the village of Vaterford. Within the last few years Troy has increased rapidly in wealth and opulation. In 1820 her population was 5,268; in 1830, 11,566; in 1840, 19,373. The Rensselaer & Saratoga railroad, 24 miles to Ballston Spa, crosses the Hudson at lis place by a bridge 1,600 feet in length. . . The Troy Female Seminary, icated in this place, holds a high rank among institutions of learning in our country. An H. and Sarah L. Willard are the principals, and Nancy Hinsdale the vice- rincipal; there are besides 21 teachers and officers. . . . This school has edu- tted at least five thousand pupils; of whom about one-tenth have been teachers, ad it has furnished principals for many of the most distinguished female schools in 'ery part of the Union, The present principal of this seminary, Mrs. Sarah L. 34 266 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Willard, spent nineteen years in the institution as pupil, teacher and vice-principal before assuming its government. But the larger number of the young ladies here educated have married, and are now, many of them, standing in the first circles and among the first women of our country in regards to piety and moral worth, domestic usefulness, and intellectual and social accomplishments. Several of the pupils have been distinguished as authors. About twenty teachers are constantly employed. The number of pupils being about two hundred, gives an average of one teacher to ten pupils. . . . Great care has been bestowed on health, and but one death of a pupil, and that a sudden one from organic affection of the heart, has occurred, The Rensselaer Institute is an excellent institution tinder the charge of Professor Eaton. Manv young men are here fitted for the profession of civil engineering. The system of teaching is thorough and practical. In the same year, the Buffalo Gazette, the leading newspaper of Western New York, in commenting upon the prosperity induced by the energy of the people of Troy, said : The Trojans are proverbial for their enterprise and public spirit. Everything which they take hold of " goes ahead." For two or three years past they have been endeavoring to compete with Albany for the western travel to New York and the East. For this purpose a railroad had been constructed to Schenectady which inter cepts the great western line at that point and upon the river a line of most splendid steamers has been put. Having recently passed over this route we can speak of it advisedly. The railroad is one of the best constructed in the United States, and passes through a section of country abounding in beautiful scenery. This, with the gentlemanly attention of those in charge of the cars — which by the way are superb- being like those of the Attica & Buffalo road — renders it a trip of pleasantness and comfort. And then upon the noble Hudson ! We thought we had seen steamboats on our own Erie, and so we have, some of the finest specimens of this class in the world. But the boats comprising the Troy line, being fitted up especially for passen gers, surpass in beauty and magnificence anything we have ever beheld in the shape of water craft. There is the Buffalo — named as a compliment to our city- with the gentlemanly and attentive Captain R. B. Macy. She is one of the most elegant boats on the river. The Swallow, Captain A. McLean ; the Troy, Captain A. Gorham, and the Empire, Captain S. R. Roe; all well known and popular with the traveling public. The two former compose the Night Line and the two latter the Day Line. The Empire is the longest boat on the river. A fire which destroyed many thousands of dollars' worth of property occurred on the afternoon of Sunday, June 6, 1841, when nine wooden buildings and two brick buildings on the west side of River street, bounded on the north by Fulton market and on the south by the store of Haight, Gillespy & Co., were destroyed. This fire was the most disas trous which had occurred since the conflagration of 1820. On the burned area several handsome business buildings were immediately erected. TROY AS A CITY. 267 Two years after the founding of the Church of the Holy Cross by Mary Warren, wife of Nathan Warren, in 1844, this noble woman, as- isociating with her her sons, Nathan B., Stephen E. and George H. Warren; her son in-law, Edmund Schriver; the Rev. John Ireland Tucker, pastor of the Church of the Holy Cross, and Amos S. Perry, established "The Warren Free Institute of the City of Troy." This day school for girls was incorporated May 19, 1846, it having been es tablished first in 1815 by Phoebe, wife of Eliakim Warren, as a Saturday .sewing school for poor girls. At her death in 1835, Mary Warren, her daughter-in-law, succeeded her in its management, and four years later .changed it to a charity day school, finally incorporating the institution as described. When the latter change was made the school was located in the old Vanderheyden mansion on the southwest corner of Eighth and Grand Division streets. April 5, 1859, the name of the school was 'changed by act of the Legislature to " The Mary Warren Free Insti tute of the City of Troy," the act providing that a fourth of the income of the institute might be applied for the instruction of children of both • sexes, and a fourth for maintaining services in the Church of the Holy ; Cross, of which the institute was a branch. Joseph D. Lomax, M. D., ;for many years was principal of the boys' department of the school. The building was burned May 10, 1862, and at the beginning of the ^following year the new school building south of and adjoining the church was opened. This is the edifice now occupied by the insti tute. The year 1846 marked the introduction into Troy of the first Morse : magnetic telegraph line. In June of that year the construction of a line between Troy and Whitehall was begun, and July 24 the first mes sage was sent to Saratoga Springs from the Troy office, located in the basement of the Athenaeum building, on First street. August 6 the line from Troy to Buffalo was completed and the first message sent over those wires. October 6 the first message from New York to Troy was received by way of Boston. Moses Johnson was the first super intendent of the Troy station. The operations of the mysterious apparatus created a widespread interest in Troy and were even more inexplicable to the wondering masses than was the telephone, in troduced thirty years later. A year later the inhabitants of Troy were once more given an oppor tunity to marvel, this time over a new illuminating gas which its inventors endeavored to have introduced into the city. July 19 of that 268 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. year an exhibition of the wonderful qualities of the gas was given in front of the court house, which resulted in creating such a general de mand for its introduction in Troy, that February 16, 1848, the Troy Gas Light company was incorporated with a capital stock of $100 000, Of this amount $11,000 was subscribed by Trojans and the balance hy Philadelphia capitalists. Conduits were laid at once and the streets of the city and many public and private buildings were illuminated by gas for the first time on the evening of October 2, 1848. An attempt had been made many years before, first as early as 1818, to introduce an inferior quality of gas; and March 29, 1825, a number of citizens even went so far as to become incorporated as " The Troy Gas Light com pany," with a capital stock of $150,000, but the company never began the manufacture of gas and the project ended with the granting of the charter. The leading spirits in this early unsuccessful company were Nathan Warren, George Tibbits, Richard P. Hart, Samuel McConn, John D. Dickinson, Jedediah Tracy, Gurdon Corning, Elias Patterson, Gilbert Reilay, Daniel Southwick, John Paine, John Gary, Warren Kellogg, James Van Schoonhoven, James Van Brackle, Jeremiah Dau chy, Ephraim Gurley, Alsop Weed and Gurdon Grant. St. Peter's Roman Catholic church, which was built in 1826 and 182? on the corner of Hutton and North Second streets and later enlarged by a brick addition, was totally destroyed by fire February 10, 1848, caused by sparks from a stove-pipe. The new church was erected the following year and was dedicated December 16, 1849, by Bishop John McCloskey of Albany. The third of the disastrous conflagrations occurring in Troy was one which began about 9.30 o'clock in the evening of Monday, May 1,1848, in a stable in the rear of Mechanics' hall on the east side of River street between Congress and Ferry streets. Most of the buildings were of wood and within a short space of time the entire block was destroyed, beside the McCoun block on the south side of Congress street and five large buildings on the west side of River street. Help was sent from Albany, West Troy and Lansingburgh and the firemen of these places did splendid service in preventing the progress of the flames to other parts of the city. No lives were lost, but seventeen horses of the Troy and Albany stage line and seven belonging to S. J. & A. C. Halstead were burned to death. The Troy Board of Trade was organized by a number of prominent merchants and shippers October 13,-1849, the first meeting being held JOSIAH A. WAIT TROY AS A CITY. 269 four days later in the hall in the Athenaeum building. The body con tinued in existence 27 years, during which time many products were listed and the business men of Troy and vicinity drawn into closer relations. The consecration of Oakwood cemetery October 16, 1850, was at tended by solemn and impressive ceremonies. The plans for the establishment of this handsome and imposing burial ground, which occupies one of the finest sites in the country devoted to a similar pur pose, had their inception in the fall of 1846, when a number of citizens agreed to contribute money sufficient to purchase and lay out the land selected by the majority of them. Their original plan was deemed impracticable, and two years later they determined to take advantage of the law authorizing the incorporation of rural cemeteries. Conse quently the Troy Cemetery association was organized September 9, 1848, with Isaac McConihe, George M. Tibbits, John Paine, D. Thomas Vail, John B. Gale and Stephen E. Warren as trustees. The committee appointed at the time of organization reported in favor of the selection of the present site on the high hill near the northeastern limits of the city, and the next fall the. trustees purchased about one hundred and fifty acres of land on that spot and engaged J. C. Sidney, a landscape architect, to lay it out in an artistic manner. The dedication cere monies were very impressive. A procession headed by the Watervliet Arsenal band, composed of the officers of the cemetery association, the members of the Common Council, the pastors of the various churches and other representative citizens, under the escort of the local military :ompanies, proceeded from the court-house to the grounds under the leadership of Colonel A. H. Pierce, grand marshal. The exercises began with a prayer by the Rev. Dr. Nathan S. S. Beeman, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, followed by the reading of the Scriptures by the Rev. Robert B. Van Kleeck, pastor of St. Paul's church, and the sing- ng of the dedication hymn composed for the occasion by Rev. John Pierpont, pastor of the First Unitarian church. The dedicatory address vas delivered by the Hon. David Buel, jr., who declared the name of he ground to be Oakwood cemetery. The exercises were brought to i close by the benediction pronounced by the Rev. Dr. George C. Bald- vin, pastor of the First Particular Baptist church. June 6, 1850, witnessed the formal inauguration of the work upon the froy & Boston Railroad, a charter for which had been granted April , 1848. As early as 1819, during the construction of the Erie and the 270 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Champlain canals, it had been proposed by a civil engineer to make a canal from the Atlantic ocean at Boston to the Hudson river at Troy. The project was investigated, the commissioners appointed by the Massachusetts Legislature reporting that the work could be best accomplished by means of a tunnel through the mountains of western Massachusetts. Before any practical steps toward the construction of the road were taken, however, the era of steam railways had dawned and the canal project gave way to plans for the construction of a rail road over the same route. In 1849 several Troy capitalists had surveys made for a road from Troy to the Vermont line, for the purpose of reaching Boston temporarily by way of Rutland, Vt., and ultimately by way of Greenfield, Mass., through the contemplated tunnel through the Hoosac mountains. The survey proving satisfactory the charter of 1848 was granted and the work was begun in 1850 as stated. The ceremonies of June 6 were as imposing as the event was important. A long procession, composed of the militia and numerous civic organiza tions, started in the morning from the court-house to a field in the eastern part of the city, near the line of Glen avenue, where, after speeches by representative Trojans, General John E. Wool, one of the directors of the company and a most enthusiastic promoter of the road, broke the first ground. Mayor Day O. Kellogg, secretary and treasurer of the company, loaded the soil upon a wheelbarrow, which Amos Briggs, president of the company, dumped to the ground a short dis tance away. After the ceremonies a banquet was served at the Troy house in which more than a hundred persons participated. Thus started the work progressed favorably. The construction of the Hoosac tunnel was begun in 1854 by the Troy & Greenfield Railroad company, the State of Massachusetts extending a credit of $2,000,000 to facili tate the work. On the evening of June 28, 1852, the first passenger train on the Troy & Boston railroad, from Eagle Bridge, arrived in the city. But it was not until February 9, 1875, that the first train of cars passed through the Hoosac tunnel. October 13 of that year the first passenger train from Boston arrived in Troy, and July 17, 1876, the first through train to Boston left Troy, the journey occupying seven and a half hours. It may be added, in connection with the development of railways running out from Troy, that the city about this time was a prominent centre for the manufacture of passenger and freight cars, which were sent to all parts of the country. This industry was started in 1841 by TROY AS A CITY. 271 the manufacture of railroad passenger cars at the works of Eaton & Gilbert. Eleven years before the works of Charles Veazie and Orsa- mus Eaton had turned out fifty post coaches, used on the various stage lines in and about Rensselaer county, in addition to which many vehicles of other kinds were made. The firm of Eaton & Gilbert built the first eight-wheel passenger cars used on the Schenectady & Troy railroad. In 1844 Edward O. Eaton was admitted to the firm, which was then known as Eaton, Gilbert & Co. In the year 1850 the output of this concern, which at that time was located on Sixth street, be tween Fulton and Albany streets, was thirty passenger cars and 158 freight cars, besides 100 stage coaches and fifty omnibuses. The i stages and cars built by that establishment were used, not only in all parts of the United States, but also in Canada, Mexico and South America. April 17, 1851, two new wards were created by the Legislature by the division of tbe sixth and seventh wards. The ninth ward was de- i fined as "all that part of the sixth ward bounded by a line running I through the centre of Polk street eastwardly to the centre of the Green bush road, thence northerly through the centre line of the road to a point in the north line of the Bumstead farm, thence easterly along the north line of the farm to a point in the west line of the Rensselaer j county poor house farm, thence northerly along the west line of the farm to the northwest corner of the farm, thence northerly to the Hol low road, thence westerly along the centre of the Hollow road to the 1 centre of the Poesten kill, and thence westerly along the centre of the > creek to the Hudson river." The tenth ward was defined as all that i , part of the seventh ward lying «north of a line running through the . middle of Hoosick street. Another disastrous fire, entailing a loss of over $50,000, started on the afternoon of October 28, 1852, in a shed in the rear of a house on ' Fulton street, between Fifth and Sixth streets. Before the fire could be controlled it had consumed several adjacent buildings, including the I car works of Eaton, Gilbert & Co. , the North Baptist church and Union ' Place block. A notable trial which occurred in Troy in 1853 was that of a woman supposed to be Mrs. Henrietta Robinson, afterward famous as the "veiled murderess." The charge against her was murdering, by poi son given in beer, a man named Lanigan and attempting to kill by the same means a woman visiting at his house in Troy. Throughout the 272 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. entire trial the accused sat with her face heavily veiled, and forever after her identity remained undisclosed. The mysterious woman was convicted on the charge and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life through the efforts of Judge Harris the presiding judge, and Martin I. Townsend, her chief counsel. In 1896 Mrs. Robinson was still confined in the State Asylum for insane criminals at Matteawan, N. Y. Two banking companies, both of which are now extinct, were organ ized in 1853 and 1854. They were the Market Bank of Troy, incor porated in January, 1853, with a capital of $200,000, and the Troy Sav ings company, incorporated June 29, 1854. The first named began business in September, 1853, -in the building No. 280 River street, with Jeremiah S. Hakes as president and Albert C. Gunnison as cashier. The bank ceased to exist in January, 1865, being succeeded by the National Exchange bank. The Troy Savings company was located at No. 18 First street and began business with Uri Gilbert as president, Joseph U. Orvis as vice-president and John P. Albertson as secretary and treasurer. Its business never was very extensive, and after a career of twenty-six years it discontinued business. By a decision of the Supreme Court of New York State the exclusive right to operate steam or other ferries across the Hudson river opposite the city of Troy by the heirs to the Vanderheyden estate and their suc cessors was annulled, and the right to receive tolls by the persons or companies operating the ferries became a State franchise. Ever since 1826 steam ferryboats had been running across the river to and from Gibbonsville, the first one having been constructed especially for John G. Vanderheyden. When the decision of the Supreme Court was handed down a third ferry was established as the foot of Broadway, landing on the opposite side of the river at the south end of Green Island. It was not until some time after the construction of the State dam that the fourth ferry, running between the foot of Douw street, Troy, and Tibbits street, Green Island, was established. The first and only very serious accident on any of these lines occurred on the morn ing of October 13, 1854, when the ferry boat plying between the city and Green Island was upset in midstream by swells from the steam boat Alice, throwing its seventeen passengers in the water, eleven of whom were drowned. The next important chapter in the history of railroad development in Troy centres about the organization of the Troy Union Railroad TROY AS A CITY. 273 company. As we have seen, the first tracks of the Rensselaer & Sara toga railroad, which were also used by the Schenectady & Troy Rail road company, were laid from the Green Island bridge down River street to First and thence to the front of the Athenaeum building. Soon after the opening of these roads the business men of Troy and others began to complain of the inconvenience caused by running cars on these streets, particularly on River street, the principal business thoroughfare. This feeling finally culminated in a general desire that the tracks be taken up and removed to some other street where the running of the cars would not so seriously interfere with local street traffic and general business. Consequently, on petition of the citizens of Troy, the Legislature, June 20, 1851, authorized the city and the different railroad companies to form a stock company for the construc tion of a railroad through a part or the whole of the city. In accord ance with this permission the Troy Union Railroad company was organ ized July 21 of the same year. The work of construction was delayed some time for the purpose of determining the streets which might best be set apart for the new railroad, and it was not until December 3, 1852, that the city authorities granted the company a franchise to use each side of Sixth street, between Fulton and Albany streets, for a passenger depot, and to change the course of Sixth street at that point ¦if necessary. Soon after this the work of construction was begun. March 14, 1853, the company purchased of Orsamus Eaton his property, located on the site chosen for a depot, and the erection of that struc ture was begun. New tracks connecting with the Troy & Greenbush railroad were laid on Sixth street, and another line was laid to the Rensselaer & Saratoga railroad bridge. I Meantime other plans for the betterment of Troy's railroad facilities were in progress. The ownership of the Schenectady & Troy railroad, and its operation and maintenance, had proven a heavy burden for the city and soon after the organization of the Troy Union Railroad com pany a number of citizens petitioned the Common Council to sell the Schenectady & Troy railroad for as large a sum as it would bring. Six months afterward the committee to whom the matter had been referred or investigation reported in favor of selling the road for not less than {200,000. January 24, 1853, a committee consisting of Mayor George 5ould, Recorder Gilbert Robertson, jr., Alderman Jonathan Edwards, Alderman Foster Bosworth, Russell Sage and D. Thomas Vail were tppointed a committee to make the sale at not less than the price men- 35 274 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. tioned. In accordance with its instructions the committee contracted to sell the road to E. D. Morgan for $200,000, March 1, 1853, who was to pay $50,000 cash upon that date and the balance in fourteen years with six per cent, semi-annual interest after March 1, 1858. The new owner entered into an agreement with the city to keep the road in good condition and to fulfill the agreement between the city and the Troy Union Railroad company. The sale was immediately confirmed by the Common Council and the necessary papers signed by the mayor. The Troy Union railroad and its large new depot were opened for business February. 22, 1854, when a banquet was given on the upper floor of the building. Five new passenger cars brought from Albany, by way of Greenbush, 425 invited guests, including 125 members of the State Legislature, then in session, several of whom made addresses speaking in most flattering terms of the great enterprise of the people of Troy. From this time on the interests of the various railroads centering in Troy were indissolubly linked together, and it may be said that on February 22, 1854, a new era of prosperity opened, not only for Troy's railroads but for all its diversified interests. The inhabitants of Troy were again called upon to suffer a great loss by fire when, on the afternoon of Friday, August 25, 1854, a large quan tity of lumber and several blocks of buildings were destroyed. The flames originated about one o'clock in a brick planing mill on the south west corner of Front and Division streets and quickly consumed the piles of lumber south of the mill. From there it continued until it had burned all the buildings and lumber west of River street, from Divis ion street to Jefferson street ; all the buildings of any kind west of First street, between Liberty and Jefferson streets, and nearly all the struc tures between the latter streets along and west of the alley between First and Second streets. About two hundred buildings were de stroyed, including among the most important, the freight depot and repair shop of the Troy & Greenbush Railroad company, the chair factory of Edgerton, Sheldon & Osborn, the bell foundry of Jones & Hitchcock and Parmenter's machine shop. About 20,000,000 feet of lumber was also burned, and fully three hundred families were ren- dered homeless, many losing all their possessions excepting the cloth ing they wore. Relief was extended the sufferers by residents of Troy and other cities. On this occasion the local fire department received valuable assistance from fire companies in Albany, Lansingburgh, West Troy, Cohoes and Waterford. A conservative estimate of the loss places it at about one million dollars. TROY AS A CITY. 275 Troy was the original home and is the present centre of the linen collar, cuff and shirt industry of the world. The collar industry was started in this city in a modest way by one man in the year 1828. His success, coupled with that of his successors, incited emulation, and several other firms soon entered the field. The great convenience of detachable collars and cuffs was apparent from the start, and the de mand for them soon distanced even the rapidly increasing production. This continued to enlarge, however, until it seemed that the limit of consumption must have been reached. But it may almost be said with truth that there is no limit to the demand. The competition which be gan soon after the establishment of the first collar manufactory gave birth to many new fashions, and there have been in the past thirty or forty years several freakish and fantastic periods in the industry, each one of which was followed almost immediately by reaction to forms less radical. During this time practically every new style has origi nated in the city of Troy, and this is true to-day. The importation of English collars of some brands began about the year 1875, and about the year 1884 German collars also were introduced, both with indifferent success. But ever since its inception the develop ment of the domestic manufacture has proceeded with marvelous strides, though with occasional brief pauses. Strangely enough the business is almost entirely confined to Troy, where over a score of firms, some of which are very wealthy, are engaged in it. Some of these establishments are very large, employing many hundred persons in each and maintaining large warerooms in several large cities in 1 various parts of the Union. Unlike many other branches of industry '¦ there is no trust or combination in the collar business, but the freest ¦ competition. Many grades, from the finest of linen and part linen and f cotton, to all cotton, are produced, and the workmanship in all grades has been brought up to the highest standard of excellence. The wages : paid to both men and women are good, and the industry, taken as a ' whole, is a splendid illustration of modern American skill, integrity and C indomitable energy and enterprise. With the branch factories which ; some of the Troy concerns maintain in other places, such as Glens ; Falls, Mechanicville, Ballston Spa and Greenwich, and other towns even i further away, the value of the annual production of linen and cotton ; collars and cuffs alone by the Troy concerns is about $5,500,000, besides \r the value -of immense quantities of men's shirts and women's shirt-waists. -Paper collars and cuffs, which were in general use at one time, are now 276 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. manufactured in small quantities, the value of the annual output being about $300,000 only. In 1880 the annual production exceeded in value $1,500,000. By the beginning of the twentieth century a paper collar will be almost an anomaly. Celluloid, at one time employed, is also rapidly decreasing in the popular demand. To the Rev. Ebenezer Brown, a retired Methodist preacher, be longs the credit of originating the collar industry. In 1828, while he was established as a dry goods merchant at No. 285 River street, south of the present site of Fulton market, he contracted with a number of women to make and launder "string collars." For six years he con tinued their manufacture, when he removed from the city. About the time he left, the firm of Montague & Granger, composed of Orlando Montague and Austin Granger, located at No. 222 River street on the site of the Hall building, began the business on a somewhat larger scale, selling their wares in New York city and other places. In 1835 Independence Starks began the manufacture of stocks and collars at No. 66 North Second street, soon after adding a laundry for his own use and that of patrons who demanded it. About the same time Lyman Bennett, witnessing the increasing demand for the product, entered upon the new industry in connection with his trade as carpenter, The collar business proving more profitable, in 1837 he devoted his time exclusively thereto, in 1838 removing his factory from No. % North Third street to No. 308 River street, and in 1853 moving again to No. 344 River street, where he entered into a partnership with M. W, Hicks and O. W. Edson under the firm name of Bennett, Hicks & Edson. By this time the manufacture of collars had become an established industry in Troy. Other firms and individuals picked up the business from time to time and scores of women, and a few men, were given employment. From collars, one or two concerns turned part of their attention to the manufacture of shirts and cuffs about the year 1845, Lawrence Van Valkenburgh beginning the manufacture of shirts in that year at his collar factory on the southeast corner of Seventh and Elbow (Fulton) streets. A new era in the collar industry dawned in the winter of 1851-55 when Nathaniel Wheeler, of the then recently formed sewing-machine manufacturing firm of Wheeler, Wilson & Co., visited the collar manu facturers of Troy to introduce the newly invented machine for sewing. The manufacturers at first were skeptical as to the merits of the inven- JOHN H. KNOX. TROY AS A CITY. 277 tion and it was with difficulty that Mr. Wheeler finally induced one of them Jefferson Gardner, to agree to give it a trial in his factory. Several were sent to him, and they at once proved so satisfactory that more were ordered; and from that time no factory was able to enter into the competition on anything like a fair footing without the use of sewing machines. The employes of the factories, too, welcomed the invention, for by its use they were able to increase their earnings, which before had averaged no more than fifty cents per day, to four or five times that sum, many of the best operatives soon earning as high as two dollars and fifty cents per day. It may truthfully be said that the introduction of the sewing machine marked the beginning of a new era in the collar and cuff industry of Troy, giving it an impetus that soon placed the city at the head of all others in the world in that par ticular, a position it has ever since maintained. During the remaining five years of the decade from 1850 to 1860 but few incidents worthy of record occurred in Troy. One of the most noteworthy of these events occurred Sunday, February 8, 1857, when the high water in the Hudson, which on that day reached a point a foot and a half higher than was touched in the spring of 1832, carried away the covered wooden bridge between Green Island and Van Schaick Island, across one of the branches of the Mohawk river. The structure was carried over the State dam as far the Rensselaer & Saratoga Rail road company's bridge between Troy and Green Island, where it lodged. Two years later, on the evening of March 17, 1859, another landslide occurred on the west side of Mount Ida, when many hundred tons of clay, loosened by the thaw which had been in progress for sev eral days, came in an avalanche down into Washington street, ruining St. Peter's college, which was then in course of construction, and caus ing a loss to that institution of about $12,000. The college, a Catholic institution, had been started six months before when, September 19 1858, Bishop McCloskey had laid the corner stone. Just before the opening of the War of the Rebellion a thrilling inci dent, one of many of a similar nature which occurred in various parts of the country, created a great sensation in the city. In the spring of that year Charles Nalle, an escaped slave from Virginia, was employed as a coachman by Uri Gilbert. Feeling secure in his new home he foolishly communicated to some of his newly formed acquaintances the fact that in the fall of 1858 he had become a fugitive. His owner was informed of his whereabouts and in April, 1860, United States Deputy 278 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. Marshal J. L. Holmes was given an order for the arrest of the fugitive Nalle was arrested on the 27th of the month and taken at once to the office of United States Commissioner Miles Beach, which was located on the second floor of the Mutual bank building on the corner of First and State streets. Martin I. Townsend was immediately secured by friends of the prisoner to secure his release if possible. While Mr, Townsend was preparing papers requisite for a writ of habeas corpus, the intention being to take Nalle before Justice George Gould of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, a crowd of spectators, in cluding many colored persons, had gathered about the office of Com missioner Beach. The story of Nalle's flight from the land of slavery to a free State was pathetically told by one of his colored friends, and almost in the twinkling of an eye a plot was laid to liberate the cap tive from the hands of the officers of the law. The excitement increas ing with every moment, Chief of Police Timothy Quinn was ordered to send a large force of officers to the scene, with instructions to quell any signs of a disturbance as soon as they appeared. The writ of habeas corpus secured by Lawyer Townsend was served upon Marshal Holmes at four p. m., the instrument directing the latter official totake the prisoner before Judge Gould at his office, No. 39 Congress street, As the prisoner descended the stairs, in company with several officers, all were instantly surrounded by the crowd below and a number of colored men made a bold dash to take Nalle from his custodians. In an instant all was confusion. The mob kept the city policemen so far from the other officers as to prevent them from rendering any assist ance. A moment later Deputy Marshal Morgan S. Upham was torn from the prisoner, leaving the latter in the hands of Marshal Holmes. The crowd then followed on to Congress street where, after a desperate fight, the prisoner was released and carried to the foot of Washington street. Here he sprang upon a ferry boat and was taken to West Troy, where he was almost immediately captured and taken to the second story of a house near by. The rescuers surmised that Nalle had not made good his escape, and within a brief space of time 300 of them cap tured the steam ferry boat and rushed to the rescue. The temporary prison was taken by storm, despite the free use of pistols by the West Troy officers, and Nalle's friends escorted him rapidly down Broadway, whence he jumped into a wagon that was in waiting and was carried westward far from the reach of the unsuccessful officers of the law. After remaining for a while in the woods in the eastern part of Sche- TROY AS A CITY. 27!) nectady county he proceeded to Amsterdam. In May he returned to : Troy, his freedom having been purchased by his former employer, Uri •Gilbert, and other citizens of Troy. ! The construction of the first street railway in Troy was begun July i 15 1S61, by the Troy & Lansingburgh Street Railway company, which , had received from the Common Council August 20, 1860, a franchise I granting it permission to construct a single track railroad from Lan-. ¦ singburgh to Troy, through River, Adams and Second streets to a [ point on the Greenbush road near the bridge across the Wynants kill. The company had a capital stock of $100,000, divided into shares of -$100 each, and its first officers, elected February 19, 1861, were: Presi dent, Thomas Symonds; vice-president, John A. Griswold; secretary and treasurer, Miles Beach; engineer, William Barton. The work of , construction was completed in a trifle over six months, but August 29 the first passenger car was drawn over the partially constructed road by a single horse. The road was finished early in 1862 and in the tsame year was extended to Waterford. Soon afterward the first road : from Troy to Cohoes was begun, a company having been organized ,' February 11, 1862, under the name of the Troy & Cohoes Railroad .company, with John A. Griswold as president. The road began opera tion October 11, 1863 We have told in a separate chapter of the history of Rensselaer county of the several regiments of Volunteers in Troy and vicinity in the early days of the War of the Rebellion and the participation of the valiant young soldiers, including many residents of Troy, in that mem- ¦ orable struggle. During the lcng period while the Rensselaer county regiments were at the front many incidents worthy of chronicling, "some of which were directly related to the war, occurred in Troy. tOne of the most noteworthy of these incidents of the first year of the ; war was the brief visit to the city of President-elect Abraham Lincoln, ! while on his way from his home in Illinois to his inauguration in the 1 city of Washington. Mr. Lincoln arrived in the city on the morning of Tuesday, February 19, 1861. Upon his arrival at the Union depot 1 he was greeted by a crowd estimated at fully 30,000 persons, many of whom had come to the city from surrounding towns. Upon an open car in the station Mayor Isaac McConihe made a brief speech welcom ing the distinguished statesman and extending to him the hospitality and freedom of the city. Mr. Lincoln in a brief address returned his i thanks for the mark of respect which had been paid him, after which 280 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. D. Thomas Vail, vice-president of the Troy Union Railroad company conducted him to the train of the Hudson River railroad, which was waiting to receive the president-elect, and a minute later the latter was on his way to New York amid the hearty cheers of the vast con course of people there assembled. After the beginning of the war and during its first year Troy manu facturers secured numerous contracts for munitions of war. Many thousands of brass fuses for artillery projectiles were turned out by the firm of W. & L. E Gurley ; a large number of army wagons and artillery carriages were made by Eaton, Gilbert & Co., several steel rifled cannon were manufactured by Corning, Winslow & Co., rifled brass cannon were manufactured by Jones & Co., mortar bombs were produced in large quantities by the firms of Fuller, Warren & Co. and Knight, Harrison & Paine; and immense quantities of shot and shell of various sizes were sent south by Swett, Quimby & Co. Several other firms and individuals furnished other stores for the government at different times. An instance of the high spirit of patriotism which pervaded the hearts of Trojans in these stirring days was seen in the successful efforts of John A. Griswold and John F. Winslow, both of Troy, to obtain for Captain John Ericsson the contract for the construction of the famed iron-clad " Monitor," and, in conjunction with Cornelius S. Bushnell of New Haven, in their assuming the responsibility of guaran teeing the government against all loss in the event of that vessels proving unserviceable in any manner. After" the hazardous experi ment with the Monitor had been tried in Hampton Roads, and that remarkable additon to the Union navy had been proven a success, it became conceded on all sides that the vessel would never have been constructed had it not been for the indefatigable efforts of the two Troy men, who, from the start, were determined to allow no failures to dis courage them so long as their resources were not exhausted. August 7, 1861, the navy department advertised for bids for the con struction of one or more iron-clad war vessels. In response thereto C. S. Bushnell & Co. of New Haven submitted plans and specifications for an iron-clad gun-boat, the Galena. These plans did not meet the requirements, in the eyes of the representatives of the government, and Mr. Bushnell went to New York to consult the distinguished engi neer, Captain Ericsson. The latter had already prepared a plan for a small but powerful floating battery, which he exhibited to Mr. Bush- TROY AS A CITY. 281 nell. The plan was then presented to the government for considera tion, but the authorities at the navy department ridiculed the idea that the unique vessel whose designs they had seen could be utilized to ad vantage in war. Not disappointed Mr. Bushnell consulted Mr. Gris wold and Mr. Winslow by telegraph, with the result that the Troy gentlemen left for Washington September 3, 1861, with the determina tion to use all the influence at their command to further the plans of Captain Ericsson and Mr. Bushnell. After a study of the plans both the Troy gentlemen were convinced of the practicability of the pro posed vessel and agreed to go before the naval board and endeavor to persuade that bpdy to recommend making a contract for the construc tion of at least one. Commodore Smith, after an interview, discour aged the project, but they immediately visited President Lincoln. The latter agreed to look into the matter and the next day he attended a meeting of the board at the office of Commodore Smith, in conjunction -with Mr. Griswold, Mr. Winslow and several officers of the Navy De partment. At this meeting Mr. Winslow described the novel manner in which the proposed vessel would operate, but even then few of those present appeared to look upon the project as practicable. Mr. Lincoln ^thought differently, however, and the next day Commodore Smith, much to the delight of Mr. Winslow, informed the latter that the naval hoard would recommend the construction of a battery according to Captain Ericsson's plans, provided the contractors should assume all the risk of the experiment. This was all that the Troy men desired, j,and both agreed to shoulder the responsibility, Mr. Griswold individ- ; tially agreeing to see that the inventor should lose nothing. In the ^contract with the government the three men who had thus befriended , Captain Ericsson guaranteed that the vessel should be ready for sea in !tione hundred days from the date — October 4, 1861 — and further, that , should she fail as to speed or in the security or successful working of jtiie turret and guns "with safety to the vessel and the men in the tur ret, " or in her buoyancy to float her battery properly, they would re fund to the government the amount of money advanced to carry on the work of construction. „, Contracts were at once made with Corning, Winslow & Co., of Troy, ind the Rensselaer Iron Works, of which Mr. Griswold was one of the principal proprietors, for all the armor, bars and rivets to be used in he construction of the strange craft, and the work was begun at once 'ind pushed with all possible speed. The result was that the Monitor ' 36 282 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. was launched at Greenpoint, Long Island, January 30, 1862, just 101 working days after the date of the contract. Then came the trial trip the mounting of her guns, the journey to Hampton Roads, and finally March 9, 1862, the famous engagement with the rebel iron-clad Merri mac, in which the confidence of her inventor and his backers was vin dicated beyond all question. When the news of the great victory was received in Troy there was great rejoicing, for every patriotic citizen had awaited with intense interest to hear the result of the first battle of the little vessel in the production of which so many Trojans had assisted. On the evening of Saturday, March 22, about 400 of the employes of the Albany Iron Works and the Rensselaer Iron Works, everyone of whom doubtless had helped work out the metal with which the Monitor had been so well protected, celebrated the event by a torchlight procession which was witnessed by all the inhabitants of Troy. In the. parade was a large transparency, on one side of which was painted a picture representing the battle between the two iron clads, and on the other pictures of Captain Ericsson, Mr. Griswold and Mr. Winslow, with the inscription, " Honor to whom honor is due,"and the words contained in the dispatch of General John E. Wool, then in command of Fortress Monroe, to Mr. Griswold, telegraphed on the day of the engagement — "The Monitor has saved everything inside and outside the fort." The great fire of 1862, as it became known in later years, was one of the most disastrous blows which ever fell upon the city. Duringagale of wind from the northwest, Saturday, May 10, at noon, sparks from alo- comotive set fire to the roof of the eastern part of the old Rensselaer & Saratoga railroad bridge, and almost before an alarm could be sounded the flaming brands were flying before the wind and falling upon hun dreds of business houses and residences in the most thickly populated portion of the city. The firemen were powerless to quench the fire on the bridge, the heat being so intense that even the boldest and hardiest fighters among them could not get near enough to do effective service, Before the bridge was destroyed the flying pieces of blazing shingles had set fire to hundreds of houses, causing the occupants to flee panic stricken, leaving everything behind. The smoke was very dense and many persons fell in the streets while trying to escape, overcome by the parched air. The scene throughout the central portion of the city was awful beyond description. After the first brief and desperate attempt to stay the fire all hope was abandoned and men and women TROY AS A CITY. 283 fled through the streets in the wildest disorder. The path of the holo caust widened as the flames swept on, and scores of buildings which at first were supposed to be out of danger went up like tinder. In less than an hour and a half from the time the first blaze was discovered the element had cut a clean swath from the bridge to the corner of Seventh and Congress streets, a distance of about half a mile, the ruined district being in some places more than a quarter of a mile in width. The total area burned over exceeded seventy-five acres, and the buildings burned numbered five hundred and seven, exclusive of barns and out-houses. Several lives were lost, the fatalities including Dr. Zenas Cary, an aged physician residing at No. 29 Grand Division street; Ransom S. Haight, who was burned almost beyond recognition on Seventh street; Thomas O'Donnell, an aged blind man, burned to :deathinhis home on Green street; and Mary Dunlop and her child, whose bodies were discovered after the fire. The fire was under control six hours from the time it started. ! Among the prominent buildings burned were the Second Presbyte rian church, on the southeast corner of Grand Division and Sixth streets; the North Baptist church, on the southeast corner of Fulton and Fifth streets ; the Associate Presbyterian church on the east side of Seventh street between State street and Broadway, and the Home Mission close by ; the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, on the north east cornerof Sixth and State streets; the Troy Orphan Asylum, on the north side of Grand Division street west of Eighth ; the Church Asylum, on the south side of Federal street between Sixth and Eighth streets; the Troy City bank, on the southeast corner of Grand Division and Fourth streets; and the depot of the Troy Union Railroad company, on the site of the present structure. The city fire department was as sisted by engines and firemen from Albany, Lansingburgh, West Troy, Cohoes and Waterford. The actual loss to the city of Troy was in reality much greater than the figures established by the adjusters of the various insurance companies, which were as low as they could be made. According to their appraisal the total value of the property burned was '$2,677,892, on which there was an aggregate insurance of $1,321,874. The total loss on real estate was estimated to be $1,386,080, on which here was an insurance of $766,691; and the loss on the personal prop erty was reckoned at $1,291,812, on which there was an insurance of )555,183. Before the end of the month the people of Troy and other )laces raised about $50,000 for the relief of the sufferers, which amount 284 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. was still further increased by later donations. Two months after the fire nearly 200 new buildings had been erected or partially so, and within six months handsome new buildings stood upon every lot except two that had been visited by the conflagration. On account of the scarcity of practical currency which was so com mon during the years of the war, the common Council of Troy, follow ing the example of other cities, September 18, 1862, authorized the issue of notes of small denominational value to the amount of $25,000. Upon their face was an engraving of the Rensselaer county court house. The notes were dated October 1, 1862, and were made payable at the office of the city chamberlain when presented in sums of five dollars. They were accepted in all quarters as cash. April 1, 1864, there was another issue of the notes of the same class, to the value of $104,071.20. July 25, 1862, the city was practically at the mercy of a mob who op posed the drafting of men for the army, which had been ordered a few days before. The Troy Times had been outspoken in its advocacy of the measure, and this paper was made the especial target for the attack of the small army of disgruntled citizens, the majority of whom were rep resentatives of the least respectable class in the population of the city, On the evening of July 14 a meeting of these men was held in the southern part of the city. Fearing that they might make a demonstra tion that would prove dangerous to the peace of the community, some of the citizens induced Sheriff Joseph F. Battershall to call out the local companies of the National Guard. This was done at once, several com panies remaining under arms at the armory all that night and the next day. On the morning of the 15th a mob of 400 men formed in the south ern part of the city and marched northward as far as Mount Olympus, gaining a small number of recruits on its way. At first its numbers appeared to be peaceable, but this aspect soon wore off and later in the day rioting began on a scale that caused considerable apprehension, On their return from Mount Olympus the rioters, despite the most earnest efforts of prominent and influential citizens to persuade them to disperse, entered the office of the Troy Times at No. 211 River street and threw from the building all the movable appurtenances upon which they could lay their hands. The presses and engines were wrecked and several volumes of the Times published in early years were throwninto the river at the rear of the building. After leaving the building the demonstration was continued, the rioters breaking into the county jail OTIS G. CLARK. TROY AS A CITY. 285 during the absence of the sheriff and liberating eighty-eight prisoners. Many colored people were also grossly maltreated by the mob, some of them sustaining painful injuries. All through the day Rev. Father Peter Havermans, John A. Griswold and other influential citizens fol lowed the mob from place to place and on several occasions dissuaded the lawless men from doing damage to property. Late in the afternoon Recorder John Moran, in the absence from the city of Mayor William L. Van Alstyne, issued a proclamation announcing the suspension of the draft in the city, but the rioters were too excited to pay much at tention to the decree, and continued their depredations The crowning act of their lawlessness, however, occurred at ten o'clock in the evening, when they made an attack upon the residence of Martin I. Townsend, No. 165 Second street, broke in the doors and windows, wrecked a large amount of house furnishings and carried away many valuable articles. Mayor Van Alstyne having returned to the city he ordered the military to the scene. When the rioters saw that the authorities had finally deter mined to make a show of preserving order they agreed to disperse, pro vided the mayor would direct the military to return to the armory. This was agreed to and soon afterward the mob dispersed, after having driven scores of colored men, women and children from the city and having ruined thousands of dollars worth of property. The first class was graduated from the Troy University in July, 1862. This institution was the only one of its kind ever founded in Troy. In 1854 a number of persons interested in the cause of higher education proposed to establish a college in the city and accordingly a meeting of citizens was held at the court house January 5 of that year to consider the proposition. June 10 another meeting was held, at which a com mittee was appointed to solicit funds for the purchase of a site and the erection of a building. The deep interest which the public- spirited citizens of Troy took in the project is attested by the fact that the sum of $200,000 was readily raised by subscription to buy a site and erect a building. October 1, 1856, the corner stone Was laid on the splendid site on the east side of Eighth street, afterward occupied by St. Joseph's Provincial seminary, and two years later, September 8, 1858, the first term of the university began with the Rev. Dr. John McClintock as pres ident. The first class numbered about sixty students. The subscribers to the fund for the institution, it appears, were either unable or un willing to fulfill their contracts, and before the university was fairly under way it was found that it would be impossible to maintain it. 286 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. Accordingly it was sold under foreclosure of a mortgage for $11,000 to the real estate firm of Peck & Hillman for $7,000, the liabilities of the institution amounting to over $55,000. The purchasers off ered to allow the buildings to be continued for the purposes for which they were in tended if money enough were raised to pay the indebtedness; but this could not be done and December 6 the property was sold to the Rev.. Father Peter Havermans, agent for Archbishop John Hughes of New York, for $60,000. This was a great sacrifice, as the property originally cost $197,000. Two years later, in October, 1864, it was opened as a Roman Catholic provincial seminary for the education of priests De cember 1 it was named St. Joseph's Provincial seminary and consecrated by Archbishop John McCloskey. January 29, 1867, the Troy & Lansingburgh Railroad company re ceived permission from the Common Council to lay a track on Mill street, extending the road from the Greenbush road to Vandenburgh avenue; also to lay a track from the the intersection of Second and Fourth streets northward on Fourth street to Congress street, and through the latter to Third street, thence to Fulton, there to intersect the track on River street. By this improvement Troy was afforded additional street railway facilities which were greatly appreciated by all classes. St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum received its name and under went important changes in 1865, though the history of the institution dates from the year 1848. In that year, through the efforts of the Rev. Peter Havermans, rooms were set apart in the Troy hospital as a tem porary home for a number of female orphans for whom he was caring. Having secured pledges for enough money to build a permanent home for orphans work was begun in 1853, when the corner stone of St, Mary's Female Orphan Asylum was laid on the west side of Hill street between Adams and Washington streets. It was occupied for the first time in the following year, but four years later, the building being found unsuited to the purposes of the institution, it was moved to 185 Third street. Its name was changed to St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asy lum, and in the following year tbe buildings Nos. 20 and 22 Liberty street were purchased. The Troy hospital building, on tbe corner of Fifth and Washington streets, was secured in 1872, and here the asy lum was maintained until September 7, 1886, when the present impos ing building on the east side of Eighth street, between Federal and Jacob streets, overlooking the entire city, having been erected that year, was occupied. TROY AS A CITY. 287 The erection, of the present Troy hospital was begun June 28, 1868, when the corner stone was laid by Bishop J. J. Conroy of Albany. The history of the hospital dates back to the year 1845, when the city was compelled to erect temporary buildings for the care of fever- stricken immigrants who came from Ireland during the famine in that country. As the majority of these sufferers were Catholics the Rev. Peter Havermans interested himself in their behalf, with the result that money was raised for the erection of a hospital. The site selected for it was on the southwest corner of Washington and Fifth streets, where the corner stone was laid August 15, 1848, by General John E. Wool. Upon the completion of the structure in 1850 it was placed in charge of the Sisters of Charity. When the Troy & Greenbush rail road was constructed the noise attendant upon the passage of trains made that location an undesirable one and in April, 1866, the hand some property of Ebenezer Prescott on Eighth street at the head of Fulton was purchased. June 28, 1868, the corner stone of the new hospital was laid by Bishop Conroy, and in the fall of the following year it was occupied for the first time. Ever since its foundation it has been in charge of the Sisters of Charity. The ceremonies attending the burial in Oakwood cemetery of that gallant soldier, Major-General George Henry Thomas, who died in San Francisco March 28, 1870, occurred April 7 of the same year and were most imposing. The body lay in state in St. Paul's Episcopal church during the early part of the day, and the funeral pageant was one of the most notable ever witnessed in Troy. Many of the nation's great soldiers and statesmen were present, including President Ulysses S. Grant and his cabinet, General William T. Sherman, General Philip H. Sheridan and General George G. Meade. I On account of the rapid increase in the population of the city the State Legislature, in response to a request of the citizens of Troy, on April 29, 1870, increased the number of wards in the corporation by dividing the eighth, ninth and tenth wards and thus creating three additional wards. That part of the eighth ward lying south of a line running easterly through the middle of Adams street and a line run ning southeasterly through the middle of Hill street from its junction with Adams street, to apoint in the middle of the Poestenkill creek, was constituted as the eleventh ward ; that part of the ninth ward lying southerly of a line running easterly through the middle of Jackson and Trenton streets became the twelfth ward; and that part of the tenth 288 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. ward lying northerly of a line running through the middle of Middle- burgh street became the thirteenth ward. May 3 of the same year the name of the corporation, which since the granting of the old charter of April 12, 1816, had been " The Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, and Com monalty of the City of Troy," was changed, by act of the Legislature to "The City of Troy." The evolution of the theatre in Troy would make a long and inter esting chapter in itself, but in a work of this character all that can be done is to touch upon a few of the prominent points in the history of public amusements in the city. One of Troy's well known historical writers gives the following sketch of the development of this feature of life up to the construction of the two leading theatres of the city:1 The first dramatic exhibition given in Troy was that of the "Muse in Good Humor,'' at Ashley's. Inn, on Monday evening, May 20th, 1793, by "Mr. Moore," who had as a member of a theatrical company played in Albany, in December, 1785, The tickets for the admission of adults were sold at two shillings and sixpence, and those admitting children at one shilling and sixpence. The evening's entertainment be gan at half-past seven o'clock precisely. An African lion, "ten years old, three feet four inches high," and "eight feet from his nostrils to the end of his tail," was ex hibited for a number of days, in October, 1800, at Ashley's Tavern. Grown per sons were charged two shillings, and children one shilling for the gratification of seeing "the King of Beasts." In August, 1803, "a new and elegant collection of wax figures" was placed on exhibition in " Piatt Titus' Long Room," by "Messrs. Bishop & Dawson." In October, 1805, "a live elephant," on exhibition at Moulton's Coffee House," was'seen for twenty-five cents by the curious inhabitants of the vil lage. In December, 1822, " a novel exhibition of natural curiosities" was "viewed at Mr. Babcock's hotel," on River street. The advertised attractions of the show embraced a dwarf cow from Spain, two feet nine inches high, " allowed by butchers of New \ ork to be a complete model of beauty in the animal creation;" a living coeater, an animal of the ape family, having a ' ' great use of his tail ; " and a learned bear which could "read, spell, subtract, multiply and divide," and "make out any number with figures." The ears of the people visiting this aggregation of wonders were to be charmed with ' ' music on King David's cymbal ; " an instrument as adver tised, "of the kinds used so much by the ancients, and calculated to excite anima tion, it being plaintive, lively and melodious." Also by "music on the Leaf," accom panied by the violin and organ. The sounds produced by the "Leaf," they were further informed, were "admired by the lovers of music, and considered a great curiosity." In April, 1823, Mr. Keene was heard as a vocalist in a concert at Bab cock's City Hotel, who played accompaniments on the piano-forte. A card of admis sion could " be had at the bar" for one dollar. In May, 1827, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Russell were seen in a theatrical entertainment at Mr. Churchill's store-room, on the corner of Fifth and Ferry streets. The pieces were "selected from moral au thors." The front seats were reserved for ladies. ' Troy's One Hundred Years, by A. J. Weise. JOHN WARR. TROY AS A CITY. 289 The opening of the Troy Theatre, in the Assembly Room of the Rensselaer House, on Tuesday evening, September 9th, 1828, by "Mr. Parker," with his "theat rical corps," was a local event of considerable interest to those who could " consci entiously enjoy" a play when public sentiment was so adverse to dramatical exhibi tions. " Douglass, or the Noble Shepard," and a farce, " Raising the Wind," were performed the first night. "The Young Widow," "Family Jars," "Fortune's Frolic," "Venice Preserved," "The Village Lawyer," and "Miss in her Teens," were billed for Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, and Friday nights of that and the follow ing week. The Assembly Room, having been fitted for a summer theatre, with boxes for ladies, "The Mountaineers" was played there by a traveling company on Tuesday night, July, 21st 1829; Joseph Jefferson, the grandfather of Joseph Jeffer son, the distinguished actor, making his first appearance as " Sadi," and Mrs. Joseph Jefferson, his daughter-in-law (Miss Burke, before marriage), "celebrated no less as an actress than a songstress," taking the part of "Agnes." On the following evening, July 22d, " Mons. & Mad. Canderbeeck, from Brussels, the capital of Belgia," attracted an audience to a vocal and instrumental concert, at the court house in State street. In 1829 the hall on the second floor of the North market was opened as the Troy theatre. February 22, 1847, the hall on the second floor of Fulton market was also opened as a theatre, and about the same time the hall on the second floor of Washington market was fitted up for similar purposes. For several years theatrical entertainments were held in the hall in the Cannon Place building. August 23, 1847, Peale's Troy museum, on the northeast corner of River and Fulton streets, was opened. In 1855 the Troy Adelphi, having a seating capacity of 1,400, was erected on the site of the Griswold opera house, on the east side of Third street between Fulton and Albany [State], by the Troy Dramatic Building association. On the night of October 2 of the same year it was opened to the public. The building was destroyed by fire early in the morning of October 10, 1862, and Griswold hall, named in honor of Hon. John A. Griswold, was erected the next year on its site. Griswold hall was opened January 11, 1864, but this building too was burned April 1, 1871. Soon after the construction of the Griswold opera house was begun on the site of the two burned buildings, the formal opening occurring October 30, 1871. The play that evening was "Lady of Lyons," the role of " Pauline " being taken by Mrs. Emma Waller, the lessee. Soon after the opening of the Griswold opera house, Rand's flail, located on the northwest corner of Congress and Third streets, vas enlarged for use as a theatre and opera house. For years it had aeen used as a lecture room and hall for general purposes. After the changes in it had been made it was formally opened November 11, 1872, 290 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. with readings by Mrs. Scott Siddons, under the name of Rand's opera house. Other changes made in 1888 made the theatre practically what it has since remained. The structure known as the Congress street bridge, crossing the Hudson river between the foot of Congress street, Troy, and West Troy, was completed and opened to traffic October 2, 1874. It was erected at a cost of $350,000 by the Troy & West Troy Bridge com pany, organized April 23, 1872, the work having been begun in the fall of that year. April 15, 1874, the Episcopal church home, on the northeast corner of Broadway and Seventh street, which had been erected the previous year at a cost of about $30,000, was dedicated. Six years after the chapel north of the home was erected by the children of Mrs. Jacob L. Lane to her memory. The home was founded November 13, 1854, by the brotherhood of St. Barnabas, its first name being the House of Mercy and its location No. 5 Harrison place. Four years later it was removed to Federal street, between Sixth and Eighth streets. It was destroyed in the great fire of 1862, but was immediately rebuilt. April 17, 1863, it was incorporated under the name which it has since borne, " The Church Home of the City of Troy." Two notable events occurred in the year 1875 — the completion of the splendid Troy Savings bank building, which includes Music hall, one of the finest concert auditoriums in the country; and the laying of the corner-stone of the handsome city hall, which was erected principally through the efforts of Edward Murphy, jr., then mayor of Troy, after ward United States Senator. These two structures are among the handsomest and most substantial in the city. The foundation of the massive and imposing building of the Troy Savings bank was begun July 8, 1871; on the northeast corner of State and Second streets. The erection of the building occupied nearly four years, and its entire cost, including the land on which it stands, was about $435,000. The building was first occupied by the bank March 24, 1875, and the dedication of Music hall, which occupies its entire upper portion, occurred on the evening of Monday, April 19, of thai year, when Theodore Thomas's famous orchestra, assisted by notec vocalists, gave a concert. The structure has a frontage of one hundret feet on Second street, and extends one hundred and thirty feet east ward on State street. Music hall is one hundred and six feet deep am sixty-nine feet wide, exclusive of the boxes, twenty-four in number ^**e? £&^Z7/y '^^Ssr/TZS £5^.-6 TROY AS A CITY. 2 another and ride to or verv near any point in the city for a single *re. 294 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. As has been related, the name of Vanderheyden, by which the settle ment which afterward became the city of Troy was first known was abandoned and the name of Troy formally substituted by proclamation in the Albany Gazette beginning January 5, 1789. As the centennial anniversary of the event approached it was decided by prominent resi dents of the city to celebrate it "in a manner worthy of its importance and creditable to the citizens. " The first meeting of citizens was held in the rooms of the Troy Young Men's association December 11, 1888. December 14 another meeting was held, at which C. E. Dudley Tibbits was elected president, Walter P. Warren, William E. Hagan and Lewis E. Gurley vice-presidents, William H. Young, Francis N. Mann and Edward F. Murray secretaries, and Joseph J. Tillinghast treasurer. The committee to arrange for the celebration, named at that meeting, was constituted as follows: C. E. Dudley Tibbits, Derick Lane, Walter P. Warren, Lewis E. Gurley, Edward C. Gale, William E. Hagan, William H. Young, Jonas S. Heartt, Walter P. Tillman, James A. Burden, Charles B. Russell, George B. Warren, Thomas W. Lockwood, John I. Thompson, Henry B. Dauchy, Samuel M. Vail, Dr. Henry R. Lane, Benja min H. Hall, William Kemp, William A. Thompson, E. Warren Paine, J. Wool Griswold, Francis N. Mann, Joseph Hillman, Edward Murph)-, jr., William E. Gil bert, Isaac McConihe, William H. Doughty, Adam R. Smith, William S. Earl, James A. Eddy, Edward M. Green, Gilbert Geer, jr., James F. Cowee, Peter Balti more, Foster Bosworth, Charles S. Brintnall, Gardner Rand, Henry Swartout, Join H. Knox, Willard Gay, Charles W. Tillinghast, William Orr, Joseph W. Fuller, Martin I. Townsend, Rev. Dr. J. Ireland Tucker, Rev. Dr. George C. Baldwin, Rev. Peter Havermans, John M. Francis, Daniel Robinson, John D. Spicer, George B, Cluett, Thomas Coleman, J. J. Gillespy, George H. Cramer, George H. Freeman, Henry C. Lockwood, Col. Charles L. MacArthur, Norman B. Squires, Otis G. Clark, Harvey J. King, James H. Kellogg, Henry O'R. Tucker, Dennis J. Whelan, Ed ward Bolton, David Bastable, James W. Daley, Francis A. Fales, Samuel H. Lasell, Chauncey D. Packard, George A. Stone, Robert Cluett, Justin Kellogg, Arthur J. Weise, M. F. Cummings, General Joseph B. Carr, Charles Cleminshaw, Michael F. Collins, Jesse B. Anthony, George H. Mead, Henry G. Ludlow, John J. Purcell, George P. Ide, W. J. Tyner, William L. Van Alstyne, Johu P. Pratt, Edmund Fitz gerald, Charles A. McLeod, David M. Ranken, Clinton H. Meneely, Edward F. Murray, James W. Cusack, Henry B. Nims, Gilbert Robertson, jr., Emanuel Marks, Henry Kreiss, Dexter Moody, William W. Whitman, Edward Carter and William H. Frear. The celebration began on the evening of Wednesday, January*, 1889, when a concert was given in Music hall under the direction of John H. Knox, Edmund Cluett, Justin Kellogg, William H. Hollister, jr , J. E. Schoonmaker and A. W. Harrington, jr. Those who partici- TROY AS A CITY. 295 >ated were Mrs. William B. Wilson, soprano; Miss Jeannie Lyman, ontralto; the Troy Vocal society, the Troy Choral union, the Troy ilannerchor, Doring's military band and Maschke's cadet band. A eature of the concert was the singing of the Centennial hymn, written Especially for the occasion by Benjamin H. Hall, by the three vocal ;ocieties. ^ Thursday was known as "Historical Day." In the afternoon a :argely attended meeting was held in Music hall under the direction of 'Norman B. Squires, J. W, Alfred Cluett, Henry B. Dauchy, M. F. Cum- nings, Edward Carter and Henry Clay Bascom. Edwin A. King, a iineal descendant of Jacob D. Van der Heyden, read a paper on "The Patroon of Troy; " Benjamin H. Hall read an original poem on " The Naming and Progress of Troy;" J. W. Alfred Cluett read an address on "The Future City Improvements of Troy; " Lewis E. Gurley read a paper on " The Manufactures of Troy; '' Walter P. Warren on " The Mercantile Interests of Troy," and William E. Hagan read a poetical version of an ancient tradition of Troy, entitled "Dirk Van der Hey- den's Dream." Thursday night was known as " Church Night," at which nearly all ;he pastors of Troy were present. The programme for the evening contained the subjects of the addresses to be delivered- as follows : " Intro ductory Address," Rev. N. B. Remick of the Ninth Presbyterian church ; "Presbyterian Churches of Troy," Rev. Theophilus P. Sawin of the First Presbyterian church; "Troy Pastorates," Rev. Dr. George C. Baldwin, former pastor of the First Particular Baptist church; " Bap tist Churches of Troy," Rev. Dr. L. M. S. Haynes of the First Particu lar Baptist church; "Past and Present," Rev. Dr. J. Ireland Tucker ^f the Church of the Holy Cross; "Episcopal Churches of Troy," Rev. Edgar A. Enos of St. Paul's Episcopal church; "Methodist Churches Df Troy," Rev. Dr. George W. Brown of the State Street Methodist Episcopal church; "Recollections," Rev. Peter Havermans of St. Mary's Roman Catholic church; " Roman Catholic Churches of Troy," Rev. John Walsh of St. Peter's Roman Catholic church; " Univer- salist Church of Troy," Rev. Dr. O. F. Safford of the First Uni versalis! church ; "A. M. E. Zion Church," Rev. George E. Smith of he Zion Methodist Episcopal church; "United Presbyterian Church >f Troy," Rev. R. D. Williamson of the United Presbyterian church; '"Liberty Street Presbyterian Church," Rev. A. S. Mays of the Liberty Street Presbyterian church ; " Unitarian Church of Troy," Francis O, 206 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Dorr; "Jewish Synagogues of Troy," Rev. A. N. Coleman of Berith Sholom synagogue; " Churches of Christ in Troy," Rev. W. W. Wit- mer of the First Church of Christ; " Lutheran Church in Troy," Rev A. F. Walz of Trinity German Lutheran church; " Evangelical Church of Troy," Rev. Otto Becher of St. Paul's German Evangelical church. On account of the lateness of the hour the addresses of Revs. George E. Smith, A. S. Mays, A. N. Coleman, W. W. Witmer, A. F. Wak and Otto Becher were omitted. While the meeting in Music hall was in progress the German citizens of Troy were celebrating the event at Apollo hall by singing, historical tableaux and an address by Werner Strecker. Friday afternoon the public school festival occurred under the direc tion of Lewis E. Gurley, Harvey J. King, Francis N. Mann, David Beat- tie and Albert Smith. Several national hyms were sung by achorusof 500 pupils of the public schools and prizes of $20 each were awarded the writers of the best essay and the best poem on the history, progress and promise of Troy, the contest being limited to pupils of the public schools. The prize for the best essay was awarded to Charles S. Mc- Sorley and for the best poem to Warren S. Gardner. Addresses were delivered by David Beattie, superintendent of schools, on "The Public Schools; " by Albert Smith on "The Future of our Public Schools,"and by Benjamin H. Hall on " Emma Willard and Amos Eaton." Friday night was " Lawyers' Night. " The public meeting in Music hall was presided over by Supreme Court Justice Charles R. Ingalls, assisted by Judge Gilbert Robertson, jr., Charles E. Patterson, Justin Kellogg and George B. Wellington. After the introductory address by Judge Ingalls, interesting papers were read as follows: By the Hon. Edgar L. Fursman on "A Plea for My Own Profession;" by the Hon, Franklin J. Parmenter on "The Life and Character of the Hon. George Gould;" by the Hon. Martin I. Townsend on " The Life and Character of the Hon. David L. Seymour;" by the Hon. Roswell A. Parmenter on "The Life and Character of the Hon. William A. Beach ;" by Ben jamin H. Hall on "The Life of the Hon. John Paine Cushman," "The Life of David Buel, jr.," and "The Life and Character of the Hon. William Learned Marcy." The closing features of the centennial celebration began at midnight Friday by the discharge of fireworks in profusion, the ringing of many bells, the sounding of whistles, numerous bonfires and one hundred strokes on the fire alarm bell in the city hall. At sunrise the next PHILIP H. HICKS. TROY AS A CITY. 297 morning a salute of one hundred guns was fired on Centre island by a squad of artillerymen from Watervliet arsenal. The festivities in the city continued throughout the entire day and late into the night. The town was in gala attire, the national colors and other decorations being exposed everywhere. Thousands of strangers flocked to the city from all directions. The committee in charge of the day's festivities was composed of General Joseph B. Carr, Walter P. Warren, William E. Gilbert, James W. Cusack, William S. Earl, William E. Hagan, George H. Mead, Edward F. Murray and C. Whitney Tillinghast, 2nd. The parade began at 11 o'clock under General Carr as grand marshal, the six divisions being in charge respectively of Colonel Walter P. Warren, J. Lansing Lane, Cornelius F. Burns, George H. Mead, Colonel Will iam H. Munn and Albert Tompkins. Among the prominent men who rode in the parade was Governor David B. Hill. In the evening there was another big parade under the direction of Captain James H. Lloyd, grand marshal. Nearly every residence and business house in the city was illuminated and at the close of the parade there were extensive displays of fireworks. This ended the celebration, which was in every particular a success. As a memento of this memorable occasion in the history of Troy a bronze medal was struck, on one side being a repre sentation of the village at the time the name was changed from Van derheyden to Troy, and on the other the seal of the city of Troy in 1889. The 100th anniversary of the inauguration of President Washington was celebrated by the citizens of Troy in a becoming manner April 30, 1889. Services were held in many of the churches. At the First Bap tist church a historical address was delivered by Justice Charles R. Ingalls of the Supreme Court. Public buildings and many residences and business houses were decorated with the national colors, typifying the spirit of the day. The Gardner Earl Memorial chapel and crematory was erected in 1888, beginning April 12, by William S. and Hannah M. Earl, in mem ory of their son, Gardner Earl. The structure was completed in No vember, 1889. The first cremations in the Earl crematory took place Monday, January 6, 1890, when the bodies of Jonas S. Heartt and Hamlin Black, the four year-old son of Hon. Frank S. Black, were incin erated. The operation was in charge of an expert and was entirely successful. Three lives were lost early on the morning of Saturday, March 15, 1890, by a great landslide down Warren's hill, a part of Mount Ida, 98 298 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. where such disasters had occurred on several previous occasions. The killed were Mrs. Margaret Noonan; Mrs. Timothy Hogan, her daughter' and Annie Burns, aged eleven years. Several other persons were injured. Sunday night, September 21, 1890, fire destroyed the handsome res idence of George N. Manchester and E. Smith Strait, known as Syc- away Villa, located on the Stone Road just east of the western limits of the town. Ralph Manchester, aged 11 years, son of George K. Manchester, became dazed by the flames and was burned to death, and his father was badly hurt. Several other occupants narrowly escaped with their lives. The old Schuyler mansion, situated on the bank of the Hudson river near the foot of Harrison street, with the farm was purchased of Philip S. Schuyler about 1809 by the Hoyl Farm company, which held it until 1835, when Francis N. Mann purchased it at a mortgage foreclosure sale. It remained in the possession of Mr. Mann until 1861, when it was sold to William Burden. It remained in the possession of the Burden family until 1891, when it was torn down. The famous Columbian Liberty bell, which was on exhibition at the world's fair at Chicago in 1893, and is now in the custody of the city of Philadelphia, was cast at the bell foundry of the Meneely Bell company, Thursday, June 23, 1893. The bell weighs about 13,000 pounds, and into it was infused 17,000 pounds of material, consisting of 12,000 pounds of copper, 3,000 pounds of tin, 1,000 pounds of bell material, 200 pounds of pennies, a quantity of gold and silver, and a piece of the famous liberty bell of Philadelphia, contributions having been received from many persons in all parts of the country. The material which was not used in the bell was made up into miniature bells. Two disastrous fires occurred in Troy December 14 and 15, 1893. About 8.45 p. m. on the first-named day flames were discovered in the mammoth general store of William H. Frear, on Cannon place, known as Frear's Bazaar. The entire fire department was called into service and fought valiantly, but as the flames had originated in an upper story it was hard to get water to the spot. To increase the difficulties which confronted the firemen zero weather prevailed, and the water broke into a fine spray and froze before it reached the fire. The flames were confined mainly to the two upper stories of the building, but most of the stock on the lower floors was more or less damaged by smoke and water. Mr. Frear's loss was not far from $100,000, which was covered TROY AS A CITY. 299 by insurance. Other smaller concerns occupying part of the building suffered losses aggregating about $25,000. On the afternoon of the day following fire started in the fourth story of the big store of J. M. Warren & Co. on the southwest corner of Broadway and River street and before it could be controlled a loss of nearly $100,000 had been caused, most of which was covered by insur ance. During the latter months of the year 1893 the inhabitants of Troy, especially the large wage-earning class dependent upon the score or more of shirt, collar and cuff manufactories for a subsistence, raised their voice in protest against the passage by Congress of any tariff bill which should appreciably decrease the import duties on the products , for which Troy is famous the world over. This opposition increased i upon the introduction of the measure prepared by Representative Wil liam L. Wilson of Virginia, called the Wilson Tariff Bill. During the early days of the session of 1893-4 hundreds of citizens besought United i States Senator Edward Murphy, jr. , of Troy, and Representative Charles D. Haines of Kinderhook, by letter and interview, to oppose the passage [ of the bill on the grounds that it would greatly injure, if not ruin, the collar and cuff industry of Troy. On the evening of Tuesday, Decem- ; ber 19, 1893, one of the greatest mass meetings in the history of the city was held in Music hall to protest against the enactment of the pro- . posed law. Mayor Dennis J. Whelan presided over the great gather ing and many representative men occupied seats on the stage. Speeches denunciatory of the proposed law were made by Corporation Council , William J. Roche, Rev. Theophilus P. Sawin, pastor of the First Pres byterian church; Jeremiah K. Long, a lawyer; Hon. Lewis E. Griffith, county judge; James P. Hooley, ex-member of assembly from the first district of Rensselaer county, and Rev. John Walsh, pastor of St. Peter's Catholic church. A memorial presented by John Flynn and addressed to Congress, asking that body to retain the protective duties on collars and cuffs, was adopted by a unanimous vote at the close of the meeting. In addition to this meeting a petition to the same end was circulated, receiving the signatures of many thousand persons of both sexes and all political parties. As a result of the meeting and petition and the combined efforts of Senator Murphy and Representa tive Haines, Congress left a protective duty on collars and cuffs. The necessity for a government building in Troy for the use of the post-office and other local federal officials had been apparent many 300 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. years before the federal government finally decided to erect one. Feb ruary 5, 1885, a bill making an appropriation of $200,000 for such a building passed the house of representatives and soon afterward be came a law. In the summer of 1886 a commission appointed by the secretary of the treasury purchased for $99,000 the Gross-Hall and Griffith properties on the northeast corner of Broadway and Fourth streets. Subsequently the appropriation for the building was in creased to more than half a million dollars. The structure was com pleted in the spring of 1894 and the post-office opened therein in May of that year. The building is fireproof throughout and its architecture is very handsome. The exterior is of gray stone and all the floors are of tile. Before the establishment of a post-office in Lansingburgh in 1792 residents of Troy received letters through the Albany post-office. When an office was established in Lansingburgh letters for Troy were left there and sent to the latter place by a carrier. The first post master appointed for Troy was Nathan Williams, in 1796. He was a law student in the office of John Woodworth, surrogate of Rensselaer county, where the first post-office was opened. Since the establish ment of a post-office in Troy, twenty-one postmasters have held the position of postmaster: Nathan Williams, 1796 to 1797; John Wood- worth, 1797 to 1800; David Buel, 1800 to 1804; Ruggles Hubbard, 1804 to 1806; Samuel Gale, 1806 to 1829; William Pierce, 1829 to 1832; Isaac McC6nihe, December, 1832 to 1842; Charles H. Reed, August, 1842 to 1843; George R. Davis, August, 1843 to 1849; Thomas Clowes, 1849 to 1851; William T. Willard, 1851 to 1853; Foster Bosworth, 1853 to 1854; W. W. Whitman, 1854 to 1858; James R. Fonda, December, 1858, to October 15, 1861; George T. Blair, September, 1861, to 1862; Thomas Clowes, 1862 to April 9, 1866 (J. W. Freeman, Thomas Clowes's bondsman, on the death of the latter, performed his duties until the appoinment of his successor) ; Alonzo Alden, appointed June 1, 1866, to 1874; Gilbert Robertson, jr., appointed February 18, 1878; reappointed April 4, 1882 — term expired March 16, 1886; Edward Do- Ian, appointed April 28, 1886, and entered upon his duties May 17. Francis N. Mann, jr., 1890 to 1895. Michael F. Sheary was appointed by President Cleveland June 10, 1895. The present free delivery sys tem was inaugurated in Troy in 1864, with five carriers. The system now includes Lansingburgh and Green Island. The death of one of Troy's most distinguished citizens, Major Gen- GEN. JOSEPH B. CARR. TROY AS A CITY. 30l eral Joseph Bradford Carr, occurred at his home on Fifth avenue on the morning of Sunday, February 24, 1895. General Carr had been a sufferer from a cancer on the jaw for several years and had undergone several surgical operations, but the only effect was to prolong his life. The funeral was held on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 27, from the house at one p. m. and from St. Peter's Roman Catholic church at three p. m. The body lay in state at his residence from ten a. m. to one p. m. and during that time was viewed by thousands of persons. After the service at the house the funeral cortege proceeded to the church headed by Doring's full military band and members of the municipal police department, Superintendent W. W. Willard in com mand. The local companies of the New York National Guard followed, after which came the caisson, flanked by the active pall bearers — Major Edward Murray Green, Colonel Francis N. Mann, Colonel Charles S. Francis and Colonel Arthur MacArthur, representing the Third Division Staff association; Past Commanders W. W. Rousseau and George H. En- nis of Griswold post, G. A. R. , and Arthur W. Bradley and J. J. Hagen from the Second New York Volunteer Regiment association. The caisson was covered by the American flag which was used at Fortress Monroe; and the flag preserved from the battle of Yorktown was wrapped about the remains. The honorary pall bearers, who were next in line, were General Daniel E. Sickles, ex-Governor Alonzo B. Cornell, General Tremain, Major Richardson, General Alonzo Alden, Colonel Charles L. MacArthur, Lieutenant Governor Charles T. Sax- ton, Hamilton Fish, speaker of the Assembly; Congressman John A. Quackenbush, John M. Francis, William Kemp, George H. Starbuck, James H. Breslin of New York, Thomas C. Breslin of Waterford, Major Isaac Arnold, U. S. A., Captain Isaac P. Gregg, William P. Devery and William A. Smith of General Carr's Massachusetts brigade, Colonel Sidney W. Park and the following members of the Third Division Staff association : Colonels Jacob C. Cuyler, Chester Griswold, Le Roy McLean, Edgar L. Fursman, Matthew H. Burton, John A. McDonald, John Don, David M. Greene, Lee Chamberlain, Harry M. Alden, Robert C. Pruyn, George P. Lawton, Charles H. Stott and Major Albert Hoysradt. Then followed the United States Army offi cers, Brigadier General Robert Shaw Oliver and, staff of the Third Brigade, New York National Guard; Second Regiment association, Tibbits Veteran Corps, Grand Army veterans, city officers, a committee from the State Senate and Assembly and representatives of Governor Morton. 302 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. At St. Peter's church the entire service was conducted by Rev. Father John Walsh, assisted by Rev. Fathers O'Connor andFogartyof St. Peter's church and Rev. Father McQuaid, S. J., of St. Joseph's church. The Grand Army ritual service was performed at the grave in Oakwood cemetery and was conducted by Post Griswold. Com mander E. A. Fry was in charge, assisted by L. M. S. Haynes, D. D., as chaplain. The death of Rev. John Ireland Tucker, D. D., for more than half a century rector of the Church of the Holy Cross, Episcopal, occurred just befort noon Saturday, August 17, 1895. Five days before he had been stricken with paralysis, from which henever rallied. Dr. Tuckerwasborn in Brooklyn, November 26, 1819. Lie entered the ministry in 1844, coming to Troy in that year, where he remained until his death as the beloved rector of Holy Cross church. His funeral occurred Tuesday morning, August 20, at 10 : 30 o'clock, from that church, and was attended by a very large number of clergymen from various parts of the country. The officiating clergymen were Rt. Rev. William Croswell Doane, Bishop of Albany; Rev. Dr. Edgar A. Enos, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal church of Troy, and Rt. Rev. Henry C. Potter, Bishop of New York, The honorary bearers were Rev. Canon Fulcher of Albany, Rev. Joseph Carey of Saratoga, Rev. James Caird, Rev. G. A. Holbrook, Rev. R. B. Fairbairn, General Selden E. Marvin of Albany, William Kemp, C. W. Tillinghast and John I. Thompson. The active bearers were Wil'iam H. Young, Thomas Colwell, Elias G. Dorian, A. G. Goldthwaite, Dr. J. D. Lomax, F. W. Crawford, Swift Martin and E. J. Cridge. At the grave the service was conducted by Bishop Doane, assisted by Rev. Dr. Eaton W. Maxcy. One of the most famous murder cases in the annals of Troy was that of Robert Ross by Bartholomew Shea. The crime was committed during a charter election March 6, 1894, at the polling place in the third district of the thirteenth ward, and was the outcome of a politi cal quarrel. During the fight several shots were exchanged, and Rob ert Ross was killed and his brother William badly wounded. Bartholo mew Shea and John McGough were both arrested for the crime. The inquest continued from March 14 to March 21 and resulted in holding Shea for the crime. So great was the public feeling over the matter that mass meetings were held and public committees of safety formed. For a long time the crime was the leading topic of conversation in all circles and charges were freely made implicating high officials as being TROY AS A CITY. 303 indirectly responsible for the murder. Shea was tried at an extraordi nary term of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Pardon C. Williams of Watertown. The prosecution was conducted by Assistant District Attorney Thomas E. Fagan, assisted by George Raines of Rochester, and Shea was represented by John T. Norton of Troy and Galen R. Hitt of Albany. The trial began May 28 and continued until July 3, and at one o'clock on the morning of July 4 the jury brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree. Shea was sentenced July 10 to be executed by electricity in Clinton State prison during the week be ginning August 21, 1894, after which every possible legal effort was made to save him. The case was taken to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the decision of the lower court, and November 11 Shea was brought to Troy and again sentenced by Justice Edwards to die during Christmas week. December 20 a respite was ordered by Governor Morton until January 7, 1896, and January 6 he was again respited un til February 4, 1896. The second respite was caused by the confession of John McGough that he shot Ross, following which Shea's attorneys applied to Judge Mayham for an order to show cause why a new trial should not be granted. After a two days' argument on the motion it was denied and the sentence of death was executed February 11, 1896. Before the excitement caused by the execution of Bartholomew Shea had begun to subside a colossal calamity visited Troy in the burning of the big Burdett building on the northwest corner of River street and Broadway. Fire caught in the fifth floor of the building on the after noon of February 17, 1896, and so rapidly did the flames spread that escape by way of the stairs was impossible. The upper floors were occupied by two collar manufacturing firms, and nearly all the employes were women and girls. Nearly all these reached the street in safety by way of the fire escapes, assisted by the firemen, but several jumped to the street. Mrs. Patrick Carroll, Mrs. Robert Kane and Mrs. Ann Foley were killed by jumping, and Millie Brock was burned to death. John J. Farrell, a member of the Arba Read steamer company, distin guished himself by saving fully a score of lives, and subsequently he was made a fire commissioner, at the time of his appointment being the youngest man in New York State to hold such an office. The total money loss by the fire was about $185,000, and was practically covered by insurance. The building was owned by Mrs. George C. Burdett. The building of the Truesdell estate, adjoining the Burdett building on the south, was also burned, and several occupants of the McCarthy 304 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. building on the north suffered more or less damage by smoke and water. The fire was one of the fiercest that the firemen of Troy were ever called upon to fight. During its progress the thermometer stood at zero, and most of the water froze before it reached the upper stories forming a mass of ice from twelve to fifteen feet high on the street and sidewalk. On the morning of May 26, 1896, the steamboat City of Troy, of the Citizens' line of steamers, arrived at her destination in Troy at 3:15 o'clock, having made the trip from New York in nine hours and eight minutes, the fastest time ever made by a boat of this line. The usual running time of the steamboats City of Troy and Saratoga had been about eleven hours. CHAPTER XVII. Industries and Institutions of Troy — The Leading Manufactures and Mercantile Establishments — Troy Famous for its Collar and Cuff Industries — The Manufacture of Iron and Steel, Stoves, Ranges and Valves — Other Big Industries— Troy's Cele brated Educational Institutions — History of Its Churches— Municipal Departments — Statistics Showing Development Along Various Lines. Manufacturing and Mercantile Establishments. Troy is noted more for the manufacture of collars and cuffs than for anything else, though the manufacture of iron products has been very extensive since the business was established. So numerous and varied are the industries of the city that a history of the most important only will be given. The largest collar, cuff and shirt manufacturing house in Troy, as well as in the world, is that of Cluett, Coon & Co., located on the east side of River street above Jacob. There have been many changes in the firm since the business was established. The house originated in a combination of two firms in November, 1889. The two firms were George B. Cluett, Bro. & Co. and Coon & Co., and composed of the following members: George B. Cluett, J. W. Al fred vCluett, Robert Cluett, John H. Coon, Daniel W. Coon, Henry C. Statzell and Frederick F, Peabody. George B. Cluett, Bro. & Co. was WILLIAM F. GREENE. MANUFACTURING AND MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS OF TROY. 305 founded in 1863, succeeding Maullin & Cluett. In 1851 Joseph Maullin and E. D. Blanchard began manufacturing men's collars at 310 River street. In 1856 they were succeeded by Maullin & Bigelow. In 1861 George B. Cluett, who had had charge of the manufacturing department, was admitted to partnership, and the firm became Maullin, Bigelow & Co., the members being Joseph Maullin, Charles H. Bigelow and George B. Cluett. In 1862 Joseph Maullin and George B. Cluett organized the firm of Maullin & Cluett. In 1863 on the death of Mr. Maullin the firm of George B. Cluett, Bro. & Co. was organized by George B. Cluett, J. W. A. Cluett, and Charles J. Saxe. J. W. A. Cluett had previously held an important position in the business, covering a period from 1852 to the close of 1857. In 1866 Charles J. Saxe withdrew from the firm and Robert Cluett became a partner, having been an employe1 since 1862. In 1874 the name of R. S. Norton was associated with the firm, and was so continued until his death in 1887. The factory of George B. Cluett, Bro. & Co. was located from 1862 to 1874 at No. 390 River street; from 1875 to 1880 at Nos. 74 and 76 Federal street, the building being destroyed by fire on March 20, 1880. Before the fire was extinguished a new location was found at 556 Fulton street. In 1881 the first of the five factories occupied by the present firm, cover ing an area of one hundred by one hundred feet, was erected and occupied. In 1884 the second factory fifty by one hundred feet was built. In 1890 the present firm centralized its entire manufacturing opera tions by occupying its third building one hundred by one hundred feet ; the entire establishment then having a frontage of two hundred and fifty feet, and making one of the most prominent features of the city. The history of the origin and progress of the successful firm of Coon & Co. is a record of business devotion and unremitting perseverance. This house was established in 1856 by John H. Coon and H. W. Cole, the former having recently returned after a successful venture in Cali fornia. The firm of Cole & Coon first manufactured collars at the northwest corner of Grand Division (now Grand) and North Third streets, but in 1859 removed to the Manufacturers' Bank building. In that year J. M. Van Volkenburgh was admitted to the firm, and the firm became Cole, Coon & Co. In 1861 the business was removed to b>o. 7 Union street, where it remained until destroyed in the great fire of 1862. In 1861 Mr. Cole had withdrawn and Coon & Van Volken burgh had succeeded to the business. In 1868 J. M. Van Volkenburgh withdrew and J. H. Coon, W. H. Reynolds and Daniel W. Coon founded 39 306 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the firm of Coon, Reynolds &Co., which continued in successful opera tion to the death of W. H. Reynolds in 1879. In that year the firm of Coon & Co. was founded by J. H. Coon, D. W. Coon, H. C. Statzell and F. F. Peabody, the last two members having held important posi tions with the preceding firm. In 1881 the factory was removedtothe upper stories of No. 556 Fulton street, where the operations of the firm were for a while suspended by fire, the building being partly destroyed on the night of February 19, 1885. The success of Coon & Co. wasthe natural result of the individual enterprise of the several members of the firm, D. W. Coon having charge of the factory, and J. H. Coon, H. C. Statzell, and F. F. Peabody having the care of the salesroomsin New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco. The successes of Cluett, Coon & Co. have run parallel with the growth and prosperity of the city. The business had reached such proportions in 1894 that it was found necessary to still further increase the manufac turing facilities, and the fourth factory was added, giving a hundred feet additional on the north. May 1st, 1894, John H. Coon retired from the firm after an active business career of thirty- eight years, During the summer of 1896 a still further addition to the factories of Cluett, Coon & Co. was made by extending fifty feet still further on the north, so that at the present time the five factories have a frontage on River street of four hundred feet with a depth of nearly one hundred feet. Cluett, Coon & Co. are unquestionably the largest manufacturers of shirts, collars and cuffs in the world. The collar and cuff manufacturing firm of Earl & Wilson is also one of the most celebrated in the world. The concern was the first of its kind in Troy to erect a building particularly designed for its business, The experience of the senior proprietor, William S. Earl, in the manu facture of collars and cuffs began in 1848, when he was employed in the factory of his father-in-law, Jefferson Gardner, on King street. In 1850 he engaged in the business alone and from 1856 to 1858 was asso ciated with Edwin D. Blanchard. January 1, 1867, he and Washington Wilson entered into partnership under the name of Earl & Wilson. In 1873 his son, Gardner Earl, was admitted into the firm, and in 18S1 Arthur R. Wilson, a brother of Washington Wilson, was admitted. Gardner Earl died in 1887 and later in the same year Edgar K. Betts joined the firm. In 1876 Earl & Wilson moved into their building on the southwest corner of Broadway and Seventh street. The firm of Corliss, Coon & Co., collar and cuff manufacturers, was MANUFACTURING AND MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS OF TROY. 307 founded in 1838 by John M. Corliss and Arnold H. Holdridge. The partnership was dissolved in the following year and Mr. Corliss con tinued the business alone until 1840, when he and John White were in partnership. From 1840 to 1846 he was associated with Hiram House, and in 1854 Samuel N. Ide was admitted as a partner. He retired in 1857, and in 1868 the firm was succeeded by John M. Corliss & Son (Wilbur F. Corliss). The firm of Corliss Bros. & Co. was formed in 1882 by Wilbur F. Corliss, Charles H. Corliss, John A. Corliss and Elmer H. Garrett. Charles H. Corliss retired in 1890, and in 1895 Albert E. Coon was admitted, the firm becoming Corliss, Coon & Co. The house of Miller, Hall & Hartwell was originally established in 1866, when Justus Miller, A. P. Hamlin and Joseph Wheelock, under the name of Hamlin, Miller & Co., began manufacturing collars and cuffs at 464 Fulton street. On the dissolution of the partnership in the following year, Miller & Wheelock continued the business. In 1874 E. W. Bingham became a member of the firm, which then took the name of Miller, Wheelock & Co. In 1875 the firm was succeeded by that of Miller & Bingham. After the death of E. W. Bingham in 1877, his widow retained an interest in the business until 1878, under the name of Miller & Bingham. Justus Miller conducted the business at Nos. 485, 487, 489 and 491 River street until December 7, 1879, when the building was burned. Until July 1, 1880, he occupied the building on the corner of River and Hoosick street, whence he moved into his new and commodious manufactory on the west side of River street, north of Hoosick street. In 1884 the present firm was organized, its members being Justus Miller, William L. Hall and Chas. E. Hartwell. Lin 1890 the firm erected the new addition to their factory, making in all a plant 175 by 100 feet, six stories in height. Employment is fur bished in the several departments to upwards of 1,200 persons. The firm also operates branch factories at Hoosick Falls and Mechanicville, N. Y,, and supplies factories in cities and villages contiguous to Troy, i furnishing work to nearly 1,500 other operators in these localities. | George P. Ide & Co. are the latest successors of the firm established In 1865 by George P. Ide and S. V. R. Ford. Samuel N. Ide was ad mitted in 1867, and in 1872 Mr. Ford was succeeded by Charles E. Bruce. In 1878 the firm was dissolved and George P. Ide, James M. Ide and Charles E. Bruce formed a copartnership, which was succeeded in 1884 by George P. Ide & Co. (George P. Ide, James M. Ide and Frank B Twining.) Alba N. Ide, son of George P. Ide, was admitted to the 308 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. firm in 1889. The Brokaw Manufacturing company, formed in 1890 by George P. Ide, W. B. Brokaw and Frank B. Twining, occupies a part of the big building of the firm on River street. The founder of the house now controlled by William Barker was J. W. Wheeler, who engaged in business in 1866. His successors were Wheeler, Bisco & Corning, 1866; Bisco, Corning & Abbey, 1866; Bisco & Corning, 1872; Douglas Corning, 1876; Douglas Corning & Co. (William Barker), 1881; Corning & Barker, 1885; and William Barker, 1887. The house of Holmes & Ide was originally founded December 1, 1869, by Messrs. Parks, Ide & Holmes, occupying the second and third floors of the Manufacturers' National Bank building at River and King streets. They moved in 1872 to the Cole building in Sixth avenue, north of Union depot, where they occupied two floors. In 1877 Stephen Parks, the senior member of the firm, retired from the business, and the present firm was organized, the individual members being Henry Holmes and John C. Ide. About 1883 the factory was moved to the Tib bits buildings, River and Federal streets, tbe upper floor of both build ings being occupied. In 1886 the firm leased three floors of the Tibbits building, 407 to 417 Federal street, where they have been located to the present time. Tim & Co. engaged in the collar business in 1872, the members of the firm at that time being Louis Tim, Solomon Tim and Max Herman. J. O'Sullivan joined the firm in 1876. The new factory in the rear of Sixth street south of Broadway was built in 1881. In 1883 M. Ober was admitted to the business. He withdrew in 1888 and was followed the next year by Messrs. Herman and O'Sullivan. April 1, 1878, the firm of Tim, Wallerstein & Co. was organized by Louis Tim, Solomon Tim, E. Wallerstein and Max Herman. Van Zandt, Jacobs & Co. began business in 1889 in the Cronin build ing on the corner of River and Federal streets. Three years afterwards they moved to the Burdett building, and soon after that property was burned in 1896 they began the erection of a new factory at the corner of River and Rensselaer streets, which they expect to occupy before the beginning of the year 1897. Of the numerous other collar, cuff and shirt manufacturing firms in Troy, Fellows & Co. originated from the house of Lyman Bennett, founded in 1834; J. Stettheimer, jr., & Co. succeeded J. Stettheimer, who started in business in 1863 ; Joseph Bowman & Sons originated in GEORGE O'NEIL. MANUFACTURING AND MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS OF TROY. 309 the house of Bowman'& Mosely, founded in 1853; H. C. Curtis & Co., founded by H. C. Curtis and Charles Cleminshaw in 1884; Ball Bros. (JohnC. Ball), succeeded Gallup & Tucker, founded in 1864 ; C. H. Mc Clellan & Co. originated in the house of Gallup & Tucker (William H. Gallup and Sidney D. Tucker); Wilbur & Co originated in the firm of Wilbur, De Bois & Wilbur, formed in 1883; Gunnison & Marvin orig inated as Gunnison & Stewart in 1854; E. W. Marvin began business November 1, 1894. The Troy Steel company, one of Troy's mammoth manufacturing concerns, was the outgrowth of the Albany Rolling and Slitting mill, built in 1807 by Brinckerhoff & Co. of Albany on the site of the De Freest fulling mill on the north side of the lower fall of the Wynants kill. It was purchased in 1826 by Erastus Corning, who called it the Albany nail factory. Soon after John T. Norton became associated with him under the firm name of Norton & Corning. Four years later the firm was dissolved, James Horner entering into partnership with Mr. Corning. In 1838 John F. Winslow was admitted to the firm, which became Corning, Horner & Winslow, and the plant was called the Albany Iron Works. In 1849 the steam mill on the south side of the Wynants kill was erected. Later Erastus Corning, jr., and Gilbert C. Davidson were admitted and the firm became Corning, Winslow & Co. In 1864 the firm became Corning & Winslow, and three years later Erastus Corning & Co. assumed control. The great plant also includes the extinct Troy Vulcan company's works, established in 1846, in which Henry Burden, John F. Winslow, John A. Griswold, Erastus Corning, sr., Erastus Corning, jr., and Chester Griswold were at various times interested; and the plant of the Bessemer steel works established in 1863 by Alexander T. Holley, John F. Winslow and John A. Griswold. The plant for more than a quarter of a century has produced the best grades of steel in the United States. Erastus Corning & Co. and John A. Griswold & Co. consolidated March 1, 1875, under the name of the Albany & Rensselaer Iron and Steel company, with Erastus Corning as president, Chester Griswold as vice president, and Selden E. Marvin as secretary and treasurer. September 1, 1885, this concern was suc ceeded by the Troy Steel & Iron company, with a capital stock of $2,500,000. Three great blast furnaces were erected by the company on Breaker Island in 1885 and 1886, the first being put in operation in May, 1887. From that time the Albany Iron works department has been devoted mainly to the production of merchant iron, rivets and 310 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. railroad track supplies, the Rensselaer Iron works department to the manufacture of merchant steel, tire, tie-plates, spikes and steel for agricultural implements; the Bessemer steel works department to the production of merchant steel and billets for steel wire; and the blast furnaces to the manufacture of Bessemer pig iron. In the summer of 1896 the Troy Steel company, successor to the Troy Steel and Iron company, began operating the improved plant on Breaker Island. The reorganized company is capitalized at $2,500,000 and its officers are: President, Frank S. Witherbee of Port Henry, N. Y. ; vice president and general manager, George A. Bell ; secretary and general sales agent, Frank W Edmunds; chief engineer and general superintendent, E. D. Arnold; directors, H. H. Rogers, Frank S. Witherbee, William Kemp, Junius S. Morgan, George A. Bell, Hamilton H. Durand and Philip G. Bartlett. The output of the reorganized concern is to be steel produced by tbe basic process. The plant consists of the three blast fur naces erected several years ago, each eighty feet high; the cupola and converting works 300 feet south of the blast furnaces; the extractor building, 100 feet south of the converting works; the furnace and blooming mill building, twenty-five feet south of the extractor build ing; the boiler house, fifty feet west of the blooming mill buildings; the engine house, machine shop and the new office, north of the boiler house. The capacity of the works- is about 700 tons of basic steel per day. The Burden Iron company's works originated from the rolling and slitting mill erected in 1809 on the south bank of the Wynants kill at the upper fall. In 1813 the Troy Iron and Nail Factory company, composed of John Converse, Nathaniel Adams, Ruggles Whiting, Henry Delavan and C. F. Backus, purchased the plant; and in 18W Henry Burden, a Scotch engineer who had been manufacturing agri cultural implements in Albany for two or three years, became its super intendent. Mr. Burden was a scientific worker and he invented many appliances which brought him fame and the foundations for a vast fortune. One of the greatest of these was a machine for the manufacture of "T" and "H" rails, which in 1836 were beginning to supersede the flat rails on the railroads of the country. Three years later he invented what was known as "Burden's rotary concentric squeezer," which soon came into use throughout the entire iron manufacturing world. So great was Mr. Burden's success that in 1848 he became proprietor of the factory. During the War of the Rebellion he made many thou- MANUFACTURING AND MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS OF TROY. 311 sands of horseshoes for the cavalry in the army, all being the product of a machine which he had invented a few years before, and which, since ' then, has come into use in several European countries. The average output of the mills for years has been over 10,000,000 horseshoes per annum. In 1864 the firm of H. Burden & Sons was founded. William F. Burden died December 7, 1867, when the three other members of the firm continued the business. Henry Burden died January 19, 1871, after which James A. and I. Townsend Burden, brothers, conducted the works under the name of H. Burden & Sons. June 30, 1881, the Burden Iron company was incorporated with a capital stock of $2,000, 000, and has since been in control of this mammoth industry. The Troy Malleable Iron company, whose works are located at Green Island, was founded in 1850 by George Harrison and William Knight. E. Warren Paine was admitted to the firm in 1854, a few years later being succeeded by John W. Paine. The succeeding firms were Har rison, Kellogg & Co. (George Harrison, James H. Kellogg and John Dunn), 1865; Harrison & Kellogg, 1869; Troy Malleable Iron com pany (William Sleicher, jr., William A. Griffin and Waldo K. Chase), 1881. The present company was incorporated May 1, 1884. The establishment of the Gilbert Car company's works has been de- cribed in preceding pages. In 1862 the partnership of Eaton, Gilbert & Co. was dissolved, and Uri Gilbert continued the business until 1863, when William E. Gilbert became associated in it with his father, under the firm name of Uri Gilbert & Son. In August, 1864, a part of the car works were burned New buildings were erected and the business greatly enlarged. During the war about 500 gun-carriages for the United States government were made at the works. In 1864 the firm of Uri Gilbert & Son was succeeded by that of Gilbert, Bush & Co., the former partners admitting Walter R. Bush into the business. In 1867 Edward G. Gilbert and Walter R. Bush, jr., were admitted into part nership, and in 1869 L. O. Hansom. In 1872 the latter withdrew. The firm of Gilbert, Bush & Co. was succeeded by the Gilbert & Bush company on January 1, 1879. On August 25, 1882, the Gilbert Car Manufacturing company was organized and took control of the busi ness. William E. Gilbert was vice-president and treasurer of the com pany and Fred. S. Young assistant president and secretary. August 15, 1893, Justice Stephen L. Mayham of the Supreme Court granted judgments against the company aggregating nearly $150,000, and the sheriff of Albany county took possession of the plant on Green Island, where it had been located for forty years. 312 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. There was a time, not many years ago, when Troy was celebrated as the home of the stove industry in the United States. For years— and even now — stoves made in Troy were sent to all parts of the world, There are still several prosperous stove concerns in Troy, but the out put of the city is not what it was a score of years ago. In 1821 Charles and Nathaniel Starbuck and Ephraim Gurley began the casting of stove plates, in that year succeeding Hanks, Gurley & Co.— Alpheus and Truman Hanks and Ephraim Gurley — who, in 1818, built the Troy Air Furnace, the first foundry in Troy. In 1823 the Eagle Furnace afterward known as the Rensselaer, was erected by Nazro & Curtis, who were succeeded in 1828 by L. Stratton & Son. After this the plant was run by Johnson & Geer (Elias Johnson and Gilbert Geer), 1834; Johnson, Geer & Cox, 1840; Johnson & Cox, 1846; Johnson, Cox & Fuller, 1850; Cox, Warren, Morrison & Co., 1854; Fuller, War ren 6j Morrison, 1S55; and Fuller, Warren & Co., 1859. The Fuller & Warren company was incorporated December 31, 1881, with a capital of $600,000, the first trustees being Joseph W. Fuller, John Hobart Warren, Charles W. Tillinghast, Walter A. Wood and Walter P. War ren. Tbe company's property — the Clinton Stove works — covers six acres of ground, bounded by Madison, River and Monroe streets and the Hudson river. The Empire Stove works of George W. Swett & Co. , on the northwest and southwest corners of Second and Ida streets, are the second oldest in the city. The Empire Foundry, now managed by Wm. A. Felton forthe estate of George W. Swett, succeeded the firm of Swett, Quimby&Co., which originated in the foundry of Anson Atwood, founded in 1844. The succeeding firms were Atwood & Cole in 1845; Atwood, Cole & Crane in 1846; Pease, Keeney&Co. in 1848; Clark, Keeney&Co. in 1850; Fel ton, Keeney & Co. in 1851 ; Swett, Quimby & Co. in 1852 ; Swett, Quimby & Perry in 1867; Geo. W. Swett & Co. in 1883; Empire Stove Works, Geo, W. Swett, proprietor, in 1893. Up to Mr. Swett's death in 1895 this house had the experience of fifty years in the stove and machinery business. Stoves and ranges made by this house are well known all over the country. The heaviest castings ever made in Troy (one weighing twenty-eight tons) have been turned out at this foundry. The most remarkable fact connected with the Empire Foundry is that it has been longer in continuous existence under one management than perhaps any other business concern in Troy. The firm of Swett, Ouimby & Co, JOHN E. GAITLEY, MANUFACTURING AND MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS OF TROY. 313 succeeded Felton, Keeney & Co. in 1852. Swett, Quimby & Co. bought the Empire Foundry of Amory Felton, and made in some years as high as 5 000 stoves and 10,000 oil stoves. As many as 300 men were em ployed and 130 tons of iron melted weekly when in full operation, in cluding the car wheel department (Jonas S. Heartt & Co.), of which they turned out as many as 25,000 wheels per year. Swett, Quimby & Co. were equal partners with Jonas S. Heartt in this branch of the busi ness carried on at this foundry. The Bussey & McLeod, Stove company occupies a plant cover ing four acres of ground on the east side of Oakwood avenue north of Hoosick street, erected in 1863 by the firm composed of Esek Bussey, Charles A. McLeod and John O. Merriam, organized that year. The firm was succeeded December 30, 1882, by the Bussey & McLeod Stove company, of which Esek Bussey is president, Charles A. Mc Leod vice-president, Esek Bussey, jr., treasurer and Sayre McLeod secretary. Among the other stove firms, Burdett, Smith & Co. was organized in 1871 to succeed L. Potter & Co., established in 1853. Since 1883 the. firm has been composed of Edward Burdett and W.„ Stone Smith. The firm of J. C. Henderson & Co. succeeds Shavor & Henderson, established in 1869; Sheldon, Green & Co., 1870; Shavor & Henderson, 1872; J. C. Henderson, 1876, and J. C. Henderson & Co. (James A. Henderson), 1885. Burtis & Mann, established in 1883, were succeeded by Herbert R. Mann. The stove works of Andrew B. B. Fales were established in 1835 by A. M. Stratton, Mr. Fales becom ing proprietor in 1872. The stove linings and fire brick works of the McLeod & Henry com pany were established in 1871 by Jacob Henry. Bacon & Henry suc ceeded him, and they in turn were succeeded by Harvey S. McLeod in 1882. The McLeod & Henry company was formed February 1, 1887. The Wayside Knitting Company was incorporated in the summer of 1888 with William H. Rowe as president, P. D. Kane as treasurer and Peter McCarthy as secretary. The first location of the firm was the old Brookside mill on Ida hill. They removed to their new quarters on Glen avenue in 1892. For over three years the mills have been operated night and day, and the output is exceeded by but few mills in the United States. Peter McCarthy succeeded P. D. Kane as treas urer, and M. C. Rowe succeeded Peter McCarthy as secretary in 1890. William H. Rowe, jr., succeeded Peter McCarthy as treasurer in 1891 4Q 314 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and J. P. W. Rowe succeeded M. C. Rowe as secretary in 1894, L E. Shaver has always been superintendent of the mill. The Commercial Knitting Mills company was organized in Decem ber, 1889, with a capital stock of $50,000 and these officers: President F. M. Aufsesser; secretary and treasurer, Jonas M. Barnet; directors F. M. Aufsesser, Jonas M. Barnet, Gates Barnet and William Barnet. The mills are located on Ida hill. The'Rob Roy Hosiery company, of which Charles A. Brown is pres ident and Theodore F. Barnum is treasurer, was organized October 16 1882, and its factory was completed and ready for occupancy in the spring of 1883. The capital stock of the company is $50,000, and the officers chosen at the first election were: President, Charles A. Brown; vice-president, Charles A. McLeod; treasurer, Theodore F. Barnum; secretary, Charles L. Alden. The company turns out immense quan tities of knit goods annually. Another prominent industry is the manufacture of paper, begun in 1792 in a mill on the Poesten kill. About 1804 David Buel erected another mill on the Wynants kill near Albia, but it was destroyed by a flood in 1814. Soon after he built another near the site of the old one. The manufacture of paper was continued there in 1819 by Field & Stone, by Wilson & Bird in 1828, by Joseph T. & Thomas Howlandin 1831, by Peleg Howland in 1840, by Joseph Smart in 1853, by Joseph W. and Andrew J. Smart in 1858 and by Robert T. Smart in 1875, In 1858 Robert T. Smart purchased the flouring mill of Jonathan Rich ardson in Albia and began the manufacture of paper there. From 1868 to 1873 the business was conducted by D. D. Tompkins, when Robert T. Smart again became proprietor. In 1837 A. & W. Orr began the manufacture of wall paper at No. 71 Congress street, removing two years later to No. 265 River street. In 1847 William O. Cunningham was admitted to the firm, which became A. & W. Orr & Co. In 1857 the firm built the Troy paper mill on the hydraulic canal. In 1868 Alex ander M. Orr became associated in the business. That year Alexander Orr died and the following year Mr. Cunningham retired and Frederick W. Orr became a partner, the firm name being changed to Orrs & Co. In 1883 the firm bought the Mount Vernon flour mill, which was con verted into a paper mill. February 1, 1885, S. Alexander Orr, son of William Orr, was admitted to the firm, the name being unchanged. In 1846 Manning & Howland (William H. Manning and Gardner How- land) built the Mount Ida paper mill on the Poesten kill, west of Ida JOHN T. CHRISTIE. MANUFACTURING AND MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS OF TROY. 315 falls Calvin Williams subsequently became interested with the firm but sold out in 1850 to Reuben Peckham. William H. Manning died in 1855 and John A. Manning became a partner in 1862. Reuben Peckham died in 1887, William M. Peckham, his son, succeeding to his interest the firm being known as Manning & Peckham. In 1866 John A. Manning and E. Warren Paine, under the name of Manning & Paine began making manilla paper at the Olympus mills on River street. Since 1883 John A. Manning has also been making manilla paper at the Crystal Palace mill on River street. The Ludlow Valve Manufacturing company was founded in -1866 at Waterford. In 1872 a large plant was erected in Lansingburgh, where the business developed to such great proportions that in 1896 the com pany purchased a part of the old property of the Troy Steel and Iron company, known as the Rensselaer rail mill, in the southern part of the city, where the refitting of the large plant was at once begun. Henry G. Ludlow for many years has been the principal stockholder in the company. John T. Christie is its president. The Ross Valve company was organized February 16, 1882, with R. H. McClellan as president and T. A. Clexton as secretary and treas urer, and with a capital stock of $11,000. George Ross succeeded to the presidency September 13, 1886, and has since held that position. The capital stock was increased to $40,000 September 12, 1890. The main office is on Oakwood avenue, where the works are located. It has long been the boast of Troy that the bells made in the city are heard in every civilized country on earth. As early as 1825 Julius Hanks established a bell foundry at the northeast corner of Fifth avenue and Fulton street, continuing the business until 1840. Eber Jones and James H. Hitchcock began the casting of bells in 1852 on the northwest corner of Adams and First streets, and in 1854 in their foundry on the southwest corner of the same streets. In 1859 Eber Jones and H. J. King succeeded to the business; in 1865 Eber Jones, Octavus Jones and Sylvanus Birch ; in 1867 Octavus Jones and Marcus R. Jones, and in 1873 the Jones Bell Foundry company, which discon tinued business in May, 1887. Clinton H. Meneely and George H. Kimberly began the manufac ture of bells in 1869 on the east side of River street between Washing ton and Adams streets. The firm dissolved in 1879 and was succeeded by the Clinton H. Meneely Bell company, which was organized January 316 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. In 1793, perhaps earlier, Colonel Stephen J. Schuyler ran a brewery in Troy. Other breweries have been established as follows: Kennedy & Murphy, originally owned by Charles Hurstfield and Thomas Trenor who started in 1820; succeeded in 1823 by Read & Armstrong; Read Armstrong & Co., 1832; Read & Son, 1837; M. P. Read & Bros., 1841 • Read & Bros., 1847; Arba Read, 1856; Read Bros, 1857; Dunn & Kennedy, 1867, and Kennedy & Murphy (William Kennedy and Ed ward Murphy, jr.), 1867. The plant known as the Excelsior brewery is located on the south side of Ferry street. The Garryowen brewery was established in 1866 by the Fitzgerald Brothers, Michael, John and Edmund Fitzgerald. Michael Fitzgerald died in 1870 and John Fitzger ald in 1885, since which the business has been conducted by Edmund Fitzgerald. The flouring mills of O. Boutwell & Son were established in 1837 by Oliver Boutwell, on the hydraulic canal at the State dam. In 1866 Charles A. Boutwell, son of Oliver Boutwell, became interested in the business, and since the death of the latter in 1888 has conducted it alone under the firm name. Julius Hanks began the manufacture of surveyors' instruments in Troy as early as 1825. His son Oscar continued the business from 1829 to 1846 on the northeast corner of Fulton street and Fifth avenue, In 1842 Jonas H. Phelps began the business, three years later forming a partnership with William Gurley. In 1851 Lewis E. Gurley was ad mitted to the firm, the Gurley brothers purchasing the interest of Mr, Phelps the following spring. Soon after they erected a building on Fulton street. This was destroyed by the fire of 1862, when they im mediately began the erection of the present structure. William Gurley died in 1887, since which Lewis E. Gurley has continued the business under the firm name of W. & L. E. Gurley. The firm of W. H. Tolhurst & Son, makers of laundry machinery, was established in 1856 by William H. Tolhurst. In 1881 the present works on the northeast corner of Sixth and Fulton streets were estab lished, and January 1, 1884, Charles H. Tolhurst, son of William H. Tolhurst, was admitted to the firm. The Troy Laundry Machinery company, Limited, was incorporated January 1, 1881, occupying the building on the north side of Fulton street the following February. Coon Brothers, collar manufacturers, were established in December, 1894, when W. H. Coon and D. B. Coon purchased from C. F. Crosby & Co. their department of manufacturing laundered shirts, collars and MANUFACTURING AND MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS OF TROY. 317 cuffs C F. Crosby & Co. continuing to manufacture unlaundered stock as before. The factory was first located at 312 River street, but has since been moved to Nos. 1935-1937 Sixth avenue. The concern also 'operates a branch factory at Glens Falls. C. A. Coon entered the firm .in October, 1895 The senior member of the firm of Joseph Bowman & Sons, who engaged in the manufacture of collars and cuffs with Wm. F. Moseley, under the name of Bowman & Moseley in 1853, re engaged in the busi ness in 1876 at Nos. 485 and 487 River street. In 1882 he and his sons, -Cassius M. and Joseph, jr., entered into their present partnership. In ¦1880 they moved to Nos. 386 and 388 River street, and in 1884 moved ^to their present location, Nos. 553 to 559 Federal street. The International Shirt and Collar company is another prominent s industry of recent date. Its plant is located at Nos. 2 to 20 River 'street, and it also has branch houses in Boston, New York and Chicago. into the business, under the firm name of William H. feFrear&Co, 318 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The Andrew M. Church company, Limited, which occupies nearly all the first floor under Rand's Opera house, was founded in 1841 at No. 42 Congress street by Edmund Cole. He was succeeded in 1846 by George Bristol and in 1858 the firm was composed of the latter and Edward E. Belden. From 1861 to 1863 Mr. Bristol continued the busi ness alone, in the latter year being joined by Andrew M. Church and George H. McFarland. Mr. McFarland withdrew in 1866 and two years later Mr. Bristol died, when Mr. Church and Miss Flavia Bristol continued the business. February 1, 1880, Mr. Church and Patrick Phalen formed the firm of Church & Phalen, and they were succeeded in 1887 by the Andrew M. Church company, Limited. The wholesale dry goods house of Converse, Collins, Merrill & Co, was established in 1806 by Laban Gardner and Henry Vail, and was succeeded in 1807 by Henry and George Vail. In 1830 Ebenezer Proudfit became a member of the firm. In 1832 Henry Vail withdrew and the concern was composed of George Vail, Ebenezer Proudfit and James L. Van Schoonhoven. George Vail retired in 1835 and his son, D. Thomas Vail, was admitted to the firm. The succeeding firmswere Van Schoonhoven, Proudfit & Co, 1852; Van Schoonhoven, Fisk & Holmes, 1859; Van Schoonhoven, Fisk & Converse, 1865; Converse, Cary & Co., 1872; Converse, Peckham & Co., 1873; Converse, Peck ham & Vilas, 1877; Converse, Peckham & Co., 1881; Converse, Col lins, Merrill & Co. (Perrin W. Converse, Cornelius V. Collins, Carlton H. Merrill and William A. Meeker), 1884. The house of G. V. S. Quackenbush & Co. was founded in 1824 by Gerrit Van Schaick Quackenbush, who soon formed a partnership with William C. Miller, the first store being on River street north of State, The firm was dissolved in 1826, when Mr. Quackenbush and Edwin Smith formed the firm of Qackenbush & Smith. Mr. Smith withdrew in 1828 and Mr. Quackenbush continued the business alone until 1837, when he entered into a partnership with William Lee. From 1839 to 1841 the firm bad a branch store at No. 3 Franklin square. From the latter year to 1865 Mr. Quackenbush conducted the business alone. In 1865 a new firm was established, composed of Mr. Quackenbush, his son Gerrit, Samuel Lasell and William H. Sherman. Frederick Bulbs entered the firm in 1868. Gerrit Quackenbush died May 8, 1869, and the surviving members continued the business until 1872, when the founder of the house passed away. February 1, 1873, Samuel H. La- sell and William H. Sherman succeeded to the business, and have since MANUFACTURING AND MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS OF TROY. 319 conducted it on the southeast corner of Broadway and Third street un der the firm name of G. V. S. Quackenbush & Co. Henry H. Darling, Brother & Co. is a wholesale house which traces its origin to the firm of Dauchy & Rose, founded in 1834. Its succes sors were: Samuel Dauchy, 1839; Dauchy & Conkey, 1842; Dauchy & Flood, 1845; Dauchy, Flood & Co., 1852; Dauchy, Lee & Co., 1853; Dauchy & Flack, 1856 ; Dauchy & Amadon, 1859 ; Burr & C. H. Dauchy, 1864; Dauchys& Darling, 1865; Simmons & Darling, 1868; Simmons, Darling & Co., 1873; Henry H. Darling & Bro., 1879; Henry H. Darling, Brother & Co., 1886; the other members of the firm being Edwin E. Darling and T. Lee Benedict. J. M. Warren & Co., the oldest hardware house in Troy, originated in 1809 in the partnership then formed by Jacob Hart and Henry Nazro. The first firm's successors were: Hart & Pitcher, 1821 ; Craft, Hart & Pitcher, 1824; Hart & Pitcher, 1830; Pitcher, Hart & Card, 1832; Isaac B. Hart, 1832; Hart, Lesley & Warren, 1836; Warrens, Hart & Lesley, 1840 (Joseph M. Warren entering the firm); J. M. Warren & Co. (Joseph M. Warren and Charles W. Tillinghast), 1855. February 1, 1864, Walter P. Warren was admitted to the firm, and in 1867 Thomas A. Tillinghast. In 1871 the former withdrew and in 1879 the latter died. In 1887 J. M. Warren & Co. became incorporated, the members of the concern then being Joseph M. Warren, Charles W. Tillinghast, Joseph J. Tillinghast, C. Whitney Tillinghast, 2nd, Fred erick A. Leeds, H. F. Wood and H. S. Darby. The firm of Squires, Sherry & Galusha originated in 1841 with the firm of Hakes & Battershall, which was succeeded in 1845 by Hakes, Battershall & Weed and in 1846 by Battershall & Weed. In 1852 the firm became Battershall & McDoual and in 1855, by the admission of John Sherry, Battershall, McDoual & Co. In 1858 Norman B. Squires succeeded Ludlow A. Battershall, the firm becoming McDoual, Squires & Sherry. In 1860 Henry Galusha was admitted to the firm, and in 1882 James H. Sherry, who had been admitted in 1874, died. Arthur G. Sherry entered the firm in 1883 and Franklin H. Whitney in 1891. John Sherry died in 1893 and the remaining partners conduct the busi ness under the old name. Among the other well known mercantile houses in Troy, Flack & Co.'s house was established in 1855 by Roger A. Flood and Harvey C. Dunham; James E. Molloy & Co. in 1862 by James E. Molloy, his brother, Francis J. Molloy, being admitted into partnership with him in 320 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. 1866; Graves, Page & Co. in 1835 by John Hunter; Morey & Lee in 1865 by N. J. & N. W. Sanford; Jason J. Gillespy in 1796 by Ebenezer Jones; J. J. Alden & Son in 1850 by Bosworth & Holmes; John L. Thompson, Sons & Co. in 1797 by Samuel Gale, jr. ; John A. Robinson & Co. in 1804 by Pomeroy & Wells; Hannibal Green's Sons & Co. in 1832 by Henry Nazro, Augustus A. Thurber and Hannibal Green; William H. Young, bookseller, in 1821 by Ebenezer Piatt; H. B. Nims & Co., booksellers (went out of business in 1896), in 1842 by W. & H. Merriam; Cluett & Sons in 1854 by William Cluett; James W. Cusack, je..eler, in 1812 by Abraham Fellows; E. W. Boughton, hatter and furrier, in 1822 by George Fry; Daniel Klock, jr., & Co., rubbergoods, in 1860 by Henry Mayell ; Green & Waterman, furniture, in 1828 by Elijah Galusha; Lee Chamberlain, plumber, in 1850 by Alfred H. Pierce and W. T. King; Charles H. Dauchy & Co. (Marcus D. Russell), in 1870 by W. H. Deuel and C. H. Dauchy; Julius Saul, clothier, by him self in 1867; Globe Ventilator Co., in 1876; Troy Waste Manufacturing company in 1883; Trojan Car Coupler company in 1891; Cunningham- Young company in 1891. Churches. In the chapters dealing with Troy as a village and city the history of the First Presbyterian church, the oldest in Troy, has been carefully traced through its early years. After the death of the Rev. Jonas Coe in 1822, the Rev. N. S. S. Beman, D. D., was installed as pastor and held that position for the next forty years, assisted from 1853 to 1857 by the Rev. Robert R. Booth, D. D., as co-pastor, and by the Rev. Herrick Johnson, D. D., later on the head of the Chicago Presbyterian Theological seminary, from June 25, 1860, to 1862, also as co pastor, Dr. Beman was continued as pastor emeritus for the next nine years, from 1862 to 1871, when he died. Rev. Marvin R. Vincent, D. D., was pastor from 1863 to 1873; Rev. George N. Webber, D. D., from 1875 to 1883; Rev. Kerr C. Anderson, D. D. , from 1884 to 1886. Rev. Theophilus Parsons Sawin was installed June 17, 1886, and is still pas tor. All the pastors have been men of superior natural endowments and all have ably ministered to the intellectual as well as the spiritual wants of their charge. Of Rev. Dr. Beman, the Hon. Martin I. Townsend, on the occasion of the centennial anniversary of the church, said: REV. T. P. SAWIN, D. D. First Presbyterian Church. 322 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. With his coming the whole world assumed a new aspect. The religious life be came more truly than it had ever been, in isolated Troy, a warfare, warring against wickedness, but still a warfare. Dr. Beman was a man of the toughest iron ever wrought out in Puritan New England. He was a man of gigantic frame, a man who had intellectually few equals in the world, a man who believed he had a mission to accomplish on earth, and who felt that in his coming to Troy the day had dawned for its accomplishment. The strongest element in Dr. Beman's character I have failed to mention, and that is a will as gigantic as the intellect that moved it. Nearly all of the present house of worship was erected upon new land purchased in 1836, while the northern front rests upon land granted by Jacob D. Vanderheyden. The First church has been a prolific mother of churches. October 15, 1815, seventeen members were dismissed to form a Presbyterian church in the town of Brunswick. September 24, 1827, fifty- five were dismissed to form the Second Presbyterian church of Troy, with two elders. December 7, 1830, forty-eight were dismissed to be organized into the Third Presbyterian church, Albia. In 1832 and 1833 seven teen were dismissed to the Free Bethel church, now extinct. In 1841) thirty-three were dismissed to form the Liberty Street Presbyterian church (colored). In 1854 sixteen were dismissed to form the Park Presbyterian church. The Second Presbyterian church, whose house of worship is located on the west side of Fifth avenue, between Grand and Fulton streets, was founded by members of the First Presbyterian church who desired to have a house of worship nearer the northern part of the city. May 22, 1826, two lots on the southeast corner of Grand Division and Sixth streets were purchased for $650 and work upon tbe structure was begun the following month. The corner stone was laid July 12, 1826, and the building was dedicated July 18, 1827. The Rev. Mark Tucker, the first pastor, was installed October 31 of that year. The building was destroyed in the great fire of May 10, 1862. Tbe congregation worshipped in Harmony hall and in various churches until December 17, 1862, when the brick session house on the site of the present church was dedicated. July 14, 1864, the corner stone of the second church was laid and the building was dedicated March 30, 1865. The pastors since Dr. Tucker have been : Erastus Hopkins, 1837-1841; Charles Wadsworth, 1842-1850; Thomas P. Field, 1850-1854; Elam Smalley, D. D., 1854-1858; Joseph T. Duryea, D. D., 18594862; DanielS. Gregory, 1863-1866; William Irwin, D, D., 1867-1887; Hector Hall, 1*'- CHURCHES OF TROY. 323 The Third Presbyterian church was incorporated August 19, 1830. A church building was erected on the present site in 1831 at a cost of $1,731. This edifice was burned in 1850, and was replaced in 1853 by the present brick edibce. The organization in 1871 founded a mission on Ida hill, which developed into the present Memorial church of Troy. The two societies existed in connection from 1872 to 1877, when they became distinct. The roll of pastors is as follows: Rev. Ebenezer Seymour, 1831-1833 ; Rev. Solomon Tracy, 1833 ; Rev. John Miller, 1857-1860; Rev. A. Proudfit, 1861-1863; Rev. R. E. Hinsdale, 1863-1864; Rev. W. W. Page, 1864-1867; Rev C. O. Thatcher, 1867-1868; Rev. J. H. Noble, 1869-1871; Rev. Abner De Witt, 1872-1877; Rev. Dr. Tyler and Rev. E. McLean, supplies, 1877-1883; Rev. C. P. Evans, 1884-1886; Rev. Josiah Still, 1887-1889; Rev. Mr. Dean, supply, 1890-1892; Rev. O. C. Auringer, 1892 . The Second Street Presbyterian church, located on the east side of Second street, between Congress and Ferry, was founded in 1833 by members of the Second Presbyterian church. The corner stone of the building was laid July 2, 1833, and the dedication occurred August 6, 1834. The Rev. William D. Snodgrass, D.D., entered upon his duties as pastor in the following September; the society was incorporated on the 30th of that month, and Dr. Sncdgrass was installed October 8. The edifice was renovated and enlarged in 1881 at an expenditure of over $34,000, and the first services were held in the practically new church April 30, 1882 Since Dr. Snodgrass the pastors have been: E. W. Andrews, 1844-184S ; Ebenezer Halley, D.D., 1848-1855; Duncan Kennedy, D.D., 1855-1867; Charles E Robinson, D.D., 1867-1877; Frederick G. Clark, D.D., 1877-1886; Eben Halley, D.D., 1886-1895; George T. Berry, 1895 . The Liberty Street Presbyterian church (colored) was established in 1834 in the session house of the First Presbyterian church on Liberty street, which was dedicated November 27 of that year. The church was duly organized February 3, 1840, by thirty-three colored members of the First Presbyterian church. Rev. Henry H. Garnett was the first pastor, serving from 1842 to 1848. Park Presbyterian church was erected in 1853 and 1854 on the west side of Second street, between Washington and Adams. The church was regularly organized August 24, 1854, and the building dedicated December 31, of that year, work having been delayed by the im poverishment of many of the members of the church by the great fire of 1854 Rey. Charles S. Robinson became pastor in 1855. His suc cessors were: Gilbert H. Robertson, 1860-1864; Abner De Witt, 1865- 1871 ; Donald McGregor, 1872 . 324 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Westminster Presbyterian church is the outgrowth of a mission Sun day school organized under the care of the Second Street Presbyterian church in January, 1869. A chapel was erected on the west side of Vail avenue and was dedicated October 23, 1870. The church was regularly organized November 2, 1871, and in August, 1882, was moved to its present site on the northwest corner of First street and Fifth avenue, Lansingburgh. The later history of the church will be found in the chapter dealing with Lansingburgh. The Woodside Presbyterian church was originally organized as the South Presbyterian church, but its name was changed, when Henry Burden built the stone church as a memorial to his wife in 1869. A Sunday school was begun by members of the First Presbyterian church in Mechanics' hall on the bank of Wynants kill in March, 1866, and a church was organized June 19, 1867. Rev. John Tatlock supplied the infant church for one year ; Rev. Matthew B. Lowrie was pastor from 1868 to 1870; and Rev. Teunis S. Hamlin from 1871 to 1884. The present pastor, Rev. Arthur H. Allen, was installed February 12,1885. In addition to the church, with its chime of bells in the tower, and the chapel adjoining, Mr. Burden's children, Mrs. Margaret E. Proudfit, James A. Burden, and I. Townsend Burden, erected in 1871 a manse close by, and in 1884 the new chapel for Sabbath school and other uses. Mount Ida Memorial church (Presbyterian) was dedicated March 14, 1872. The society is the outgrowth of a mission Sunday school organ ized April 25, 1870, and was organized as a church October 16, 1871. The chapel was burned December 3, 1877, and the new edifice was dedicated October 24, 1878. The pastors of the church have been: Abner De Witt, 1872-1877; George E. McLean, 1877-1882; William Reed, 1882 . The Oakwood Avenue Presbyterian church originated in a Sunday school which was organized March 18, 1868, by Aaron H. Graves, for many years an elder of the First Presbyterian church. The building at the corner of Hoosick and Tenth streets, which has since been en larged, was occupied by the school January 1, 1867. Rev. George Van Deurs began work here as missionary pastor January 1, 1868. The new building was dedicated July 1, 1868, on which day a commis sion from the Presbytery of Troy organized fifty-four persons into a church to be known as the Oakwood Avenue Presbyterian A brick parsonage costing $5,700 was built in 1892. The pastors since the first one in charge have been: C. S. Durfee, 1873-1875; George Van Deurs, 1875-1881; George D. Adams, 1881; William H. Sybrandt, 1882 ¦ REV. HERBERT C. HINDS. CHURCHES OF TROY. 325 The Ninth Presbyterian church started as a chapel in charge of the Second Presbyterian church. A chapel was built in 1868 and the first services held therein in December of that year. May 16, 1869, Rev. Ninian Beall Remick of Union Theological seminary assumed charge, and September 30 of that year the Ninth Presbyterian church was or ganized, Rev. N. B. Remick becoming its first pastor. He resigned April 2, 1890, and March 11, 1891, Rev. Herbert C. Hinds, the present pastor, was installed. In 1882 the chapel in the rear of the church was erected, and in 1883 a manse was built. October 28, 1894, a week of services was held in commemoration of the completion of the first quar ter of a century of the church. The first steps tooking toward the establishment of the United Pres byterian church were taken in September, 1832, when Dr. Peter Bullions, then professor of languages in the Albany academy, began preaching to a few families in a small frame building on the corner of Fourth and State streets. Formal organization was effected February 6, 1834, with sixteen members. The pastors have been Revs. Peter Bullions, D. D., December 28, 1836, to February 13, 1864; H. P. McAdam, July 20, 1865, to January 3, 1871; R. D Williamson, February 6, 1872, to date. St. Paul's Episcopal church edifice of to-day is the result of many improvements over the old edifice and the expenditure of large sums of money. The early history of the church has been recited in pre ceding pages. Four years after the consecration of the building, or in 1832, a two-story brick building for the use of the Sunday school was erected on State street in the rear of the church. In 1854 the first or gan was sold, a new one having been presented to the church by Mrs. Martha C. Warren, widow of Stephen Warren. The rectory north of the church was built in 1865. The parish house on State street was erected in 1869 and the chapel in the second story was consecrated by Bishop Doane of Albany on St. Paul's day, 1871. The German con gregation of St. Paul's church, organized in 1881 by the assistant min ister, the Rev. Johannes Rockstroh, began holding services in the chapel in October of that year. The Martha memorial house on the north side of the rear of the church was erected in 1881 by Joseph W. Fuller and his wife in memory of their deceased daughter, Martha W. Fuller. The addition on the north side of the building was erected in 1886 and is occupied by the sisters of the order of the Holy Child Jesus. The chancel of St. Paul's church contains a Caen marble reredos with 326 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. English alabaster panels and columns and shelf of Tennessee marble given in 1886 in memory of Mrs. Phebe Warren Tayloe. The hand- Interior of St. Paul's Church. some credence was given in memory of Mrs. Eliza A. Paine; the white marble altar steps were given by William E. Hagan and family in mem ory of Frank Covell Hagan ; the brass lectern was presented in 1880 by CHURCHES OF TROY. 327 Mrs. Walter P. Warren in memory of her brother, Edward Ingersoll Warren; the brass corona was given in 1880 by the Hon. James For syth, and the silver communion service is the gift of Mrs. John L. Thompson, in memory of her husband. A mission school in charge of the church was founded in 1869 and in 1871 a school building was erected on the north side of Middleburgh street between Sixth avenue (then Vail avenue) and Mount street. The name was changed to St. Barnabas chapel in 1883, and the congregation became independent. St. Paul's church was closed during several months of the year 1893, at which time elaborate improvements were made to its interior at an expense of about $70,000. The floor and walls of the chancel were converted into beautiful Mosaic work and many other radical changes were effected, making the church one of the most magnificent in ap pearance in tbe United States. The rectors of the church in the order of their service have been : David Butler, D.D., 1804-1834; Robert B. Cross (assistant rector), 1830-1831 ; Isaac Peck (assistant rector), 1831-1834, rector, 1834-1836; Alonzo Patten, D.D. (supply), 1836-1837; Robert B. Van Kleeck, D.D., 1837-1854; Thomas W. Coit, D.D., LL.D., 1854-1872; Eliphalet Nott Patten, D.D. (associate rector), 1869-1872; Francis Hari- son, D.D., 1873-1885; H. Ashton Henry (assistant minister, priest in charge), 1886- 1887; Dr. Edgar A. Enos, 1887 . St. John's Episcopal church was the second of that denomination in Troy, and is an offshoot of St. Paul's. November 22, 1830, at a meet ing in the Presbyterian session house, No. 71 Fourth street, where in dependent religious services had been held for some time, members of St. Paul's church organized St. John's church, and voted to purchase of the mother church the edifice on the northwest corner of State and Congress streets, for which, January 13, 1831, they paid $5,000. The Rev. John A. Hicks of Easton, Pa., became the first rector in May, 1831. In 1839 a new bell was purchased and a spire erected on the tower. In the spring of 1853 work on the church on the southeast corner of First and Liberty streets was begun. The corner stone was laid June 18 by the Right Rev. J. M. Wainwright, provisional bishop of New York, and the structure was consecrated May 31, 1855, by the Right Rev. Henry C. Potter, provisional bishop of New York. The building cost about $50,000, $9,000 of which was realized from the sale of the old church to Gardner W. Rand. The chapel at the east end of the church was enlarged in 1873 and 1874, and the parish house, south of the chapel, was erected in 1889. The rectors of the church have been: 328 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. John A. Hicks, 1831-1832; Herman Hooker, 1832-1833; Henry R. Judah, 1833- 1836; Gordon Winslow, 1836-1837; Richard Cox, 1837-1844; William H. Walter, 1844-1846; A. B. Carter, 1846-1847; Edward Lounsberry, 1847-1854; Richard Tem ple, 1854-1856; J. Brinton Smith, 1856-1859; Henry C. Potter, DD, 1859-1866; George H. Walsh, D.D., 1866-1876; Frank h. Norton, D.D., 1876-1880; Thaddeus A. Snively, 1881-1892; Henry R. Freeman, November 1, 1892 . Christ church (Protestant Episcopal) had its inception in a Sunday school organized in May, 1836. In November of that year religions services were conducted for the first time by the Rev. William F. Walker, afterward first rector of the church, which was duly organized in the following December. The corner stone of the church was laid May 10, 1838, on the west side of Fifth avenue, between Federal and Jacob streets, and the edifice was consecrated June 1, 1839. In 1851 a rectory was built on King street. In 1867 the church was renovated and enlarged and in 1882 the parish house adjoining the church on the north was erected. The pastors of the church since Mr. Walker's time have been: Edward Ingersoll, 1840-1842; Robert B Fairbairn, 1843-1848; Thomas A Starkey 1850-1854; James Mulcahy, 1854-1860; Eaton W. Maxcy, jr., 1861-1864; Joseph N. Mulford, 1864-1886; Eaton W. Maxcy, D.D . 1886^ . The early history of the Church of the Holy Cross is found in the chapters devoted to Troy as a village and city. The erection of the church edifice was begun in 1844, the corner stone being laid on St. Mark's day, April 25, of that year. Rev. Dr. J. Ireland Tucker, then a deacon, officiated at the first services, which took place the following Christmas. December 6, 1848, the church was consecrated by Rt. Rev. William R. Whittingham, bishop of Maryland, who was in this diocese at the time. The following morning Dr. Tucker was admitted to the priesthood and became rector of the church. In 1857 the rectory on the north side of the edifice was built, and in 1859 the church was enlarged by the addition of the ante-chapel. In 1889 a vast improve ment was made by the lengthening of the chancel, Dr. Nathan B. Warren, Stephen E. Warren and George Henry Warren paying for the expense of the addition. Holy Cross church was among the first of the free Episcopal churches built in the United States, through the influence of Dr. Tucker and Nathan B. Warren. The golden jubilee of the church was c?lebrated with appropriate ceremonies in 1894, beginning on Christmas eve, the services being in charge of Dr. Tucker. Immense crowds thronged CHURCHES OF TROY. 329 the church and Eighth street near by. A large number of clergymen were present. The principal address was by Rt. Rev. William Cros- well Doane, bishop of Albany. On Christmas day the services were continued. The music throughout both days was of a high order, much of it having been composed especially for the occasion by Dr. Nathan B. Warren and Dr. Edward J. Hopkins, the eminent composers. The Christmas sermon was by Rt. Rev. Henry C. Potter, D. D., bishop of New York. After the death of Dr. Tucker the pulpit of the church was supplied until February 2, 1896, when Rev. Edward W. Babcock accepted a call to the pastorate and began his services. St. Luke's church (Episcopal) was incorporated November 20, 1866, though religious services had been held prior to that time. The cor ner stone of the edifice was laid July 20, 1867, the first services were held in the church May 17, 1868, and the building was consecrated by Bishop Doane June 3, 1869. The pastors of the church have been: E. S. Widdemer, 1867-1870; George W. Shinn, 1870-1873; Samuel E. Smith, 1873- 1874: Daniel G. Anderson, 1874-1875; John W. H. Weibel, 1876-1878; James B. Wasson, 1878-1880; R. G. Hamilton, 1880-1886; J. O. Lincoln, 1886-1890; William B. Bolmer, 1890 . The Free Church of the Ascension (Episcopal) succeeded St. John's Free Mission, organized February 14, 1868, by the Rev. George H. Walsh, D. D., rector of St. John's Episcopal church. The church edi fice was erected by Franklin W. Farnam and his wife. The corner stone was laid by Bishop Doane October 19, 1869, and he consecrated the church February 18, 1871. The total cost of the church was $80,- 000. The congregation became independent and self-sustaining Janu ary 1, 1873. The Rev. James Caird, who had been in charge of the mission from October 5, 1870, became the rector of the church on the day on which its independence was announced. The Farnam institute, on the north side of Congress street, opposite the church, was built in 1872 by Franklin W. Farnam for a parish school. ;, St. Barnabas parish was inaugurated as a mission of St. Paul's parish in November, 1869, by Rev. E. N. Potter, S.T.D. It was known as St. Paul's Free chapel until July, 1886, when the wardens and vestry of St. Paul's parish conveyed the property to a board of trustees, and the independent parish of St. Barnabas was incorporated. A frame chapel, built in 1871, was occupied for service until April 21, 1896, when the present structure, a Gothic church of brick and stone, was 3.30 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. opened. The following have been the rectors: Pelham Williams September 21, 1879-May 14, 1888; William D. Martin, September 2d' 1888-February 1, 1891; George A. Holbrook since February 8, 1891. The early history of the First Particular Baptist church has been related. In 1846 a new brick edifice was erected and in 1881 the front of the building was remodeled. The pastors of the church have been- Isaac Webb, 1803-1811; Francis Wayland, sr., 1812-1816; Charles G. Soraers, 1816-1821; Leland Howard, 1823-1828; Peter Ludlow, jr., 1829; Benjamin M. Hill, 1830-1839; John Cookson, 1840-1842; Lorenzo O. Lovell, 1843; George C. Baldwin' D.D., 1844-1885; L. M. S. Haynes, D.D., 1886 . The Second Particular Baptist church, which ceased to exist in 1852, was organized in February, 1834. In the following April the society purchased the First Universalist church property on Ferry street be tween First and Second streets. The first and only pastor of the con gregation was Rev. Ebenezer S. Raymond. He resigned in 1841 and the church rapidly lost its members, finally going out of existence. The Fifth Avenue (North) Baptist church was organized June li, 1843, by fifty-seven members of the First Particular Baptist church, and the society began worshipping July 3 of that year in the Presby terian session house, No. 71 Fourth street, with Rev. Leland Howard as pastor. The church on the southeast corner of Fifth avenue and Fulton street was dedicated May 23, 1844. October 28, 1852, it was burned ; was rebuilt and dedicated June 26, 1853; was again destroyed by the great fire of May 10, 1862, in which year the present edifice was erected, being dedicated May 14, 1863. In 1878 the auditorium was refitted at an expense of about $3,000. In 1887 the front of the build ing was remodeled and the Sunday school room renovated and refur nished. The pastors have been : Leland Howard, 1843-1846; J. H. Walden, 1846-1848; J. G. Warren, D.D., 1849- 1855; C. P. Sheldon, D.D., 1856-1875; L. J. Matteson, 1876-1877; J. H. Griffith, 1878-1883; H. O. Hiscox, 1884-1892; J. W. Ford, D.D., 1892 . The Sixth Avenue Baptist church originated in January, 1868, with the organization of a Sunday school which became the Vail Avenue mission of the First Baptist church. September 26, 1869, a chapel was erected on the east side of YTail avenue, and April 23, 1871, the church was organized. The chapel was enlarged in 1873 and ten years later was moved to its present location on the corner of Ceme tery and Sixth (Vail) avenues. The pastors of the church have been: Ezra D. Simons, 1871-1876; John Mostyn, 1876-1877; Thomas Bickford, 1878- THOMAS A. GRIFFIN, D. D. CHURCHES OF TROY. 33 1 1879; J. W. Martin, 1880-1882; George E. Weeks, 1883-1889; W. S. S. Warden, 1890-1891 ; G. F. Woodbury, 1891 . The South Troy Baptist church, organized October 24, 1869, was a branch of the North (Fifth Avenue) Baptist church, and was the out growth of a Sunday school organized by James L. Phillips two years before. From 1869 to 1886 the congregation worshipped in a wooden building at No. 552 First street. The present chapel, built on its site, was dedicated January 17, 1886. The pastors have been: Richard Davies, 1870-1871; J. N. Smith, 1871-1875; E. D. Phillips, 1881-1883; J. B. Nairn, 1887 . The founding of the State Street Methodist Episcopal church in 1808 has been described in a preceding chapter. A new church was built in 1827 at an expense of $7,000 and was dedicated December 1 of that year by Bishop Elijah Hedding. The corner stone of the present handsome stone structure was laid June 25, 1868, and the edifice was dedicated March 30, 1871. The stone chapel on the west side of the church was erected in 1882 and dedicated March 29, 1883. The spire which surmounts the tower of the church was erected in 1896 by George B. and J. W. Alfred Cluett as a monument to their parents. The State Street church may be called the mother of Methodist churches in Troy, as from it nearly all the other churches of that denomination have sprung. The Pawling Avenue M. E. church was founded by members of the State Street church August 15, 1826, and in 1829 the Rev. John Tack- aberry, who had been appointed to assist the Rev. Samuel Merwin, pastor of the State Street society, statedly preached in the new meet ing house in Albia, which had been erected in 1827. The church was rebuilt in 1858. Members of the State Street M. E. church also formed the Fifth Avenue (North Second Street) M. E. church. Work was begun upon the structure in the summer of 1834 and the dedication occurred August 30, 1835. The church society was incorporated October 12, 1835, as the North Second Street Methodist Episcopal Church of the City of Troy. The Rev. Samuel D. Ferguson preached to the congregation from 1835 to 1836, and the first pastor, the Rev. Charles Sherman, took charge in 1836. A new church was erected in 1854 and dedicated De cember 29 of that year. In consequence of a change in the name of the street, the name of the church was changed to Fifth Avenue Meth odist Episcopal Church of Troy February 9, 1888. 332 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The Third Street M. E. church is largely an offshoot of the State Street church. A class had been formed in the southern part of the city in 1843, and March 29, 1844, the Third Street church was regularly organized. The church was built in 1846 and 1847 and dedicated on Christmas day of the latter year. The Rev. Oliver Emerson, the first pastor, had been preaching over a year before the edifice was con structed. In 1873 the church was enlarged. In 1879 the name was changed to Wesley chapel and from 1880 to 1884 the society was in cluded in the State Street church, having no pastor of its own. In 1886 the old name was resumed. Grace. (Vail Avenue) M. E. church sprang from a Sunday school or ganized in 1843. The church was formally organized March 15, 1852, as the Methodist Episcopal church in North Troy, and the first pastor, the Rev. John L. Cook, served both that society and the one at Green Island. The church edifice was erected in 1858 and dedicated Decem ber 10 of that year. In 1867 the society took the name of Vail Avenue M. E. church and April 2, 1888, it was changed to Grace M. E. church. The corner stone of the present structure was laid August 16, 1888, and the edifice was dedicated the first Sunday in June, 1889. It is located on the east side of Sixth avenue, north of Dow street, and cost about $40,000. The origin 6f the African M. E. Zion church is traceable to a class connected with the State Street church led by John Dungy, who in 1831 became the pastor of a small congregation of colored people. In 1832 the society took the name of Wesleyan M. E. Zion church, meet ing in a small wooden dwelling on Fifth street, north of Liberty. In 1841 the society purchased a building on Fifth street and altered itinto a church. February 23, 1843, the society was formally organized. The present church on the east side of Seventh street was erected in 1868. While the formal organization of Trinity Methodist church took place October 28, 1846, its real organization may be traced to a prayer meeting first held about the year 1832 at the house of Isaac Hillman. The corner stone of the present church was laid in October, 1848, and July 12, 1849, the building was dedicated by Bishops Hamleineand Hed- ding. The pews have been free from the first organization. In 1853 a parsonage was built at a cost of $2,876.48. The church was enlarged in 1860, increasing the seating capacity by 200, and again in 1880 it was enlarged and beautified at an expense of $14,084.94. During the REV. JOHN J. WALSH. CHURCHES OP TROY. 333 winter of 1895-1896 a chapel was built and furnished for the primary department of the Sunday school and for social purposes, costing about $3,800. Levings M. E. church originated September 24, 1838, by a meeting of persons who designated themselves members of the Fourth M. E. church in Troy. The society erected a house of worship in 1850 during the pastorate of the Rev. John Graves. During the pastorate of the Rev. Charles Edwards in 1889 the edifice was raised and considerably changed in appearance at a cost of $4,000. The German Methodist Episcopal church was organized July 25, 1857, with Rev. F. W. Dinger as pastor. There had been services held at intervals for nearly two years previous, and a Sunday school had been organized as early as April, 1866. The services were first held in a mission building on Seventh street. Later the society moved to the building on the south side of Congress street. In 1861 under the administration of Rev. G. Abele, two building lots were purchased on the northwest corner of Union and State streets and in 1863 Rev. J. F. Seidel superintended the building of the present church property on those lots. The following pastors have served the society : F. W. Dinger, J. Swahlen, G. Abele, J. F. Seidel (three terms), J. C. Deininger, G. Mayer, J. Kindler, P. A. Moelling, F. G. Gratz, J. G. Lutz, sr., Wm. H. Kurth (two terms), F. W. Boese. St. Peter's Catholic parish is the oldest Catholic parish in Troy. From it have sprung the other seven Troy congregations. It was organized in 1825 and four years later a wooden church edifice was erected on the corner of Hutton street and Fifth avenue. In 1848 this building was burned and the present church was dedicated the following year. The pastors have been : Fathers McGilligan, 1825-1827; John Shanahan, 1827-1842; Peter Havermans, 1842-1845; Francis Donehue, 1845-1847; Philip O'Reilly, 1847-1849; John Curry, 1849-1851; Michael O'Donnell, 1851-1855; Thomas Daley, 1855-1858; Clarence A. Walworth, 1858-1861; James Keveny, 1861-1880; F. A. Ludden (afterward bishop of Syracuse), 1880-1887; John Walsh, 1887 . St. Mary's academy is an auxiliary of the church. St. Mary's Catholic parish was created in 1843 by members of St. Peter's congregation. Father Peter Havermans, who in 1896 is the oldest person in the priesthood in the United States, supervised the erection of St. Mary's church and has been its pastor from the begin ning. The church is located on the northeast corner of Third and 334 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Washington streets. The church has charge of a parish school— St Mary's — for girls. The majority of the boys of the parish attend St, Mary's Academy of the Christian Brothers. Finding St. Mary's church inadequate, in 1847, mainly through the efforts of Father Havermans, St. Joseph's parish was created and the corner stone of the present church was laid May 21 of the same year. The property was at once turned over to the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, who have since had possession. The pastors have been: Revs, Peter Verheyden, 1848-1852; August Thebaud, 1852-1860; Joseph Loysance, 1876-1888; J. McQuaid, 1888 . The parish has two schools located north of the parish house. The celebrated choir of St, Joseph's was organized in 1853 by Dr. Thomas Guy, one of the fore most composers and organists in the State, who is still the director. The Catholic congregation of St. John the Baptist, or St. Jean-Bap- tiste, was organized in 1852. The first place of worship was at No. 44 Ferry street. This was burned in 1855 and for thirteen years the French Canadian Catholics of Troy were without a permanent place of worship. In 1868 the present church on Second street was erected, being dedicated the following year. The parish includes all of Troy and Green Island. The pastors have been: Fathers Turcotte, 1X52- 1855; George J. Brown, 1869-1875; Gedeon Huberdeault, 1875-1880; R. J. Cost, 1880-1883; Joseph Charette, 1883-1889; J. B. St. Onge, 1889 . The students of the parochial schools are taught in both French and English. St. Lawrence parish (German Catholic) was organized in 1871, eleven years after the congregation had been formed. Tbe first church was built in 1871, and the present one was dedicated in 1884, when the old edifice was converted into a parochial school house. The pastors have been: Fathers Gustave Meittinger, Peter A. Puissant, Father Drolsha- gan, Norbert Stoller, Henry C. Lipowski, Joseph Ottenhues, Bernard Schoppe, Mgr. H. Cluever. The church is located at the corner of Third and Jefferson streets and has an excellent school. St. Francis's parish was created in 1861 under the name of Holy Trinity. The first church was erected in 1863 on Fifteenth street, be tween Christie and Marshall streets, and the present church on Con gress street, Ida hill, in 1882. The pastors have been: Fathers Peter Havermans, 1861-1866; Henry Herfkens, 1866-1872; F. Francis, 1872-1875; William J. Burke, 1875-1876; W. A. Drumm, 1876-1882; Charles A. Reilly, 1882-1887; Joseph F. Leonard, 1887 . CHURCHES OF TROY. 335 St. Patrick's parish was created in 1871 and Rev. John J Swift has been its pastor since the first church was erected. St. Patrick's paro chial school is one of the most successful of its kind in the State. St. Michael's parish was created in 1872 through the efforts of the Jesuit fathers of St. Joseph's and the church is located on the corner of Stowe avenue and Willow street. The parish was in full charge of the Jesuit fathers until June, 1888, when the present pastor, Rev. James Flood, was given control. The German Evangelical Lutheran Trinity church was organized through the efforts of Rev. Peter Eirich of St. Paul's Lutheran church of Albany. Rev. Theodore Maas became its first pastor, September 3, 1871. A formal organization was effected October 15 of the same year. The congregation first worshipped in Turner hall, thence for a num ber of years in Green's hall, corner Fourth street and Broadway. In the spring of 1873 the site of the present church was purchased for $5,800, and Rev. Fr. Goessling was called as pastor. The wooden building on the lot was renovated for the use of worship at an expense of $2,000, and dedicated February 7, 1875. In 1878 a discontented fac tion left the church and organized St. Paul's Evangelical congregation, corner of Seventh and Fulton streets. The church building was de stroyed by fire in December, 1879, but a new church was built at once and dedicated January 16, 1882. Rev. H. Beiderbecke was pastor from 1882 to 1886, since which Rev. A. F. Walz has officiated. The congre gation has a branch Sunday school at Lansingburgh and a mission chapel at Cohoes. St. Paul's Evangelical church was organized November 10, 1879. In February, 1885, the house of worship belonging to the Church of Christ, corner of Seventh and Fulton streets, was purchased by the congregation, which began holding services there May 3 of that year The first pastor was the Rev. William V. Gerichten. The River Street Church of Christ had its beginning in 1838. It was originally known as " The Congregation of Jesus Christ " and held Us first meetings in a house on Fifth avenue owned by Elder Dexter Moody, through whose efforts, largely, the organization was effected. In 1865, under the leadership of Elder W. A. Belding, this congrega tion was incorporated under the name of the Church of Christ. After having met in a room over the post-office on First street and also at the corner of First and Ferry streets, removal was made to permanent quarters on the corner of Seventh and Fulton streets. In 1885 the pres ent site was chosen and occupied. 336 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The Second Church of Christ was founded in 1887. The first pastor was the Rev. R. W. Stancill. The First Unitarian church was organized June 20, 1845. August 19 of that year the Presbyterian session house on the west side of Fourth street, between Broadway and State street, was purchased by the soci ety and October 1 of that year the church was incorporated. The chapel was dedicated November 14 and in 1846 it was enlarged. The building was sold in 1874 and the corner stone of a new church edifice, located on the southwest corner of State and Fourth streets, was laid May 20, 1875, the dedication occurring December 15 of that year. The first pastor was the Rev. John Pierpont, who served from August, 1845, to 1849. The First Universalist church was established as the First Restora- tionist church July 2, 1822. July 29, 1823, the corner stone of the first church was laid on the south side of Ferry street, between First and Second, and about the same time the society changed its name to the First Universalist church of Troy. The property was sold to the Sec ond Particular Baptist church in 1834 and a new edifice was built in 1835 on the west side of Fifth street, between State street and Broad way, the dedication occurring September 11, 1835. The church was rebuilt in 1875. The first pastor of the society, in 1823, was the Rev. Lemuel Willis. The Jewish congregation of Berith Sholom had its inception in 1864, when it was organized under the name of Bickur Cholom and was served by Louis Neusted as reader. The congregation was incorpo rated as Berith Sholom March 26, 1866. The corner stone of the syna gogue on the west side of Third street, between Division and Liberty, was laid June 12, 1870, and the edifice was dedicated September 22 of the same year. The first rabbi was Bernard Eberson, who came to the society in 1870. The Jewish congregation of Beth Israel Bickur Cholom was organized August 7, 1870. Four years later the society secured for a permanent place of worship a building on State street between First and River streets. The congregation's first readers were Bernstein A. Chellock and Hermand Lovenstein, in 1873. The Jewish congregation of Shaare Tephilla was established in 1873. The synagogue on the north side of Division street between First and River, was erected in 1887, the corner stone having been laid October 9 of that year. The first reader was Rev. Isaac Berkowitch. • ¦¦ :- CHARLES E. HANAMAN. BANKS OF TROY. 337 The Young Men's Christian Association of the city of Troy was or ganized March 13, 1895, with a charter membership of 246 and these officers : Board of trustees, Robert Cluett, president ex-officio; Geo. B. Cluett, W. H. Frear, L. E. Gurley, Chas. R. Ingalls, W. H. Rowe, C. W. Tillinghast; board of directors, Robert Cluett, president ; W. F. Gurley, vice-president ; C. L. Maxcy, recording secretary ; D. Klock, jr., treasurer; F. H. Cluett, W. H. Doughty, H. S. Darby, W. N. Ells, W. C. Geer, E. W. Greenman, W. H. Hollister, jr., F. H. Knox, H. S. Kennedy, H. S. Ludlow, J A. Leggett, H. G. Piersons, J. H. Peck, W. H. Rowe, jr., A. G. Sherry, J. H. Tupper, D. C. Woodcock; executive officers, C. W. Dietrich, general secretary; H. C. Scofield, assistant secretary. In the winter of 1895-96 it was proposed to construct a handsome building for the uses of the association, but after a brief canvass it was considered unwise to enter upon a general canvass until the financial condition of the country were improved. In the canvass made sub scriptions were secured to the amount of $35,000. Banks. The early history of some of the oldest banks in Troy will be found in preceding pages of this work. Some of the banks established when Troy was a village or in its early days as a city have been extinct many years. Of those that are now in existence the following is a brief his tory: The Troy Savings bank is one of the strongest financial institutions in Troy. Its foundation and development and the construction of its handsome and costly building on the northeast corner of Second and State streets have been fully described in other pages. The presidents of this great institution have been : Townsend McCoun, 1823-1834; Richard P. Hart, 1834-1839; Stephen Warren, 1839-1847; Gurdon Corning, 1847-1850; Jared S. Weed, 1850-1870; Charles B. Rus sell, 1870-1886; Derick Lane, 1886-1892; Charles E. Hanaman, February 9, 1893 . President Lane died in office December 14, 1892, and First Vice- President Derick L. Boardman acted as president until the election of Mr. Hanaman, The Troy City bank was incorporated April 19, 1833, with a capital of $300,000. The first president was Richard P. Hart and the first cashier George R. Davis. September 13 of that year the bank moved into a brick banking house on the southeast corner of Fourth and Grand 43 338 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Division streets. The building was burned in the great fire of Ixii-J and the present banking house was immediately constructed. The bank was reorganized January 1, 1863, with a capital stock of $300,000- and it was organized January 1, 1865, as the Troy City National bank with $500,000 capital. May 10, 1877, the capital was reduced to the former figure. The presidents of the bank since the first one have been: George B. Warren, sr., 1844-1857; John A. Griswold, 1857-1872; Hannibal Green, 1872-1875; John B. Pierson, 1875-1885; George A. Stone, 1885 . The Union National bank was organized as the Union bank Decem ber 24, 1850, and four days later Joel Mallary became president, John Kerr vice-president. The first cashier, Pliny M. Corbin, was elected February 28, 1851. The bank began business April 11, 1851, at No. 349 River street with a capital of $250,000, and soon afterward re moved to No. 12 First street. March 21, 1865, the capital was increased to $300,000 and the name was changed to Union National bank. April 28, 1888, the institution moved into its new banking house on the east side of Fourth street, between Fulton street and Broadway The National State bank of Troy was organized April 14, 1852, as the State bank of Troy, with a capital of $250,000, with Ralph J. Starks as president, Henry Ingram as vice-president and Willard Gay as cashier. The transaction of business was begun September 2 of that year in the banking house on the southeast corner of First and State streets. April 15, 1865, the institution became the National State bank of Troy, the capital remaining unchanged. The Manufacturers' National bank was formed in August, 1852, with $200,000 capital, Arba Read being the first president, Charles W. Thompson vice-president and John S. Christie cashier. In Octo ber of that year the banking house at No. 13 First street was occu pied, and May 1, 1856, the bank moved into its building' at the in tersection of River and King streets December 27, 1864, it became the Manufacturers' National bank, the capital being reduced to $1-50,- 000. The Mutual National bank was organized as the Mutual Bank of Troy November 24, 1852, with $250,000 capital. The first president was John P. Albertson, the vice-president Joseph U. Orvis and the cashier George A. Stone. January 18, 1853, the bank occupied the brick building on the northeast corner of First and River streets, occu- II GEORGE A. STONE. PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF TROY. 339 pied by the Farmers' bank from 1820 to 1830. It became a national bank under its present name March 23, 1865, with the same capital. The Central National bank was organized December 29, 1852, with $200,000 capital, and called the Central Bank of Troy. February 5, 1853, J. Lansing Van Schoonhoven was elected president and James Buel cashier. The bank began business at No. 271 River street De cember 29, 1852. May 1, 1853, it removed to No. 5 Second street and twelve years later to No. 13 First street. October 21, 1854, the capital was increased to $300,000, and in April, 1867, the institution became a national bank under the present name. The National bank of Troy is the successor to the First National bank. The latter bank was organized October 28, 1863, with $200,000 capital and Thomas Coleman for president and Richardson H. Thurman for cashier. The bank began business January 4, 1864, at No. 218 River street. The capital stock was increased to $300,000 January 27, and May 1 the bank moved into its new building, No. 15 First street. The bank discontinued business February 24, 1883, on which day the National bank of Troy was organized with $200,000 capital. Thomas Coleman was elected president, Francis A. Fales vice-president and George H. Morrison cashier. The bank first occupied the building- owned by its predecessor, and in 1894 moved into the building at tbe southwest corner of Fourth and Fulton streets. The United National Bank was organized March 7, 1865, by a num ber of depositors of the Farmers' bank and the Bank of Troy, which discontinued business February 27 of that year. The capital stock of the new institution was $300,000. On the day of organization E. Thompson Gale was elected president, William A. Shepard vice-presi dent and Tracy Taylor cashier. April 13, 1865, the transaction of busi ness was begun on the northwest corner of First and State streets, the quarters formerly occupied by the Bank of Troy. March 19, 1877, the capital was reduced to $240,000. The quarters were enlarged and' im proved in 1884. Troy's Public Schools. was The earliest general " Act for the encouragement of Schools .. .. passed for the benefit of cities and towns, in April, 1795, when Troy was six years old. At that time $50,000 a year was appropriated by law for the schools for the whole State. Revisions and repeals of the 340 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. school laws followed until April, 1816, when "An act to incorporate the city of Troy" was passed. By this act the first four wards were formed into a district and power was given to the Common Council to raise by tax $500 annually to support a school and also power to build a school house. This law was in force until 1859. The Lancasterian system, which was indorsed by the State about 1815, was adopted in Troy. The last school of that kind was at the corner of State street and Sixth avenue. The origin of the adoption of this system in Troy is found in a law passed March, 1828, entitled " An act to prevent the sale of tickets of unauthorized lotteries, and to prevent the forgery of lottery tickets. " By this law the mayor of Troy was required to apply all moneys received by him for granting licenses to the vendors of lottery tickets in Troy to the trustees of district No. 1, to be expended by them in the establishment and support of a high school on the Lancasterian or monitorial plan. There seemed to be two school districts, one above and one below the Poesten kill. The agitation of the free public school system began about 1845. Before that time the schools were supported in part by rate bills. April 4, 1849, there was passed " An act to amend the charter of the City of Troy and to provide for the establishment of free schools in said city. " At the same time a law was passed making the schools of the State free. : In accordance with the law of April, 1849, a Board of Education was. organized. Then the schools began to prosper. Buildings were im proved and erected and citizens took more interest. Since that time the school laws of the city have been changed several times. The High school was established in 1854. The first superintendent of. schools was Edward Danforth, who was elected in October, 1862. H(, also acted as clerk. From that time until 1873 supervision was done; through the clerk. The law of 1873 authorized the appointment of <$ superintendent of schools as a separate office, excepting two years whei. the superintendent was also principal of the High school. The first superintendent under the law of 1873 was David Beattk:j elected April 9. He resigned September 1, 1891, and was succeede by Edwin E. Ashley. He was succeeded by John H. Willet-. in March, 1895. ' ^- r Other Educational Institutions. ¦:); The Rensselaer Polytechnic institute, certainly the highest educifl tional institution of its kind in the United States and concededly one EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OP TROY. 341 the foremost in the world, has had a memorable career. Its founda tion and history up to the year 1832, when its name was changed from Rensselaer school to Rensselaer institute, has been described in pre ceding pages. In 1833 the trustees of the school were empowered by act of the Legislature to establish a department of mathematical arts, for the purpose of giving instruction in engineering and technology. This meant the establishment of a course in civil engineering. Eight members of the class of 1835 were graduated as civil engineers and received the degree of C. E. This was the first class in civil engineer ing ever graduated in any English speaking country. Prof. Amos Eaton died in 1842 and George H. Cook of the class of 1839, who was afterwards widely known for his work as State geologist in New Jersey, was appointed as senior professor in the same year. Under his direction the school was reorganized and the courses of instruction somewhat extended. He resigned in 1847 and was succeeded by B. Franklin Greene of the class of 1842, who became director of the in stitute when that office was created by act of the Legislature in 1850. Prof. Greene's acceptance of the position marks an epoch in the his tory of the school. After a careful study of the scientific and techni cal institutions of Europe the curriculum was, under his direction, thoroughly reorganized in 1849. This reorganization included a ma terial enlargement of the course of study and the requirement of a more rigid standard of scholarship from candidates for degrees. The number of instructors was also increased, and the length of time de voted to the course was changed to three years, with a " preparatory class'' which made it practically four years in duration. At the time of the reorganization in 1849-50 the name Rensselaer Polytechnic in stitute was first given to the school. Thus was inaugurated the course and methods which have resulted in giving to the engineering profes sion in this and other countries during the last half century or less 'many of its most distinguished members. The main causes of the rep utation of the school and of the success of its graduates have been the method of instruction then adopted and the high standard of scholar ship maintained. Although the curriculum has, of course, since been changed from time to time to adapt it to the needs of the best modern practice, the methods have remained practically unchanged. The names of the presidents and directors and the years during which they served, from the foundation of the school to the present time; are as \ follows : 342 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Presidents. — Samuel Blatchford, D.D. , 1824-1838; John Chester, D.D. 1828 1839; Eliphalet Nott, D.D., LL.D., 1829-1845; Nathan S. S. Beman', D.d!' m_ 1865; Hon. John F. Winslow, 1865-1868; Thomas C. Brinsmade, D.D.', 1868 •' James Forsyth, LL.D., 1868-1886; John Hudson Peck, LL.D., 1886 . Senior Professors and Directors. — Amos Eaton, A.M., senior professor 1824- 1843; George H. Cook, C. E., Ph. D., senior professor, 1842-1846; B. Franklin Greene, C. E., A. M., director, 1847-1859; Nathan S. S. Beman, D.D , director, 1859- 1860; Charles Drowne, C. E., A. M., director, 1860-1876; William L. Adamr,C. E., director, 1876-1878; David M. Greene, C. E., director, 1878-1891; Palmer C Rick' etts, C. E., director, 1892 . The history of the Troy Female seminary, the institution founded by Mrs. Emma Willard, up to the death of Dr. John Willard May 29, 1825, has been told in tbe early pages of this work. October 13 of that year the Common Council leased the seminary to Emma Willard for five years and six months from November 1, 1825. Next spring the building was increased in size and the annual rental raised to $700, The building which was used -for musical instruction and laundering and since demolished, was erected in 1828 at an expense of $3,500. Additional ground was purchased in May, 1831, extending the property to Ferry street and westward to the alley. In 1837 a lot was purchased on Ferry street. The founder of the institution retired as principal in 1838 and left it in charge of her son, John H. Willard, and his wife, Sarah L. Willard. Eight years afterward the trustees purchased from the First Presbyterian church additional ground on the west side of the closed alley running from Congress street south to Ferry, and an addition to the main building was erected. In 1871, the patronage of the seminary having fallen off considerably, the trustees decided to solicit aid from the citizens, providing the city could be induced to convey the entire interest in the property to the trustees. The consent of the Common Council to the plan could not be obtained, and May 1, 1873, the sum of $52,615.17 having been pri vately subscribed, the trustees purchased tbe right of the city for $50,000. William Gurley and Lewis E. Gurley were the prime movers in the work and it was in a large measure due to their efforts that the required amount was subscribed. The contract between the city and the trustees continued the proviso that the property should be used for school purposes only. John H. Willard and his wife resigned as principals of the seminary at the close of the term in 1872, and Miss Emily Wilcox became princi pal. Miss Wilcox resigned soon after the close of the term in 1895, and BS r^ *fyj£~{^: Ppassetms ^jBs-t? yvj — EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF TROY. 343 was succeeded by Miss Mary Alice Knox. The old building was torn down in 1890 to give place to the Gurley Memorial building, whose corner stone was laid in June, 1891. The handsome structure was dedicated with appropriate exercises a year later. It was built by Lewis E. Gurley as a memorial to his deceased brother, William Gur ley, at a cost of $60,000. The seminary conservatory of music, known as the Anna M. Plum Memorial, was opened Thursday, September 13, 1X94. It was erected by Mrs. Gerrit V. S. Quackenbush as a memorial to her daughter, Miss Anna M. Plum, and is devoted to instruction in music and painting. Its cost was about $50,000. Russell Sage hall, the last to be added to tbe magnificent collection of buildings forming the seminary, was dedicated May 16, 1895. Its cost was about $115,000, and the entire building was given by Russell Sage and his wife, of New York, former residents of Troy- May 16, 1895, the day on which Russell Sage hall was dedicated, the beautiful statue of Mrs. Emma Willard was unveiled with elaborate ceremonies in Seminary park. Mrs. Charles L. MacArthur, president of the Emma Willard Statue association, presided. After the unveil ing of the statue and the preliminary exercises the statue was formally presented to the board of trustees by Francis N. Mann, who, in his speech, gave a comprehensive history of the Monument association. The association was organized in 1890 and the statue was designed and made by Alexander Doyle of New York city. The statue was accepted in a speech by John Hudson Peck, when the Rev. Dr. John Monroe Taylor, president of Vassar college, made a scholarly and eloquent ad dress on the life and work of Emma Willard. During the exercises a quartette sang ' ' Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep, " the words of which were written by Emma Willard. The dedication of Russell Sage hall followed. The address of presentation was made by the Rev. Dr. Stryker, president of Hamilton college, and the speech of acceptance by Lewis E. Gurley. A most eloquent address by Dr. Chauncey M. Depew of New York and the benediction by the Rev. Dr. T. P. Sawin closed the exercises. The Gurley Memorial hall was dedicated Wednesday, June 8, 1892, with elaborate exercises. The morning and part of the afternoon were devoted to receptions to the students and faculty, former students and the reunion of the Alumnae association, when addresses were made by Miss Emily T. Wilcox, president of the seminary; Mrs. Russell Sage, who, with her husband, subsequently gave Russell Sage hall to the 344 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. seminary; Mrs. Lewis E. Gurley, wife of the donor of the building and Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a member of the graduating class of 1832. Mrs. Charles L. MacArthur also made an appeal in behalf of the fund for the statue of Mrs. Emma Willard. The dedicatory services proper began at 3 p. m. and included the presentation address by Lewis E Gurley, the speech of acceptance by J. H. Peck, an elo quent address by the Rev. Dr. H. M. King of Providence, R. I,, and the reading of the dedicatory poem by Benjamin H. Hall. Among the many distinguished visitors to the seminary beside Marquis de La Fayette in 1824, Lady Franklin, wife of Sir John Frank lin, called on Miss Willard while Sir John was governor of Van Die- man's Land. In 1841 Sir Joseph Laffan de Hovey came as the agent of Queen Victoria, saying: " We have heard that you have got before us in female education, and we wish to know your plans. " Dr. Scoresby, the great English educator; Thalberg, the famous pianist; Gottschalk, the composer; Madam Angel, the great contralto; Strakosch, Ole Bull, Walbare, Dr. Vincent, Clara Louise Kellogg, Fanny Kemble, Dr. John Lord, Dr. Hayes, the Arctic explorer; General William T. Sherman and many other persons noted in the field of art, or letters, or science, or exploration, were also visitors to the school. Troy .academy was incorporated by act of Legislature May 5, 1834. The original plan was to unite in one the Rensselaer Polytechnic insti tute and the Troy academy, the former to be designated as "The De partment of Experimental Science," the latter as "The Department of Classic Literature," but although an act was passed in 1837 permitting the consolidation of the two corporations, the union was never made. The first home of the academy was at the corner of State and Fourth streets. In 1838 the city transferred to the trustees of the academy the property now occupied by the school at the cornerof State and Seventh streets, at that time the site of a building occupied in part by the High school and in part by the old Lancasterian school. Tbe building was destroyed by the great fire of 1862 and was replaced by the present one in the following year. The academy came under the direction of the present principals in 1889. Since then the aim and scope of the work of the school have been somewhat changed, the number of in structors has been increased from four to ten, the military drill has been introduced, the courses of study in the several subjects have been carefully graded, the number of subjects offered for instruction has been enlarged, and facilities afforded for advanced study in many EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF TROY. 345 directions. The principals .of the school are Prof. Frank Coe Barnes and Prof. Carroll L. Maxcy. The career of St. Joseph's Provincial seminary (Roman Catholic) dates from the year 1833, when Bishop Dubois built at Nyack a college combining both the theological and collegiate courses of studies. Hav ing been destroyed by fire the institution was re-established at La- fargeville and reopened in 1838 as St. Vincent of Paul's seminary. This proving unsuccessful a new college was established at Fordham in 1841 with Rev. John McCloskey, afterward Archbishop of New York, as president. In 1844 it was again removed to a building on Fifth avenue and Fiftieth street, N Y. In 1862 Archbishop Hughes, on the recommendation of the Rev. Peter Havermans of Troy, pur chased the property of the Troy university, which was transformed into St. Joseph's Provincial seminary and placed in charge of profess ors from the university of Louvain. It was opened under the new auspices in October, 1864, with a faculty consisting of a rector, three professors from Louvain and two from the clergy of Boston and New York. The students numbered sixty. Since that year the number has varied from 100 to 160. Up to May, 1896, 750 students were or dained to the priesthood and others have been ordained elsewhere. The directors have been : The Very Rev. Canon Louis Vandenhende, appointed in 1864 ; Rev. Alexander Sherwood Healey, 1865; Rev. John McLoughlin, 1869; Rev. James S. M. Lynch, 1871; Rev. Philip Garrigan, 1872; Rev. James S. M. Lynch, 1875; Rev. John f'. Woods, D.D., 1880; Rev. William A. McDonald, 1884; Rev. Michael J. Considine, 1886; Rev. William Livingston, 1889 to the present time. The seminary abandoned the building in Troy in the summer of 1896 and occupied its handsome new home in Yonkers. Since then the building has been used by the Christian Brothers as a school for novices. St. Peter's convent was established in 1861 and is the third convent | of the order of St. Joseph in New York State. It is located at 2328 Fifth avenue. St. Mary's convent was established in 1848 at No. 185 Third street. St. Joseph's convent was founded in 1856. The corner stone of the present building on Fourth street was laid in 1867. It is the provin cial house of the order of St Joseph for the Albany and Syracuse dio ceses. St. Ann's convent, located at No. 240 Second street, was established a 346 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. in 1885. It is the home of several sisters of St. Ann, the mother house being at La Chine, near Montreal, Can. The Brothers' Academy of St. Mary was established in 1853. The present building on the corner of Fourth and Washington streets was erected in 1878. The Troy Young Men's Catholic Literary association was organized in 1859 and has always been very prosperous. The La Salle institute was founded in 1853 by Christian Brothers of the Catholic church. They abandoned the school in 1874 on account of poor accommodations and returned in 1878, since which time the school has prospered. The Cadets' battalion was organized in 1893. Newspapers. Since the first newspaper was printed in Troy in 1797, more than half a hundred have been established!. Of these but few remain in the field. The first newspaper published in the city was the Farmers' Or acle, printed for the first time January 31, 1797, by Luther Pratt & Co, at the office on Water (River) street " opposite the ferry." The Northern Budget (Sundays) was first printed as a weekly in Lansingburgh. The first number was issued June 20, 1797, by Robert Moffit & Co. In May, 1798, the publishers moved to Troy, where the Northern Budget has since been published. January 3, 1826, the name was changed to the Troy Budget and City Register; January 1, 1828, to the Troy Budget; July 6, 1840,'to the Daily Troy Budget; July 7, 1845, to the Northern Budget; January 3, 1859, to tbe Troy Daily Budget; July 29, 1861, to the Daily Budget and Union, and October 14, 1861, to the Troy Daily Budget. It was published weekly and semi-weekly until 1840, when a daily was issued. In 1862 the publica tion of the paper was discontinued. After the founder of the paper retired the publishers were : 1807, Oliver Lyon; , Ebenezer Hill; 1817, Zephaniah Clark ; 1827, John C. Kemble; 1832, Kemble& Hooper; 1830, Charles Hooper; 1837, Hooper & Cook, also Kellogg, Strong & Cook; 1838, Kellogg & 'Cook; 1840, Carroll & Cook; 1846, John M. Francis and Edwin Brownell; 1K47, John M. Francis and Charles L. MacArthur; 1849, William W. Whitman; 1850, Whitman & MacArthur; 1852, William W. Whitman; 1854, Charles L. MacArthur; 1859, William Hagadorn; 1861, VanArnam & Co. ; 1861 to 1862, D. H. Jones. The Troy Gazette, weekly, was first issued September 3, 1802, by COL. CHARLES L. MAC ARTHUR. NEWSPAPERS OP TROY. 347 Thomas Collier; September 4, 1804, by Wright & Wilbur ; December 25 1804, by Wright, Wilbur & Stockwell; September 10, 1805, by Wright, Goodenow & Stockwell. The Farmers' Register, weekly, was first issued in Lansingburgh in 1803 by Francis Adancourt. The publication office was removed to Troy in 1806. The Troy Post began publication September 1, 1812, Parker & Bliss, proprietors. The Troy Sentinel was first published July 15, 1823, by Wm. S. Parker, with O. L. Holley as editor. Subsequent publishers were Tuttle & Richards, 1820; Tuttle & Gregory, 1827. May 1, 1830, the paper was first issued as a daily. The Fowler was founded in April, 1824, by Gilbert Gunflint (?). The Evangelical Restorationist was established by Adolphus Skinner in 1825. The Troy Review was established January 4, 182G, by Tuttle & Richards. The Reflector was established March 25, 1826, by Castor & Pollux (?). The Evangelical Repository was founded in 1828. The Troy Republican, an anti-Masonic organ, was established by Austin & Wellington in 1828, and in 1830 was controlled by Thomas Clowes. The Northern Watchman was founded in 1831, and changed to the Troy Watchman the following year. The Gospel Anchor, a Universalist organ, was founded by John M. Austin in 1831. The Troy Statesman, an anti-Masonic organ, was founded June 1 2, 1832, by T. J. Sutherland. The Troy Press was first issued by William Yates August 4, 1832. The Daily Troy Press was first issued February 11 of the following year by Mr. Yates, and was soon after sold to James M. Stevenson, publisher of the Troy Daily Whig. The Troy American was first issued September 18, 1833, by E. J. Van Cleve, who sold it to James M. Stevenson. All three of these papers were ultimately swallowed up by the Troy Daily Whig, which was first published as an afternoon daily July 1, 1834, by James M. Stevenson. Six years later the Whig was changed to a morning paper. The proprietors after the founder were; 1836, James M. Stevenson and Alexander McCall; 1839, James M. Stevenson; 1850, Charles D. Bingham; 1855, George Abbott; 1803, 348 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hugh Greene & Co. ; 1864, George Evans, representing the Whig News and Printing company; 1867, William D. Davis .& Co.; 1868 Alexander Kirkpatrick; 1872, Kirkpatrick & Lynn; 1873, Alexander Kirkpatrick, also the Troy Whig Publishing Co. The Troy Morning Whig was succeeded August 30, 1880, by the Troy Morning Telegram and Whig, which also issued the Weekly Whig. The Botanic Advocate was issued in 1834 by Russell Buckley. The Trojan was founded in 1834 by Russell Buckley and Jacob D. E. Vanderheyden. The State Journal was issued in 1836 by R. J. Masten, and the New York State Journal in 1837 by Jacob Hoxton. The Troy Daily Mail was issued in 1837 by Wellington & Nafew. The Troy Daily Bulletin was issued December 6, 1841, by R. Thomp son and William Hagen. The Troy Daily Herald was issued October 24, 1842, by Ayres & Whitehouse. The Aquarian was issued in 1843. The Troy Temperance Mirror was issued in 1843 by Bardwell & Kneeland. The Troy Daily Times is the oldest daily paper now published in the city, its first number having been issued June 25, 1851, by John M. Francis and R. D. Thompson. Since the founder the publishers have been: January 31, 1854, John M. Francis; September 12, 1863, John M. Francis and Henry O'Reilly Tucker; April 5, 1881, John M. Fran cis; May 2, 1881, John M. Francis, Son & Co. (John M. Francis, Charles S. Francis, William E. Kisselburgh and John A. Sleicher), Mr. Sleicher withdrew from the firm May 1, 1883, and Mr. Kisselburgh died May 20, 1887, since which time John M. Francis & Son have been proprietors of the paper. A weekly was issued from July 17, 1856, to 1895, since which time a semi-weekly has been published. The Family Journal was issued in 1844 by Fisk & Co. In 1848 it be came the New York Family Journal and in 1851 The Troy Family Journal. The Troy Daily Post was founded in 1844 by Alexander McCall and Enoch Davis. The Troy Daily Telegraph was founded in 1846 by Hagen & Ayres. The Rensselaer County Temperance Advocate was founded in 1846 by S. Spicer. The Journal of Temperance was founded in 1846 by Allen & Garnett. JOHN M. FRANCIS. H. O'R. TUCKER. NEWSPAPERS OF TROY. 349 The Old Settler was founded In 1851 by Allen. The Unique was founded in 1851. La Ruche Canadienne was founded in 1851 by Dorian & Mathiot. Our Paper was founded in 1853 by Davis & Cutler. The Troy Daily Democrat was founded in 1854 by James T. Ellis. The Troy Daily Traveller was founded in 1854 by Fisk & Avery. The Daily Arena was founded in 1859 by MacArthur & Fonda. The Troy Daily Express was founded in 1859 by Allen Corey. The Troy Morning News was founded in 1860 by E. T. Loveridge. Laigle Canadien was founded in 1860 by James R. Lettare. The Troy Union was founded in 1861 by Van Arnam & Merriam. The Troy City Democrat was founded in 1862 by A. Corey & Co. The Troy Daily Press was founded August 8, 1863, by A. S. Pease, who was succeeded June 18, 1866, by W. S. Hawley. It was published by the latter until March 2, 1867. October 28, 1867, the publication of the new series was begun by William S. and Edwin P. Hawley. Since that time the proprietors have been: 1868, Edwin P. Hawley; also Edwin P. Hawley and Jerome B. Parmenter; 1869, Jerome B. Parmenter and Charles C. Clark; 1873, Jerome B. Parmenter; 1883, Jerome B, Parmenter and George E. Eaton; 1884, the Troy Press Co. December 6, 1888, the paper was purchased by Henry O'R. Tucker, who founded Tbe Troy Press company, of which he is president, which still publishes the paper. Mr. Tucker has raised the paper from one of little influence and no commercial value to one of the most in fluential in New York State. The Troy Press company also pub lishes the Troy Weekly Press, founded August 8, 1863. The Freie Deutsche Presse was established April 16, 1872, as the Troy Volksfreund by Otto Offenhaeuser and Michael Wigget. The following year Mr. Offenhaeuser became sole proprietor. In 1876 the paper was sold to Aug. Hillebrand, who changed its name to the Freie Deutsche Presse. The Troy Northern Budget was first issued under the name of the Northern Budget as a Sunday paper March 24, 1867, by Charles L. MacArthur. In 1868 the paper was given the name which it has since retained. March 29, 1875, Arthur MacArthur, son of Charles L. Mac- Arthur, became associated in the business, and since that time the paper has been published by C. L. MacArthur & Son. The Troy News (Sunday) was first issued August 1, 1864, by Charles L. MacArthur. 360 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The Sunday Herald was issued in 1867 by William F. Boshart. The Public Spirit was first issued in 1868 by Le Grand Benedict. The Sunday Telegram was issued in 1870 by Thomas Hurley. The Sunday Trojan was first issued April 25, 1875, by I. F. Bos- worth and A. B. Elliott. In 1878 it was consolidated with the Troy Observer. The Troy Observer wras founded as a Sunday paper October 15, lyTil, by William V. Cleary. Two years later it was purchased by A. B. Elliott and consolidated with the Sunday Trojan under the name of Trojan-Observer. In 1879 it was purchased by Michael F. Collins and named tbe Troy Observer. The Evening Standard was founded October 17, 1877, by the Even ing Standard Publishing company, with W. J. Tyner as president. It is still published under the same auspices. The Catholic Weekly was founded February 27., 1886, by Hugh M. Reynolds, George L. Thompson and William C. Cozier, and still continues. The Troy Morning Telegram and Whig was issued for the first time August 30, 1880. by the Troy Telegram company. C. L. MacArthur & Son became proprietors in 1882 and changed the name to Troy Daily Telegram. In 1886 John Hastings purchased the paper. He was succeeded in 18S8 by William C. Cozier and John P. Pratt, who changed the name to Troy Morning Telegram. The paper was pur chased September 17, 1892, by Thomas A. Keith, who relinquished control November 21, 1895. The paper was issued for a few weeks thereafter by several printers employed by Mr. Keith, and in the spring of 1896 it ceased to exist. The Sunday News was founded September 9, 1X94, by Daniel E, Conway and is still published. The One-cent Argus, printed by the Argus company of Albany, was first published in Troy April 1, 1895. The publication of the paper was suspended June 20, 1896. The Morning Star was founded March 3, 1896, by George B. Ander son, but after twenty issues of the paper had been published the Morn ing Star ceased to exist, the publisher being convinced that there was no demand for a morning paper in Troy. The Troy Record was founded April 4, 1896, by the Troy Record company, of which J. K. P. Pine is president; William H. Hollister, jr., vice-president; Harry S. Ludlow, treasurer, and Frank H. Knox, secretary. It is published every morning except Sunday. PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF TROY. 351 The American Laundry Journal (monthly) was first issued in July, 1882 by Pratt & Clinton. In May, 1883, Clinton & Dickerman became proprietors. L. H. Dickerman has been sole proprietor since Decem ber 9, 1884. The first issue of the Carriage Dealers' Journal appeared in May, 1890, with Charles C. Conant as publisher. Two years later P. D. Randall bought a half interest. It is now a hundred-page paper and the largest in the carriage trade with one exception. The Bicycle Dealer was founded in December, 1895, by the Journal Publishing company, composed of Charles C. Conant and P. D. Randall. The first issue of the Cosmopolitan Signal as a musical monthly was May 15, 1896, it having been transformed from the West Troy Signal. Its proprietors are Madame Marie Godini and Chevalier Aurelio Ceruelos. In the summer of 1896 the following newspapers were published in Troy: Troy Northern Budget, Troy Daily Times, The Troy Press, Evening Standard, Troy Record, Troy Observer, Sunday News, Troy Weekly Press, Troy Semi- Weekly Times, Catholic Weekly, American Laundry Journal, Carriage Dealers' Journal, Bicycle Dealer, Weekly- Advocate, Freie Deutsche Presse and Cosmopolitan Signal. The handsome new court house, located on the site of the old one ,on the southeast corner of Second and Congress streets, which was still •?in course of construction in 1896, will be one of the handsomest struc tures in Troy when completed. The work of razing the old court house was begun March 11, 1895, .by eight men under the direction of Contractor Charles Duncan, soon after the close of the last term of court held in the old building. The laying of the foundation of the new structure was begun in the fall of 1894, on either end of the old building, while the latter was still occupied. 1 The Troy Orphan asylum is the outgrowth of an organization that ' was established in 1833 under the name of the Troy Association for Destitute Children. April 15, 1835, it was incorporated under the "name of the Troy Orphan asylum. The original trustees were David Buel, jr., Thomas L. Ostrom, Gurdon Grant, Griffith P. Griffith, 'Thaddeus B. Bigelow, Ashael Gilbert, jr., William W. Whipple, Amos Allen, Richard P. Hart, John Thomas, Stephen Warren, P. H. Buck ley, Elias Lasell, Jacob D. Lansing, Gardner Landon, Elias Pattison, George Vail, Jacob Merritt, John T. McCoun, Day Otis Kellogg and 352 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. John Paine. For a long time the home was located on Grand Division street, near the church of the Holy Cross. This building was de stroyed by the great fire of 1862. Soon after this buildings on Eighth street were erected, but these were soon found inadequate and a move ment for better accommodations was successful. A tract of 100 acres of land, located on the south side of Spring avenue in the south eastern part of the city, was secured in 1891 and work upon the build ings was begun in the following spring. Mrs. William Howard Hart, in addition to her other gifts, assumed the cost of building and furnishing the infirmary. The corner stone of the asylum was laid on the after noon of May 10, 1892. During the ceremonies addresses were made by C. W. Tillinghast, president of the board of trustees of the asylum, Rev. Dr. J. W. Thompson and Rev. Dr. L. M. S. Haynes. The new building was occupied the following year. In November, 1834, the citizens of Troy who favored the estab lishment of a circulating library were requested to meet in the mayor's office. A large number of representative Trojans attended and an organization was formed. Giles B. Kellogg, Thomas Coleman, Martin I. Townsend, Ralph Hawley and Thaddeus Bigelow were ap pointed a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws for the Troy Young Men's association. Four hundred and twenty-six persons im mediately signed as members of the association, rooms were secured and tbe Troy Young Men's association began active existence Febru ary 10, 1835. April 20, 1835, the association was incorporated under its present title. The library contained at the date above written about one thousand volumes, many of them being gifts from the old "Troy library." The reading room was well supplied with newspa pers and periodicals, and a vigorous and successful debating society held frequent meetings in the Y. M A. rooms. Among the speakers at the debating society were men of the rank of Abraham Olin, Wil liam L. Marcy, William A. Beach, David L. Seymour, Martin I. Town- send and others of recognized ability. The first annual meeting was held February 16, 1835, inaugurating the long series of " annual meetings" which up to the year 1872 were productive of more interest and excitement among citizens of Troy than the greatest municipal political events. Men who could not be induced to accept the nomination for mayor of Troy would gladly head one of the tickets of the Y. M. A., and would labor hard for election, often disbursing and spending large sums of money in efforts to over come opposition from rival candidates. PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF TROY. 353 In 1839 George M. Tibbits offered the association a gift of ground on which to build a home, conditional on the association erecting a building thereon costing not less than $7,500. The offer was refused on the ground that the association could not procure funds to pay for a building costing the amount stated. For several years following 1840 the financial condition of the association was not good, and subscrip tions were requested of citizens with varying success. February 14, 1841, William Hagen, the first librarian, resigned, and N. B. Milliman was appointed librarian ; but he remained only a few months, when he was succeeded by George H. Ball, who in turn gave place to John R. Harris in the following year. John R. White became librarian in 1844, William Robertson in 1845 and then came Henry P. Filer, June 4, 1846. He remained in charge until 1864, when he retired on account of fail ing health, having served for eighteen years and given his whole time and service to affairs of the association. T. B. Heimstreet (now Dr. Heimstreet) served for one year and was in turn succeeded by Fitz H. Stevens, who resigned in 1874. De Witt Clinton, the present libra rian, was appointed librarian in 1874 and continues as such officer to day, having served the longest term as librarian of the association, twenty-two years. p In the year 1853 at the annual election for officers George B. War ren, jr., and J. B. Tibbits were opposing candidates for the presidency. The canvass was very exciting. Money was freely used to purchase tickets for voters, and the strife grew so great at the polls that a riot Iwas feared. Three thousand votes were cast amid scenes of great ex citement and Mr. Warren was elected. The imihediate effect of this contest was productive of evil. While the large sale of membership _ tickets made a decided improvement in the financial condition of the association, yet the strife had been so bitter and the animosity engen- , dered between rival candidates so strong, that many persons withdrew j from the affairs of the association. Finances remained at a low point for many years and the officers of the association were forced to make . frequent appeals for funds. In 1862 William R. Yourt bequeathed the ^association $5,000, designing, originally, to cause the income from that (Sum invested to be expended on books relating to Ireland. Dissuaded ! from this idea he made it conditional on the association accepting the gift that all books purchased from the "Yourt fund" should be j," chiefly historical in character." The Yourt Library now contains several thousand volumes. In the same year George M. Selden pre- 45 354 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. sented the association with railroad stock valued at $2,000, "One-half the dividend to be expended in works of art, the other half to go to the purchase of a life membership for such students at the Troy Hifh Schools as shall be designated by the Board of Education or their ap propriate committee." This fund has not been available for many years. In 1866 a committee appointed to solicit funds for the purpose of erecting a building reported that they had met with no success. In 1870-71 another remarkable contest for the offices of president and manager of the association occurred. Edward G. Gilbert headed one ticket and Walter P. Warren the opposition. Every legitimate means to gain their end was used by both sides. Money was used to purchase tickets of membership for voters and the rival factions brought voters to the polls in wagon loads. Scenes of violence were frequent, and many persons were roughly used while endeavoring to vote. Near the time for closing the polls an attack was made on the ballot clerks and an attempt to steal the ballot boxes was made. Police were summoned and the clerks and ballot boxes were escorted to the station house and there guarded. As the election was not completed a claim for the right to assume control of the association's affairs was put in by both contesting parties and also by the retiring board of officers. After attempts to settle it otherwise the case was taken into the courts and a decision in favor of the officers holding over was rendered, thus depriving both contestants of any benefits. The feeling between the " Warren " party and the " Gilbert " party was so strong that the association was greatly damaged by the results. From this date on the affairs of the association became worse and worse, and various expedients to raise funds failed. A proposition to bestow the library on the city was entertained in 1874, but friends of the association defeated the adoption of such a measure. Fitz H. Stevens resigned as librarian, owing to a large re duction in his salary, and in 1874 De Witt Clinton was appointed to the office. In 1879 friends of the association, realizing that the future of the institution was imperilled and that something must be done to place it above continual want of funds, met and formed a plan for mak ing the library a free institution with contributions sufficient to meet its necessities, An act incorporating the Troy Free Library association was prepared and passed by the Legislature, but was vetoed by Gov ernor Robinson. For a time thereafter the affairs of the association NELSON DAVENPORT. PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF TROY. 355 remained in bad form. Justin Kellogg had been strenuously advocat ing a plan for making the library free and on a basis which would secure it from all further danger. A meeting of persons interested was called and a number of wealthy and influential citizens attended. A subscription was opened for the purpose of obtaining money sufficient to purchase the Athena?um building, in which the association had rooms, and which the owners, the Troy Savings bank, wished to sell. The subscription was successful and Fred P. Allen was authorized to buy the building. At public auction the building was bid in by Mr. Allen for $24,500, and became the property of the association. In 1880 a bill was passed incorporating the Troy Young Men's asso ciation and naming a board of trustees who were to serve during life (if residents of Troy) and who were empowered to fill vacancies in the board. The following named were made trustees under the act of in corporation: E. Thompson Gale, William Howard Hart, William E. Gilbert, Joseph M. Warren, Thomas Coleman, Joseph W. Fuller, Wil liam H. Young, William Gurley, Benjamin H. Hall, William S. Earl, Nelson Davenport, Charles L. Alden, Dudley Tibbits, William A. Thompson, Fred P. Allen, Justin Kellogg, J. Spencer Garnsey, Charles R. De Freest, John T. Birge, La Mott W. Rhodes, William H. Doughty, Francis N. Mann and Joseph Knight. E. Thompson Gale was chosen president, J. Spencer Garnsey secretary and Fred P. Allen treasurer. On the death of Mr. Gale William Gurley was made presi dent; he in turn was succeeded by Thomas Coleman and he by Will iam H. Young, who is now president. In 1885 the library was opened as a free circulating library and has become a recognized educational feature of Troy. In the year 1894 Mrs. William Howard Hart sent the following communication to the trustees of the association : Troy, January 27, 1894. Thomas Coleman, Esq., President Troy Young Men's Association: Dear Sir— Permit me to convey, through you, to the board of trustees my desire to erect on the lots at the northeast corner of Second and Ferry streets, in our city, a building for the library of the association. Said building to be a memorial to my late husband, William Howard Hart, to be strictly fire-proof and sufficiently large' to contain the present library, together with such additions thereto as the generosity of our citizens may provide in the coming years. If this proposition shall meet the approval of the board, I will name Messrs. Will iam Howard Doughty, C. E. Dudley Tibbits, Charles W. Tillinghast and John H. "eck as my trustees to carry out my wishes and to convey said lots and the building, when finished, to the association. Yours respectfully, Mary E. Hart. 356 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The building is nearing completion and is beautiful in design and construction, and will be a model of both beauty and convenience when finished. Mrs. Hart added $10,000 to the sum originally set aside for the building, $100,000, and has also caused to be made a stained glass window costing $6,000, and said by the makers to be the finest example of stained glass work now in America. The formal opening of the handsome building of the Troy Young Women's association on the west side of Second street, just north of State street, occurred on the evening of Tuesday, March 15, 1892 George B. Cluett, the president, having charge of the exercises. Ad dresses were made by Mr. Cluett and the Rev. Thaddeus A. Snively. The association was founded ten years before by a number of women who wanted to see in Troy a homelike place for the use of the young working women employed in the collar factories and other industries, The first president was Mrs. Charles E. Patterson. In May, 1883, when the association was a year old, it moved into quarters over the Manufacturers' bank. Four years later it purchased the property No, 43 Fourth street, but soon outgrew these quarters. Money was sub scribed for the erection of a new building, which was completed in the spring of 1892. The members of the association are expected to pay their way, but the rate is so reasonable that any woman earning living wages can secure all its comforts and advantages. January 19, 1895, William H. Rowe, a wealthy and public -spirited citizen of Troy, wrote to the directors of the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane society offering to build at a cost of not less than $25,- 000 a building suitable to the needs of that society, where children might find a temporary shelter and be taught to lead honest, industrious lives, as a memorial to his daughter, Lucy A. Wood Rowe. January 29 the executive committee of the society passed resolutions recom mending that the board of directors accept the offer, which was subse quently done. The site selected for the new building was on the west side of Fourth street, between Broadway and State street. August 11 plans for the building were completed by M. F. Cummings & Son. They called for a building fifty by fifty-five feet in dimensions, four stories high, besides a basement. The style of architecture is of the Italian renaissance, and the building is constructed of brick and iron, making it fire proof. Roman gray brick was used, with terra cotta trimmings, for the third and fourth floors, while the front of the first and second floors is of light gray stone. The building was nearly com pleted by the close of the summer of 1896. "^ £jr-=.. £Z frt>i&iJnsr,:i ,;2^3-„ s^/- ¦$— FIRE DEPARTMENT OF TROY. 357 In June 1896, a movement was started for the construction of a new hospital to be known as the Samaritan hospital. The site of the old orphan asylum on Eighth street was purchased at a cost of $22,500, the Troy Orphan asylum having moved to its new home on Spring avenue, and the work of raising a fund of $100,000 for remodeling and equip ping the building was begun at once. The first trustees of the hospital organization were elected as follows : Stephen W. Barker, Joseph Bolton, Thomas Breslin, James A. Burden. James H. Caldwell, John T. Christie, George B. Cluett, John Don, William H. Doughty, Will iam S. Earl, Dr. E. D. Ferguson, E. Courtland Gale, Dr. H. C. Gordinier, John Wool Griswold, John Knickerbacker, Charles B. Knight, George T. Lane, Dr. James P. Marsh, James K. P. Pine, Justus Miller, Alfred H. Renshaw, Adam Ross, Dr. William W. Seymour, John I. Thompson, Charles W. Tillinghast, Walter P. War ren, Tom S. Wotkyns, Thomas Vail, William H. Van Schoonhoven and Seymour Van Santvoord. In May, 1896, William H. Rowe and his family purchased the lot on the west side of King street north of the Manufacturers' National bank, for $6,900, on which a building for the use of the Salvation Army in Troy is to be built at the expense of the Rowe family The structure will be of brick, three stories high, and will cost about $22,000. The House of the Good Shepherd on People's avenue was dedicated April 24, 1887, the corner stone having been laid May 9, 1886, by Rt. Rev. Francis McNierney, bishop of Albany. The institution was established in 1884, and first occupied its new headquarters January 21, 1887. The house of the Little Sisters of the Poor, now located on Ninth street, was first established in Troy in 1874. Fire Department. The earliest known measures for the establishment of a fire depart ment in Troy were taken before it had become a city. An act of the Legislature was passed March 25, 1794, authorizing the trustees of the village to compel the housekeepers to provide themselves with a suffi cient number of fire buckets and the necessary implements to extin guish fires. The trustees were authorized to elect a number of firemen, not to exceed fifteen, to manage the fire engines. In 1798 the village fire department was regularly organized with Benjamin Covel, Moses Vail, David Buel, George Tibbits, Daniel Merritt and Ebenezer Jones as fire wardens. In the same year the Premier Fire Engine company 358 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. was organized and a second-hand engine was purchased in New York The first engine house was a small board structure on the south side of the court house on Second street. Afterward the engine house was at No. 21 State street. The last engine owned by the company was a third-class one built by A. Van Ness in 1850. The company was dis banded September 5, 1861. The second fire company was the Neptune Engine company No. '„>, which was organized June 20, 1803. Its last engine was built by S. Davis & Son of Troy in 1850. The house was at No. 23 State street, The company was disbanded September 5, 1861. Then followed the Washington Volunteer Fire company, which was incorporated as an independent organization May 26, 1812. Engine company No. 3, which was organized February 1, 1821, resolved itself in December, 1834, into the Franklin Hose company. Engine company No. 4 was organized January 6, 1835, and was changed to the Eagle Hose company No. 10, October 7, 1837. In 1845 it was the Eagle Engine company, and September 16, 1S47, all the members resigned. Torrent Engine company No. 4 was organized August 2, 1838; dis banded May 20, 1841; reorganized September 1, 1842; again disbanded August 3, 1843, and reorganized November 3, 1843. It went out of existence September 5, 1801. Its engine house was on Congress street, The Empire State Engine company No. 5 was organized March 1, 1821, and its last engine was built in 1851 by John Rogers of Albany. The engine house was at the Iron Works. It was finally resolved into the Edmond Stanton Steamer company. The other organizations were the Niagara Engine company No. 7, organized May 27, 1828; Cataract Engine company No. 8, organized August 2, 1832; Rough and Ready Engine company, organized Sep tember 21, 1837, now the Eddy Steamer company; La Fayette Engine company No. 10, organized August 15, 1839, now the Farnam Steamer company: Eagle Engine company No. 10, organized July 13, 1845, now the Ranken Steamer company; ^Etna Engine company No. 12, organ ized in 1846, afterwards in 1857, the Hibernia Engine company; Good Intent Engine company No. 13, organized in 1850; Phcenix Hose com pany, organized in 1840; General Wool Hose company No. 2, organ ized February 1, 1859; Union Hose company No. 3, organized Febru ary 1, 1859; Hall Hose company organized in 1859; J. C. Taylor Hose company No. 3, organized in i860; Hook and Ladder company No. 1, FIRE DEPARTMENT OF TROY. 359 organized February 16, 1826; and Union Hook and Ladder company No. 2, organized April 5, 1832. In 1831 the apparatus consisted of eight fire engines, five hose carts, 2,200 feet of hose, one hook and ladder truck, five ladders, six hooks, eight axes and thirty-one fire buckets. The membership of the de partment was 275 men. April 13, 1861, the State Legislature passed an act organizing a fire department and board of fire commissioners in the city of Troy. The law provides that the board shall consist of seven commissioners, of whom the mayor shall be one, ex officio. The first commissioners named were the mayor of the city, George B. Warren, jr., and Jason C. Osgood, Jonas C. Heartt, Isaac W. Crissey, Otis G. Clark, William Gurley and Hugh Ranken. The companies composing the fire department in 1896, under the reorganization effected in 1861, were as follows: The Washington Volunteer Fire Engine company was organized May 211, 1812, An engine was obtained in New York for $550, similar to the gooseneck engine of that period. The house was. located on the west side of Fourth street north of Fulton street. After April, 1820, the engine was housed on the site occupied by the Arba Read Steamer com pany in 1896. In 1823 the engine was kept in a house on the site of Ful ton market. In 1824 it was at the northwest corner of Third and State streets again. In December, 1843, the company removed to a new brick engine house on the site of the second precinct station house on State street. A year later the engine was sold to Union village and theappara- tusof Company No. 7 of Albany was purchased. That was sold in 1851 and a new engine made by Silas Davis & Co. of Troy was bought in No vember of that year. That in turn was sold to the city of Fon du Lac, Wis., in October, 1854. In 1855 a new engine made by L. Button & Co. of Waterford was purchased, and April 19, 1864, a steam fire en gine was purchased of Button & Blake of Waterford for $2,150. The old engine was sold to the village of Trumansburgh for $1,000. The first engineer was William Bailey, who held the position until April 15, 1*67, when he was appointed engineer of the Ranken steamer. He was succeeded by Jerome E. De Freest. August 2, 1865, the engine house on State street was transferred to the use of the Capital police and the company removed to the old Franklin Hose company's house in the rear of the court house. March 22, 1868, the fire commissioners agreed to pay the company annually, from May 1, 1865, the sum of 360 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. $650 to enable it to meet its current expenses. October 20, 1867 the engineer of the company was placed under full pay by the city fire de partment. December 31, 1872, the company occupied its two-story brick house at the northeast corner of Third and Division streets. In December, 1874, the engine was equipped with horses. Hope Steam Fire Engine company No. 7 was organized May 20 1826, and received its first steamer in May, 1882. The engine had been in use by the Stanton Steamer company for a number of years having been furnished by Clapp & Jones. The first engineer was Ly man Rysdorph. The engine house is located on Pawling avenue at the west end of Albia. Trojan Hook and Ladder company No. 3 was organized February 5, 1835. The company's first truck was a primitive affair, which was re placed in 1854 by one constructed by W. H Tarboss of Orleans. The company occupied its house on Franklin square for the first time in April, 1865. In 1884 a modern Hayes truck was furnished the company The constitution and by laws of Arba Read Steam Fire Engine com pany No 1 were adopted December 19, 1859. The first steamer used by the company arrived in Troy March 28, I860, having been purchased of the Amoskeag Manufacturing company of Manchester, N. H. In the same year the building occupied in 1896 by the chief engineer was built and there the steamer was located. The three story brick build ing occupied by the company was erected in 1875, on the northwest cor ner of State and Third streets, just south of and adjoining the old engine house. In 1876 a new engine was purchased. The first engi neer was James Knibbs, who was succeeded in 1863 by William H. Bradt. Hugh Ranken Steam Fire Engine company No. 2 is the outgrowth of Eagle Hand Engine company No. 10. In the spring of 1858 several members of the latter organization, desiring to have a steam fire en gine, asked the Common Council to appropriate $1,500 for the purchase of one. The request was not granted, but a number of citizens sub scribed $2,750, and an Amoskeag engine was purchased and placed in the engine house on Federal street September 28, 1860. In December of that year the Common Council changed the name of Eagle Engine company No. 10 to Steam Fire Engine company No. 2, and April 1, 1861, changed that of the latter to Hugh Ranken Steam Fire Engine company No. 1. Subsequently the city reimbursed the individuals JOHN J. FARRELL. FIRE DEPARTMENT OF TROY. 361 who had purchased the engine and it became the property of the city. The first engineer was Roswell R. Morgan. He was succeeded in 1862 by Thomas H. Bailey, who was succeeded in 1867 by his brother, Will iam Bailey. The engine house on Federal street was burned May 10, 1862, and the steamer was located temporarily at Cozzen's Northern hotel and subsequently in the house of the Niagara Engine company on Second street. The brick building now occupied by the company was constructed on the site of the old house in 1885. The first steam fire engine used by the Jason C. Osgood Steam Fire Engine company No. 3 reached Troy January 14, 1862, and was perma nently quartered in the building occupied by the Niagara Engine com pany at No. 130 Second street. The Niagaras were disbanded January 23ofthatyear, its members forming thenucleus forthe Osgood company, of which Andrew D. Collins was the first engineer. In 1862 an engine house was erected on the south side of Adams street between First and Second streets. Three years later it was appropriated by the city as a police station house and another engine house was built at the cor ner of Adams and Second streets. There the company remained until it moved into the building at the corner of Canal avenue and Third street. F. W. Farnam Steam Fire Engine company No. 5 was organized July 17, 1871, from the members of La Fayette Engine company No. 10. L. Button & Son of Waterford built the first steamer for the com pany in that year, and in 1885 manufactured a new one for its use. The engine house on the south side of Congress street was erected in 1876. Charles Eddy Steam Fire Engine company No. 4 was organized No vember 26, 1866, its members being taken from the J. C. Taylor Hose company No. 3 and the Rough and Ready Hose company No. 4. The steamer was received from the Amoskeag Manufacturing company May 22, 1867, and cost $4,250. The engine house was built in 1866 at the northeast corner of River and North streets and was first occupied by the company in May, 1867. The company was reorganized October 6, 1876. Edmond Stanton Steam Fire Engine company No. 6 was organized January 23, 1873, from the members of Empire State Engine company No. 5. The first engine was made by Clapp & Jones, and the second by the Manchester Locomotive works. The engine house on the south side of Mill street was built in 1877 46 362 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Esek Bussey Fire company was organized as an independent com pany in 1888 and was admitted to the fire department June 30 1890 The house is located on Oakwood avenue near Hoosick street. Beman Park Hose company was organized in 1889 as an independent company and was admitted to the fire department December 29 1890 The house is located at the corner of Eagle and Fifteenth streets, Water Department. A new system of waterworks was put in operation in Troy in Febru ary, 1880, when water was pumped into the lower Oakwood reservoir for the first time from a new station which had been established. The early development of the water supply has been described in another chapter. Up to the year 1855 the water works were not self-sup porting and consequently were frequently regarded as a failure. To remedy the radically defective system of collecting the water rents, which was the prime cause for the complaint, the Legislature passed an act March 9, 1855, appointing a board of water commissioners for the city, consisting of Harvey Smith, William F. Sage, Thomas Symonds, Joseph M. Warren and Liberty Gilbert, and giving them a general supervisory and controlling power in all matters relating to the preservation and continuance of the water works of the city. The admirable system of the equalization of the water rents now prevailing is due mainly to the efforts of Alexander McCall, the first clerk of the Water Board. The law of 1855 was mainly his work. So carefully was it drawn and with so much foresight did he anticipate the future that at the present time, with very slight alteration or amendment, it answers in every respect the purposes for which it originally was framed. The existing main running from the reservoir having been found in adequate, in 1857-58 a twenty-inch main was laid from the " Fire-dam" reservoir to the Troy & Boston (now the Fitchburg) railroad track, and thence through Eighth street to Hoosick, a distance of over 4,000 feet. Within a short time thereafter the consumption of water was about doubled. It becoming evident that the supply was to be exhausted, the Water Board secured the services of William J. McAlpine, a dis tinguished hydraulic engineer, who at once saw the possibilities of the little Piscawen kill and assured the commissioners that the stream could be relied upon for an average daily supply of 2,000,000 gallons. WATER DEPARTMENT OF TROY. 363 Acting on his advice the board, in 1859-60, built a storage reservoir of about 50,000,000 gallons' capacity a few rods east of Oakwood avenue followed by another of similar size in 1861-62 just below this and immediately east of that avenue. The first one is known as Upper Oakwood reservoir, the other as Lower Oakwood reservoir. In 1861 a large pump was erected at a station near the State dam to supply a part of the city with water from the Hudson river. In 1868 increased storage was procured by the erection of the Vanderheyden dam on the site of a small pond just below Brunswick lake. This reservoir covers twenty acres and its capacity is about 180,000,000 gallons. In ]s69 iron fire plugs, with four-inch nozzles, were introduced, and soon superseded all those of the old pattern. In 1870 the dam at Upper Oakwood reservoir was raised and a well- house was erected. In the same year about seventy-five acres of the Gary lands were purchased. On the extreme northeasterly corner of this tract the high service dis tributing reservoir was built. By the purchase the entire control of the Piscawen kill for a long distance was secured. In 1867 many new pipes were laid and the twenty-inch main was extended on Eighth street to Federal, and thence down River and Fourth streets to Ida, where it was carried over to Third and across the stone bridge to Madison, ramifying at this point for the supply of the southern section of the city. In 1873 a pump capable of delivering 2,000,000 gallons per day was purchased at Vergennes, Vt. , and erected in the Olympus works of Orrs & Co. at the State dam. In 1877 it was decided to adopt the Hudson river as the source from which to obtain an additional supply of water, and a point about a quarter of a mile below the Waterford bridge was adopted as the site for the pumping station. The works consisted of two sets of pumping engines, each with a capacity of 11,060,000 gallons per day, with two batteries of boilers and other neces sary appurtenances. The thirty-inch force main is 10,753 feet long and extends from the pumping station to Lower Oakwood reservoir. Engine No. 1 started pumping February 18, 1880, and No. 2 was ready for use July 14. During the years 1877 to 1879 over fifteen miles of pipes of various sizes were laid, in readiness for the pumping when it should begin. March 1, 1880, water was let on the entire new system of distribu tion. The plan of distribution consisted of three separate systems. The low service supplied that part of the city between the river and a 364 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. plane 105 feet above tide. The water for this service was pumped into Lower Oakwood reservoir, where it ran down the channel of the Piscawen kill to the old distributing reservoir, and through the twentv- and twelve-inch distributing mains to the lower part of the city. The middle service included that portion of territory lying between a plane of 105 feet and 279 feet above tide. Its distributing main, twenty inches in diameter, starting at Upper Oakwood reservoir, ran through the lands of William H. Frear to Oakwoad avenue, and along the same and Tenth street to People's avenue, where, being reduced to sixteen inches, it extended through People's Avenue, Ninth, Federal and Eighth streets to Congress, where another reduction to twelve inches was made, which was carried up Congress street to Brunswick avenue. The high service feeds that part of the city lying between a plane of 279 and a plane of 382 feet above tide, and its reservoir is on the Piscawen kill just west of the first highway that runs north from the Hoosick road. The distributing main, also of twenty inches, crosses the fields in a southwesterly direction to the Hoosick road, then runs through the entire length of Burdett avenue, then through Tibbits avenue and Brunswick avenue to the stone bridge. There being re duced to sixteen inches it extends through Pawling avenue to Maple avenue, where a further reduction to twelve inches is made. Branch ing off at Maple avenue, a twelve-inch main runs through Spring avenue and Campbell highway to the Iron Works district. Piscawen kill furnished all the water for the high and middle services. In 1883 a new distributing reservoir was constructed on the site of the old " fire dam," at an elevation of 202 feet above tide, connecting with the mains supplying the lower portion of the city. The total cost of all the improvements from 1879 to 1885 was $600,000. The completion, in 1895, of two new boilers at the pumping station at Lansingburgh made it feasible to pump at least 10,000,000 gallons a day to Lower Oakwood. In 1896 there were in use 748 fire hydrants and 1,204 valves, and the total length of all the pipe laid was fifty-eight miles and 4, 949 feet. The quantity of water metred for the year ending March 1, 1896, was 409, 151, 522 gallons. The total consumption forthe year was 3, 147,591, 573 gallons, an average daily consumption of 8,599,977 gallons. The total cost of the works from 1833, when they were begun, to 1855, when the present board was organized, as near as can be ascer tained was $175,000. The work from that time to March 1, 1896, cost $1,093,287. 70, making the entire cost up to the latter date $1,268,287.70. WILLIAM L. MCDONOUGH. STREET RAILWAYS OF TROY. 365 On the same date the bonded debt of the city on account of its water works was $303,500, and the amount of the sinking fund, after charging it with interest and bonds paid to that date, was $43,406.25.. The system of street railways in Troy developed to great proportions during the last decade of the nineteenth century. The Troy & Cohoes Street Railway company was chartered February 11, 1862, soon after which a horse railway was constructed from Troy to Cohoes, by way of Lansingburgh, crossing the Hudson by way of the Cohoes bridge. The Troy & Lansingburgh Street Railway company was chartered at the same time. It used the tracks of the Troy & Cohoes line as far as they extended in Lansingburgh ; thence the road continued northerly through Lansingburgh to the Waterford bridge. Ultimately tracks were laid across Waterford bridge. The Troy & Cohoes railroad was leased to the Troy & Lansingburgh Railway company October 28, 1867; and the Troy & Lansingburgh Railway company was leased to the Troy City Railway company November 7, 1892. The Troy City Railway company was chartered January 31, 1866, as the Troy & Albia Horse Railroad company. By an order of the Supreme Court its name was changed to Troy City Railway company July 27, 1891. In 1889 and 1890 the work of converting all the lines controlled by the Troy City Railway company into electric trolley lines was begun. At the close of the year 1895 there was not a street car in the city drawn by horses, all being operated by electricity. The Watervliet Turnpike and Railroad company was incorporated as the Watervliet Turnpike company in 1828 and constructed a turnpike from Albany to the Upper Ferry opposite Troy. April 15, 1862, the company's name was changed to the present one and it was authorized to build a street railroad over its road continuing it to Cohoes, which it did. Upon the construction of the Troy and West Troy bridge the company extended its line into Troy up Congress street as far as Second. The Troy Telephone Dispatch company was organized February 28, 187s. It was succeeded December 30, 1879, by the Commercial Tele phone company of Troy, which in the following spring rented quarters in the Boardman building on the northeast corner of Fulton and River streets. November 25, 1890, the company was reorganized as the Troy Telephone and Telegraph company with George P. Ide as president. The Troy Citizens' Gas Light company was incorporated May 19, 1875. October 11, 1KK9, it and the Troy Fuel Gas company, incorporated 366 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. in 1885, and the Troy Gas Light company were consolidated under the name of the Troy Gas company, having a capital stock of $1 000 000 The first officers were: President, Edward Murphy, jr. ; vice-president William Kemp ; treasurer, Derick Lane ; secretary, Nelson Davenport. Rensselaer Lodge, I. O. O. F., is the oldest organization of Odd Fellows in Troy. It was organized June 1, 1841, with eight charter members. Rensselaer degree lodge was organized November 4, 1842, with twenty eight charter members. Augusta Rebekah lodge was organized April 6, 1872, with twenty- five charter members. Trojan lodge was organized November 18, , with thirteen char ter members. Rhein lodge was organized September 9, 1870, with thirty-five char ter members. Troy Union Rebekah Degree lodge was organized February 25, 1874, with fifty-eight charter members. Athenian lodge was organized January 19, 1847, with thirty charter members. John W. Nesbitt encampment was organized November 16, 1888, with fifteen charter members. Troy encampment was organized October 25, , with thirty char ter members. Canton Leo, Patriarchs Militant, was organized June 24, 1885, with seventeen charter members. Ladies' Patriarch Militant club was organized March 8, 1892, with eight charter members, and made auxiliary to Canton Leo. Troy council, Catholic Benevolent Legion, was organized March 5, 1884, with seventeen charter members. Laval council, C. B. L., was organized May 1, 1887, with fourteen charter members. Mount Olympus council, C. B. L., was organized June 9, 1HK7, with fourteen charter members. Iron Works council, C. B. L., was organized June 6, 1887, with eighteen charter members. Mount Ida council, C. B. L., was organized November 14, 1887, with ten charter members. St. Laurence council, C. B. L., was organized February 2, isss, with twelve charter members. SECRET SOCIETIES OF TROY. 367 Byron council, C. B. L., was organized April 1, 1888, with seventeen charter members. Of the Grand Army of the Republic posts, A. D. McConihe post was organized in 1867 with fifty-six members, and was reorganized Febru ary 26, 1885, with twenty-eight members. George L. Willard post was organized May 19, 1869, with ten mem bers. William B. Tibbits post was organized January 14, 1880, with ten members. John A. Griswold post was organized May 30, 1883, with fifteen members. The Women's Relief Corps of McConihe post was formed February 17, 1886, with fifteen members. The corps auxiliary to Willard post was formed May 3, 1890, with twenty-three members. Tibbits Veteran corps was organized in March, 1876, and incorpo rated November 26, 1884, with 104 charter members. Ancient Order of Hibernians Division No. 1 was organized in March, 1852, with fifty charter members. Division No. 2 was organized in 1871 with 175 charter members. Division No 5 was organized Septem ber 20, 1878, with fifteen charter members. Division No. 7 was or ganized in 1888 with seventeen charter members. Premier lodge, Knights of Pythias, was chartered October 10, 1870, with fifteen members. Guttenberg lodge, K. of P., was chartered October 17, 1873, with twenty-five members. Erastus Corning lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen, was char tered February 6, 1882, with thirty-two members. General John E. Wool lodge, A. O. U. W., was chartered in January, 1*81, with twenty members. The Select Knights' legion, uniformed rank of the A. O. U. W. , was chartered April 28, 1887, with twenty-four members. The organization of the other secret societies in Troy was as follows: Marathon lodge, Knights of Honor, March 17, 1892; thirty-two char ter members. Mistletoe grove No. 11,' December 11, 1845; fourteen charter members, Troy lodge, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, October 20, 1889 ; thirty-nine charter members. Wah Ta Wah tribe of Red Men, January 18, 1893; twenty-five charter members. Pioneer council, United Friends, September, 1881 ; thirty charter members. 368 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Troy City lodge, Independent Order of Good Templars, April 19 1892- thirty-three charter members. Griswold council, O.U.A.M. Novem ber 14, 1887 ; thirty seven charter members. General George H Thomas commandery, L. L. O. U. A. M., December 13, 1892; twenty charter members. Troy City lodge, Independent Order, Free Sons of Israel, April 15, 1877; twenty-one charter members. Joshua lodge, K. S. R., April, 1872; twenty-eight charter members. King David lodge, I. O. S. B., July 11, 1880; eighty-four charter members. Jere miah lodge, I. O. B. B., October, 1886; thirty charter members. Alex ander lodge, O. B. A., May 11, 1884; fifty-five charter members. Brit annia lodge, Order of the Sons of St. George, 1882. George Washing ton Loyal Orange lodge, November, 1877; thirty-two charter members, Mount Horeb District Loyal Orange lodge, March, 1880; composed of all lodges under its jurisdiction. Troy True Blue Loyal Orange lodge, October 19, 1871; forty five charter members. Golgotha Royal Black Preceptory, May, 1875 ; twenty charter members. Abraham Lincoln Loyal Orange lodge, August, 1879; eighteen charter members. Daugh ters of America, Ladies' Loyral Orange lodge, June, 1889; twenty-six charter members. Rensselaer council, R. T. of T., January, 1882; twenty charter members. Tibbits union, E. A.U., June 18, 1889; thirty charter members. Trojan council, R. T. of T., October 15, 1880; fifteen charter members. Trojan council, Royal Arcanum, May 10, 1878; ten charter members. Rencselaer council, Royal Arcanum, December 5, 1889 ; twenty-nine charter members. E. B. A., Branch 3, August 15, 1875; sixteen charter members. James A: Garfield coun cil, R. T. of T., 1881; twenty-five charter members. The leading local organizations which have not been more fully de scribed in preceding pages are the following: Troy and West Troy Bridge company, incorporated April 23, 1872. Pafraets Dael club, organized December 11, 1885. Laureate Boat club, June 19, 1866. Troy Yacht club, May 15, 1889. William S. Earl Boat club, February 12, 1890. Troy Bicycle club, November 4, IM. Ionic club, August 27, 1853. Bachelor's club, February 8, 1884. Re publican club of Troy, October 5, 1880. Trojan Wheelmen, January 22, 1886. Robert Emmet association, January 1, 1868. Troy Turn Verein, August 8, 1852. Troy Scientific association, October, 1870, Pioneer Building Loan association, March 7, 1889. Troy Saengerbund, May 19, 1880. A thriving musical organization existed in Troy as early as 1839. It FRED A. PLUM. CLUBS OF TROY. 369 was called the Troy Musical association and contained about 250 mem bers, with a "juvenile class " of 175. G. W. Lucas was its director and its meeting place was Morris place on Congress street opposite Rand's hall. The East Side club owes its inception to an informal meeting of resi dents of Pawling avenue and vicinity held April 7, 1890, at the residence of L. S. Crandall. The project for a new social club was warmly greeted at that meeting and within two weeks the pledged membership exceeded fifty. The Collins residence on Pawling avenue was first used as a club house, but in the summer of 1890 a lot on Pawling avenue was purchased for $3,200 and in the following December the work of erecting a club house was begun under the direction of Henry W. Smith, Frederick W. Swett and James C. Hawley, the building committee. The building was completed and opened to the public in the summer of 1891, its total cost, exclusive of the furnishings, being about $8,000. The first officers were: President, Henry B. Thomas; vice-president, Irving Hayner; secretary, Leigh R. Hunt; treasurer, Louis S. Crandall ; trustees, Frank S. Black, Joseph Knight, Samuel P. McClellan, Frederick W. Swett, William R. Bridges, Irving Hay ner, George A. Mosher, Henry W. Smith, Louis S. Crandall, Leigh R. Hunt, Henry A. King and Henry B. Thomas. The Troy Choral club was organized in the fall of 1890 and gave its first regular concert November 18, 1891. The first officers of the club were: President, John Clatworthy; vice president, A. W. Harrington, jr. ; secretary and treasurer, George F. Green; musical director, Charles A. White. Mr. Green was taken sick at the first concert and died. Dr. Charles P. Stimpson was then elected to the office of secretary and has filled the office continuously since. The club gives four concerts each season, and the music embraces that of the best American and foreign composers. The Troy Vocal society for years has been recognized as one of the finest musical organizations in the country. It is composed entirely of male voices and is under the musical direction of Professor Connolly. The Rensselaer County Homoeopathic Medical society was once a prosperous organization with its headquarters in Troy. All of the prominent homeopathic practitioners in the county were members. No meeting of the society has taken place since 1890, and it has prac tically become obsolete. The society contained some brilliant lights in the homoeopathic profession in this section and was productive of much 47 370 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. good. The last president was Dr. Arba R. Green. Within the past fifteen years the society has lost by death such members as Drs. Wood ruff, Carpenter, Clark, Vincent, Campbell, Fuller and Pitts. For the third time in its history Troy was honored, August 2fi 1896, with the nomination of one of its citizens, Hon. Frank S. Black for the office of governor of the Empire State by the Republican State convention at Saratoga Springs. Hon. William L. Marcy and Hon John A. Griswold were Mr. Black's predecessors, Mr. Marcy being elected and Mr. Griswold defeated. Upon his return from the conven tion Wednesday evening, August 26, Mr. Black was greeted by thousands of citizens of Troy, many of whom escorted him to his borne, headed by a band, amid a profuse display of fireworks. Presidents of the Village of Troy. John McCoun from 1798 to 1799 Benjamin Gorton " 1799 " 1800 Ephraim Morgan " 1800 " 1801 John McCoun " 1801 " 1802 Albert Pawling " 1802 " 1803 Edward Tylee __ " 1803 " 1804 Albert Pawling. " 1804 " 1805 Edward Tylee .from 1805 to 1808 Abraham Ten Eyck... " 1808 " 1810 Edward Tylee " 1810 " 1811 Abraham Ten Eyck... " 1811 " 1813 Timothy Hutton " 1813 " 1814 Derick Lane " 1814 " 1815 Albert Pawling " 1815 " 1816 Mayors of Troy. Albert Pawling, from 1816 to 1820. Thomas Turner, appointed July 3, 1819, declined to serve. Esaias Warren, from 1820 to 1828. Albert Pawling, appointed Februrary 14, 1821, declined to serve. Samuel McCoun, from 1828 to 1830. George Tibbits, from 1830 to 1836. Richard P. Hart, from 1836 to 1838. Jonas C. Heartt, from 1838 to 1843. Gurdon Corning, from 1843 to 1847. Francis N. Mann, from 1847 to 1850. Day O. Kellogg, from 1850 to November 1850. Hanford N. Lockwood, November, 1850, to March, 1851. Joseph M. Warren, from 1851 to 1852. George Gould, from 1852 to 1853. Foster Bosworth, from 1853 to Decem ber, 1853. Elias Plumb, from December, 1853, to March, 1854. Jonathan Edwards, 1854 to 1855. John A. Griswold, from 1855 to 1856. Hiram Slocum, from 1856 to 1857. Alfred Wotkyns, from 1857 to 1858. Arba Read from 1858 to 1860. Isaac McConihe, jr., from 1860 to 1861. George B. Warren, jr., from 1861 to 1863. James Thorn, from 1862 to 1863. William L. Van Alstyne, from 1863 to 1864. James Thorn, from 1864 to 1865. Uri Gilbert, from 1865 to 1866. John L. Flagg, 1866 to 1868. Miles Beach, from 1868 to 1870. Uri Gilbert, from 1870 to 1871. FRANK S. BLACK. — — '¦• I * ;< FRANCIS J. MOLLOY. CIVIL LIST OF TROT. 371 Thomas B. Carroll, from 1871 to 1873. William Kemp, from 1873 to 1875. Edward Murphy, jr.,' from March, 1875 to November, 1882. Edmund Fitzgerald, from 1882 to 1886. Dennis J. Whelan, from 1886 to 1894. Francis J. Molloy, from 1894 to . Recorders of Troy. William L. Marcy from 1816 to 1818 Amasa Paine " 1818 " 1821 William L. Marcy " 1821 " 1823 Thomas.Clowes " 1823 " 1828 Daniel Gardner " 1828 " 1833 John P. Cushman " 1833 " 1838 Henry W. Strong from 1838 to 1844 Abram B. Olin . Job S. Olin Gilbert Robertson, jr.. Clarence Buell John Moran3 1844 " 1848 1848 " 1852 1852 " 1856 1856 ¦• 1860 1860 " 1868 Comptrollers of Troy. William H. Van Every, from 1871 to 1872. John D. Spicer, from March 19, 1883, to John P. Albertson, from 1872 to August 17, 1881. Isaac W. Crissey, from October7, 1881, to March 19, 1883. • December, 1886. William J. Roche, from December, 1886, to October, 1890. James W. Coffey, from October, 1890 to . Chamberlains of Troy. David Buel, from 1816 to 1822. James Mallary, from 1822 to 1825. John Thomas, from 1825 to 1845. George B. Richards, from 1845 to 1846. Jared S. Weed, from 1846 to 1849. John T. Lamport, from 1849 to 1859. Amos S. Perry, from 1859 to 1863. James M. Brewer, from 1863 to October, 1867. Derick Lane, from October, 1867 to 1871. George C. Burdett, from 1871 to 1874. Benjamin H. Hall, from 1874 to 1877. Henry S. Church, from 1877 to Febru ary, 1884. Benjamin H. Hall, from February, 1884, to June 1, 1885. John F. Bridgeman,8 from Junel, 1885, to June, 1896. David Morey, from June, 1896, to . City Attorneys. Date of Appointment Date of Appointment Henry Z. Hayner May 17, 1836 Gardner Stow March 11, 1851 John T. Lamport .June 15, 1837 Roswell A. Parmenter... March 8, 1853 CharlesR. Richards March 18, 1847 Harvey J. King March 14, 1854 1 In 1880 the charter election was changed from March to the time of the general election in November. ' The office of recorder was abolished by act of the Legislature April 17, 1867, to take effect January 1, 1808. Did not commence to discharge the duties of office until December 5, 1885, up to which time Mr. Hall acted as chamberlain. In the suit of the people ex rei. Bridgeman vs. Hall, the court de cided that Bridgeman was de jure chamberlain from June 1, 1885 372 LANDMARKS OE RENSSELAER COUNTY. Date of Appointmhnt Samuel Stover March 13, 1855' George T. Blair March 9, 1858 Harvey S. Flagg ...March 8, 1859 George Day.. March 13, 1860 Giles B. Kellogg March 12, 1861 Richard C. Jen nyss March 10, 1863 Date of Appointment A. A. Lee -.March 14, 1865 William A. Beach 1 §55 John H. Colby... -May 24, 1870 Roswell A. Parmenter... March 22, 1871 William J. Roche October 10,1883 Roswell A. Parmenter Feb. 4, 1886 John M. Landon March 10, 1864 Corporation Counsel.1 Roswell A. Parmenter May 19, 1887 William J. Roche October,! City Surveyors and Engineers. Date of Appointment. William McManus ..May 21, 1816 John Klein May 25, 1819 William Roberts, jr May 3, 1821 Sidney A. Beers April 3, 1834 William A. Barton March 12, 1839 William Roberts, jr March 18, 1842 Benjamin Turner March 8, 1853 Luther D. Eddy August 18, 1853 William Barton March 11, 1856 Date of Appointment. Charles L. Fuller March 8, 1859 Luther D. Eddy March 8, 1870 Charles L. Fuller May 24, 1870 Robert M. Hasbrouck March 9, 1875 Charles L. Fuller November 13, 1883 Palmer H. Baermann June, 1892 Morris R. Sherrerd May, 1893 Martin Schenck May, 1895 City Clerks of Troy. John H. Neary .. George W. Demers _. Franklin B. Hubbell. James S. Thorn Franklin B. Hubbell. Richard V. O'Brien.. Lewis E. Griffith Henry McMillen Charles R. DeFreest . Edwin A. King John J. McCormick .. Appoin Appointed. William M. Bliss 1816 Ebenezer Wilson, jr 1825 George T. Blair 1845 John T. Lamport 1847 William Hagan 1849 John M. Francis 1851 Charles D. Brigham 1854 John M. Francis 1855 Franklin D. Hubbell .1856 Benjamin H. Hall 1858 Abraham Fonda 1859 Francis L. Hagadorn . _ 1860 City Superintendents. Michael Cavanaugh, from 1 871 to March, Lawrence Sheary, March, 1875, to March, 1875. 1883. 870871874875 1 The office of city att. irney was abolished and that of corporation counsel created by Chapter 336 of the laws of 18X7. CIVIL LIST OF TROY. 373 Tames Hanley, March, 1883, to October, Cornelius Toomey, December, 1890, to 1886. April, 1896. lohn Quigley, October, 1886, to Decern- Jeremiah Mahoney, April, 1896, to . ber, 1890. Justices of the Justices' Court. DavidGleason 1834-1839 John L. Flagg 1862-1865 Henry V. W. Masten 1834-1848 Thomas J. Cornelius... 1863-1866 Cyrus D. Sheldon 1834-1843 Thomas Neary 1865-1871 jobS. Olin ....1840-1844 Richard C. Jennyss 1866-1875 Hiram Taylor 1843-184(1 William Donohue. 1867-1876 Abraham Van Tuyl 1844-1848 John Conway, jr 1871-1877 Moses Warren 1846-1860 Thomas J. Guy, 2d 1875-1886 Gilbert Robertson, jr ....1848-1853 Edmund L. Cole 1877-1880 SethH. Terry 1848-1850 John P. Curley .1880-1889 J. Fairchild Wells 1848-1853 Thomas S. Fagan 1886-1889 Charles E. Brintnall 1850-1857 William J. Ludden 1889-1895 George R. Davis, jr.... 1853-1857 John J. Kennedy.... ...1889-1895 Uriel Dexter 1857-1867 James T. Murray... 1895 John M. Landon 1857-1862 Warren McConihe 1895 Franklin J. Parmenter 1860-1864 Police Magistrates. William Donohue 1876-1881 William Donohue _ 1887 Richard C. Jennyss 1881-1887 Assistant Police Magistrates. Lewis E. Griffith 1876-1882 James W. Coffey _ 1889-1890 John J. Hassett 1882-1883 Cornelius Hannan 1890 Michael H. Myers 1883-1889 The following statistical table, taken from the census of 1890, shows the population by sex, general nativity and color, in the city of Troy : Civilized Male. Female. Native. Foreign. White. Negrro. Indians. Troy .28,591 32,365 43,691 17 265 60,441 513 2 Ward 1. . 1,626 2,067 2,611 1,082 3,560 133 Ward 2. . 2,186 2,558 3,573 1,171 4,590 154 Ward 3. . 1,206 1,458 1,976 688 2,613 51 Ward 4. . 1,845 2,659 3,696 808 4,453 51 Ward 5.. . 2,791 3,232 4,662 1,361 6,013 10 __ Ward 6. . 2,639 2,186 2,781 2,044 4,823 2 Ward 7. . 2,515 3,270 4,174 1,611 5,705 80 Ward 8. . 1,774 2,091 2,578 1,287 3,845 2(1 _„ Ward 9. . 2,232 2,143 2,999 1,376 4,373 ._ 2 Ward 10. . 2,886 3,290 4,603 1,573 6,166 10 ._ Ward 11. - 1,922 2,134 2,762 1,294 4,056 __ Ward 12. . 2 518 2,476 3,100 1,924 5,024 __ Ward 13 . . 2.421 2,801 4,176 1,046 5,220 2 _„ 374 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. The foreign born population of Troy, distributed according to coun try of birth, was as follows: Total foreign born, 17,265; Canada and Newfoundland, 1,471; Mexico, 2; Central America, 2; South America, 15; Cuba and West Indies, 12; England, 2,128; Scot land, 516; Wales, 96; Ireland, 9,412; Great Britain (not specified), 1; Germany, 2,107; Austria, 112; Holland, 21; "Belgium, 29; Switzerland, 63; Norway, 134- Sweden, 199; Denmark, 37. In 1890 there were in the city of Troy, 19,065 persons of school age, five to twenty years, including 9,117 males and 9,948 females. Of these 8,349 males and 8,953 females were native born; 768 males and 995 females were foreign born. The males of militia age in the city numbered 13,046, of which 8,871 were native born and 4,175 were foreign born. The total number of males of voting age was 16,784, of which 9,596 were native born and 7,188 were foreign born. The total number of dwellings in Troy in 1890 was 7,805; the total number of families 12,895, the persons to a dwelling 7.81, and the per sons to a family 4.73. CHAPTER XVIII. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. The town of Lansingburgh was originally intended as the site for the principal city north of Albany on the east bank of the Hudson river ; but the inhabitants of the settlement a mile or two south of New City, as the village of Lansingburgh was first known, took advantage of the opportunities which presented themselves in rapid succession, and the prestige which in the natural order of things should have gone to Lansingburgh went to Troy, which rapidly outran its rival in the race for commercial supremacy in Rensselaer county. The town of Lansingburgh is located on the western border of the county, north of the city of Troy and south of the town of Schaghti coke. On the east lie the towns of Pittstown and Brunswick and on the west the Hudson river, separating Lansingburgh from the northern part of Albany county and the southern part of Saratoga county. The site of the county was originally included in parts of two separate pat ents. The northern part of the town as at present constituted was set TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 375 off from Schaghticoke in 1819 and forms a part of the Schaghticoke tract occupied by the Schaghticoke Indians and set off to them in 1670. This territory afterward became the property of the city of Albany and was sold in 1707 to the Knickerbocker colony. The southern part of the town formed a part of the Stone Arabia patent. Soon after the Dutch began to make settlements in the vicinity of what is now Troy, Robert Saunders, a resident of Albany, was attracted to the level and fertile tract now in the town of Lansingburgh, and called by the Indians Tascamcatick, and the woodland to the south called Passquassick. September 1, 1670, Francis Lovelace, governor of the province of New York, granted the former tract to Saunders. March 22, 1679, Sir Edmund Andros, another governor, granted to Saunders the woodland, together with the small island in the Hudson called Whale isl and, since submerged by the construction of the State dam south of it. Septemberl9, 1681, Saunders sold part of the wood! and south of Piscawen kill to Peter Van Woggelum. May26, 1683, Saunders sold the remaining portion of his patent, Tascamcatick, to Joannes Wendell, and the latter afterward purchased another piece of woodland which extended north ward along the river to a creek called by the Indians Paensick kill. Wendell's land was confirmed to him July 22, 1686, by a patent granted by Governor Thomas Dongan and called Steene (Stony) Arabia patent, and for over a century the territory was known as Stone Arabia. June 21, 1763, Robert Wendell, a descendant and heir of Joannes Wendell, sold to Abraham Jacob Lansingh, for 300 pounds, that portion of his prop erty beginning opposite the middle branch of the Mohawk river and running thence eastward as far as the limits of the Stone Arabia pat ent, excepting that portion which had been sold to Simon Van Antwerpe but then owned by William Rogers. A deed given by Stephen Van Rensselaer (one of the patroons) to Abraham Jacob Lansingh, dated July 13, 1769, described the north bounds of the manor of Rensselaer wyck and the south bounds of the Stone Arabia patent as follows : Beginning on the east bank of Hudson river, by a stump about east from the south end of Whale-fishing island, and over against the second spruyt, and runs from the said stump south sixty-nine degrees east along a line of marked trees one hundred and seventy-eight chains to a white oak tree ou the land of Adam Shufellt, where there is a small heap of stones laid together ; the said tree is marked on the west and north sides with the letters A. J. L. 1769, and on the south and east sides ¦v \ . R. 1769, and then north nineteen degrees and forty-five minutes east, one hun dred and twenty-eight chains and seventy-five links to a marked black oak tree, standing one hundred and seventy-eight chains distant from the east bank of the 376 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hudson river, opposite to the third spruyt,— on a course south sixty-nine degrees east, where a black oak tree is marked on the east side thereof with the letters S. V. R. 1769, and on the west side with the letters A. J. L. 1769, and then from the last mentioned black oak, the said course of north nineteen degrees, forty-five min utes east, one hundred and five chains and sixty links to a marked chestnut tree standing on a line of old marked trees running from the Cohoes or Great Fall of Waters, north eighty-eight degrees for the north bounds of the manor of Rens selaerwyck, and thence from the said chestnut tree south eighty-eight degrees west along the said old marked trees to Hudson river, and thence southerly along said river to place of beginning. The number of settlers increased rapidly and Lansingh, believing that his property would soon form the site of a thriving village, in 1771 had a portion of it surveyed and laid out into lots, with streets and alleys, byjoseph Blanchard, which he called Lansinghburgh. The map, now on file in the Albany county clerk's office, bears the follow ing description: This map describeth a tract of land lying on the east side of Hudson's river, about eight miles above the City of Albany, and is layed out in a regular square for the erecting a city by the name of Lansingburgh; the lots are one hundred and twenty feet long and fifty wide. The streets are seventy feet wide, and the alleys are twenty feet wide ; the oblong square (the Green or Park) in the centre is reserved for publick uses. Laid down by a scale of ninety feet to an inch. June 7, 1771, Joseph Blanchard, Surveyor. May 11, 1771, A. Jacob Lansingh. The map showed 288 lots, and the ground it covered included that bounded by North, East and South streets and the Hudson river.' January 1, 1771, the inhabitants of the settlement agreed upon a com- i Among those who purchased lots in 1770 and 1771, who already owned property there, were the following: William Adams, Evert Bancker, Flores Bancker, John Barber, Abram Blaau, Wal- dran Blaau, Jonathan Brewer, Abram Brinkerhoff, Peter Curtinus, John Dunbar, Benjamin French, Aldah Funda, John D. Fonda, Samuel Halstead, Anne Hamersley, Moses Holt, Isaac Lansingh, Isaac H. Lansingh, Jacob A. Lansing, Alexander McLean, Mayckie McCoy, Charles Meal, Anthony Rutgers, Eleanor Taylor, Jonathan Wickwire and Robert Yates. Other purchasers from that time up to 1790 were: James Abeel, James Boggs, jr., Joshua Burnham, James Caldwell, Caleb Carr, Joy Chambers, Jeremiah Comstock, William Conklin, Ebenezer Cooley, Cornelius Cooper, Volkert Dawson, Barnet De Clyn, Peter Goewey, Amos Graves, Thomas Hiatt, Ezra Hitchcock, Lyman Hitchcock, Peter Hogel, Jeremiah Hoogland, Horace Seymour, Nathaniel Jacobs, Ignis Kipp, Thomas Knight, Francis Lansingh, Franciscus Lansingh, Hendrick Lansingh, Levinus Lansingh, Hugh McCarty, William JIcGill, Patrick McNiff, James McMurray, James Moran, Agnes Murray, William Nichols, Abram Nelson, Aaron Noble, Joseph Norris, Abram J. Ouderkirk, Piatt & Will iams, Charles Reed, Maria Rosa, William Scott, Cornelius S. Sebring, Jonathan Sewers, John Skiffington, Patrick Smith, Smith & Whitney, Benjamin Snyder, Barent Ten Eyck, John Tibhit, John Tillman, Margaret Tillman, James Thomson, Robert Thompson, Henry Van Arnura, John Van Cortland, Cornelius Vandenburgh, John Van Rensselaer, James Van Varick, Abram K. Van Vleck, Gerrit Van Wie, Catharine Van Wie, Aaron Ward, Ralph Watson, Frederick Weaver, Peter Weaver, John De Witt, Jonathan Wood, Wynkoop & Ten Eyck, Peter W. Yates, and Joseph Young. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 377 pact called the "Proposals," forthe government of the community, and chose civil officers. It was provided that there be annually elected a committee of five persons, a "town clerk, a path-master, and three fence-viewers, " and that Abraham Jacob Lansingh, or his heirs forever, should be one of the committee. At the first town meeting Ebenezer Marvin was elected moderator and Thomas S. Diamond clerk. The first committee comprised Abraham Jacob Lansingh, Isaac Bogart, John Barber, Ebenezer Marvin and Benjamin French. Abraham Wendell was chosen pathmaster, and Robert Wendell, Levinus Lans ingh and Isaac Van Arnum fenceviewers. The advantageous location of the new " City of Lansinghburgh " attracted many persons from other localities, particularly from New England, and the embryo village grew rapidly. Small manufacturing establishments were started and mercantile and commercial houses were founded at a rate that gave great promise. In 1774 a school was founded by Maus R. Van Vranka, who also agreed to read one English and one Dutch sermon on every Sunday in the year, excepting four Sundays reserved for himself. When the inhabitants of Lansinghburgh became aware of the fact that the relations between the American colonists and Great Britain had become strained almost to the point of rupture, they showed their patriotism by subscribing to a paper which read as follows, dated June 15,1775: A General Association agreed to and subscribed by the Freemen Freeholders and Inhabitants of Lansingburgh and Patent of Stone Arabia: Persuaded that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America depends, under God, on the firm union of its inhabitants in a vigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for its safety,— convinced of the necessity of preventing the an archy and confusion which attend a dissolution of the power of government, We, the Freemen, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the town of Lansingburgh and Patent of Stone Arabia, being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the British ministry to raise a revenue in America, and shocked by the bloody scenes now acting in Massachusetts Bay Government, in a most solemn manner, Resolved, never to become slaves, and do associate ourselves under all the ties of religion, honor and love to our country, to adopt and endeavor to carry into execu tion whatever measures may be recommended by the Continental Congress, or re solved by our Provincial Convention, for the purpose of preserving our Constitu tion, and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and oppressive acts of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between Great Britain and America, on Constitutional principles can be obtained, than which we wish for nothing more ardently, and we do hereby covenant, promise and agree that we will in all things 378 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. follow the advice of our General Committee respecting the purpose aforesaid, the preservation of peace, good order and safety of the individuals and private property The paper bore the signatures of Abraham Jacob Lansingh, Christo pher Tillman, John D. Wynkoop, Abraham Ten Eyck, Benjamin French, John Barber, James Selkirk, Daniel Toneray, Jonathan Severs, Henry Pollock, Michael Houseworth, John Fine, Stephen Marvin, James Boggs, Abraham Ouderkirk, Ephraim Griswold, Samuel Hig- gins, James Willson, Justus Brown, John Clark, David Lay ten, Francis Hogle, John Sloan, Gerry Lane, Samuel Burns, Isaac Van Arnum, Robert Wendell, Pennell Brown, Frederic Weaver, Levinus Lansingh, William Thomkins, Joseph Bacon, John Dunbar, Peletiah Winchell, John Young, Levinus Leverse, Gershom French, Joseph Jones, John Sniffington, Thomas Cook, William Nichols, Alexander Boyd, John Winn, Josiah Rose, Daniel Shaw, Aaron Ward, William Conklin, Ed ward Bruster, Samuel Bruster and Jacob A. Lansingh. That these men meant all that they said and promised is evidenced in the fact that, with very few exceptions, their names are found en rolled upon the following lists of militia maintained during the War of the Revolution. Some of the names are those of persons then residing outside the bounds of the town, but there is no record distinguishing them from residents of Lansingburgh : The Lansingburgh company of Colonel Stephen J. Schuyler's militia, February 17, 1777; Captain, Christopher Tillman; lieutenants, Abraham Ten Eyck, Jonathan Sever; ensign, John Clarke; sergeants, Daniel Toneray, Aaron Ward, William Conklin, Jonathan Douglass ; corporals, William Willoughby, James Barber, James Sloan, Stephen Marvin, jr. Privates, George Lane, Abraham J. Ouderkirk, Henry Van Arnum, Robert Thompson, Samuel Burns, Levinus Lansingh, William Tompkins, Samuel Bennet, Michael Houswirt, Comfort Shaw, George Masten, Robert Armstrong, Conrad Hentlebecker, John Dunbar, Robert Dunbar, John Hogg, Peletiah Winchell, Henry Campbell, Benjamin Bruster, Samuel Bruster, John Young, Levinus Leverse, Solomon Goewey, Francis Hogel, Isaac Van Arnum, Thomas Martin, Ephraim Griswold, Jabez Griswold, William Carr, John Wood, Christopher Pamser, John Barber, Job Paddock, William Spotten, Nicholas Fisher, Justus Brown, James Perkins, John Walker, George Van Vleck, George Boyd, Leonard Miller, William Boyd, John Follet, Phineas Bacon, William Douglass. Payroll of Captain Cornelius Noble's company in Colonel Stephen J. Schuyler's regiment of Albany militia to August 11, 1777: Captain, Cornelius Noble ; lieutenants, Samuel Shaw, John Clarke; ensign, John Byly ; sergeants, Hugh McManus, William Greenfield, Samuel Lope, Hezekiah Hull, William Norton ; corporals, James Barber, Stephen Marvin, Samuel Frazer, John S. Fine; drummer, Emanuel Hennicke; privates, Hercules Kronckhite, Abraham HERBERT E. DE FREEST, M. D. TOWN OF LANSlNGBtlRGtL 37!) Kronckhite, William Crannell, Hendrick Strunck, Jacob Fellow, William Cooper, John Van Ostrander, Hendrick Ploss, jr., Jacob Smith, William Morris, John Han nah, Isaac Crannell, Samuel Evans, Job Paddock, William Willoughby, John Paget, Matthew Marvin, Andrew Colehammer, Daniel Grawbocker, John Vanderwerken, Ephraim Griswold, David Randall, Joseph Doty, Bethuel Greenfield, Solomon Grif fiths, Stephen Millard, Joshua Randall, Stephen Randall, Reuben Bompis, Ephraim Jackson, Israel Brooks, Jacob Van Every, Philip Haner, Joseph Benson, Eleazer Hill Andreas Barott, Ebenezer Baker, Francis Hogel, John Frazer, John Carner, Volkert Miller, Peter Minigh, Andries Parker, Casparis Valentine, Jost Harwick, John Walter, Frederick Conrad, John Craver, Gerrit Peck, Reulf Ostrom, John Lansingh, Thomas Martin, John Kelly, Solomon Battler, Hendrick Ploss, Peter Coons, Isaiah Durham. The first Masonic lodge in Lansingburgh was Hiram lodge No. :15, F, & A. M., which was instituted upon a warrant granted August 16, 1787. The growth of New City, as Lansingburgh was commonly called in contradistinction to the Old City (Albany), and the development of its various industries were so great that May 21, 1787, " Claxton & Bab cock in King street between Hoosick and South Streets," in answer to what they believed to be a demand for a local newspaper, brought out the first issue of the first newspaper published in Lansingburgh — the Northern Centinel and Lansingborough Advertiser. It was a weekly publication and the first newspaper printed within the limits of the terri tory now known as Rensselaer county. Strange as may seem, it did not contain a line of local news except the publishers' announcement to the public. Its contents consisted of several columns of European "news" three months old, a few brief items regarding events which had occurred nearly a month before in New York, Boston and Phila delphia, some miscellany and five advertisements. The publication at once became popular and circulated through a large territory north and east of Lansingburgh. The name " Lansingborough," which ap peared in the caption of the paper, was an error of the printers, but was not changed to Lansingburgh for several months. At the time of the establishment of the Centinel every inhabitant of Lansingburgh expected that the village was destined to become a large and prosperous city. New buildings were erected on all sides and the demand for residences and stores could not be supplied at times. Not infrequently persons who came here to locate were compelled to go elsewhere temporarily. The transportation business between this and other points had grown to large proportions, and sailing craft of all descriptions came up to the southern part of the village, where they 380 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. deposited their burdens and departed with new cargoes. An idea of the business transacted may be gleaned from the following list of mer chants and others doing business in Lansingburgh between 1787 and 1789:1 1787: Merchants — Aaron and Derick Lane, Ezra Hickok, Janes & Dole, Piatt & Williams, Nathaniel Jacobs, jr., Thomas Bassel, William Bell & Co., William Chaise, Cogswell & Selden, Selden & Jones, Hoog- land & Seymour, John Van Rensselaer, James Hickok, James Magee & Co., Flores Bancker, W. & S. Brayton, George Tibbits, William Davis, Robert White & Co., William Spotten, Stephen & Shuball Gor- ham. William Willis, gunsmith and brass founder; John Stillwell hotel keeper; Matthew Lyne, land office; Samuel Jones, joiner and tool maker; Smith & Whitney, Yates & Rockwell, watchmakers; Caleb Smith, Enos Westover, coopers; Gideon Hinman, druggist. 17X8: Merchants — Of the firm of Ephraim Morgan & Co., Ephraim Morgan, Jonas Morgan and John Bordman; Samuel Chace, John Tibbits, God- dard Spencer, John T. Arden, Joshua Burnham, Collins & Sherlock, Caleb and T. Street. Annanias Piatt, proprietor of the Bull's Head Tavern; Thomas Dilks, boots and shoes; Aaron Noble, hatter; William Guest, leather; Stephen Jackson, manufacturer of cut nails; William Carter, land office. 1789: Merchants — George & Benjamin Tibbits, Christopher Tillman, Nathaniel Williams, Benjamin Winthrop, Red- field & Bradley, Jonathan Burr, John Harback; William Disturnell, clock and watchmaker; Andrew Glass, furniture. The expectations of the founder of Lansingburgh were more than met in its rapid development. In 1790, so numerous had become the population and so varied the business interests of the community, that it was deemed advisable to establish a more substantial form of gov ernment than the " Proposals " first agreed to. Consequently, April 5, 1790, the State Legislature passed the following act, the first charter of the village of Lansingburgh : An act to appoint trustees to take and hold certain lands therein mentioned, and for other purposes. Passed the 5th of April, 1790. Whereas in that part of the town of Rensselaerwyck in the county of Albany here in after described, a considerable number of houses are already erected, and occu pied by merchants mechanics and others to the advancement of commerce and manufactures in this State; and in order to enable them to regulate their internal 1 History of Lansingburgh, by A. J. Weise, 1877. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 381 nolice and to secure the benefits of certain commonable lands lying within the same, have prayed that they might be enabled to appoint trustees. Therefore Be it enacted . ¦ ¦ That John Van Rensselaer Christopher Tillman, Elijah lanes Aaron Ward, Stephen Goreham, Ezra Hickock and Levinus Lansing shall be and thev are hereby declared to be, the first trustees for the freeholders and inhab itants of that part of the town of Rensselaerwyck, commonly called Lansingburgh, and shall continue to be trustees until the third Tuesday in May next, and that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said freeholders and inhabitants, qualified by law to vote at town meetings, to assemble on the third Tuesday of May next, and annually on the third Tuesday of May in every year thereafter, at such place and at such time of the day, as the trustees for the time being, or the major part of them, shall by public advertizement appoint, and under the direction of the said trustees, or such of them as shall be present, who are hereby made inspectors of such election, then and there by a majority of voices, to elect seven discreet inhabitants, being freeholders, to be trustees as aforesaid, who shall continue in office until the third Tuesday in the month of May in the next ensuing year And be it further enacted . . . That the said trustees hereby appointed, and their successors, are hereby enabled to take a grant or grants feoffment or feoffments of any lands lying and being in Lansingburgh aforesaid, and to hold the same to them and their successors forever, in trust to and for the common use and benefit of the freeholders and inhabitants aforesaid. And be it further enacted . That the said freeholders and inhabitants, at their annual meetings to be held as aforesaid, and at such other times in the year as the said trustees or a majority of them may think necessary and advertize for the purpose, shall be and they are hereby authorized and empowered from time to time, to make, ordain, constitute and establish, such prudential rules, orders and regula tions, as a majority of such freeholders and inhabitants so assembled and having a right to vote, shall judge necessary and convenient for the better improving of their common lands, and for ascertaining and directing the use and management thereof, and respecting the cutting of wood on the same ; and also to ordain and establish such prudential rules and orders, relative to the cleansing and keeping in order and repair the common streets and highways in Lansingburgh aforesaid, and removing nuisances therefrom — and also to make and ordain rules and regulations proper to compel the housekeepers in Lansingburgh aforesaid, to furnish themselves with a sufficient number of proper fire buckets, and with necessary tools and implements for extinguishing of fires, and to impose such penalties on the offenders against such rules orders and regulations, or any or either of them, as the majority of such free holders and inhabitants so assembled, shall from time to time deem proper, not ex ceeding forty shillings for any one offence, to be recovered by the said trustees for the time being in their own names with costs of suit, for the use of the said freehold ers and inhabitants, by action of debt, before any justice of peace residing in the said county of Albany. And be it further enacted . . That the said trustees hereby appointed, and their successors, shall and may from time to time, constitute and appoint, one fit person to be a common clerk for the said freeholders, whose duty it shall be, to re cord all rules orders and regulations, made by the said freeholders and inhabitants at their meetings as aforesaid, in a proper book to be by him provided for such pur- 382 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. pose, and also to do and perform all such matters and things as the said trustees or a majority of them shall lawfully from time to time, by writing under their hands appoint and direct. And be it further enacted . . . That it shall and may be lawful, to and for the said trustees or the major part of them, and they are hereby required with all convenient speed, to elect nominate and appoint a sufficient number of men, willing to accept, not exceeding fifteen in number, out of the inhabitants residing in Lan singburgh aforesaid, to have the care, management, working and use of the fire en gine or engines belonging to the said freeholders and inhabitants for extinguishing fires; and the said trustees or the major part of them, are hereby authorized and em powered to remove or displace all or any of the firemen so as aforesaid to be elected nominated and appointed, when and as often as they shall think fit, and others in their stead to elect nominate and appoint; and also to make establish and ordain such rules orders and regulations, for the government conduct duty and behaviour of such firemen as to them shall appear necessary and proper. And be it further enacted . That such persons as shall be elected and ap pointed firemen, and each and every one of them during the time such person or persons shall remain firemen, and no longer, shall and hereby are declared to be, freed and exempted from serving in the office of constable and overseer of the high ways and of and from serving as jurors, and of and from serving in the militia, ex cept in cases of invasion or other imminent danger. Soon after a fire company was organized, and in 1791 the hand fire engine known as old No. 1 was purchased in Philadelphia. Abraham Jacob Lansingh, founder of Lansingburgh, died October!!, 1791, in the seventy second year of his age. His wife, Catherine Lan singh, died the day before in the sixty-ninth year of her age. In the notice of his death printed in the American Spy October 11 he is re ferred to as " the original proprietor of this town." The "Scotch Seceders," as they styled themselves, built a church in 1789 or 1790 on the ground later occupied by the brush factor}- of J. G, McMurray & Co. The Rev. John Gausman was pastor, but the society died out after a brief career. The first post-office in Lansingburgh was established in June, 17!)'-!. Up that date letters for Lansingburgh were sent to Albany and there sent to their destination by a stage line operated by Annanias Piatt upon the authority of the Legislature. Stephen Gorham was made deputy postmaster in April, 1791. He was succeeded in the summer of 1792 by John Lovett, who became the first postmaster of Troy. As early as June 18, 17*2, Rev. Brandt Schuyler Lupton preached in Lansingburgh, but he did not become the pastor of a congregation until November 3, 1788, being ordained on the third Sunday of that month as pastor of the Reformed Protestant Dutch church. The first JAMES HENRY LYONS, M. D. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. ;i83 church edifice was erected on the northwest corner of Richard and John streets and was used as a house of worship until 1832. The congregation continued in existence until the close of the eighteenth century. August 9, 1792, the First Presbyterian church was organized and the corner stone of the building subsequently used by the congre gation as a house of worship was laid July 5, 1793, by Rev. Jonas Coe, pastor of the united congregations of Lansingburgh and Troy.1 The church was dedicated the following year. It was built on the north end of the village green and its walks were made of brick imported from Holland by Levinus Lansingh, which he originally intended to use in the construction of a residence for himself. The Lansingburgh library was opened September 9, 1794, with Will iam Bell as librarian. The library was incorporated by act of the Legislature February 24, 1795, the incorporators named in the law being: John Van Rensselaer, Jonas Coe. Nathaniel Williams, Silvester Tiffany, Elijah Janes, William Bell, Elisha Putnam, Hiram Hopkins, Benjamin Tibbits, John D. Dickenson, John Wolcott, Shubal Gorham, Mathew Lyne, Annanias Piatt, Joseph Alexander, Levinus Lansing, John Gaston, Herculus Marriner, John Rockwell, Jon athan Burr, David Spalding, Cornelius Lansing, Archibald Campbell, James Hickok, Lewis Beebe, Nicholas Schuyler, Thomas Rattoon, Wheeler Douglass, John Keating, ' Michael Henry, Ashbel Root, Thomas Bassell, Stephen W. Johnson, William W. Wands, John Lovett, William Bradley, Bela Redfield, Charles Selden, Jonas Morgan, Simeon Johnson, Ezra Hickok, Abiel Bugby, Thomas Turner, Zachariah Garnwrick, Joseph D. Selden, Joshua Burnham, William Sim, David Thompson, James Reed, George F. Tennery, Samuel Stewart, Jacob A. Lansing, Guert Van Schoonhoven, Isaac Keeler, Joseph Lockwood, John Hutchinson, John Hazard, Hezekiah Ketcham, Mathew Gregory, Depuy Rosekrans, Joseph Robbins, Flores Bancker, Mathew Perry and George Tibbits. The trustees named in the charter were twelve in number: John Van Rensselaer, John D. Dickenson, Charles Selden, Benjamin Tibbets, Elijah Janes, John Keating, William Bell, Silvester Tiffany, Nicholas Schuyler, Nathaniel Williams, Jonas Coe and Guert Van Schoonhoven. February 10, 1795, the Legislature passed a law providing for the paving of certain streets in Lansingburgh and appointing John D. Dickinson, James Dole, Jonas Morgan, Annanias Piatt, Nicholas Schuyler, John Keating and Benjamin Tibbits commissioners to direct the work of improvement. The streets directed to be paved were King street, leading from what was called South street to Richard street ; 1 See history of the First Presbyterian church in Troy, 384 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. North street, leading from Queen street to Water street ; and Hoosick street, leading from Queen street to Water street. The first water works in Lansingburgh of which any information is in existence were constructed prior to or during 1795. In December of that year water was supplied to all persons desiring it, from aque ducts constructed and maintained by Luther Ernes & Co. The Lansingburgh academy was chartered by the Regents of the University February 20, 1796, in response to a petition signed Decem ber 24, 1795, by influential residents of the village. October 20, 1796, the village trustees passed this resolution: That the seal of the corporation shall be made with the following device, viz. : a heart festooned with an " L'' in the centre, and shall be kept by the Clerk for the use of the corporation. January 19, 1802, this preamble and resolution was adopted: Whereas, The seal adopted by the Trustees of Lansingburgh on the 20th of Oc tober, 1796, as a common seal, has been lost, and it has therefore become necessary to adopt another instead thereof; therefore, Resolved, That the seal of the corporation be an oval, with an " L" in the centre, ornamented above the " L " with a knot of ribband, by order of the Trustees. Joseph Alexander, clerk. The law erecting the village of Lansingburgh was soon found to be incomplete, uncertain and restricted. Upon representations to this effect made to the Legislature that body, February Ki, 1798, enacted a new law, in which it was decreed in part as follows: That the district of country contained within the following bounds, to wit, begin ning at a point in the division line between the counties of Albany and Rensselaer opposite the mouth of the creek on which John D. Vanderheyden's mill now stands, from thence running on a line due east to the loot of the first range of hills thence northerly on a line along the foot of the first said range of hills until the said line strikes the north bounds of- the said farm to the division line between the counties of Rensselaer and Saratoga thence along the westerly line of the said county of Rensselaer to the place of beginning, and that the district of country contained within the above limit, heretofore supposed to be that part of the town of Troy commonly called Lansingburgh shall hereafter be known and distinguished by the name of the village of Lansingburgh and the freeholders who may from time to time reside within the aforesaid limits may on the third Tuesday of May next meet at some proper place by any justice of the peace within said village to be appointed and notified to the inhabitants thereof, at least one week previous to the said third Tuesday and then and there proceed to choose five discreet freeholders resident within said village to be trustees thereof who when chosen shall possess the several powers and rights hereinafter specified and such justice shall preside at such meet ing and shall declare the several persons having a majority of votes as duly chosen JAMES J. CHILD. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 385 trustees, and on every third Tuesday in May after the first election of Trustees there shall in like manner be a new election of trustees for said village and the trustees for the time being shall perform the several duties herein required from such justice in respect of notifying the meeting of the freeholders of the said village and presid ing at such election. Provision was also made for the election of three assessors, a col lector, treasurer and "as many fire wardens as the trustees for the time being or the major part thereof may order and direct." The duties of the village officers were carefully defined. One of the peculiar provis ions of this law, which was in reality the second charter of the village of Lansingburgh, is contained in the following clause: That if any one of the inhabitants of the village of Lansingburgh . shall hereafter be elected or chosen trustee, or to the office of 'assessor or fire warden, and having notice of his said election, shall refuse, deny, delay or neglect to take upon him or them to execute such office to which he or they shall be elected, then it shall be lawful for the trustees . . to assess or impose upon every such person or persons . such sum or sums of money as they . may think fit, so as such fine for each refusal, denial, delay or neglect shall not exceed the sum of twenty-five dollars. March 30, 1798, by act of the Legislature, Alexander I. Turner and Adonijah Skinner were given the exclusive right, for five years begin ning May 1, 1798, to conduct a stage line between the village of Lan singburgh and the town of Hampton, Washington county, passing through the towns of Hebron, Salem and Granville. The Lansingburgh Gazette made its initial appearance September 18, 1798, Gardiner Tracy being its first publisher. Before that time, in addition to the Northern Centinel and Lansingburgh Advertiser, the Federal Herald, the American Spy and the Northern Budget had been started. In the reports of cases adjudicated in the Supreme Court of Judica ture of the State of New York is recorded the decision in the case of Van Rensselaer against Dole, a unique proceeding for damages on ac count of alleged slander. The decision in the case was handed down in April, 1800, and since that time at least one lawsuit of a similar nature has been decided in favor of the defendant, the decision being based upon the law as laid down by the presiding judge in the case of Van Rensselaer against Dole. The opinion and decision in the case, being so unusual, are quoted: Van Rensselaer against Dole. This was an action of slander. The declaration charging the defendant with speaking of the plaintiff and others, the following 386 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. words: " John Keating is as damned a rascal as ever lived, and all who joined his party and the procession on the 4th of July, (meaning the said John Van Rensselaer and the party and procession, in which the said John Keating acted as captain on the said 4th of July) are a set of blackhearted highwaymen, robbers, and murderers " The words were differently charged, with some additional expressions, in the other counts, but were in substance the same. Plea the general issue. The cause was tried before Mr. Justice Benson, at the last March sittings, in the city of Albany. The words charged were proved to have been spoken by the de fendant. On the part of the defendant it appeared, that on the day previous to the speaking of the words, there had been a public procession to a church in Lansingburgh, where the parties resided ; that Keating commanded an artillery company, which formed part of the procession, attended with music ; that a Mr. Bird claimed one of the instru ments of music, a bass viol, and went to the church to demand, or take it, but it was refused to be delivered, and retained by force ; that upon this, an affray ensued, in which Mr. Bird received a dangerous wound. It was proved, that the conversation, in which the words were spoken, was under stood by the witnesses to relate to the transactions of the preceding day, and that the terms highwaymen, robbers, and murderers, were used in reference to the treat ment of Mr. Bird in withholding the bass viol, and in stabbing him. The judge was of the opinion, that the words being spoken in relation to the trans actions of the preceding day, and so understood, were thereby explained, and on that account not actionable. The jury, nevertheless, found a verdict for the plain tiff, for 50 dollars damages and 6 cents costs. The defendant at this term, moved for a new trial, on the ground that the verdict was contrary to law, and the evidence. Woodworth, for the plaintiff. Van Vechten, for the defendant. Per Curiam. We agree in opinion with the judge at the trial. The words spoken by the defendant were clearly understood to apply to the transactions of the preced ing day, and these were known not to amount to the charge which the words would otherwise import. Let the verdict, therefore, be set aside ; and there being no ques tion upon the evidence, the finding of the jury must be considered as contrary to law, and it is therefore ordered, that the costs abide the event of the suit. Rule granted. The limits of the village of Lansingburgh were again defined by the Legislature April 2, 1801, as follows: Beginning at a point in the division line between the counties of Albany and Rensselaer, opposite the mouth of the creek on which John D. Van Der Heyden s mill now stands, from thence running on a line due east to the foot of the first range of hills, thence northerly on a line along the foot of the said first range of hills, until said line strikes the north bounds of the farm of Cornelius Lansing, and on which the said Cornelius Lansing now lives, thence westerly along the north bounds of said farm, to the division line between the counties of Rensselaer and Saratoga, thence along the westerly line of the said county of Rensselaer to the place of be ginning. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 387 By this law, or amended charter of Lansingburgh, the inhabitants of the village were accorded additional privileges and new duties were defined tor them. Provision was made for new village ordinances relative to markets, streets, drainage, fire department, liquor license and many other matters, all of which were left in the hands of the new trustees. The structure which spans the Hudson river between Lansingburgh and Waterford, Saratoga county, known as the Union bridge, is dis tinguished as being the oldest wooden bridge in the United States. It stands intact to-day as strong apparently as in the early days of the century. When the bridge was constructed it was deemed a marvel of engineering skill. How the public looked upon the structure at that time is manifested by the elaborate character of the exercises which attended its opening. The Lansingburgh Gazette in its issue of De cember 4, 1804, said: Union bridge, lately erected over the Hudson, between this village and Waterford, was yesterday opened for passengers. The particulars of the celebration of this event will be given in our next paper. The next issue of the paper, December 11, 1804, devoted more than a column to a description of the event. Among the interesting clauses it contained were these: This handsome structure, which promises to be of durable and important public utility, was commenced early the present season, and is now so far completed as to be adjudged by the proper authority fit for the uses of travellers. The work was executed under the direction of Theodore Burr, principal architect ; by James Mc- Elroy, head mason, and Samuel Shelly, master carpenter, and unites a degree of strength and elegance which reflects the highest credit on those gentlemen. The day was a holiday in Lansingburgh. A " very numerous pro cession" was formed at noon at Johnson & Judson's hotel and marched to the bridge, and thence across to Waterford, "under the discharge of seventeen cannon," where a dinner had been provided at Van Schoonhoven's hotel at the expense of the stockholders of the bridge. Among the prominent persons in attendance were the governor, the secretary of state, the comptroller, " and a large number of respect able gentlemen from Albany and the adjacent villages," who " partook in much harmony and conviviality." The structure is 800 feet long and thirty feet wide, comprising four arches, which are supported by three pillars and two abutments. It is owned by the Union Bridge company, of which Thomas A. Knickerbacker is president and John Knickerbacker treasurer. 388 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. As early as 1803 Rev. Laban Clark and Martin Ruter preached to Methodist congregations in Lansingburgh. Seven years later a house of worship was erected on the bank of the river at the foot of Eliza- beth street and was occupied by the congregation until 1827. The church was regularly organized July 23, 1827, and February 15, 1828 the trustees of the society bought of Derick Lane the lot on the south west corner of North and Queen streets, where a church was after ward erected. The first regular pastor was Rev. S. D. Ferguson. The First Baptist society of Lansingburgh was organized June 11 1803, and the first edifice was located on the corner of John and North streets. During the war of 1812 an artillery company, of which Reuben King was captain and Caleb Allen lieutenant, and which had been organized before that war, was sent to Ogdensburg, but was soon afterward sent home. When the draft was ordered for the 155th Regiment, in com mand of General Gilbert Eddy of Pittstown, one-fourth of the artillery company was required for service, but before the regiment had pro ceeded further than Granville hostilities had terminated and the regi ment was dismissed. When Commodore Macdonough, the distin guished commander of the flotilla on Lake Champlain, visited Lans ingburgh, April 8, 1815, on his way to New York, he was welcomed by a large concourse of citizens, headed by a committee, who presented to him a pair of handsome pitchers and a dozen goblets. The pitchers were inscribed on one side: "Commodore T. Macdonough, with an inferior force, captured the British squadron on Lake Champlain Sep tember 11, 1814;" and on the other: "Presented by the citizens of Lansingburgh to the Hero of Lake Champlain." The goblets were inscribed: "The citizens of Lansingburgh to Commodore Macdo nough." The gift was acknowledged in a letter from Commodore Macdonough to the citizens' committee, consisting of James Hickok, David Smith, Elias Parmelee, John Topping, Elijah Janes, Gardiner Tracy, James Adams and James Reid. The bank of Lansingburgh was incorporated March 19, 1813, begin ning business at No. 531 State street, then King street. Its first direc tors were Elijah Janes, Shubael Gorham, Abraham C. Lansing, James Dennison, Gardiner Tracy, James Hickok, James Adams, Jonathan Burr, Timothy Leonard, Silvanus J. Penniman, Elias Parmelee, John Stewart, Calvin Barker, James Dougrey and Asa Burt. Elijah Janes was the first president and James Reid the first cashier. The bank P. ROMER CHAPMAN. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 389 started with a capital of $200,000, of which $60,000 was paid in. Under the general banking law of 1838 reorganization was effected, and June 20, 1866, the name was changed to National Bank of Lansingburgh. March 9, 1869, it was changed back to a State bank and called the Bank of Lansingburgh. Its banking house was located on the northwest cornerof State and Richard streets. After a career of sixty-four years the corporate existence of the Bank of Lansingburgh ceased March 19, 1877, its last president being Horace W. Day, vice-president Leonard J. Abbott, cashier Alexander Walsh, teller E. H. Leonard, and book keeper William C. Groesbeck. In 1819 a portion of the town of Schaghticoke was annexed to Lans ingburgh, which contains the hamlet of Speigletown, in the northeast ern part of the town. This hamlet received its name from the Vander- speigle families, early settlers of the southern part of the town of Schaghticoke. Soon after Hiram lodge, F. & A. M., ceased to exist, in September, 1822, a dispensation was granted for the institution of Phoenix lodge, which was organized in the following year. A history of the lodge will be found in a separate chapter dealing with Masonry in Rensselaer county. The First Universalist church was organized December 15, 1832, but it was not until the summer of 1834 that a small wooden house of wor ship was erected on the southwest corner of John and North streets. The society ceased to exist after a career of a few years and its church edifice was sold to St. John's Roman Catholic congregation. This congregation was organized in 1840 or 1841 and the church was dedi cated in 1844 by Bishop McCloskey. St. Augustine's Roman Catholic church, erected in 1864 on the east side of John street between Eliza beth and Market streets, at a cost of $40,000, was dedicated May 6, 1806, by Bishop Conroy of Albany. Rev. Thomas Galberry, O. S. A., was the first pastor. St. Augustine Free Institute was established December 13, 1869, by Rev. Thomas Galberry, Edward A. Dailey, Mi chael J. Collins, Ellen Wood and Mary Sullivan at the corner of John and North streets. It was afterward placed in charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph and its name was changed to St. Augustine's Free Insti tute. By changes made in the bounds of the town by act of the Legislature in 1S38, that portion of the village known as Batestown became a part of the city of Troy. 390 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Lansingburgh was visited by its first serious fire Sunday, July 9 1843, when nearly two entire blocks in the central part of the village were destroyed. The fire originated about 4 p. m. in the stables of the Rensselaer house and spread with great rapidity. The fire companies of Troy, Cohoes and Waterford responded to the call for assistance and their presence doubtless prevented the flames from destroying the entire village. About twenty- five buildings were totally destroyed and several others damaged. The burned area was located between State and Congress streets and Elizabeth and Grove streets. Two weeks later, Sunday evening, July 23, about 10.30 o'clock, fire which originated in Jacock's barn destroyed about twelve more buildings. The Rensselaer County bank was established January 1, ]Kfl;i, with a capital stock of $200,000 and John S. Fake as president. It was con verted into a national bank in June, ,1865, but six years later it resumed its old title. It ceased to exist July 13, 1872. The 30th Regiment, N. Y. State Vols., the history of which is con tained in a preceding chapter, had its inception in Lansingburgh, the first full company for that regiment being organized in this village. It was mustered into the service of the United States as Company A, with Samuel King as captain, John H. Campbell as lieutenant and Francis Dargen as ensign. At the first battle of Bull Run Captain King, Ensign Dargen and five privates were killed. Lieutenant Campbell succeeded to the captaincy. The term of service of the company and the regiment was twfo years from June 6, 1801. Company K, 169th Regiment, was organized by Captain Daniel Ferguson and Second Lieutenant E. R. Smith. The former was killed at the explosion of the mine at Fort Fisher. The term of service of the company was three years from October 0, 1862. Captain Charles S. Holmes and First Lieutenant Cornelius Kelleher were members of Company C, 192nd Regiment. The Lansingburgh soldiers who lost their lives while in the service of the United States in the War of the Rebellion were: James Clark, George Lemon, Samuel King, David Ferguson, R. M. Smith, Albert Smith, Charles Remington, Artemus Wood, James Sickler, George Cook, George Lester, William McMurray, Edward Remington. James Kirkpatrick, Minot A. Thomas, Richard Barret, George Williams, James Denison, John A. Hardy, Andrew McAusland, Joseph Whinnery, William Johnson, Charles Smith, George Van Vilite, W. S. Carr, William Son, John Hardy, George H. Hubbard, Frank Nittin, William Bell, Joseph Stout, Edwin Moss, E. Alderdice, William Cottrell, Melford Clark, Robert Bell, Nicholas Benjamin, Joseph Graham, George Britton, Andrew Kirk- TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 391 Patrick, William Rafter, Joseph Rafter, Daniel McGovern, Michael Connors, Al- raund D. Gardner, Silas Rowley, Albert White, Jacob Orth, Simon Ripley, Hugh Lennon, William Cooper, Andrew Wright, William E. Pratt, Joseph McKinney, Hernan Spotten, Moses E. Newell, Jerome Lee, C. R. Burlingame, B. S. Williams, George H. Watson, John Trong, Henry Oliver, Francis Dargen, William O'Keeffe, Thomas O'Keeffe, Owen O'Keeffe, Cornelius Murphy, Lawrence Sands, Thomas Kelly, Hugh Brady, Christopher Farrell, Jarvis Smith, Thomas Winters, Jule Pres cott Louis Delair, William McArlee, John Brady, John Broidy, Richard Walker, Walker, Lawrence Dorsey, Thomas Hilroy, George Loomis, Thomas Bulson, Samuel Stapleton, William Welsh, Michael English, Corneller Kelleher, James O'Keeffe, James Fitzpatrick, John Brennan. March 48, 1875, Justice Westbrook of the Supreme Court granted an order for the appointment of John P. Albertson as secretary of the Exchange Bank of Lansingburgh, and the following afternoon, with trucks and workmen, Isaac McConihe, president of the bank, with his counsel, John H. Colby, and Mr. Albertson, came to Lansingburgh from Troy and removed the safe, books, etc., loading them on the trucks and taking them to Mr. McConihe's office in Troy. In 1882 Mrs. Deborah Powers, then ninety-three years of age, de sired to devote a portion of her estate to the use of those who had been less fortunate, and she decided to found a home for aged women. April 10, 1883, she purchased the property now known as the Powers Home for Old Ladies, formerly called the Daniel Davenport home stead, which was remodeled and another story placed on both wings. The first inmate was received December 20, 1883. In 1884 the build ing was again enlarged. The grounds embrace a half block in the northern part of the village between Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth streets and Second and Third avenues. On the morning of Wednesday, December 11, 1895, a small house on Second avenue, just below Sixth street, was burned, the flames causing the death of Mrs. Hannah Eglin Sliter and Mary Harris, the former a well-known resident of the village. Institutions of Lansingburgh. When the public school system of the State was organized by the Legislature in 1807, Charles Selden and Thomas Wallace were chosen as the first school commissioners for Lansingburgh. Under the system of supervision by town superintendents in 1834, John G. Neal was elected to that office. In 1847 the Legislature passed an act permitting school district No. 1 of Lansingburgh to raise by taxation money 392 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. enough, in addition to the public money, to establish a free school This was one year before the free school system of the State was at tempted by the Legislature, and four years before the fully developed system of 1851 was established. Prof. James C. Comstock was made principal of the new free school. The Lansingburgh academy is an old institution. The petition for its incorporation was signed December 24, 1795, by Benjamin Tibbits William Bell and twenty- five others, and the charter was granted bythe Regents February 20, 1796. The first trustees of the academy were Rev. Jonas Coe, John D. Dickinson, John Lovell, William Bradley, Nicholas Schuyler, Michael Henry, George Tibbits, Christopher Hut ton, Annanias Piatt, Elijah Janes, Cornelius Lansing, Charles Selden, Henlock Woodruff, Jonathan Brown, Philip Smith, Josiah Mastersand John Thompson. The first building was erected on the site fronting the old "green," which is now the village park. It was of wood, and in it the school was maintained for twenty-five years. A new building was erected in 1820 on tne north side of Fourteenth street near Fourth avenue. In that building the school has since been maintained, and under the charter of 1796. The first principal of the academy was Chauncey Lee. After him came Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, Norris Bull, George A. Simmons, afterwards member of congress; Alexander McCall, E. B. Jones, 1835 to 1838; E. B. Foote, 1840; H. White, 1841 to 1842; Ebenezer D. Maltbie, 1842 to 1847; C. G. Pease, 1847 to 1849; Rev. Cyrus Bolster, 1849 to 1851; J. Hooker Magoffin, 1851 to 1854; Rev. John Smith, 1854 to 1856; Daniel J. Mann, 1859 to 1860; Peter R. Furbeck, 1860 to 1865; Rev. A. B. Whipple and Henry A. Pierce, 1870 to 1873 ; C. T. R. Smith, 1873 to . Among_ those who received their early education at this time-honored institution were Chester A. Arthur, afterwards president of the United States; Judge John K. Porter, Thomas G. Alvord, and many others. The fire department of Lansingburgh was organized by act of the Legislature April 17, 1844, with Thomas C. Davenport as the chief en gineer. This volunteer fire department came to an end December 9, 1874, when a paid department was organized in accordance with an act of the Legislature, the first chief engineer being Thomas H. Mason; first assistant, John Franklin; foreman of hose, William M. Lea; assist ant foreman, Milford Osborne ; superintendent of steamers, John Brooks; assistant superintendent and engineer, Frank Spotten. Upon the failure of the Bank of Lansingburgh, the only one in the J. K. P. PINE. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 393 village, Albert E. Powers, son of Mrs. Deborah Powers, became its receiver. In order to facilitate the liquidation, the firm of D. Powers & Son opened a bank under the title of Bank of D. Powers & Sons, the other partner being Nathaniel B. Powers, the other son of Deborah Powers. From March, 1877, until the death of Deborah Powers May 28, 1891, the mother and sons jointly conducted the bank in connection with their oilcloth factory. The factory was established many years before by Deborah Powers and her husband, William Powers. The couple were married Febru ary 23, 1816, while Mr. Powers was teaching school in Lansingburgh. Having been successful in experiments in the manufacture of this product, Mr. Powers abandoned teaching in 1821 and devoted his time from that time on to this industry. Mrs. Powers was her husband's active helper in all his experiments, both in counsel and labor. In 1828, the building they occupied being too small for the accommodation of the work, the factory now standing on the west side of Second avenue was erected. In 1X39 Mr. Powers lost his life while making varnish and Mrs. Powers was also severely burned in the same accident. But she bravely de termined to carry on the business, which she did with great success to the day of her death, amasjsing a great fortune. In 1842 Albert E. Powers was admitted into the business as his mother's partner, and five years later Nathaniel B: Powers became a member of the firm, Jona than E. Whipple, who had become a partner in 1832, retiring. After the death of Mrs. Powers both the oilcloth manufactory and the bank con tinued under the ownership of the two sons. Since the failure of the Bank of Lansingburgh many years before no State or National incorporated banking institution had existed in Lans ingburgh until 1888, when, October 19, it was decided by capitalists of the village to organize a bank with a capital stock of $68,500, to be paid in February 12, 1889, with a limit of $250,000. Subsequently the capital stock was reduced to $50,000 and these officers were elected: President, J. K. P. Pine; vice-president, Robert C. Haskell; cashier, Edward Van Schoonhoven. The bank was named the People's Bank of Lansingburgh, and the lot No. 604 Second avenue was purchased for a site for a banking building, for $2,000. Ground was broken No vember 2, 1889, and the bank began business in the following Feb ruary. The Leonard hospital was incorporated in 1893, and the institution has since been under the direction of the State Board of Charities, The 50 394 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. property was formerly owned by Mrs. HughL. Rose, who was a daughter of Dr. Leonard, and when she died she directed that the building should be devoted to the purposes of a hospital. Her wishes were fulfilled and the institution was named in honor of her father. It is located on the northeast corner of Fourteenth street and Sixth avenue, and the grounds surrounding it extend from Sixth to Seventh avenues and from Four teenth to Fifteenth streets. The building is a two-story brick structure and well adapted to the purposes for which it is used. Reference has been made to the establishment of the First Presbv- terian church. The second church edifice was commenced in 1844 and opened for service April 25, 1845. In 1866 and 1867 a commodious chapel was erected at a cost of $8,000, and since then the church has been enlarged and remodeled at a cost of $20,000. The work was completed in the summer of 1870 and the edifice, then practically a new one, was dedicated, the sermon being preached by the Rev. Anson J. Upson, D. D. The Methodist Episcopal church of Lansingburgh was organized July 23, 1827. The first house of worship was constructed at the foot of Elizabeth street near the river. A class had been formed as early as 1798, and in 1803 Rev. Laban Clark and Martin Ruter preached, In 1810 a house of worship was erected, and in 1828 and 1829 a church was built at the corner of North and Queen streets. Rev. S. D. Fer guson was the first stated pastor, though others had preceded him be fore the society became organized in due form. In 1848 a new church was built on the northeast corner of Elizabeth and Congress streets, which has been enlarged and remodeled. The society has always been a prosperous one. The John Street Baptist church was organized June 11, 1803, and the first church edifice was on the east side of State street between Hoo sick and Lansing streets. September 6, 1804, the work of erecting a larger and more convenient church was begun on the northwest corner of Congress and Richard streets. This building subsequently became the property of the Second Presbyterian society and was known as Olivet church. It later was given over to secular uses. The John Street Baptist church, having labored under heavy financial difficulties, was finally dissolved in 1857 and the church edifice was sold to satisfy a mortgage. The society was reorganized July 28, 1858, with A. B. Whipple as pastor. The edifice formerly occupied by the Second Pres byterian church on John street was purchased and improved, and soon after occupied. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 395 The Second Presbyterian church, later named Olivet, was organized June 24, 1835, as the First Free Presbyterian Society of Lansingburgh. Soon after organization had been effected a brick church was erected on the east side of John street, between Elizabeth and Richard streets. The first pastor was the Rev. Samuel P. Spear, and during his minis try the name of the organization was changed to that of the Second Presbyterian church of Lansingburgh. May 17, 1861, the congrega tion having been reorganized as Olivet church, it purchased the prop erty formerly owned by the Baptist church, located on the northwest corner of Congress and Richard streets. In 1877 a chapel was erected on the northeast corner of Clinton and Congress streets. Trinity Protestant Episcopal church was organized January 5, 1804, and the first house of worship was erected on the corner of Market and John streets. The first rector was the Rev. Dr. David Butler, who served St. Paul's at Troy at the same time. The church was destroyed by fire on Christmas morning, 1868, but was rebuilt almost imme diately, being ready for occupancy within two years. The new edifice cost about $60,000. The Reformed Presbyterian church of Troy and Lansingburgh was incorporated December 21, 1831, but in the following year sold its property and disbanded. The Universalist church was organized in 1833, its edifice being lo cated on the corner of North and John streets and its first pastor being the Rev. Charles Woodhouse. The society did not prosper and ulti mately sold its property to St. John's Roman Catholic church and went out of existence. St. John's church was. the first Roman Catholic church to be estab lished in Lansingburgh. Its first house of worship was the building purchased of the Universalist society, located on the corner of North and John streets, which, after being repaired, was consecrated by Bishop McCloskey in 1844 as "The Catholic Church of the Village of Lansingburgh." The first pastor was the Rev. W. P. Hogan. For a while it was known as St. Joseph's church. The new church was built in 1864 and given the name of St. Augustine's. The African Methodist Episcopal church was incorporated May 18, 184G, and after a career of twenty-five years it ceased to exist. The society maintained services at No. 549 Whipple avenue. The Free Methodist church was established in 1866 and its house of worship on Ann street, south of Elizabeth, was dedicated November lo, 1807. The first pastor was the Rev. George E. Ferrin. 396 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The Germondville Union church of North Lansingburgh, incorpo rated July 23, 1844, occupied during its career the house of worship afterwards owned by the Methodist church at Speigletown. The English Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer started with four persons, John Knudsen and wife and John H. Lingenfelter and wife. During the summer of 1889 Paul Klingler, a student in the Lutheran Theological seminary at Philadelphia, Pa., spent his vaca tion in an effort to gather together the anglicized Lutherans living in Lansingburgh, and succeeded in gathering fifty or sixty men, women and children. The time having arrived for Mr. Klingler to return to his studies in the seminary, the little flock was left without a shepherd, In the month of October Rev. Samuel G. Finckel came from Hartleton, Pa. , to organize a congregation. In December about a score of mem bers were incorporated, bought a lot and started a church, the corner stone of which was laid about March 1, 1890. The building was com pleted and opened for service in May, 1890. The newspapers of Lansingburgh have been : The Northern Centinel and Lansingburgh Advertiser, established May 21, 1787; the Federal Herald, established May 5, 1788, by Babcock & Hickok; the American Spy, April 8, 1791, by Silvester Tiffany; the Northern Budget;' the Lansingburgh Gazette, September 12, 1798, by Gardiner Tracy; the Rensselaer County Gazette, May 2, 1826, by Jesse C. and Jeremiah Young, subsequently, in the fall of 1828, becoming the Lansingburgh Democrat and Rensselaer County Gazette; the Farmers' Register, Jan uary 25, 1803, by Francis Adancourt; the Democratic Press and Lans ingburgh Advertiser, January 13, 1838, by William J. Lamb, subse quently becoming the Lansingburgh Democrat, then the New Adver tiser; the Literary Cabinet, November, 1841, by James J. Peck; the Golden Rule, January 1, 1844, by Rev. Rolla J. Smith, changed in 184? to the Young Ladies' Messenger ; the Antiquarian and General Re view, 1847, by Rev. William Arthur, who established it in Schenectady two years before ; the Lansingburgh Daily Gazette, January 3, 1860, by Thomas Mitchell and Alexander Kirkpatrick; the Semi-Weekly Chronicle, April 6, 1864, by J. D. Comstock ; Our Little Paper, Sep tember 13, 1872, by E. D. Ayres; The Enterprise, November 29, 1873, by J. C. Comstock; the Lansingburgh Courier, December 24, 1875, by Isaac L. Van Voast and William H. Engel ; Lansingburgh Times, estab lished by Alexander Kirkpatrick. ' See newspapers, history of Troy. STEPHEN PARKS. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 397 Among the other leading organizations in Lansingburgh, the Sans Souci Yacht club was organized October 12, 1867; the Lansingburgh Choral union was organized March 20, 1879. Industries of Lansingburgh. The population of Lansingburgh is composed largely of persons whose business is located in Troy, but the village sustains several manufacturing concerns which contribute greatly to its wealth and prosperity. Even while Troy was yet a comparatively small village Lansingburgh enjoyed an immense trade with Vermont and Northern New York in grain, beef, pork, butter, cheese and other produce. There were many commission merchants or " middle-men " in the vil lage. In the beginning of the nineteenth century there were at least a dozen warehouses on River street for storing grain. Lansingburgh was then the centre of a great grain trade, buying of the farmers for many miles around and selling at Albany, New York and other cities. About 1825, and even before that date, there were several leather tan neries in operation in the village. Frederick Forsyth, Keating Raw- son, Cornelius Lansing, Asa Burt and William Guest owned the most important of these. There were also a number of slaughter and pack ing houses, among them being those of Ives & Wilson, Tobias Loring, Xoel Atwood and Thomas Turner. Before the year 1800 there were four or five "ship yards " in town, where sailing vessels for navigation on the Hudson were mad«. Armington & Hawkins and John Stilson were prominent in this line. The oilcloth industry has been a prom inent one for many years. Reference to the factory of D. Powers's Sons has been made in preceding pages. T. C. Davenport, Jonathan E. Whipple and Ferrin engaged in the business at an early day. Caswell's rifle factory began business about 1812 or 1813. Twenty- five men were employed for many years in the three shops. Brush manufacturing was also an early industry, David McMurray being the pioneer in the business. All of his five sons— William, John G., Rob ert, David and Moses — were engaged in the same business. Large numbers of persons were employed in the various works for many years. Edwin Chamberlain established a carriage factory in 1836, in Troy, removing to Lansingburgh in 1858. The business developed to large proportions and gave employment to a number of skilled workmen. 398 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The Ludlow Valve Manufacturing company, which was located for many years in Lansingburgh, made preparations in 1896 tomovetoTrov and occupy a part of the former plant of the Troy Steel company in the southern part of the city.1 The plant was originally established in Waterford, but was removed to Lansingburgh in 1872, remaining in the village for twenty-four years. One of the earliest grist mills in town was started about 1785 or 1790 by Leversee, near the Brunswick line. There were also several other grist mills and a number of lum ber mills in town. Sherrill & Hedges had a nail factory in the village and Fisher & Co. conducted a thread factory for a few years. James McQuide began the manufacture of brushes about 1855, and eleven years later he erected a large brick building for use as a factory. Subsequently he admitted his son, Joseph McQuide, to the business under the firm name of James McQuide & Son. Sweney & Bradshaw began the manufacture of brushes in 1857. The firm afterward became Bradshaw & O'Bryan, and finally John G. O'Bryan became sole pro prietor. The brush factory of George Scott was established in 1842. E. & C. Woods began the manufacture of brushes about 1843. The Rensselaer Valve works, now located in Cohoes, were founded in Lans ingburgh in 1853 by P. Southwick. S. V. Arnold subsequently be came interested in the business. In 1879 S. V. Arnold & E. L. Rowe came into possession, and not long afterward the energies of the pro prietors were turned toward the manufacture of valves. The factory employs a large number of experienced workmen. Edward Tracy was the founder of the big malt house in Lansingburgh, said to be one of the largest in the country. Bilbrough's knitting mill, founded in Cohoes in 1854 as a cotton yarn factory, was removed to Lansingburgh about 1880. Cross & Hoyt established a brush factory in the village in 1833. Frederick M. Hoyt succeeded to the business in 1858. Milford L. Fancher established an insurance business about 1858. The Cold Spring ale brewery was founded early in the century by John Topping. A brush factory was started in 1874 by James Reed. About 1875 A. Faden began the manufacture of carriages and sleighs. Owen Dennin began the manufacture of brushes in 1874, and Curran & Barker entered the same line of business in 1875. The greatest modern industry in Lansingburgh is that conducted by the United Shirt & Collar company. This concern was formed by the 1 See history of the industries of Troy. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 399 consolidation of the houses of James K. P. Pine, S. A. House's Sons, Sanford & Robinson, Beiermeister & Spicer and Marshall & Briggs, and was incorporated May 7, 1890, with a capital of $2,000,000. July 1 of that year it began business with these officers : President, Samuel B. Sanford; vice-presidents, Frederick Beiermeister, jr., David C. Briggs; treasurer, James K. P. Pine; secretary, Edward O. House. The manufactories which comprise this giant concern had all been in business for several years, and the new corporation became at once one of the greatest in the world. The company started with three fac tories—one in Lansingburgh, located on the corner of Second avenue and Twenty-first street; the Anchor factory, at Nos. 509, 511 and 513 River street, Troy, and the factory on the corner of Fifth avenue and Broadway, Troy. One of the largest manufacturing industries in Lansingburgh is that of S. Bolton's Sons, located on the west side of Second avenue in the Fourth waTd. It is known as the Eagle brewery and is one of the most important ale and porter breweries of Northern New York. The firm now consists of Samuel Bolton, jr., and Joseph Bolton, brothers. Sam uel Bolton, jr., is the business head while his brother attends to the practical end of the business. The establishment has gained a high reputation and its output is enormous. Employment is given to a large number of hands. Samuel Bolton, jr., is one of the prominent citizens of the village. He is interested in the banking business and his real estate holdings are large, the firm being among the largest taxpayers of the village. The business was established in 1865 by the father of the present members of the firm, who came from England. From a small beginning it has grown to its present proportions and produces for its owners large fortunes. Supervisors of the Town of Lansingburgh. 1807-1813, Cornelius Lansingh; 1814-1816, James Hickok; 1817-1823, Levi Coley; 1*24-1826, Jacob C. Lansing; 1827, Elias Parmelee; 1828-1830, E. W. Walbridge; 1831-18;j2, Jacob C. Lansing; 1833-1836, John C. Filkins; 1837-1839, John M. Cas well; 1840-1843, Jonathan E. Whipple; 1844, Edwin Filley; 1845, John C Filkins; 1846, Charles C. Parmelee; 1847-1848, Edward P. Pickett; 1849, Thomas H. Fisher; 1K|"A James I. Adams; 1851, William Bradshaw; 1852-1855, G. W. Cornell; 1856, Marcus L. Filley; 1857-1858, James I. Adams; 1859, Albert E. Powers; 1860, John S. Fake; 1861, Edward P. Pickett; 1862-1865, Jonathan E. Whipple; 1866, William A. Flack; 1867-1868, James Dougrey; 1869-1873, Peter B. King; 1874, A. A. Peebles; 1875-1877, John C. Pushee; 1878, A. A. Peebles; 1879-1882, James H. Spotten; 400 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. 1882-1887, John M. Chambers; 1888-1889, Isaac G. Flack; 1890-1892, Eugene L. Demers; 1893, Isaac G. Flack, John Roach;1 1894, H. W. Gordinier; 180.1 Eugene L. Demers. Clerks of the Town of Lansingburgh. 1807-1815, Ebenezer W. Walbridge; 1816-1818, James Adams; 1819-1823, Jacob C. Lansing; 1824, Ebenezer W. Walbridge; 1825-1830, Jabez F. Parmelee- 1831- 1832, Cornelius L. Tracy; 1833-1839, Jabez F. Parmelee; 1840-1846, JohnG.' Neal; 1847, John V. Lansing; 1848, Lorenzo D. Aldrich; 1849-1850, J. F. Knickerbocker; 1851. Isaac Ransom; 1852, Lorenzo D. Aldrich; 1853, Charles Clark; 1854, Jacob M. Adams; 1855, Milford L. Fancher; 1856, Charles W. Hasbrouck; 1S57, James W. Mills; 1858-1864, Daniel King; 1865, Francis Rising; 1866, John Bell; 1867-1869, William Davenport; 1870-1872, Josiah E. West; 1873, John A. Jones; 1874, John r! Engle; 1875, Joseph E. O'Reilley; 1876, Leonard A. Groesbeck; 1877, Walter H. Ogden; 1878, Charles E. Porter; 1879, William H. Shumway;2 1880, William Gilles pie; 1881, John Ames; 1882-1883, E. Warren Barker; 1884-1885, Robert A. Gibson; 1886-1887, Crasto M. Clark; 1888-1889, E. Fred De Witt; 1890, Alfred J. Moss; 18111,' James Orr, jr.; 1892, John W. Whike ; 1893, George E. McMurray;8 1894-1895, George E. McMurray ; 1896- , Nathan T. Shaw. Justices of the Peace of Lansingburgh. (Appointed by the courts.) — 1823, Jonathan Choate, Andrew Follett, Ebenezer W, Walbridge, B. W. Horr; 1827, John Ball, B. W. Horr, Jonathan Choate; 1828, Charles Tibbet, Jacob C. Lansing; 1830, Andrew Follett, B. W. Horr; 1832, Augus tus Filley. (Elected at the annual town meetings.) — 1830, Benjamin W. Horr; 1831, Augustus Filley; 183?, Jacob C. Lansing; 1833, Marcus L. Filley, Andrew Follett; 1834, An drew Follett; 1835, John M. Caswell, John S. Fake, Daniel Whiting; 1836, John S. Fake; 1837, Marcus L. Filley; 1838, Andrew Follett, Riohard L. McDonald; 1839, Richard L. McDonald; 1840, Philipp T. Heartt, 2nd; 1841, Marcus L. Filley, Charles C. Parmelee; 1842, Stephen S. Hunt; 1843, John F. Miller; 1844, Charles C. Parme lee; 1845, Marcus L. Filley; 1846, Stephen S. Hunt; 1847, John F. Miller; 1848, Isaac Ransom, John G. Neal, Ebenezer C. Barton, John Heartt; 1849, James Dougrey; 1850, JohnHeartt; 1851, John V. Lansing; 1852, Isaac Ransom; 1853, Turner Barton, Chaun cey W. Farnham, Marcus L. Filley ; 1854, Charles J. Lansing; 1855, James W. Mills; 1856, Isaac Ransom ; 1857, Daniel King 1858,Charles J. Lansing; 1859,GeorgeH. Her man ; 1860, Isaac Ransom; 1861, Daniel King; 1862, Charles J. Lansing; 1863, Eugene Hyatt; 1864, George H. Herman; 1865, Abel Whipple ; 1866, Charles J. Lansing; 1867, * Isaac G. Flack was declared elected March 7, 1WI3, by the board of canvasser and held office until October 1:.', 1803, when, by order of the court, the board of canvassers reconvened and de clared John Roach elected supervisor. * Resigned September -J, 1879, and William Gillespie appointed in his place by the town board. 3 By order of the court James H. Fagan was declared elected to the office. He superseded Mr. McMurray and served from October 12, lh!).% to March 6, 1804. DAVID LINK. TOWN OF LANSINGBURGH. 401 Alfred Seaman; 1868, John George Neal, jr. ; 1869, George H. Herman; 1870, Charles I Lansing; 1871, Thomas C. Davenport; 1872, Alfred Seaman ; 1873, George H. Her man- 1874, C. H. Denio; 1875, Thomas C. Davenport; 1876, Henry E. Hawkins; 1877, Edwin R. Smith, Robert B. Stiles; 1878, Charles J. Lansing; 1879, Robert B. Stiles; 1880 Thomas C. Davenport; 1881, Henry E. Hawkins; 1882, Charles J. Lansing; 1883, Edwin R. Smith; 1884, Robert B. Stiles; 1885, Henry E. Hawkins; 1886, George V. Gould; 1887, Edwin R. Smith; 1888, Robert B. Stiles; Isaac L. Ransom (to fill vacancy); 1889, Alfred Seaman ; 1890, Henry E. Hawkins; 1891, Isaac L. Ransom; 18F2, Robert B. Stiles; 1893, Edwin R. Smith;1 1894, Henry E. Hawkins;2 1895, Andrew Meneeley; J. Charles Knudson (to fill vacancy); 1896, George B. Lucas; Louis Renhart (to fill vacancy). Presidents of the Village of Lansingburgh. 1791, Abraham J. Lansingh; 1792, Levinus Lansingh; 1793, Aaron Lane; 1794, John Van Rensselaer; 1795-1798, James Hickok; 1799-1800, Elijah Janes; 1801- 1805, John D. Dickinson; 1806-1808, David Allen; 1809, E. W. Walbridge; 1810, James Hickok; 1811-1831, records missing; 1832-1834, John M. Caswell; 1835, Will iam McMurray; 1836-1837, John M. Caswell; 1838, E. W. Walbridge; 1839, Nicholas Weaver; 1840, John B. Chipman ; 1841, Nicholas Weaver; 1842, John B. Chipman; 1843-1846, John S. Fake; 1847, John C. Filkin; 1848, John B. Chipman; 1849, John G. McMurray; 1850, John E. Whipple; 1851, Bailey G. Hathaway; 1852, John G. McMurray; 1853, Henry A. Mercer; 1854, Joseph Fox; 1855, F. B. Leonard; 1856, JohnG. McMurray; 1857, Thomas Curran; 1858, Henry A. Mercer; 1859, Bailey G. Hathaway; 1860, Charles Clark; 1861, J. E. Whipple; 1862-1863, Robert Dickson; 1864, Edward P. Pickett; 1865-1866, Robert Dickson; 1867-1868, William Allen; 1869-1872, Seth P. Welch; 1873-1875, Robert Dickson; 1876, James McQuide; 1877- 1878, Charles H. Dauchy; 1879-1880, Frederick E. Draper; 1881-18827 James Mc Quide; 1883-1884, C. W. Witbeck; 1885-1886, J. G. Flack; 1887-1890, William Van Kleeck; 1891-1892, J. T. Dennin; 1893-1894, James H. Hallen ; 1895 , John Magee. Clerks of the Village of Lansingburgh. 1791-1795, John D. Dickinson; 1796-1805, Joseph Alexander; 1806-1808, Charles Selden; 1809-1810, James Dougrey ; 1811-1831, records missing; 1832-1835, Marcus L Filley; 1836, Richard McDonald; 1837, Marcus L. Filley; 1838, Richard Mc. Donald; 1839, Cornelius L. Tracy; 1840-1841, Richard McDonald; 1842, Stephen S. Hunt; 1843, Walter Chipman; 1844, Stephen S. Hunt; 1845-1847, Charles C. Parmelee; 1848, Isaac Ransom; 1849-1850, J. F. Knickerbocker; 1851, Isaac Ran som; 1852, Hiram Bleekman; 1853-1855, Bailey G. Hathaway; 1856, William J. Lamb; 1857, James D. Comstock; 1858-1864, Daniel King; 1865-1866, Louis Ran som; 1867, John W. Gaston; 1868, John Higgins; 1869, S. B. Kirkpatrick; 1870- 1871, John M. Chambers; 1872, John R. Burke; 1873, Milo Thompson ; 1874-1876, 1 Held office until October 12, 1893, when, by order of the court, Russell Porter was declared elected for the balance of the term, and died while in office. ' Died in office. 51 402 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. C. W. Witbeck; 1877, John Quinn; 1878-1881, C. W. Witbeck; 1882-1886, Oliver McMurray; 1887-1893, John T. Graham; 1894 . George Gramm.i Treasurers of the Village of Lansingburgh. 1791-1792, Aaron Lane; 1793-1795, William Bell; 1796-1797, Joseph Alexander 1798, William Bell; 1799-1805, Charles Selden; 1806-1810, E. W. Walbridge; 1811- 1831, records missing; 1832-1833, Horace Janes; 1834-1838, Jabez F. Parmelee; 1839- 1846, Gerrit Fort; 1847-1848, Bailey G. Hathaway; 1849-1850, Charles Hitchcock; 1851, John Mains; 1852, Edward P. Pickett; 1853-1855, Stephen Heimstreet; 1K5U- 1861, Edward P. Pickett; 1862, Patrick Fitzgerald; 1863, Edward P. Pickett'; 1864, Edwin Adams; :.865-1866, Milford L. Fancher; 1867, Bailey G. Hathaway; Km. Edward P. Pickett; 1869-1873, Edwin Adams; 1874-1878, Thomas Rourke;' 1879- 1886, Josiah E; West; 1887-1890, H. S. Dickson; 1891-1892, R. C. Comeskey; 1898- 1894, Jacob H. Whyland ; 1895 . E. Warren Banker. CHAPTER XIX. TOWN OF GREENBUSH. The town of Greenbush, called by the Dutch Greene Bosch, from the pine woods covering the flats, is bounded on the north by the town of North Greenbush, on the west by the Hudson river and on the east and south by the town of East Greenbush. The Indians called the territory embraced in the limits of the town Petuquapoem and Juscum- catick. Later on it was known as De Laet's Burg, named after the historian De Laet, one of the original co-directors of Rensselaerwyck. The town as originally laid out contained about sixty-four square miles and included all of the present towns of East Greenbush, North Green bush, a part of the town of Sand Lake and a small portion of the terri tory which was annexed to Troy in 1836. Just when the town of Greenbush was first settled is not positively known, but settlements existed there as early as 1628, and were very nearly contemporaneous with those made on the west side of the river, or in Albany. Three years later than this date, or in 16:31, it is known that Gerrit Tunnis De Reue2 occupied a farm in Greenbush, but how 1 Credit is due Mr. Gramm for material assistance in the compilation of this chapter. 2 See page 39, history of Rensselaer county. TOWN OF GREENBUSH. 403 Ion? he may have been settled there it is impossible to determine. In all probability settlements were made on the east side of the river as early as upon the west side, making Greenbush coeval in its settlement with Albany. Among the first settlers were several families who came over in 1630 from the Texel in Captain Jan Brouwer's ship Eendracht. Soon after others who came over in the ship Rensselaerswyck, located here. They included Van Buren Maessen and Catalyntje Martensen, his wife, and Cornelis Maessen. Van Buren had five children, Hendrick, Martin, Maas, Steyntje and Tobias, the first of whom was born on the voyage to America. Van Buren Maessen had a farm on Papsknee isl and. Teunis CorneHssen Van Vechten came over in 1637 and eleven years later lived on a farm in the southern part of Greenbush. At the same time Teunis Dircksen Van Vechten, who came over with his wife and child in the Arms of Norway, had a farm north of that of the former. As early as 1642 a brewery was in operation in Greenbush by Evert Pels Van Steltyn. Before 1649 Gysbert CorneHssen Van Wesepe, sometimes called Gysbert op de Berg, occupied a farm in the southern part of the town, which subsequently became the property of Joachim Staats. Most of the records for the next century are missing. Some time before 1767 farms located on the present site of the village of Greenbush were rented of Van Rensselaer by Peter Douw, John Wit beck, Henry Cuyler and others. A large farm including most of the site of the village of Greenbush was purchased July 27, 1780, by Van Rensselaer, of the Indians. This territory was called by them Semes- sick. Seven years later he purchased more land, mostly south of his first purchase, giving him a property of over 700,000 acres. The records show that as early as the year 1642 a ferry was estab lished by Hendrick Albertsen running from the mouth of Beaver Creek on the west side of the river to the spot now known as the south ferry in Greenbush. Gerrit Smith, who was commissioned schout or sheriff of Rensselaerwyck in 1652, was a resident of Greenbush from the start. Reference to the records on file in the office of the Albany county clerk show that he had several neighbors. Other records extant show that some of the inhabitants had engaged in commercial pursuits and even in manufactures before he arrived at Greenbush. In September, I'loT, Cornelis CorneHssen and Jan Witmoudt sold at auction their brewery in Greenbush, the same being purchased by William Brouwer mi' 1,207 guilders, for which sum Cornelis Wincopp became surety. 404 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The records of the colony also show that Jan Janse Oothoutwasa brewer in Greenbush about the same time. He left three sons and three daughters. One of his daughters married Cornelis Hendrikse Van Ness, who came to Beverwyck in 1642. By this marriage Van Ness had three sons, Hendrick, Jan and Gerrit. He married the sec ond time Maritie Dameus, a widow. February 8, 1661, Anderies Herbertsen and Rutger Jacobsen pur- chased of the Indian owners — Maghsaput, alias Machackniemanauw Sansewanenwe, Paneenseen and a squaw named Pachonakellick "be ing among the chiefs of the Mahikandus" (Mohegans) — "a certain island named Pachonakellick, lying in the river obliquely opposite Bethlehem and by the Dutch named the Long or Mahikanders' Isl and." ' At a convention held at Albany August 24, 1689, this resolution rela- to Greenbush was adopted : The 24th day of August, 1689, Resolved that ye inhabitants of ye county be in formed of ye alarm, which was last night at ye Green Bush occasioned by some malitious Persons fyreeing of several guns with Baale threw ye door and house of John Witment, which was done by letters accordingly. August 28, 1689: Resolved yt Barent Gerritse of Bethlehem, who is suspected to have had a hand in ye late disturbance, yt was at Green Bush, or least privy to it, give 50 pounds secu rity to answer when he shall be called to be examined about yt Bussinesse. November 25, 1689, it was recorded: Capt. Bull arrived at ye Green Bush with 87 men from New England ; on Tuesday following marched with flying Collors into Citty, where he was Rec'd by ye May' & alderman, at ye Gate, and bid welcome; he drew up his men in ye middle of ye Broad Street, gave three volleys, was answered by three gunns from yefort;yemen were orderly, quartered in ye Citty, and extremely well accepted. Chap. 59, laws of 1792, "An act for dividing the several towns there in mentioned," covering towns in several counties of the State, con tained this clause: That all that part of the town of Rensselaerwyck, which lies north of a line to be drawn, from a point on the east bank of the river Hudson, eight miles distant from the south west corner of the town of Rensselaerwyck, and running from thence east, to the west bounds of Stephentown, shall be and is hereby erected into a separate town, by the name of Greenbush ; and that the first town meeting in Greenbush shall be held at the dwelling house of Abraham M. De Forest, in the said town. 1 Pearson's Albany County Records. TOWN OF GREENBUSH. 405 And that all the remaining part of the town of Rensselaerwyck, shall be, and remain a separate town by the name of Rensselaerwyck; and that the first town meeting in Rensselaerwyck, shall be held at the dwelling house of John I. Miller in the said town. Chap. 20, laws of 1795, " An act to divide the town of Rensselaer wyck, in the county of Rensselaer," read as follows: Passed the 17th of March, 1795. Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly That all that part of the town of Rens selaerwyck, hounded as follows. Beginning at the southwest corner of the town of Troy and running thence easterly along the southern boundary line of the said town, to the western bounds of the town of Petersburgh thence southerly along the west ern bounds of the towns of Petersburgh and Stephen Town six hundred and thirty- two chains thence south eighty six degrees and forty eight minutes west as the needle now points into Hudsons river thence northerly along the said river to the place of beginning, and including such of the islands in the said river as are nearest the east side thereof and are adjacent to the said last mentioned line shall, from and after the first Monday in April next, be erected into a separate town, by the name of Greenbush and that the first town meeting in Greenbush shall be held at the dwelling house of David M. De Forest in the said town and that all the remaining part of the town of Rensselaerwyck shall be, and remain a separate town by the name of Schodack and that the first town meeting in the town of Schodack shall be held at the dwelling house of John I. Miller in the said town. And be it further enacted That the freeholders and inhabitants of the said towns respectively shall be and hereby are empowered to hold town meetings and elect such town officers, and enjoy all the privileges that the freeholders and inhabitants of the other towns of this State may do by law. And be it further enacted That as soon as may be after the first Tuesday of April next the supervisors and overseers of the poor of the towns aforesaid shall by notice to be given for that purpose by the supervisors of the said towns meet together and apportion the poor maintained by the said town of Rensselaerwyck previous to the division thereof between the said town of Schodack and the town of Greenbush in an equitable manner and if the supervisors and overseers of the poor cannot agree upon such division of the poor as aforesaid then and in such case the supervisors of the county shall at their next meeting apportion and divide the poor maintained as aforesaid, in such manner as shall appear to them or a majority of them just and equitable and the said towns shall thereafter respectively maintain their own poor. By the general law dividing all the counties of the State into towns, passed April 7, 1801, the bounds of the town of Greenbush were de- - scribed as follows : Beginning at a point on the east bank of Hudson's river, sixteen miles distant irom the southwest corner of the county, and running thence east to the western bounds of the town of Petersburgh, thence southerly along the western bounds of the towns of Petersburgh and Stephentown, six hundred and thirty two chains, .thence south eighty six degrees and forty eight minutes west as the needle pointed 406 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. in the year 1795. unto the county of Albany, thence northerly along the same to the place of beginning and including such of the islands in Hudson's river as are nearest the east side thereof, and are adjacent to the last mentioned line. The village of Greenbush was originally laid out on a tract of land one mile square, which is that portion of the village between Partition street and Mill street. This was purchased in May, 1810, by William Akin, Titus Goodman and John Dickinson of Stephen Van Rensselaer and Stephen N. Bayard, assignees of John J. Van Rensselaer. A mortgage was given in part payment, which contained a stipulation that either of the purchasers upon paying his proportion of the addi tional sum should be entitled to a discharge of his portion of the es tates from the effect of the mortgage. Mr. Akin discharged his obli gation, but Mr. Goodman and Mr. Akin failed to pay their share, consequently the patroon, Stephen Van Rensselaer, would not release Mr. Akin. Foreclosure suits were begun against Goodman and Dick inson and most of the land apportioned to them was retaken. John J. Van Rensselaer endeavored to recover possession of that portion of the land for which Mr. Akin had paid, but the courts sustained Mr. Akin's title. In 1810 the village was surveyed and a map made, but Greenbush was not incorporated until 1815. In the former year many lots were sold at auction, but few buildings were erected until the following year, The founder of tbe village, William Akin, descended from an old Scotch family, his grandfather being William Akin, the first of the family who settled in Fair Haven, Conn. His son David, the father of William, removed from Fair Haven to Pawling before the Revolution ary war and was a leading citizen at his home. William Akin was the youngest of ten sons and settled in Greenbush in 1810. His death occurred in 1841. Among those who lived in Greenbush prior to and about this time be side those whose names have been mentioned were Mrs. Yates, Volkert P. Douw, Gerrit Van Vechten, Gysbert Van Denbergh, AlexCummings, Harrow Gale, John Staats, James Rockwell, John W. Rockwell, John Van Rensselaer, Colonel Vischer, Rebecca Yates, M. Fryer, H. Van Housen, A. Van Deusen, John Van Schaick, James Smith and Isaac B. Fryer. Smith was the proprietor of a tavern located on the site of the old Broadway house and came to Greenbush before 1820. Fryer, a son-in-law, succeeded him as proprietor. On the opposite side of the street on the old Staats place a hotel was kept at the same time by TOWN OF GREENBUSH. 407 Abram P. Staats. The old hotel known late in the nineteenth century as the Rensselaer house, for many years owned by Simeon Lodewick, was built by a man named Rockwell. As to the early stores, one was occupied in 1814 by Henry Starks on the corner of Broadway and Columbia streets. Others were maintained by John Smith, Richard P. Herrick and Sheppard & Tufts. From 1802 to 1829 James Lansing kept a store at East Greenbush, removing to Greenbush in the latter year and engaging in business there, most of the time upon Columbia street, until his death, which occurred in 1852. Llis son, William Lansing, began business as a merchant in Greenbush in 1829. One of the earliest physicians in Greenbush was Dr. Jacob S. Miller, a brother of Dr. John S Miller of East Greenbush, who located here about 1820 and for many years was the leading physician in a large territory. He subsequently removed to New York, and soon after Dr. Isaiah Breaky and Dr. Charles Hale settled in the town. Dr. Leverett Moore, who ultimately removed to Ballston Spa, Saratoga county, was also an early practitioner. Among those who located there later on were Dr. Andrew C. Getty, Dr. L. C. Frisbie, Dr. Francis B. Parmele, Dr. S. V. R. Goodrich and Dr. Charles S. Allen. Among the earliest lawyers were Walter Kinney and Samuel S. Cheever. Cantonment Greenbush, which for many years was one of the most historical spots in the town, was located about a mile and a half east of the village and was constructed in 1812. The tract of land on which it was located was the farm leased by Stephen Van Rensselaer to Chris topher Yates, August 16, 1790. Gen. Dearborn, the agent of the gov ernment, in making the purchase May 8, 1812, supposed that the sellers held the land in fee simple, but their conveyance was only that of a tenancy under one of the Van Rensselaer manorial leases, and it was not until September 4, 1813, and after the erection of the buildings thereon, that a perfect conveyance was obtained from Mr. Van Rensse laer. The cantonment was the headquarters of a division of the American army during the War of 1812. The troops which first arrived were quartered in tents, but the construction of permanent buildings was immediately begun. The buildings were of wood, substantially built upon stone foundations. There were eight of them, 252 feet long, * I feet wide and two stories high, and they were arranged four upon each side of a parade ground. The quarters of the regimental officers, of which there were four, ninety feet long and two stories high, were ranged at right angles with a soldiers' barracks. On the north of this 408 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. group of buildings near by stood two large commissary store houses and the barracks master's dwelling. A short distance to the east of the storehouses stood the brick arsenal, a fire proof building, and on the summit of the hill commanding a view of the entire camp, as well as extensive range of country on either side, were the general's head quarters, the hospital and surgeons' headquarters, three large two- story buildings each 90 feet log. Besides the buildings enumerated there were a number of buildings of smaller size, among which were the ordinary and provost guard houses, seven large detached cooking houses and several medicine shops. There were also extensive stables and other less important buildings. The structures were all painted white and in their elevated positions were very conspicuous. At the close of the war the necessity for keeping a large force con venient to the northern frontier ceased, but for several years thereafter a few soldiers were stationed at the cantonment ; but upon the reduction of the army in 1822-23 this guard was withheld and the place was left in charge of a deputy quartermaster, Capt. H. A. Fay. The govern ment sold the property May 2, 1831, to Hathorn McCtilloch of Albany, who resided on the place until his death in 1859. In 1843 the original tract purchased by Mr. McCulloch was divided into two parts, one of which he conveyed to his son, Wm. A. McCulloch, who immediately erected a dwelling upon it. The other portion of the original tract is held by Wm. H. Kirtland, a grandson of Mrs. Augusta G. Genet, wife of George C. Genet, ganddaughter of Hathorn McCulloch. George C. Genet is a son of Edward C. Genet, who was the French minister to the United States in 1783. The following account of the execution of a deserter at this place was written by an officer of the United States army, and is contained in a history written before 1850: In 1814 I was stationed with a detachment of United States troops at Greenbush. in the State of New York. One morning several prisoners, confined in the provost guard house, were brought out to hear the sentence which a court-martial had an nexed to their delinquencies read on parade. Their appearance indicated that their lot had already been sufficiently hard. Some wore marks of long confinement, and on all the severity of the prison house had enstamped its impressions. They looked dejected at this public exposure and anxious to learn their fate. I had never seen ine face of any of them before, and only knew that a single one of them had been ad judged to death. Soon as their names were called and their sentences pronounced, I discerned by his agony and gestures the miserable man on whom that sentence was to fall, a man in the bloom of youth and the fullness of health and vigor. TOWN OF GREENBUSH. 409 Prompted by feelings of pity, I called next morning to see him in prison. There, chaine'd by the leg to a beam of the guard house, he was reading the Bible, trying to prepare himself, as he said, for the fatal hour. I learned from him the circum stances of his case. He was the father of a family, having a wife and three young children thirty or forty miles from the camp. His crime was desertion, of which he bad been three times guilty. His only object in leaving the camp in the last instance was to visit his wife and children. Having seen that all was well with them, it was his intention to return. But whatever was his intention, he was a deserter, and as such taken and brought into the camp, manacled and under the guard of his fellow soldiers. The time between the sentence and his execution was brief ; the authority in whom alone was vested the power of reprieve or pardon distant. Thus he had no hope, and only requested the attendance of a minister of the gospel and permission to see his wife and children. The first part of his request was granted, but whether he was permitted or not to see his family I do not now remember. Dreading the hour of his execution, I resolved, if possible, to avoid being present at the scene. But the commander of the post, Colonel L. , sent me an express order to attend, that, agreeable to the usage of the army, I might in my official capacity as surgeon see the sentence finally executed. The poor fellow was taken from the guard house to be escorted to the fatal spot. Before him was his coffin, a box of rough pine boards, borne on the shoulders of two men. The prisoner stood with his arms pinioned between two clergymen ; a white cotton gown, or winding sheet, reached to his feet. It was trimmed with black, and had attached to it over the place of the real heart the black image of a heart, the mark at which the executioners were to aim. On his head was a cap of white, also trimmed with black. His countenance was blanched to the hue of his winding sheet and his frame trembled with agony. He seemed resolved, however, to suffer like a soldier. Behind him were a number of prisoners, confined for various offenses ; next to them was a strong guard of soldiers with fixed bayonets and loaded muskets. My station was in the rear of the whole. Our procession was formed, and with much feeling and in low voices on the part of the officers we moved forward with slow and measured steps to the tune of the death march (Roslyn Castle) played with muffled drums and mourning fifes. The scene was solemn beyond tne powers of description. A man in the vigor of life walk ing to the tune of his own death march, clothed in his burial robes, surrounded by friends assembled to perform the last sad offices of affection, and to weep over him in the last sad hour ; no, not by these, but by soldiers with bristling bayonets and loaded muskets, urged by stern command to do the violence of death to a fellow sol dier. As he surveys the multitude he beholds no look of tenderness, no tear of sensi bility; he hears no plaint of grief; all, all is stern as the iron rigor of the law which decrees his death. Amid reflections like these we arrived at the place of execution, a large open field, in whose centre a heap of earth, freshly thrown up, marked the spot of the deserter's grave. On this field the whole force then at the Cantonment, amounting to many hundred men, was drawn up in the form of a hollow square, with the side beyond the grave vacant. The executioners, eight in number, had been drawn by lot. No soldier would volunteer for such a, duty. Their muskets hau been charged, by the officers. 410 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY, of the day, seven of them with ball, the eighth with powder alone. Thus prepared they were placed together and each executioner takes his choice. Thus each mav believe that he has the blank cartridge, and therefore has no hand in the death of his brother soldier; striking indications of the nature of the service. The coffin was placed parallel with the grave and about two feet distant. In the intervening space the prisoner was directed to stand. He desired permission to say a word to his fellow soldiers, and thus standing between his coffin and his grave warned them against desertion, continuing to speak until the officer on duty, with his watch in his hand, announced to him in a low voice: "Two o'clock, your last moment is at hand; you must kneel upon your coffin." This done the officer drew down the white cap so as to cover the eyes and most of the face of the prisoner, still continuing to speak in a hurried, loud and agitated voice. The kneeling was the signal for the executioners to advance. They had before, to avoid being distinguished by the prisoner, stood intermingled with the soldiers who formed the line. They now came forward, marching abreast, and took their stand a little to the left, about two rods distant from their living mark. The officer raised his sword. At this sig nal the executioners took aim. He then gave a blow on a drum which was at hand. The executioners all fired at the same instant. The miserable man, with a horrid scream, leaped from the earth and fell between his coffin and his grave. The ser geant of the guard a moment after shot him through the head with a musket re served for this purpose in case the executioners failed to produce instant death. The sergeant, from motives of humanity, held the muzzle of his musket near the head; so near that the cap took fire, and there the body lay upon the face, the head emitting the mingled fumes of burning cotton and burning hair. 0 war, dreadful even in thy tenderness ; horrible in thy compassion ! I was desired to perform my part of the ceremony, and placing my hand where just before the pulse beat full and life flowed warm, and finding no symptom of either I affirmed " He is dead." The line then marched by the body, as it lay upon earth, the head still smoking, that every man might behold for himself the fate of a deserter. Thus far all had been dreadful indeed but solemn, as it became the sending of a spirit to its dread account; but now the scene changes. The whole band struck up and with uncommon animation our national air, "Yankee Doodle," and to its lively measures we were hurried back to our parade ground. Having been dismissed the commander of the post sent an invitation to all the officers to meet at his quarters, whither we repaired and were treated to a glass of gin and water. Thus this mel ancholy tragedy ended in what seemed little better than a farce, a fair specimen- the former of a dead severity, the latter of the moral sensibilities which prevail in camp. Probably the only duel ever fought in Rensselaer county occurred in the town and village of Greenbush. It was fought June 7, 1813, by two soldiers of the army of the War of 1812— Captain Clark and Lieu tenant Bloomfield. The latter was killed and buried where he fell, on the bank of Hudson river in the northeastern corner of the village. The village of Greenbush was surveyed and mapped out in 1810 but TOWN OF GREENBUSH. 411 was not incorporated by act of the Legislature until April 14, 1815. Anew charter was granted April 5, 1828, which was amended March 22 1854, and April 29, 1863. All acts were consolidated by the Leg islature April 25, 1871, when the present charter of Greenbush was passed. The first section of the act reads as follows : All that district of country in the county of Rensselaer comprised within the fol lowing boundaries, to wit : Beginning at a point in the Hudson river opposite the city of Albany, on the division line between the counties of Albany and Rensselaer, on aline running one hundred and fifty feet north of the northerly line of Catharine Street; thence running easterly, parallel to, and one hundred and fifty feet north of, the northerly line of said Catherine Street, to its terminus; thence easterly in the same parallel, across the lands now owned by Dr. James McNaughton, to a point one hundred and fifty feet east of the westerly line of the lands known as the Mason farm ; thence southerly, one hundred and fifty feet east of the westerly line of the said Mason farm, to a point one hundred and fifty feet south of the southerly line of Par tition street; thence westerly parallel to and one hundred and fifty feet south of the southerly line of Partition street, to a point one hundred and fifty feet east of the easterly line of Cottage Hill Street ; thence southerly, parallel to and one hundred andfiftyfeeteastof theeasterlylineof Cottage HillStreet, to a point one hundred and fifty feet south of the southerly lineof Mill Street, to apoint where said line will intersect the westboundsof the county of Rensselaer ; thence north along said west bounds to the placeof beginning, shall be known and distinguished as the village of Greenbush, and the inhabitants residing in said district are hereby declared to be a body politic and corporate by the name of the village of Greenbush ; ' and as such shall have perpetual succession, and may sue and be sued, complain and defend, in any court of law and equity; may take, hold, purchase, and convey real estate, as the purposes of said corporation may require; may make and use a common seal, and alter the same at pleasure, and may exercise such other power as is or shall be conferred bylaw, or as shall be necessary under this act, to carry the powers conferred on such corporation into effect. The officers shall be a president, eight trustees, clerk, street commis sioner, and treasurer, and three inspectors of election in each ward. The charter of 1871 provided for the establishment of the village fire department under the direction of the board of trustees. Since that time the village has maintained an excellent fire department with two steam fire engine companies. A board of police commissioners was established by an act of the Legislature passed May 6, 1870, under which the police regulations of the village have since been main tained. The first newspaper in Greenbush was established in August, 185fi, by A, J. Comstock, and was called the Greenbush Guardian. A post- office was also established at an early day, one of the earliest post- ' As amended by Section 1, Chapter 180, laws of 1876. 412 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. masters being Storm T. Vanderzee. During the term of Postmaster Philip Cornell Greenbush was made a sub- station of Albany since which time the mail has been delivered in the village by carriers from the Albany post-office. The East Albany Banking and Trust company was founded in 1873 by W. P. Irwin, and was located in a brick building erected by the founder. A few years later Mr. Irwin died and the company ceased to exist. Greenbush contributed her full quota of soldiers upon the opening of the War of the Rebellion. Besides this the town raised large amounts of money for bounties and other expenses of the war. Those of her soldiers in the civil war who died in the service were: George Hatch, Thomas Manny, William Schultz, Nicolas Mooseman, Joseph Schinfer, John Slocum, George Brightmeyer, John Fryer, Philip Brightmeyer, Will iam Snyder, Jefferson Kinsley, Andrew Finlay, John Marshal, Charles Warper, Conradt P. Gester, John McElroy, Augustus Smith. Greenbush has excellent transportation facilities. The railroads running through the town and village have been described in the his tory of the county. They are the New York Central & Hudson River, the Boston & Albany and the Troy & Greenbush. Beside this the city of Albany is reached by two bridges, one at the lower part of the vil lage and one at the upper part, which in recent years has been known as East Albany. Beside this steam ferry boats make regular trips to Albany. The industries of Greenbush, aside from the shops of the Boston & Al bany railroad and one or two other good-sized concerns, are not very large nor very extensive. The old round house and machine shop of the Boston & Albany railroad were built in 1848 and replaced by the present structures in 1872. The car shops were established in 1880. In both large numbers of expert workmen are employed. The coaling dock south of the railroad was erected about 1883. T. Miles & Co. estab lished extensive saw mills in 1863. In 1870 C. C. Lodewick estab lished a grain, flour and feed store which has been run by his sons since his death. There are several other smaller industries in town in addition to those referred to in preceding pages. The East Albany Congregational church had its inception in a Metho dist Sunday school established about 1850. The Sunday school pros pered and in 1870 a Methodist Episcopal church was organized in con nection with the church at Bath. Three or four years later it was dis- TOWN OF GREENBUSH. 413 continued in deference to the wishes of the presiding elder of the district who thought it inadvisable to have three Methodist churches on the east side of the river. Various attempts were made to reor ganize as a Methodist church, but finding no encouragement from the mother church a Congregational church was organized March 19, 1879. A new church was constructed, in which the first services were held December 25, 1879. March 30, 1880, Rev. Benjamin Staunton became pastor. His successors have been: Rev. Dwight Edwards Marvin, 1881-1884; Rev. D. C. McNair, 1884-1887; Rev. N. J. Gulick, 1888- 1892; Rev. C. W. Hardendorf, 1893 to the present time. The First Presbyterian society of Greenbush was organized in the summer of 1823. Services had been held for some time in the upper room of the district school house, and these were continued until 1827, when a building was erected for the use of the congregation, being dedicated August 1 of that year. September 26, 1827, a church was organized by the Presbytery of Albany, with twenty- two members. The first church of this society was the first erected in what is now the town of Greenbush. A school building was erected in the rear of the church in 1850 and was used in connection with the Sunday school un til 1885, when the present school building was erected at a cost of $3, - 300. The church edifice was enlarged and remodeled in 1894, the rededication taking place October 29 of that year. The first pastor was the Rev. Thomas S. Wickes, who began his labors about 1826. His successors were: 1830, Joseph Wilson; 1832-1837, supplied by Jared Dewey, J. H. Martyn and Leonard Johnson; 1837, James G. Cordeli; 1844, Rev. Samuel Fisher (supply); 1850, J. H. Northrop; 1851, William A. Miller (supply); 1854, E. M. Rollo; 1861, Stephen Bush; 1864, William Whittaker; 1866, J. R. Young; 1868, F. S.Jewell; 1874, Edward Stratton; 1884, R. A. Davidson; 1893, Edwin F. Hal lenbeck. The first religious services held by the Methodists in Greenbush were in 1828. Three years later a class was formed, which was connected with the Division Street church in Albany, and in 1833 a regular or ganization was formed. In the same year the church, a wooden build ing, was erected and dedicated June 11, 1834. " Rev. James Walker, a local preacher in Greenbush, served the society from 1831 to 1836, and in the latter year the Rev. Joshua Poor was chosen as the first regular pastor. A new house of worship was erected in 1853 a short distance south of the site of the first one. 414 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The Greenbush Baptist church is the outgrowth of a mission founded by the Albany Baptist Missionary union. The organization of the church was effected in 1870 and the first pastor, the Rev. Ralph H Bowles, was installed February 1, 1870. From 1873 to 1874 the church was without a pastor, but in the latter year the Rev. Adoniram Water bury accepted a call and was installed. St. John's Roman Catholic church was founded about 1850 by the Rev. John Corry, formerly of St. Peter's church, Troy, who after wards became the first resident priest. A temporary edifice was erected in the rear of the church built in 1857. The latter cost §12,- 000. Before his death in 1863 Father Corry erected the convent of the Sisters of Mercy in East Albany. During the pastorate of the Rev. Cornelius Fitzpatrick, who served from 1867 to 1875, the pastoral resi dence and school house in the rear of the church were built. The Church of the Messiah, Protestant Episcopal, was founded in 1851, and though the house of worship on the corner of Third avenue and Washington street in Greenbush was not erected until two or three years later, the Rev. Robert Lowry, the first rector, began his duties upon the organization of the society. One of the principal promoters of the early church was Dr. Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, who was senior warden from the date of the organization of the church to his death. The Church of the Epiphany of East Albany, Protestant Episcopal, is the outgrowth of a mission established in 1871 by Bishop William Croswell Doane of Albany. The first services were held in the old Baptist church at Bath. Church organization was effected in 1873 and the society moved to East Albany. The house of worship on the cor ner of Third and Catharine streets was erected in 1875. The Rev. Richard Temple was the first rector. Supervisors of the Town of Greenbush.1 1795-97, J. Van Alstyne; 1798-1799, L. Gansevoort; 1800, John Stevens; 1801, Daniel Brown; 1802-1806, Asa Mann; 1807, Daniel Coons; 1808-1812, C. Thompson; 1813-1814, John D. Woods; 1815-1819, Martin De Freest; 1820-1822, M. Van Alstyne; 1823-1838, James Wood; 1839-1842, H. Goodrich; 1843, Rinier Van Alstyne; 1844, Samuel S. Fowler; 1845-1849, Abram Witbeck; 1850-1853, John I. Fonda; 1854, Abram Witbeck; 1855-1857, Henry Goodrich; 1858-1860, John L. Van Valken- burgh; 1861-1862, James H. Miller; 1863-1867, Martin Miller; 1868, James H. 1 For much of the information as to the officers of the town credit is due James L. Wiltw, town clerk of Greenbush in 1896. TOWN OF GREENBUSH. 415 Miller; 1869-1871, Charles Melius; 1872, Alfred F. Snyder; 1873, Cyrus Water bury; 1874, Lawrence Rysedorph; 1875-1876, John J. Cassin; 1877-1878, James Murphy; 1879, William Smith ; 1880-1882, records missing ; 1883, William T. Miles; 1884-1886, Thomas J. Neville ; 1887-1888, Cornelius A. Ryan ; 1889-1890, John B. Miller; 1891-1892, Charles J. Quinn; 1893-1896, John Winn. Clerks of the Town of Greenbush. 1843, Martin D. De Freest; 1844, Rutger VanDenburgh; 1845, Elijah Dygert; 1846-1847, Harvey S. Raymond ; 1848, Martin Miller; 1849, Thomas B. Simmonds; 1850-1854, John Ruyter; 1855-1856, John S. C. Goodrich; 1857, John Ruyter; 1858- 1860, JamesH. Miller; 1861-1863, John S. Hamlin ; 1864, James Hickey ; 1865, George T. Diamond; 1866, Frederick A. Reynolds; 1867, George H. Curreen ; 1868-1869, Wm. McGarvey; 1870, Burnham Reynolds; 1871, J. S. Callender ; 1872-1873, Gilbert Van Valkenburgh; 1874, Wm. J. Miles; 1875, John Russell; 1876, Wm. Smith; 1877, Charles H. Noyes; 1878, Wm. J. Smith; 1879, Daniel H. Ryan; 1880-1882, records missing; 1883-1884, William H. Heffern ; 1885, J. J. Sullivan; 1886-1888, Michael J. Ryan; 1889-1890, Philip Beresford; 1891-1892, Daniel H. Ryan; 1893-1895, James J. Riley; 1896, James L. Wiltse. Justices of the Peace of the Town of Greenbush. Date of election.— 1843, Abram Witbeck; 1844, Peter L. Hogeboom; 1845, Henry Frazer; 1846, Henry Goodrich; 1847, Elijah Dygert; 1848, Abram Miller, John E. Van Alen; 1849, Henry Frazer; 1850, Henry Goodrich; 1851, John P. Luther; 1852, Frederick R. Rockafeller, Wm. Witbeck: 1853 Henry Frazer; 1854, Henry Good rich; 1855. Jonas Whiting, Richard C. Hamblin, James M. Albright; 1856, R. C. Hamblin, Jonas Whiting; 1857, Isaac Binck, R. C. Hamblin; 1858, Henry Goodrich, Sylvanus Parsons; 1859, George Clark ; 1860, Cyrus Waterbury ; 1861, Hazard Morey, John Butler; 1862, Henry Goodrich; 1863, John Butler; 1864, Cyrus Waterbury; 1865, Evert G. Lansing; 1866, Henry Goodrich; 1867, Sylvester I. Delany; 1868,' Edwin S. Norton ; 1869, E. G. Lansing; 1870, LukeSlade; 1871, J. F. Gillman; 1872^ R. J. Hermance; 1873, Duncan MacFarland; 1874, Luke Slade, Evert G. Lansing; 1875, Jabez F. Gillman ; 1876, R. J. Hermance ; 1877, L. L. Conley ; 1878, Luke' Slade; 1879, Jabez F. Gillman; 1880, Murtaugh Dempsey; 1881, Michael Vaughn; 1882, LukeSlade; 1883, Cyrus Waterbury, sr. ; 1884, Alonzo Sliter; 1885, Michael Vaughn; 1886, LukeSlade; 1887, Cyrus Waterbury, sr, ; 1888, Alonzo Sliter; 1889, Michael Vaughn ; 1890, Luke Slade ; 1891, James Clark; 1892, Alonzo Sliter; 1893, Michael Vaughn; 1894, W. K. Waterbury; 1895, James Clark; 1896, D. Oscar Dennison. The village records from 1850 to 1868 are missing. As far as can be ascertained the principal officers of the village have been filled as fol lows: Presidents of the Village of Greenbush. 1868, F. S. Fairchild, jr.; 1869, John S. Hamlin; 1870-1871, Duncan MacFarland; mi. J. N. Ring; 1873, Martin Miller; 1874-1875, Merritt H. Waterbury; 1876, 416 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Thomas Miles; 1877, George H. Simmons; 1878, A. J. Dings; 1879-1882, records missing; 1883, Benjamin Evans; 1884, George H. Russell; 1885, George C. Redden' 1886, William T. Miles; 1887, Daniel H. Sheil; 1888-1895, William Smith; 1896 ' Charles S. Allen. Clerks of the Village of Greenbush. 1828-1829, James Hallenbeck; 1830, William H. Thomas; 1831, William Lansing; 1832-1834, Alexander Morris; 1835, William Lansing; 1836, Martin Miller; 1837, B.' N. Jordan; 1838, Martin Miller; 1840, Joseph H. Mathews; 1841-1842, Thomas Walker; 1843, R. H. Northrop; 1846-1848, Henry Goodrich; 1849, Martin Miller; 1850, Henry Goodrich; 1868, Charles Harris; 1869-1871, Alexander D Schutt; 1872, William F. Burnham; 1873-1874, C. P. Crouch; 1875, W. J. Miles; 1876, William T Smith ; 1877-1878, Thomas McAvoy ; 1879-1882, records missing; 1883, John J. Hart; 1884-1885, Willard K. Waterbury ; 1886, Thomas J. Fitzpatrick ; 1887-1888, William H. Heffern; 1889-1891, James A. MacDonald; 1892, James D. Glenn; 1893 , C. A. Ryan. CHAPTER XX. TOWN OF HOOSICK. The title to the soil of the town of Hoosick comes from three origi nal patents — the Hoosick, the Walloomsac and the Schneider. The Hoosick patent was granted June 3, 16^8, by Governor Thomas Dongan to Maria Van Rensselaer of Albany, Hendrick Van Ness of Albany, Gerrit Teunis Van Vechten of Kaatskill and Jacobus Van Courtlandt of New York. This patent covered between 65,000 and 70,000 acres and is described as follows: All that tract of land with its appurtenances situate, lying and being above Albany, on both sides of a certain creek called Hoosick, beginning at the bounds of Schackoock, and from thence extending to the side creek to a certain fall called Quequick, and from the said fall upwards along this creek to a certain place called Nochawickquaak, being in breadth on each side of the said creek two English miles; that is to say, two English miles on the one side of said creek, and two English miles on the other side of said creek, the whole breadth being four English miles; and as in length from the bounds of Schackook aforesaid to the said place called Nochawickquaak. The Walloomsac patent lay north of the Hoosick patent but extended farther east. This grant was made June 15, 1739, to Edward Collins, S. S. STEVENS. TOWN OF HOOSICK. 417 lames De Lancy, Gerardus Stuyvesant, Stephen Van Rensselaer, Charles Williams and Frederick Morris. Its area was about 12,000 acres along the Walloomsac river, partly in what is now Washington county and partly in Rensselaer county. The Schneider patent was issued March 24, 1762, upon a petition presented July 8, 1761, by Hendrick Schneyder, John Watteck, Hen drick Lake, John Johnson, Garret Williamson, Nathaniel Archerly, Benjamin Abbott, William Taylor, Martinus Voorhees, all of New Jer sey, and Daniel Hallenbeck of Albany. This patent was "bounded northwardly by the patent of Wallumshack, southwardly by the patent of Rensselaerwyck, westwardly by the patent of Hoosick andeast- wardly by other vacant lands, containing about the quantity of 10,000 acres." The town of Hoosick is the most northern in the county. It is bounded on the north by Cambridge and White Creek in Washington county; on the east by Bennington in Vermont; on the south by Petersburgh and Grafton and on the west by Pittstown. The revised statutes of the State describe the town as follows : The town of Hoosack shall contain all that part of said county bounded northerly and easterly by the bounds of the county, southerly by Petersburgh and Grafton and westerly by Pittstown. The surface of the town consists of the mountainous regions of the Taghkanick range on the east and those of the Petersburgh on the west, with the narrow valleys of the Hoosick and Walloomsac rivers. Fonda's hill in the southeast and Potter's hill in the southwestern part are said to be about 900 feet above the level of the sea. The Hoosick river runs through the centre of the town. The northern por tion of the town is drained by the Walloomsac river, which flows from the east line in a generally westerly course to the Hoosick. The Hoo sick river runs through a valley which was the warpath along which the French and Indians marched upon the villages of New England in the earlier French and Indian wars, and it was also a part of the famous so called "eastern trail," over which the Iroquois and Algon quin tribes marched in their long series of wars of extermination long before America was settled by the white men. It dees not appear that the original grantee's of the town of Hoosick took any very early steps for the settlement and cultivation of their lands. For more than half a century the sole inhabitants of these lands were a few Dutch families and some Mohican Indians, 53 418 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The capture of Fort Massachusetts, located near North Adams Mass then known as East Hoosick, occurred August 20, 1746. This expedi tion passed along the old warpath over the ground now occupied bv Hoosick Falls, and upon its return destroyed every settlement in the Hoosick valley. At this time these settlements must have been wealthy and prosperous, for the loss in that neighborhood alone by this incursion was estimated at 50,000 pounds, New York currency. Among the pioneer settlers of the town of Hoosick was Jan Oothout who prior to 1754 had built a home just inside the present boundaries of the village of Hoosick Falls on lands subsequently owned by Henry Barnhart. Soon after Pitt Hogle built a residence about two miles farther south. Near the junction of the Little Hoosick and Hoosick rivers was a settlement known in colonial times as Hoosack. It lay between Hoosick Corners and North Petersburgh and was partly within the limits of the town of Petersburgh and in the manor of Rensselaer wyck. Among other early settlers were the families of Breese, Fonda, Ouderkirk, Bovie, Vanderrick, Huyck, Brimmer, Roberts, Cott and Barnardus Bratt. The latter married Catherine Van Veghten, daugh ter of Johannes Van Veghten and granddaughter of Gerrit Teunis Van Veghten,1 one of the original grantees of the patent of Hoosick, ac quiring by this marriage and by later purchases from other heirs a large interest in the lands held under that patent. His great owner ship of lands and his assumption of manorial rights gave him a high social position and he was generally referred to as the "patroon of Hoosick." The first grist mill and the first saw mill in the district were built by him. Near the junction of the Walloomsac and Hoosick rivers in the north part of the present town was a hamlet called St. Croix in colonial times, probably so named by French missionaries who evidently ex plored the country as far south as the Hoosick river and there estab lished a mission. Aside from this mission the first permanent settle ment here probably was made by Gerrit Cornelis Van Ness, a descendant of the family named as one of the grantees in the patent. Other settlers following soon -after Van Ness were Jacob A. Fort, John Van Denberg, Arendt Van Corlaer, John Fonda, David Van Rensse laer, Stephen Van Rensselaer, William Nichols, Robert Laeke and families named Van Veghten and Norwood. 1 Sometimes also spelled Van Vechten, TOWN OF HOOSICK. 419 Early settlers in the northern portion of the patent were Peter Sur dam, Isaac Bull, Samuel Hodges, Stephen Kellogg, Francis Bennett, Thomas Sickels, Joshua Gardner and William Waite. Early settlers of what is now known as West Hoosick included Thomas Brown, David Cass, Joseph Guile, Samuel Stillwell and others, some of whom had made settlements before the first French and Indian war. Joseph Guile was a noted scout in the early Indian wars. Among the early settlers of the Schneider patent were several of the grantees. John Quackenbush of Schaghticoke settled on this patent about 1765. Among others who were early settlers were Peter Os- trander, John Palmer, Benjamin W. Randall, William Helling, John Patten and others. In 1772 Jonathan Fuller leased from Augusta Van Home of New York for a term of twenty-one years, 220 acres of land on the Hoosick patent, which included practically all of the present village of Hoosick Falls south of the old homestead of J. Russell Parsons and east of Main street. Mr. Fuller doubtless was the first settler at this point. I Henry Northrup subsequently purchased the entire tract of Mr. Van home and settled there, where he remained until his death in 1797. i Isaac Turner and Joel Abbott settled at the Falls about 1774. Mr. Turner conducted the first store in Hoosick Falls. Phillip Haynes came from Connecticut in 1783 and located about a mile west of the falls. Deacon Goff made an early settlement on the west side of the road leading to North Hoosick. Joseph Dorr came from Connecticut in 1778 and worked in the mill of Stephen Kellogg on White Creek, where he soon afterward established fulling and carding works in con nection with the mills. An early cabinet maker was Comfort Curtis. Among other earlier settlers in the latter days of the eighteenth cen- Uiry were John Pease, Jacob Pease, Benjamin Walworth, John Com stock, John Chase, Thomas Osborn, Dr. Aaron D. Patchin, Nathaniel (Bishop and Isaac Webb. / Henry Breese of Greenbush located near Hoosick Corners in 1765. .His farm subsequently became the property of Moses Warren, for leveral years surrogate of Rensselaer county, and later of Gideon ^Reynolds, one of the most prominent residents of the county and at ^anous times member of assembly, congressman and internal revenue .,'ollector. The Breese family was prominent in the history of the town. hendrick Schneider, one of the original patentees, settled about 1762 in he southern part of his patent. At an earlier date, perhaps 1749 or 420 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. 1750, Jacob Ouderkirk removed from Albany and located on a laree farm two and one-half miles south of the Falls on the west bank of the Hoosick river. About 1780 Elijah Wallace came from Connecticut and settled in Hoosick Falls. Thomas Lottridge, Jonathan Eddy John Carpenter and Henry Clark were other early inhabitants of this locality. Among the earliest tavern keepers of the district of Hoosick were Jacob Van Ness, Henry Brown, William Roberts, jr., Daniel Kimball Godfrey Stock, Jonathan Twiss, John Bovee, Caleb Hill, John Mattison Joseph Ellsworth and Morris Pearce, all of whom were in business prior to or during 1791. Later proprietors in the eighteenth century included Simeon Hiscock, Luke Frink, Daniel Lyon, Reuben Baldwin John Potter, Freelove Aylesworth, Jehial Fox and Cornelius Van Vechten. The first bridge built over the river in Hoosick Falls was constructed in 1791. The old "rainbow bridge, "a mile above, had been destroyed prior to that year, and for a time thereafter a ferry had been maintained opposite the residence of Col. Dorr. The first physician in Hoosick Falls was Dr. Thomas Hartwell, who came from New London, Conn., in 1778. He was one of the founders of Federal lodge, No. 33, F. & A. M., organized in 1782. Dr. Gleason came from Pittstown in 1806 and after practicing medicine a short time began the study of law. Dr. Salmon Moses 1 removed to Hoosick Falls in 1818. In the legal profession among the earliest in practice in the town was the famous lawyer, Reuben H. Walworth. George Rex Davis, later in life one of the most prominent lawyers and honored residents of Troy, came to Hoosick Falls about 1799 and opened a tailor shop, Four or five years later he began the study of law and entered upon its practice in the village about 1810. Nineteen years later he removed to Troy to become a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Hezekiah Munsell, jr. , practiced law in Hoosick Falls for many years. Lyman Sherwood practiced for a short time and then removed to Wayne county. Later on Lorenzo Sherwood, brother of Lyman; James W, Nye, John Fitch and Charles M. Dorr had offices in the village of Hoosick Falls. The district of Hoosick was formed March 24, 1772. Its boundaries were not identical with those of the present town and are not clearly 1 See history of the Medical Profession. TOWN OF HOOSICK. 42 1 defined. Hoosick remained a district sixteen years and was organized as a town March 7, 1788, three years before the erection of Rensselaer county. While a district it enjoyed all the privileges of a town, except that of having a representative in the State Legislature. The annual meetings of the district were held at the old settlement of St. Croix, now North Hoosick, and many of the earlier town meetings were also held there. The records of this district are not in existence. The town records are complete only from the year 1789, when the full list of offi cers was : Supervisor, Thomas Sickels; town clerk, Zachariah W. Sickels; assessors, Jacob Van Ness, Henry Breese, Nicholas Snyder, Reuben Thayer, Isaac Bull, John John son, Zachariah W. Sickels; collector, Henry Brown; commissioners of highways, Thomas Sickels, William Kerr, Nicholas Snyder; overseers of the poor, Ebenezer Arnold, William Kerr; constables, Henry Brown, Squire Read, Henry Walker, Samuel Latham; fenceviewers, James Williamson, Henry Snyder, John Van Buren, Henry Breese, John Van Ness, Zachariah W. Sickels, Godfrey Stark, Asel Gray; poundkeepers, Squire Read, Harper Rogers, Timothy Graves, Benjamin Waite; pathmasters, John Milliman, Samuel Latham, John Ryan, Anthony V. Surdam, George Nichols, Samuel Surdam, Garret Van Home, Isaac H. Lansing, Daniel Rogers, John Bovee, Godfrey Stark, Jonathan Case, Ezekiel Hodges, Jonathan Moasby, William Briggs, William Mellen, jr., David Brown, John Johnson, Luke Frink. The first recorded public action regarding the common schools was taken at the town meeting of 1796, when John Comstock, Sylvester Noble, Peter Van Dyck and Joseph Dorr were elected school commis sioners. Under the law of 1812-1813 reorganizing the public school system of the State, Joseph Slade, Nathaniel Bishop and Daniel Rogers were elected school commissioners in the spring of 1814. In 1844, un der the law providing for town superintendents, Simeon Curtis was elected to that office for Hoosick. One of the earliest school houses in the town was built in 1788 at the expense of Edmund Haynes, Joseph Dorr, Isaac Bull and others on the south side of the river near the bridge. Among the names of the earliest teachers appear those of Waterman Dailee, Field Dailee and Elam Buel. There have been numerous excellent private schools in the village, one of the earliest of which was conducted by the Rev. David Rathbun. The assertion has been made, and it is now accepted as a fact by most persons, that the " Leatherstocking " of James Fenimore Cooper's novels was Nathaniel Shipman, one of the earlier settlers of the north eastern part of the town of Hoosick. He was a noted trapper and 422 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. hunter, a close friend of the Mohican Indians, and fought with them against the French and the Canadian Indians. He was a Tory during the War of the Revolution and was tarred and feathered for his disloy alty. Soon after he disappeared and nothing was heard of him for years. Mr. Shipman's daughter Patience married John Ryan of Hoo sick. Mr. Ryan became acquainted with the novelist Cooper while the former was serving in the State Legislature about 1804 or 1805 and in their conversations it was found that the missing hunter had been liv ing in the forest near Otsego lake for some time. He was finally in duced to return to Hoosick and reside with his daughter and her hus band, though he frequently returned to his western home at intervals. He died in 1809 at the house of Mr. Ryan and was buried in the village churchyard.1 One of the most important battles of the War of the Revolution was fought entirely within the present limits of the town of Hoosick, yet that great event is recorded in history as the Battle of Bennington! The battle ground is one of the most interesting of the many historic points in the county, and many of the spots are so plainly marked that they are at once evident to the visitor who has read a detailed account of the fight, which is found in preceding pages of this work, carefully compiled from the best authorities. s The interest taken by the patriotic residents of Hoosick in the war of 1812 and the events leading up to it was very marked. In few com munities was the cause so warmly espoused before events had so de veloped that it was seen that recourse to anything but war was impos sible. As early as 1808 a meeting was held in Hoosick in pursuance of a call signed by Seth Parsons, Joseph Dorr, Benjamin Walworth, Heze kiah Munsell, jr., John Ryan, J. N. Northrup, Benjamin Lewis, J. C. Walworth, Aaron Haynes, John Palmer, Asher Armstrong and Thomas Osborne, "to deliberate on the embarrassment which foreign nations and the advocates of rebellion and insurrection have brought upon the country." As a result of the meeting a letter was sent to the president of the United States offering the services of the patriotic men of Hoosick in the event of war. Other public meetings followed and the patriotic sentiment of all the inhabitants was kept at high pitch. When troops were required to enforce the embargo acts, a military company 1 The statements here contained, regarding Shipman and " Leatherstocking," are according to the story told by Judge Ball, father of L. Burke Ball of Hoosick Falls.in his "Annals of Hoosick.' 2 See Chapter V, history of Rensselaer County. TOWN OF HOOSICK. 42,1 was formed in Hoosick Falls, with Gideon Gifford as captain, Gilbert Barnes as lieutenant, Samuel Tappan as ensign and John B. Dickenson as orderly sergeant. In 1808, soon after the first meeting referred to, Ebenezer Cross, upon receiving a captain's commission from General Dearborn, secretary of war, raised a company and when war was de clared performed two years' service. Others who served included Wil liam Palmer, John H. Haynes, Captain John Walworth, Reuben H. Walworth, afterwards chancellor, Benjamin G. Sweet, Captain Lem uel Sherwood, Ensign John Hallenbeck, Benjamin Baker, Solomon Wilson, Stephen Chapman, Clark Baker, Gerrit Hallenbeck, Jacob Haight, Job Cass, Jacob Case, Sergeant Watkins, Jacob Vandenburgh, — Ouderkirk, Tallman Chase and William Coon. In 1814 there were three companies of militia in Hoosick — an artil lery company commanded by Captain Thomas Osborne, a company of infantry commanded by Captain Abram Keach and a company of in fantry commanded by Captain Nathaniel Bosworth. One hundred and twenty-eight volunteers tinder George R. Davis joined these organiza tions, and all marched from Troy to Plattsburgh, but the battle at that place had been fought before they reached there. The men of Hoosick furnished one company for the Thirtieth regi ment New York Vols., which went to the front during the early days of the War of the Rebellion. The first meeting was held at the Bap tist church April 24, 1861, when more than forty men signed the enlist ment roll, the first being L. Burke Ball of Hoosick Falls. Money was voted liberally and soon the full company was ready for the field, hav ing been designated as Company H. New recruits were received from time to time during the war, and 416 all told left Hoosick for the front during that memorable struggle. Those who died in the service ^ were: William Sears, 2 Frank Williams, Martin Barrel, Jedediah Varnum, Matthew Dwyre, David E. Conger, Pardon S. Fuller, Edward Conger, James Riley, James Van Acker, James Congdon, William A. Callen, Bartholomew Carmody, Jesse T. Dunham, David Donahue, Albert S. Hall, Jeremiah Kimball, George W. Kenyon, Jason Love, Robert Patterson, Jesse Potter, Ralph Selby, John Cumber, Henry C. Link, Thomas Hall, Charles H. White, John J. V. Grover, Robert Robinson. The largest, and most important village in the town of Hoosick is d m, , records are not perfect. The figures and names are from the town records and Judge ™U "Annals of Hoosick." Killed at Harper's Ferry September 15, 1862; first man killed in the Thirtieth regiment, 424 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hoosick Falls. It is located on the Hoosick river at the falls and has one of the finest water powers in the State. Early settlements in the village and its immediate vicinity have been described in preceding pages. Through the influence of Seth Parsons, who conducted a ma chine shop there, a post-office was established in Hoosick Falls in 1822 and Mr. Parsons became its first postmaster. He located the office in his shop and appointed David Ball as his deputy. Mr. Parsons wasre- tained in the office nineteen years, durng which time the development of the village was very rapid In its early days the post route to Hoo sick Falls, or " the Falls," as the village was first known, was a branch of the route from Albany to Brattleboro, Vt., and the mail was carried to and from Hoosick Corners by a boy, who walked. Hoosick Falls was incorporated as a village in 1827, and Mr. Parsons, who evidently was one of the most public-spirited men of his day, was chiefly instrumental in bringing this about. At the time of the incor poration of the village it had a population of two hundred. The first village was one mile square, with the old Caledonian cotton factory as the centre. A new charter was granted the village of Hoosick Falls March 26, 185'.). Some of the most important sections read as follows: All that part of the town of Hoosick in the county of Rensselaer contained within the following limits shall constitute the village of Hoosick Falls, to wit: Beginning at a point due north, one hundred and sixty rods from the southwest corner of the brick building known as Gordon's or the Caledonian factory, in said village, and running thence due east one hundred and twenty rods; thence due south three hun dred and twenty rods; thence due west two hundred and forty rods; thence due north three hundred and twenty rods; thence due east one hundred and twenty rods, to the place of beginning ; and the inhabitants residing therein are hereby constituted and declared a body politic and corporate, by the name of the village of Hoosick Falls. . The officers of the village shall be as follows: A president, four trustees, a police justice, one or more police constables, a collector, a chief engineer of the fire depart ment, a treasurer, a clerk, a superintendent of streets, a poundmaster, a fire warden. The law further provided that the president and trustees should be elected by the people; that the chief engineer and two assistants should be elected by the fire department, subject to the approval of the board of trustees; that the clerk, police constables, street superintendent, treasurer, collector, fire warden and poundkeeper should be appointed annually by the board of trustees; that the police justice should heap pointed by the board of trustees. The village was also prohibited from ELMER E. BARNES. TOWN OF HOOSICK. 425 borrowing money, and any village officer incurring any liability on be half of the village was made personally liable for the same. The Hoosick Falls Gazette, formerly the Cambridge Valley News, which was moved from Cambridge to Hoosick Falls about 1862, and of which A. C. Eddy was proprietor at the time, was the first paper pub lished in the village. It continued but a year. Soon afterward Botsford established the Hoosick Falls Independent, but this too died at the end of a year. The Rensselaer County Standard was established November 15, 1873, by James H. Livingston, and since that time it has been one of the representative papers of the county. The first school of high grade in the village was Ball seminary, which was incorporated by the Regents of the University April 11, 1843. The work upon the building was begun the previous summer. Judge Chandler Ball donated a large portion of the money necessary to its construction, and the institution was named in his honor. The first board of trustees consisted of L. Chandler Ball, Seth Parsons, Lyman Wilder, Harvey Patterson, Adin Thayer, Hial Parsons, Thomas Gordon, Andrew Russell, John White, William Palmer, Willard Herrington and John Renwick. The seminary was eventually closed by reason of the lack of funds to carry on the good work auspiciously started, and in 1863 the property was conveyed to school district No. 1 for the purpose of founding a free school. Of the new school the first trustees were Walter Abbott Wood, Charles H. Merritt and the Rev. A. De Witt. The early history of the schools of Hoosick Falls is embodied in the school history of the town of Hoosick, which appears in preceding pages of this chapter. Since the early days the schools of the village have risen to a high rank in the State. The educational facilities of the village are now equal to any found in any village of its size in the State. The affairs of the district are administered by a board of edu cation composed of three trustees. The community is quite particular into whose hands it commits its educational interests and hence there are selected for this important office men who are prominent for busi ness capacity and enterprise, executive ability and intellectual attain ments. The trusteeship has been graced by such names as Hon. Wal ter A. Wood, J. M Rosebrooks, Joseph Buckley, Hon. J. Russell Par sons, M. J. Earley, William Hyland and Ambrose Carr. The district owns and uses four large buildings. For many years Mrs. Julia M. Dewey, a scholarly lady, was principal of the schools. She resigned in 1887 and has since held responsible positions in the educational 426 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. world. John E. Shull became her successor and continued serving as principal for three years, at the expiration of which time the board of education elected him superintendent. Mr. Shull was succeeded by Prof. Arthur G. Clement, who was followed by Prof. H. H. Snell, the present superintendent. An able corps of twenty-five teachers is em ployed. Many have had the benefit of normal school, college, and high school training. Nearly all have had considerable experience in the school room.. A teachers' training school is in connection with the school, in charge of Miss Tuthill. The district is under the su pervision of the Regents of the University of the State of New York. The number of pupils in attendance in 1896 was over 1,500, and the average daily attendance was about 90 per cent, of the enrollment. The district owns a large and well selected library open to the public and pupils. In 1887 the free text book system was adopted. Besides the public schools St. Mary's church supports St. Mary's academy, which opened September 8, 1891, with 550 pupils. There are twelve Sisters of St. Joseph in charge. The academy was char tered under the State Board of Regents December 12, 1894. The school is noted for its high standard of educational and moral disci pline. The building is a three-story brick and besides commodious and modern school rooms there is a large hall known as Columbus hall. Hoosick Falls is supplied with pure water by the Hoosick Falls Water Supply company. The source is a gigantic well twenty five feet in diameter located on the flats above the falls. Water is pumped into the main pipes direct, and also into a storage reservoir located on one of the eminences in the extreme eastern part of the village. The com pany has about eight miles of street mains and supplies the village with eighty-eight fire hydrants. The officers are George H. Norman, president ; G. Norman Weaver, treasurer, and Ezra R. Estabrook, sec retary. The water was first turned on June 1, 1886. The capital stock of the company is $100,000. Hoosick Falls is supplied with an excellent system of sewerage at a cost of about $50,000. The system, which consists of about fourteen and one-half miles, was completed during November, 1893. That it is giving entire satisfaction is apparent from the fact that already over 600 families have laid connections with the mains and the number is annually increasing in large numbers. The system is equipped with automatic flush tanks. Since the introduction of the sewerage system WALTER A. WOOD. TOWN OF HOOSICK. 427 the average sickness has been largely decreased. Previous to its intro duction, at certain seasons of the year, contagious diseases were preva lent consequently the system has proven a blessing in this direction. The first members of the board of sewer commissioners were: Joseph Buckley, president; Lyman C. Wilder, clerk; John F. Murray, Dan- forth Geer and Thomas Gleason. Lawrence E. Buckley has been the superintendent since the organization of the board or since the system was completed. The outlet is below the dam of the Hoosick river. By a special act of the Legislature passed March 19, 1888, a police force was established in the village, regulated and governed by a board of police commissioners. Previous to this time the patrolmen were under authority and special fee compensation of the village board of trustees. The first board of police commissioners consisted of Francis Riley, president of the village and board, Charles C. Spencer and John H. Cronin. Their first meeting was held March 26, 1888. The first patrolmen were Thomas McManaway, chief, who is at present acting in the same capacity, John McPartlin and Hugh Reed. The present force consists of Thomas McManaway, chief; Byron Willis and Auer Powers. Hoosick Falls boasts of several handsome public buildings. Fore most is the armory of the Thirty-second Separate company, a descrip tion of which is contained in the history of the company.1 Seth Parsons steamer house on Church street, a two-story building, was erected of brick at an original cost in 1882 of $4,800. The total cost of the building has been $10,000. The village also has four public school buildings. One, on Main street, was erected about 1884; the High school building, a three-story brick edifice with basement, with large hall on the top floor; the building on the corner of Centre and Second streets, known as the Centre Street school, erected about 1880; and the Classic Street school, formerly the old Ball academy. Another school is in Trumanville and is now known as Parsons school. The history of the extensive Walter A. Wood Reaping and Mowing Machine company centres from the early history of Hon. Walter A. Wood, whose interesting biography is contained in this work. He was a blacksmith by trade and afterwards mastered the trade of machinist. After a time he became interested in the manufacture of agricultural implements. In 1850 he purchased a territorial right to make and sell i 1 See Chapter XTV. 428 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the reaper known as the John P. Manny reaper, and began its manu facture in Hoosick Falls. The date of the first introduction of the celebrated Wood machines was 1852, when Mr. Wood commenced their manufacture in a small way. In 1855 he added to his facilities by buy ing the premises of the Tremont cotton factory. In 1859 the increas ing business compelled him further to extend his premises by renting the place formerly occupied by a competitor. In November, 1860 the entire plant was annihilated by fire. The sales had averaged 5 000 machines for the two years previous. The same year the work of re building began and the factory was established with improved facili ties. The Wood mower had already been added to his manufactures and has remained a specialty ever since. It made a great success from the start. In 1861 Walter A. Wood patented his "chain rake reaper," a machine so unique and different from anything ever before conceived that perhaps no one ever looked upon it the first time without being startled. Wood's reapers and mowers had by this time acquired wide fame and his business was not only attracting attention from farmers, but from financial people in the business world. It now became an easy matter to enlist large capital and in the year 1866 the Walter A. Wood Mow ing and Reaping Machine company was organized with these officers: Walter A. Wood, president ; William B. Tibbits, vice-president and secretary; Willard Gay, treasurer. The Wood establishment met with a second interruption by fire in 1870, but the check was in part neutral ized by the lately acquired ownership of the Caledonia Mill buildings, which furnished a workshop while the burned premises were rebuild ing. From the date of the fire of 1870 new buildings have year by year been added to meet the heavy growth of business. In 1873 the reel rake reaper, known as the "Walter A. Wood sweep rake reaper," was put forth with great success. In 1874 the most striking enterprise in Mr. Wood's career occurred in the introduction of the harvesting machine, which not only reaped the grain and separated it into gavels, but bound it into sheaves ready for the shock or stack. In 1878 was in troduced "Wood's enclosed gear mower," which was at once adopted as a type by European manufacturers. In 1880 the company brought out their "twine binder harvester," to which was added "Wood's bundle carrier," which deposited the sheaves in groups. Novelties were brought out almost every year after that. The works stand on a tract of eighty-five acres of land on the west TOWN OF HOOSICK. 429 bank of the Hoosick river. The company has its own malleable iron works besides all the other necessary workshops, constituting one of the most commodious and conveniently equipped plants of its kind in existence. On a high point of land in the midst of the company's tract stands a large reservoir, considerably higher than the roofs of the factory buildings and connected by pipes with all parts of the premises, with automatic sprinklers fastened to the ceilings. There is also an in dependent fire apparatus. All parts of the works are connected by railroad tracks, which comprise seven miles, with a full outfit of freight cars and two locomotives for switching cars to the public railroad and moving machines and material on the premises. Whole freight trains are quickly loaded at the company's freight houses and hauled by the company's locomotives to the track of the Fitchburg railroad, thus bringing their works into prompt communication with all parts of the world. The shops are lighted by electricity by the company's private plant, and the various departments are steam heated. The river furnishes a fine water power, the steam engines of the company being used merely as accessories in case of emergency. The company has sent forth inventions which have received the highest prizes at nearly all of the world's fairs, and made the names of Walter A. Wood and Hoosick Falls familiar in every country. In 1895 the company met with reverses, having been placed in the hands of receivers, Seymour Van Santvoord and Danforth Geer. The demand for machines, espe cially for the foreign trade, however, has been larger than ever, and the works were operated to fill the demands under the receivers' hands in 1895 and 1896. Among the prosperous industries of the place established during 1895 was the Superior Knitting company, located on Water street. The concern was organized November 1, 1895, for the purpose of manufac turing ladies' and children's ribbed underwear. The first members of the firm were Robert Clark and his brother, George W. Clark. Later Clarence Howland and Francis Riley were taken into the firm. The concern occupies a building 50 by 50 feet, basement and three stories, and employs about sixty bands. The Miller, Hall & Hartwell shirt shop occupies a three story brick building at the corner of John and Lyman streets. About 200 hands are now employed. E. W. Williams is superintendent. The concern's present quarters were completed in May, 1896, by the Hoosick Falls Industrial & Building association. 430 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Among the other industries of the town is the Noble & Johnston Machine works, located at the foot of First street A foundry and car penter shop is connected with the shop. The concern was organized under this name in ] 894 forthe manufacture of paper-making machinerv which is sold in all parts of the country and abroad. About twenty- five hands are employed. The factory was formerly used for the man ufacture of Pruyn potato diggers. The Wm. Howland Paper Box factory has been in existence several years. About fifty hands are employed in the manufacture of paper boxes. The First National bank of Hoosick Falls is the only banking insti tution in the village. It was organized March 11, 1880, with a capital stock of $60,000 and began business in its present quarters, corner of Classic and Main streets, May 3, 1880. The first officers were: Presi dent, Truman J. Wallace; vice-president, Charles A. Cheney; cashier, Addison Getty; directors, Walter A. Wood, T. J. Wallace, A. L. John ston, S. S. Stevens, C. E. Stroud, W. S. Nicholls, J. Russell Parsons. Benjamin V Quackenbush, J. P. Armstrong, Charles J. Eldredge, E A. Cheney, E. P. Markham, Benjamin F. Herrington. Its present officers are: President, E. P. Markham; vice-president, A. L. John ston; cashier, Addison Getty; directors, S. S. Stevens, William Kel yer, C. W. Easton, Addison Getty, A. L. Johnston, E. P. Markham H. S. Moseley, Jos. Buckley, E. R. Estabrook, Charles Q. Eldredge Ira J. Wood, A.H. Sherwood, Walter A. Wood, jr. Among the flourishing secret organizations of the town is the Benevo lent Protective Order of Elks, No. 178, organized December 9, 1890, with twenty charter members. On that day about forty members of the Troy and Albany lodges were present and the installation occurred in the K. of P. hall, conducted by D. D. Sol Davis of Albany. The following were the first officers elected: Exalted ruler, Dr. F. R. Hud son ; esteemed leading knight, Edward Levy ; esteemed loyal knight, Thomas H. Hayfield; secretary, Louis Markstone; treasurer, Peter Gaffney; tiler, Forrest D. Varuum; trustees, William Powell, jr., Alex. A. Levy, James King. The village of Hoosick, sometimes known as Hoosick Corners, orig inally was an important point in the old stage line running from Troy to Bennington, Vt. Hezekiah Munsell was probably the first post master, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Dr. Asher Arm strong held the office continuously from 1799 to 1832. Dr. Asher 4rW W V<1 L m. y »r ' ALONZO L. JOHNSTON. TOWN OF HOOSICK. 431 Armstrong located in Hoosick about 1796, and for more than thirty- five years, or until his death, November 23, 1832, enjoyed a large practice. An early industry at "the Corners" was a tannery main tained for many years by William Goodrich. The Tibbits butter fac tory was established about 1871. North Hoosick is located on the Troy & Bennington railroad and tbe Walloomsac creek. Several small industries have been conducted there from time to time. A carding mill was established there about 1807, and later was operated by Timothy McNamara as a woolen factory In 1840 Thomas and Samuel Fowler changed it to a flannel factory. A few years later O. R. Burnham & Son of New York converted it into a shawl mill. The property was used for various purposes after that, and was burned in 1876. Eagle Bridge is located on the Fitchburg railroad, and not far from the Hoosick river in the northwestern part of the town. It has become quite an important town for the railroad and is the point at which con siderable shipping is done. The industries of the town are small. Walloomsac is a small hamlet on the Troy & Bennington railroad in the northeastern part of the town. The paper mills at this point were established by A. & W. Orr of Troy, manufacturers of wall paper. The buildings were originally devoted to the purposes of the McNamara scythe works, established very early in the nineteenth century. A. & W. Orr converted the property into a paper mill, which for many years, under different firms, has been one of the prominent industries of that locality. The mill at Walloomsac and the mill at North Hoosick, about a mile apart, for many years were run in connection. Buskirk, formerly known as Buskirk's Bridge, is located in the north ern part of the town. Its industries are not very important nor nu merous. West Hoosick is a small hamlet in the western part of the town. Trumanville, a hamlet located opposite Hoosick Falls, was incorpo rated into the latter village many years ago. Potter Hill is an unimportant hamlet, containing a post-office, located in the southwestern part of the town. The first place of Christian worship in the town of Hoosick probably was established by the early Catholics at St. Croix as a mission for the Indians. Authentic data in relation to this institution is lacking. lhe first church of which we have any definite and satisfactory record is the old Protestant Dutch church at St Croix, The building stood 432 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. on the road to Cambridge. The house of worship, which was built principally through the offices of Cornelius Van Ness, was abandoned in 1800, but was not torn down until twenty-five years later. In the northeastern part of the town, near Walloomsac', a Baptist church was founded as early as 1778. Three or four years later a house of worship was erected, and in 1788 a second one was built at Waite's Corners. One authority1 says that the church was established in 1772. The Hoosick Baptist church was founded March 16, 1785. Who the first pastor was does not appear in the records. The first of whom anything is known was the Rev. Samuel Rogers, who served from 1797 to 1801. For four years the society was without a pastor. The Rev. David Rathbun preached from 1805 to 1809. The society was first known as the Mapleton church, but during the pastorate of the Rev, James Glass the name was changed to Hoosick church. About 1 831 the church was transferred to Hoosick Corners. The Reformed church at Buskirk's Bridge (now Buskirk) was organ ized May 2, 1792, and was the outgrowth of a church formed in 1714 in Schagticoke. The Rev. Samuel Smith first served the society as pastor, preaching but once a month. The first house of worship was located near the site of the present one, tbe locality then being known as Tiashoke. In 1823 a building was removed from Pittstown and dedicated May 2 of that year. In 1872 it was enlarged and remodeled. The Walloomsac Methodist Episcopal church was organized April 18, 1811, with Isaac Mosher, John Matthews, John Comstock, Simeon Sweet, Benjamin Barnet and Thomas Milliman as trustees. The first meeting house was completed the same year and some time afterward the society was incorporated as the Methodist Episcopal church of Old Hoosick. June 2, 1858, it was reincorporated as the Walloomsac Methodist Episcopal church, and soon after the old church was aban doned and services were held in the school house at North Hoosick. Soon after the church was reorganized at that place. January 25, 1825, a number of the inhabitants of Hoosick Falls as sembled at the Warren meeting house on Main street and there or ganized a religious society by the name of the " Presbyterian Society of Hoosick." In 1829 the congregation erected on Church street a frame meeting house, which, when finished, was dedicated by the Rev. N. S. S. Beman, D. D., of Troy. This building cost $1,800 and had 1 Benedict's History of the Baptist churches of the United States. TOWN OF HOOSICK. 433 seats for about three hundred persons. In 1854 the old building was removed and the present church edifice was erected at a cost of about r £or compiling late statistics pertaining to the officers of the town ! Did not qualify 71 562 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. shed of Rensselaer county. The town is described as follows in the Revised Statutes of New York State: The town of Grafton shall contain all that part of said county bounded westerly by Brunswick, southerly by Sand Lake and Berlin, northerly by the north bounds of the manor of Rensselaerwyck, easterly by a line to commence on the said north bounds, seven miles east of the northeast corner of Brunswick, and running from thence southerly, parallel to the east line of Brunswick, to the north line of Berlin. Grafton possesses the most uneven surface of any town in the county. It is located within the limits of the Petersburgh range of mountains and the principal peaks ,in the town reach an altitude of from a thou sand to twelve hundred feet above the level of the sea. A small por tion of the land only is cultivable, but the hillsides afford excellent grazing. Nevertheless many of the inhabitants of Grafton have farms which, by years of constant care and cultivation, have been rendered almost as productive as any within the county. As already stated, ponds and small streams are very abundant. Cranberry lake, in the southern part, is the source of the Quacken kill, which flows by a devious route to the western limits of the town, affording numerous excellent mill sites. In the northern part of the town are several creeks flowing towards the Hoosick valley. The ponds of Grafton are noted for the purity and high quality of their water, and some of them on this ac count have frequently been considered as available sources of supply for Troy's drinking water. Among the principal ponds, some of which are exceedingly picturesque, are White Lily pond, so named for the water lilies which abound therein; Babcock's pond, named in honor of an early inhabitant long known as "Honest John" Babcock; Long pond, so named on account of its shape; South Long pond, Peckham pond, Hayner pond, Gravel pond, Mud ponds, Mill pond and Red pond, all of which names are of obvious sources. The question of the first settlement of Grafton has never been set tled. The names of the first white men who built new homes in the wilderness and the date of their coming probably never will be known. In all probability, however, the town was the last in Rensselaer county to become settled. Grafton was formed from the towns of Troy and Petersburgh March 20, 1807, and even at this comparatively late day it had few inhabitants. Abel Owen is generally believed to have been the first man to enter the rather unattractive mountain wilderness and build himself a home. He was a sturdy farmer, an indefatigable laborer, and to encourage further settlement the patroon gave him a grant of TOWN OF GRAFTON. 563 two hundred acres or more of what was then thought to be the best land in that section adapted to farming. Mr. Owen was not long with out neighbors, if indeed there were not one or more families located in that vicinity when he built his log house. There is nothing to show when Mr. Owen moved to Grafton, but from subsequent settlements and other occurrences it is thought that it could not have been very long before the War of the Revolution. Possibly it was several years later, during that war or at its close. Immediately after the period when the colonists were fighting for in dependence, or beginning with 1784 or 1785, several families leased land in Grafton of General Van Rensselaer and began the cultivation of the land there. Abel Owen is recorded as a Revolutionary soldier, so that the preponderance of opinion is that no settlements were made in the town until the closing years of the war or later. Perhaps those who located there in the years mentioned accompanied Owen. About 1786 the latter had at least two or three neighbors, families named Coon and Demmon being early lessees of the patroon's lands. About 1796 Abel Owen sold his farm to Lemuel Steward and removed with his family to Onondaga county. Among the other early inhabitants, during the eighteenth century, were John Babcock, who came from Rhode Island about the close of the Revolution ; Elkanah Smith, who came from New Jersey; William Scriven, from Rhode Island, who located in the eastern part of the town; Joshua Banker, John Phillips, Thomas Phillips; Abel Ford, who came from Massachusetts; David Mills, John Mills; Francis Brock, who came from Vermont; John Monroe, one of the first settlers in the north ern part of the town; Rufus Rix, Solomon Smith, John P. Hayner, Daniel Littlefield, Solomon Root, Francis West, Captain Charles Ferry, Nathaniel Dumbleton, who came from Grafton, Vt., in 1796; Henry Coonradt, Daniel Saunders, Godfrey Howard, Henry Hydorn, John Hydorn, Marcus Simmons and Lodewick Bonesteel. Others who re moved to the town some time prior to 1813, as shown by the jury lists and assessment rolls, included Marius (probably Marcus) Simmons, Stephen Chandler, Nathan West, Ezra Davidson, Daniel Smith, Ziba Hewitt, Patrick Agan, Thomas West, Rev. Carey Rogers, William Potter, Matthew Maxon, Joseph Burdick, Nathan Hakes, jr., Joshua Wen, Jedediah Wellman, Abraham File, Jacob File, Reuben Gallup, Zebulon Scriven, Walter Durkee, John Worthington, John T. Hanor, Clark Rogers, Benjamin Rogers, John Twogood, Luke Clark, Ben jamin Phillips, Christopher Mitchell. 564 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Nathaniel Dumbleton, who was first elected to the office of supervisor removed to the town from Grafton, Vt., and tradition says that through his influence the town received the name which it has since borne The first town meeting was held soon after the organization, on the first Tuesday of April, 1807, at the house of Nathan Hakes. Joseph Berwick was chosen moderator and these town officers were elected: Supervisor, Nathaniel Dumbleton ; town clerk, David S. Crandall ; assessors, Pat rick Agan, Ziba Hewitt, John Babcock; overseers of the poor, Joseph Burdick, Ben jamin West; commissioners of highways, Samuel Prindall, James West 2nd, Jede diah Wellman ; collector, Joseph Burdick, jr. ; constables, Ethan Maxon, Simeon Smith, Joseph Burdick, jr. ; overseers of highways and fence viewers, Thomas West Jonathan Brooks, James West, John Worthington, Nathan West, Joseph Burdick, John Phillips, Marcus Simmons, William Snyder, Henry Coonradt, John Reed, Syl vester Chase, Peter Wager, Stephen Chandler, Walter Durkee, William Scriven, Francis Brook, Zebulon Scriven 2nd, Jonathan M. Scriven, Michael Brenanstuhl, Charles Hall, John Babcock ; poundmasters, Thomas Smith, Joseph Scriven, John Babcock. Two taverns are mentioned by various authorities as the earliest in town. One was located at East Grafton and was built and maintained by Thomas Scriven ; the other was located in the western part of the town and was kept by Elijah Terry. The tavern of S. McChesney was opened about the year 1800. The Grafton house was built about 1838 by General Van Rensselaer. It was the most pretentious affair in the town and for many years one of the most prominent taverns in the cen tral part of the county. About the year 1800 Josiah Litchfield opened a general store at Quackenkill, erecting a saw mill about the same time. S. McChesney, in addition to his tavern, also kept an early store at Quackenkill. Gen eral Van Rensselaer built a grist mill in 1836 or 1837. These were for many years the principal business enterprises in Grafton. The first physician to practice in town of whom there is any knowl edge was Dr. Rufus S. Waite, a native of Petersburgh, who came to Grafton Centre from Brownsville, N. Y., in 1819. He practiced for about forty years and became widely known throughout Rensselaer county. Dr. Amos Allen, also a native of Petersburgh, settled in Grafton in 1846, immediately after his graduation from the Berkshire Medical School. For many years Dr. Allen was the only physician in the town. When, in pursuance of the school law of 1812-1813, the town voted its first appropriation for the maintenance of the schools at public ex- TOWN OF GRAFTON. 565 nense jedediah Wellman, Daniel Mills and Thomas West were chosen school commissioners. In the fall of 1813 the town was divided into ten districts and soon after a common school was maintained in each district. In common with all other towns of the State the school sys tem was changed from time to time in accordance with legislative en actment. Under the system of supervision by town superintendents, Thomas W. Potter served in 1844 and 1845, John C. Potter in 1846, Paul K. Davison in 1847 and 1848, Dr. Amos Allen from 1850 to 1853 and Daniel H. Davison from 1854 to 1856. The schools to day have an excellent standing and are well attended: December 19, 1845, occurred a, tragedy in Grafton, one of many taking place in Rensselaer county during the famous Anti-Rent War. It was the shooting of Elijah Smith by an unknown person during one of the numerous struggles which took place between the anti renters and the authorities of the county. Several of the older inhabitants of the town remember the crime. The early industries of Grafton have been briefly referred to in pre ceding pages in this chapter. Saw mills were among the earliest en terprises, as they were rendered necessary by the presence of an almost unbroken forest over mountain and valley. These mills also sent out large quanties of tan bark, and vast quantities of the wood were re duced to charcoal and sent to nearby markets. As the timber was cleared away the inhabitants began to pay more attention to agricul ture, stock raising and dairying, which to day form the leading indus trial pursuits of the town. Grist mills followed the raising of grain and the rearing of stock. The manufacture of shirts was begun about 1855 by Caleb W. Scriven, who introduced the first sewing machine in the town. The work was done by his employes at their homes and the product of their toil was sent to New York city. Others who engaged in the business at an early day were the firm of J. H. & A. H. Scriven, Ford & Bennett and their successors. Ma'ny families in town have found the industry a profitable one. Among the early proprietors of saw mills, grist mills, etc., may be mentioned the following: Saw mills— John Steward, at Cranberry pond; Joseph Burdick, on the Rensselaer pond; Ebenezer Stevens, John Armsbury, John Baxter, Dennis Baxter, Simeon Smith, George Avery, Shaver, Worthington, Philip Bonesteel, James Hill, John P. Hayner, William Hydorn, Josiah Littlefield and others. Some authorities say that the latter built the first saw mill, and that it was 566 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. located on the Quacken kill about 1800. Two years later General Van Rensselaer built a grist mill near the Centre, the first in town. The McChesney saw mill at Quackenkill was one of the first, and was built about 1803. Daniel B. Biddle of New York began the manufacture of paint in the town about 1857 or 1858, using the red argillite, which abounds in that vicinity, for the base of the product. Before 1830 a mill for the manu facture of Prussian blue was established south of Quackenkill. In 1864 a chair factory was established a short distance below Mill pond in a building erected for a woolen factory but never operated as such. Near by Albertus Stevens had a small carding mill. Further down was an early paint mill established many years ago by Potter Maxon, who is reputed to have been the originator of the mineral paint busi ness in this country. Dennis Baxter was associated with him at one time. After being used as a paint factory for more than a score of years the building came into possession of Smith & Randall, who established a cloth-dressing mill at that point. In the same vicinity, on the Shaver pond stream, the Martin mill and the Littlefield sawmill were early enterprises. In the northwestern part of the town was the Rifenburgh saw mill, near which were the Douglass mill and that of Coonradt Ham. Jonathan Brock, Aaron Eldridge, Samuel Stowell, Joseph McChesney, Tompkins Hull and others were among mill owners doing business in the first half of the nineteenth century. From time to time industries of a different character have been established in town, but most of these were abandoned after a few years. Among these may be mentioned John Babcock's distillery, the Parks tannery, Caleb Scriven 's wood-turning factory, and other less important estab lishments. Grafton has no Revolutionary history, as the town was not settled at the beginning of that war. But many of the pioneers fought in that war and afterwards made their homes in Grafton. Abel Owen, John Barnhart, Abel Ford, James Scriven, Zebulon Scriven and John Scriven were among these. Among those who, in the War of 1812, joined the Eddy expedition to Plattsburgh, were Henry Simmons, Mat thew Burdick, Alpheus Ford, Daniel Birdsall, Alpheus Dumbleton, John Howard and Varnum Jones. Benjamin Burdick served under General Custer in the famous Indian wars in the West. Alonzo War ren, David Coons, Niles Beals, Melvin Wood and others have also served in the regular army of the United States. TOWN OF GRAFTON, 567 When the call to arms was sounded in 1861, Grafton sent all the men demanded of the town, about seventy-five all told, and raised nearly §•20, 000 for war expenses. Those who died in the service of the United States in the War of the Rebellion were : Samuel C. Burdick, Wesley Howard, Alonzo Green, David W. Crandall, jr., Levi Hayner, Charles G. Bruce, Charles Dumbleton, Stephen V. R. McChesney, Albert S. Hall, Amos B. Sweet, jr., and Levi Wagar. Adam Feathers and Calvin W. Feathers died iu 1865 at their homes from diseases contracted in the army. None of the three villages of Grafton is very large. The principal one is Grafton Centre, but like the others it is a hamlet rather than a village. It has always been the principal business centre of the town, but none of its industries have ever been of much magnitude. Saw mills, grist mills, wagon shops, blacksmith shops, shoe shops, general stores and several hotels at various periods have been the principal en terprises. East. Grafton and Quackenkill are the other hamlets. A paint mill was established at the latter point many years ago by H. S. S. Clark, the paint base being rock found in that vicinity. The Grafton mineral paint produced there became celebrated a quarter of a century ago. A Baptist organization existed in Grafton at a very early day, soon after the settlement of the town, probably as early as 1800. The early Baptist families worshipped with the church in Berlin. Several small congregations existed in various parts Of the town. In 1815 the Rev. Nathan Lewis, son of Elder John Lewis, was ordained to the charge of a congregation in Grafton, and four years later the Rev. Joseph D Rogers, son of Elder Corey Rogers, was ordained to look after the spiritual interests of another Baptist congregation. Both of these bodies were disbanded in 1827 and a new organization formed, services being held in the meeting house at Grafton Centre. This church, the first in the town, was built by General Stephen Van Rens selaer, the patroon, not for any particular denomination but for the Christians of the town in general ; but as the Baptist society happened to be the only one in the town at that time they were invited to occupy it, which they did. The Rev. Nathan Lewis and the Rev. Joseph D. Rogers became the first pastors of the society. About 1830 Elder David Gifford removed to Grafton and frequently preached in the church. Work upon a new church edifice was began in 1852, being dedicated soon after tinder the pastorate of the Rev. Joseph D. Rogers. n 187!) the house of worship was remodeled, under the pastorate of 568 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the Rev. H. J. S. Lewis. The church was connected with the Stephen- town Baptist association in 1832, and was legally incorporated August 14, 1841. The Methodist families in Grafton held religious services at an early day, though the society was not incorporated until April 7, 1828. As early as 1800 the famous Lorenzo Dow had preached to the families of this denomination. The first church was known as the Hemlock church, and was located about a mile east of Quackenkill. Seven years after the incorporation of the society meetings were instituted at Graf ton Centre in the old meeting house built by General Van Rensselaer, In 1877 the Hemlock church was torn down and used in the construc tion of a parsonage at Grafton Centre, in connection with the new church edifice built there in that year. The Free Methodist church at Grafton was incorporated June 18, 1872, though the society had been organized since January 5, 1863. The Rev. A. B. Burdick was the first pastor. The house of worship, a short distance east of Quackenkill, was erected in 1873. The Free Will Baptist church of Grafton was incorporated July 20, 1873, soon after the organization of the society. The first pastor was the Rev. T. Choate Pratt. Supervisors of Grafton. 1807-1808, Nathaniel Dumbleton; 1809-1817, Ziba Hewitt; 1818, John Babcock; 1819-1833, Ziba Hewitt; 1824, John Babcock; 1825-1828, John Worthington; 1829- 1832, Ziba Hewitt; 1833-1835, Nathan West; 1836, Ebenezer Stevens ; 1837, Zebulon P. Burdick; 1838, Ebenezer Stevens; 1839, Ziba Hewitt; 1840-1841, James McChes ney; 1842-1843, David See, jr. ; 1844-1845, John M. Davison; 1846, Ira Allen; 1847- 1848, Joseph D. Wells; 1849-1850, Abijah D. Littlefield; 1851, Caleb W. Scriven; 1852-1853, Paul D. Davison; 1854-1855, John Tilley; 1856-1857, Ebenezer Stevens; 1858, Amos Allen; 1859-1860, Daniel E. Saunders, a tie vote, but Daniel E. Saunders held over; 1861, John H. Bonesteel; 1862, Peter F. Hydorn; 1863-1866, IraB. Ford; 1867-1868, Caleb W. Scriven; 1869-1872, IraB. Ford; 1873-1876, Alva H. Scriven; 1877-1879, Levi T. Dunham; 1880, none elected; 1881-1884, Harvey W. Ford; 1885- 1888, Joseph S. Saunders; 1889-1893, Calvin B. Dunham; 1894 , Charles Z. Bennett. Town Clerks of Grafton. 1807, David S. Crandall; 1808, Elisha Wells; 1809-1811, David S. Crandall; 1812- 1813, Thomas West; 1814, Lemuel Stewart; 1815-1822, William Potter; 1823, Elijah Smith; 1824-1828, Joseph A. Potter; 1829-1835, Joseph Burdick; 1836-1837, David See, jr.; 1838, Potter Maxon ; 1839, Joseph Burdick: 1840-1841, John M. Davison; TOWN OF GRAFTON. 569 1S42 Paul K. Davison; 1843, Nathan T. Burdick; 1844-1845, Rufus S. Waite; 1846- 1847,' Hiram B. Littlefield; 1848-1849, Joel T. Burdick; 1850-1851, Rufus S. Waite, jr ¦ 1K52-1853, Allen Maxon; 1854, Morgan Stevens; 1855, Joshua W. Hakes; 1856- 1858, Daniel E. Saunders; 1859-1860, Reuben S. F. Waite; 1861, George W. Maxon ; 1862-1868, Reuben S. F. Waite ; 1869- 1871, Amos B. Sweet ; 1872, George W. Maxon ; 1873-1874, Warren Steward; 1875-1876, Henry Whitney; 1877-1878, Braddock H. Peckham; 1879-1880, Harvey W. Ford; 1881-1884, Chester F. Waite; 1885-1887, William C. Waite; 1888-1892, Adelbert Maxon ; 1893, Merritt E. Tilley; 1894, Fer nando Babcock; 1896, Arthur M. Crandall. i Justices of the Peace of Grafton. Ezra Davison, sworn iu February 24, 1823 ; Joseph Burdick, February 38, 1833 ; Nathan West, February 28, 1823; John Steward, December 31, 1827; Alpheus Dum bleton, December 31, 1827; Nathan West, December 31, 1827; Francis West, De cember 31, 1827; Alpheus Dumbleton, January 1, 1829; William Heydorn, December 31, 1829; John Steward, January 13, 1831. The election of justices at town meetings commenced in 1831, and the list is as follows: 1831, Nathan West; 1832, Alpheus Dumbleton (full term), Daniel Mills (vacancy); 1833, Zebulon P. Burdick ; 1834, (name omitted in records); 1835, Nathan West; 1836, Israel Smith; 1837, Alpheus Dumbleton; 1838, John P. Davison; 1839, Andrew Hayner; 1840, Isaac Smith (full term), Andrus Brown (vacancy), Patrick Hill (va cancy); 1841, Asa Partridge ; 1842, Joseph D. Wells (full term), Ira Allen (vacancy); 1843, Leonard C. Burdick ; 1844, Eliphalet Steward ; 1845, Potter Maxon ; 1846, Andrew P. Hayner; 1847, Leonard C. Burdick; 1848, Eliphalet Steward; 1849, William Hey dorn; 1850, Nathan T. Burdick; 1851, Linus P. Worthington; 1852, Eliphalet Stew ard; 1853, William Heydorn; 1854, Caleb Slade; 1855, Aaron F. Dumbleton; 1856, Nathan T. Burdick; 1857, William. Heydorn; 1858, Caleb Slade; 1859, Aaron F. Dumbleton; 1860, Rufus F. Waite; 1861, Varnum B. Jones; 1862, Nathan T. Bur dick; 1863, John H. Bonesteel; 1864, Joel T. Burdick; 1865, Varnum B. Jones; 1866, Elijah B. Howard; 1867, John H. Bonesteel; 1868, Reuben S. F. Waite; 1869, Var num B.Jones; 1870, Elijah B. Howard (full term), William Heydorn (vacancy) ; 1871, Nathan E. Burdick (full term) ; 1872, Reuben S. F. Waite ; 1873, Ralph Westervelt ; 1874, Zebulon Tilley (full term), Benjamin F. Hayner (vacancy) ; 1875, Nathan T. Burdick (full term), Daniel J. Peckham (vacancy); 1876, Daniel J. Peckham (full term), William H. Simmons (vacancy); 1877, William H. Simmons (full term), Will iam F.Brown (vacancy); 1878, William B. Odell (full term), Hiram B. Phillips (va cancy); 1879, Hiram B. Phillips (full term), Calvin B. Dunham (vacancy); 1880, Jo seph S. Saunders ; 1881, William H. Simmons; 1882, Calvin B. Dunham; 1883, Hiram Phillips; 1884, Joseph S. Saunders; 1885, William P. Brenenstuhl; 1886, Harvey W. Ford; 1887, Wesley O. Howard; 1888, Parley R. Scriven ; 1889, M. V B. Jones; 1890, Harper V. Brown; 1891, Parley R. Scriven; 1892, George E. Bonesteel; 1893, Reu- trcdit is due Mr. Crandall tor material assistance rendered in the compilation oE this chap- 72 570 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. ben S. F. Waite; 1894, Clinton W. Scriven; 1895, Parley R. Scriven; 1890, George E. Bonesteel. Addenda. The National bank of Troy suffered from a heavy and unanticipated run of the depositors early in September, 1896, and on Saturday, Sep tember 19, closed its doors and placed its accounts in the hands of a national bank examiner. Errata. On page 134, sixth line, read: "In a subsequent chapter," etc. (See pages 2."iN, 259, 263, 264, 265, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274 and 279.) PART II. BIOGRAPHICAL. 'CLn/^-v^- BIOGRAPHICAL. MARTIN I. TOWNSEND. Martin Ingham Townsend, of Troy, N. Y., is descended from ancestors who, for more than two centuries, have dwelt in this country. His primal progenitor in America was Martin Townsend, of Watertown, Mass., who was born in 1644, fourteen years after the settlement of Boston. In 1668 he married Abigail Train, daughter of John Train, of Watertown, and their youngest son, Jonathan, was bom in 1687. Jonathan removed to Hebron, Conn., about 1714, married, and one of his children, who was named Martin, was born in 1727, and married Rhoda Ingham, of the lnghams of eastern Connecticut. Among the children of Martin and Rhoda was a Martin, who was born at Hebron in 1756, who was brought to Hancock, Mass. , in 1765, and who married Susannah Allen, of Hancock. One of the children of this marriage was Nathaniel, who was born September 4, 1781, and who died July 20, 1865. In 1805 he married Cynthia Marsh, of Hinsdale, Mass., who was born March 5, 1783, and who died April 2, 1876. Of their four children two still survive, one of whom is Martin I. Townsend, the subject of this sketch, who was born at Hancock, Berkshire county, Mass. , on the 6th day of February, 1810. As has already been noted, he inherits on his father's side the blood of the lng hams of Connecticut and of the Trains of Massachusetts. Through his mother he claims descent from Miles Standish, the citizen-soldier of the Pilgrim Fathers, and also from Henry Adams, of Braintree. In 1816 Mr. Townsend was removed with his parents to Williamstown, Mass., and was educated at the common schools of that village, at the academy there situated, and at Williams College. At the latter institution he was graduated in 1833; and at the commencement of his class, by reason of his scholarship, he received the second appointment in the literary exer- ercises of that occasion. He took his master's degree in the regular course, and was honored with the degree of LL. D. by his alma mater in 1866. After gradu ating he read law for a few months in the office of David Dudley Field in New York «ty, but, having removed -to Troy, N. Y., on the 1st day of December, 1833, he immediately thereafter entered the office of Henry Z. Hayner as a law student, and so continued for a year and a half. In May, 1835, he became clerk in the office of his elder brother, Rufus M. Townsend, and in 1836 became his partner in the prac tice of the law. The connection thus formed continued until July, 1882. It was in 1836 also that he married Louisa B., the daughter of Oren Kellogg, esq., of Williams- 574 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. town, Mass. , a lady who for more than fifty-four years aided in making his cheerful life still more cheerful, and who, by her noble presence and pleasing ways, like mel low sunlight, surrounded him with homelike happiness as he treaded with unfailing step and buoyant mien the bright pathway of his days. She died November 19 1890. In 1838 Mr. Townsend was a candidate for member of assembly when his party— which was then the Democratic party — was in a minority of about 1,000 in the city of Troy. In the canvass he ran ahead of his ticket, but was defeated. He was dis trict attorney for the county of Rensselaer from 1842 to 1845. He represented the Eighth ward of Troy in the Common Council of that city from May, 1842, to May 1843, and from March, 1856, to March, 1858. He was a member for the State at large in the Constitutional Convention of the State of New York in 1866-67. By strict attention to his duties, and by his graphic and intelligent expositions of the subjects which were considered by that body, he won the esteem of his learned asso ciates and maintained the honor of the district which he specially represented, In the year 1869 he was nominated on the Republican State ticket, without his knowl edge, for the position of attorney-general, but was defeated, with other State candi dates associated with him, by the machinations and overwhelming frauds— as they are now recognized to be — of Tammany Hall. In 1872 Mr. Townsend was chair man of the New York Republican delegation in the convention at Philadelphia which renominated General Grant for the presidency. It will be remembered that Mr. Greeley was then the candidate of the opposition. Mr. Townsend, in announcing the vote of New York, spoke as follows; "The Empire State, by the unanimous voice of her delegates, has instructed me to cast her seventy votes for that man of whom our distinguished fellow-citizen Horace Greely has said, '.He never has been beaten and never will be,' Ulysses S. Grant." He was chosen by the Legislature in 1873 a regent of the University of the State of New York to fill the vacancy occa sioned by the death of Hon. John A. Griswold, and still holds that position. In the fall of 1874 he was elected representative for the 44th Congress for the 17th Con gressional district, and was re-elected to the same position in the 45th Congress in the fall of 1876. He declined a second re-election. In his chosen profession of the law Mr. Townsend early gained a prominent posi tion, which he not only maintained while the men with whom he began his career surrounded him, but which he still maintains as he encounters the young blood and the fresh vigor of a new generation. While serving as district attorney of the county of Rensselaer he secured the conviction of Henry G. Green and Henry Miller upon the charge of murder, and both of these offenders suffered the extreme penalty of the law. Always believing that a slave escaping into a free State must, under the Constitution, be returned by the Federal government to his master, Mr. Townsend was most active in extending to the slave so escaping every right that the law could give him, and all the aid which would naturally flow from a sympathizing humanity. He vigorously defended the only two slaves who in Rensselaer county appealed to the courts for protection during his connection with the bar. To one or these, Antonio Louis, who was arrested as a fugitive in 1842 his right to liberty was established; and to the other, Charles Nalle, freedom came on the 27th of April, 1860, he having been taken on that day by an excited people from the custody of the United States marshal while Mr. Townsend and other gentlemen were waiting BIOGRAPHICAL. 575 in the office of the late George Gould, a justice of the Supreme Court, for the return of a writ of habeas corpus that had been issued in behalf of Nalle. He was asso ciate counsel for the defense in the celebrated trial of Henrietta Robinson for the murder of Timothy Lauagan. Mrs. Robinson was known as the " veiled murderess, ' from the fact that she persisted in wearing a veil which concealed her face during the trial, and which no threat or inducement could lead her to remove, except for a few moments on two or three occasions. The trial commenced at Troy on Monday, May 23, 1854, and was concluded late in the evening of Saturday on the 27th of the same month, by the rendition of a verdict of guilty. Mr. Townsend's argument on this occasion was based upon the idea of the insanity of the prisoner at the time the alleged crime was committed, and was peculiarly eloquent, comprehensive, discrim inating, and exhaustive. The cases adduced by him in support of this theory were specially applicable, and the references to authorities in maintenance of his position demonstrated the research, investigation and study which he had bestowed on the subject. The execution was appointed for August 3, 1854, but on the 27th of July, a week previous to the fatal day, Governor Clark, in the exercise of the great pre rogative of his office, commuted her sentence to that of imprisonment for life in the Sing Sing prison. There she was soon after taken and at once found by the prison authorities to be insane, and there she remained until a few years ago, when she was placed in the asylum at Auburn for insane criminals. It is understood that she is now in the prison for the insane at Matteawan. In the thoughtful mind the ques tion arises whether the insanity which affected her in prison, and has now settled down on her permanently, was not in 1853 the shadowing cloud that then obscured on her troubled nature the distinction between right and wrong, and, as her learned advocate claimed, produced in her an abnormal and irresponsible condition. Mr. Townsend has always held an advanced position in law reform, and was early a favorer of measures adopted by this State, enabling parties in civil actions to be witnesses in their own cause, husbands and wives to be witnesses for and against each other in both civil and criminal actions, and allowing alleged criminals to testify in their own behalf. For more than forty years he has been connected with most of the important litigations in Rensselaer county, always maintaining the character of a zealous, indefatigable and accomplished lawyer. In arguing a ques tion of law to the court, the clearness with which he defines his position is specially noticeable. A statement of the principle supposed to be involved is followed by the application of that principle to the case in hand, and then, by apt illustration and by subtle and cogent reasoning, the legal aspect of the case is developed, and the par ticular rule which should govern in its decision is evolved and proclaimed. But it is before a jury that the strong and salient powers of his mind are most apparent. His analysis of the subject in hand is searching, skillful and exhaustive. Not a point that can make for his client is left undisclosed, not a statement hurtful to him is adduced, but it is sifted with the most penetrative scrutiny and surrounded with all the doubts that can be raised as to its truthfulness. If he is engaged for the de fence in a criminal case, and if it has been shown that his client possesses any trait o character that challenges admiration, such possession is enlarged upon until it spreads out like a mantle of the broadest charity, and is made to cover any inequali ties of disposition, temper, or conduct that may have been developed to that client s tlisadvantage. Yet while his defence is obstinate and protective, his attack is 576 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. trenchant, aggressive and pertinacious. The war is carried into the enemy's coun try with such dash and courage, and with such appearance of belief in the strength of every position taken, that not infrequently, in desperate cases even, "out of the nettle of danger" he has plucked " the flower of safety." As a politician Mr. Townsend, during his whole career, has been true to his con victions; and those convictions have not sprung from a low standard of political ethics, but have been always referable to an elevated idea of the value and right of personal liberty. He was a Democrat until 1848, but was at all times unhesitatingly and openly opposed to slavery, and when in that year the convention that nominated General Cass for president of the United States resolved that it was proper that the territories of the nation should become slave soil, he snapped the ties which had bound him since manhood to a party that had thus disregarded its own traditions and at Troy June 3, 1848, addressed the first public meeting convened in the United States to protest against tho pro-slavery action of the Democratic party, and for the consideration of those assembled on that occasion he prepared and presented aseries of resolutions advocating the principles of free soil, free speech and free men, and these resolutions were then adopted. From that time forward he has always been the able and conscientious apostle and advocate of those principles and aspirations, which, lying at the foundation of the movements of the Barnburners of New York, who in 1848 nominated Martin Van Buren for the presidency, became more clearly defined in the position of the Free-soil Democracy as taken by them in the nomina tion of John P. Hale for president in 1852, and which culminated in the formation of the Republican party, when it first presented itself as a national organization in 1856, and nominated John C. Fremont for the presidency. During the Rebellion he was the earnest and outspoken upholder of the govern ment in its efforts to maintain the integrity of the Union. So marked was his ad vocacy, and so unsparing was he in his denunciation of traitors and treason, that during the draft riots of July 15, 1863, the mob sacked his house in Tr.oy, and either carried off or destroyed or injured nearly all articles of personal property that it con tained. On becoming a member of the House of Representatives at Washington in 1875 he at once assumed the position of a careful observer of all that was passing about him, and was at all times ready to approve or condemn intelligently the various measures presented to him, in common with other members for consideration. But it was not until the House entered upon the discussion of the Centennial Bill that all its members became aware of the mental energy, keen humor, brilliant thought and illustrative power embodied in the personality of Mr. Townsend. On the 20th of January, 1876, in a speech favoring the appropriation of $1,500,000 for securing the success of the centennial celebration of the origin of the nation, he took occa sion to display the inconsistencies of those who opposed the appropriation on the ground that it was contrary to the Constitution. During its delivery he received the marked attention of all present, and his effective sallies of wit and searching analy ses of conduct, illumined with occasional pleasantries enunciated with clearness and made completely impressive by the force of his own indomitable and peculiar oratory, raised him at once to the level of the most practiced debaters of the House. Com menting upon his speech, one who heard it wrote, " No printed report can convey a sense of the impression produced on the delighted audience, nor show how deftly, in the midst of all the merriment, the logical results of the war, the clemency of tbe BIOGRAPHICAL. 577 Union, the worth of the nation to all its citizens, and the wisdom and right of the United States to set forth evidence of its advancement at Philadelphia were all stated with that power of suggestion which is often more potent than labored argument." The editor of Harper's Weekly, introductory to an epitome of this speech said, on February 19, 1876, " It was a perfect rebuke to the insolence of Mr. Hill, and it was a distinct announcement to that gentleman and his friends, that, although they have ' come back to the Union to stay', they have not come back to rule. The gay- ety of the speech, its wholesome humor, and its kindly and friendly spirit did not in the least conceal the clear perception and the resolute conviction and determination of the speaker. The undertone was one to which every generous and loyal heart responds. Indeed, there cannot well be found a more characteristic and admirable expression of the feeling and purpose of the dominant party in this country than this speech of Mr, Townsend' s. "There is no vindictiveness of feeling, no rancor, no desire to recall the war for the sake of crimination, no feeling but a hearty wish for concord ; but also no forgetful ness of the facts of our history and of human nature, no doubt of the absolute justice of the cause of the Union in the war, no question of the infinite national dishonor and degradation wrought by the long ascendency of the Democratic party; a pro found contempt for the old fashioned slave- holding violence and the northern sub servience to it which have reappeared in the Democratic House ; and an equal scorn for the fine spun quiddities of ' strict constructionists.' " Among his other able speeches was his argument in favor of transferring the In dian Bureau to the War Department, delivered April 28, 1876 ; his observations on the protection of the Texas frontier, presented on July 12 and 18, 1876, and his re marks relative to the settlement of the title of Governor Hayes to the office of presi dent of the United States, made on January 36, February 30 and 31, and March 3, 1877. But not alone as a lawyer and politician is Mr. Townsend distinguished. As a man of high culture and of attaimments in the field of letters he is also well and favorably known. Among his miscellaneous writings are several of a high order. His essay entitled "Saxon and Celt," being a brief argument designed to show the influence of the Bible; his address on "Labor " before the alumni of Williams Col lege; his occasional papers and his speeches, as set forth in the debates of the Con stitutional Convention of the State of New York; his published lecture upon the origin of the prehistoric structures in Central America and Peru, all evince extended reading, thorough research, and a full appreciation of the topics severally presented. The extract following is from the address at Williams College above alluded to : " That man who fells the giant forest which for ages has dominated the soil, or turns the flowery sod upon the boundless prairie and commits to its bosom the bread- yielding corn— that man whose moistened brow and stalwart arm are bending over the fierce fires that sparkle in yonder workshop as the earth-born metals are moulded t" meet the million wants of life— that man whose ceaseless toil brings low the hills and exalts the valleys, or who delves in the bowels of mountains, old as the morning creation, that he may prepare a highway for the commercial and social intercourse of man-each of them is doing the will of God, and performing the work which he has for each of them to do. They are all ' dressing and keeping' God's garden, and subduing the earth which they inhabit. From the hum of yonder spinning wheels 578 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and factory looms there rises an anthem more sacred than choir of cloistered nuns ever hymned ; and that tireless mother, whose waking eyes prevent the watches of the night, as she plies her busy needle to clothe and feed her little ones, is offering to God a sacrifice sweeter than the Arabian incense which burns upon priestly altars Let none who serve their race, their country, or their family by active labor, whether mental or physical, for a moment doubt that their work will be accepted by Him whose eyes see all, and whose rewards, the consequences of well-doing, can no more fail than can the system which He has instituted and which He constantly upholds." Mr. Townsend, at the age of eighty-six years and a half, is in fine health and in the diligent practice of his profession. Mr. Townsend is a man of enormous reading and general culture. Books have always been his daily and nightly companions. There are probably very few men in the country who have so large a fund of correct and ready information on all topics, especially those of historical, scientific, theological, political, and economic interest, for he has been a student of such matters for seventy years, and never has forgotten a fact or an argument that he has learned. His talents approach near to genius, and his life should have been that of a statesman rather than a lawyer. Mr. Townsend writes in a style of remarkable clearness and vigor. It may be said of him — and it can be said of very few men who have spoken and written so much— that he never spoke or wrote a dry or unsuggestive line in his life. The sturdy integrity and grand nobility and humanity of his character have en deared him to the people of his county, of whom for nearly half a century he has been the conceded " representative man." In his own revered person he illustrates one saying of the Book which he knows and loves so well "The hoary head is a crown of glory when it is found in the way of righteousness." Mr. Townsend was originally well-grounded in the principles of the law and never has forgotten anything he once learned. Add to this that he has an unusual power of discrimination and the faculty of instantly seizing on the determining point of a case, and it is apparent that he has the equipment of a strong advocate. At his best, and when spurred by special incitement, a stronger advocate has seldom entered a court room. Few men have ever possessed the faculty of addressing a jury with greater effect. Always aggressive, he attacked the weak points of his adversary's case and slurred over those of his own. His theory was to keep the other side "on the run." In dealing with questions of science, in which his large reading always gave him an advantage over lawyers who simply "crammed" for an occasion, he was con spicuously able. His tact in seizing on some extraneous circumstance or incident in a trial and converting it to his client's use was illustrated in an amusing way in the trial of an action brought against a. steamboat company for the death or injury of a passenger by a boiler explosion. The defendant's counsel, the late Willham A. Beach, deprecated a large or any verdict on the ground that it would come out of the pockets of the widows and other poor people who owned the stock. Mr. Town- send convulsed the jury and audience by enumerating some of the "widows'' who held the stock— " the widow, Cornelius Vanderbilt ; the widow, Daniel Drew," and others. His fertility in expedients was illustrated in the case of the fugitive slave, Na le, when he was tracked to Troy by his master and was on the point of being remanded BIOGRAPHICAL. 579 to slavery. Mr. Townsend, well knowing that a State habeas corpus writ was of no avail against the United States authorities, if the papers were regular, but presuming that no State judge would care to incur the fine of §1,000 for refusing one, demanded and procured one from a State judge, the late George Gould, by virtue of which the Rensselaer county sheriff took Nalle from the United States marshal and brought him into the street to carry him to that judge. The crowd " did the rest ; " thereby vindicating Mr. Townsend's confident expectation. His addresses to the jury have been frequently marked by apt and striking refer ences to matters of history or common experience, and especially to Scripture. He has been an unusually successful advocate, not only because of his forensic powers, but because he has had the sagacity rarely to try a bad case in public — he has tried such by reference or has settled them out of court. In the appellate courts he has achieved some famous triumphs. Chief among these was the case of Benjamin Marshall's will, upon the first reading of which Mr. Townsend declared that a fund of §150,000, claimed by the trustees under the will to belong to a trust fund created by the will to carry on Marshall's factories by the trustees for the benefit of the Marshall Infirmary, belonged in fact to the next of kin of Mr. Marshall. The final decision, after eight years of litigation, sustained Mr. Townsend's opinion and carried to Marshall's kindred about $175,000, being the original sum and its increments. Mr. Townsend has been during the last few years a genuine inspiration to any one who may have occasional dark and unanswered doubts about the future after death. He is a constant intimation of immortality. The freshness and buoyancy of a peren nially youthful spirit, the strength and manliness of a vigorous mind at maturity, with no sign of failing powers, the optimism of intellectual health, are most remark able and prominent in this remarkable man. That he has been a keen, incisive thinker and lawyer — a man of lightning perceptions, of tenacious memory, of the rare gift of bringing to bear on any subject a happy illustration in some capital story; that he has been a persuasive and at times a wonderfully interesting orator, can truthfully be said of him ; and it would be enough to say of almost any man. Surely few could ever hope to have so much said save in flattery. But to state that to-day at his advanced age these traits and gifts are still abundantly present is to affirm what is the fact and is equivalent to saying that no one in this country ever was iu these respects more remarkable at his age. Indeed it may be doubted whether anyone of his rare gifts has preserved them undimmed into his eighty-sev enth year. The world at large could not have known the more endearing qualities of the man, for they were of the heart, betrayed in kindly acts, uniform cheerfulness and unusual consideration for those intimately associated with him. But every one has known, and it is not affectation which prompts the statement, but simply observa tion which has been common to all who have known him at all, that his judgment "Pon, and attitude toward public questions— political, theological and social— are those of a healthy, vigorous, young man. Though his body grows old, his mind and eart are still &£ sound as they were fifty years ago and suggest that they need not 1 ecay as the body wastes away, but may go on to unlimited development. 580 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. MRS. EMMA HART WILLARD. Mrs. Emma Hart Willard was born in Worthington Parish, Berlin, Conn. Feb ruary 33, 1787, and was the lineal descendant through her father of Rev. Thomas Hooker, who figures prominently in the early religious history of New England. Her mother was the mother of ten children and the stepmother of seven more Emma being the sixteenth child^of this old-fashioned family. Inheriting the strong and sterling charactistics of her plain but worthy parents she manifested while yet a girl those attributes which inspire others to noble deeds and practical usefulness. Her ambition as well as her inclination seems to have been that of a natural educator especially of her own sex. Beginning with seventy-five cents a week she became a teacher at the age of sixteen, and advancing rapidly she was called to the position of preceptress first in Berlin, Conn., and afterward in Westfield, Mass. In 1807 she became preceptress of a school in Middlebury, Vt., where she met and in 1809 mar ried Dr. John Willard, who ably seconded her efforts during the remainder of his life. The robbery and failure of the bank with which Dr. Willard was connected led her to open a school for young women in Middlebury in 1814, and it was this venture which really marks the commencement of her career as a noted teacher and philanthropist. Hers had been a good New England training, well absorbed by a good New England character, energy, and idealism. Eager for all mental acquisi tion and skill she was full of ideas which were then far advanced, and which were received by the older generation with some doubt and considerable disfavor. But her wonderful personality, combined with her rare tact and perseverance, triumphed, and her school soon became widely and favorably known. The contrast of the edu cation then afforded to girls with that administration in the colleges at her doors led her to introduce many new studies' and methods, and the wisdom of her innovations was very soon vindicated. She pre-eminently demonstrated the capacity of young women for higher studies, and Wellsley, Wells, Vassar, Smith, Bryn Mawr, and other noted colleges are now working upon lines which this pioneer teacher projected and established. Mary Lyon followed her audacious and triumphant lead, and others have taught the principles she laid down and developed. It all seems right now — but at that time her ideas were held as chimerical. She was a woman of rare intuition and force, of strong individuality, and of great decision and sympathy. Dr. Willard took her at her true value and was her ardent coadjutor. In Middlebury Mrs. Willard perfected and set forth her plans for improving female education, which comprehended large public buildings., a library, laboratory, philo sophical apparatus, a large staff of teachers, a body of trustees, and financial aid from the State Legislature. It was the nucleus of the present State Normal School system, and to her belongs the honor of developing the idea. To some it seemed revolutionary, impossible, utterly impracticable, but it obtained the warm approval and support of Gov. De Witt Clinton, of New York, who urged her to come to Wa terford, and establish such an institution, which she did in 1819, removing it to Troy in 1831. Thenceforward she belonged to this State and especially to the county of Rens selaer, where the remainder of her noble life was spent. By special act State funds were granted in the furtherance of her work, and the seminary she founded was under her charge as principal from May, 1821, until 1838, when she gave it over to her son MRS. EMMA HART WILLARD. BIOGRAPHICAL. 581 John H and his wife Sarah L. , who resigned their positions in 1873. Her husband, who had so trusted and seconded her sound judgment and generous labors, died May 29, 1825- Her death occurred in Troy on the 15th of April, 1870. Mrs. Willard journeyed, wrote, and wrought to the last. Only the Omniscient can measure the fruit and the ever increasing harvest of so true a woman's work. Over 13,000 girls, of whom more than 500 became teachers, received and again dif fused the influence of her benign labors. Her character, her womanly counsel, her divine precepts, have been felt in almost every community in the United States, for she laid the foundation and developed the system by which thousands upon thou sands of women obtained those elements of learning that marks the higher educa tion of to-day so essential to womankind. Many girls who have become prominent as teachers, missionaries, philanthropists, etc., were trained and graduated under her benevolent care, and there are hosts of wives and mothers who received from her that strong and elevating influence which guided them through the thorny paths of life into realms of womanly nobility and equality. Mrs. Willard left innumerable friends who. within recent years have sought to perpetuate her memory in a more enduring form than personal acquaintance could maintain, and perhaps the most striking result of their efforts is the Emma Willard statue, which was created in bronze by Alexander Doyle, the celebrated New York sculptor, and which stands a worthy monument to her womanhood and work in the grounds of the Troy Female Seminary. The figure is life-size, sitting, and rests on a pedestal of Quincy granite, six and one-half by eight feet, on the narrow face of which is a bronze tablet with this inscription: In honor of Emma Hart Willard Who on this spot established A. D. 1821 The first permanent seminary in America for the advanced education of women. Erected by her pupils and friends A. D. 1895. The statue was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies on May 16, 1895. On the same day the Russell Sage Hall, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Sage, of New Wk, and the last of the present group of buildings comprising the seminary, was formally dedicated. GILBERT ROBERTSON, Jr. Hon. Gilbert Robertson, jr., came from the best Scotch ancestry, his grand- ather, William Robertson, having emigrated from Scotland in 1772, and settled in Vashmgton county, N. Y., where he purchased a large tract of land and resided un i his death in 1823. William Robertson married Mary Livingston, of Greenwich "k- t h and am°ng their iSSUe WES Gilbert Robertson, father of the subject of this s'etch, He married Elizabeth Dow, a native of Scotland, in 1802. Gilbert Robert- un- 1S 582 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. son, jr. , after attending the common school, prepared for college at the academy in Cambridge, Washington county, and at the academy in Herkimer in charge of Dr Chessel, then a celebrated teacher, and entered Union College in 1833, whence he was graduated in 1837. After leaving college young Robertson taught school at Chat. ham, Columbia county, N. Y., for two years, and in July, 1839, entered the law office of Crary & Fairchild, at Salem, and continued it until November, 1840, when he re moved to Troy and studied law with Hayner & Gould, then a distinguished firm of attorneys and counselors in that city. He was admitted to the bar in 1843, and at once began the practice of his profession with Judge Isaac McConihe, and ever since continued in it. In 1843 Mr. Robertson was elected a trustee of the public schools of Troy, and served for three years, originating many reforms in the system then in operation, and by his earnest advocacy securing an appropriation for the promotion of the cause of education twice as large as that which heretofore had been devoted to the purpose. Mr. Robertson was one of the earliest members of the Young Men's Asso ciation of Troy, and by his counsel and efforts contributed much to its successful de velopment. He served with great usefulness as corresponding secretary and presi dent of the association. In 1847 the governor appointed Mr. Robertson a justice of the Justice's Court in Troy. In the following year the office was made elective, and he was twice chosen to the position, holding the office five years, during four of which he also served as police magistrate, leaving a record behind him of official in tegrity and stern administration of justice. In 1851 he was elected recorder of Troy for four years, by virtue of which office he was judge of the Recorder's Court and a member of the Common Council. As a member of the council he exercised a com manding degree of influence in all matters of importance, and was the warm friend and advocate of all local improvements calculated to beautify the city or promote the health and happiness of its inhabitants. It was in the position of police magistrate and recorder that he first demostrated the possession of those qualities of unyielding firmness, combined with judicial fairness and impartiality, and an intelligent appre ciation of the law, which he subsequently exhibited in an eminent degree while gracing the office of judge of, Rensselaer county, to which he was elected in 1859, and re elected in 1863. He discharged the duties of this position with scrupulous fidelity to every public and private interest, holding the scales of justice with equal poise between man and man, lending a personal dignity and charm of manner to the office which few men have ever surpassed, and winning the respect and confidence of the community by the uprightness of his course, the honesty of his purpose, the clearness of his decisions, and his mastery of the principles of the law and their ap plication to the rules of evidence and the practice of courts. Judge Robertson also had a long and honorable political career. In December, 1869, President Grant ap pointed him United States assessor of internal revenue for the Fifteenth district of New York State. In 1873 he was appointed postmaster of Troy by General Grant, was reappointed by President Hayes in 1877, and was again reappointed in 1881 by President Arthur. During his incumbency of the office he spared no pains to make its administration acceptable to the people, introducing many improvements, and giving greatly increased facilities to patrons. So great was the public confidence in his integrity and the public appreciation of his intelligent service, that on both occa sions when his term was about to expire, almost every business firm and prominent citizen of Troy, irrespective of party, petitioned for his reappointment. JOHN HUDSON PECK. BIOGRAPHICAL. 583 Judge Robertson was originally a Whig. Upon the formation of the Republican party he joined that organization, and held many responsible trusts under it. He was made chairman of the first Republican committee of Rensselaer county ever formed, and with the exception of one year, retained the position for twenty-one years continuously. He was a member of tbe Republican State Committee for sev eral years, and for three years a member of the executive committee of that body. His influence extended throughout the State, and his counsel and judgment were invoked in deciding.some of the most important questions renting to party manage ment and the enunciation of political principles. He attended, either as a delegate or spectator, almost every convention of his party held in the State within the past twenty-five years, and the same may be said of his attendance upon National Con ventions. Judge Robertson was true to every official and personal relation of life. His professional brethren respected his legal abilities and attainments as greatly as the people honored him for his faithfulness to all the interests committed to his hands. As a politician, it may be said of him that the offices he held were in no sense commensurate with his merits. In 1886, on the passage by the Legislature of the State of New York of the law creating a State Board of Arbitration, Judge Rob ertson was appointed a member of said board by the governor and Senate. In 1887, under an act passed by the Legislature creating a State Board of Mediation and Arbitration and enlarging the powers of the board. Judge Robertson was reap pointed, which position he held until a few weeks before his death. Judge Robert son married, in 1852, Angeline Daggett, daughter of the late Dr. Joseph Daggett, of Troy, by whom he had three children ; Gilbert Daggett, Mary Elizabeth, and John Livingston. He was born in 1815 and died April 23, 1896, aged eighty-one. JOHN HUDSON PECK, John Hudson Peck, LL.D., of Troy, N.Y., president of The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was born at the city of Hudson N. Y. , on the 7th of February, 1838. He is the eldest son of the late Hon. Darius Peck (born 1802, died 1879), who was for many- years county judge of Columbia county, N. Y. His descent on his father's side is from early Puritan settlers of New England. William Peck, his earliest progenitor in America, emigrated to this country with his wife and son, Jeremiah, iii the ship Hector, with the company of Governor Eaton and the Rev. John Davenport, and was one of the founders of the colony of New Haven, Conn., in 1638. John Hudson reck s natal year therefore marked the completion of two full centuries since his earliest American ancestors came to this country. If space and time permitted, the continuous line of descent, nearly equally divided between farmers and professional men,, could be traced to the ninth generation. John Peck, in the sixth, was a soldier in both the French and Revolutionary wars. His patriotic services are commemorated in the Society of Colonial Wars by the mem bership of the subject of this sketch. The Rev. John Peck, a noted divine of the Baptist church, represented the family in the seventh generation. The Hon. Darius Peck, father of John H. Peck, married, in 1838, Harriet M. Hudson (born 1813, died 1863), youngest daughter of Horace Hudson. She was a sister of Mrs. John H, 584 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Willard and Miss Theodosia Hudson, for many years respectively principal and vice- principal of the Troy Female Seminary, one of the oldest and most noted institutions for the higher education of women in the country. John H. Peck was prepared for college under the instruction of Mr. Isaac F. Bragg and the Rev. Elbridge Bradbury at the Hudson Classical Institute. He was grad uated from Hamilton College at Clinton, N. Y., with the class of 1859, from which seat of learning his father was graduated in the class of 1825. He chose law for his profession and studied at Troy under the direction of the Hon. Cornelius L. Tracv and the Hon. Jeremiah Romeyn, and was admitted to the bar at Albany in Decem ber, 1861. At that time he formed a partnership with Mr. Romeyn which was dis solved in 1867 whereupon he formed a partnership with Mr. Tracy, his former in structor, which was only terminated by the final illness of Mr. Tracy. Since its dissolution Mr. Peck has been intrusted with the legal business of the Troy'& Boston railroad, the Troy Union railroad, the Troy Savings Bank and with that of several private trusts and estates involving large interests. By his fellow citizens he is regarded as a conservative, judicious lawyer, thorough in application, assiduous in caring for the interests of his clients, and entirely honorable in his methods. Mr. Peck has identified himself with educational interests; he became a trustee of the Troy Female Seminary in 1883, and was elected president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1888, which is the pioneer school of civil engineering. He has given both of these famous institutions the benefit of his counsel and studies. In public affairs Mr. Peck has always manifested an enterprising and progressive spirit. He has frequently been urged to appear before his fellow citizens as a can didate for offices of power and honor ; he has almost invariably declined, but his talents and counsel have always been at the command of the people. He was a val uable member of the N. Y. Constitutional Convention of 1894, serving on two im portant committees, education and legislative organization and apportionment. Mr. Peck is one of the trustees of the diocese of Albany, and was named as an original incorporator of scenic and historic places and objects by the New York Leg islature of 1895. He is chairman of the New Court House Commission of his county and one of the trustees for the erection of the Hart Memorial Library. He has done much writing for the newspapers and has delivered occasional addresses. His man ner of composition is clear, forcible and logical ; moreover, his writings are charac terized by dignity and stamped by culture. He was orator of the Society of the Alumni of Hamilton College at the commencement in 1889, and his discourse was spoken of by the Utica Herald as one of the ablest and most carefully prepared ever delivered before the association, characterized by scholarly thought and fine rhet oric. The degree of LL.D. was conferred on Mr. Peck at Hamilton College in 1889, In politics he has always been a Democrat and influential in the councils of the party. August 7, 1883, he married Mercy Plum Mann (born December 23, 1843), second daughter of Nathaniel Mann, of Milton, Saratoga county, N. Y., and a descendant in the eighth generation of Richard Mann, a. planter and one of the original land proprietors of Scituate, Mass. REV. PETER HAVERMANS. BIOGRAPHICAL. 585 REV. PETER HAVERMANS. Rev Peter Havermans was born March 27, 1806, in the province of North Bra bant Holland, and received his education in the common schools of his native town, and through the tutorship.of his uncle, Rev. John Beyserveld He later studied his harmonics at Thurnhourt, in the school of Dr. De Neff, and in the academy of that city. At the age of seventeen he entered the seminary at Hoeven, where he pursued the study of philosophy for one year, and of the Scriptures for four years. Father Havermans was ordained with bright prospects by Bishop Von De Velde, at Ghent, June 6, 1830, and came to America in October of the same year. He first went to Norfolk, Va., and became a student at Georgetown College, learning Eng lish. In St. Mary's county, Maryland, he labored twelve years, and largely through the efforts of Bishop Hughes of New York, he came to Troy in 1841, and was made pastor of St. Peter's church, then the only Roman Catholic church of Troy. In 1843 he built St. Mary's church, of which he has been pastor so long, and in 1847 built St. Joseph's church and gave it to the Jesuit Fathers. While he was pastor of St. Mary's church he had charge of a territory which extended seventy miles north of Troy, from Saratoga to Massachusetts. He then built the old St. Francis church and the Troy Hospital. His educational work included the founding of the Brothers' Academy, and the securing of what is now known as St. Joseph's Provincial Seminary, and also secured the Goddard school for the Sisters of Charity. On the invitation of Father Haver mans, the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd came to Troy. He took an active part in the enlistment of recruits for the late Rebellion. A thrilling episode in the life of this priest was the checking of the mob of six hundred armed men who were seeking to destroy the Troy Times office and the Colored Presbyterian church of Liberty street. It was the fearful day, when in oppo sition to the draft of 1863, the city's streets were thronged with rioters. Father Havermans has always manifested a lively interest in the cause of good government and pure elections, and at the time of the organization of the Troy Committee of Republican Safety, he was made a member of that body, with which his name is still connected. Thirty years ago he made an extensive trip through Europe and visited Pope Pius IX. MOSES WARREN. Hon. Moses Warren was born September 22, 1820. His grandfather, Daniel Warren, participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. His father, Moses Warren, sr., was born in Peterboro, N. H., and removed to Rensselaer county, N.Y., in 1806, and was appointed sheriff in 1821 and elected to the same office in 1826. Moses Warren, jr., was prepared for college at Ballard Seminary, Bennington, Vt, and entered Williams College in 1837 and was graduated in 1841. He studied law in the office of Rufus and Martin I. Townsend for two years, was admitted to the bar in 1844 and began practice in Troy. 74 586 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. In 1845 he was appointed justice of the Justice's Court of Troy. In 1859 he was elected surrogate of Rensselaer county, and again in 1863, and by re-elections held the office altogether twenty-one years. In 1860 he was elected a director of the Central National Bank, and vice president in 1875; in February, 1883, he was elected president of the bank and has held that office since ; he has been a director of that bank for thirty-five years. He has always given considerable attention to the practice of the law, and at this date is a member of the firm of Warren, Patterson & Faulkner. He is regarded as among the strong and able lawyers" of this part of the State, although his time has been about equally divided between his banking and legal business. In politics he is a Democrat, and is influential in the movements of his party. In 1857 he was married to Mary M. Lord of Brunswick, by whom he has one daughter, Mary, wife of Edward T. Welsh. JOHN A. MANNING. John A. Manning was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1838. His father came to Troy from the northern part of the State in 1884 and began the manufacture of stoves In 1846 he engaged in the manufacture of rope manilla paper of great strength of fabric, for special purposes and later used extensively for flour sacks, sand paper and insulating paper. His wife was Susan P. Morrison. He died in 1856, and his wife November 3, 1891. John A. Manning received his education at private schools and Troy Academy, but was obliged to leave school when seventeen years of age, owing to the death of his father, to take charge of the paper business ; this business has grown to be the largest industry of its kind in the world, and has been brought to its present pros perous condition through the energy and industry of Mr. Manning ; he is the prin cipal owner and the business manager. He is a director in the Troy City Bank and one of the managers of the^Troy Savings Bank ; and is a member of the Troy, the Saratoga (of which he is vice-president), the New York, the New York Yacht and the West Island Clubs. He married Mary B. Warren, daughter of George B. Warren of Troy, and has four children. ELMER E. BARNES. Elmer E. Barnes, a prominent young lawyer of Hoosick Falls, was born in Corinth, Orange county, Vt., in 1862, a son of Mansfield T. and Lottie (Wilson) Barnes. His father is now a retired manufacturer. His paternal grandfather was a native of England and came to America about 1715, settling in Corinth, Vt. On the maternal side he is of Scotch descent. Mr. Barnes received his early education in the graded schools of Corinth and at the Eastman Business College, from which he was graduated in 1883. Being in deli- JOHN A. MANNING. BIOGRAPHICAL. 587 te health, he learned telegraphy and for a year was stationed at Eagle Bridge, fol lowing which he was employed four years by the Fitchburg Railroad Company. Deciding to follow the law as his life profession, he entered the office of John E. Madden at Hoosick Falls and went thence to the law department of Union Univers ity at Albany, from which institution he was graduated in 1890. In 1888 he was elected justice of the peace at Eagle Bridge and held the office five years; during this time by persevering study he laid the foundation of his legal education. In 1890, soon after his graduation, he opened an office in Hoosick Falls, where he has since practiced with an encouraging degree of success. GERRIT VAN SCHAICK QUACKENBUSH. Among the early settlers of Schaghticoke, N. Y. , to whom certain franchises were granted by the State is found the name of John Quackenbosch, the final syllable, "bosch," being the Dutch spelling. G. V. S. Quackenbush was lineally descended from the sturdy Dutch stock of the last century. The Christian name of his father was Sybrandt. Shortly after the latter's marriage to a Miss Van Schaick he moved to Buskirk's Bridge, Washington county, N. Y. There, on December 12, 1801, was born the son who was destined to be prominently identified with the commercial development of Troy. An old fashioned copy-book still exists in which this boy Gerrit made his first essays in penmanship. In it are sums in addition, in £ s. d. accurately footed up, and specimens of penmanship in boyish writing. Throughout there is not a blemish nor blot, showing that in neatness and accuracy this "boy was father of the man." This boy, however, like most of the successful merchants of his generation in their youth, had but limited educational advantages. When a mere lad he went from the home farm to Albany and there found employment with an uncle, a then prominent business man. Industrious, energetic, economical and faithful to every trust, he eventually rose to be the chief clerk. In the year 1824, when about twenty-three, he came to Troy to start for himself in the dry goods business. His first store was on what is now called Franklin square. He early formed a partnership with William Lee, which continued for a short period under the firm name of Quackenbush &' Lee. Mr. Lee will be remembered as the old man of over eighty who came on from Cincinnati in 1892 to attend the cen tennial exercises of the First Presbyterian church and gave most interesting remin iscences of it and of old Dr. Beman. One of Mr. Quackenbush's early employes was Samuel H. Lasell, who many years after married his daughter Emma, and is now in his seventy-eighth year, the senior partner of the present firm. He has thus been identified with the business almost from its inception, and now has in his employ two grandsons of its founder, his own son, Edwin Quackenbush Lasell, and a namesake, G. V. S. Quackenbush. From Franklin Square Mr. Quackenbush removed to 202 River street, where he remained for over thirty years, and from small beginning built up a business which occupied nearly as much floor room as the present store. In 1827 Mr. Quackenbush married Hannah A. Bayeux, daughter of Henry Bayeux. 588 Landmarks of Rensselaer county. She died in 1847. The issue of this marriage was seven children, only three of whom survive. There was no issue of his second marriage, in 1857, to the widow of David B. Plum. Probably in no other place in this work will a reference to the Bayeuxs be made A brief one seems pertinent. They were French Huguenots and emigrated to Dutchess county, N. Y. Hence Henry came to Troy and was the pioneer and lead ing jeweller of the early century. His store was at 182 River street and in his old age he lived with his son-in-law, the subject of this sketch, and was a member of his family at his death in 1845, aged eighty. His son Henry, who was connected with him in business, was one of the first captains of the old Troy Corps. He married Martha L. Vail, a relative of the late George Vail, and died in 1839. A daughter of this union still survives, Mrs. B. F. Baker of Ballston, N. Y. Another son, John, married Blandina Vanderheyden, daughter of the patroon ; their daughter is Mrs. Harvey J. King of this city. Susan Bayeux was the first wife of Albert Heartt, a brother of the late Jonas C. Heartt. She died at the early age of twenty-five. The last daughter, Julia M. Bayeux, always resided in Mr. Quackenbush's family. She died in 1882, aged seventy-two, being the only one of the children who lived to be over forty. With her the name of Bayeuxas a surname became extinct. But to return. Mr. Quackenbush's business career was not an uninterrupted suc cess. Despite his energy and thrift he, like most ultimately successful business men, had early reverses, which, met with courage and honor, proved the preludes of success. In 1839-40 he was compelled by commercial depression to suspend. He effected an honorable compromise with his creditors. It was a final compromise, yet, when favored with success, he, though not legally obliged to do so, paid the full amount of his indebtedness. This honorable action and his wide repute for business capacity laid the foundation of a subsequent credit which tided him over the panic of 1857. Dry goods dealers all over the country failed and the panic occurred just after he had invested nearly all of his capital in the erection, in 1856, of his splendid warehouse at the corner of Albany (now Broadway) and Third streets. Many foretold disaster. On the site of the present building stood a little old yellow frame house ; there were, we believe, no business stands from Third street to tbe Union depot. Mr. Quackenbush, with his rare foresight, believed that the locality would eventually become a business center, and it is now a hive of industry. After weathering the panic of 1857 he attained great success. To amass large wealth was not his object. His pride in his business led him to most liberal ex* penditures in its development. To the rank and file of his employes, numbering nearly a hundred, he paid larger salaries than any other merchant. The untimely death, May 8, 1869, of Gerrit, his eldest son, aged thirty-nine, and the only son he brought up in the business, was a severe blow. It left no one of the name as his successor. An obituary refers to this son as "one of the main supports of his father in conducting the business " and says that his life served " as a model of purity and grace to every young man in the city." Only three years subsequently, on June 10, 1872, the father died, aged seventy. He had never sought or held any public office, though when a young man, before the days of social or athletic clubs, when leading young men were members of the volunteer fire department, he was foreman of the Washington Volunteer Company. ELIAS G. DORLON. BIOGRAPHICAL. 589 Its records evidence his efficient service. His son Gerrit was also subsequently fore man of the same company. Mr Quackenbush disliked notoriety. He never sought public notice in any way except by legitimate, honest and non-sensational advertisement of his business. So retiring and unobtrusive was he that his intimate friends were surprised at the deep sentiment of loss which pervaded the community when he died. The daily papers gave it voice. One said: " The loss to this community is very great. . His store will remain a monument to the skill and ability of its founder for many years yet to come. For nearly fifty years a 'leading merchant of Troy, a citizen without reproach, a kind neighbor and a benefactor of his fellows, it is not possible for him to die without touching the sensibilities of the public. . His business career affords a lesson to all young men and teaches that the way to the highest success can only be reached through the practice of the sternest virtues and the loftiest in tegrity." Another touching obituary says: "Of the less than 100 noble men that Troy can point to as being, in an especial manner, the founders of its prosperity, the old man that now lies awaiting the sad rites of burial was among the most prom inent. No man who has occupied so marked a position in our city has been less a subject for the tongue of detraction. His fame socially and as a business man is pure. No name will be more cherished in the coming years than that of Gerrit Van Schaick Quackenbush." ELIAS G. DORLON. Elias G. Dorlon was born in Troy, N. Y., January 20, 1840. He is a son of the well known hotel keeper, Philip S. Dorlon, who was the proprietor of Washington Hall, corner of River and Grand Division streets, from 1827 to May 10, 1862, when it was destroyed by fire. He died May 8, 1886. His mother, Hannah E. (Whipple) Dorlon, was a native of Troy and died December 30, 1885. He received a public school education, went into the hotel business with his father, and was with him at the time of the fire in 1862, Then he took a position with his uncle, Elias Dorlon, who was then proprietor of the Mansion House, and was associated with him until 1865, when his uncle sold out. He then took charge of the American House at Bur lington, Vt., and afterwards the Mount Mansfield House at Stowe, Vt. He then returned to Troy and at various times has had charge of the Troy House, Mansion House, and the American House as manager. The name of Dorlon has been closely identified with the hotel interest of this city for very many years. In 1821 William Dorlon, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to Troy from Schaghticoke, and opened a public house on what is now known as Franklin Square, opposite the Dorlon building, corner of River and Grand streets. He had four sons: Elias, Philip S., Robert Piatt and William. The father survived his removal here but a year. On Elias, then a youth of twenty, devolved not only the care of the family, but the management of the hotel. In the course of a year or more, his next brother, Philip S., joined him. In 1823 the boys took the York House, which stood on the site lat terly known as the Market Bank. Here they remained two years, when in 1825 they took the property which afterwards became known as Washington Hall. This house 590 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the brothers kept together (with an interregnum of two years, when they were pro prietors of the Rensselaer House) until 1842, when Elias and William Dorlon became proprietors of the Mansion House. This partnership continued fifteen years (1857) when William retired leaving Elias sole proprietor until 1865 when he disposed of the Mansion House to Albert E. Richmond of North Adams, Mass. This brief rec ord makes the Dorlons hotel men of this city for upwards of seventy years. He now has charge of the Philip S. Dorlon estate. He represented the Fourth ward in the Board of Aldermen from 1889 to 1896. Is a director in the Union Na tional Bank, served nine years in the 24th Regiment National Guard, State of New- York, also a former member of the Troy Fire Department (Trojan Hooks). Isa trustee of the Episcopal Church Home and secretary of the board. He married Mary F. Moore, daughter of Joseph Moore, formerly a merchant of this city, and also general assessor. He has one son, Philip S. Dorlon, who is an electrician, and a graduate of Union College, class '89, Schenectady, N. Y. WILLIAM ORR. . William Orr was born in Belfast, Ireland, March 13, 1808, and died in Troy, N. Y, October 22, 1891. He came to this country with his parents in 1811, and after residing in New York and Columbiaville they removed to Troy, where in 1826 Mr. Orr entered the employ of William T. Smith, a furniture manufacturer. The year following, with his brother Alexander he engaged in the printing of wall paper at No. 76 Congress street under the firm name of A. &. W. Orr. • The first ma chinery ever used to print paper by cylinders on which the designs or patterns for paper hangings were engraved or disposed was invented by William Urr, and all the world renowned cylindrical printing presses of recent years represent in part the original features of the mechanism of the paper printing press used by him. In 1838 the business place of the firm was burned out, and the next year the firm continued business at No. 265 River street. In 1854 Mr. Orr became the first paper manufacturer in the country to make that product from wood pulp and rags com bined. Seven years previous to that time William Cunningham became a member of the firm, which was then known as A. & W. Orr & Co. The present mill at the State dam was erected in 1854, and in 1859 the firm vacated its Kiver street office and made the mill headquarters. In 1868 Alexander M. Orr became a member of the firm and December 24 of that year Alexander Orr died. The next year the other members formed the firm of Orrs & Co. Frederick W. Orr became a member in 1874, and S Alexander Orr, son of William Orr, February 1, 1885. In addition to inventing the process of making paper referred to Mr. Orr was also the inventor of a method of using water power to increased advantage. William Orr was a very ingenious man. For more than fifty years he was en gaged in mechanical and, manufacturing industries in Troy, during that time travel ing extensively through the United States and Europe and acquiring much valuable information which proved of the greatest use to him in his work of invention and manufacture. His brain was a perfect storehouse of valuable information. He was the friend of all public improvements. During the early part of his business career VUc^VJ HENRY C. CURTIS. BIOGRAPHICAL. 591 he found it impossible to obtain in this section the quality of paper he desired, so he started a paper mill at Bennington, Vt. When the Troy & Boston Railroad was started he labored hard for its interests, and for many years was one of its directors. William Orr was in every sense a self-made man. By virtue of his active and in genious mind,, his industrious habits, integrity of character and energy he made his way unaided to an enviable position in business and social life. He was a repre, sentative man, an honor to Troy, and few inhabitants of the city ever enjoyed a higher degree of honor and respect of their fellow-citizens. Mr. Orr was twice mar. ried. His first wife was Maria Strain of Albany, and his second wife was the widow of William D. Stevenson of North Argyle, Washington county, N. Y. The latter died in 1882. He was survived by a son, Seth Alexander Orr, and a daughter, Mrs. Le Roy McLean, both- of Troy; a stepson, William D. Stevenson of Argyle, and a brother, David Orr of New York. In politics Mr. Orr was a Republican. HENRY C. CURTIS. Henry G. Curtis, one of the leading business men of Troy, N. Y., is a native of that city, born August 9, 1838. He is the son of the late George Curtis, an old resi dent of Troy, who for many years had the contract for doing the teaming for the Albany Iron Works. He died in 1867. The mother of our subject was Esther (Moore) Curtis. She died in 1872. The education of H. C. -was obtained in the common schools of Troy. An incident that will well illustrate the characteristics of the lad was that while still a student, Mr. George Rockwood, then connected with the Troy Times, being desirous of securing a boy of integrity and energy, came down to the Ward school, looked the boys over, and out of a large number selected our subject to assist him in the canvass for the paper in that portion of the city and he was so engaged for several years; afterwards he took a position with F. W. Benson in his grocery store, with whom he remained about three years, when he realized that he needed more education and again became a student, intending to complete his edu cation. His plans, however, were interrupted by his being sent for^by Peter Thali- mer, to clerk in his grocery and general store for a few weeks. Young Curtis; giving such thorough satisfaction, Mr. Thalimer prevailed on him to remain longer and he staid with him eight years. This incident attests the sterling qualities of the young man. In 1862 he entered the firm of Bennett, Strickland & Co., the pioneer collar manu facturers, and was with them and their successors for twenty-two years. After several years he had an interest in the business and in ten years a partnership, and at the end of twenty years was a part owner of the establishment. In 1884 he sold out his interest in the concern to Mr. A. C. Fellows, and then formed a partnership with Lharles Cleminshaw in the collar and cuff business, and commenced business in the five story building at 421-423 River street on the 8th of February, 1884, under the firm name of H. C. Curtis & Co. Afterwards Charles G. Cleminshaw was taken in as a partner. The business of the establishment became so large that a new building was erected in 1892, at which time they commenced the manufacture of > 'rts, which Mr. C. G. Cleminshaw superintends. The business has constantly 592 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. increased so that now ten floors are occupied. The firm also have branches in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore, and do a very extensive busi ness. Mr. Curtis has been a member of the M. E. church for forty years, and has held membership twelve years with the Fifth Avenue M. E. church, and for many years has been a class leader and superintendent of the Sunday school. He has also held all the different offices in the church. He is trustee of the Troy conference, also one of the trustees of the Conference Academy in Poultney, Vermont, and trustee of the Round Lake Association. In 1869 Mr. Curtis was married to Miss Mercy D. Savery, of Wareham, Mass, His son Henry S. represents the New York branch of H. C. Curtis & Co. He has one daughter, Florence H. Curtis. In politics our subject has always been identified with the Republican party. It is with pleasure that we present to our numerous readers this record of a career of one of the representative men of Troy. A man who began life, practically unaided, and whose success, step by step, has been marked by unflagging industry, intelligent application to business, and the highest probity and integrity has characterized his life. Such a career is worthy of the emulation of the youth of our land. JOSEPH JOSLIN TILLINGHAST. Joseph Joslin Tillinghast, a. well known and prominent business man of Troy, N. Y., was born in that city January 30, 1831. He is descended from a long line of New England ancestry. The first Tillinghast from which this family in America is descended was from Elder Pardon Tillinghast, who came to this country in 1643 when he was twenty-one years of age. He was born in the south of England near Beach Head in 1622, and descended from one of the same name who was one of the soldiers under William the Conqueror from Normandy that conquered England from the Saxons at the battle of Hastings on the south coast of England in the eleventh century. Elder Pardon Tillinghast founded the first Baptist church in Providence, R. I., and became a large land owner and prominent man in the affairs of the colony, The great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch was Hon. Thomas Tillinghast, born in East Greenwich, R. I., August 21, 1742. He was a member of the Colonial General Assembly, an officer in the Revolutionary war, subsequently judge of the Court of Common Pleas and of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. In 1787 he made the memorable decision, that under the U. S. Constitution the Rhode Isl and scrip money was not a legal tender; afterwards represented his State in Con gress. His son, Allen, the grandfather of Joseph J., was born m Greenwich, R. I, February 28, 1768. He married Patience, the daughter of Rev. William and Patience Williams of Wrentham, Mass. Mr. Tillinghast was a prosperous merchant in Wrentham, Mass., and held many positions of trust and was highly respected. The father of our subject was Benjamin Allen Tillinghast, a native of Wrentham, Mass., born May 6, 1799. He married Miss Julia Ann Whitney, who was born in Wrent ham, Mass. ; she was the daughter of Col. Moses Whitney, a soldier in the Revolu tionary war. Mrs. TiUinghast died in Troy, N. Y., March 7, 1850. To Benjamin RUSSELL F. BENSON, JR., M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 593 A Tillinghast and wife were born five children, viz. : Thomas Allen, died in Troy Tune 10, 1879; Charles Whitney (see sketch); William Henry, retired and a resident of New York city; Joseph J., and Alice Ann, deceased February 3, 1872. Mr. B. A. Tillinghast moved with his family to Troy, N. Y.,in 1830 where he engaged in the sale of cotton and cotton cloths and for awhile had charge of the Albia Cotton Mills, afterwards became a commission merchant in the sale of wheat and flour, subse quently engaged in the banking and insurance business with his son, Joseph J, During his business career he was recognized as among the prominent and energetic business men of the city. In politics he was first a Whig, afterwards a Democrat. In 1877 he retired from business, his death occurred January 2, 1887. Joseph J. Tillinghast received an academic education in Rhode Island. His business career began in 1846 as clerk for Newcomb & Warren, wholesale druggists. He was treasurer of the Troy Savings Bank from 1851 to 1856 ; then went West and engaged in the hardware business in Keokuk Iowa, from 1857 to 1860, the firm be ing Tillinghast, Lane & Buell. In 1861 he returned to Troy and engaged in the banking business with his father under the firm name of B. A. Tillinghast & Son. In 1872 he entered the hardware firm of J. M. Warren & Co. as secretary of the con • cern, which position he still holds. During the administration of Andrew Johnson he was collector of the Port of Troy. He was an active fireman of Washington Vol unteer Fire Co., and held the position of assistant captain and treasurer of that com pany, also trustee and treasurer of the Troy fire department for a time. He was the projector and one of the original stockholders of the Troy & Albia railroad and was its first treasurer until shortly before it changed hands. He was also treasurer and director in the Troy and New England Railway Co. He was treasurer and member of the committee of one hundred of the Troy Centennial. Socially he belongs to the Reform Club of New York city, the Troy Club, and is a member of the society of the Sons of the Revolution, being regent of the Troy Chapter. He is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal church, and is one of the wardens and also treasurer of that church; the latter position he has held for thirty-five years or more." He married, December 9, 1863, Miss Mary J. Sullivan of Madison, Ind., daughter of Judge Jere miah Sullivan of the Supreme Court of that State ; while a member-of the Legisla ture Judge Sullivan suggested the name Indianapolis in the act creating that city the capital of the State. To Mr. and, Mrs. Tillinghast were born a son and daugh ter, both of whom died in infancy. Mr. Tillinghast has been an able energetic and successful business man, and is highly respected in the city where he has for so many years contributed his part to its growth and development. He is a member of the State Charities Aid Association of New York and is president of the Troy branch thereof. Politically he has always been identified with the Democratic party. RUSSELL F. BENSON, Jr., M. D. Russell F. Benson, Jr., M. D., was born in Troy, March 23, 1852. He is the only M of Russell F. Benson of Heath, Mass., who came to Troy from that place m ' ' <•, and has been for many years a mail carrier. He was appointed during Presi- 75 594 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. dent Lincoln's administration, and is the oldest man in the United States employed in that capacity, being now seventy-five years of age. His mother, Jane E (Heermance) Benson, was born in Troy in 1824, and her family was among the earliest settlers in the city. Dr. Benson received his early education in the public schools of Troy, supple mented by a course at the Business College where he graduated in 1868. He had however, very early in life shown a decided taste for the study of medicine, and soon abandoned all thought of a mercantile career to follow the medical profession, the systematic pursuit of which he began under the preceptorship of Dr. J. P. Bloss of Troy. He entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York in Octo ber, 1873, graduating in the class of 1876. The same year he entered the Homoeo pathic College of New York, graduating in 1877. In the summer of 1891 he went abroad, taking a special course of study at Vienna. Returning he resumed his practice in Troy. Dr. Benson is a member of the New York State Homoeopathic Society, thellahne- mannian Society of New York, the Rensselaer County Homoeopathic Medical So ciety, and the Albany County Homoeopathic Medical Society. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar, and he is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise a member of the following clubs, viz. : The Pafraets Dael, the East Side and the Troy Yacht Clubs. Dr. Benson was married September 13, 1882, to Miss Henrietta Pyre of Clifton Park, N. Y. (at St. Paul's church, Troy), by whom he has had two sons: Lawrence Trowbridge Benson, who died in 1886, and Arthur Wight Benson, born June 29, 1887. S. WALTER SCOTT, M.D. Dr. S. Walter Scott was born June 15, 1846, in Rowe, Mass. He came from Puritan stock and can trace his ancestry back almost to the Mayflower, His father, Thomas Scott, was one of the leading business men of the town, a tanner and cur rier by trade, carrying 'on an extensive business for many years; he died at the age of eighty-three. Dr. Scott early conceived the idea of adopting the medical profession, and his primary education was with this end in view. He has been a constant student of medicine, so to speak, since he was fourteen years old. He was graduated from the medical department of the University of Vermont June 19, 1867, and the next month entered upon active practice at Fayetteville, Vt. For twenty years he followed the regular practice. When electricty came into prominence as a remedial agent, Dr. Scott spent much time in the investigation of its wonderful powers. He took a special course with the best electricians in the country, and is now the peer of any physician in the world in its use. In 1891 he came to Troy and formed a copartnership with Dr. F. B. Smith; after one year Dr. Smith retired, since which Dr. Scott has practiced alone and estab lished the Electro-Medical Institute of Troy, with which there are connected several branch offices. Determined never to be second in anything, when electricity became an accepted ffofa e&Jt-JfcS! BIOGRAPHICAL. 595 remedial agent, Dr. Scott at once supplied himself with abundant apparatus. He has a thoroughly equipped office at the Electro-Medical Institute at No. 5 Union Place, Broadway, where every current of electricity known to the medical profession for the cure of diseases is scientifically applied. Yet Dr. Scott does not call himself an electric specialist; he is a specialist, not from any mode of treatment, but be cause he treats only special (nerve and chronic) diseases. He believes in and uses all the curative elements known to medicine. He has associated with him in busi ness the celebrated eye, ear, nose and throat specialist, Dr. A. M. Fanning. REV. JOHN J WALSH. Rev. John J. Walsh was born at Deer Park, County Tipperary, Ireland, March 15, 1847. As a consequence of a famine in Ireland, his parents emigrated to America, and on December 28, 1849, settled at Cohoes, N. Y., where he received his early education from the Sisters of St. Joseph. He subsequently attended the Christian Brothers' Academy at Troy, and in September, 1863, entered the Univer sity of Our Lady of Angels, at Suspension Bridge, N. Y. , where he remained until he completed his studies, receiving a first prize in logic, moral philosophy, and met aphysics. In September, 1866, he entered St. Joseph's Provincial Seminary, Troy, to pursue his ecclesiastical studies for the priesthood, and was ordained by the Rt, Rev. John J. Conroy, then bishop of Albany, N. Y. , October 16, 1869, and was as signed to duty at St. Bernard's church, Cohoes. N. Y. In 1873 he was selected for the pastorate of the venerable and important church of St. John at Albany, where his work in the development of the parish and the resto ration of the church was carried on with intelligent and untiring ardor, and he was equally successful in every department of church work. In 1882 Father Walsh was promoted to the rectorship of the Cathedral at Albany by the Rt. Rev. Francis McNeirny. The more elevated dignity of this position brought increased labors which he gladly and successfully performed, continuing his efforts to improve the parish, both in a spiritual and temporal sense. During his incumbency of this important position he acted as secretary to the bishop, chan cellor, and official prosecutor. In 1887 he was appointed to the care of St. Peter's church, Troy, where he built a handsome convent, and improved the entire church property, emphasizing his repu tation as a preacher, and a many-sided scholar, and has been prominent in all public movements for the reformation of the city, and the protection of its good name. He was one of the originators and officials of the Catholic National Union, organized at Newark, N. J., in 1875, and was also active in the establishment of a Catholic Summer School, on the plan of Chautauqua. For six years he was editor of the Troy Catholic Weekly, and is a member of the Troy Scientific Association. In 1889 he made a tour through the East, and in 1896 through Spain and Southern France. He was one of the lecturers of the first session of the Catholic Summer School at New London, Conn., and was elected corresponding member of the Albany Institute in 1894. Rev. Father Walsh has friends among all classes, and 596 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. while he is a positive churchman, he endeavors to avoid extremes, and socially is respected by all persons, regardless of creed. His contributions to literature are multiple and replete with original information Biography, history, architecture, Egyptology, geography, metaphysics, and theol ogy are some of the topics touched by his versatile pen. His style is pure, clear and vigorous. His treatment of a subject is strongly suggestive of a mind studious in the extreme and dissatisfied with beaten paths. REV. HERBERT C. HINDS. Herbert Calvin Hinds, A. M., pastor of the Ninth Presbyterian Church, Troy, N. Y. , was born at Lake, now Cossayuna, Washington county, N. Y., June 22, 1857. He was the second son of William and Lydia (Somes) Hinds and lived with his pa rents on a farm till he began his literary course for the gospel ministry. He received his primary education at the public schools in the vicinity of his home, and, at the age of seventeen, entered the State Normal School at Albany, N. Y., graduating from this institution, January 30, 1877, and, having completed the prescribedcour.se of instruction with credit, was selected by the faculty as one of ten to read an essay at the commencement exercises. In September, 1877, he entered the prepara tory school of Westminster College, located at New Wilmington, Pa., where he continued his studies, taking, or successfully passing an examination in the subjects considered in the Third Preparatory and Freshman years, and, at the end of the college year, was regularly entered as a member of the class of 1881. But feeling that the Eastern college offered advantages and inducements not attainable in West minster, in the fall of 1878 he entered the Boy's Academy at Albany and continued preparations under President Merrill E. Gates for entrance to college, and on Jan uary 6, 1879, rather unexpectedly entered Union College at Schenectady, N. Y., where he maintained the same high standing in college work which had previously marked his career in college preparation, graduating with honors in the class of 1882. As a mark of distinction he was elected a member of the honorary society, Phi Beta Kappa byname, and was also selected by the faculty, on account of high standing, to compete on commencement day for the Blatchford medals. In the contest he re ceived honorable mention. In September, 1882, he entered Princeton Seminary, Princeton, N. J., for his theological course of instruction and received on the 5th day of May, 1885, his diploma with thirty-seven other young men. During the vacations in the seminary course he preached at Matapedia, Quebec, and Flat Lands, N. B., and, at the latter place, secured the co-operation of the people in the erection of a church building. At both places large accessions were made to the churches and some reforms were instituted which have been of lasting benefit to the communities. Within the month of graduation he had accepted a call to, and was quietly installed in the work of the gospel ministry at Park Place Chapel, under the shadow of "Old Union," and under the auspices of Rev. T. G. Darling, D. D., and the session of the First Presbyterian Church of Schenectady. And here he labored with much ac ceptance, thoroughly uniting the people and securing many members for the strug gling organization. After a trial of ten months, it was decided (after listening to the BIOGRAPHICAL. 597 reDort of Mr. Hinds) that it was not advisable then to organize a third Presbyterian church for the city and the services of a clergyman were dispensed with. During the following summer Mr. Hinds took an extended tour through Europe and gained much by study that has been valuable to him in the services in which he has since been engaged. In August of this same year he was engaged to assist the Rev C. H. Baldwin, D. D., of the Second Presbyterian church of Amsterdam, N Y and continued in the discharge of the duties which devolved upon him by reason of the illness of the pastor for four months. In December he undertook the formation of another church in the west end of the city, holding Sunday school exercises and conducting evening services in a house generously put at his disposal by Elder David Cady. In February, 1887, the new church was organized with about eighty members and was christened ' ' Emmanuel." Within three months the pastor had secured the pledges of the friends of the new organization for several thousands of dollars and lots were purchased and a church building was decided upon and the contracts were given for its construction. The work on the structure was not pushed as rapidly as anticipated, and in the fall, it was evident that the edifice would not be ready for occupancy till the following spring or summer. As no other place could be obtained for the services the work was at a stand still and, rot desiring to be a burden upon the society during the building period of its history, Mr. Hinds in September accepted a unanimous call to the pastorate of the Second Reformed church of Schenectady and was installed as pastorthe following month. Here he labored for three and onehalf years with the same untiring zeal which had characterized his work in other places. As, in every other settlement, the work was crowned with large acces sions to the church membership, with an improved financial condition and with the erection of an addition to the chapel of the church. In January, 1891, a unanimous call was received from the Ninth Presbyterian church of Troy and was soon after wards accepted and the labors of the new field were cheerfully assumed in March, the installation taking place on the 18th day of the month. During the five years of the present pastorate, as in the halcyon days under the leadership of Rev. N. B. Remick, D. D., the " Old Ninth " has been steadily marching on and the high stand ing of church work has been maintained. The membership of the church has steadily increased till at the present the number on her roll is a little less than seven hundred, with a Sunday school membership of more than six hundred. In 1894 the officers of the Sunday school became painfully aware of the fact that the chapel was inadequate for the demands of the school and immediate steps were taken to en large the capacity of the building. The chapel was accordingly raised five feet and commodious rooms were fitted down stairs for the use of the primary and intermediate departments of the school. The people have had a mind to work and are now act uated with a disposition to give and soon they will "owe no man anything except love." Mr. Hinds is a man of liberal views, is a member of Apollo Commandery, of the Knights of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men, and other kindred societies. He has often been sought after for addresses and lectures at the conventions of young people and his voice has often been heard in the advocacy of honor and truth. He is a man of firm convictions and will not allow any designing person to control his actions. Proofs of his ministry are appearing on every hand. Wise in his methods and plans, his place of power is in the pulpit. Clear in thought, logical in argument, chaste m diction, sympathetic in delivery, his sermons are models of directness. In- 598 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. creasing audiences are waiting upon his ministry. He believes m doing much good and with as little noise as possible and one of his favorite sayings is, "Kindness makes friends of us all." The keynote of life is "Try to make others better, Love yourself last, my brother Try to make others glad, Be gentle, and kind, and true ' The world has so much of sorrow, True to yourself and others, ' So much that is hard and bad. As God is true to you." JAMES THOMPSON. James Thompson was born in Belfast, Ireland, March 12, 1833. His parents were John and Mary Thompson, both natives of Scotland, whence they removed to Bel fast and in 1868 emigrated to New York city, where they spent the remainder of their lives, and at their deaths were buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Mr. Thompson was reared in Belfast, where he learned the business of manufactur ing linen goods. In 1852 he arrived in New York city and until 1859 worked in a cotton factory. At the latter date he engaged in the same business for himself, which he continued in that city until 1872, when he removed to Valley Falls, N. Y., and established the manufacture of cotton and linen goods; in this he has been very successful, his business steadily increasing; he employs about 300 people. Mr. Thompson is the owner of about 150 acres of land, which is known as the Valley Stock Farm. Here he has made a business of breeding Wilkes trotting horses for the past eight years, having at the present time about 120 head. He is a true lover of fine horses, and has devoted much time, study and money to the im provement of the particular strain he raises. In 1854 Mr. Thompson was married to Isabella Curran, a native of Belfast, Ire land, by whom he had six children, as follows: Mary J., wife of Allen Milks of Val ley Falls; Hannah, wife of Adam Lohnes of Valley Falls; James, jr., who married Carrie Smodell and lives at Valley Falls ; Isabella, wife of Thomas Doran of Valley Falls; Eliza, wife of Francis Stover, deceased; William is at home. Mrs. Thomp son died in October, 1879, and Mr. Thompson married Lucy E. Larken, by whom he had one son, Leslie. ROSWELL A. PARMENTER. Hon. Roswell A. Parmenter -was born in Pittstown, Rensselaer county, N. Y. He received his education in the public schools and at the Troy Conference Academy in Poultney, Vt., where he was graduated in January, 1846. He then entered the law office of Willard, Raymond & Woodbury, in the city of Troy, and was admitted to practice in December, 1847. In the following spring he formed a copartnership with Judge Isaac McConihe, the firm name being McConihe & Parmenter. He later joined his brother, F. J. Parmenter, in partnership, under the firm name of R. A. & F. J. ROSWELL A. PARMENTER. BIOGRAPHICAL. 599 Parmenter, which relation continued until 1874, since which date he has practiced alone. He was elected State senator in 1873, and served one term of two years, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1894. He was city attorney of Troy from 1871 to 1885, and subsequently corporation council of same city. In politics Mr Parmenter has always been a Democrat, and is influential in the ranks of his party. As a lawyer he stands in the front rank among the best in the city, and is recognized as one of the ablest counselors in this part of the State. He brings to bear on the trial of a cause an acute and logical mind, and is thoroughly versed in the principles and precepts of the law and an able exponent of its principles. Mr. Parmenter was married in April, 1855, to Mary L. Reynolds of Petersburgh, N. Y., by whom he has one daughter, Alice M., his only living child, having lost by death three sons and one daughter. HENRY GILBERT LUDLOW. Henry Gilbert Ludlow, one of the most noted inventors and manufacturers of Troy, has been conspicuously identified with the best interests of that city for many years. He was born in Nassau, Rensselaer county, N. Y. , March 28, 1823, and is a son of the late Hon. Samuel B. Ludlow of Oswego, N. Y. His father was a noted lawyer in Western New York, and was graduated from Union College in 1809, having entered at the age of fourteen. He studied law in Albany and was ad mitted to the bar in 1812. He practiced his profession in Nassau, later was the editor and proprietor of The Philadelphian, a religious paper published in Phil adelphia. He settled in Oswego in 1836 as secretary of the Northwestern Insurance Company; was presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas six years from 1841 ; was one of the founders of the Congregational church in Oswego ; was prominent in organizing the Oswego Gas Company, and at his death April 12, 1882, the oldest graduate of Union College. Henry G. Ludlow is a descendant of an old and honorable English family on his father's side and one of the most noted Scottish families on the maternal side, his mother being Nancy Douglas, a descendant of William Douglas, who emigrated from Scotland to New London, Conn. From his paternal ancestor he inherits the business tact and commercial ability for which the best ancient English blood was noted; while from his mother's family there descended to him the sturdy character-' istics of the Scotch which have resulted in his most honorable and eminent business successes. After receiving a preparatory education in the schools of Nassau and Oswego he entered Union College, taking the classical course and graduating with the class of 1843. Soon afterward he acted upon the advice of a friend of his father, went to Philadelphia and spent some time in one of the gas works in that city, familiarizing himself with that business. After attaining the proficiency sought, he and others were associated erecting gas plants in Hartford, Conn., Pough keepsie, N. Y., Bridgeport, Conn., Oswego, N. Y., and Burlington, Vt. ; Mr. Lud low being the engineer. Within a year after Mr. Ludlow embarked in the enterprise the firm of Dungan, Steever & Co. was1 formed, and appreciating his high ability 600 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and judgment, made him an equal partner, leaving the construction of the gas plants for which they contracted entirely to him. After devoting himself to this work for about five years Mr. Ludlow, appreciating the need of such a contrivance, set to work to devise a straightway stop valve. In this undertaking he was successful and soon after the completion of his inven tion patented the same. The main feature of this invention is a sliding gate with a separate wedge moving up and down on its back, pressing the gate to its seat after the gate had ceased or nearly ceased its closing movement. In open ing the valve the wedge loosens the gate before it begins to rise, thus avoiding much of the friction and wear of the faces of the valves and seats. The invention was tested for the first time in the gas works in Poughkeepsie. So well did it oper ate and so great was the need for it that Mr. Ludlow decided to devote all his time to the manufacture of the new valves, not only for gas works but for regulating the flow of water, steam and oil, and in fire and yard hydrants. Therefore in 1866 he became instrumental in incorporating the Ludlow Valve Manufacturing Company, which began operations in a shop on Second street in the village of Waterford, N.Y It was not long before the demand for the valve became quite general, and the busi ness he founded increased rapidly. In 1872 the works were removed to Nos. 54 to 70 Second avenue, Lansingburgh, N. Y. In 18' 6, to such great proportions had the business grown that a more commodious manufactory was found neces sary, and a part of the plant formerly occupied by the Troy Iron and Steel Company in the southern part of the city of Troy was purchased and remodeled, and the company at once began preparations to remove thereto. Valves of all sizes are now made, from half an inch to five feet in diameter. The company is now said to be the largest manufacturer of these specialties and hydrants in the world, ship ping its product to nearly every civilized country. Owing to failing health Mr. Lud low withdrew from active business in 1893, but still retains an interest in the com pany. Though Mr. Ludlow has always been closely identified with the welfare of the community in which he resides and has ever shown an interest in the cause of good government, he has never sought nor held any political office. His generosity alone has been sufficient to cause his name to live forever in the history of Troy. The cause of education and numerous charitable institutions have been bepeficiaries at his hands, and in this noble work his wife has ever stood at his side. He is an elder in the Second Street Presbyterian church of Troy, a governor of the Marshall In firmary, a trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Troy Orphan Asylum and the Emma Willard Seminary. He has also given frequent substantial evidences of his generosity toward other institutions of Troy. Mr. Ludlow is a gentleman of spotless character, honorable in every transaction, staunch to his friends and unflinching in his devotion to all that is good in life. Though of a retiring disposition he never loses an opportunity to make himself use ful to his fellowmen. His whole life has been one of exceptional purity, free from the slightest taint of dishonor in any of his transactions. As a companion and friend his influence is helpful and elevating, and his conversation never fails to impress one with the cultivation of his mind as well as the purity of his character. To Mr. Ludlow and his wife, Harriet M., daughter of Ira Shattuck of Burlington, Vt , has R. B. BONTECOU, M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 601 been born one son, Henry Shattuck Ludlow, who graduated from Williams College in 1895 and is now one of the proprietors and an editor of the Troy Record. REED B. BONTECOU, M. D. Reed Brockway Bontecou, Troy, N. Y., born April 22, 1824, in that city, is the son of Peter and Semantha (Brockway) Bontecou, of Huguenot and Scotch descent, respectively, and grandson of David Bontecou. He was educated at the Troy High school and academy, at Poultney academy, Vt. , and at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, from which he received the degree of B. N. S., in 1842; commenced the study of medicine in 1842, under Drs. A. G. Skilton, Thomas C. Brinsmade and John Wright, of Troy; attended lectures at the Medical Department of the Univer sity of the City of New York, 1844-45, and at Castleton Medical College, Castleton, Vt, graduating M. D. from the latter institution in May, 1847, when he at once en tered into practice with his preceptor, Thomas C. Brinsmade, at Troy, N. Y. In 1846 he made a voyage up the Amazon River, South America, passing the entire year exploring that region in the interests of natural science. He served through the cholera epidemic of 1848 at Troy, N. Y., and again, in 1858, at Troy, N. Y., when he used tranfusions on numerous hospital cases of the disease, being at that time surgeon to the Troy Hospital. Dr. Bontecou was commissioned surgeon of the 24th N. Y. S. militia, in 1849; en tered the Federal service as surgeon of the 2d New York Volunteer Infantry, April, 1861, to September of the same year ; was commissioned brigade surgeon and sur geon of volunteers, September, 1861, to June, 1866, when he was mustered out of the service. Dr. Bontecou was present at the battle of Big Bethel, Va., June 10, 1861, and at the fight between the Monitor and Merrimac ; and at the capture of Yorktown, Va. ; was in charge of the Hygeia United States Army General Hospital, Fortress Monroe, Va., from September, 1861, until its destruction in September, 1862, when he was ordered to the Army of the Potomac, for duty in the surgeon-general's office. He was soon ordered to the Department of the South during the yellow fever, and was in attendance on General Mitchel, who died of that disease there, and was placed in charge of one of the hospitals at Beaufort, S. C, and was subsequently appointed chief medical officer of all the hospitals there. He was with Medical Director Charles H. Crane in the iron-clad attack on Fort Sumter, and was soon after placed in charge of the hospital steamer, Cosmopolitan, lying off Charleston, during the siege of that city, and collected the sick and wounded from all points below on the Atlantic coast, transferring them to Hilton Head, Beaufort, and New York city. Early in October, 1863, he was ordered to Washington, D. C, to take charge of the Harewood United States Army General Hospital, and was on duty there until its discontinuance in May, 1866 ; after that being employed on various boards of inves tigation until he was mustered out in June, 1866. Dr. Bontecou was brevetted lieu tenant colonel and colonel of volunteers, March 13, 1865, for faithful and meritorious services during the war. At the close of the war Dr. Bontecou returned to the private practice of medicine at Troy, N. Y. He is a member of the Medical Society of the County of Rensselaer, 602 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. president in 1891, and again in 1892; a member of the Medical Society of the State of New' York ; of the New York State Medical Association ; of the American Medical Association ; of the American Surgical Association ; was one of the council of the section on military and naval surgery and medicine of the 9th International Medical Congress at Washington, D. C. , 1887 ; was a delegate to the 10th International Med ical Congress, Berlin, 1890, and while abroad, in 1891, and in 1892, made a tour of the principal hospitals of England and the Continent. He is surgeon to Marshall In firmary, Troy, since 1880, and attending surgeon to the Watervliet Arsenal, Troy, since 1870. In surgical work his more notable cases are: "Ligature of the Right Sub-Clavian Artery for Traumatic Aneurism,'' "Operation for the Radical Cure of Umbilical Her nia," "Ligature of the Right Iliac Artery for Aneurism," " Ovariotomy and Hys terectomy," "Lithotomy," "Tracheotomy,'' " Strangulated Hernia," "Operations for Diseases of the Appendix Vermiformis," "Inverted Uteri, Reduced by an Improved Method," and most of the operations in military surgery. He originated and practiced the application of photography to military surgical history; was one of the largest contributors to the " Surgical History of the War," and to the Army Medical Museum. The Transaction's of the American Medical Association, 1876, gives a resume of the operations on the larger joints, frequently referring to Dr. Bontecou as an operator. He originated a modification of Pirigoff's operation for the amputation for the foot; an instrument to reposit inverted uterus; a provisional wound dressing for military service, to be carried in the soldier's pocket, etc. For many years he has been president of examining board of surgeons for pensions at Troy. Married in 1849, Miss Susan Northrup, of New Haven, Conn. Of their children, Josephine is the wife of J. Lincoln Steffens of New York city; Reed Brinsmade, M. D. (College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of New York, 1889), is in partnership with his father, Troy, N. Y. ; Louise died at the age of twenty one years; Anna Louise and Horatio Brinsmade died in infancy. THOMAS ALLEN TILLINGHAST. Thomas Allen Tillinghast, the eldest son of Benjamin Allen Tillinghast and Julia Ann Tillinghast, was born in Wrentham, Mass., November 9, 1822. In early childhood he came to Troy, N. Y. , with his parents, where the remainder of his life was spent. He was educated in Troy, at Lanesboro, Mass., and at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy. Soon after entering upon his mercantile life he be came prominent in the business affairs of the city and he labored unceasingly for the advancement of Troy's best interests. His first business venture was in connection with transportation. Afterwards he entered the well known firm of J. M. Warren & Co., hardware merchants, in- which he was actively interested until the time of his death. He was for many years a member of the Board of Trade of Troy, of which he was for some time president. While an active and honored business life claimed most of his time, he sought and found his greatest comfort and pleasure in caring for and promoting the prosperity of the church ; to St. John s THOMAS ALLEN TILLINGHAST. C. WHITNEY TILLINGHAST, 2d. BIOGRAPHICAL. 603 hurch of Troy, of which he was a vestryman, he gave of his best; to the Free Church of the Ascension, which he was most influential in founding, he gave most gladly of his time and counsel. In the diocese of Albany he was one of the most prominent laymen; in all its work and as a menber of the standing committee no de mand upon his time ever found aught but a prompt and ready response. Mr. Tillinghast was married in 1847 to Miss Margaret Scott Griffith, daughter of Griffith' P. Griffith of Troy. His five children were Julia Griffith, Alice Griffith, Griffith Pritchard, Charles Whitney and Jessie Scott. Of these Alice Griffith and Charles Whitney are still living. Mrs. Tillinghast died in 1890. Mr. Tillinghast died at his home in Troy, June 10, 1879, beloved and esteemed by all his friends, amongst whom were the poor, to whom he had so lovingly ministered. CHARLES WHITNEY TILLINGHAST, 2d. Charles Whitney Tillinghast, 2d, the son of Thomas Allen and Margaret' Scott (Griffith) Tillinghast, was born in Troy, N. Y., November 28, 1857. His father, who came to Troy early in life, was the son of Benjamin Allen and Julia A. Tillinghast and early took a prominent place in the local, mercantile and church life of the city. He died in June, 1879. His mother was the daughter of Griffith P. Griffith (one of the best known and successful merchants of that day), and until the time of her death, which occurred in April, 1890, she was most active in all church and city charities. Mr. Tillinghast received his education, first at the Troy Academy, then at the Gunnery in Washington, Conn., and afterwards at St. Paul's School at Concord, N. H. He entered Trinity College, but because of poor health was forced to abandon his studies and travel in Europe for a long time. On his return to Troy, in May, 1877, he entered the establishment of J. M. Warren & Co. and is now general manager of that house and largely interested in the mercantile affairs of his native city. On February 4, 1889, he was married to Marion Chittenden Clark at Spuyten- Duyvil-on-the-Hudson ; three children have been born to them : Margaret Chitten den, Theodore Voorhees and Charles Whitney, jr. He and his wife are communi cants of St, John's Episcopal church, and, like his father, has always been deeply interested in its welfare. He has served his time in the fire department of Troy, being connected with the Arba Read Steamer Company. He was president of the Young Men's Association and the first president of the Pafraets Dael Club. When it was decided to erect a monument in the city of Troy Mr. Tillinghast was made a member of the board of trustees of the Rensselaer County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Association. He is also a member of the Sons of the Revolution and of the Troy Club. In politics Mr. Tillinghast is recognized as one of the leading Re publicans of the city and of this portion of the State. As a business man he stands in the forefront of the commercial interests of Troy and is ever ready to foster and encourage everything that will advance the material progress and development of his city. He was one of the promoters of the Committee of Public Safety and served on its executive board from the beginning of its existence. In June, 1877, he entered the National Guard of the State of New York and served in the Troy 604 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Citizens Corps, 6th Separate Company, as a private, corporal, sergeant and third second and first lieutenant, until January, 1895, when he resigned his commission in the Guard. CHARLES W. TILLINGHAST. Charles W. Tillinghast was born May 23, 1824, in Greenwich, R. I. His father was Benjamin Allen Tillinghast, a native of Wrentham, Mass., where he received his education, afterwards moving to Greenwich, R. I. He came to Troy, N. V. in 1830. Charles W., the subject of this record, obtained his early education in private schools and then entered Kent Academy at East Greenwich, R. I. ; later he became a student at Talcot's private school at Lanesborough, Mass. In 1840 he commenced the hardware and iron business as clerk for Warrens, Hart & Lesley, which firm was suceceded by J. M. Warren and C. W. Tillinghast, under the firm name of J. M. Warren & Co. In 1887 the firm was incorporated under the same name and Mr. Tillinghast was chosen vice-president, having been connected with this firm for half a century or more. He was one of the first to start the project for a post-office building in Troy, obtaining the statistics and petitions for same. He was president of the Public Improvement Commission, also president of the Troy Orphan Asylum, and is connected with the Church Home, the Marshall Infirmary and Willard Female Seminary. He is a director in the United National Bank, vice- president of the Troy Savings Bank ; also director in several of the large manufac turing establishments of Troy, as well as in different railroad enterprises of that city. For many years Mr. Tillinghast has been recognized as one of the most active busi ness men of the city, being ever ready to lend his aid to whatever will promote the best interests of Troy. He is spoken of by his friends as a broad-minded, liberal man, affable and genial in disposition, and a man whose word is as acceptable as his bond. In politics he is a staunch Republican, and he and his family are connected with St. John's church at Troy. He was married in 1852 to Mary B. Southwick of Troy, by whom he has one daughter. CHARLES EDWARD PATTERSON. The history of a contemporary generation of men takes its character largely from the environment of circumstances ; with the measure in which the lives of the indi viduals constituting it become eminent or prominent, depending entirely upon sur roundings, and the opportunities presented for making them so. The eminence attained by personalities generally manifests itself where evolving conditions so cially or politically furnish the ladder on which to climb, and without which devel oped opportunities, minds well qualified to attain greatness under emergent influ ences, reach only such eminence as the circumstances of their lives will permit. Then as a matter of choice there are individuals well calculated to become leaders CHARLES W. TILLINGHAST. BIOGRAPHICAL. 605 who prefer to move in the more quiet avenues of thought and action, and are satis fied to attain only such prominence as is thrust upon them unsought by the evi dences of their ability, and mental capacity. Biographically considered it is with the latter class of individuals that the Hon. Charles E. Patterson of Troy, N. Y., tbe subject of this sketch, should be positioned. The family from whom Mr. Patterson descended was of English ancestry, who made New England its home long before the colonies separated from the mother country. His father, James H. Patterson, was the son of Ansel Patterson, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, as well as the war of 1812. His mother's name was Fidelia Howes, and she was a descendant of an English Blake family, who were amongst the earlier settlers of New England. Mr. Patterson was born at Corinth, Vt, May 3, 1842, and at the present time is fifty four years old and in the prime of life. He received a liberal preparatory education, and entered Union College from which he was graduated with honors in 1860, having for his classmates the Hon. Warner Miller, Frank Loomis, LL. D., general counsel for the N. Y. C. & H. R. R., Will iam McElroy, editor, Samuel Thayer, Ex-Minister to the Hague, and the Hon. Neil Gilmore of New York. Mr. Patterson selected the law as a profession, and fortu nately for him it was one for which he was well fitted. Possessed of a quick per ception of things, a love of study, coupled with strong analytical mental powers, it enables him to make logically applicable what he knows, and what his discernment deduces from fact and circumstance in the trial of cases. He entered the law office of the Hon. David L. Seymour at Troy, N. Y. , was ad mitted to the bar in May, 1863, and on January 1, 1864, he became his partner and continued as such until the death of the latter. In making this selection Mr. Patter son was very fortunate, for Mr. Seymour was recognized as one of the ablest law yers in the State of New York-. He had represented his district in Congress, and as a mark of his ability was made chairman of the Committee on Commerce, then one of the most important committees of the House. Mr. Patterson had from this connection unusual advantages at his disposal, and he was prompt to make them applicable, and to profit by the great experience and knowledge of Mr. Seymour, which this association gave him. Under the influence of such surroundings, and the spur of his own inclination, Mr. Patterson soon began to develop those qualifi cations which have made him known throughout the country, not only in argument before juries, but as an advocate in appellate courts.. Amongst the "causes celebres" in which Mr. Patterson has been engaged were the suits which grew outof mortgage foreclosure upon the Wabash Railroad system, in which there were many nice points to consider, make clear and argue, as well as new features of law to present. Mr. Patterson's clients were a syndicate of bond holders, and they were successful in all of the suits. Another important suit in volving great effort on his part, was that in which he was employed by the. Rich mond Railway and Electric Railway Company in a suit brought by the Baltimore trust and Guaranty Company, to oppose a motion to appoint a receiver, in which case he succeeded against a strong array of opposing counsel. Mr. Patterson was the first to argue a case in the Court of Appeals under the statute of 1892, by which latter an appeal to a jury could be had as to the validity of a will from the ruling of a surrogate, and by further appeal to the Court of Appeals. this case, known as " Edward H. Hawke Case," being the first of its kind under the 606 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. statute, became a prominent one. In litigation involving matters testamentary he has made an unusually creditable record, and particularly as to the litigation of the " Dennin Will," the " Roxalana Williams Will," the " Green Will " and that of Ger ald Hull, all of which cases went to the Court of Appeals and in which Mr. Pat terson's clients succeeded. His business is not confined to the city where he lives but he has clientage in various parts of the State, and more particularly in the city of New York, where he is very frequently engaged as counsel. He has been employed in the latter capacity by the United States Life Insurance Company since 1891. Mr. Patterson has not sought political honors, they have at times sought him. He was the Democratic nominee for Congress from the district composed of Wash ington and Rensselaer counties (a strongly Republican one), against Walter A. Wood in 1878, and was defeated. He was elected to the Assembly of the State of New York in 1880, and re-elected in the fall of 1881, when the Republicans endorsed Brown the labor candidate. Mr. Patterson's majority was 3,315. On his second election he was chosen speaker of the House over Thomas G. Alvord of Syracuse, Mr. Patterson married Fanny Maria Seymour, daughter of the late Hon. David L, Seymour, his former partner. A son was born to him in 1872, who died in 1893, He has a daughter, Sara Louise Patterson, who is now quite young. Socially, Mr. Pat terson has just such a position as a well educated man of culture and refinement is entitled to, and upon whom nature has bestowed those qualities which make a good citizen, a generous friend, and an upright man. DR. THOMAS J. GUY. Dr. Thomas J. Guy of Troy has been for nearly half a century the best known musician and composer of music in the city, and his fame has extended through the United States. Dr. Guy is a native of Troy, where he was born February 4, 1833. His musical taste and aptitude were not long in making themselves manifest. As early as 1853 the youthful but already proficient organist evoked cordial approval from a critic so widely known and esteemed as the late Dr. J. G. Holland, the famous litterateur. Dr. Guy had gone to Westfield, Mass., to exhibit the organ constructed at Westfield for the Park Presbyterian church of Troy. Dr. Holland was at that time one of the editors of the Springfield Republican and he visited Westfield to hear the recital. Dr. Holland wrote of the youug Trojan performer: " He astonished everyone. He is a young man not over twenty, but his execution would have been honorable to the most celebrated players of the country. It exhibited long practice and most de cided musical genius." Forty three years ago Dr. Guy began a most remarkable record of continuous service as a church organist, when he became organist of St. Joseph's church in Troy. When the authorities of the church solicited the young musician to take the charge of the church music, he was promised that the edifice would have a new organ worthy of his powers. When the thousands of dollars that were to be expended for THOMAS J. GUY, MUS. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 607 the new instrument were told to Dr. Guy it seemed to him, to use his own words, "like Aladdin's dream." He accepted the invitation, and under his direction was built a cathedral organ with fifty-four stops and a thirty-two foot pedal pipe, a won der to all the church organ builders of that day, and still one of the grandest instru ments in size and tone in America. The organ was completed in 1858 and for two score years Dr. Guy has been the sole master of its keys ; it has sounded the noblest harmonies of the greatest composers, and on festival occasions, such as Christmas or Easter days, the music loving from all parts of the city have thronged to hear the music at St. Joseph's. Dr. Guy conducts St. Joseph's church choir as well as being the organist. The choir has ninety voices and is celebrated for its well-trained effi ciency. The choir is aided by a chime of twenty-five bells sounded by an expert carilloneur. Here for these many years the consecrated walls have resounded with the sweetest and most majestic harmonies to which the souls of devout composers have been stirred. So far as his service at St. Joseph's church permitted, the other churches have sought the benefits of Dr. Guy's commanding capacity as an organist. For more than twenty-five years he was organist at the five o'clock service at St. Paul's Epis copal church of Troy. For two years Dr. Guy was organist at St. John's church, when Rev. Henry C. Potter, now bishop of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of New York, was rector of the church. Dr., Guy was also organist of Christ church in 1869, when the present organ of the church was built under his supervision. Dr. Guy's services at organ recitals, opening exhibitions of organs and at any occasion where the highest class of music is desired have been in demand not only throughout this State but in all parts of the Union. Dr. Guy's ability to lead large bodies of singers early secured for him the director ship of what was for yrears Troy's principal choral organization, the Oratorio So ciety. Under Dr. Guy's baton were produced with conspicuous succes= such massive works as Handel's "Judas Maccabaeus," "Samson" and "Joshua," and Rossini's "Stabat Mater." The production of " Joshua " was the first in America. Dr. Guy's power as a pianist is, so far as the possibilities of that instrument will permit, equal to his proficiency as an organist. He has a noble baritone voice, and during his entire connection with St. Joseph's church has been sole baritone of the choir. His life has been busy with attention to his numerous pupils in vocal and in strumental music, and not a few who have themselves attained distinction in the "art divine" trace their success to the thorough tuition of Dr. Guy. .The greatest success of Dr. Guy has been attained in the highest field of musical accomplishment, which is not that where executive ability or teaching force will suf fice, for the composer is greater'than any of his interpreters. Dr. Guy's compositions for the organ and piano are the spontaneous outpourings of genius, and are not the labored imitations on which some writers rest their title to fame. His latest work to leave the publisher's hands is a Grand Mass for solo quartette and chorus, with organ accompaniment, published in 1895. Other com positions include a Magnificat, an organ transcription of the " Vesper Hymn," an organ transcription of Liszt's " Rakocsy March," and for the piano, "The March of the Conquerors," "Impromptu in A Minor," " Eclectic Waltz," " Etude Waltz " and "Caprice Rustique." Dr. Guy set to music for an Odd Fellows' celebration in Troy m 1854 Th-omas Campbell's poem " Friendship, Love and Truth," This quartette is 608 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. still frequently sung on the festal occasions of the fraternity to which it is dedicated In 1867 Dr. Guy dedicated the " Zeta Psi Polka " to the chapter in Troy, and the composition won immediate popularity. St. John's College, Fordham, bestowed upon Dr. Guy in June, 1870, the deserved degree of Doctor of Music. Dr. Guy is held in high esteem as a citizen. His acquaintance with the best principles and methods of instruction was recognized when in 1860 he was elected a member of Troy's School Board, a position which he held for six years. Ten years ago he was re elected and he has held the office continuously since, having for most of the time been president of the board. Dr. Guy's impressive presence and courteous address make him a noteworthy figure everywhere, and his faithful adherence to the best standards of musical ex pression places him high in the ranks of those who have made art a minister of divine things. LEWIS E. GRIFFITH. Hon. Lewis E. Griffith is the youngest child of Theophilus and Ellen (Delehanty) Griffith, born in Troy, September 12, 1847. His father was for many years a dry goods merchant and was assisted therein by the mother, a woman of genius and un tiring energy. Lewis received his early education under the tutelage of the Rev. J, Ireland Tucker, D.D., at the School of the Holy Cross, and subsequently at the Jonesville (Saratoga county) Academy, and was prepared for college by William H, Scram of the Sand Lake Institute. In October, 1864, having passed his seventeenth birthday and succeeded in his preliminary examinations for admission to college, he determined to take part in the great struggle for the national existence of his country. His age precluded his en listment without the consent of his parents, and this was withheld from him for some time. After repeated efforts Lewis received from Gov. Horatio Seymour a condi tional commission to recruit soldiers for the army, and after nefarly three months of hard labor, he succeeded in having one hundred men placed to his credit. Again he was required to present the parental consent before he could be mustered into the service, and it was only after long and earnest entreaties that they consented that their youngest child and only sou might be a soldier. The opposition of his parents greatly delayed him, but Gov. Reuben E. Fenton commissioned him a second lieu tenant of Co. G, 192d Regt. N. Y. Volunteers, and he succeeded in reaching the field and was in command of Co. H, of his regiment, facing his country's enemy be fore Lee surrendered. Afterwards he served as aid-de-camp on the staff of Major- Gen. Thomas W. Egan and was subsequently detailed for duty at the headquarters of Major-Gen. Thomas W. Emory at Wheeling, W. Va., to assist in the muster out and discharge of soldiers. After his discharge from the army he continued his studies for several months un der Dr. Joseph D. Lomax, after which he became a student in the law offices of Kellogg & Merritt, where he continued his law studies until November, 1868, when CHARLES E. HARTWELL. BIOGRAPHICAL. 609 he was admitted to practice as an attorney. In 1870 he became the law partner of Henry A. Merritt and continued as such until 1874. Mr. Griffith has always been a Democrat in politics and has served in several im portant offices. Was city clerk from 1871 to 1873; police magistrate from 1876 to 1882; assistant district attorney from 1882 to 1885; district attorney from 1888 to 1890, and county judge from 1890 to 1897. He has been quite prominent in social and fraternal societies. He is a member of the Troy Club and has been a member of Trojan H. & L. Co., No. 3, since September 6, 1866; of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355, F. A. M., of Lansingburgh', since 1870; of Post G. L. Willard No. 34, Dept. N. Y., 0. A. R., since 1870, and has served as commander thereof over ten years. He has been the recipient of many honors in the G. A. R.— served as judge advocate of the Dept. of New York, -inspector-general on the staff of Gen. R. A. Alger, commander- in-chief, and was elected as delegate to six national encampments; was one of the organizers of the Troy Lodge B. P. O. Elks No. 141, and has served as chairman of the committee on laws and appeals and as a grand trustee in the Grand Lodge. He has been an active member and a moving spirit in the New York State Firemen's Association and was one of the projectors of the Firemen's Home at Hudson, N. Y., and was one. of the governors thereof for several years. Mr. Griffith is peculiarly a trial lawyer, and his greatest forensic efforts have been in jury trials. His manner is "both earnest and effective. He was married to Georgiana Spotten of Lansingburgh, December 20, 1871. The issue of the marriage has been two children, son and daughter. CHARLES E. HARTWELL. Charles E. Hartwell was born August 16, 1850, at Pittstown, N. Y. His father, Rev. Foster Hartwell, was a Baptist clergyman, who was born in February, 1806, at Conway, Mass., and married Augusta M. Wheelock of that place. Both the Hart- wells and the Wheelocks were old New England families, and the .former were de scended from William Hartwell, who came from England to Massachusetts Bay colony in 1636 and was one of the original settlers of Concord, Mass. When Charles E. Hartwell was five years of age his parents removed to Westerlo, Albany county, where they resided for about four years. They then took up their residence in New Baltimore, Greene county. During the Civil war, Rev. Foster Hartwell served as chaplain of the 120th New York Volunteers for a period of about a year and a half, being compelled to retire from the service on account of ill health. His son,' Dwight W. Hartwell, was also a Union soldier and was killed at Hatcher's Run, near Peters burg, Va. Rev. Foster Hartwell died in 1869, in which year Charles E. Hartwell removed to Troy. He had attended the common schools in New Baltimore and con tinued his education for a time in the night schools of Troy. In 1875 he became superintendent in the collar factory of Miller & Bingham, and acted in that capacity or a number of years. In 1880 he acquired an interest in the concern and in 1884 became a partner, the firm name being changed to Miller, Hall & Hartwell. The irm has continued unchanged since that time and is one of the largest shirt and col- 77 610 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. lar manufacturing concerns in the world. Mr. Hartwell is a resident of Lansing. burgh and is a charter member and director of the Riverside Club of that place. He is a Republican in politics and in 1896 was elected a trustee of schools. In 1870 Mr. Hartwell married Miss Florine A. Aldridge, of Newburgh, N. Y., a daughter of Alfred and Harriet (Chadwick) Aldridge, of Bristol, R. I. To them have been born six children; Hattie E., Foster, Harold G., Walter T., Justus M., and Alfred; the eldest child is deceased. JACOB F. STOLL. Jacob F. Stoll was born in Wolfshlugen. Wurtemberg, Germany, August 16, 1831, came to America in 1850, and was married in New York city on October 6, 1851, to Frederica K. Ernst, who was born in Germany in 1832. After living in New York, Buffalo, Lockport and Saratoga, they settled in Troy in 1857, and the same year Mr. Stoll formed a partnership with A. L. Ruscher, under the firm name of Ruscher & Stoll, and started a brewery on Fourth street where Ruscher's brewery now stands. Mr. Stoll was a practical brewer and cooper. In 1864 he sold his interest in this establishment, and in the spring of 1865 purchased the old Coup brewery on the Hol low road, now Spring avenue, of which he remained the proprietor until his death on January 16, 1888. He rebuilt practically the entire plant, enlarged its capacity, and by adopting the best modern methods of manufacture made it one of the most complete and efficient breweries in the country. The concern was originally started in 1855, when the yearly output was about 100 barrels of beer. He increased the capacity until in 1895 it produced more 10,000 barrels of the finest beer in the market. At the time of his death in 1888 it was producing more than 5,000 barrels annually. After that his widow conducted the establishment until July 1, 1895, when the Stoll Brewing Company was incorporated with Mrs. Frederica A. Stoll, president, and Frederick A. Stoll, secretary and treasurer. Mr. Stoll was a successful business man, and enjoyed universal respect and confidence. He was one of the foremost of Troy's German citizens. He was a prominent member of St. Paul's German Evangelical church, the Order of Druids, the I. O. O. F., the K. of P., the Cannstatter Volksfest Verein, the Saengerbund and Mannerchor of Troy, the Deutcher Sterbe Casse Verein, and the Fidelio Quartette Club of Lansingburgh. He had six children: Ed ward J. (deceased), Mrs. Birkmayer, Mrs. Charles R. Alber, Mrs. Gustav Schock (deceased), Mrs. Bernard Molahn, and Frederick A. Frederick A. Stoll was born in 1873, was educated at the La Salle Institute, and from the first has taken an active part in the business of the brewery, becoming by degrees thoroughly conversant with every detail and with the entire process of manufacture. IRA R. TRAVELL. Ira R. Travell was born in Schoharie county, N. Y., September 21, 1836. He is the grandson of Circuit Travell, a native of London, England, who came to Albany JACOB F. STOLL. BIOGRAPHICAL. 611 county about 1800, and later removed to Schoharie county where he bought a tract of land; he died there in 1841, and his wife Judith in 1846, aged seventy-one years. The parents of Ira R. were John and Celecta (Rose) Travell, he born in Albany and she in Schoharie county. The former, a farmer, died in Schoharie county May 27, 1862, and the latter July 4, 1887. Ira R. Travell was brought up on his father's farm and obtained his scholastic knowledge in the common school and at the Gilboa Seminary in Schoharie county. When sixteen years of age he came to Troy and obtained a clerkship in the grocery house of Bosworth & Holmes. In 1856 he entered the employ of Joseph H. Jackson & Co. as bookkeeper at the Albany Iron Works store. The following year he pur chased Mr. Jackson's interest in the business, and the new firm name became McCoy & Co. In 1869 he sold his interest to J. McCoy and purchased an interest in the wholesale boot and shoe house of Henry E. Weed & Co., forming the firm of Weed, Haskell & Travell. This connection continued for three years when the firm became Travell & Johnson. About two years later Mr. Travell sold out to Johnson and engaged in the manufacture of shirts and collars at Nos. 710-712 River street. In 1880 his factory was destroyed by fire, when he removed to Pittstown upon a farm of 143 acres. He is interested in real estate and owns a number of buildings in Troy. He has been eminently successful and alone has been the architect of his fortune. He is now assessor of Pittstown, serving his third term. For seven years he served in the old Troy fire department, one year as vice-president. He is a mem ber of King Solomon Lodge F. & A. M. No. 78. August 8, 1859, Mr. Travell was married by the Rev. N. S. S. Beman to Elvira A. Pierce, a native of Troy, born July 26, 1834, daughter of Hiram D. and Sarah J. (Wiswell) Pierce, he a native of Columbia county and she of Troy. The former died May 19, 1866, and the latter February 15, 1886. Mrs. Travell was graduated from the Emma Willard Seminary, and was preceptress of the Troy Conference Academy at Poultney, Vt. In 1876 Mrs. Travell hired a room on Twelfth street, Troy, and organized a union Sunday school, of which her son, C. Howard, is superintendent; Ira R. was also superintendent of this school for seventeen years. Mrs. Travell was also the origi nator of the Sunday school from which sprang the Woodside church. Mr. and Mrs. Travell have had five children, as follows: Jessie C, born January 28, 1862, died January 19, 1865. Charles Howard, born August 22, 1865, was gradu ated from Troy High School, Williams College and Albany Medical College, and is now a practicing physician in Troy. Ira Winthrop, born January 17, 1868, was graduated from Troy High School, Williams College and took a post-graduate course at Cornell; he taught two years in the academy at Malone, N. Y., and is now principal of Plainfield (N. J.) High School. John Willard, born November 5, 1869, prepared for college at Troy High School and was graduated from Williams College, was a student of the Albany Medical College and is now house physician of the Albany County Hospital. Warren Bertram, born July 20, 1872, prepared for Williams College at the Troy High School and was graduated from the Troy Polytechnic In stitute in 1894; he is now engineer inspector of public works, New York city. Ira Winthrop Travell married Miss Belle Ansley, of Geneva, N. Y., a graduate of the Troy Female Seminary; they had one son, Ralph Winthrop, who died June 28, 1896. a 612 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. CHARLES M. POTTER. Charles M. Potter was born in the town of Brunswick, N. Y., June 23 son of Henry and Eunice (Filkins) Potter, natives of Brunswick. Henry was a son of Josiah, who was born in Providence, R. I., in 1744, married Mercy Manchester, in 1769 for his first wife, and second, Weltha Arnold. Eunice Filkins was a daugh ter of Henry and Jerusha (Smith) Filkins ; the former, accompanied by his brothers Israel and Cornelius came from Dutchess county and settled in Pittstown previous to 1779. Henry Potter had a family of twelve children: Josiah, Eliza, Emeline, Harriet, William, Charles M., Julia, Jane, and four deceased. They were all born in Rensselaer county. Charles M. Potter was a public-spirited man, interested in all good works; although not an office-seeker, he was active in town and county affairs. He was a self-made man, and by his own exertions secured a competency. He married on November?, 1854, Adelia, daughter of David P. and Catherine Coons, natives of Brunswick. David P. Coons was a son of Philip and Elizabeth (Wheeler) Coons, and descended from the Puritans of German stock. Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Potter had six children, as follows: Mary Kate (de ceased), Harry W. , Medora C. , wife of Dr. Edward Welch, of Sutton, Mass. ; Eunice A., wife of Miles E. Hodges of Wilton, N. Y. ; Stephen M., married Jessie Mambert; and J. Howard, married Pearl Woodin, of Albany county. Charles M. Potter died November 29, 1889. CHARLES W. REYNOLDS. Chari.es W. Reynolds was born in Petersburgh, Rensselaer county, N. Y., Feb ruary 8, 1848. He is descended from William Reynolds of Providence, R. I., who, on August 20, 1637, with twelve others, signed the following compact: We, whose names are here under, desire to inhabit in the town of Providence, do promise to subject ourselves in active and passive obedience to all such orders or agreements as shall be made for public good of the body, in an orderly way by the major assent of the present inhab itants, masters of families incorporated together into a town fellowship, and such others whom they shall admit unto them, only in civil things. 1 The great-grandfather of Charles W., William W. Reynolds, came from Westerly R. I., and settled in Petersburgh in 1780. Prior to this, in 1777, it is said, he took his gun and as a volunteer without pay served in the defense of his country against the English, at the battle of Bennington. He spent his remaining days in Petersburgh, and became prominently identified in public affairs, being supervisor and magistrate for many years. 1 " The government established by these primitive settlers of Providence was an anomaly in the history of the world. At the outset it was a pure democracy,which for the first tiroeguarded jealously the rights of conscience by ignoring any power in the body politic to interfere with those matters that concern man and his Maker. Principle, not precedent, formed their only standard of judgment. Could the record of their proceedings have been preserved (meetings were held monthly), with what interest should we now peruse the debates of this earliest of modern democ racies!— Arnold's History of Rhode Island. BIOGRAPHICAL. 613 The grandfather of the subject was Parley Reynolds, who was born in Peters- bureh in 1780. He became a merchant and for many years, in partnership with his brother Thomas, conducted an extensive and profitable business in Petersburgh. He took an active interest in politics and served his town on the Board of Supervisors, etc. He had five sons and two daughters, and to each of his sons he gave a good farm and assisted his daughters in other ways. William W. Reynolds, the father of Charles W., was born September 25, 1816, and died June 4, 1876, devoted, his whole life to farming at which he was eminently suc cessful. Like his ancestors he became prominently identified with public affairs, efficiently filling the office of supervisor and other minor positions in the gift of his townsmen; he was a Democrat. He was married to Mary (born January 14, 1825), daughter of Braddock Peckham, jr. (born June 4, 1781, died January 7, 1834), and granddaughter of Braddock Peckham, sr. (born May 4, 1757, died January 9, 1830), who was a soldier in a Rhode Island regiment during the Revolutionary war. Pre vious to this service he was second in command in an expedition composed of patri otic citizens of Wickford, R. I., that made a prisoner of the British General Prescott, July 10, 1777, at Newport, R. I. ; the prisoner was delivered to General Washington at Newburgh by the same party, and on July 18, 1777, was exchangod for Major- General Harry Lightfoot Lee. At the close of his connection with this duty, he came to the valley of the Little Hoosick, looking for a future home. He had but just ar rived when Captain Hull's company was being formed to go to the relief of General Stark at Bennington ; he joined this company, was made lieutenant and served in that capacity at the battle of Bennington and continued with the company until after the battle of Bemis Heights and the surrender of Burgoyne, when the company was disbanded ; he then joined the command of General Gates and with that little army of 1,500 marched away to New Jersey. He was at the defeat at Brandy wine and on the bloody field of Monmouth. He remained with General Gates's command until the latter was superseded by Gen. Nathaniel Greene, and with him saw tbe surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. At the termination of the war he returned to his home in Rhode Island, and in 1786, accompanied by his brother Abiel, came to the beautiful valley of the Little Hoosick and there reared a family of thirteen chil- and where many of his descendants still reside. The ancestor of Braddock Peckham was John Peckham of Newport, R. I., who was admitted an inhabitant May 20, 1638; he married Mary Clarke, who was a sis ter of the Rev. John Clarke from Bradfordshire, England, "one of the ablest men of the seventeenth century and a founder of Rhode Island." In 1648 John Peckham was one of the ten male members in full communion of the First Baptist church. His residence in 1655 was in that part of Newport which afterwards became Middletown, and a stone marked "J. P." (on land owned by William F. Peckham) is supposed to mark his grave. Charles W. Reynolds giew to manhood on his father's farm, and obtained his ed ucation in the common schools, at Fort Edward Institute and Alfred University. When twenty-one years of age his father assisted him in purchasing an interest in a general store in the village of Petersburgh in partnership with David H. Kelyer, where they soon after, in connection with their mercantile interests, began the man- u acture 0f shirts by contract, and with such encouraging success that in 1874 they so d their store and engaged exclusively in the manufacture of shirts on their own 614 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. account, in which undertaking they have been successful as well as furnishing em ployment to a large number of people. Mr. Reynolds makes the village of Peters burgh his home, but spends the winters at his Albany residence, where his children enjoy greater educational facilities. In 1874 he married Lucy M. Gifford, born December 7, 1856, a native of Albany and daughter of Alonzo (born in March, 1832) and Mary J. (Hakes) Gifford (born August 4, 1835), who has borne him five children, as follows: William G., born August 12, 1875; George T., born September 21, 1878; Grace, born December 81, 1880; Alonzo P., born January 21, 1886; and Noyes, born April 8, 1891. Mr. Reynolds has traveled extensively over the United States, and in 1891, ac companied by his son William G., was of the party of over two hundred Knights Templar who visited Europe, sojourning in all the principal places of interest in that country. In the spring of 1896 Mr. Reynolds was elected supervisor of Petersburgh without opposition, and takes great pride in the fact that he was so honored, after his great grandfather, grandfather and father had held the same positions. ANDREW M. CHURCH. Andrew M. Church was born July 25, 1838, at Shushan, Washington county, N.Y. He is a descendant in the third generation of Jonathan Church, and in the fourth generation from Peregrine White, who came to New England in the Mayflower. His father, Leonard Church, was born October 13, 1795, and died in October, 1866. Andrew M. Church left home when eleven years of age and began clerking in a country store. March 1, 1856, he came to Troy and entered the dry goods store of George Bristol as cashier. In 1863 he was admitted as a partner with Mr. Bristol under the firm name of George Bristol & Co. In 1868, upon the death of Mr. Bristol, his interest reverted to the latter's sister and the business was continued under the same firm name until 1880. In 1887 the firm was reorganized as a stock company with $100,000 capital and called The A. M. Church Company, which is under the sole management of Mr. Church. Mr. Church is a director in the Troy National Bank and the Citizens' Steamer Line ; one of the governors of the Marshall Infirmary, and president of the Star Knitting Mills at Cohoes., He has for many years been recognized as one of the most active and enterprising business men of Troy, having been successful in all his varied undertakings. Mr. Church is a Mason and a member of Apollo Chapter and Bloss Council ; politically he has always been a Republican. He is a member of the First Baptist church, of which he is one of the trustees. October 3, 1866, he was married to Jennie Bush of Joliet, 111., by whom he has two sons Fred B., a graduate of Troy Polytechnic Institute, and as a civil engineer is at present connected with a large firm of contracting engineers in New York; and Frank L., who is superintendent of The Andrew M. Church Company. ANDREW M. CHURCH. BIOGRAPHICAL. 615 MARTIN BAUCUS. Martin Baucus was born in Pittstown, N. Y., June 24, 1823, and died in the same town November 16, 1895. His parents were William I and Phoebe (Stover) Baucus, both born in Rensselaer county, and his grandfather was John Baucus, one of the early settlers of Schaghticoke. William I. Baucus was born in Schaghticoke and when twenty-five years of age removed to Pittstown where he resided until his death. He was a director in the old Market Bank of Troy, and was one of the prominent men of the town, highly esteemed and upright in all his dealings. He was active in his assistance to the gov ernment during the Rebellion, and advanced considerable money in securing enlist ments. He died July 22, 1867, and his wife survived him until August 22, 1873. Martin Baucus received his education in the common schools and at Warner's pri vate school. He followed his chosen vocation of farming all his life and was the owner of 163 acres of land when he died. Politically he was a Republican. He was an energetic, stirring man, and was active in every movement that promised benefit to the community in which he lived. He died November 16, 1895. Sarah A. Gifford, wife of Martin Baucus, was born in Schaghticoke, the daughter of Ira and Susan (Cornell) Gifford, born' in Dutchess county and Easton, N. Y. , re spectively. Her paternal grandfather was Elihu Gifford of Dutchess county, who was one of the early settlers of Easton, where he died. Ira Gifford died May 12, 1867, and his wife Susan February 1, 1879. To Martin and Sarah A. Baucus were born three children, as follows; Elizabeth, wife of Vincent F. Long of Sycamore, 111. ; Caroline G., who died March 19, 1878, aged eleven years and twelve days ; and Amanda B. , who is living at home with her mother on the homestead farm. W. F. TAYLOR. Hon. W. F. Taylor was born in Berlin, Rensselaer county, N. Y., October 5, 1830. He was educated in Berlin and in Adams, Jefferson county. On reaching manhood he had but little capital, but possessed ample capacity and plenty of energy and ambition, and gradually established himself in business, both manufacturing and mercantile, in which he has been quite successful. At the time of his death, April 3, 1896, he was engaged in the manufacture of shirts and collars, and also ope rated quite extensively in real estate. Previous to 1860 Mr. Taylor was a Democrat, but, as was the case with many others, the slavery question and the issues involved in the war, impelled him to join the ranks of the Republicans and vote for Abraham Lincoln. In the spring of 1874 he was elected supervisor of Berlin without opposition, being the second Republican supervisor chosen in that town during a period of sixteen years. In the spring of 1876 he was again elected to the same office without oppo sition and was tendered the chairmanship of the board, an honor, however, which he declined in favor of a personal friend in his district. His nomination for assemblyman in the fall of 1874 was entirely unsought on his 616 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. part, and it was a discouraging fact that his opponent, Augustus Peebles, was a popular and worthy man in every respect; however, he went into the fight with his usual energy and succeeded in increasing the Republican majority iu his district by 160 votes; in his own town which polled 525 votes he received all but eighty-one, a fact which indicates quite conclusively the estimation in which he was held by his townsmen. The Troy Press, a Democratic paper, in commenting upon the result shortly after the election, said: "Mr. Peebles made a gallant fight, but he had a strong opponent in Mr. Taylor, who is deservedly popular. There are few men who could have beaten Mr. Peebles, and Mr. Taylor deserves an ovation from his party for doing it." He was re-elected in 1875 by a majority of 728, and increase of 102 votes over the previous year. He received the unanimous vote of the nominating convention ai.d was the third member from his district returned for a second term. Mr. Taylor always retained the confidence of his party. In 1880 he was elected alternate with Hon. John M. Francis to the Chicago convention which nominated James A. Garfield for president. He was a great admirer of Roscoe Conkling, and when the latter and Mr. Piatt resigned their seats in the United States Senate, Mr, Taylor gave his active aid at Albany for their re-election. During the war Mr. Taylor rendered valuable assistance and aided his brother in raising a company in his town, which joined the 125th Regiment as Co. B, with Charles H. Taylor as first lieutenant. The town of Berlin contested the validity of $46,000 of railroad bonds, the litigation lasting about thirteen years ; Mr. Taylor aided the council of the town all these years without compensation. A final settlement was made with a saving to the town of over $40,000. Mr. Taylor's last effort for his town came to an adjustment February 14, 1896. The supervisor of the town had caused to be audited $2,100 to various persons on claims for exemptions from taxes paid by them over thirty years since. Mr. Taylor caused a special town meeting to be called to investigate the matter; on presentation of the case the taxpayers of the town were indignant. Mr. Taylor was appointed one of the committee of .three, and money was appropriated to defend the town. There being no law for such a claim, the town was saved from paying this and other claims for which arrangements had been made to charge to the town. In 1852 Mr. Taylor was married to Sarah G. Denison, by whom he had three children: Fannie wife of Judson Cowee of Berlin ; Tracy D., who married Jennie Halbert ; and one who died in infancy. Mrs. Taylor died in 1885, and in 1887 he was married to Mrs. Mary L. Morton of Bennington, Vt. GEORGE F. BOND George F. Bond was born in Essex county, England, in 1837, and was brought to this country by his parents when very young. His father, Richard Bond, who was a railroad contractor, dock builder, etc., in England, came to this country and settled in Troy, where he entered the employ of Orrs & Co. , paper manufacturers, as fore man, and was afterwards engaged as superintendent of construction with Morrison, Colwell & Page ; he died in 1894. His mother, Mary (Smee) Bond, died in 1860. GEORGE F. BOND. ALBERT M. WRIGHT, M. D. S. BIOGRAPHICAL. 617 George F. received a common school education and afterwards learned the car penter's trade; he later went to work for Cooper & King in the ice business. Cooper & King dissolved partnership in 1859, and he took an interest in the business under the firm name of B. Cooper & Co. , which has been an incorporated company since November 5, 1894. They have an extensive wholesale and retail ice business. He served as alderman of the Tenth and Thirteenth wards for several terms. He is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M. He has been class leader in the Grace M. E. church for twelve years and is now serving as trustee of the same. He is secretary and treasurer of The B. Cooper & Co. Mr. Bond is in every sense what may be called a self-made man ; beginning at the foot of the ladder, he has worked his way upward to his present position. He was married to Almeda M. Dutcher, of Troy, December 5, 1865. They have three children. ALBERT M. WRIGHT, M. D. S. Dr. Albert M. Wright was born in Middle Granville, N. Y., in 1848^ He at tended tbe common schools and afterwards was a student at Cambridge Academy. He began the study of' dentistry with Dr. Cotton, of Cambridge, and afterwards studied with Dr. Young, of Troy. After passing an examination before the Board of Censors of the State Dental Society, the degree of M. D. S. was conferred upon him. He opened an office in Troy in 1880. He is a member of the Troy Scientific Association, the Troy Microscopical Society, the Third District Dental Society for twenty-four years,' the New York State Dental Society for twelve years, and was a member of the Board of Censors; when the Board of Censors went out of existence in 1895, it was followed by the Board of Examiners, of which he is a member. He is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge, Apollo Chapter No. 48 (of which he is past high priest), Bloss Council No. 14, Apollo Commandery (of which he is prelate), and of Oriental Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Pafraets Dael, Republican and Good Government Clubs. He married Miss Mary Hart, of Troy, in 1880. FRED A. PLUM. Fred A. Plum was born in Troy in 1842. His early ancestors on the paternal side settled in New Jersey and were among the original settlers of the city of Newark ; those on the maternal side settled in Massachusetts about 1700. His great-grand- fatherwas a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His father, David B. Plum, was born ewark, N. J., and came to Troy when a young man, and was for many years associated with his brother Elias in the leather business, under the firm name of &¦ & D. B. Plum; he died July 15, 1851. His mother, Leonora (Whittaker) Plum, was for many years tbe leading soprano in the choir of the First Presbyterian church ; she died in 1843, 78 618 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Fred A. Plum was educated in the public schools of Troy and the Troy Academv and was graduated from Essex Seminary, Essex, Conn., in 1859. He then entered the employ of his uncle, Oliver A. Arnold, in the coal trade as bookkeeper, He later engaged in the retail rubber business at 190 River street, Troy, in which he contin ued until 1864. He is the only man who ever issued money made of india rubber' during the war of the Rebellion he issued 65,000 one cent pieces, none of which was ever offered for redemption, the presumption being that they were retained by holders as historic relics. He later accepted a position with the New Jersey Car Spring and Rubber Co. of Jersey City, and has been in charge of the sales of that company in New York and Pennsylvania for twenty-four years at the time this sketch was written. Mr. Plum is past master of Mt. Zion Lodge, F. & A. M., and is a member of Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, the Scottish Rite bodies, the Mystic Shrine, and the Sons of the Revolution. He sang in the First Presbyterian church for thirteen years. May 10, 1864, he married Mary S. , daughter of Samuel S. and Julia (Gregory) Fowler, of Albany, and his children are Leonora B. , and David B. MICHAEL KEENAN, M. D. Dr. Michael Keenan was born in Saranac, N. Y., July 31, 1860, His father, Michael Keenan, was born in Vermont, July 13, 1830. Later he removed to Danne- mora, N. Y. , where he still resides. Dr. Keenan attended the public schools, graduated from the Plattsburg High School in 1880, and in 1885 .entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor where he remained one year; he came to Albany and entered the Albany Medical College from which he was graduated March 16, 1888. He was house physician and surgeon for St. Peter's Hospital until October 1, 1888. He then came to Troy and opened an office on Sixth avenue, where he remained four years, and then came to his pres ent location, 2275 Fifth avenue. He is attending physician at the House of the Good Shepherd, and one of the at tending physicians at the Troy Hospital. He is a member of Rensselaer County Medical Society and the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity ; also a member of the Robert Emmet Association, the B. P. O. E., and the Knights of Columbia; he is a member of St. Peter's church. He married Miss Margaret Riley, of Troy, February 4, 1891. GEORGE F. NICHOLS. George F. Nichols was born in Lansingburgh, N. Y., December 28, 1847. His grandfather on the maternal side, Thomas Ashbee, came to this country in 1837, settling on a farm in Easton, Washington county, N. Y. ; later he removed to Lan singburgh, where he died in 1880, aged eighty years. Thomas Ashbee was born at MICHAEL KEENAN, M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 619 his ancestral home known as Beltange House, one of the finest residences and landed properties in the county of Kent, England ; he served in the British army during the French war in the time of Napoleon, and was one of the escort of the Duke of Wellington, Czar of Russia and General Blucher on their return to England after the battle of Waterloo. George Nichols, the father of the subject, was born in Lincolnshire, England, and became a resident of the United States when a young man, locating in Lansing burgh, where he was the proprietor of a general store; his death occurred in 1861. His wife, the mother of George F., Louisa (Ashbee) Nichols, was born in Beltange House, county Kent, England. After the death of Mr. Nichols, she married the late Arthur B. Elliott, a man well known in the political and newspaper world. She is still living and retains her health and youthful looks, and is one of the best known residents of Lansingburgh. She is a successful florist and her windows filled with rare plants are the admiration of all lovers of flowers. George F., the subject of this sketch, was educated in the Lansingburgh Academy, and after graduating went into the office of G. Parish, Ogden & Co. , brokers of Troy; was.with them eleven years, when he formed a partnership in insurance, real estate and banking, the firm being S. K. Stow, Son & Nichols ; afterwards he formed a partnership to carry on the same style of business with General Alonzo Alden under the firm name of Alden & Nichols until 1887, when it became Alden, Nichols & Bradlev. General Alden retiring from the business a few years later, the firm became and now is Nichols & Bradley. He has been successful in business and is a large owner of real estate in Troy, Lansingburgh and vicinity. He is called frequently by the banks and others to fix the value of real estate. He married Emma Bucklin Newcomb, a daughter of Dr. David Newcomb, who was one of the original regents of Albany. N. Y. They have two daughters, Rhoda L. and Addley E. Mr. Nichols and family reside in Lansingburgh, and are mem bers of Trinity Episcopal church, of which he has been vestryman several years. He is a member of the Riverside and Sans-Souci Clubs of Lansingburgh. Politically he is a Republican. JONATHAN DENISON. Jonathan Denison, a prominent citizen of Berlin, Rensselaer county, N. Y., was born in that town in December, 1809, in the house erected in 1781 on the homestead by his grandfather. The first of his ancestors to arrive in America was William who was born in England in MK. He settled in Roxbury, Mass., in 1631, having with him his wife Margaret and his three sons, Daniel, Edward and George. The next in the ancestral line was George, who was born in England in 1618. His son was John, who was born in Rox- ury, Mass., in 1646; he was known as Captain John, and removed to Stonington, Conn., where he held prominent positions and in many ways was a man of mark ; he (bed in 1698. His son George was born in Stonington in 1671 ; he was graduated rom Harvard College and settled in New London, Conn., where he practiced law; he was town clerk, county clerk and clerk of probate, and died in 1720. His son 620 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Daniel was born in New London in 1703, was married in 1726 to Rachel Starr and died in 1760. Daniel, jr., his son, was born in New London in 1730 and was mar ried in 1756 to Catherine Avery; he settled in Berlin, N. Y., in June, 1771 when it was all wilderness, and became a prominent and influential figure among the earlv settlers. He was one of three commissioners appointed to survey the land squatted by numerous settlers in what is now Stephentown and Berlin aDd to make proper divisions thereof; he accumulated a good property, owning 300 acres of land. His brother James was also a prominent man in Berlin and lost his life in the Revolu tionary war. He died in 1793, and his wife in 1825 ; of her thirteen children ten were living at the time of her death, of her 101 grandchildren eighty were living, and of her 128 great-grandchildren 122 were living. Major Jonathan Denison, the father of Jonathan, the subject of this sketch, was born in New London, Conn., in May, 1761. He was a farmer all his life; he bought the interest of the other heirs in his father's homestead, and to each of his six sons he gave a good farm and to his only daughter an equivalent in money. He was com missioned major by Gov. Morgan Lewis, April 22, 1805. His wife was Sarah Greene, a native of Rhode Island, born in 1770. He died in 1833 and she in 1831. Jonathan Denison has spent his life in Berlin, fifty-six years of it on his present farm, which was the birthplace of his wife who vitas Alzina Allen, born in April, 1809, daughter of Benjamin Allen, who at that time owned the farm and for many years kept a public house there, the house having been built in 1812; it is still in a good state of preservation. Mr. Denison now owns about 700 acres of land; for many years he has been the owner and manager of a steam saw mill which he has run as an annex to his farm ; he still operates it. This mill furnished most of the lumber for the local markets until a railroad was built through the valley of the Litttle Hoosick, when lumber yards were established. Mr. Denison has served seven years on the Board of Supervisors, being elected to that office in 1845-46 and again in 1878-79-80-81-82. He was elected auditing superintendent of the poor for Rensselaer county in 1873 to fill a vacancy, and in 1874 was elected for a term of three years. He was appointed town bond commis sioner from 1867 to 1876, and again in 1890, and is at the present time chairman of that board. This commission was appointed for the purpose of bonding the town to assist in building the Lebanon Springs Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Denison have reared three children: Mrs. MaryM. Jones of Mich igan ; Mrs. Eudora E. Hull of Chicago, who died August 16, 1895 ; and Mrs. Alzina A. Lapham of South Berlin. EDMUND FITZGERALD. Hon. Edmund Fitzgerald was born in Ireland in 1847. His parents came to this country when he was about seven years old and settled in North Adams. He was educated in the public schools and at North Adams Academy, and came to Troy in 1861. In October, 1866, he began the brewing business with his two brothers, Michael and John, under the name of Fitzgerald Bros. Michael retired from the firm in 1870, and he EDMUND FITZGERALD. JOHN W. MORRIS, M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 621 nd his brother John continued the business until the death of the latter, which occurred n 1885 when he purchased the interest from the heirs, and is now proprietor of the laree brewing establishment on River street, which is one of the most modern and com plete breweries in the country. The output of ale and lager for 1895 was 90, 000 barrels. Since the death of his brother he has greatly enlarged the facilities of the brewery, addinethelager beer and bottling department, which from its inception has been a com- nlete success, as the beer has no superior in quality in this or any other country. This is one of the leading industries of Troy. He has a good export trade with Cuba and deals largely with New York city and the principal cities of the east. He began business with a small capital and by broad comprehensive plans has made an eminent success, and for business probity no man stands higher. He served as alderman from the Seventh ward for six years, and was county treas urer from 1876 to 1880. In 1882 he was elected mayor of Troy, and re-elected in 1884. He was recognized as one of the most energetic and public-spirited mayors of the city. Politically he has always been one of the influential members of the Demo cratic party in this portion of the State. His first wife was Anna Smith ; she died in May, 1874, leaving two sons: Michael J, who is associated with his father in business; and Thomas F. , a student at Har vard University. His present wife was Annie T. Feeny, of Troy, by whom he has had four daughters and three sons, of whom two sons and two daughters are living. JOHN W. MORRIS, M. Q. Dr. John W. Morris was born in Greenwich, Washington county, N. Y., August 27, 1859. His father, John W. Morris, was born on the Isle of Jersey, an English province, and came to this country and followed his trade of shoemaker until his death, March 24, 1896. His mother, Margaret (Durning) Morris.'was born in the North of Ireland, is now sixty-two years of age and lives in Troy. Dr. Morris received his education in the public schools of Troy, after which he entered the Selleck School of Norwalk, where he remained from 1875 to 1878 inclu sive. He studied four years in the office of Dr. Reed B. Bontecou, and during this time took a special course of instruction in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He entered the Albany Medical College from which he was.graduated in 1881, and began practice in Troy, where he since has remained. He is attending physician at the Marshall Infirmary and consulting physician at the House of the Good Shepherd ; he was city physician in 1894. He is a member of the New York State Medical Society, Rensselaer County Medical Society, the Medi cal Association of Troy and Vicinity, and Troy Scientific Society ; also a member of the Trojan Hook and Ladder Co., and Laureate Boat Club. In politics the doctor is a firm Democrat. In 1891 he was married to Mary Agnes Thacher, of Troy. Her father was ex- Mayor George H. Thacher, of Albany, and she is the half-sister of John Boyd Thacher, the present mayor of Albany. ' The doctor and his wife have had two chil dren: Gabrielle Mary Thacher, who died September 16, 1894, and John Thacher, born J% 13, 1895. . 622 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. JOHN T. CHRISTIE. John T. Christie was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1835. He is the son of John and Margaret (Roberts) Christie, who came from Scotland in 1832, and settled in Troy where Mr. Christie was in the tobacco trade ; they later went to New Jersey where he remained until his death which occurred in 1891 ; his wife, mother of the subiect of this biography, died in 1878. John T. Christie was educated at Troy and at the Troy Conference Academy at Poultney, Vt., after which he entered the flouring business in Bristol, Vt. ; two years later a flood destroyed his mills and he sold and came to Troy, where he was in the office of Peck & Hillman until 1865. He then formed a partnership with Rev. S. Parks and entered the fire insurance business under the firm name of Parks & Christie. Later they secured the agency of the Mutual Life Insurance Co. for the State of New York; the business was increased from a very small amount to an income from premiums of dearly a million dollars annually. In 1867 the Hon. D. L. Boardman was taken into the concern, and in 1868 Mr. Parks retired, when the firm became Christie & Boardman; this relation continued until 1883 when Mr. Christie sold out to Board- man and purchased an interest in tbe Ludlow Valve Manufacturing Co. In 1891 when that company was reorganized he was made president and is still holding that office. Since the reorganization the business has nearly doubled and is the largest of the kind in the world, manufacturing valves and hydrants only. Their business growth requiring it, they have recently purchased a part of the Troy Steel and Iron Company's Works, containing about five and one-eighth acres. The main building is 400 by 100 feet and will be occupied as an iron foundry and machine shop and an additional building erected for brass foundry, storehouse, scratch shop and core room, engine and boiler rooms, etc. The capital stock is 8700,000, divided into 8400,000 preferred and 8300,000 common stock. Since the reorganization of the company it has paid fifteen per cent, on common stock and eight per cent, on the preferred. Mr. Christie is a director in the Central National Bank. When a young man he became a member of the Masonic fraternity at Middlebury, Vt. Politically he has always been a Republican. In March, 1858, Mr. Christie married Miss Sophia McMillan; tbeyhave one daugh ter, the wife of James H. Caldwell, of Troy. EDWARD L. CRANDALL, M. D. Dr. Edward L. Crandall was born in Greenbush, Rensselaer county, N. Y , Sep tember 6, 1857. son of Alonzo and Hannah (Maxon) Crandall; the former a native of Petersburgh, N. Y., and the latter of Berlin, N. Y. The father died in 1889 and the mother in 1893. Dr. Crandall received his education in the common schools and Lansingburgh Academy. In 1869 he came to Troy and studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. Charles H. Carpenter, and was graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1881. He JOSEPH D. LOMAX, M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 623 them assumed charge of the Homoeopathic Pharmacy in Albany where he remained until 1883, when he located in Troy, where he is at present in practice at 1941 Fifth avenue. He is a member of the New York State Homoeopathic Association and the Rens selaer County Homoeopathic Association. He is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery No. 15, and Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; he also is a member of the Pafraets Dael and Laureate Boat Clubs, and the Riverside Club of Lansingburgh. He is a member of the Fifth Avenue Baptist church. In 1884 he was married to Miss Emma Bewsher, of Albany, N. Y., by whom he has one son, Leslie. JOSEPH D. LOMAX, M.D. Dr. Joseph D. Lomax was born in England, and was brought to this country when three years of age by his parents. His father, John Lomax, was a bookbinder and printer by trade and established a business in that line in New York ; he was the in ventor of wood type for the use of printers. He died in 1834. His mother, Anna (Dodson) Lomax, was a sister of the grandmother of Governor Greenhalge of Massa chusetts; she died in 1868. Joseph D. Lomax was educated in private schools, and for five years taught Eng lish and classics in the Boy's School of the Holy Cross, a church school in Troy. He then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, from which he was graduated in ,1862. He took the,first course given at the Long Island College Hospital. He was at one time resident physician at the hospital of the Colored Home in New York city. He afterwards began practice in Troy, and on October 12, 1863, was elected superintendent of the Marshall Infirmary, which office he still holds. He belongs to the Troy Scientific Association, the Rensselaer County Medical So ciety (of which he has been president), the New York State Medical Society, and the American Medico-Psychological Association. He ha£ contributed many articles for medical literature concerning cases that have come under his observation, and has frequently appeared in court as a medical expert in cases of insanity. September 28, 1864, he was married to Miss Isabella Warr ; she was a teacher in the Mary Warren Free Institute School connected with the Church of the Holy Cross. and for years was the leading soprano in the choir of that church. They have one daughter, Anna D., who is a graduate of Willard Seminary. CORNELIUS HANNAN. Cornelius Hannan was born in England, January 31, 1856. His father, James annan, came to West Troy in August, 1856; he afterwards removed to Saratoga UJMty and engaged in farming, where he died in 1886, His mother, Margaret 624 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. (Kiley) Hannan, is now living in Troy. Both were natives of Ireland and were mar ried in England, Hvhere they resided several years. Cornelius Hannan was educated in the public schools of Saratoga county and in a private school, after which he taught school in that portion of the State; he then entered La Salle Institute at Troy, graduating in 1881. In the fall of that year he entered the office of Townsend & Roche, and was with them three years, teaching school part of the time. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1884, since which time he has carried on a very extensive law business. In August, 1889, he was ap pointed private secretary to Mayor Whelan. In 1890 he was appointed assistant police magistrate, which office he still holds. He is a member of the Robert Emmet Association, of which he is financial secretary. He has been a member of the Troy Citizens Corps for seven years. EDWARD H. LISK. Edward H. Lisk was born at Waterloo, N.Y., in 1855, His great-grandfather settled in the Mohawk valley at the time of the great Indian massacre and was killed by the Indians ; his great-grandmother avenged the death of her husband by killing his slayer. His grandfather, Henry S. Lisk, was born in New Jersey, and was a promi nent politician and Mason. His father, Henry Lisk, was born at Waterloo, N. Y., and his mother, Ann Eliza Wells, was born at Rome, N. Y., her ancestry being traceable as far back as the eleventh century. Edward H. Lisk received his education in the public and high schools, and when fif teen years of age went to work in a dry goods store in Waterloo, and later learned the printer's trade." He came to Troy in 1876 and worked at his trade until Febru ary 10, 1880, when, with M. B. Barnum, the firm of Lisk & Barnum was formed. In 1883 he bought out Barnum and has since continued the business himself, having moved to his present location in 1890, and now conducts the largest and most com plete printing establishment in the county, besides a bookbindery and one of the most modern electrotype foundries. He is a member of all the Masonic bodies, the Trojan Hook and Ladder Company and the Pafraets Dael Club. On June 4, 1879, he married Helen M. Norton, of Troy, by whom he has one son. DON C. WOODCOCK, Jr. The above-named gentleman was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1846. His father. Don C. Woodcock, was a native of Williamstown, Mass. ; he came to Troy probably in 1836 and opened an office for the practice of law, whence about 1858 he went to New York city to practice his profession, remaining there several years, and then returned to Troy where he continued the practice of law until his death, which occurred in 1881. His mother, Julia (Blass) Woodcock, died in 1884. Don C, jr., received a common school education. In 1863 tol866 he traveled through the South and West and was engaged in the cattle business and farming; afterwards D. C. WOODCOCK, BIOGRAPHICAL. 625 he was employed in the drilling of oil wells in Ohio and West Virginia. From there he returned to Troy, whence he removed to Boston, Mass. , whereforabout fifteen years he was engaged in the real estate and book publishing business. He returned to Troy m 1887 and engaged in the real estate business. The principal feature in the real estate business as conducted by Mr. Woodcock is the purchasing and develop ing of outlaying lands adjacent to cities for building purposes. Mr. Woodcock belongs to King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M., the Ionic Club, is a member of the board of managers of the Republican Club, a member of the Committee of Safety and of the Executive Council of Citizens' Association, and the Shakespeare Society of New York. He is a trustse of the Fifth Avenue Baptist church, and a director of the Young Men's Christian Association of Troy; he is president of the Rensselaer Land Company and secretary of Averill Park Land Improvement Com pany. Mr. Woodcock has considerable literary talent, and is a. frequent contributor in poetry and prose to the newspapers and magazines. He married Hattie A. Clexton, of Troy, in 1869, by whom he has four children. STEPHEN PARKS. Steh-ien Parks was born in the county of Sussex, England, January 27, 1817, and came to the United States with his parents in 1829. His early life was spent in the city of New York. He was educated mostly in private schools and under private tutors. Having studied for the ministry he became a member of the Troy Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1840. He served as pastor of what is now known as Ash Grove church, Albany, the Methodist churches in Gloversville, Fonda, Plattsburgh, Saratoga Springs, Lansingburgh, Pittsfield, Mass., Gloversville again, First Church, Albany, and State Street church, Troy, N. Y. In 1858 he was compelled by ill health to retire from pastoral works, but he is still a member of the Annual Conference and has occasionally officiated in churches in Troy and elsewhere. He resided in Troy from 1856 to 1871, when he removed to Lansingburgh where he still lives. He was for some years in the real estate business with Joseph Hill- man and E. A. Peck, under thejfirm name of Peck, Hillman & Parks. Next he associated himself with John T. Christie as general agents of the Mutual Life Insu rance Co. of New York, under the title of Parks & Christie, and later of Parks, Christie & Boardman. Selling out his interest in this business, Mr. Parks, John C. Ide, and Henry Holmes, organ! ed the firm of Parks, Ide & Holmes for the manu facture of collars. After eight years Mr. Parks sold out to his partners and the present firm of Holmes & Ide was organized. All the above business was conducted in Troy, N. Y. " In 1885 Mr. Parks and his son-in-law, Charles E. Peabody, and his son, Charles W. Parks, formed the firm of Peabody & Parks in Lansingburgh for the manufacture of hardware specialties. January 1. 1895, Mr. Peabody retired and the business is con tinued by Stephen and Charles W. Parks, under the style of Parks & Parks. For 79 626 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. some time Stephen Parks was president of the Trojan Marble Co., located at Brandon, Vt. In May, 1841, Mr. Parks married Mary Emily, daughter of Goshen Van Schaick Hoffman, of Albany, N. Y. Mr. Hoffman was of the old Albany Dutch stock and a brother of Benjamin Ploffman, for many years one of the proprietors of the Albany Evening Journal. Of Mr. S. Parks's eight children, three are now living: Sara E., Charles W., and Frances M. Parks. In 1871 Sara E. Parks married Charles E. Peabody, son of Samuel J. Peabody, who was for many years in the drug and hardware business in Troy. Their chil dren are George S., Laura B., Emily H., and Frances E. Peabody. In 1878 Charles W. Parks married Helen F., daughter of the late John W. Bates of Lansingburgh, who in former years was one of the well known flour dealers in Troy. Of their four children three are living, namely, Mary B., Helen B., and Mar garet B. Parks. Frances M., the youngest daughter of Stephen Parks, is unmarried an'd resides with her father. From boyhood until after sixty years of age Mr. Parks's life was almost one con tinual struggle with ill-health. This compelled him to retire from active service in the Christian ministry and caused several of the changes in his business life. Only strong will power and great natural energy of character enabled him to accomplish anything. Yet now he is considered unusually vigorous for a man nearly eighty years of age. Mrs. Stephen Parks died October 15, 1895, at her home in Lansingburgh, N. Y. P. J. FITZGERALD. P. J. Fitzgerald was born in Ireland in 1846, and was brought to this country when six months old by his parents, who settled in Waterford, Saratoga county, N. Y. He was educated in the public schools, and worked in King's machine shop, and later for Titcomb & Co., distillers, of Waterford, until 1866, when he established the firm of Fitzgerald & Sultzman in the wholesale liquor trade. In 1868 he moved to Troy and became sole' owner of the business. In 1887 he became interested in the College Point brewery on Long Island, and was elected secretary and afterwards vice-president and general manager. He sold out this interest in 1890 and was elected president of the Donohue-Tierney-Isengart Brewing Co.. which office he now holds. He was president of the Wine, Liquor and Beer Dealers' Association from 1884 to 1887. In 1871 he was commissioned by Governor Hoffman captain of Co. H, 24th Regiment National Guard of the State of New York. In 1874 Mr. Fitz gerald was a delegate to the Democratic State Convention at Syracuse, which nom inated Samuel J. Tilden for governor. Captain Fitzgerald has also always taken an enthusiastic interest in firemanic affairs, and was long connected with the fire department of Troy, serving with honor as captain of the Hugh Ranken Steamer Company from 1878 to 1882. In 1873 he was married to Miss Mary J. McKenna, who bore him three children: Elizabeth A. and Edward J., and one who died in infancy. Mrs. P. J. Fitzgerald died July 30, 1882. P. J. FITZGERALD. HERMON C. GORDINIER, M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 627 DAVID LINK. David Link was born in the town of Schaghticoke, N. Y. , September 14, 1823, only son and child of Peter and Mary (Strunk) Link. Peter Link was born at Sand Lake NY., about 1785 and died in 1845, and his wife Mary died in 1844, when David was but two years old, and when his father removed from Schaghticoke to Sand Lake. David Link obtained his education in the common schools and for many years fol lowed the occupation of farming. He was married four times. His first wife was Mary Clapper, whom he married in January, 1844; she died the following summer. His second wife was Catherine, daughter of John W. Vanderberg, of North Green bush, by whom he had one daughter, Cynthia M., now living. For his third wife he married Mrs. Mary G. McChesney. His fourth wife, a very estimable lady, was Mrs. Frances Simpson, born in Le Roy, Genesee county, who resides in Lansing burgh, leading a retired life. His daughter Cynthia M. married Joseph Phillips, of East Greenbush ; they have had three sons : David L. , George S. and Joseph. Mr. Link is one of the solid men of the county. The ancestry of the family on both sides is German. JOHN E. GAITLEY. John E. Gaitley is of Irish parentage, was born in Boston, September 23, 1854, was educated in the public schools and afterwards learned the trade of silver- plating. He first engaged in business in 1873 under the firm name of Gaitley & Gustafson, which interest he sold out and came to Albany ; there he was with R. Strickland in the nickel-plating business until 1878, when he came to Troy and started the nickel-plate department of the Bussy & McLeod Stove Works; he was with them until 1880 when he, with George W. Percy, under the firm name of Percy & Gaitley, started the manufacture of stove trimmings. He purchased Mr. Percy's interest in the concern in 1892 and since that date has been sole proprietor of the business. He manufactures the Alaska stove trimmings and other hardware specialties; his business has increased annually, and he ships goods to all parts of the world. He was captain of the Eddy Steamer Company for three years, and is a member of the B. P. 0. Elks, and now is park commissioner of Troy, being appointed July, 1896. He married Anna A. Weldon, of Ballston, N, Y., in 1879, and has one son, John Percy Gaitley, born March 10, 1886. HERMON C. GORDINIER, M. D. Dr. H. C. Gordinier was born in Troy, N. Y., May 21, 1864. His father, Robert ^ Gordinier, was born in Brunswick, N. Y., and died in 1889; his mother, Mahala Dow, was born in Stillwater, N. Y., and died in 1868. ' Jr. Gordinier received his early education in the public schools of Troy, and en- 628 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. • tered the Albany Medical College from which he was graduated in 1886. He then took a post-graduate course at the New York Polyclinic and spent one year in medical work at Prague, Vienna and Berlin, after which he returned to Troy and began the practice of his profession, which he has continued there since. In 1889 he was ap pointed lecturer on anatomy of the nervous system and instructor of physical diag nosis in the medical department of Union University; three years ago he received the professorship of physiology and anatomy of the nervous system in the same institution. .In 1894 the honorary degree of Master of Arts were conferred upon him by Williams College. He is a member of the New York State Medical Society, the Rensselaer County Medical Society, and the Troy Scientific Association. In 1894, in connection with Dr. Elliot C. Howe, he compiled a catalogue of the flora of Rensselaer county. Dr. Gordinier was married to Miss Alice M. Beattie, of Troy, in 1892; she is a daughter of the late David Beattie, superintendent of the public schools of Troy for many years. They have two daughters, Muriel and Hermione. DAVID H. KELLYER. David H. Kellyer was born in Hoosick, Rensselaer county in 1836. His father was Henry Kellyer, and his grandfather was one of the early settlers of Rensselaer county, having purchased and settled upon a portion of the Van Rensselaer tract. Left fatherless at an early age, David H. was obliged to earn his own livelihood, which he did in a variety of ways for several years, in the mean time gaining his ed ucation. By his own efforts he was enabled to enter Fort Edward Institute, from which he was graduated, and was for a time engaged as a teacher, teaching in Boyn tonville alone for seven years. When about thirty years of age he moved to Peters burgh and formed a partnership with C. W. Reynolds of that place and engaged in a general merchandise business, which they conducted for several years, finally em barking in the manufacture of shirts, which business was in a flourishing condition at the time of his death, and is now carried on by the surviving partner under the firm name of Kellyer & Reynolds. He was one of the foremost citizens of the county of his birth, holding many of fices of trust, and always bore an enviable reputation. He was a director in the National Bank of Troy, was identified with the Andrew M. Church Co., and was a member of the East Side Club, and King Solomon Lodge F. & A. M. During his residence in Troy Mr. Kellyer was an attendant at the First Baptist church. He died May 20. 1896. His first wife was Emily Gardner, a granddaughter of John Gardner, one of tbe pioneers of Rensselaer county, who came from Rhode Island in 1700; she died about two years after her marriage, and for his second wife he married Mrs. Adelaide (Reynolds) Green, of Petersburgh, who died some years later. November 16, 1892, he was married to Mrs. Minnie (Bailey) Mercer, who now lives in Troy. Two chil dren survive their father, Orange E., and Jessie M. ; the former is married and resides in Denver, Col., and the latter resides in Troy. E. D. FERGUSON, M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 629 william l. Mcdonough. William L. McDonough was born in West Troy, N. Y., in January, 1871. He is the son of Michael McDonough, a contractor, and treasurer of the Troy Public Works Co. His mother is Mary (Freleigh) McDonough. William L. received his. education at St. Mary's Academy at Troy and graduated in the class of 1889, and since that time he has been secretary of the Troy Public Works Co. He is also the junior partner in the drug house of Mansheffer & McDonough of Lansingburgh, X Y. and is now secretary of the Troy Cold Water Kalsomine Co., which company was organized iu November, 1894. GEORGE O'NEIL. George O'Neil was born in Troy, June 18, 1855. His father, Thomas O'Neil, was born in Ireland, came to Troy in 1844, and was for many years in the cider and vin egar business. His mother is Bridget (Connolly) O'Neil; both are still residing in Troy. George attended the public schools, and in 1870 entered the store of Boardman Bros, where he remained until 1880, when he engaged in the tea, coffee and spice business, which he carried on until 1802 In that year he bought an interest in a cuff and collar business, the firm taking the name of M, F. Gaffey & Co. ; this part nership continued until December, 1895, when the Troy Collar Co. was formed, of which he became secretary and treasurer. He was supervisor from 1885 to 1887 in clusive, and was member of assembly in 1888 and 1889. He has been police com missioner since 1892 and at present is president of the board. He was inarried in June, 1889, to Miss Sarah Kennedy, of Troy, who died in Feb ruary, 1892. He has one daughter. E. D. FERGUSON, M. D. Dr. E. D. Ferguson was born in Moscow, Livingston county, N. Y., May 9, 1843. His grandfather was a -soldier in the Revolutionary war. His father was Smith Ferguson, who was bcrn in Orange county in 1797 ; he died in 1885. Dr. Ferguson received his education at Starkey Seminary in Yates county, N. Y., Genesee College, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and at Bellevue Hospital Medical College; graduating in the science of medicine in 1868. He began practice in Essex, N Y., and in 1875 went to Dannemora, N. Y., as surgeon of tbe Clinton Prison, where he remained three years. In 1878 he came to Troy, where he has since been engaged in the successful practice of his profession. Dr. Ferguson is a member of the New York State Medical Association, of which he has been secretary since its organization ; also a member of Rensselaer County Med ical Society, the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity, and the American Medical Association. 630 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. He married Marian A. Farley, of Crown Point, Ind., in January, 1865, by whom he has two children : Mrs. Hortense E. Childs, who resides in Omaha, Neb. and Smith P. Ferguson. GEORGE B. WARREN, Jr. Hon. George B. Warren, jr., was born in Troy, N. Y., June 9, 1828. Esaias Warren, his grandfather, was the first elected mayor of Troy and served for many years until he died in 1829. His son, George B. Warren, father of the subject, was at the time of his death the oldest native resident of Troy, where he was born Septem ber 25, 1797 ; he was for several years president of the Troy City Bank, and at the time of his death in 1879 was president of the Troy Union Railroad Company; for many years he was a wholesale dry goods merchant of Troy, the firm name being Southwick, Cannon & Warren, being one of the successful men of Troy. He was an attendant at St. Paul's Episcopal church ; politically -he was a Whig, and as the can didate of that party for Congress, was beaten by an Anti-Rent candidate. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Meyer Bowers ; she was born in Cooperstown, N. Y. ; her death occurred in 1851. George B., jr., was a wholesale buyer and seller of wool for many years, and re tired from business in 1870. He is a director of the United National Bank and has been president of the Young Men's Association and is still one of the trustees of that institution. In 1861 he was elected mayor of the city of Troy, that being the year of the breaking out of the Civil war. It was a very exciting period owing to the raising of troops, riots, etc. As chief executive he did all in his power to pre serve order and sustain the national government. He has always acted with the Democratic party. Mr. Warren's tastes are literary and artistic, and his late years have been spent in the study of literature and art. His collections of objects of art, especially in the line of old Chinese porcelains, are quite remarkable. In 1856 he married Eugenia Phebe Tayloe, daughter of Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, of Washington, D. C. They have three sons and one daughter living. Mr. Warren and family are members of St. Paul's Episcopal church. WILLIAM KEMP. Hon. William Kemp, one of the comparatively few men whose names are indis- solubly linked with a full half century of Troy's development, the period during which that city made its most rapid strides in the march of commerce, trade and manufactures, is the son of James and Elizabeth (Haggerty) Kemp. He was born in Troy, N. Y. , January 14, 1829. Leaving school at the age of nine years, he be. came a clerk in a drug store in Watertown, N. Y., afterwards typesetter in the office of the Troy Post, then clerk in a grocery store in Troy. A love for mechanics led him to learn the trade of machinist, and before he left the shop he was able to construct ¦¦¦¦nHfflMffiHnHhiHinBB GEORGE B. WARREN. BIOGRAPHICAL. 631 any kind of an engine. In 1851 Mr. Kemp began the business of brass founding. His operations in this direction gradually increased, and for many years it has been among the most successful enterprises in Troy. For a long term of years Mr. Kemp was also prominently identified with the Troy Steel and Iron Company, one of the most gigantic enterprises of its character in the country. He served in an official capacity for several years, and during its latter years was its vice-president and gen eral manager. He has also been interested in a variety of other business enterprises, and has been the promoter of many industries which have combined to give Troy the standing in the industrial world which it now maintains. He has been one of the foremost practical friends of the cause of education in Troy, having served as member of the municipal Board of Education from 1855 to 1872, fourteen years of which period he was president of the board. He has also been a trustee of the Emma Willard Seminary for over twenty-five years. In the war of the Rebellion he served with honor, his official position being that of paymas ter of the Second Regiment N. Y. State Volunteer Infantry, the first regiment of volunteers going to the front in that memorable struggle. For two years he repre sented the Fourth ward in the board of aldermen, and from 1873 to 1875 was mayor of the city of Troy. He is a trustee of the Troy Orphan Asylum, for several years has been a trustee of the Episcopal Church Home, is vice-president of the Troy Gas Light Company, a director in the Troy City Railway Company, was one of the orig- nators of and is now one of the directors in the Citizens' Line of Steamboats, navi gating the Hudson River between Troy and New York. He has been connected with the Mutual National Bank for years and has been its president since 1878. He was also president of the Mutual Savings Bank at the time of its liquidation, and has been a trustee of the ReLsselaer Polytechnic Institute since 1868. As a banker he is looked upon as one of the most astute financiers Troy has ever produced. In 1850 Mr. Kemp married Rebecca Cantrell of Troy. They had five children, three of whom are living : William Kemp, jr., of Troy, Rev. Robert Morris Kemp, assistant minister of Trinity parish, New York, connected with St. Paul's Episcopal church, and Mrs. Reuben R. Lyon of Bath, N. Y. His first wife died in 1872, and in September, 1873, he married Martha E. Bogart. Mr. Kemp has always taken a deep interest in religious matters, and at the present time is senior warden of Christ Episcopal church of Troy. In politics he is recognized as one of the leading Repub licans of the State, and was the last Republican mayor of Troy. Mr. KennMs by nature a clear-headed, able and far-seeing business man, and is recognized by all as one of the ablest financiers of Troy. A man of indomitable per severance and energy, he knows no such word as fail, as his record shows. In the broadest sense of the term he is a self-made man, having begun at the bottom round of the financial ladder, and what he has accomplished is due to his own unaided efforts. Many of the best enterprises of the city of Troy have been aided by his wise counsels and means. Such a career as his is an inspiring example for the youth of our land. Quiet in manner, he is a pleasing conversationalist, and at his elegant borne he dispenses a liberal and graceful hospitality. 632 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. JOSEPH M. WARREN. Hon. Joseph Mahbett Warren was the eldest son of Stephen and Martha C. Warren and a grandson of Eliakim Warren, and was born in Troy, N. Y., on Janu ary 28, 1813. Eliakim Warren came to this city from Norwalk, Conn., in 17ilS, and with his sons Esaias, Nathan, and Stephen established one of the first business houses in Troy under the firm name of E. Warren & Co. Stephen Warren was a successful merchant and esteemed citizen, and was one of the originators of the Trov Water Works Company. Joseph M. Warren received an academic education in the Troy Academy and at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which he entered in 1827, leaving in his eighteenth year to become a student in Trinity College, Hartford, where he was graduated in full course in 1834, with high honors. Manifesting a preference for mercantile pursuits he abandoned the idea of a profession and accepted a clerkship in a store in New York city. He soon returned to Troy and became a member of the firm of Rosseau & Warren, wholesale grocers at No. 217 River street. Later he retired from this business and in 1840 became interested in the hardware trade under the firm name, of Warrens. Hart & Lesley. The firm was organized at a very early date in the history of Troy, which was changed on February 1, 1855, to J. M, Warren & Co. ,his partner being Charles W. Tillinghast. On February 1, 1864, Mr. Warren's son, Walter P , was admitted, and in 1867 another member was added in the person of Thomas A. Tillinghast, who continued until his death, January 10, 1879. In 1870 the handsome structure at the corner of Broadway and River street was erected, and has since been occupied by the firm. In 1870 Walter P. Warren withdrew. On February 10, 1887, the firm of J. M. Warren & Co. was incorporated with Joseph M. Warren, president; Charles W. Tillinghast, vice-president; Joseph J. Tillinghast, secretary; H. S. Darby, treasurer; and C. Whitney Tillinghast, 2d, Frederick A. Leeds, and N. F. Woods. This membership remained unchanged until the death of the senior partner, J. M. Warren, on September 9, 1896. The business, founded in 1840, has enjoyed uninterrupted success for a period of fifty-six years, and is the oldest and most extensive in the hardware line in Eastern New York. Its prosperity is due largely to Mr. Warren's ability and personal attention, and to the honesty and uprightness which he displayed in all his commercial relations. He was a man of unquestioned integrity, and his career is marked with deeds of kindness that live in history. Mr. Warren always took an active interest in the welfare and advancement of his native city. He was a commissioner of the Troy Water Works Company from Ww to 1857, when he resigned, and was vice-president of the company at the time of his death ; and was a director in the first board of trustees of the old Bank of Troy, his uncle, Esaias, being the president; subsequently his father was president. He was president of the latter institution from 1853 to 1865, when it became, in conjunction with the old Farmers' Bank, the United National Bank of Troy, and of this he was the first president and a member of the consolidated board of directors, and he re mained a director until his death. He was president of the Albany and Vermont, and vice-president of the Saratoga and Schenectady, also the Rensselaer and Saratoga BIOGRAPHICAL. 633 railroads, all leased to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. He was president of the Troy and Greenbush Railroad — leased to the N. Y. Central and Hudson River Railroad. For many years he was a trustee of the Troy Savings Bank. He was for a number of years associated as partner with Hon. Erastus Corning, of Albany, John F. Winslow and Hon. John A. Griswold, of this city, in the Rensselaer Iron Company, that being the foundation of the present Troy Steel Company. Mr. Warren was also for many years interested in other large manufacturing industries of Rensselaer county. In the commercial, manufactur ing and banking interests of Rensselaer, county he has all his life been an active participant. In 1849 he was elected a life trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and under the act incorporating the Troy Young Men's Association Free Library he was named as a trustee for life. He was also a charter member and one of the first board of managers of the Troy Club. In politics Mr. Warren was an Independent Democrat, and in 1851 was elected the first Democratic mayor of Tro.y by a large majority. Entering upon the duties of his office he found that, owing to the part the corporation had taken in railroad en terprises, the city finances were in a very bad condition. He instituted a system of strict economy, and when his term expired had greatly improved the financial affairs of the city, reduced taxes, and made a thoroughly creditable record. He declined a renomination, and for many years refused all political preferment. He donated his salary as mayor to the Troy Orphan Asylum. In 1870 he was induced to accept the Democratic nomination for Congress and was elected by a handsome majority over J. Thomas Davis. Mr. Warren was a vestryman of St. Paul's church, Troy, for nearly fifty years, succeeding his father and grandfather in that office. He was long the senior warden and always a consistent and earnest member. His contributions to the church, to charity, and the other worthy objects were incessant. Honored and esteemed, and and active in advancing the best interests of humanity, his life was a model one. His death occurred on the sixty-first anniversary of his marriage. He was married in 1835 to Miss Elizabeth A. Phelps, a native of Hartford, Conn., daughter of Walter Phelps, who died in 1891. Their surviving children are Walter P. Warren, Mrs. John I. Thompson and Mrs. Isaac McConihe, of Troy ; and Mrs. John M. Glidden, of New Castle, Me. The following is an editorial tribute from the Troy Press of September 10, 1896: Joseph Mabbett Warren, whose name has been an honored household word in Troy for two generations, and whose enterprise has been one of the foremost fulcrums of its growth, in the plenitude of age has normally changed his world. Only the first decade of the closing century had elapsed when Mr. Warren first saw the light of day in Troy, with whose manufacturing, mercantile, financial, municipal, political, social and religious activities he was destined to play o prominent a part. Although once mayor of the city and again representative in Congress, ese offices were merely incidental to a prolonged and splendid career of usefulness rather than Jective points of his ambition. His ancestry was distinguished, embracing sturdy pioneers of viuation upon this continent— men renowned in varied fields of endeavor— and his life was an embodiment of the axiomatic truth that blood tells. Mr. Warren was progressive in his ideas, ye his nature was so tempered with conservatism that he successfully withstood the many suh T • '!er''s that sh°ok the business world during his day and maintained his large fortune ^stanhally unimpaired. The great hardware store on River street and Broadway and the gm ude of its operations are alike monumental to the genius of the eminent citizen whose t°ra has finally fallen under the weight of years. 634 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. Joseph M. Warren lived a simple, manly, noble life. His transition to a higher estate was calm painless and unfearing. "The winds breathe low, the withering leaf Scarce whispers from the tree; So gently flows the parting breath When good men cease to be." THOMAS A. GRIFFIN, D. D.' Rev. Thomas A. Griffin was born in Hastings, England, September 1, 1832, and was reared and educated in Canterbury, England, and came to Troy in 1853, where he placed his credentials with the State Street M. E. church and joined the Troy Con ference in the spring of 1854. He was pastor at different times of churches, among others, at Albany, North Adams, Mass., Burlington, Vt., Gloversville and Green bush, N. Y. Besides his various pastorates he has served two full terms as pre siding elder of the Plattsburg and Saratoga districts, and in 1894 was appointed pre siding elder of the Troy district, in which capacity he is still serving. He was elected to the General Conference in 1876 and in 1884, and was a reserve delegate in 1896. Since joining the Troy Conference in 1854, Rev. Mr. Griffin has been actively en gaged in his professional dutie's. He has been a trustee of Troy Conference and also of Troy Conference Academy since its organization. In 1895 the New Orleans University conferred upon him the degree of D. D. In 1856 he married Laura A. Wells, of Cairo, Greene county, N.Y. They have two sons: J. Wesley Griffin, of Chicago, and T. Almern Griffin, a lawyer of Greenbush, N. Y. Their eldest daughter was Mrs. W. B.Mooers, of Plattsburg, who died in 1880. Their youngest daughter is Dr. Jennie H. Griffin, a graduate of Ann Arbor and Cleveland Medical Colleges, now practicing in Troy. Their second daughter is Sarah E. Griffin. M. ARTHUR WHEELER, M. D. Dr. M. Arthur Wheeler was born at Sand Lake, Rensselaer county, N.Y., June 18, 1861. His father was Michael Wheeler, who died June 18, 1871 ; his mother, Hannah C. (Snyder) Wheeler, died in September, 1873. M. Arthur Wheeler received his education in the Boys' Academy at Albany, and at Hartwick Seminary in Otsego county. ' He studied medicine with Dr. Clappsaddle for one year, and for two years with Dr. W. H. Hall. Two years later he entered the Albany Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1884, and immediately began practice in Troy, locating on Pawling avenue where he still remains. He isa member of the New York State Medical Society, the Rensselaer County Medical Society, and the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity. He is a member of Apollo Lodge, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Silver Brook Lodge, I. 0. 0. F., of M. ARTHUR WHEELER, M. D. DANIEL H. AYERS. BIOGRAPHICAL. 635 which he is past grand; he is interested in temperance work and for six terms served as chief templar of the East Side Lodge No. 207, I. O. G. T., and is a member of the Grand Lodge of the State. He was appointed physician and surgeon for the Rens selaer county almshouse January 1, 1896, March 22, 1888, he was married to Ella F. Hastings, of Troy, by whom he has two sons and three daughters: Arthur H., Ruth S., Colonel C, Ethel M. and Elsie L. PHILIP H. HICKS. Philip H. Hicks was born in Columbia county, N. Y., in 1832. His earliest an cestors in this country came from England in 1821. He is the son of Philip R. Hicks, a physician of Livingston, Columbia county, who was supervisor for several terms; he died in 1852. His mother, Mary (Hood) Hicks, died in March, 1896, aged ninety-seven years. Mr. Hicks received an academic education and came to Troy in 1852, and was for a number of years in the railroad business. He then bought out the bakery business of his brother in Catskill, N. Y. , where he remained for about two years, when he came to Troy and bought the bakery where he is now. The name of the firm is P. H. Hicks & Son, King street, and they run a general bakery business. He is a member of Apollo Lodge and Chapter. In 1869 he mar ried Elizabeth Her, of Troy, N. Y., by whom he has had one son, W. H. Hicks, who is in partnership with his father, and one daughter, Lillian M. DANIEL H. AYERS. Daniel H. Ayers was born in Ulysses, Tompkins county, N. Y., May 18, 1848. His father, Daniel B, Ayers, was born in Bergen, N. J., and removed to Ulysses when but seven years of age with his parents, Richard and Mary (Jeffry) Ayers. He was a farmer, and died December 11, 1860; his wife, the mother of Daniel H., was Harriett (Hollister) Ayers, born in Burnt Hills, Saratoga county, N. Y., and died September 4, 1892. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools, Trumansburgh Academy, and the high school at Marshall, Mich., where he was prepared for college with the view of attending the University of Michigan, but changing his mind, entered Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, where he graduated, then be came a clerk in a hardware store in Ithaca, N. Y. Subsequently he went to Tru mansburgh, N. Y., and there engaged in the hardware business with Jared S. Halsey; after nine years he sold out his interest to Mr. Halsey. Then with the view of taking up the insurance business he became connected with the Syracuse General Agency of the New York Life Insurance Co. In 1882 he went to Schenectady as general agent of the company, and four months later moved his headquarters to Wh'1 -ere he looksafter the interests of that company in ten counties. act' 7 Trumansburgh he was village treasurer for a, number of years, being ve in local politics. He is an elder in the First Presbyterian church of Troy, and 636 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. assistant superintendent of the Sunday school. He belongs to King Solomon's Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., Bloss Council No. 14, R. & s. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., of which he is eminent commander, Delta Lodge of Perfection, A. A. Rite, the Albany Sovereign Consistory, S. P. R. S. and Oriental Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., thus having attained the thirty-second degree in Masonry. He isi a member of the Citizens' Association, the Good Government Club, the Ionic Club, and the Vocal Society and Choral Club of Troy. In politics he is a Republican. On the 10th of January, 1883, he married Martha Conde, of West Troy, N. Y. ; they had one son, now deceased. Mr. Ayers, though not having graduated from college, continued his studies during his leisure hours, principally in literature and general science. He is a gentleman of scholarly tastes and decided literary ability. His reading covers a wide range. In this way he not only keeps fully informed as to the current questions of the day, but has made himself familiar with the productions of the best minds of the present time and earlier periods. He is an occasional contributor to the press, and has the gift of fluent and effective expression. Various poems which he has published in the Troy Times and other periodicals under a nom de plume attest his capacity for graceful versification. ELI HANCOX. Eli Hancox was born in England in 1838, where he learned the blacksmith trade. He came to the United States in 1863 and settled in Troy, where he worked at his trade with John Hollinger. In 1865 J. B. Carr established the American Chain Cable Works. They manufactured the first large chain cable made in this country, which was used at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The firm was incorporated in 1896, under the title of the J. B. Carr Co., of which Mr. Hancox is vice-president, Mr. Hancox was elected alderman of the Thirteenth ward in the fall of 1895. He is a member of Apollo Lodge, F. & A. M. , Apollo Chapter, and of the Republican Club. He was married to Sarah Jane Morrison, of Troy, by whom four children have been born: William, who married Mary Jane Bissell; Belle, the wife of Edward Petty; Hattie and Charles. P. ROMER CHAPMAN. P. Romer Chapman was born in Putnam county, N. Y, August 11, 1856, and is a son of James and Catharine Chapman. James was born in Putnam county in 1812, was a son of Silas and Hannah Chapman, and was engaged in the coal and later m the lumber trade ; he married Catharine, daughter of Peter and Catharine Romer, of his native place, by whom he had nine children who reached maturity; he died in April, 1893. ELI HANCOX. BIOGRAPHICAL. 637 P R Chapman was educated in the public schools, at the Peekskill Military Acad- emv and under private tutelage. He read law with H. H. Hustis, afterwards with Edward Wells, of Peekskill, and was graduated from the Albany Law School in 1879 He began practice in Peekskill, remaining there until 1881, when he came to Lansingburgh, where he has since practiced with success. He was appointed village attorney in 1896. In June, 1883, he married Carrie A. , daughter of William and Eliza J. Lansing, of Lansingburgh. They have two children : William Lansing, and an adopted daugh ter, Ruth. Mr. Chapman is a past master of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M. , and a mem ber of Bloss Council No. 19, and Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T. His family is of Dutch and English descent. RANSEN GARDENIER. Ransen Gardenier was born in the town of Schodack, N. Y., October 26, 1838. His people were farmers, and he resided on the farm until he was sixteen years of age, and received a liberal education at the old Schodack Academy. After complet ing his schooling, he taught school for a year and seven months, when he went into the mercantile trade as a clerk in 1857. In 1859 he went to Georgia and clerked in a store until 1861, when the war feeling in the South became so obnoxious to him as a loyal Unionist that he returned North. He then went into the employ of Mr. Horace W. Peaslee as clerk and remained with him until 18 6, when he went back to his father's farm. He shortly afterwards embarked in the mercantile business at Valatie and re mained there until 1876. In the spring of 1877 he went into the freighting business at Schodack Landing with W. H. Schermerhorn, who died in 1893, and whose sons now represent his interest in the concern. They do an extensive freighting business, carrying about 60,000 tons annually, and in addition conduct a mercantile enterprise and deal in coal, etc., and have a large trade in ice, owning two ice houses on the river. He has always been a staunch Republican, but never aspired to political honors. He was, however, while a resident of the town of Kinderhook, Columbia county, N. Y., induced to become his party's candidate for the office of supervisor in 1873, to which office he was elected by a large majority, being the first Republican representative from the town of Kinderhook in the Board of Supervisors in about twenty years. He was persistently urged to accept a renomination, but refused, preferring to remain in the ranks of civil life and give his attention to his own busi ness. Since 1879 he has been a resident of Schodack Landing, and has been by his party considered an available candidate for positions of honor and trust, and frequently urged to accept such nominations, but steadily refused to enter into political life. Mr. Gardenier is one of the leading men of Schodack. In 1865 he married Annis L. Peck of Onondaga county, N. Y. They have five children living as follows: William I., Charles L., Howard T., Mrs. Mary T. O'Con nor and Annis M. Gardenier; John Peck died in 1869 at the age of four, and Ransen 638 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. A. died in 1890 at the age of twenty years. Mr. Gardenier's parents were John A. and Sarah (La Due) Gardenier ; the grandfather was Andrew S. Gardenier. MOSES T. CLOUGH. Moses T. Clough was born in Hopkinton, N. H., November 22, 1814. He is the son of Phinehas Clough, who was born in the same town in the year 1783, the grand father, James Clough, having come from Massachusetts and being one of the early settlers of the old town. Phinehas Clough, the father, died in July, 1866, at the age of nearly eighty-three years. In early life he learned the trade of a carpenter, aban doned it in middle life and became a farmer on the old homestead, devoting him self almost entirely to farming and town business, being for many years one of the selectmen of the town, two years representative to the General Court, or State Legislature. He was also a member of the constitutional convention of the State of New Hampshire, and nearly all of his life engaged in the settlement of estates, act ing as guardian, executor and administrator down to almost the time of his decease. He was always the intimate personal and political friend of ex-President Franklin Pierce, who was his lawyer, and also of Matthew Harvey, governor of the State. He married Judith Currier, of Warner, N. H., and at his death left him surviving four sons: Willard, Moses T., Daniel and Stephen, and one daughter, Maria]., the wife of Ozni Pearson, of the city of Troy, N. Y. Moses T. Clough, the subject of this sketch, commenced his classical studies with one John O. Ballard, who for many years was a well known and distinguished teacher of a select, private and high school of that town ; afterwards attended the academy there, and at the age of fifteen years entered Dartmouth College, graduating in the year 1834 in the same class with ex-Gov. Moody Currier and Judge Daniel Clark of Manchester, N. H., and Richard B. Kimball, the well-known writer and author. At the expiration of his college life and in pursuance of a prior determina tion to come to the State of New York and study law, he entered the office of Eliph alet Pearson, at Ticonderoga, N. Y. Soon after this Mr. Pearson removed from that place and Mr. Clough went into the office of James J. Stevens, a brother of the dis tinguished lawyers, Samuel and Cyrus Stevens, of the city of Albany, N. Y., where he finished his studies and was admitted to the bar in 1838. In 1844, at the age of thirty years, he was appointed district attorney of the county of Essex and held that office for more than six years, having been at the expiration of his term of appoint ment in 1847 nominated and elected as a Democrat in that ever strong Whig and Republican county. At the formation of the Republican party in that county he was urged to take the nomination for that office again, but declined, being always a Dem ocrat and having no sympathy with the new movement. He was postmaster at Ticonderoga under the administration of President Polk, also a master in chancery and Supreme Court commissioner; also supervisor and assessor of his town and a candidate of his party for judge and member of assembly, but defeated by the almost always overwhelming majority of the Republican party, both in that town and county. He continued there in a very successful practice until the year 18o7, when he removed to the city of Troy, N. Y., where he now resides (1896) and is in the full ? r w r BIOGRAPHICAL. 639 practice of his profession at the age of eighty-one ; he, with ex Governor Currier of New Hampshire and the Rev. Wm. Symmes Coggin of Boxford, Massachusetts, who sat side by side in the recitation rooms in their college days, being the only survivors of the class of 1834. Mr. Clough has never majried. REV. JAMES G. PHILLIPS. Rev. James G. Phillii's was born on the farm he now owns in the town of Peters burgh in 1822. His great-grandfather, Thomas Phillips, was a native of England, and one of four brothers (Thomas, Samuel, Christopher and Peter) who came to America about 1720. Thomas married Anna Blinn. His grandfather, also Thomas, was born in Rhode Island in 1752. He settled in the town of Petersburgh on the farm now owned and occupied by James G. , immediately after the Revolutionary war and there spent his remaining days. He reared two sons and ten daughters, and died in 1834. The father of Rev. James G. was the third Thomas, and was born in Petersburgh on the homestead in 1782 ; in course of time he came into possession of the farm and there spent his whole life. His wife was Mary Green, who was born in Rhode Island, a daughter of Mansir Green, a native of Coventry, R. I., a Revo lutionary soldier who settled in Petersburgh in 1777. Thomas Phillips and wife (parents of James G.) had fourteen children, of whom seven sons and five daughters reached maturity. He died at the age of seventy-nine years, and his wife survived him four years. James G. Phillips was educated in the common schools and attended the Troy Conference Academy three terms, but was prevented from graduating by illness. He graduated from the four years' course of study in the Troy Conference and was ordained elder by Bishop Janes in Albany in June, 1854. During his four years' course of study he served as pastor of the M. E. church at Hoosick Falls one year, of the M. E. church at Hyde Park, Vt., two years, and one year was pastor of the M. E. church at Winooski, Vt. After his ordination he was pastor of the M. E. church at Milton two years, of the church of Cheshire and Adams, Mass., two years, of the Valatie and Kinderhook (N. Y.) church one year, and of Broadalbin and Mayfield two years, when he was placed with the superannuated, and retired to the homestead which he purchased from the other heirs, and there he has resided, cultivating the farm, which contains 154 acres. A few years after his return to the homestead he united with the Baptist church, and since then has served as supply to the Petersburgh Baptist church, sometimes for a year at a time; he is also clerk of the church. In 1854 he married Julia N. Hinkley; a native of Wilton, Saratoga county, N. Y., and a daughter of Philip and Esther (North) Hinkley. Their children are Clark S., Charles H. and Mrs. Louisa Jones of Williamstown, Mass. 640 LANDMARKS OP RENSSELAER COUNTY. LEMUEL BRINTNALL. Lemuel Brintnall, the second son of Thomas and Lucy Bullard Brintnall, was born in Sudbury, Mass., May 10, 1782. He removed to Troy, N. Y. in 1804, and was married to Rebecca Covell, daughter of Silas Covell, of Troy, in May, 1810. - He re mained a resident of Troy nearly all of his life, and was in active mercantile business in that city for about fifty years. Before the city was incorporated he was for a num ber of years a magistrate for the village of Troy and county of Rensselaer, being annually appointed to such position by the governor. He had three sons and three daughters ; the sons were Olney Winser, Charles Edward (Colonel Brintnall), and Silas Covell; the daughters were Mrs. James L. Bliss, Mrs. Robert L. Fairchild and Mrs. B. C. Bostwick. He died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Bostwick, at Morris- ania, N. Y., on the 22d day of January, 1864, in the eighty-second year of his age, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery at Troy. COLONEL CHARLES E. BRINTNALL. Charles Edward Brintnall was born in the village of Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer county, State of New York, on the 25th day of June, 1812, and was a son of Lemuel and Rebecca Covell Brintnall, of Troy, N. Y. He was of the sixth generation in direct descent from Thomas and Esther Brintnall, who came to Boston, Mass., from England about 1660, and in the fifth generation from Captain Thomas Brintnall of Sudbury, Mass., who was an officer in the army during the colonial wars, and who married Hannah, daughter of Major Simon Willard, who was a prominent officer in command of colonial troops at the time of King Philip's war. Paul Brintnall, son of Captain Thomas Britnall and great-grandfather of Colonel Brintnall, lived at Sudbury, Mass. , and was a member of the General Assembly, and his son Thomas, grand father of Colonel Brintnall, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and was with Montgomery at Quebec and afterwards with the American army at Saratoga. Colonel Brintnall, the subject of this sketch, lived in Troy, N. Y., most of his life. In 1835, when twenty-three years old he resided in New York city and was a mem ber of the New York Volunteer Fire Department at the time of the great fire that de stroyed all the lower part of the city, in December of that year, when he lost every thing by the burning of his residence and place of business, except his fireman's uni form. After the fire in New York he removed to Toledo, Ohio, and was one of the first settlers of that place. He was there engaged in the hardware business. He was the first chief engineer of the Toledo Fire Department and captain of the first military company organized in that city. - In 1838 the city of Toledo was almost totally destroyed by fire and he again lost all his worldly possessions. He then re turned to Troy where he ever afterwards resided. In 1852 he was admitted to practice as an attorney and counselor at law, and con tinued in the practice of his profession (except during his service in the army at the time of the Civil war) until his death in 1877. Colonel Brintnall was connected with the military nearly all of his life. He was first commissioned a captain by Governor COL. CHARLES E. BRINTNALL. BIOGRAPHICAL. 641 William L. Marcy in the National Guard of the State of New York, October 4, 1834, when but twenty-two years old, commanding a company attached to the Fifth Reg iment of Infantry and located at Troy. While a resident of Toledo, Ohio, in 1836, 1837 and 1838, he organized and commanded the first military company of that place and part of the National Guard of the State of Ohio, and known as the Toledo Guards, and which company he continued to command until he left the State. On his return to Troy in 1839, he became a member of the famous Troy Citizens Corps, and on April 30, 1845, he was elected by the company and commissioned by Gov. Silas Wright, first lieutenant of the Corps, which position he continued to. hold until he was commissioned captain of the Troy City Artillery, the 3d day of June, 1846. This company volunteered for the Mexican war on the 15th of June, 1846, and was attached to the 4th Regiment of U. S. Volunteer Infantry, but was never called into active service. Captain Brintnall remained in command of the Artillery until September 6, 1856, when he resigned. On the 19th of July, 1859, he was commissioned as lieuten ant-colonel and assigned to the command of the 24th Regiment National Guard of New York, which position he held for one year, when he again resigned on account of business interests. On the breaking out of the Civil war in 1861, he opened a recruiting office on the 17th of April of that year, and in less than five days raised and organized a company for the war and it was immediately accepted ; he was at once elected captain, and this company, afterwards known as Company B, 30th New York Volunteers, was the first company recruited for that regiment. On the organization of the regiment, Edward Frisbie, of Albany, who was afterwards killed at the Second Battle of Bull Run, in September, 1862, was elected colonel and Captain Brintnall, lieutenant- colonel, and was commissioned as such by Governor Morgan on the 20th of June, 1861, and the regiment left for Washington on the 27th of that month. The regiment remained in camp at Brightwood, D. C, and at Hunter's Chapel, Virginia, until the following spring. In the winter of 1862 Colonel Brintnall was ordered to take com mand of a fort on Upton's Hill, Va., and while superintending the construction of the fort and the mounting of some heavy siege guns, he was badly injured, and in consequence of such injury he was compelled to resign, and was honorably discharged from the service by order of General McClellan, on the 11th of March 1862, when he returned to Troy. After a year's illness, on partially recovering his health, he re sumed his practice as a lawyer and continued such practice until his death in 1877. From 1843 to 1847 he was a member of the Common Council of the city of Troy, and for seven years he was a justice of the Justice's Court of the city (from 1848 to 18o5); he was also for several years police justice, being annually appointed by the Common Council for that position. He was at different times associated in the practice of the law with George R. Davis, jr., Gilbert Robertson, jr., and Messrs. Holmes & Disbrow. Colonel Brintnall was married September 28, 1836, to Miss Sarah A. Seymour, daughter of Horace Kellogg Seymour, of West Hartford, Conn. They had three sons, Charles, William and George, but one of whom is now living, Charles S. Brint nall, a lawyer, residing at Troy, N. Y. Colonel Brintnall died at his residence in Lansingburgh, February 9, 1877, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. 642 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. CHARLES CLEMINSHAW. Charles Cleminshaw was born in Albany in July, 1833. His parents moved to Troy when he was but a child and he has lived here since. He left school at ten years of age and went to work for Hosea Leach in the lamp and fluid business. He took up the manufacture of soda-water when seventeen years of age, with a capital of one hundred dollars borrowed money, in connection with a young man named Mosley. After about three years he purchased Mosley's interest and continued in the business for about thirty years, thereby accumulating a comfortable fortune. Dur ing that time he became connected with the Troy City Railroad Company, was elected vice-president June 10, 1876, and subsequently elected president of the com pany June 14, 1887. Under his management the road has been greatly enlarged and prospered, and its franchise privileges extended. He is a director of the Troy City Bank, and a few years ago was made vice-presi dent, which position he still holds; he belongs to Apollo Lodge, F. &A. M., of which he was treasurer twenty-three years, also was one of the original organizers of the Masonic Hall Association, and connected with the building of the temple, and has attained to the thirty-second degree in Masonry ; he was formerly president of the Ionic Club. Mr. Cleminshaw was married to Mary Jane Wood, April 29, 1854; she died June 10, 1864; of that union were born two children, Charles G. and Charlotte Louise, wife of C. E. Hall, of New York city. His second wife was Mary Jane Holbrook, to whom he was married on July 19, 1865 ; they have one son, William H., a resident of Cleveland, Ohio. With Mr. Curtis he organized the firm of H. C. Curtis & Co., in connection with his eldest son, Charles G. Cleminshaw; the three constitute the firm, it being one of the leading industries of the city devoted to the manufacture of cuffs and collars. Mr. Cleminshaw has for over a quarter of a century been actively identified with . many of the most important business enterprises which have done so much toward building up and promoting the growth of Troy. For about twenty-five years he has been a vestryman of Christ's Episcopal church. In politics he has always been a staunch Republican and for many years recognized as influential in the ranks of his party in Troy. CHARLES RUSSELL INGALLS. Justice Charles R. Ingalls was born at Greenwich, Washington county, N. Y.. September 14, 1819. He is of English descent, both on the paternal and maternal sides, the earliest ancestor of whom he possesses reliable information being Edmund Ingalls, who with his family emigrated from Lincolnshire, England, and arrived in the colony of Massachusetts Bay in June, 1629, settling in the territory which is now the city of Lynn.- Four of his kinsmen were soldiers in the Revolutionary army, one of them, James Ingalls, a great-uncle, being killed at the battle of Bunker Hill. Charles Ingalls, his grandfather, resided in Methuen, Mass., and after being grad uated from Dartmouth College, removed to Washington county, N. Y., and read ii CHARLES CLEMINSHAW. BIOGRAPHICAL. 643 law As soon as he was admitted to practice in the courts of this State, in 1802, he located in Greenwich, where he opened the first law office and successfully conducted a law practice until his death, September 2, 1812. Charles Frye Ingalls, father of the subject of this record, adopted his father's pro fession, and after his admission to the bar, October 9, 1819, began the practice of law at Greenwich, which he continued until within a few years of his death, which occurred March 5, 1870. He served as district attorney and judge of the Court of Common Pleas of his county, and a member of the New York Assembly ; he was highly esteemed for his integrity and ability as a lawyer, and for his probity as a citizen. The maiden name of the mother of Justice Ingalls was Mary Rogers ; she was the daughter of Nathan and Dorothea (Cleveland) Rogers, natives of Canterbury, Conn., 'who removed in the year 1800 to Greenwich, N. Y., where they became prominent citizens and were held in high regard for their intelligence and moral worth. Charles Russell Ingalls read law at Greenwich under the instruction of his father, and on January 12, 1844, was admitted to the Supreme Court and Court of Chan cery. Soon thereafter he formed a partnership with his father, who had secured an extensive and lucrative practice. In June, 1860, he removed to Troy and became a partner of David L. Seymour, a lawyer of recognized learning and ability. The business, which was equal to any in the county, was conducted under the firm name of Seymour & Ingalls. Mr. Ingalls became so favorably known as a lawyer and a citizen in the Third Ju dicial District that, in 1863, he was unanimously nominated, and elected to the office of justice of the Supreme Court of that district. In 1870 he became ex-officio a member of the Court of Appeals. In 1871 he was nominated by both political par ties for the same office, and was elected for fourteen years without opposition. In 1X77 he was appointed by the governor a member of the General Term of the Su preme Court of the First Department of the State, comprising the city of New York. In 1885 he was again nominated, and without opposition elected to the same office for another term of fourteen years. He continued to serve until January 1, 1890, when he retired from the bench, having been a Supreme Court justice for twenty- six years, and having attained the age of seventy, the limit prescribed by the Con stitution of the State. He had the honor in 1896 of being appointed as one of the Committee of One Hundred to the Conference at Washington, D. C, to consider the practicability of a permanent system of arbitration between Great Britain and the United States. Justice Ingalls was a delegate at large from the State of New York to the National Democratic Convention which met in 1860 at Charleston, S. C, and favored the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas for president ; he was subsequently a delegate at Baltimore and still favored Douglas. He retains the home at Greenwich, N. Y., which has been in the possession of the family for over sixty years. He has been a trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for twenty-five years, and in 1887 was unanimously elected its president, but declined the office because he deemed it incompatible with his judicial duties. Since retiring from the bench Justice Ingalls has occupied much of his time by con sultations and hearing references. He has been a member of the Second Street (544 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY, Presbyterian church of Troy, and is and has been a ruling elder therein for many years. In September, 1846, he married Mary E., daughter of Dr. Charles R. Mosher of Easton, N. Y. She died in February, 1848. In June, 1852, he married Lorenda .Ste vens, of Troy, N. Y., who died in December, 1872. In November, 1880, he married Margaret L. , daughter of the Rev. Uriah Marvin, of Troy, N. Y. They have one daughter, Margaret M.. who is twelve years of age. Justice Ingalls survives a sister, Mary Ingalls, and a brother, Thomas Ingalls, who were born, resided and died in Greenwich, N.Y. ; the latter was a lawyer, who, after graduating from Trinity College, Hartford, Conn,, read his profession in the office of his father and brother, and became their partner. In politics Justice Ingalls is a Democrat. EDGAR LUYSTER FURSMAN. Hon. Edgar L. Fursman was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., August fi, 1838. His ancestors on the paternal side were of English descent; on the maternal side they were Dutch, having come to this country and settled on Long Island in 1642. His father, Jesse Budd Fursman, was born in Rensselaer county, and when young removed to Saratoga, and subsequently to Easton, Washington county, wherehewas supervisor and assessor many years; he died in 1875. His wife, mother of the sub ject of this record, Barbara (Hulst) Fursman, was a native of Dutchess county, N.Y. ; she died in 1881. Judge Fursman was educated in Schuylerville and Greenwich Academies, the New York Conference Seminary at Charlotteville and Fort Edward Institute. He studied law with Hon. A. D. Wait, of Fort Edward, and was admitted to practice in 1858 at Caldwell, N. Y. After practicing for a time at Schuylerville, in 1866 he came to Troy and formed a partnership with Hon. James Forsyth, as Forsyth & Fursman, and in 1870 the partnership of Smith, Fursman & Cowen was formed, which contin ued for about twenty years. In 1882 he was elected county judge and re-elected in 1888. In 1889 he was elected justice of the Supreme Court ; his term expires in 1903. As a lawyer Judge Fursman early took his place among the able practitioners of the State ; he is thoroughly grounded in the philosophy of the law and possesses a strong logical and analytical mind, and is learned and erudite. He brought to the bench a mind thoroughly trained by years of study and experience. His judicial papers and discussions exhibit strength, clearness and perspicuity of diction, and a judicial fairness which have placed him in the front rank of the distinguished jurists who have shed lustre upon the bench of the Empire State. He was president of the Young Men's Association of Troy for several years, and held a commission as colonel in the New York National Guard, and was judge advocate on General Carr's staff for three years. He is a trustee of the Victor Cotton Manufacturing Co., a director in the Fort Miller Bridge Co,, a director of the Troy City Railroad, a member of Apollo Lodge, Chapter and Commandery, and Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In politics Judge Fursman is a Democrat. June 13, 1860, he married Abbey Minerva Cramer, of Saratoga county, a daughter ARBA R. GREEN, M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 645 f the late Tames Payne Cramer, a prominent business man of that county. Their son, James Cramer Fursman, is a lawyer of Troy. ARBA R. GREEN, M. D. Dr. Akba R. Green was born in Troy, N. Y., August 18, 1854. His father, J. Crawford Green, also was born in Troy and is the senior member of the firm of Green & Waterman, His mother was Mary Goodspeed, a native of Troy, a daugh ter of Anthony Goodspeed; she died March 11, 1895. Dr. Green's early education was meagre on account of his being afflicted with a spinal trouble, preventing him from studying before he was thirteen years old, at which time he entered Troy Academy ; five years later he entered the New York Homoeopathic Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1880 and has since practiced in Troy. He is now in the enjoyment of good health, which is considered almost a miracle, as in his early childhood his life was despaired of by five learned physicians. He was the last president of the Troy Homoeopathic Society. In the fall of 1879 he was appointed coroner by Governor Cornell, to fill the unexpired term of Dr. Woodruff, and was elected to that office by the people in 1881, and again was nomi nated, but defeated. He has been medical examiner for the Knights of Honor for fourteen years ; is a member of the Hahnemannian Society of New York, and was elected professor of medical jurisprudence of that institution. He is of the Baptist faith. He married Lydia V. Richmond, of Averill Park, in 1880. His son, Crawford R. Green, is now a student at Troy Academy and intends to enter Williams College in 1897. CHARLES E. HANAMAN. Charles E. Hanaman was born in Watervliet, N. Y., November 19, 1848.. His father, Jonas Edward Hanaman, was a native of Brunswick, Rensselaer county, N. Y., born November 10, 1820, and for many years was engaged in the milling business. He removed to Troy in the early fifties, becoming a prominent flour mer chant of that place ; was also a director in the Union National Bank of Troy. His death occurred in 1878. His wife was Ursula J. (Gowey) Hanaman. Charles E. received the rudiments of his education in the public schools, and grad uated from the Troy Academy in 1869, then went into business with his father in general milling and the wholesale flour trade, the firm being J. E. Hanaman & Son. A year afterward the firm name was changed to Hanaman & Ingalls. In 1886 he retired from the business on account of poor health. In 1888 he was elected secretary and treasurer of the Troy Savings Bank, and after 'ne death of Derick Lane, which occurred in December, 1892. he was elected presi- ot that institution, which office he now holds. For several years he has been a 646 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. a director in the Union National Bank. He is treasurer of the Orphan Asylum' treasurer of St. John's Episcopal church, also one of the vestrymen; was one of the founders of the Troy Scientific Association ; is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science ; a fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society of London, England, and a member of the American Microscopical Society. Mr. Hanaman has, from early boyhood, been impelled by an inborn love of the subject to devote a large portion of his leisure to the study of natural history and the construction and use of the microscope as applied to the subject. When a boy of ten years, he began the collection of insects and plants and the careful study of their structure and habits of growth ; and by the dissection of many of our common animals soon gained a good foundation knowledge of anatomy and physiology. At the age of fifteen he became the happy possessor of a compound microscope and began a systematic course of biological study,, which he has con tinued in his leisure moments, and as a recreation from business cares, to the pres ent time. He has in the mean time become the owner of a large scientific library, a number of fine microscopes, and a large collection of permanent microscopical preparations illustrative of his special studies in natural history. Of late years his studies have been confined chiefly to those branches of the science of biology known as general morphology and normal and pathological his tology; and as a student of the latter he is frequently consulted by his physician friends. As a microscopist he is also frequently consulted by beginners in the use of the microscope, both in regard to the selection of the form of instrument best adapted to their prospective work, and in determining for them the true value of the optical performance of the lenses offered them by dealers in optical goods. Mr. Hanaman has during^ the past twenty-five years occasionally appeared as a lecturer before the Troy Scientific Association and other societies in Troy whose members are interested in natural history subjects, and during the whole of this period he has held the office of secretary of the Microscopical Section of the Association. Notwithstanding this strong natural bent for science, Mr. Hanaman has never permitted his studies to interfere in the slightest degree with his business appoint ments and duties. On the contrary, he and many of his friends believe that the mental discipline and the exact methods of thought and action developed by his scientific work has been an important factor in his success as a business man. He is a member of the Troy Club, and a member of the Savings Bank Association of the State of New York, and as president represents the bank in the American Bankers' Association. In politics Mr. Hanaman is a Republican, but in no sense a politician; as a busi ness man he is recognized as strong, careful and conservative. On the 22d of October, 1872, Mr. Hanaman married Miss Mary E. Worth, of Troy, N. Y. , daughter of Asa and Elizabeth Worth. To Mr. and Mrs. Hanaman were born four children: John died in 1874; those living are Helen Ursula, Edith Law rence and Elizabeth Worth. • JEREMIAH MAHONEY. BIOGRAPHICAL. 647 WILLIAM F. GREENE. William F. Greene was born in Coxsackie, N. Y. , April 22, 1838. He comes from old New England stock, his ancestors having come to this countiy in the early part of the seventeenth century. His first business experience was with James W. Greene & Co., known as the Troy Stamping Works. He began the manufacture of stove trimmings and hardware specialties in 1890, and from the outset his efforts have met with success. His factory occupies two entire floors of the large building at 1931-1937 Sixth avenue, Troy, and is fully equipped with all necessary machinery and tools for the manufacture of stove trimmings and hardware specialties. His leading specialties are Ihe Jewel, Crown and Zero stove trimmings, and Zero wire goods; about fifty workmen are employed. Mr. Greene was in the navy during the war until its close on the United States frigate Potomac, where he acted as paymaster's clerk. He is a member of Post Griswold, G. A. R., of the Ionic Club and of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church. Probably there is no one better acquainted with the hardware trade in this country than Mr Greene, having spent a good part of his life traveling. He ships his goods to all parts of the world. JEREMIAH MAHONEY. Jeremiah Mahoney was born in Troy, N. Y. , August 18, 1844, the third of seven sons of John and Mary (Hurley). Mahoney. His parents came to this country in 1836 from Dunmanway, County Cork, Ireland, and settled in Troy, where his father died in 1854. His mother resides with him. Upon leaving school Mr. Mahoney engaged with E. C. Connell in the manufacture of tobacco; after working with him for sixteen years, he bought him out and carried on the business for four years, when he retired from the tobacco business and with his brother William engaged in the liquor trade and the manfacture of cigars, the firm being J. & W Mahoney at 376 River street. He was elected alderman of the Seventh ward in March, 1868, being the youngest alderman ever elected in Troy. He was made chairman of the Railroad Commis sion. The Troy & Lansingburgh Railroad Company desired to increase the fare one cent, and Mr. Mahoney was offered a large sum of money if he would report favorably on the bill; but he reported against it. In his speech on the subject, among other things, he said, " The poor must ride on the horse cars, but the rich can ride in carriages, and I strictly oppose making the working people's burden any harder for them." When the old Capital Police were abolished he was one of the first police commissioners elected for a term of four years, and during that time not a burglary was committed in the city of Troy. He was appointed city superinten dent May 1, 1896, by Mayor Molloy. Mr. Mahoney is five feet ten inches in stature, weighs over 200 pounds and built in proportion. He has never had a day of sickness in his life. He is said to resemble in personal appearance Gen. Fitz Hugh Lee, 648 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. present minister to Cuba, who is considered a very fine-looking man. Mr. Mahoney resides at No. 310 Eighth street, and has lived in the Seventh ward all his life. He married Mary E. Terrell, of Troy, in 1869 ; she died in 1875. He has one daughter, Mary Catherine. DR. CHARLES H. GABELER. Dr. Charles H. Gabeler, son of William E. and Elizabeth (Winne) Gabeler, was born in Sand Lake, Rensselaer county, May 17, 1858. His father, who was also born there, was a son of William whose father, Godfrey Gabeler, came to that town from Germany at a very early day; Godfrey, William and William E. were all glass workers. Mrs. Elizabeth Gabeler is a. descendant of the old and respected Winne family of Troy. There were three sons, Addison W., practicing dentistry in Pitts- field, Mass. ; William A., practicing dentistry in Lawrence, Mass. ; and Charles H. Dr. C. H. Gabeler attended the public schools of Sand Lake and received hisdental education in Albany. He began the practice of dentistry in Troy, March 1, 1892, and is now in business at No. 32 Fourth street, maintaining his residence in Lansing burgh. He is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., Bloss Council R. & S. M. Phoenix Chapter R. A. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T, and Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He was also for three years a member of the Albany Burgesses Corps. February 22, 1884, he married Mary Augusta Van Natten, daughter of James H, and Elizabeth (Cornwell) Van Natten; they have two children: Clyde W. and Marion E. JOSIAH A. WAIT. Josiah A. Wait was born in New Lebanon, Columbia county, N. Y., in 1817. His father, Josiah Wait, was born in Dutchess county and later moved to New Lebanon, where for thirty years he carried on the business of a hatter; he served in the war of 1812, and died in 1862. His mother, Cynthia (Palmer) Wait, was born in Dutchess county; she died in 1863. Josiah A. Wait received his education in the public schools and the academy at Lebanon, after which he was in the store of Chester Griswold, of Nassau. He taught school for one season, opened a country store, and came to Troy in 1854, where he started in the coal business under the firm name of Wait, Fisher & Co. He later bought out his partners and carried on the business alone until David Ritchie and Mr. Wait's son Louis H. were taken as partners, when the firm name became J. A. Wait, Son & Co. Mr. Wait is the oldest living coal dealer in Troy, having been con tinuously engaged in the business for forty-three years. He is a director in the A. M. Church Company, and a director aud stockholder in the Troy National Bank, He is a member of Mount Zion Lodge F. & A. M„ Apollo CHARLES H. GABELER, D. D. S. EDWARD W. WOLF. BIOGRAPHICAL. 649 Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, and Oriental Temple of the Mystic Shrine. In 1844 he married Sarah M. Kinney, of Troy, and their children are Louis H., Mrs. Amelia Sanders, Mrs. Mary A. Hall, and Julia Hoyt. EDWARD W. WOLF. Edward W. Wolf was born in the city of Troy, N.Y. , December 4, 1861. He was educated in the public schools and Lasalle Institute. He received his musical edu cation, from Prof. Louis Davis and Dr. T. J. Guy of Troy. He is organist in the Temple Berith Sholon on Third street, and is a private instructor in vocal and in strumental music. August 21, 1888, he married Anna M., daughter of John A. Nuttall, of Cohoes, N. Y., by whom he has had three children: Edward W. , .jr. , John A. and Anna M. His father, John F. Wolf, was born in Cannawurf, Thiiringen, Germany, July 6, 1828; he was educated there and came to the United States m 1854 and located in Troy. For his second wife he married Waldburga Storts, of Troy, formerly of Baden, Germany. He was a member of Doring's band of the 2d N. Y. Vols, in the late war, and was honorably discharged by surgeon's certificate of disability. Prior to coming to America he served his time in the German army. He died in 1891 and his wife died January 1, 1892. Prof. Wolf is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355, F. & A. M. , of Lansing burgh, and is master of the lodge at this date (1896), and has held that office two years. He is also a member of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., Delta Lodge of Perfection, Delta Lodge Council P. of F., Delta Chapter Rose Croix, Albany Sovereign Consis tory S. P. R. S., Oriental Temple, Nobles of Mystic Shrine, and the Apollo Drill Corps. The ancestry of the family is German, English and Dutch. JOHN W. BURNS. John W. Burns, deceased, was born in Troy, N. Y., in the year 1838. After an early completion of his education, he succeeded his father (John) in the undertaking business; he built a very extensive business, and was considered one of the best and most successful men in his profession. He was a pioneer in the livery business, hav ing one of the largest and most complete establishments of this kind in the State. He was interested in all movements that were beneficial to the public, and took great interest in any charitable work, toeing especially interested in the Home for the Aged and Poor. He was one of the trustees of the Troy Hospital, and also of St. Peter's church. He never took any active interest in politics. The only political office ever held by him was that of coroner, being appointed by Governor Cornell to fill an unex pired term. After an honorable and very successful career, he died April 9, 1881, »i 650 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. being survived by his wife and five children: J. George (who has since died) Cor nelius F., James H., David A. and Miss Nellie Burns. The sons succeeded their father in the business, and are very successfully carrying on the same. WILLIAM H. ROWE. William H. Rowe ranks in the forefront of the men who have the best interests of Troy at heart, and always has a warm place in his heart and memory for its citi zens. He is president of W. H. Rowe & Son, whose business has lately been changed from a partnership to a corporation, and is one of the largest knit goods manufacturing concerns in the United States. Quiet, unassuming and gentle, a thorough business man, yet one who takes time to notice those interests that pertain to his business indirectly or not at all, and seek ing to fulfill in the highest sense his duty to his neighbors, itis worth while to live in this world, where from the heights of success one can look back upon achieve ments which have crowned persistent efforts ; yet many of those who know Mr, Rowe know little of the important positions he has filled and the weighty responsi bilities he has carried for himself and others. Besides the vast interests of his New York house, Mr. Rowe is president of the Wayside Knitting Mills of Troy, N. Y., president of the Amsterdam Knitting Com pany of Amsterdam, a director in the National State Bank of Troy, a director of the Troy Waste Manufacturing Company, a director in the Merchants' National Bank of Glens Falls, and a director of the Glens Falls, Sandy Hill & Fort Edward Railway Company. But all his interests do not lead along business lines, nor does he allow business to usurp them. He is president of the board of trustees of the Fifth Avenue Methodist Episcopal church of Troy, of which he has been a. member for many years; a direc tor of the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society; one of the trustees of the Y. M. C. A. of Troy, and a trustee of the M. E. church of Hartford, N. Y., which he remodeled into a beautiful structure as a memorial to his daughter, Miss Lucy A. Wood Rowe. Mr. Rowe's beneficences have been large and numerous, and he has become known as one of the greatest philanthropists, one of the most earnest humanitarians, one of the noblest of men, who spends much of his busy life in unselfish devotion to the welfare of his less fortunate fellow beings. One of the enduring monuments to his name is the Lucy A. Wood Rowe memorial building on Fourth street Troy, erected by him for a home for the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society, which, when completed in the closing days of 1896, will be devoted to the uses of this society, which has for one of its greatest objects the prevention of cruelty to children. Its cost was over §30,000, and it is one of the handsomest buildings in Troy. Mr. Rowe, in connection with members of his family, has also purchased a lot on King street, Troy, on which they are about to erect a handsome building to be used by the Salvation army. This building will cost, when completed, over §22,000. The donors of the lot, besides Mr. Rowe, are Mrs. Rowe and his two sons, Col. William JZ6J7 BIOGRAPHICAL. 65l H. Rowe, jr., and J. P. W. Rowe. It is because of these gifts so munificent in ex tent and philanthropic in character that Mr. Rowe is referred to as the " George W. Childs "-of this section of the State COL. WILLIAM H. ROWE, Jr. Col. William H. Rowe, Jr., is justly entitled to the reputation which he enjoys, that of one of the most popular and public spirited young men of Troy. As a philanthropist he follows in the footsteps of his honored father, seeking at all times to do something to benefit his fellow men. He was educated in the public schools of Troy, prepared for college in the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, and entered the class of '91 in Syracuse University, and became a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. Since leaving the college his attention has been devoted mainly to the large mercan tile and manufacturing institutions in which his father and he are interested, in which hisconservative judgment, coupled with his keen executive ability, has been of material advantage and has given him a firm grasp of the enterprise in which he is inter ested. Colonel Rowe is the youngest member of the board of trustees of the Syra cuse University, and he also enjoys the distinction of having been the youngest World's Fair commissioner from the United States at the great exposition at Chicago in 1893. When Roswell P. Flower assumed the office of governor of the State of New York he appointed Mr. Rowe as assistant quartermaster-general on his staff, with rank of colonel. Colonel Rowe also holds the following offices: Treasurer W. H. Rowe & Son, New York city; treasurer of Wayside Knitting Mills, Troy, N.Y. ; secretary of Amsterdam Knitting Mills, Amsterdam, N. Y. ; a director in the Central National Bank, Troy N. Y. ; a director of the R. R. Y. M. C. A., Troy, a director of the Y. M. C. A., Troy, and a member of the advisory board of the publication for all the American colleges, " The Bachelor of Arts;" also a member of the Troy Club, and he is a 32° Mason ; a trustee of the Troy Conference Academy at Poultney, Vt. ; a trustee of the M. E. church at Hartford, N. Y. ; treasurer of the Office Supply Com pany of Troy, N.Y. In 1895 he was elected national director from New York State for the Children's Home Society, which at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago received the award for the most aggressive humane movement. Within twelve years the society has placed 7,000 children in good homes. Colonel Rowe has given a scholarship in the Syracuse University, called the "Mrs. W. H. Rowe scholarship," in honor of his mother, and also has given a scholarship in the Troy Conference Academy called the "Lucy A. Wood Rowe Scholarship," as a memorial to his sister. Personallly Colonel Rowe is of a kind and generous nature. He gathers to himself hosts of friends in all walks of life; he is active and progressive in politics, and is recognized as one of the leading Democrats New York. In 1894 he was prominently mentioned as the Democratic candidate for mayor of Troy, but he would not allow his friends to carry his name before the nominating convention. As a public speaker Colonel Rowe possesses the qualities of those who by the matchless gift of eloquence are orators of the highest rank. His 652 LANDMARKS OF REttSSELAER COUNTY, brilliant addresses receive the richest praise and have already won for him most worthy fame. Active in society, prominent in business circles and successful in whatever he undertakes, he is a representative of a splendid type of manhood of which Troy may justly feel proud. EDGAR LYND. Edgar Lykd was born in Poestenkill, October 31, 1848. Archelaus Lynd, his great-grandfather, was a native of England and one of three brothers who came to America about 1750; he settled in or near Albany. He was given the use of 300 acres of land for two years in what is now Poestenkill by the Van Rensselaers, in order to open that section of territory and to assist in colonizing it. His first clear ing was made about 1755 on the site of the Lynd Cemetery, which he founded in 1762, and where now stands a large and elegant monument dedicated to him. After ten years he paid a nominal rent. He was a soldier during the Revolutionary war, He reared four sons, John, Leonard, Archelaus, and the fourth was killed when a young man at a house-raising in Albany. Archelaus (2d), grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Poestenkill, and was a farmer all his life. His wife was Rosetta Ives. They reared seven sons and seven daughters. Leonard Lynd, the father of Edgar, was the youngest of fourteen children men tioned above. He was born in Poestenkill, February 15, 1817. He began his busi ness life when seventeen at farm work at eight dollars a month. He later purchased a team of horses and engaged in teaming, lumbering, coal hauling, etc. He soon after began lumbering on his own account, at which he made a success, and also en gaged in buying and selling cattle and other stock, and later bought and sold farms and timber lands. He first ran the Union hotel in Poestenkill for two years. He was originally a Democrat, but has been a Republican since the formation of that party. He served nine terms as supervisor and was the Republican nominee for sheriff. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge. F. & A. M. His first wife was Anges Whyland, daughter of Jacob Whyland ; they reared two children: Albert (deceased) and Edgar. His second wife was Estena Bront, of Schodack. Edgar Lynd received his education at Fort Edward Collegiate Institute and Me- chanicville Academy. Up to 1876 he remained at home assisting his father. That year he removed to Troy and embarked in the grocery and feed business. In the years 1879 and 1880 he was the Republican supervisor for the Second ward of Troy. In 1884 he returned to the homestead, the better to assist and transact business for his father. He took an active interest in building the Troy and New England Elec tric Railway, of which he is a heavy stockholder ; he was one of the first board of directors of that road, which office he filled from 1891 to 1895. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48, Bloss Council No. 14, Apollo Commandery No. 15, Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Poestenkill Lodge No. 704, I. O. O. F., Premium Lodge Knights of Pythias, and Pafraets Dael Club of Troy. EDGAR LYND. GILBERT GEER, JR. BIOGRAPHICAL. 653 In 1870 he married Ella E. Neilson, of Mechanicville, a daughter of La Fayette and Rose Neilson; to them were born two children, Leonard E. and Rosalie Agnes, wife of R. V. Tompkins, of Mechanicville. GILBERT GEER, Jr. Gilbert Geer, Jr., was born in the city of Troy, N.Y., May 8, 1827; he descended from George Geer, a native of Hevitree, England, where he was born in 1621 ; he came to Salem, Mass., in his fourteenth year; there he formed the acquaintance of Robert Allyn and with him in 1637 removed to New London county, Conn., and was one of the original settlers of the town of Groton; he married Allyn's eldest daugh ter, Sarah, in 1650. Richard Geer, the grandfather of Gilbert, jr., was the great- grandson of the original George and was born at Groton (now Ledyard) in 1753; he removed to Pittstown, Rensselaer county, N. Y. , in 1811, and in company with his son Erastus bought a large tract of land from Major Douglass, where he died in 1835. Richard was in the Revolutionary war and a pensioner the latter part of his life. Gilbert was born in 1795 and was less than seventeen years of age when war was declared against England in 1812, but afterwards in 1814, both he and his brother were members of Capt. George R. Davis's company and took part in the famous campaign under Gen. Gilbert Eddy. Gilbert Geer married Audria Spencer of Arlington, Vt., in 1822. He had learned the carpenter trade and with his brother and brother in law, Benjamin Gibbs. The Quaker meeting house in Pittstown was built by him and his brother more than seventy years ago. In 1826 Gilbert Geer moved his family to Troy; he had two children, Erastus and Huldah, the eldest born in January, 1824 ; he bought a double house located on the east side of North Second street directly north of the corner of Grand Division street ; here Gilbert Geer, jr., was born. In 1829 he built a large frame house, No. 13 Fed eral street, directly opposite the North Market ; here he resided until 1838, and it was in this house that Mary F., Charles Henry and George S. Geer were born. He died in Waterford in April, 1882. Gilbert Geer, jr., spent his boyhood days in the Fourth ward; he early went to school to James Parks, who kept a select school for boys at No. 108 Fourth street. In 1839hewentto Lanesboro, Mass., to N. P. Talcott's boarding school, where he re mained until Mr. Talcott's death ; afterwards he went to Greylock at South Williams- town, Mass., where he remained two years. He married, in the fall of 1849, Frances Adaline Mosher, and opened a retail grocery store on the corner north of the Fulton Market; in 1854 he was in, the manufacture of stoves in company with his brothers, and in 1858 went into the insurance and real estate business over the Market Bank on River street, and removed to the Mansion House block, where he continued until his death. He possessed excellent traits of character, was everybody's friend and the most companionable of men ; in illustrations he was most apt and his jokes were always new, and to the point. iloert Geer, jr., like his father, when a young man was initiated into the Masonic 654 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. order and wds very prominent its councils ; was past master of King Solomon's Lodge and a Knight Templar. He cast his first vote for General Taylor in 1848 and sup ported the Whig party until 1856, when he transferred his allegiance to the Repub lican party, of which he was a devoted and active member. He served the Third ward of the city of Troy for two terms in the School Board and for nine years follow ing represented his ward in the Board of Aldermen, of which he was the leader of his party, and no more efficient or able representative the city ever had. When Senator Edward Murphy was mayor he appointed him to one of the most responsible offices in his gift, notwithstanding he was one of his most active opponents. His business relations were very extensive; was president of the Board of Under writers for a number of years, and secretary and treasurer of several large manufac turing corporations in the city of Troy and vicinity, in which he had investments. He was in every sense a true citizen ; he stood up for Troy and its magnificent oppor tunities always. The Citizens Lme was his favorite and he was proud of its success. Every year since Block Island in Rhode Island became a summer resort, had he made it his home during the month of August. His demise occurred on the 26th day of March, 1896. George S. Geer was assistant engineer in the navy and was on the Monitor from the time she w as launched until she was lost off Hatteras. He was in the same capacity on an ocean steamer after the war and plied between New York and New Orleans, and also in the South American trade. He died in Charleston, S. C, Octo ber 9, 1892, where he was engaged as manager and superintendent of the phosphate mines for the Bradley Company of Boston, Mass. George S. Geer had as much of the Geer in him as any of the boys ; he was a chip of the old block, physically and mentally ; what he knew he could demonstrate in the most conclusive manner, and his knowledge of men and things was almost illimita ble. As Macbeth said when he was advised of the death of his wife: " He should have died hereafter." ALBERT C- COMSTOCK. Hon. Albert C Comstock was born in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer county, Septem ber 20, 1845. His father, Prof. James C Comstock, who was born in Ballston Spa, N. Y., in 1819, came to Lansingburgh about 1840, and for forty-five years was princi pal and superintendent of the public schools of that village. Professor Comstock was for two terms, or six years, school commissioner of the Second District of Rens selaer county, and at the time of his death in 1881 was one of the oldest and most promi nent teachers in the State. He married Miss Elizabeth A. Dummer, of Waterford, N. Y., who with four daughters and one son survives him* Albert C. Comstock was educated in the public schools and academy of Lansingburgh and taught school for eighteen months, being principal of district No. 2, of that town. He read law with the late Hon. Eugene Hyatt, was admittted to the bar in 1867, and began active practice in Lansingburgh on January 1, 1869. On August 11 of the latter year he married Mary E. Benson, of Syracuse, then principal of the Lansingburgh Grammar school, and on November 1 he formed a copartnership with his preceptor, Mr. Hyatt, ALBERT C. COMSTOCK. BIOGRAPHICAL. 655 which continued for twenty-four years. In 1879 he was elected on the Republican ticket member of assembly from the second Rensselaer district, and in the Legisla ture served on the committee on cities, general laws and public education. He de clined a renomination and again devoted his attention to his law practice. In 1883 he was elected State senator from the 16th senatorial district (Rensselaer and Wash ington counties) over Robert Hamilton, Democrat, and was a member of the judi ciary, canal, and commerce and navigation committees. He was also a member of the special committee appointed by the Senate in 1885 to investigate certain public, affairs in the city of New York. This was popularly known as the Gibbs committee. In 1885 he was re-elected State senator without opposition, and was chairman of the judiciary committee. He drew and put through the Senate the resolution under which a senatorial committee was appointed to investigate the methods whereby the franchise was granted by the board of aldermen of New York city in 1884 to the Broadway Surface Railway Co. During his four years as senator he had charge of a large amount of general legislation as well as all matters pertaining to this locality. He was active in debate, was one of the influential and trusted leaders on the Re publican side, and coined the popular phrase, " peanut politics." In 1887 he was a candidate before the Republican State Convention for the nomination of comp troller, but was defeated by Judge Lamereaux, of Ballston Spa. In 1893 he was elected surrogate of Rensselaer county over Hon. James Lansing, the then incum bent. Mr. Comstock has been a leader and a potent factor in Rensselaer county at the bar and in politics for twenty years, and has been a-delegate to many Repub lican conventions. He was for more than fifteen years corporation attorney of the village of Lansingburgh, is a trustee of the Lansingburgh Academy, and a member of Riverside Club of that place and Pafraets Dael Club of Troy. He has one son, Robert B., born June 14, 1870. He is also a member of the Court House Commis sion of this county. JUSTUS MILLER. Justus Miller was born in Fair Haven, Vt., November 9, 1825. His father, James Miller, of Scotch-Irish parentage, came from Belfast at the age of nineteen and settled in Argyle, N. Y. His wife was Miss Anna A. Allen, who was born in Bristol, Vt. Her grandfather was a cousin of Ethan Allen and was a soldier in the Revolu tionary war. James Miller was the owner of one of the first lines of canal boats on the Champlain Canal, and for many years he was engaged in the lumber business, cutting the timber in the northeast part of Castleton, Rutland county, Vt. He was also interested in a tannery and carried on shoemaking on a large scale for that time. Owing to too many business enterprises, he failed, but paid his debts, leaving his family poor. Juitus Miller was educated in the common schools and learned the blacksmith trade. In 1853 he held a position with a New York house as a buyer of produce and continued with them for eleven years. In 1866 he came to Troy and engaged in the manufacture of collars and cuffs, establishing the firm of Hamlin, Miller & Co. Mr. Hamlin's interest was purchased by Mr. Miller shortly after, and the firm of Miller & 656 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Wheelock was formed, which became Miller, Wheelock & Co., after having taken in Mr. E. W. Bingham. Later the firm was Miller & Bingham, and in 1884 the present firm of Miller, Hall & Hartwell was organized. Although there have been several changes in the personnel of the firm, its founder (the subject of this record) has always retained his activity in the business. He was the first to go into the manufacture of shirts in Troy. The firm is now one of the most extensive in this country. Mr. Miller was one of the pioneers in this branch of business in Troy. Owing to the failure of his father in business, he began life without capital, and his subsequent success has been the outcome of untiring energy and intense application to business. He has always been regarded by his business associates as a man of the strictest integrity and honor, whose promise required no bond to secure its performance. He is a director and vice-president of the Central National Bank of Troy. For many years he has been one of the leading temperance and prohibition workers of the city of Troy and adjacent portions of the State, and by his efforts much good to humanity has been accomplished. In 1892 he was the Prohibition candidate for lieutenant-governor of the State. At the age of twenty-five he became a member of the Hartford (Washington county) Baptist church, and on his removal to Troy he united with the Fifth Avenue Baptist church, where he has been a deacon for several years. His first wife was Miss Eliza Brayton, daughter of Caliph Brayton of Hartford, Washington county. She died in 1864, leaving three children; two sons and one daughter; one son is still living. In 1868 he married Elizabeth E. Baucus, daughter of Geo. W. Baucus, of Schaghticoke, N. Y. GEORGE S. EMERSON. George Seward Emerson, Troy, N. Y., was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., Octuber 19, 1848. His father, Charles Franklin Emerson, was born in New Hampshire, and his mother, Emma Nichols, was born in Bath, England. His parental ancestors were the earliest settlers of New Hampshire/removing from Plymouth, Mass. Mr. Emer son was educated in the public schools of Lowell, Mass., left there at the age of six teen for Troy, N. Y., where he learned his trade, that of mason and builder. He has been in business in Troy about fifteen years and is recognized as one of Troy's mo-it substantial and honorable citizens. Among the prominent buildings erected by him are the extensive plant of the Ludlow Valve Manufacturing Co., Van Zandt & Jacobs's collar factory, the Waterford M. E. church, the JEtaa. Mills in Troy, the Cluett Memorial spire on the State Street M. E. Church, Troy, and others. Mr. Emerson has been an influential member of the Prohibition party for many years, and at one time was it's candidate for mayor of the city of Troy, He is a member of Mt. Zion Lodge, F. & A. M., and of the State Street M. E. church of Troy. Mr. Emerson married Nettie Dowd. Five children have been born to them, three of whom arc living: George B., Addie M. and Josie. GEORGE S. EMERSON. BIOGRAPHICAL. 657 OTIS G. CLARK. Otis G. Clark was born in Rutland, Vt. , November 26, 1816, the eldest son of Alanson and Elutheria Clark. His father was a builder, and died in 1836 at the age of fifty years; his mother died in 1833. He received a common school education, and learned the trade of mason and builder. After the death of his father he came to Troy and worked at his trade for three vears, at the expiration of which time he entered into partnership with Jonathan Childs under the name of Childs &*Clark. Mr. Childs died m 1845, and Mr. Clark continued the business alone until 1862 when he formed a partnership with Jesse Van Zile. Three years later Mr. Clark retired from the business. In 1867 he was one of the organizers of the Star Knitting Company, located at Cohoes, N. Y., and was business manager of the company for twenty years. He is a director of the Troy and Lansingburgh Railroad ; he was a director in the Central Bank of Troy forafew years until the First National Bank was organized, of which he became one of the original stockholders and was a director for twenty years, when the bank went into liquidation ; he then became a director in the newly- organized National Bank. He is a trustee of the Troy Orphan Asylum, and for many years was connected prominently with the Young Men's Association of Troy during its early history. For two years he represented the Third ward in the Common Council, and also served six years as supervisor. He was one of the original members of the Board of Fire Commissioners, on which he served six years. Mr. Clark is now the oldest member of the Masonic order in Troy, having attained the degree of Knight Temp lar many years ago. On the organization of the First Regiment of National Guards of New York he was made engineer of the corps of Sappers and Miners, with the rank of major, and was on the staff of Col. William T. Willard. He is a member of the Fifth Avenue Baptist church, being a charter member at its organization in 1843, since which time he has been a member of the board of trustees. In politics he. is a staunch Republican. In 1840 he was married to Amelia S. Bard well of Troy who died February 11, I8U5. His son, Dr. Charles G. Clark of Troy, died in 1894. He has four sons sur viving: George H.| Walter A., Warren G. and Jay W. Clark. ALONZO L. JOHNSTON. Alonzo L. Johnston was born in 1835 at Hoosick Falls, N.Y., son of Robert P. and za "¦ (Dorr) Johnston. His school days were brought to an end when he was ten years old by the death of his father in 1845. He then went to work in the cotton factory for C. Hand and I. J. Merritt. He followed this employment until 1853, when he began to learn his trade of iron moulder with the W. A. Wood Company, where he remained for fifteen years, laboring industriously and intelligently, estab lishing a reputation as a workman and a citizen worthy of emulation. In 1868 he erected a building and started a general store in Hoosick Falls, which 658 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. enterprise is in successful operation at the present time under the management of one of his sons. In 1880 Mr. Johnston was largely instrumental in the organization of the First National Bank of Hoosick Falls, of which institution he was made a director and later was elected vice-president. In 1894 he purchased a foundry and machine shop and formed a copartnership with James A. Noble, for the purpose of manufacturing paper mill machinery ; the business has proved successful and is now in operation. Early in life Mr. Johnston connected himself with the First Presbyterian church of Hoosick Falls and at the present time is one of its trustees. During his whole life Mr. Johnston has exhibited a praiseworthy love for his native place and has never been backward in rendering every service in his power to promote its welfare. His life record is a commendable one, an example of what honesty, industry and fru gality may accomplish when associated with an intelligent and well-behaved mind. In politics he adheres to the Republican faith, and while not aspiring to official position, has taken the active part in politics imposed by duty upon every thorough going citizen. Mr. Johnson was married in 1855 to Martha P. Bryant of Greenwich, N.Y. PETER H. BUCKLEY. Peter H. Buckley was born in Ireland in 1839, and came to this country with his parents in 1852, when they settled in Troy. He obtained his education in Ireland and in the public and Christian Brothers' schools at Troy. He learned his trade with Otis G. Clark, an old contractor and builder of Troy, and was with United States Engineer Captain Green in -New York during 1859, 1860 and 1861, after which he returned to Troy. In 1863 he went into business on his own account and continued thus until 1866, when he formed a copartnership with Levi H. Button, and under the firm name of Button & Buckley continued in the contracting and building business. Twenty years later, in 1886, he took the business entirely into his own hands and has since carried it on alone. Among the most notable buildings he has constructed are the Troy Savings Bank building, the post-office, the Troy armory, Hall's building and the collar factories of Miller, Hall & Hartwell, and numerous othersof like proportions. He is a member of the Ionic and the Robert Emmet Clubs. He married Susan M. Tetreault, by whom he has four sons and two daughters. JOHN WARR. John Warr was born at Boonton Falls, N. J., in December, 1835. His father, James Warr, came to this country from England in 1820, and subsequently in asso ciation with Mr. Hodgkins built the iron works at Boonton Falls. He married Lavina, daughter of Mr. Hodgkins. He was connected with iron works in many PETER H. BUCKLEY. BIOGRAPHICAL. 659 daces, last in Cleveland, Ohio, where he died in 1876, his wife dying there in April, 1896. John Warr received his education in the Rev. John Smith's private academy in Troy, and afterwards entered the employ of R. & J. V. Bosworth, and later was with the firm of Haight & Gillespy for three years. At the age of twenty-one he and Burrows Cure bought out J V. Bosworth and carried on the grocery business under the firm name of Cure & Warr. Two years later he purchased Mr. Cure's in terest and continued alone until 1893. He then took in as a partner C. H. Clifton, since which time the firm has been John Warr & Co., and is such at the present time. In 1809 Mr. Warr was married to Jane Selva, daughter of James Cross and sister of Capt. John A. Cross, for many years captain of police in Troy. His family con sists of three daughters and two grandsons, Ralph and John Warr. GEORGE A. STONE. George A. Stone was born December 3, 1821, m Greenfield, Saratoga county, N.Y. His ancestors were Deacon Gregory Stone, of Watertown, Mass., and later of Cambridge, whose fourth son was Deacon Samuel Stone, who married Sarah Stearns, of Watertown, June 7, 1655 ; she died October 4, 1700, aged sixty- five years ; he died September 27, 1715. His fourth son was Joseph Stone, who married Sarah Waite, and died iu 1702. His seeond child was Isaac Stone who was born in 1700 and was married July 24, 1722, to Elizabeth Brown, of Sudbury, and moved to Shrewsbury, Mass., about 1726 or 1727, where he was a member of the first Board of Selectmen and a lieutenant, and died April 22, 1776; his widow died in 1794, aged ninety-six. His third child, Jasper Stone', was born in Shrewsbury, Mass., April 30, 1728, and was married April 17, 1755, to Grace Goddard; he died in April, '1802; she died Octo ber 31, 1815, aged eighty years. Jasper had a brother Nathaniel who removed to Pittsfield, Vt. Nathan Stone, fourth child of Jasper, and grandfather of George A., was born May 6, 1761, at Shrewsbury, Mass., was graduated in 1783 and entered the army as assistant surgeon; he married Alice Knowlton, of Shrewsbury, April 24, 1788, and removed to New Fane, Vt., where he practiced his profession until his death, which occurred March 19, 1839 ; his wife died November 14, 1865, aged ninety- six years. His son, Edson Stone, father of George A., was born August 2, 1789, at New Fane, Vt, and subsequently moved to and was a merchant in Greenfield, N. Y. ; he married Mary Wood October 18, 1810, and died January 18, 1834 ; she died March 17, 1843. George A. Stone received his education in the select and public schools of Broad albin and Lansingburgh, and afterwards was a clerk in different stores in Lansing burgh. He came to Troy in 1848 and engaged with the dry goods firm of Lockwood «¦' Orvis as bookkeeper. In 1851 he entered the Troy City Bank as bookkeeper, and "i April, 1853, was appointed cashier of the Mutual Bank. In February, 1873, he was appointed cashier of the Troy City National Bank, and on September 28, 1885, was elected president of that bank, which office he still holds. He is a trustee and one of the executive committee of the Troy Savings Bank, a 660 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. trustee of the State Street M. E. church, and was its treasurer fourteen years and belongs to the Troy and Ionic Clubs. For twenty-five years he has been one of the governors and the treasurer of the Marshall Infirmary. Politically he was originally a Whig, but affiliated with the Republican party upon its organization and has been a staunch supporter of its principles since. In 1842 he married Mary A. Lockwood, of Lansingburgh, and has one daughter, Mrs. Edmund Cluett, of Troy. JEREMIAH O'CONNOR, M. D. Dr. Jeremiah O'Connor was born in Troy, N.Y., in 1850, son of John and Bridget (O'Day) O'Connor. His parents came from Ireland in 1846 and settled in Troy, His father served in the war in the 91st N. Y. Vols., and died in 1867 from injuries received while in the service ; his mother died in Troy in 1865. Dr. O'Connor came to the Troy Hospital as a patient in 1865, having so badly in jured his arm by an accident that it required amputation. He was cared for by the Sisters of the hospital, and his active, inquiring mind made him a favorite with them, and they determined to take charge of his education. Entering the Albany Medical College, he was graduated with honors in 1881. Thereafter he was ap pointed resident physician at the Troy Hospital and filled that position until 1895, when he was compelled to resign on account of ill health. After his retirement as resident physician, he continued to reside at the hospital and rendered valuable pro fessional services. He was a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, the Medical Asso ciation of Troy and Vicinity, the A.O.H., the Robert Emmet Club and the Emerald Beneficial Association. In 1883 he was appointed police surgeon of Troy, and held that position at the time of his death. Dr. O'Connor died at the Troy Hospital, October 14, 1896. In a notice of his demise the Troy Times says of him : " Dr. O'Connor was a man of refined temperament and studious habits. He was jovial and his friendships were never broken. Those who knew him loved him, and his unexpected demise will cause regret. The deceased was never married. A meeting of the house staff of the hospital was held when appropriate action was taken on the death." WALTER A. WOOD. Hon. Walter Abbott Wood was born in the town of- Mason, Hillsboro county, N- H., October 23, 1815, the second son of Aaron and Rebecca (Wright) Wood, of English descent. He died at Hoosick Falls, N. Y. January 15, 1892. When he was about one year old his parents removed to Rensselaerville, N. Y„ where the boy grew to manhood. His education was obtaned in the public schools. His father was a maker of wagons and plows, and in his shop, when not attending JEREMIAH O'CONNOR, M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 661 school the son assisted his father in the manufacture of the utensils named, develop- ine an innate mechanical genius to a remarkable degree, not only in the skill and taste with which he did his work, but in originality of thought and means of execu tion. When twenty-one years of age he went to Hoosick Falls and entered the employ of Parsons & Wilder as a blacksmith, where he labored about four years, earning the reputation of being the best workman in the manufactory. From there he went to Nashville, Tenn., and was employed in a carriage manufactory, and after a time re turned to Hoosick Falls. Here he formed a partnership with John White, as White & Wood, and carried on the manufacture of plows and a general foundry business until the autumn of 1852, when the partnership ceased, and with J. Russell Parsons, he formed the firm of Wood & Parsons, and began the manufacture of mowing and reaping machines, under John H. Manny's patents, the right of which for the State of New York the new firm had purchased. This was the modest beginning of the extensive business which in its growth and development has made the names of Walter A. Wood and Hoosick Falls familiar as household words throughout both continents. The following year Mr. Parsons with drew from the firm, and the business was continued by Mr. Wood alone. He pur chased the Tremont cotton mills and transformed the same for his uses. It was at this point in his career that Mr. Wood seems to have found the proper field for his genius. There was ample room for improvement in the crude Manny ma chine, and to this improvement Mr. Wood devoted his inventive genius, with the result that he secured many patents for devices which so changed the original ma chine that it was scarcely recognizable in the improved mower and reaper known by the name of Walter A. Wood. From a start of two machines in 1852, an annual sale of 8,000 was reached in 1865, when the business had grown to such proportions that it became necessary to organize the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Company, of which Mr. Wood was the president from its inception to the time of his death. Without cataloguing a list of tbe events where the Wood machines were on exhibi tion and triumphantly carried off the first prizes, we will leave this interesting part of the history of Mr. Wood's success with the statement that more than 1,200 differ ent prizes, including gold and silver medals, have been won by the Wood machines; perhaps the greatest triumph being at the last International Exposition at Paris, in 1889, where the new straw-band binder was exhibited, and where the space occu pied by the Wood display exceeded that of any other firm in the agricultural machin ery department. Mr. Wood's latest efforts were devoted to the perfection of the straw-band and grass-twine binders, designed to replace the expensive twine binder — costing American farmers $15,000,000 annually— and which at the great trial at Joliet, 111., in 1891, proved to be thoroughly successful. The great benefits to mankind due directly and indirectly to Mr. Wood's genius, industry and enterprise may be partially estimated from the fact that from 1852 to 1891 the output of the establishment increased from two crude machines in the first named year, to 90,000 mowers, reapers and self -binding harvesters in the latter year, and that the total production for the whole period was nearly 1,000,000 machines, IS 662 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. while the works in which this vast output is manufactured cover nearly forty acre of ground and give employment to nearly 2,000 workmen. Mr. Wood won his high place as a power for good among men not alone by h mechanical genius and business enterprise and foresight; he was in every way a noble man. His standard of duty was high and in all the relations of life he lived up to it. None realized this more than his employees, who always found him ready with sympathy, advice and material help to make their lives easier and better. As a citizen he evidenced a public spirit and interest in the welfare of the community in which he lived, and as well in the country at large, never stinting his time or labor for the public good. He was lacking in no trait that goes to make up the thoroughly good and useful citizen. He was for a number of years president of the village of Hoosick Falls, and several times president of its Board of Education. He was a director of the First National Bank of Hoosick Falls, of which he was one of the organizers. He represented his district in the 46th and 47th Congresses in the House of Representatives, where he did manly service as a Republican. He was a member and senior warden of St. Mark's Episcopal church, to which he was a most liberal contributor. Mr. Wood was manied in 1842 to Miss Bessie A., daughter of Seth Parsons, who bore him two sons, both deceased. She died in 1866, and in 1868 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Warren, daughter of the Rev. George H. Nicholls, D.D. She died January 25, 1893, and is survived by her two children, Walter A. Wood, jr., and Julia N. Wood. THE MASTERS FAMILY. The earliest ancestor of this family in America, Nicholas Masters, came from the Island of Guernsey in 1720 and landed at Black Rock, Conn. He married a lady by the name of Elizabeth Shelton, of Farmington, Conn. They had three children, John, Samuel and James, all farmers. John had one son (John) and a grandson (John), a physician. Samuel settled in Schaghticoke about 1790, and had five children: Samuel and Nicholas Shelton were two of the sons. James, son of Nicholas first, married three times; his first wife was Miss Rogers; his second Miss Toucey ; and the third was Mrs. Hull, a widow, the mother of Gen. William Hull and grandmother of Commodore Isaac Hull, the commander of the United States frigate Constitution. James Masters removed from Woodbury, Conn., to Schaghticoke in 1782. He had five children : Nicholas, James. Shelton, Josiah, Elizabeth and Lydia. James Shelton married for his first wife a Miss Allen ; his second wife was Mrs. Cronkhite, a widow. By his first wife he had seven children. Judge Josiah Masters, son of James, married for his first wife Miss Adams, of Litchfield, Conn. ; his second wife was Lucy Hull, of Derby, Conn. ; and his third wife was Ann Smith, of Hamilton, N. Y. He represented the county of Rensselaer in tbe Legislature from 1797 to 1802, and was representative in Congress from his district from 1806 to 1810. For twenty-five years he was judge of the County Court. 31 JCf E. SHELTON MASTERS. FRANK A. MASTERS. BIOGRAPHICAL. 663 He had seven children: Josiah; Samuel J., born August 1, 1801, died October 12, 1883; Augustus, born April 15, 1807, died August 26, 1881 ; Eunice, lanthe, Louise and Eliza. Samuel, the second son, died as above stated at Middle Falls, Washing ton county; he followed the sea for forty-six years, sailing as captain and traveled all over the world, making no less than ninety voyages to foreign ports — Europe, Asia, Africa and South America; he was at one time U. S. consul to British Guiana under President Pierce, and in 1855 he was sent out in the U. S. sloop of war Fon- dalia to the Ladrone Islands, to settle an international dispute with Spain. Elizabeth, daughter of the first named James, was married three times ; first to James Mallory; second to Dr. Jabez Hurd; and third to George Rheab. George Rheab, jr., was a captain in the U. S. army and was taken prisoner at Queenston ; he married Almira Brown, of Rupert, Vt., by whom he had two children. Lydia, second daughter of the first named James, married Merritt Clark of Oyster River, by whom she had nine children. Nicholas Masters, second son of James first, married Sally Phelps, of Rupert, Vt. , by whom he had two children: Nicholas Merritt, born in Schagh' icoke, May 8, 1790, died in Greenwich, N. Y., March 28, 1872; Albert Phelps, born in Schaghticoke, December 10, 1791, died August 10, 1854; the former was the pioneer powder manu facturer and proprietor of the Schaghticoke Powder Mills. Nicholas Merritt Masters married Anna T. Thomas, of Sandy Hill, N. Y. , by whom he had two children, as follows: Sarah Ann, born August 23, 1816, died May 15, 1825; John T., born in Troy, March 25, 1819, died January 12, 1894. John T. Masters married Mary Elizabeth Mowry, of Greenwich, Washington county, N. Y., September 16, 1840, by whom he had four children, as follows: Nich olas Merritt Mowry, born August 23, 1842, died September 10, 1875; Mary Elizabeth, born August 3, 1845, died May 27, 1854; William Mowry, died September 7, 1846, aged three weeks ; Leroy Mowry, born July 24, 1851, died May 5, 1868. Nicholas Merritt Mowry Masters married, June 6, 1866, Mary Hervey, of Cincinnati, Ohio, by whom he had two children, as follows: Blanche Elizabeth, born March 21, 1867, died March 10, 1869; Maude Hervey, born October 7, 1870, married Walter A. Cottrell, June 29, 1896. Albert Phelps Masters married Sally Maria Rising, of Rupert, Vt., October 15, 1817, by whom he had four children, as follows ; Edward Nicholas, born in Rupert, Vt,, January 8, 1821, died January 22, 1896; Josiah Rising, born in Rupert, Vt., October 11, 1818, died January 13, 1895; Marshall Merritt, born at Schaghticoke, August 29, 1823, died November 6,. 1858 ; Anna Maria, born in Schaghticoke, August 29, 1831, married George G. Arnold, of Troy, N. Y., December 16, 1856. Edward Nicholas Masters married Alice Le Barnes, of Sheffield, Mass., Septem ber 18, 1850, by whom he had eight children, as follows: William Bliss, born Febru ary 26, 1852, died July 23, 1861 ; Alice Adelaide, born July 4, 1854; Mary Elizabeth, born December 16, 1856; Ellen Maria, born December 26, 1859, died September 4, 1861; Annie Maria, born October 5, 1862, died September 11, 1863; Edward Bliss, born February 4, 1865; John A., born May 30, 1867; and Albert Marshall, born April 9, 1869. Edward Nicholas Masters and family removed to Montrose, Colo., in 1890. Mary Elizabeth Masters (daughter of Edward Nicholas Masters) married Sterling Sherman, of Salem, N. Y. 664 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Marshall Merritt Masters (born August 29, 1823, died November 6, 1858) married Lucy Mary Benjamin, of Pittstown, N. Y., September 16, 1842, by whom he had three children, namely : .Georgiana Maria, born August 30, 1844, and married Calvin B. Lockwood, of Brooklyn, N. Y., April 19, 1870; Francis Albert, born January 16, 1847; and Edward Shelton, born December 16, 1849. Francis Albert Masters has one son, Harold L., who was born June 6, 1887, and one daughter, Lucy Benjamin, born April 10, 1886, died January 15, 1890. He (Francis A.) received a common school education and worked on a farm until he was twenty-one years of age and then came to Troy; he was clerk at various times at the Mansion and American hotels in Troy and the Tifft House in Buffalo, N. Y. In 1878 he became a member of the firm of Marston & Masters in the grocery and pro vision business, and when Mr. Marston retired in 1887 the firm of Masters Bros, was formed. Edward Shelton Masters was born in Schaghticoke, N.Y., December 16, 1849. He received his education in the public schools and worked on a farm until 1872, when he came to Troy and engaged in the coal business with E. B. Arnold, where he re mained until 1876; he then went to Williamsburg, Kansas, where he was engaged in railroad construction and coal mining. In 1880 he returned to Troy and became a member of the firm of Marston & Masters. His first wife was Fanny L. Marston, daughter of Perrin M. Marston, of Troy, to whom he was married December 31, 1877; she died July 24, 1887. His present wife was Martha L. Marston, a sister of his first wife, to whom he was married April 17, 1890. His children were Helen Elizabeth, born in Williamsburg, Kansas, December 4, 1878, died in Winfield, Kansas, June 3, 1880; Robert Shelton Masters, born in Troy, N. Y., December 31, 1880, by his first wife ; and Perrin M. Masters, born June 22, 1892, by his second wife. BARENT W. STRYKER. Barent W. Stryker was born on a farm in Gilboa, Schoharie county, January 6, 1862. He was educated in the common schools and Kingston Academy, after which he taught school for some years. When principal at the Catskill Grammar Schools he resigned to take up the study of law. He studied with Judge Schoonmaker, of Kingston, and Judge Griswold, of Catskill, and was admitted to the bar in 1887, and has an office in the Times building, Troy. Mr. Stryker is an able and eloquent lawyer and not only holds a front place in the profession, but is universally regarded as one of the leading Democrats of this county. He has been president of the vil lage of Castleton, and has been nominated by his party for senator. Mr. Stryker's parents were Charles H. and Jane R. (Lamont) Stryker, of Schoharie county. His grandfather was Barent W. Stryker. Mr. Stryker's family originally came from Holland where they have records of fourteen generations prior to 1791. In 1652 some of them came to New York and thence to Schoharie county. Mr. Stryker is a member of the Holland Society of New York city, which city, as well as Brooklyn, contains the names of his ancestors among the leading people. October 25, 1888, he was married to Miss Mary A. Fincke, daughter of Hannibal Fincke, of Castleton, N. Y. They have three children, Katherine, Gretchen and Barent Wr. , jr. ,v , BIOGRAPHICAL. 665 HENRY TOWNSEND NASON. H»n. Henry Townsend Nason is the son of Henry Bradford Nason, LL.D., an eminent chemist and naturalist who was for thirty-six years a professor in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, and Frances K. Townsend, the daughter of Hon. Martin I. Townsend of Troy. He was born August 13, 1865, at Troy, N. Y. He received his rudimentary education in the schools of that city. He spent two years in fitting for college at the Williston Academy in Easthampton, Mass., and then four years at Yale College where he graduated in 1886, having secured a posi tion for scholarship of above one hundred of his class of about one hundred and forty. He attended the Law School of Columbia College in New York from 1886 to 1888 and graduated there. In 1888 he formed a copartnership in the practice of the law at Troy with his grandfather, Hon. Martin I. Townsend and Hon. William J. Roche, under the firm name of Townsend, Roche & Nason, and diligently pursued the duties of the profession of the law until November 3, 1896, when he was elected county judge of Rensselaer county over his opponent, Hon. James Lansing, by the flattering majority of 3,044 votes. The term of the office is six years, and for that period Mr. Nason will by the constitution be debarred from discharging the duties uf a lawyer. Mr. Nason is a very close and diligent student of the law and early attracted the attention of his associates and clients for scholarship as a lawyer, and this attraction has brought success. CHARLES E. HICKS. Charles E. Hicks was born in the town of Halfmoon, Saratoga county, N. Y., June 13, 1852, and was educated in private and public schools. He entered Stevens Institute at Hoboken, N. J., and took a special course in mathematics and engineer ing, and has practiced his chosen profession since 1873. He came to Lansingburgh - in the spring of 1889 and has been corporation engineer since that date. In the spring "f 1895 he formed a partnership with Charles A. Romer, of Troy, under the name of Hicks & Romer, at 255 Broadway, Troy, while he retains his residence and a branch office in Lansingburgh ; they are doing a successful business. His father was Will iam and his mother was Harriet Knowlton. Mr. Hicks was married to Frances R. Knight, of his native town, September 26, 1877; they have four children: Lulu B., W. Grant, Charles K. and Leslie E. The family attend the Baptist church ; politically he is a thorough Republican. The an cestry of his family was Welsh and English, and dates back five hundred years here and in Wales. JOHN A. CIPPERLY. John A. Cipperly was born in Brunswick, Rensselaer county, N. Y. , February 8, W3. His ancestry is traceable to Holland. His father was Barnard J. Cipperly, 666 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. who was also born in Brunswick, in 1796. He was the proprietor of the famous Platestown Hote) for many years, which was a great resort for noted men ; such men as Russell Sage and William A. Beach, of New York, used to summer with him. He died in 1869. His wife was Katherine (Burdict) Cipperly, who was born in ltjrjo ; she was the daughter of August Burdict, of Burnswick; she died in 1880. John A. Cipperly attended the common schools, entered Wilbraham Academy at Wilbraham, Mass., in 1857, left there in 1858, then attended the Pittstown lustitutc, then a flourishing school, until 1861, and from that time on took private instruction. He taught in the public and select schools of the county for six years. He came to Troy in 1862, and studied law with Warren & Bankers and Lottridge & Traver, and was admitted to practice in 1865. He formed a copartnership with Alva Trav'er, which was dissolved in 1872, Mr. Traver retiring to Sand Lake where he died in September, 1896. He then was with Judge Strait for nearly ten years. He is now conducting a large and lucrative general law practice in Troy. He is a member of Zion Lodge, F. & A. M., also a member of the East Side Club. He was married to Charlotte A. Eddy, of Troy, by whom he has one son, nine years of age. JAMES F. COWEE. James F. Cowee was born in Troy, N. Y., September 23, 1841. His father, David Cowee, was a native of Westminster, Mass., and when a. young man came id Troy and took a position in the wholesale drug house of J. L. Thompson. He later became a partner in the house, which relation continued for fifty years. He was a director in the manufacturers' Bank, a trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and for many years an elder in the First Presbyterian church. He died in 1887. His mother, Mary E. (Young) Cowee, was born in Troy, where she is now living. James F. Cowee was educated in the public and high schools of Troy and entered Williams College in the class of 1865. In 1869 he became a partner in the house of John L. Thompson, Sons & Co. He is an elder in and trustee of the hirst Pres byterian church, a trustee and the treasurer of the Young Men's Association, a mem ber of Mt. Zion Lodge, F. & A. M. , the Troy Culb, the East Side Club, the Ionic Club, and he is a director in the Manufacturers' National Bank. In 1869 he was married to Louise Denison of Berlin, N. Y., by whom he has one son, Harvey Denison Cowee. JOHN HUGH KNOX. John Hugh Knox was born in Troy, N. Y., October 25, 1845. He is the son of the late John Le Grand and Elizabeth (Sigourney) Knox, prominent in Troy for many years. His father was one of the early settlers of Troy, and married for his first wife the daughter of the late Stephen Warren ; his second wife was Elizabeth Sigourney, of Hartford, Conn., whose father was one of the founders of Trinity College, Hartford, and her mother was the celebrated poetess, Lydia Huntley Sigourney; she was de- JAMES F. COWEE. BIOGRAPHICAL. 667 scended from the celebrated Sigourneys, of Huguenot descent, who settled in Boston at an early day. The mother of John L. G. Knox was Mary Cannon, a daughter of Le Grand Cannon, an early settler of Troy. By his second marriage John L. G. Knox had six children; those living are Charles Sigourney, John H. and James Carter. John L. G. Knox died August 21 , 1879, and his wife Elizabeth, May 25, 1885. Charles S. and James C. are head masters of St. Paul's School at Concord, N. H. John H. Knox graduated from Churchill's Military Academy at Sing Sing, N. Y., in 1862, after which he entered the hardware house of Hannibal Green at Troy where he remained six years, and for a number of years was a salesman for Roy & Co. of West Troy. He went into the insurance and real estate business in 1878, and in 1888 formed a partnership with Mr. Mead, under the firm name of Knox & Mead, which is one of the most extensive houses of the kind in Troy. It embraces the fol lowing numerous lines of insurance ; fire, life, plate glass, accident, steam boilers, profits, indemnity, tornado, employers' liability, public liability, use and occupancy, and rent insurance. He belongs to the Troy Club, was one of the organizers of the Laureate Boat Club, and was formerly one of the managers of the Young Men's Association, a member of the Arba Read Steamer Co. ; for a number of years he was a trustee of the Fire Department, and for the past thirty-five years has been prominently identified with the best musical interests of the city. He has been solo basso at St. Paul's, which is his mother church, of St. John's church, and is at present a solo basso at the Church of the Holy Cross. He is one of the founders of the Troy Vocal Society and is at present vice-president of the same. In politics he is a Democrat. He married Maria Talmadge Farnsworth of Troy, N. Y., September 3, 1878; her grandfather on the maternal side was General Talmadge who at one time was on General Washington's staff; and her great-grandfather was William Floyd, of Long Island, N. Y., prominently identified with the early history of this country and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. To Mr. and Mrs. Knox have been born two children : Elizabeth Sigourney and John Floyd. S. S. STEVENS. S, S. Stevens was born in Warwick, Mass., in 1829, son of Nathaniel and Nancy (Stoughton) Stevens, a lumberman, tanner and farmer; his paternal grandfather was une of the minutemen of the Revolutionary war. Mr. Stevens served an appren ticeship at machine tool work in Worcester, Mass. , and for several years was engaged m building and putting up paper mill machinery at Hartford, Conn. He came to North Hoosick in 1809 and purchased an interest in the old factory and became its general manager. He is the senior member of the firm of Stevens & Thompson, paper manufactu rers at North Hoosick, and of the Walloomsac Paper Co. at Walloomsac ; these are among the largest paper mills in the county. Mr. Stevens is himself an expert ma- cmnist and has made several important inventions in connection with the manufac ture of paper, for which he holds letters patent. He has recently completed and put operation a double roll beating and mixing engine, for which he has applied for a 668 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. patent ; the improvement in this engine is considered by experts to be a most valu able addition to the mechanical appliances for making paper. Mr. Stevens was married in November, 1857, to Marcia M. Lamberton, of Ware Mass. ; she is the daughter of Gideon and Lucina (Fuller) Lamberton, farmers, an old family of Scotch descent who had lived many years in that section. Gideon Lamberton lived to the age of ninety- three. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have four chil dren: Mrs. Anna S. Carpenter, Mrs. Lois Cobden, Frank L. and Fred L. Stevens. In 1873 Mr. Stevens built a palatial home on the hill at North Hoosick. WILLIAM L. HALL. William Lord Hall was born in Simsbury, Conn., June 7, 1838. His father, Joseph Nelson Hall, was born in 1809 in Somers, Conn. ; he was of English lineage; for many years a farmer in Simsbury, afterwards moving to Windsor, Conn., where he died in 1849. His wife was Wealthy Ann (Lord) Hall, born in East Windsor, Conn., August 12, 1812, and is now living in Enfield, Conn. They had a family of three children, of whom William Lord Hall and Mrs. Adelaide D. Woodward are the only ones living. William L. Hall received a common school and academic education, and when fourteen years of age went to work as a clerk in Windsor, Conn. He came to Troy in 1878 and entered the concern of Miller & Bingham, having a working interest in the firm, and in 1884 he became a member of the firm of Miller, Hall & Hartwell, This firm is one of the most extensive shirt and collar manufacturers in this countrv. Mr. Hall is a director in the Central National Bank, and in politics is a Republican. In 1886 he married Lucia Helen Cady, of Bennington. Vt, a daughter of Lewis and Lucy (Vaughn) Cady. Mr. and Mrs. Hall attend St. John's Episcopal church of Troy. DAVID L. SEYMOUR. David Lowrey Seymour, an eminent lawyer of Rensselaer county, and conspicu ous during the last generation in State and National politics, was born in Wethers- field, Conn., December 2, 1803. His parents, Ashbel Seymour and Mary Lowrey, were descendants of families identified with the settlement and growth of the com monwealth. The original ancestor of the Seymours, Richard Seymour of Essex- shire, came to Hartford from the Bay Colony in 1635, and was a prominent co-ope rator with the pious and earnest Hooker in the settlement of the three towns, Hart ford, Wethersfield and Windsor, which for a period constituted a little State. From this Richard are descended nearly all bearing the name in the United States, a progeny including sevaral governors and members of congress, and a very large number of representatives distinguished in the various fields of theology, law or medicine. David Lowrey Seymour, after a careful preparation in the local schools, entered WILLIAM L. HALL. BIOGRAPHICAL. 669 Yale College. His powers of application were exceptional, and his mental faculties well developed even as a boy. One of his fellow collegians, still living, in the ses sion of the State Constitutional Convention of 1807, during the proceedings sug gested by the death of Mr. Seymour, alluded as follows to the youthful promise of the deceased: "It was well understood that so far as David L. Seymour was con cerned in his class he stood pre-eminent as a mathematician, and equal in all other respects in learning with his associates. It was then predicted of him, and talked of among the faculty and students, that life and health being spared to him, his mark would be undoubtedly made in the world." At the graduation of the class in 1826, the prediction of professors and classmates was already vindicated in anticipation, Seymour being given the salutatory, the second honor at Commencement. For a considerable period antecedent to graduation in his academic course, young Sey mour had selected the legal profession for his life's pursuit. Very soon after receiv ing his degree, he entered upon his new studies as a member of the Yale Law School, which then, under the principal direction of Hons. David Daggett and Sam uel J. Hitchcock, two of the most eminent jurists of New England in that day, en ¦ joyed a high reputation throughout the country. In 1828, while still pursuing his professional course, he was honored by an appointment as tutor from his alma mater, which he accepted, performing his duties for two collegiate years, besides attending the lectures and joining in the forensic exercises of the law school. In 1831), having finished the law course, and received the most cordial commenda tion of his instructors, he was admitted to the bar after an exceptionally satisfactory examination and prepared to enter upon an active practice. At that time the com paratively fresh fields for New England enterprise and talent in Northern and Cen tral New York were attracting general attention, many families having gone from the Connecticut River towns, to the larger and richer territories of the Hudson and Mohawk. The rising village of Troy, then promising to control the headwaters of the former river, and monopolize the trade of the whole region as far as the St. Lawrence and the lakes, was especially favored in the regard of adventurous spirits, several of its conspicuous citizens — and notably the Gales and Buells — having origi nally come from Killingworth and other old towns in the Connecticut Valley. Sey mour, carefully weighing the reports from various parts of the country, determined to commence his professional career in Troy. In June, 1830, he found himself started in business, entering the office of the Hon. John P. Cushman, one of the most able and popular counsel of that day m the State. The first two years of his experience, though not altogether desolate so far as pat ronage was concerned, were especially valuable in the familiarity with the rules and modes of practice they taught, and the strength they imparted, under associa tion so favorable to a well poised and equipped intellectual temperament. At the end of this period, Mr. Cushman, justly appreciating the honest aspirations and fine parts of the young lawyer, and requiring a junior, offered 'him a partnership. So nattering and advantageous a proffer was gladly accepted, and the firm of Cushmau & Seymour was formed. From this date Seymour's professional success was as sured. The firm as originally constituted lasted for many years, until the death of the senior partner, in fact. The local bar at this time comprised a large number of ex cellent lawyers, including such names as David Bnell, jr., Isaac McConihe, Hiram P. 670 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hunt, Daniel Hall, Thomas Clowes, and Archibald Bull. In this brilliant coterie Seymour at once was accorded a rank unprecedented for so youthful an advocate His thorough knowledge of the old English law, of which he was an ardent and de voted lover, found him a great favorite with the scholars of the profession, while his cultivated oratory, and clear, incisive rhetoric, secured for him an unusual popu larity on the rostrum, or before a jury. During the earlier years of their partner ship, the senior partner was charged with the presentation of all cases of intrinsic importance, but very soon after their association, that experienced advocate had made the discovery that for the preparation of a cause he could fully rely upon the excellent judgment, exact method, and ripe erudition of his younger brother. This was true to the degree that, after a short experience of his associate's thoroughness in all respects, Mr. Cushman, the leader of the Rensselaer bar, and surpassed by ¦ but few in the ranks of jurisprudence of the State, rarely looked at a cause before going into Court, trusting fearlessly to its perfect preparation at the hands of his faithful and indefatigable junior. Besides, and notwithstanding his devotion to his profession, Mr. Seymour was greatly interested in the politics of the day. The breadth and largeness of his phi losophy naturally predisposed him to a study of public questions, whether involv ing political or social economy. In sympathy his conservative tone of mind allied him with the Democratic party of the period. Soon after his establishment in Troy bis persuasive and logical eloquence, in occasional addresses at public meetings, en listed tbe favor of the local politicians, and in 1835 he was urged to accept a nom ination to the Assembly. His candidacy was successful, and his service both on the floor and in committee was so satisfactory to his constituents that a reuomination was proffered the succeeding year. Declining a second- election, he accepted the office of master in chancery thereupon proffered by the governor, and performed its duties for several years. In 1842 he was persuaded to re-enter the political field. The Democratic party of the district desiring to pit its utmost popular represenlative against a very strong candidate of the opposition, tendered to him the nomination for Congress. This nomination was, after careful consideration, accepted by Mr. Seymour, and he went into the canvass. After a contest of unusual warmth, he was handsomely returned. In December, 1843, at the age of forty years, be took his seat as a member of the Twenty-eighth Congress. The tariff question was at that date the principal topic of agitation, and Mr. Seymour's position as a prominent member of the Committee of Ways and Means, to which the bill was referred, made imperative his declaration of policy. In this instance his essential integrity of sentiment and strong individuality was demonstrated in a marked manner. Not satisfied with the views of his asso ciates of either party on the committee, and unwilling to endorse the free trade dicta of the Democracy, or the protective and almost prohibitory theories of the Whigs, he made a distinct and independent report, embodying his own views in favor of a discriminating system, that would have encouraged industry, while not crushing out the commercial interests. During this session the annexation of Texas was likewise a theme of grave dis cussion. Mr. Seymour developed a. kindred individuality in his treatment of this question, opposing the measures contemplated by the joint resolution of Congress as infringing upon constitutional reservations, but finally voting in favor of the BIOGRAPHICAL. 671 amended bill as it came from the Senate. Mr. Seymour was chairman of the Com mittee on Revolutionary Claims, and the author of the bill of January, 1844, extend ing the scope of the pension laws in a manner to embrace many meritorious cases previously unprovided for. In the fall of 1844, at the expiration of his first term, he was again the candidate :,[ his party, but through the action of the Anti-Rent faction, which threw this suffrage for his opponent, was defeated. A third nomination, however, in 1850, was successful, the agrarian agitation having been extinguished and the district again returning him by a handsome majority. In this canvass not a few of his Whig friends and neighbors forgot their allegiance to their owii party, giving their votes to Mr. Seymour in generous recognition of his support in Congress of the industrial progress of the country. In the Thirty-second Congress Mr. Seymour's influence was greatly felt on many questions of national importance. The majority of the House of Representatives acknowledged him as one of its wisest and most reliable leaders, and many measures of legislation lost their extreme partisan purpose through his essentially patriotic and constitutional prevision. The position of chair man of the Committee on Commerce, a body numbering among its members Alexan der H. Stephens, Andrew Johnson, and William Aiken, was a universal endorse ment of his very varied knowledge of affairs and broad statesmanship. During the first session he again demonstrated his independence of party dogmatism by report ing a bill appropriating several millions of dollars for the improvement of rivers and harbors, which was signed by the president, thus adopting the liberal and fostering policy of the Whigs, rather than the ultra restrictiveness of the Democrats. In the second session, in response to a general demand from State Legislatures and Boards of Trade for a reciprocal system of free trade between the United States and British Provinces, his committee framed the original report which served as a basis for a subsequent treaty and laws for reciprocal trade. He was also ma:nly instrumental in securing the passage of the first enactment requiring a rigid inspection of steam boilers, and providing the guaranties of safety on ship-board, since elaborated under the title of "Navigation Laws" into a thorough system of protection against the dangers of travel upon water. Retiring from the active political field after his second term at Washington, he returned with increased zest to the pursuit of his much loved profession. His part nership with Mr. Cushman having some time previously expired, he formed a new connection with Hon. George Van Santvoord, with whom he was associated until 1860. Mr. Van Santvoord at this time became the recipient of official honors which interfered with the devotion of his entire time to the business of the partnership, and the firm was dissolved. Judge Ingalls was next associated with him in his law office, under the firm name of Seymour & Ingalls, a connection which lasted until the junior member was called to the bench, after which Mr. Seymour continued with a younger member of the bar, Mr. Charles E. Patterson, a partnership that lasted until his death. The law offices of which he was the head, after his retirement from Congress were among the first in Northern New York for the aggregate of their business, and the importance of their causes, and under the tuition of the accomp lished lawyers thus associated were developed many of the ablest members of the profession now practicing in Rensselaer and Albany counties. Mr. Seymour's professional career was a success beyond that of most men, and he 672 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. was often called upon to contend with the best and most powerful minds in the State while many of the weighty causes in which he was engaged were of that superior prominence which will make them always stand as established precedents in the re ports of his State. Among the noted causes in which he was engaged stands prom inent a suit involving rights under a patented invention, and known to all the bar ,of Northern New York as the " Spike Case." For nearly thirty years this case had occupied the attention of the Courts, and for the last twenty years of his life did he, as their leading counsel, so well guard the interests in that case, of his clients. Messrs. Corning, Winslow and Homer, that it is regarded among the profession that by his efforts they were saved from what seemed inevitable disaster and the payment of ruinous damages. In 1866 Mr. Seymour received the degree of LL.D. from Hamil ton College. In April, 1867, he was nominated as a delegate at large by the Democratic State Convention, to the convention called to revise the State Constitution, and was elected in the canvass which followed a month after. His participation in the labors of the convention was marked by the same integrity of purpose, and unpartisan spirit, that had distinguished his professional and legislative career. His very last public effort was an exhaustive argument upon a question affecting the State Canal system, in which he dissented from the majority report of his committee. In the latter part of September, he went to his country seat at Lanesboro, Mass., proposing a few days' freedom from official and other effort which had per ceptibly worn down his general vitality. Shortly after his arrival, he was prostrated by a severe attack of a disease from which he had previously suffered. His illness lasted for sixteen days, at the end of which period, having endured prolonged and extreme agonies in a spirit of calm and trusting resignation, relief came in that mortal slumber, which to the Christian sufferer is the prelude to immortal joys. Mr. Seymour's death was the occasion of universal gloom in the city of which he had been for so many years a most honored and useful resident. The bar, the press, the community, without regard to party, sincerely mourned the loss of a citizen, whose talent, integrity, unselfishness and public spirit had alike been unimpeach able. At a formal meeting of the legal profession, eloquent addresses from the lips of his surviving brothers in jurisprudence, commemorated in cheerful encomiums the virtues and ability of the deceased. He was buried on the 15th of October from St. Paul's church. On the 12th of November, the Constitutional Convention reassembled after its recess; Hon. Martin I. Townsend announced the death of his colleague from Troy m an elaborate oration, and was followed by Hons. Amasa J. Parker, Henry C. Murphy, James Brooks, Thomas J. Alvord, John M. Francis, and other prominent members of that body. This sketch cannot be better concluded than in the words uttered on that occasion by the Hon. Erastus Brooks; " I can say and all who knew him will bear witness to the truth of what I say, that he was in all respects a true Christian gentleman, and not only a member of the church, but an ornament of the church which he represented and of which he was a member. He has left that behind him which is better than all the wealth which he left, and that is the reputation of an honest man and a faith ful public servant. In the largest and highest sense he was what may be called a statesman, because he comprehended the necessities of the country, and that the duties of a public man are not merely to the constituents which he immediately rep- BIOGRAPHICAL. 673 resented, but to the State at large. He was a. patriot, too, in its largest sense, as has been said, because he has not only loved his country with sincerity but served it • with the highest devotion. He recalls to me those lines of Pope, in uttering which I will conclude the brief remarks I have to make: " 'Slalesman, yet friend to truth; of soul sincere: In action faithful, and in honor clear; Who broke no promise, served no private end, Whu gained no title, and who lost no friend!' " DAVID S. HASBROUCK. David Schoonmaker Hasbrouck was born in Rondout June 16, 1850. He comes of the Huguenot and Holland Dutch stock with which Ulster county was originally- settled, his ancestors having located there in the latter part of the seventeenth cen tury. Most of his boyhood was spent upon a farm, and he had very meagre educa tional advantages — limited to spasmodic attendance at a rural district school. In his early 'teens he secured employment at clerical work in Rondout. Having a little spare time he utilized it in furnishing news items to local papers. In 1870 he became connected with the Rondout Freeman, then published weekly, and when the Daily Morning Freeman was started the following year he was assigned to the night editorship. He filled this position for three years. Afterward the Freeman was transformed into an evening paper and he served respectively as city editor and managing editor. In October, 1878, he came to Troy and assumed the duties of news editor on the Daily Times, later was general editorial writer and literary edi tor, and on the death of William E. Kisselburgh in 1887 was appointed managing editor, which post he still occupies. JOHN JOHNSON. John Johnson, managing editor of the Troy Press, was born in Westford, Otsego county, N. Y., January 22, 1851, and is the son of William and Zada Johnson. His parents soon removed to Exeter, N. Y., and from there to Columbus, Chenango county, where he helped his father on a farm until sixteen years of age. Then he became an apprentice in the office of the Chenango Union at Norwich, N. Y., where he remained upwards of three years. Afterwards he worked for a short time as a printer at Utica, Sherburne, Greenwich and Saratoga. In 1874 he founded the Schuylerville Standard, but soon sold it. He then secured a position on the Troy 'nig as reporter, but after a few months was employed by the Troy Times, where e remained about four years as reporter, news editor and city editor respectively. 187y he established the Saratoga Eagle and edited that paper for ten years, run- m"g a job printing office in connection therewith. In December, 1888, he was en gaged by the Troy Press, where he has since remained. His editorial conduct of paper has been instrumental in elevating it from a comparatively obscure pub- 674 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. ication to a position among the foremost in the country. Mr. Johnson married E ma J. Harrington of Saratoga in 1877, and has one daughter, Edna. HENRY O'R. TUCKER. Henry O'Reilly Tucker was born at Palmyra, N. Y. After receiving a common school education he learned the printer's trade in the office of the Wayne Sentinel, published by his father, Pomeroy Tucker. At the age of fifteen years he removed to Troy and accepted a position as bookkeeper in the counting-room of the Troy Daily Times. In September, 1863, he purchased a quarter interest in that establish ment and in May, 1869, became a half owner. In 1882 he retired from the news paper business and after a year's recreation, engaged in the manufacture of clothing in Utica, N. Y. , in which business he continued for five years under the firm name of Tucker, Calder & Co. In December, 1888, he secured a controlling interest in the Troy Daily Press, since which time he has been publisher. The Troy Times under his business management was remarkably prosperous. After he assumed control nl the Troy Press it quickly found a place among the leading successful Democratic papers of the country. GEORGE B. ANDERSON. George Baker Anderson of Troy, N. Y., was born in Amsterdam, N. V., Aprils, 1866, and is the second son and youngest child of Dr. John K. and Catharine S, Anderson. Both his paternal and maternal ancestors were soldiers in the Continen tal army in the War of the Revolution. On his mother's side he is descended from Sir Godfrey Schuhe, a German baron, whose sons emigrated to this country about the year 1700, one of whom became one of the pioneers of Saratoga county, N. Y. George B. Anderson was educated by his father and in the common schools of Amsterdam and Fultonville, N. Y. At the age of fifteen he began teaching school, which vocation he followed for five years. In 1884 he became a reporter on the Am sterdam, N. Y., Daily Democrat. In 1887 he accepted a similar position on the Albany Evening Journal, subsequently becoming connected with the Albany Express and Albany Argus. While serving in an editorial capacity on the latter paper he was also for two years a representative of the New York State Associated Press at the Capitol, and represented several other papers in the State Legislature. In the fall of 1891 he became editor of the Ballston Spa, N. Y., Daily News, and in July, 1893, removed to Troy to become an editorial writer on the Troy Press, which posi tion he has since filled. He has been a frequent contributor of special articles to leading newspapers, and is the author of a number of short stories. He is also the editor-in-chief of " Land marks of Rensselaer County," and has written a historical novel dealing principally with the first attempt to assassinate President Lincoln, which will soon be published. In March, 1896, he founded the Morning Star, a daily newspaper in the city of Troy, GEORGE B. ANDERSON. GARDNER RAND. BIOGRAPHICAL. 675 but suspended publication a few weeks later, convinced that there was no demand for a morning paper in that city. In 1896 he was elected to active membership in the Troy Scientific association. June 20, 1894, he married Mazie A. Harrison of Ball ston Spa, N. Y. GIDEON REYNOLDS. •Gideon Reynolds was born in Petersburgh, Rensselaer county, N. Y. , August 9, 1H13, and died at his home in Hoosick July 13, 1896. He was the only son of Thomas and Waity Reynolds, natives of Westerly, R. I. Subsequently the family settled in Petersburgh. In 1836 the family moved to Hoosick and occupied the Reynolds homestead, where the son Gideon had since resided. Thomas Reynolds died there February 12, 1854. Gideon early displayed an aptitude in educational matters and took every opportunity for advancement. His early educational training was re ceived in the district schools in that vicinity and later in the public schools at Ben nington! Vt. He was a teacher in the district schools for a few years and soon after ward became prominent in political circles. In 1838 he was elected to the State Legisla ture by the Whigs. In 1843 he was chosen sheriff of Rensselaer county and served one term. He was elected to Congress in the fall of 1846 and was re-elected for an other term in 1848. At the close of his second term he was satisfied to retire for a time to private life. On August 29, 1862, he was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln internal revenue collector of the fifteenth district. He served in that capac ity for two years, when he resigned. He was a delegate to the Fremont convention in 1850, and also the Chicago convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for president. He was a Whig until the Republican party was organized in 1856, when he became a Republican and continued such until 1867, when he changed to a Demo crat. January 16, 1845, he married Julia, daughter of Josiah and Phebe Warren Richmond of Potter Hill. Seven children were born to them, four of whom are liv ing. His wife died in 1890. The surviving children aire "Josiah G. Reynolds of Mar quette, Mich. ; Marcus T. Reynolds, of North Adams, Mass. ; Olin, the youngest, who resides at the homestead, and Annie E. Reynolds, who also lives at Hoosick Falls. GARDNER RAND. Gardner Rand was born in Troy, N. Y., and is the only surviving son of Gardner Wheeler and Deborah (Van Cott) Rand, who were for many years well known resi dents of Troy. Gardner Wheeler Rand, a native of New England, settled in Troy in 1818 and died there in 1867 ; he learned the trade of blacksmith, became a promi nent manufacturer and was the owner of large block's of real estate, including Rand's Opera House, which he built in 1853; he was for many years a trustee of the First aptist church of Troy, and throughout a long and useful life retained universal re spect and [confidence. -His wife, a daughter of Daniel Van Cott, of Troy, died in ; they had two sons; John, who died in infancy, and Gardner. 676 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Gardner Rand was educated in the Troy public schools and academy, and for sev eral years held a position as bookkeeper and cashier in the dry goods store of George Bristol & Co. Subsequently he became a clerk and afterwards paying teller in the Commercial Bank of Troy, where he acquired those thorough business habits which have characterized his life. He remained there until the bank went out of business, when he became connected with the Bank of Troy where he remained until it was formed into the United National Bank, when he retired, and since then has devoted his time and energies to the care of his large property interests. Among his real estate holdings are Rand's Opera House and block, Rand's Con cert Hall and a number of valuable corner blocks and lots. His handsome brown stone dwelling at Nos. 126 and 128 Second street was built by him in 1886 on the site formerly owned by his maternal grandfather, Daniel Van Cott. Mr. Rand is a pub lic spirited citizen and has always taken a deep interest in the prosperity and ad vancement of his native city. He is a trustee of the First Presbyterian church and a life member of Mount Zion Lodge No. 311, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., and Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T. In 1856 he was married to Miss Ellen M., daughter of Henry Young, of South Williamstown, Mass. They had four children ; the oldest, Ellen Gertrude, died in 1868; the three surviving children are Maud, Estelle and Harry Gardner. WILLIAM E. HAGAN. William E. Hagan, son of Joseph and Sarah (Collins) Hagan, was born in Troy, N. Y. , November 24, 1826. His father was a well known merchant and later a resi dent of New York city. William E. Hagan was educated at the Troy Academy and in 1843 entered the employ of Charles Heimstreet, a manufacturing chemist. Upon attaining his major ity he began the study of chemistry and medicine in New York, where he finally became a clerk for A. B. Sands & Co. Returning to Troy he became, in 1854, a partner of his old employer, under the firm name of C. Heimstreet & Co., and on the death of Mr. Heimstreet succeeded to their drug business, which he finally sold to A. M. Knowlson. He was largely interested in raising the 2d Regt., 125th Regt. and the 169th Regt. N. Y. Vols. He was appointed honorary director of the State Sanitary Commission. In January, 1859, the attention of Mr. Hagan, Arba Read John A. Griswold and Hannibal Green was drawn to the necessity of a steam fire engine for the city of Troy, and its proper construction for practical use. Mr. Hagan was one of the com mittee who really designed the first successful steam fire engine built in the United States— the well known Arba Read; with him on this committee were N. B. Starbuck and L. L. Southwick. In 1865 he opened an office in New York and acted largely as an Expert in me chanics and chemistry as applied to the arts. In 1874 he opened an office in Troy. Having devoted much study to the subject of handwriting, his opinion as an Expert has been often called for in court in many important cases of this kind in the United States, notably in the Cadet Whittaker case at West Point, the Morey letter case in- BIOGRAPHICAL. 677 volving the forgery of Garfield's name, the Callagan, David Holt, Gordon and main- other will cases, etc. As an Expert in handwriting he is well known throughout the country, and he has had greater experience in this line of study than any other man living. He has written many papers on scientific subjects and is the author of the well known work, "Hagan on Disputed Handwriting,'' published in 1894. He has practically been a lifelong resident of Troy, where since~ 1874 he has been engaged in business as a scientific expert and solicitor of patents. He is a member of several social organizations, was formerly a member of the Troy Citizens Corps and is now and has been for ten years a member of the Troy Club. In 1852 he married Lydia R., daughter of the late Stephen Covell, of Troy, and they have had five children, as follows: Mrs. W. B. M. Miller and Mrs. William C. Buell, of Providence, R. I., Mrs. Frederick F. Buell. of Troy, Mrs. Joseph H. Du Rarry, jr., of Philadelphia, Pa., and Frank, who died young. JOHN PAINE. John Paine was born in Windsor, Vt., February 12, 1793. While yet a youth of thirteen years he came with his parents to Troy, where he resided until his death. In 1809 he entered Union College and was graduated therefrom in 1811. Selecting the profession of law as a calling, he immediately began the study thereof in the office of the eminent jurist, Judge John Wells, of New York city. Upon being ad mitted to the bar in 1814, he returned to Troy and began the practice of his pro fession with his father. In 1836 Mr. Paine received the appointment of cashier of the Bank of Troy, when lie practically abandoned a large legal practice and became a financier. His great ability in financial matters had been proved long before the time when he became cashier, but subsequent events placed him at the head of the financiers of his day. One instance of his conceded financial skill may be cited: the officers of the munici pality of Troy consulted him on all matters of finance if of sufficient consequence. He was at the time of his death. February 7, 1852, connected with many financial enterprises in Troy and elsewhere. He was recognized in all respects as a leading- citizen of Troy. The public press at the time of his death bore witness to the value set upon the man and his deeds by his contemporaries. In human affairs men seem to arise that the times call for and require. When Troy was young and needed assistance Mr. Paine espoused her interests and became deeply interested in her prosperity. As a banker his aid was at all times extended to business enterprises that were for the welfare of Troy. With a keen eye he saw what railroad connections were for her good, and these he interested himself to bring about; in fact, in everything that Troy required, and in everything that was lor her welfare he was early in devising. Indeed it was only ten days before his decease that he attended at Schenectady a meeting of the directors of the Mohawk Valley Railroad and took an active interest in its deliberations. This was a pro jected railroad to Buffalo, and the Troy and Schenectady Railroad, built and then owned by the city of Troy, was to become a part of the line. Mr. Paine was known 678 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. at home and abroad as one of those honest, sterling, sagacious, energetic and sub stantial men of whom, in its early days, Troy had several. In February, 1827, he married Eliza Ann Warren, eldest daughter ol Ksaias Warren of Troy. Mrs Paine died in 1866, leaving three children: Elizabeth Homer (now Mrs. Cicero Price), Esaias (deceased), and John Wells Paine. WILLIAM H. HOLLISTER, Jr. William H. Hollister, Jr., was born in tbe town of Coxsackie, Greene county, N. Y., October 11, 1847; his parents were lifelong residents of the town. He was of the seventh generation from Lieut. John Hollister, an officer of the English army, who came to this country in 1042 and settled in Connecticut. William H., jr., was reared on his father's farm and attended the district schools and academy of his native town until he was eighteen years of age. In 1K05 he con tinued his preparatory course for college at the Phillips Andover Academy in Massa chusetts and subsequently at the Hudson River Institute at Claverack, N.Y. In 18(10 he entered Williams College with the class of 1870, with which he was graduated. While in college he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, a. Junior prize orator, and was chosen one of the editors of the Williams Quarterly; he was elected president of the Philologian Society, president of Class-day, and at gradua tion was one of the Commencement orators, and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. In 1870 he was appointed by General F. A. Walker, superintendent of the Ninth Census, to a clerkship in the Census Bureau. September 4, 1871, after resigning from the Census Bureau, he came to Troy and entered the la-(v office of General li. F. Billi ard; after a clerkship of three years he was admitted to the bar in September, 1871, at Binghamton, and immediately after became the partner of General Bullard in the practice of law. In 1880 he formed a partnership with Nelson Davenport under the firm name of Davenport & Hollister, which has now continued for over sixteen years. He has never held political office, excepting that he served for one term of three years as school commissioner of the city of Troy, to which office he was elected in 1878. Dur ing his residence in Troy he has been a member of the Second Presbyterian church and was superintendent of the Sunday school for five years, and has beeu president of the Board of Trustees since 1881. In 1884 he was chosen an elder in that church, and in 1886 was elected a commissioner of the Presbytery of Troy to the General Assembly of the church at Minneapolis. In 1875 he was elected one of the trustees nf the Troy Orphan Asylum and for nineteen years was secretary of its board. He was one of the organizers of the Troy Vocal Society and has been one of the directors and secretary for many years. He was one of the most active promoters of the enterprise for the establishment of a first class morning newspaper in Troy, which resulted in the publication of the Troy Record, and is also connected with the man agement of that paper. He was one of the organizers of the Troy Young Men s Christian Association in 1895 and was one of the original directors. October 16, 1878, he was married to Julia Frances, daughter of the late Joseph Hillman. He has one son, Joseph Hillman Hollister. WILLIAM H. HOLLISTER, JR. BIOGRAPHICAL. 67!) john w. Mcknight. Hon. John W. McKnight was born in Albany, December 19, 1847. He obtained bis education in the public schools, the Business College of Albany and one term at Germantown. He taught country schools for two years, and for twelve years he taught in Castleton, N. Y., where his educational and natural abilities attracted public attention to him, and drew him into politics. He was collector, assessor and supervisor of Schodack, three times trustee of the village of Castleton, and for twelve years a member of the School Board ; he was a deputy under Sheriff Reynolds, for whom he also was clerk three years in Troy. He next became chief clerk of the U. S. postal card agency, which office he held until 1889, when he was elected member of assembly by a majority of 1,806, the largest ever giyen a candidate in the district up to that time. He was re-elected in 1890. In 1892 Mr. McKnight was appointed chief clerk at Auburn Prison, which position he filled with fidelity and efficiency for two and a half years. In December, 1895, he was again appointed chief clerk of the U. S. postal card agency, which posi tion he at present holds. In 1875 Mr. McKnight married Fannie M. Schermerhorn ; they have an interesting family of four children, namely: Frank Harder, John W., Frederica Hill and Marion K. Mr. McKnight's parents were William and Catharine (Higgins) McKnight. Mr. McKnight is a prominent Mason, and is a past master of Sunnyside Lodge No. 731, F. & A. M., also Royal Arch Mason, Kinderhook Chapter, and a member of the lodge of the Knights of Pythias formerly located in Castleton. He also has been chief engineer of the Fire Department, and is in everyway a broad minded and enterprising man whose support is ever heartily given to all worthy projects for the advancement of his home village, and the county. He enlisted in Co. I, 91st N. Y. Vols., in 1863 and served in the 5th Army Corps until the close of the war. WILLIAM HENRY FREAR. The principal merchant of Troy, N.Y., is a native of Coxsackie, N.Y., and oldest of the eight children of William and Deborah A. Davis Frear. The father was born m Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, of French Huguenot lineage, the family name having been originally spelled Frere. William Frear was taken in infancy to Can ada and lived for several years in Quebec, where his father, Joseph, was instrumen tal m raising the first Bethel flag in the harbor and in organizing the first Sabbath *liool in the city. Of the eight children of William and Deborah A. Frear four are now living-William H. Frear, Edwin A. Frear, Isabella D. Frear and Mrs. Martha [>¦ 1' rear-Parks. The maternal ancestors of the subject of this biography were among the earliest seafaring residents of Long Island, N.Y. I he tuition of the future merchant of Troy, who was born March 29, 1841, was ob tained in the old red school house of district No. 6, Coxsackie, of which his father «as a trustee, and in the excellent academy of the place, where he spent three years. was au ambitious lad, determined while yet in early boyhood to make a mark for himself in the busy world. He at first intended to fit himself for a career in the law 680 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. or in architecture, but the current of his life was changed during a vacation in the early part of 1857 by the invitation of Barnet Gay, who kept a general store in the upper village of Coxsackie, and who asked Mr. Frear to assist him during the turn- porary absence of a clerk. Mr. Gay found his new assistant au unusually bright, quick, versatile and earnest lad, and persuaded the latter to remain, which he did for two years. In March, 1859, John Flagg, a leading dry goods merchant of Troy, having ., place of business on Fulton, near River street, in that city, offered Mr. Frear a place as salesman, and this he accepted, discharging his duties with more than credit for a period of six years, developing superior ability, winning the confidence and esteem of all with whom he came in contact and mastering every detail of the business. Determined at last to be his own master and having saved a few hundred dollars, Mr. Frear embarked in the dry goods business in Troy in March, 1865, at his own risk, with Sylvanus Haverly as a partner, opening, March 9, a store at No. 321! River street, under the name of Haverly & Frear. His entire capital was then S2.000, which was furnished in part by his father and mother and his good wife, to the loyal and unselfish counsel of whom, and to their kind, cheerful and sustaining words and good example, Mr. Frear attributes a goodly share of his success. By dint of remarkable industry, self denial and application so incessant that it ap proached hardship, notwithstanding that the first year's business was done on the rapidly falling market which followed the Civil war, the efforts of the new firm were rewarded with success; and although they occupied only about 1,000 square feet of floor room, their sales the first year amounted to over §100,000. This was an admirable beginning. In March, 1868, the two partners joined forces with John Flagg and removed to the store in Cannon place, which had failed under Decker & Rice, opening April 9 under the title of Flagg, Haverly & Frear, with Mr. Frear as managing partner. January 2, 1869, Mr. Haverly withdrew, the firm name changing to Flagg & Frear. October 27, 1869, Mr. Frear purchased Mr. Flagg's interest, and carried on the business under his own name and on his sole account for twenty-five years, and with phenomenal success. During the early part of this quarter of a century Mr. Frear did all of the buying and advertising and was his own manager, as well as acting at times as bookkeeper and salesman. It is believed that during that time the business was greater in magnitude than that of any similar store in any city in the world of the population of Troy. His admirable system made Frear's Bazaar a household word and well known in almost every State and Territory in the United States, from nearly one thousand post-offices of which a constant stream of mail orders find their way to the Bazaar. Within fifteen years after Mr. Frear had taken sole charge retail cash sales had risen to over 812,000 in a single day and over 1)11,200,000 in a single year. Employ ment was given to 370 people. This is a remarkable record for an inland city, of then not more than 50,000 population. The store is much the largest in Troy, has fifty-five complete live departments and is known by the name of Frear's Troy Cash Bazaar. After carrying on business under his own name for twenty-five years Mr. Frear changed the firm to William H. Frear & Co. May 24, 1894, upon the admission of his brother, Edwin A. Frear, and his eldest son, Charles W. Frear. At the outset of his career as a merchant Mr. Frear originated the motto which appeared in his first announcement, " Prices and perfect satisfaction guarantied or BIOGRAPHICAL. 681 money cheerfully refunded." Mr. Frear takes far more pride in the fact that what ever he has accomplished is due to upright dealing, strict integrity and earnest, legitimate effort, than in the abundant financial success which has attended his en terprise. He is yet in the vigor of manhood, and in the full tide of success, and is in daily attendauce at the large establishment which his perseverance, industry and genius have called into being. Mr. Frear did some remarkably fine pioneer work in advertising. He was "nothing" with his pen or his schemes "if not original." Everybody who can remember so far back as the period from 1870 to 1880 is familiar with his original gas light openings, with military band and floral accompaniment. His trip with the original four-in-hand tally-ho delivery wagon, sounding the praises of the Troy Bazaar with bugle from New York city to Lake George — his originating the widely- copied gift sales, his illustrations of the poem, "The Night Before Christmas," drawn about the streets, his living "Santa Claus" and living reindeer, identifying Frear with Christmas in the minds of everybody, etc. , etc. October 27, 1863, Mr. Frear married Miss Fannie M. , daughter of Charles Wright, ofPownal, Vt, and of Martha M. Bradley, of Lanesboro, Mass. They have three children, Charles Wright Frear, a member of the firm of William H. Frear & Co. ; William Bradley Frear, who recently graduated from Williams College and is now connected with the Troy Bazaar, and Edwin Henry Frear, a student at the Troy Academy, Mr. Frear has proved his confidence in the future of the city of his adoption and his willingness to bear his share of its burdens, by the fact that he is the largest1 in dividual owner of real estate in the city of Troy and is constantly adding to his hold ings. He has owned since 1891 the big building known as Cannon Place, in which his business has gradually enlarged until now the buildings, occupying an area of IDO feet on Broadway and 120 on Second street, five stories and basement, are en tirely occupied by Frear's Troy Cash Bazaar. The entire purchase price, nearly $150,000, was paid on the spot in cash. When, in 1879, the city disposed at auction of its public market, known for over fifty years as the Fulton Market, Mr. Frear purchased the valuable property. In 1878 he bought the American House, facing Ihe market property and standing at the intersection of three of the leading thorough fares of Troy. The hotel is now known as the Frear House. Two lots of property- adjoining have since been acquired, arid it is an open secret that in Mr. Frear's fer tile mind there are plans for a grand mercantile edifice upon that site, which will be unrivaled outside of the cities of the very largest size. Mr. Frear has a fine city residence on Third street and a beautiful suburban home at the the junction of Oak- wood and Frear avenues, with grounds decorated with statuary and fountains. While faithful in a remarkable degree to the demands of a vast business, which while having its centre in Troy spreads to neighboring States, Mr. Frear has a mind open to the refining influences of life. He is a judicious reader of the best literature and a discriminating patron of art. His home is a choice gallery of paintings and »o sale of valuable pictures is without his presence, as a connoisseur who has the eye tu see and the capacity to acquire gems of art which will both enlarge and enrich his own collection. he alertness and activity of Troy's great merchant, even in his vacation days, 682 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. are shown by a sumptuous volume, entitled "Five Weeks in Europe," which contains the joint work of Mr. Frear's pen and camera. The book bears the sub-title of "A Photographic Memorandum," and is a unique and felicitous recognition of the memor able welcome given to Mr. Frear by the employees in his store on his return from a transatlantic jaunt. Appended to each photograph taken by Mr. Frear is an appro priate descriptive extract from Mr. Frear's letters to his wife while on the journey. Mr. Frear has public spirit and that rapidity of judgment which enables him, in the midst of intense business activity, to give to the affairs of the community effort and counsel of genuine value. His penetrating thought has often added wisdom lu public movements. Always responsive to the calls of charity, his was one of the names first thought of when a conflagration in February, 1896, in the Burdett build ing wrought terrible terrible loss of Hfe and destruction of the property of working women. As treasurer and one of the chief almoners of the relief fund, he assumed a task which involved weeks of almost unremitting attention. In politics Mr. Frear is a loyal Republican, but while too busy a man to seek or desire public office, yet he has not escaped having official positions seek him with such insistence as to compel acceptance. He was a member of the Troy Centennial Committee of One Hundred in 1889 and of the Citizens' Committee of Public Safety in 1894. He has also been a trustee of the Second Presbyterian church, the Troy Young Women's Association, the Troy Young Men's Christian Association, adirector of the Troy City National Bank and associate member of Post Griswold, G. A. K. At one time Mr. Frear served on the staff of Brigadier-General Alonzo Aldeu, with the rank of captain. The chief element in Mr. Frear's mercantile success has been personal attention to the details of business. He has known his store, his salespeople and his custom ers, his knowledge being first hand. The motto which he had engraved on his trademark at the start: " Par Negotiis Neque Supra," expresses it exactly. Nexl to this personal insight has been the practice of cash payments for goods bought. His customers have been cash buyers, and when he he has gone into the markets of America and Europe he has taken in his hand the golden key which tias opened the gates to the best goods at the lowest prices. Mr. Frear's check book is proof that " the nimble sixpence is better than the slow shilling," but the aggregate of those sixpences would astound any one except a metropolitan buyer. An incident of Mr. Frear's undaunted energy and extraordinary enterprise occurred in December, 1893, when fire destroyed his stock of goods and seriously damaged his store. On the morning of the fourth day after, the ponderous icebergs had dis appeared, a temporary roof had been built, settlement completed with the insurance companies, he had re-opened his store and his holiday trade went on with its usual mammoth proportions. WESLEY O. HOWARD. Wesley O. Howard was born in the Sixth ward of Troy, N. Y., September 11, 1863. His grandfather came to this country from Germany when a boy and settled in Grafton, N. Y., where he resided all his life. His father, Joel T. Howard, was WESLEY O. HOWARD. IRVING HAYNER. BIOGRAPHICAL. 683 bord in Grafton, was for many years on the old capitol police force, and died in 1869. His mother, Susannah (Sweet) Howard, died in 1866. Weslej 0. received a common school education in Grafton and an academic edu cation in Lansingburgh, after which he taught school for seven years. He entered the law office of Robertson, Foster & Kelley in the fall of 1886, was with that firm about two years, then went with William W. Morrill to finish his legal studies, and was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1889. Mr. Howard was attorney for the Board of Supervisors two years. He had the management of the prosecution and collection of the evidence against the repeaters and election offenders in the winter of 1893, and was attorney for the committee in charge during the whole examination. He was one of the attorneys for the Commit tee of Safety which continued the same work, and was also one of the attorneys for the Senate investigating committee. He was secretary of the Republican County Committee for three years. He was elected district attorney in the fall of 1896. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He was married October 1, 1884, to Carrie A. Millias, of Grafton; they have two daughters, one ten and the other three years of age.. Mr. Howard's residence is in Bath-on the-Hudson. JAMES J. CHILD. James J. Child, son of Joseph and Agnes (Johnston) Child, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., April 22, 1854, and moved to Troy with his parents in 1862. He finished his education at the Lansingburgh Academy in 1871, and on December 8, 1872, entered the employ of David Judson, the leading coal dealer of Lansingburgh. Soon after ward Mr. Child was made manager, and upon Mr. Judson's death in 1881 he formed a partnership with the latter's son, David A. Judson, which continued successfully until May 1, 1893, when he organized the James J. Child Coal Company, of which he has since been the president and treasurer. This company probably handles more coal than any other concern in Northern or Eastern New York, and conducts strictly a wholesale business, largely with" railroads and other large corporations. Mr. Child has always taken a keen interest in public affairs, lending his support and encouragement to all worthy objects. He is a member of the Riverside Club of hansingburgh, and was a prominent member and trustee of Olivet Presbyterian church of which he was also an elder for many years until the spring of 1886, when he transferred his membership to and became an active worker in Westminster Presbyterian church. He was married on April 1, 1882, to Miss Marion E., daughter of Duane Lock- wood, of Lansingburgh, and they have three children: Grace A., Dudley L. , and Mildred I. IRVING HAYNER. Ikvini; Hayner was born in Brunswick, N, Y., April 8, 1838, the son of David and Unah (Bornt) Hayner. His father and mother died in 1876 and 1884 respectively. 684 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Mr. Hayner was educated in the public schools and was graduated from Fort Ed ward Institute in 1857. He read law with Hon. W. A. Beach, was admitted to the bar in 1865, and, began practice in Troy, where he now conducts a general law busi ness. He represented the Fifth ward of Troy in the Board of Aldermen two years and was school commissioner for six years. He is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, Apollo Commandery and the Mystic Shrine, is a. director in the National State Bank, and is one of the charter members of the East Side Club, a prominent social organization, and has been its president for two terms. In 1868 he married Carrie H. Halladay, of VeTmont, and his children are Horatio H., alawyer, Mittie, Helen and Carolyn. NELSON DAVENPORT. Nelson Davenport was born September 13, 1827, in Tompkins county, N. Y., the son of John G. Davenport, of the Rhode Island family of that name, and Esther (Miller) Davenport of the Millers of White Plains.'N. Y. He entered the Troy Conference Academy with Esek Cowen and R. A. and F. J. Parmenter. Deciding to enter the profession of law, he entered the National Law School, and in 1850 was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the State, and subsequently to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1865 he was appointed by Governor Fenton one of the commissioners of the capitol police and held that position five years. He is one of the trustees of the Troy Young Men's Association, one of the new Court House commission, and one of the commissioners of State prisons. For over twenty years he has spent the mornings and evenings of the sum mer months on his farm in East Greenbush, on the heights overlooking the Hudson. In 1857 he married a daughter of Hon. Jason C. Osgood and has one child living, who is the wife of Casper V. W. Burton. CALVIN H. CLARK. Calvin H. Clark was born in Troy, N. Y., April 6, 1842. He is the grandson of . of Peter Clark, one of the first settlers of Green Island. His father, Willard Clark, ( was born in Troy andformany years was in the employ of the D. & H. Railroad Co, }¦ and died July 4, 1848. His mother, Eliza J. (Capron) Clark, was born in New Hamp- i shire and is now living in Troy. Calvin H. Clark began self-support at eleven years of age; he worked in a satinet factory in Troy and in cotton and hosiery factories until 1869, when he entered the bakery of Charles Vail, where he remained for four years. He later was in the em ploy of the National Express Co., and after six months bought the baggage express business of Henry Ogden. Later he was baggageman on the railroad for three years, and was four years employed by the Troy & Albia Railroad, when he bought out a general store at Albia, which he sold out and again went into the Vail bakery; CALVIN H. CLARK. R. H. WARD, M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 685 later he was agent for Little & Stillman, tobacco manufacturers, following which he was in the Troy & Boston freight office for three years, during which time he was learning undertaking and embalming. October 18, 1883, he engaged in the under taking business with Charles J. Reedy under the firm name of Clark & Reedy ; four years later he bought out Mr. Reedy, and since that time he has carried on the busi ness alone at 820 River street. He has built two fine business blocks in North Troy, and has one of the most complete undertaking establishments in the city of Troy. He is a 32" Mason, a charter member of the Royal Arcanum, trustee of the Exempt Firemen, and a trustee of Grace M. E. church, of which he is also treasurer. January 1, 1863, he married Maria Hastings, daughter of Nathan and Ruth Hast ings, of Troy, by whom he has one daughter, Mrs. George Blake, of Troy. R. HALSTED WARD, M. D. Richard Halsted Ward, A. M., M. D., F. R. M. S., was born in Bloomfield, N. J,, June 17, 1837. He was the eldest son of Israel C. and Almeda Hanks Ward, a leading family of the place, and prominently connected there, as well as in the neighboring city of New York where the business interests of the family were mostly situated. After preparation in the local schools, he entered Williams College at the age of seventeen, and was graduated at twenty-one (A. B. in 1858, A. M. in 1861). While in college he was librarian, and afterward president, of the Philotechnian .Lit erary Society, editor of the Williams Quarterly, and a most active member of the " Florida Expedition " (1857/), one of the first and most successful of the parties that have been sent out from the various colleges for the purpose of scientific study and collection. He next spent four years of thorough study in the medical schools and hospitals of N'ew York and Philadelphia, and took the degree of M. D. in 1862, from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. After a short service in the U. S. Military Hospital at Nashville, Tenn., and a year's residence, as a sanitary measure, in Min nesota, he established in Troy, in 1863, being soon associated with Dr. Thomas W. ¦ Blatchford until his sudden death in 1866, the large and important medical practice in connection with a course of earnest scientific activity, which has been maintained uninterruptedly ever since. He is a member of the Medical Board (attending phy sician since 1868, consulting physician since 1892), and of the Board of Governors (since 1868, secretary since 1875), and of the Committee of Management (since 1885, secretary of the committee since 1888), of the Marshall Infirmary ; an institution in which he has always taken an unceasing interest, and to whose executive as well as medica) and sanitary affairs he has always taken pleasure in giving a large amount of time and labor. He was president of the Rensselaer County Medical Society (1877, re-elected in 1878) ; is member of the Medical Society of the State of New York (dele gate 18118, permanent member 1873), and of the American Medical Association; and fellow of the New York State Medical Association (1886), and of the American Academy "f Medicine (1889). Hehasbeen a delegate to the International Medical Congress, at severalmeetingsheldindifrerentcountries;and at the Berlin Congress in 1890 he was 686 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. one of the very limited number that received invitations and attended the emperor's reception at court. In his numerous and extensive travels in this country and abroad he has always made a study of the medical and sanitary affairs, especially as to climate and local conditions of importance to health, as to domestic habits and hy giene, water supply, hospital facilities and management, etc. Several of Dr. Ward's papers on medical subjects have been published in the " Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of New York" His instinctive fondness for scientific studies was obvious in his school-hoy days, when his assistance was constantly sought in the scientific work of the institutions where he studied. In college, the same taste remained and grew more prominent in connection with a reputation as an original, independent and analytical writer- and after concentrating his attention upon botany, under the teaching of the young and enthusiastic Professor (afterward President) Paul A. Chadbourne, he permanently fixed upon that and the related departments of biology and microscopy as his special field of work. He was appointed instructor in botany at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1867, and was made professor of botany the second year following, until his resig nation-after twenty-six years of service, in 1892. He has also delivered courses of lectures on microscopy at the Institute on several occasions, and he was lecturer on histology and microscopy in the scientific course leading to the degree of B.#S. Outside of the Institute he has long been known, not only in this country but abroad, as a. thorough student, a philosophical and suggestive writer, and an in structive lecturer. He has always been a popularizer of science, taking the greatest pleasure in treating the most difficult and unpromising subjects, and in so simplify ing them as to make them easy and interesting. He has been especially interested in philosophical, applied' and economic botany, and his writings and lectures, on whatever subject, have seldom lost sight of his favorite theme, the practical appli cations of science. A characteristic incident occurred at the Nashville meeting of the American Association for the advancement of science in 1877, when an evening was given to a microscopical exhibition for the entertainment of the citizens, and the instruments were arranged in the great hall of the State Capitol. But when the hour arrived the whole place was packed solidly " from pit to dome" with the best people of the city. To move about and view the objects was impossible, and an ad dress must be substituted, but no speaker had been provided. The choice fell upon " Dr. Ward to fill the gap, and without preparation he gave an address, which one of the local professors illustrated with a lantern ; and only after the audience was dis missed and most of them had gone home, were those who remained able to circulate and view the exhibits. His necessities as well as his taste have led him to accumulate a large and useful library, especially in the direction of science, industries and arts. His microscopical library is equalled by very few private collections in the world, containingmany rare and valuable works, all the microscopical journals ever published in America as well as most of the foreign ones, and thousands of pamphlets, reprints, extracts, etc., pertaining to biology and microscopy in its widest sense. His botanical experience furnished a large part of his recreation as well as of his work. Botanizing walks were always his best pastime and rest from the care and wear of business. His summer vacations were yearly spent in travel, avoiding as BIOGRAPHICAL. 687- far as possible the haunts and habits and notoriety of tourists, and studying unnoticed the peoples and their regions from their own point of view. In thi° way he has, during a very active life, gained some familiarity, especially as to their vegetation, and horticulture, and their sanitary and medical characteristics and affairs, with selected points in nearly all the States of this country, and in nearly every country of Europe. His habits as well as his love of instruments of precision gave him great fondness for the rifle, and especially for target shooting, and he was for many years a member, and much of the time president, of the Trojan Rifle Club. Professor Ward's original work in the advancement of science, and that which has gained him most distinction abroad, has been chiefly in the direction of microscopy, of which he was one of the pioneers in this country, and in which he has long been an acknowledged authority. In addition to an extensive use of the microscope from the first, not only as a constant aid in his own medical practice but also for the ben efit of other physicians, he was among the first to apply that instrument successfully to the discrimination of different kinds of blood in connection with criminal cases, and to the detection of forgeries, erasures and other falsifications in handwriting. Besides introducing the microscope as a critical element in important criminal trials, he has made it prominent and sometimes decisive in many legal, medical, sanitary and economical cases pertaining to water supply, adulterations or falsifications of food, medicine or other commercial products, etc. His address as president of the American Society of Microscopists, at its Buffalo meering in 1879, on the Practical Uses of the Microscope, gave an importance and prominence to this class of work, and secured for it a development which was far in advance of former experience. Finding the existing standards of measurement quite unsatisfactory for work of such precision, he took a leading part, in connection with the late learned President F. A. P. Barnard of Columbia University, in organizing in 1878, the "National Com mittee on Micrometry," and in securing the standard micrometer of the American Microscopical Society, which is now acknowledged as authority for such purposes. Among his inventions and contrivances, which have been steps in the progress of development of the modern microscope, are an erecting arrangement for binoculars, andan illuminating arrangement for the same, the iris illuminator, an eye shade which has been extensively used with great comfort and satisfaction for the protec tion from fatigue of the unemployed eye while working with the monocular micro scope, a lens holder for dissecting purposes, and a safety mailing box for slides which has been used for twenty years by the American Postal Microscopical Club in the circulation of thousands of slides throughout the country, with a convenience and immunity from danger of breakage of the specimens that was wholly unknown before. His connection with numerous scientific societies, of several of which ho was a founder and most active and efficient supporter, has brought him into intimate rela tions with the most advanced scientific work and progress of the times. He was the first president of the Troy Scientific Association (1870-77, and 1880- — ), and in its early years he often entertained the society at his residence, at annual soirees and microscopical exhibitions, at which the custom was introduced of cataloguing the exhibits according to the character of the objects themselves, and arranging them ac cordingly in different parts of the house in natural groups suitable for in structi ve study, instead of the fashion which is still common of listing the microscopes, mostly accord- 688 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. ing to the bigness of the stands, and letting the objects come wherever they happen to. He was the designer and leader of the many " field meetings" held by this so ciety, and contributed the chief share of the work that made them successful and famous for many years; and he has also been, from the first, the leader of the micro scopical section of the society, in connection with which he has been always ready- to assist others however inexperienced, and has done scientific work that has been recognized abroad and that gained for him, as president, an honorary appointment in 1879 as ex officio Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society in London. He was one of the originators, and the president, of the National Microscopical Congress held at Indianapolis in 1878, and the first president of its successor, the American Society of Microscopists (1879); and in 1896 the latter society, now known as the American Microscopical Society, elected him as an honorary member, a distinction which has been conferred on but three or four persons during the whole history of the society. He was manager of the American Postal Microscopical Club for twenty years, from its foundation in 1875 until 1895, when he became president; he has acted as editor of its published reports, and has been a large contributor to the original notes and other work of the club; and some idea of the amount and charac ter of his work in this enterprise can be gained from one or two extracts from the published comments of various members: "Dr. Ward is the president and father of this club. An unusual love of microscopical science prompted him to organize it, and an inborn ability to guide and interest, enabled him to conduct it successfully for twenty years. Those of us who know him best sincerely hope that he 'may live long and prosper' and continue yet to guide for many years. . . Dr. Ward's careful essays in this series of books are a most valuable feature, and should be at tentively studied. They contain information not easily obtained elsewhere. — S. d. S." "There are many members who will be pleased to see the photo of such a dis tinguished, unselfish, untiring worker for the best interests of our club as Dr. R. H. Ward, of Troy, N. Y. — G. M. H." "All these essays by Dr. Ward are veritable word- pictures ; only a long experience as a teacher could fit one to carry information in such clear-cut sentences. — S." He is also a member of the American Metrological Society (1879), in which he labored earnestly in connection with the late President F. A. P. Barnard for reform in weights and measures, an agitation which was an important step in the adoption of the metric system in American microscopy; also of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (member 1868, Fellow 1874; chairman of the sub-section of microscopy 1872, 1876 and 1877), and active member of the local committee of arrangements for the meetings at Troy (1870) and Saratoga (1879); and Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society, London. He has attended, as associate member, several meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He is honorary member (1877) of the Societe Beige de Microscopie, which rare distinction has been conferred upon but one other American, the late Dr. J. J. Woodward of the U. S. Army Medical Museum in Washington ; of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences (1873); of the Troy Citizens Corps (1878), etc. He is corresponding mem ber of the Boston Society of Natural History (1872); of the Albany Institute (1870), where he has delivered addresses on several occasions ; of the New York Microscop ical Society (1888), State Microscopical Society of Illinois (1872), San Francisco Microscopical Society (1879), and many other societies in various parts of thecountry. GEORGE A. ROSS. BIOGRAPHICAL. 68U In the summer of 1891 he attended and represented this country as a member of the Committee of Honor and Patronage, the International Exposition of Microscopy held at Antwerp, Belgium, in celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the invention of the microscope, a report upon which he published the following year. Professor Ward is author of the elaborate article on "Microscopy" in Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia for 1884 ; of a " Microscopical Slide-Catalogue" (4°, Troy, N.Y., 1886), for the systematic and descriptive registering of the slides in any collection ; of "Plant Organization" (4°, Troy, N. Y., 1889; 2d ed., Boston, 1890), an analysis of plant forms and structures, for the use of students by the written method ; and editor, conjointly with Rev. A. B. Hervey, of the American Revision of Behrens on the "Microscope in Botany" (Boston, 1885), to which work he made extensive con tributions respecting the microscope and its accessories from the point of view of American experience. His numerous scientific papers, published during, the last thirty years, and many of which have been reprinted abroad, have pertained mostly to such subjects as the " Practical Uses of the Microscope," "Medical Microscopy," "The Study of Blood and of Handwriting," "Micrometry," "Illumination," "The Powers. Aperture and Nomenclature of Objectives and Oculars," "Students' Dis secting and Binocular Microscopes," etc. His papers have been mostly published in the Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the American Society of Microscopists, now American Microscopical Society, and in the Reports of the American Postal Microscopical Club, in the American Naturalist (Salem, now Philadelphia), American Journal of Microscopy (New York), American Monthly Microscopical Journal (Washington), The Microscope (Ann Arbor, now Washington), the Monthly Microscopical Journal (London), the Journal de Micrographie (Paris), the Microscopical Bulletin (Philadelphia), etc. Many of them have been republished in pamphlet form and extensively circulated. For twelve years he was associated with the editorial corps of the American Naturalist, having established (1871) the department of microscopy of that journal, the first micro scopical department in any scientific journal in this country; and during that time he contributed a monthly budget of critical notes in regard to that branch of science, which were prepared with such care and judgment as to be constantly quoted as authority. He was married in 1862 to Charlotte A. Baldwin, daughter of Caleb D. Baldwin, of Bloomfield, N. J., and has four children, of whom the eldest, Henry B. Ward, Ph. D., has succeeded to his father's love of, and aptness for, scientific work, and is now engaged in the same as professor of zoology in the University of Nebraska. GEORGE A. ROSS. ieorge A. Ross, the genial proprietor of the Frear House, has risen to his pres- in position through sheer force of character and energy, characteristics of the . y Scotch race from which he sprung. After securing a common school educa- in Troy and an academic education in the Lansingburgh Academy he com- menced life for himself as a bell boy in present hotel, which was then owned by 690 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Lucius Wright. Upon the removal of Mr. Wright to Poughkeepsie Mr. Ross accom panied him, where he remained as clerk of the Morgan House until his return to Troy, when he again became connected with the American House and remained as bookkeeper until June, 1888, when he became proprietor of the last named hos telry, and in 1893 changed its name to the Frear House. This is one of the old landmarks of Troy as a hotel and has for many years enjoyed a wide popularity with the traveling public. The parents of George A. Ross were David and Elizabeth (Grieve) Ross, who were born in Scotland and who came to America and settled in Troy in 1845. David Ross was a cloth finisher by trade and died herein 1867, leaving nine children. Mrs. Elizabeth Ross still resides in Troy at the advanced age of eighty years. Mr. Ross is vice-president of the Troy Rubber Stamp Works, of which his brother, D. G. Ross, is president, and another brother, Andrew W. Ross, is secretary and treasurer. GEORGE A. MOSHER. George A. Mosher was born in Sharon, Vt., October 6, 1845. He is the elder son of Albert B. Mosher, for several years a member of the Vermont Legislature, and Lucretia Eldredge, a great-granddaughter of Gen. Israel Putnam of Revolutionary fame. He attended the common schools, the Royalton Academy, at Royalton, Vt, and later Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, N. H., from which he graduated and entered Dartmouth College in 1863. He was graduated from Dartmouth in 1867, and the same year he assumed charge of Champlain Academy at Champlain, N.Y., as principal. The following year he came to Troy, studied law in the office of R. A. & F. J. Parmenter, and he was admitted to practice in 1868, while with that firm. About two years later he formed a partnership with Hon. James Forsyth, under the firm name of Forsyth & Mosher, which continued until 1879. He then devoted much time to the study of mechanical and patent matters, and in 1882 became asso ciated with the law firm of Davenport & Hollister, of Troy, making a specialty of patent law practice. In 1893 he entered into partnership with Frank C. Curtis, of Troy, with whom he is now associated under the firm name of Mosher & Curtis. The business of the firm is devoted to patents and patent law exclusively. Mr. Mosher. has been interested, both as mechanical expert and counsel, in many important law suits relating to patents ; and he is himself the inventor and patentee of several labor-saving devices, perhaps the most important of which is a machine now in general use for attaching buttons to shoes by means of wire staples. During his residence in Troy, Mr. Mosher has become largely interested in real estate, owning a large tract of land east of Pine Wood avenue on Mt. Ida Lake, the improvement of which has formed his principal recreation. This property, which was an uninhabitable wilderness when acquired by him, he has transformed into one of Troy's most delightful suburban localities, through which extend Lake street and Belle avenue, two streets which have been opened and given to the city by him. Mr. Mosher was one of the founders of the East Side Club, of which he was the GEORGE A. MOSHER. EDWARD L. LYONS, M. D. BIOGRAPHICAL. 691 fourth president, and has been a trustee of the same continuously since its organiza tion He is also a trustee of the Ionic Club, of which he has been a member sixteen years' and is vice-president of the Eastern New York Whist Association. He was married in 1870 to Belle M. Holden of Springfield, Vt. , who died in 1880 ; and in 1883 he married Mrs. Jennie A. Kenyon, of Troy, who died in October, 1894. JOHN T. NORTON. Hon. John T. Norton was born in Troy, N. Y., February 4, 1865. His father, Thomas Norton, came to this country from Tipperary, Ireland, in 1846 and settled in Troy; for many years he was superintendent of the Clinton Iron Works, and was alderman for a number of years ; he was a local leader in the Democratic party ; his death occurred August 24, 1888. The mother of John T. , Rose (Shattuck) Norton, was born in Belfast, Ireland, and is still living. John T. Norton was educated in the public schools and entered Williams College, from which he was graduated in 1886. He studied law in Troy and in Buffalo, and was admitted to the bar at the latter place in 1889 and returned to Troy where he has since been engaged. He was elected member of assembly in 1894 by a majority of 750 and in 1895 by a majority of 2,147. He was one of the counsel inthe"Bat" Shea case, He is a member of the Old Guard, Troy Citizens Corps, Pafraets Dael Club, and Laureate Boat Club. He was married to Margaret Hammond, of Buffalo, N. Y., in January, 1891. JOHN J. FARRELL. John J. Farrell was born in Troy, N. Y. , October 30, 1870. His father, John M. Farrell, came from Ireland. and settled in Troy; he was in the grocery business until he was burned out in the great fire of 1862, when he went into the coal business, which he followed until his death in 1886. His mother was Mary Lennehan, who was born in Ireland and died in Troy in 1889. John K. Farrell was educated at St. Mary's Academy in Troy, aud after the death 'if his father took charge of his estate. In April, 1896 he was appointed fire com missioner by Mayor Molloy, and has the distinction of being the youngest fire com missioner in the State. He is a member of Arba Read Steamer Co., and was assist ant captain two terms ; he is also a member of the Laureate Boat Club. EDWARD L. LYONS, M. D. Euwakd L. Lvons was born in Troy, N. Y. , in 1863. When very young his father, Mward Lyons, came from Ireland with his parents who settled in Troy ; his mother, Ellen (English) Lyons, died in 1890. 692 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Dr. Lyons attended the Brothers' Academy, and afterwards entered the Medical University of the City of New York, from which he was graduated. He went to Europe and studied medicine in Berlin and Vienna, afterwards returning and be ginning practice in Troy in 1888. He is attending physician at the Brothers' Male Orphan Asylum, and is a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society and the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity ; he also is a member of the Robert Emmett Association. HERBERT E. DE FREEST, M.D. Dr. Herhert E. De Freest, was born in North Greenbush, N. Y., August 11, 1868, of Holland Dutch descent. His father, Edwin De Freest, was also born in North Greenbush and is a farmer. His mother is Louisa (Bass) De Freest. Dr. De Freest received his early education in the public schools of North Green bush and Troy, and held the highest honors in a class of 130 that took examinations for the High School. He graduated from the High School in 1889, and entered Rut gers College, New Jersey, taking a special course in German, French and chemistry; he entered Albany Medical College from which he was graduated in 1893, having received the highest honors in surgery and the highest degree in the specialty of the eye and ear. While in Albany he occupied various positions in the Albany Hospi tal. After graduation he began practice in North Troy, where he is now located. He is a member of the State Medical Society, the Rensselaer County Medical So ciety, and the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity; he isa member of Diamond Rock Lodge I. O. O, F., of the order of Red Men No. 230, of the East Side and Riv erside Clubs, and of the D. K. E. of Rutgers College. He is examining physician for the Royal Arcanum, the National Life Insurance Co. of Montpelier, Vt., Gei- mania Life of New York, Mutual Life, Home Life, and Northwestern Masonic of Chicago, and is also one of the State examiners in lunacy. He married in 1893, Edith Haslehurst, of Troy; she is a daughter of the late The odore Haslehurst, who was a- thirty -third degree Mason, and at one time was grand commander of New York State; he died in December, 1888. BEECHER E. CARPENTER. Beecher E. Carpenter was born in Glens Falls, N. Y., in 1842. His paternal grandfather, Elias Carpenter, was a Revolutionary soldier and died at the age of ninety-two. His maternal grandfather, Beecher Higby, of Glens Falls, was a car penter and builder and died at the age of fifty. His father, Waite S. Carpenter, was for many years proprietor of the Glens Falls Hotel and died at the age of sixty-nine. His mother, Mariette (Higby) Carpenter, was born in Glens Falls and died in 1893. Beecher E. Carpenter received a common school education, and afterwards assisted his father in the hotel business until about 1881, when he came to Troy and entered the employ of John B. Clark, who then carried on a large livery, carriage and furn- BEECHER E. CARPENTER. WILLIAM DONOHUE. BIOGRAPHICAL. 693 ishing goods business. He bought Mr. Clark's interest in the fall of 1890, and is do ing an extensive business at his store at Nos. 18 and 20 State street in carriage and horse furnishing goods. He belongs to Glens Falls Lodge, F. & A. M. He married Miss Julia E. Clark in 1874; she is the daughter of John B. Clark, who was known throughout the country as a trader and dealer in horse goods of all de scriptions. He was the first to start the carriage business in Syracuse, N. Y , and died in the fall of 1894. Mr. Carpenter has one daughter, Bessie M. JAMES HENRY LYONS, M. D. Dr. James Henky Lyons, son of John and Alicia (Martin) Lyons, was born at Eagle Bridge, N. Y., May 12, 1858. His father died at the battle of Antietam, September 15, 1862. Dr. Lyons received his education in the public schools of Eagle Bridge, Johnson ville and Schagaticoke, and was graduated from Mechanicville Academy as saluta- torian of his class in 1883. He entered Williams College in the fall of that year and was graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1887. In 1890 he was graduated from Albany Medical College with the degree of M. D., and was valedictorian of his class. In May, 1890, he began active practice in Lansingburgh; later he took a course in the New York Postgraduate Medical School, graduating in August, 1896. He took a special course of lectures in surgery when in New York city, and is a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society. WILLIAM DONOHUE. William Donohue was born in Troy, N. Y., October 3, 1832. His father, Timothy Donohue, came to this country in 1825 and settled in Troy, where he resided until his death in 1857. His mother, Elizabeth Mahoney, died in 1840. William Donohue attended' the Old First ward Lancasterian school and private schools, and went to work when ten years of age. He learned the trade of coach- making, at which he worked from 1850 to 1858, when he began business On his owu account and so -continued to 1864. He was elected alderman of the First ward in 1861, and was appointed clerk of the Justice's- Court in 1865. He was elected justice for three years and afterwards re-elected. In 1876 he was appointed police magis trate and- retired in 1881; he was again appointed in 1887 and still holds that office. He is a member of the firm of Donohue, Tierney & Ise'ngart Brewing Co. and is its treasurer. He has been a member of the Democratic County Committee twenty years, and a member of the Central Committee ten years. In 1856 he married Miss Catherine Roche, of Troy, who died in 1876. Thev had four children; Elizabeth, Thomas N., Catherine and William. In 1887 he married Miss Nellie F. Mallon, of Troy 694 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. FRANCIS J. MOLLOY. Hon. Francis J. Molloy was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1849. His father, Michael Molloy, came to this country in 1832 and was a prominent grocer in Troy for thirty years. His wife, mother of the subject of this sketch, was Jane (Wilson) Molloy; she died in 1875. Francis J. attended St. Joseph's Academy, but left there after the big fire of 18112. When his father placed James E. Molloy in business, Francis J. took a position with him as clerk, and in 1870 became a partner in the wholesale grocery business, the firm name being James E. Molloy & Co., which is one of the oldest and largest estab lishments of the kind in the city. In 1880 he was elected alderman for a term of eight months, a change in the char ter making a short term necessary at that time. He was elected police commissioner to fill the unexpired term of James Fleming, and held that office until elected mayor in 1893, to which office he was re-elected in 1895. As mayor he has ever been fore most in promoting the best interests of the city, its growth and development, and during his administrations the franchises and privileges of the electric car lines have been largely extended. During his term of office close attention has been given to the economical administration of the city government, never, however, losing sight of the proper growth and development of the city ; and the best people, irrespective of political affiliations, concede to him a clean, popular and progressive adminis tration. He is a member of the Democratic State Committee from his district, and for many years has been recognized as among the leaders of his party in the State. He is a director in the Manufacturers' National Bank and the Troy Gas Co. He is a member of the Catholic church, and worships at St. Mary's, the church of which Rev. Peter Havermans is pastor. FRANK P. HARDER. Hon. Frank P. Harder was born in the town of Schodack, March 19, 1845, and was educated at Nassau and Poughkeepsie. He was engaged in the freighting busi ness for twelve years, and was in the lumber, flour and feed trade for many years. He has been connected with the National Bank of Castleton since 1885, and has been president of the bank since 1890; his father was one of the organizers of this bank and for many years its vice-president. In 1879 he was elected county treasurer by the Democratic party, and from Janu ary 1, 1880, to December 31, 1888, a period of nine years, he filled that responsible position with credit to himself and for the best interests of the county. After the expiration of his term as county treasurer, in the fall of 1889, accom panied by his wife, he started on a tour around the world, spending two years visit ing the principal places of interest in Great Britain and continental Europe, also China, Japan, Ceylon and other oriental countries, returning via San Francisco. Mr. Harder is a 32° Mason, being a member of the Chapter, Apollo Commandery K. T. of Troy and Albany Consistory ; he also is a prominent member of the Knights GEORGE SCOTT. BIOGRAPHICAL. 695 t of Pythias, of which organization he was grand chancellor in 1876. For many years he has been one of the most active Democrats in his section of the State, and is now chairman of the Third Assembly District Committee. As a business man he takes front rank among the best men of the county. He is regarded as safe and con servative, and has been successful in all his undertakings. He is public-spirited and has done a great deal for the county in which he was born and has lived all his life. In 1868 Mr. Harder married Charlotte Pegg. His parents were Andrew and Eve (Clapper) Harder. His grandfather, Peter Harder, was a native of Dutchess county, and the family came from Holland originally about the year 1670. GEORGE SCOTT. The late George Scott was born in New Yrork city, July 8, 1813, and died Decem ber 30, 1884. He was educated in the public schools. His people moved first to Sullivan county, N. Y. , and from there to Albany. At the age of seventeen he came to Lansingburgh and learned the brush making trade. In 1835, with a partner, he began the manufacture of brushes; after a short time the partnership was dissolved and he continued tbe business alone ; in the market his brushes were considered the best. At the beginning of the war, on account of the unsettled condition of the country, he failed in business, made an assignment and settled with his creditors at seventy five cents on the dollar. He later resumed business and met with success, and paid his former creditors in full, both principal and interest. He had much influence for good with young men ; he was a member of the M. E. church, being a teacher and superintendent of the Sunday school over fifty years. He left "a good name, which is better than precious ointment," and his life is a perpetual lesson to all who had the enjoyment of his acquaintance. In his political choice he was an ardent Republican. October 29, 1835, he married Abigail Morrison, (died July 19, 1888) of Middlebury, Vt. ; they had six children, four of whom grew to maturity : Margaret (wife of George C. Gage, of Waterford), George A., Mary A. (wife of H. C. Hill ; the business of Mr. Scott is now conducted by Mrs. Hill), and Adelaide S. (widow of George W. Smith). The two daughters last named occupy the old homestead of their parents. fieorge A. was born in 1842. At the age of seventeen he conceived the idea of anew brush ; at nineteen enlisted as a private in the 30th N. Y. Vols, in the late war; and at twenty-two had his brush patented and was admitted as a partner in the Florence Manufacturing Company at Florence, Mass. While abroad during the following ten years he established in London the Leonite Manufacturing Company and applied electro-magnetism to the brush and to other articles. In electro-magnetism he was a well-known inventor. In 1879 he returned to New York and became one of the greatest advertisers iu the country, expending $150,000 annually in making known his products; until his death, which occurred February 11, 1890, at Colorado Springs, he was considered one ™ 'he "makers of New York,'' and one of the most successful sons of Lansingburgh. 696 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. * Inheriting a kind heart from both of his parents, his visits to his birthplace were memorialized by generous deeds. He was surrived by a widow, a daughter and son. Both father and son were men of large benefactions, and their good deeds live as one of the noblest traits of character, and they were held in the highest esteem by all. WILLIAM H. DOUGHTY. William Howard Doughty is a Trojan by ancestry, education and alifc-luug cit izenship. He leads a busy and a useful life. Entirely independent of pecuniary re turns for personal exertion, he voluntarily assumes the cares and perplexities of business. His leisure from more exacting work is largely devoted to the educational, humane and charitable institutions that seek his advice and command his liberal support. He is profoundly interested in current problems of general and municipal government, but is not in the least what is recognized as a practical politician. He reads widely in general literature, has a keen appreciation of the humorous, and ex cels as a conversationalist and raconteur. He is a Presbyterian by conviction and in practice a Christian gentleman. The " Doughty " name dates from before the Norman Conquest and it has been spelled in precisely its present form, at least since the reign of Henry VIII. The " Doughty " ancestor of the American family, from whom William Howard Doughty is descended in the eighth generation, was Rev. Francis Doughty who emigrated from England and settled at Cohannet in Plymouth Patent (Taunton), Mass., about 1033, among the earliest of the Puritans. A little later he withdrew from the New England Colony and settled in 1642, with many others from Cohannet, near the site of the present city of Brooklyn, N. Y. , under a patent granted by Governor Kieft of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. His own bouwery was on the east side of Flushing Bay known as Stevens Point. Subsequently seeking refuge from the dep redations of Indians, he took up his residence in New Netherland near the fort, where he had purchased property. He soon established a church within the fortifications, ministered there himself and became the first man to preach in the English tongue on Manhattan Island. He was a "Puritan father," afriend and guest of Cecil, Lord Baltimore, founder of the Roman Catholic colony of Maryland, and a leader among some of the sturdiest colonists who laid the foundations of New York. From these facts it would be easy to infer a character not so varied from that of the sketch as is the nineteenth from the seventeenth century. William Howard Doughty was born in Troy, N. Y., September 11, 1837, son of Lieut. Ezra Thompson Doughty (b. 1811, d. 1843) of the United States Navy, and Harriette Howard (b. 1818, m. 1836, d. 1870), daughter of Richard P. Hart, one of the most successful business men ever identified with Troy. His paternal grand mother was a sister of Smith Thompson, secretary of the navy in the cabinet of President Monroe, and afterwards judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Doughty left home for boarding school at the early age of seven years, was en tered at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ten years later, and was graduated as civil engineer (C. E.) in 1858 in the same class with William Metcalf of Pittsburgh, Pa., Clark Fisher of Trenton, N. J., and other well known engineers. He subse- WILLIAM HOWARD DOUGHTY. BIOGRAPHICAL. 697 ciuently traveled throughout the continent of Europe and made extensive excursions into Asia and Africa. In 1870 he became connected with the office of the Hart Es tate and from 1878 took charge of its business management. Becoming skilled in large and intricate financial transactions his counsel was sought by investors, and lie became associated with men of affairs in all the activities of his native city. He is now a member of the Executive Committees of the Troy Savings Bank, the Troy Orphan Asylum and the Young Men's Christian Association; he is one of the Ad visory Committee of the Presbyterian Home Association ; he was one of the incor porators and is the first president of the Samaritan Hospital ; he is a trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and has been president of its Alumni Association ; he is a trustee of the Emma Willard School (formerly Troy Female Seminary) and of the Troy Young Men's Association ; he is chairman of the trustees for the erection of the Hart Memorial Library building ; he is a director of the Rensselaer and Sar atoga Railroad Company and the Albany and Vermont Railroad Company; a direc tor of the Troy City Bank and of the Troy and West Troy Bridge Company ; he is a member of the City (political) Club, the Troy Club, and several athletic associations. Surely this is the record of a kind, versatile and useful man. Mr. Doughty married, April 7, 1874, Alice Clarkson Crosby, daughter of Edward Nicoll Crosby, of New York. They have seven children : Wiliam Howard, jr., Ed ward Crosby, Ralston, Richard Hart, Hariette Hart, Alice Crosby and Marion Rutgers. EDWARD MURPHY, Jr. Hon. Edward Murphy, Jr., is the son of Edward Murphy, sr., and was born in Troy, N. Y., December 15, 1836. His father came from Ireland to Canada in 1833 and soon afterward settled in Troy, where he began a successful career as a brewer. Senator Murphy received his rudimentary education in the public schools of his na tive city. He then entered Montreal College at Montreal, Can., and afterward at tended St. John's College at Fordham, where his education was completed. Return ing home he became his father's assistant in the brewery business, which he aided materially in building up and developing. Finally the father relinquished the en terprise to the son. Mr. Murphy carried on the business alone for several years, then forming a copartnership with William Kennedy, another brewer, he established the present firm of Kennedy & Murphy, one of the largest and best known in this part of the State. Senator Murphy has been an unswerving Democrat from an, early age. When twenty-five years of age he was a delegate to the Democratic State Convention which nominated William Kelly for governor. Since then he has been a delegate to almost every State convention of his party. He was a sturdy supporter of Samuel J- iilden in the latter's warfare upon the "canal ring," was a delegate to the Na tional Democratic Convention which met in St. Louis in 1876 and nominated Mr. den for president, and also heartily supported the administration of Governor Robinson. He was a delegate in 1880 to the National Convention which placed n' "'uneld Scott Hancock in nomination for the presidency, though on this occa- 698 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. sion he again favored the selection of Mr. Tilden. As a delegate to the Democratic State Convention at Syracuse in 1882 he first cast his vote in favor of Erastus Corning as candidate for governor, but finally cast his vote and that of his fellow- delegates from Rensselaer county for Grover Cleveland. Mr. Murphy's was the de cisive vote and completed Mr. Cleveland's majority in the convention. As delegate- to the Democratic National Convention of 1884, at Chicago, Mr. Murphy favored the nomination of Roswell P. Flower for president, and at the St. Louis convention four years later he supported Mr. Cleveland's renomination. In 1892 he was one of the four delegates-at-large from New York to the Democratic National Convention iu Chicago, being elected chairman of the delegation, where he supported the nomina tion of David B. Hill for president, but he acquiesced loyally in the nomination of Mr. Cleveland. He was chairman of the Democratic State Committee of the State of New York from 1887 to 1895, and from that time to 1894, during his incum bency as chairman, his party was successful in electing its candidate for State positions. Mr. Murphy was elected a member of the Common Council of the city of Troy in 1864 and served in that capacity two years. In 1874 he was chosen fire commis sioner, serving until elected to the mayoralty. In 1875 he was elected mayor, and by re-election served three additional successive terms. He was then renominated, but positively declined to become a candidate again. Under his administration as mayor the new city hall was built at an expense of $18,000 less than was appro priated ; he gave the city a fine system of granite pavement, improved the water supply, increased the value of the city's bonds from below par to a premium, and left the corporation with a smaller debt than any other city of its size in the United States. During his eight years as mayor he never drew his salary of §2,000 per annum for his own use, but at Christmas time distributed it among the charitable institutions of the city without distinction as to creed. At a critical moment he courageously came to the rescue and saved the Manufacturers' National Bank of Troy. January 17, 1893, the New York State Legislature elected Mr. Murphy as United States senator to succeed the Hon. Frank Hiscock, and at the extra session of Con gress in March of that year he took his seat for a full term of six years. His career in the United States Senate has been dignified, active and exemplary, and for the best interests of his party and constituents. Early in life Mr. Murphy was married to Miss Julia, daughter of Michael Dele- hanty, a prominent citizen of Albany. They have had nine children; Mary, who died in 1894 ; Edward, 2d, a practicing attorney of Troy ; Julia, wife of Hon. Hugh J. Grant of New York; William; John and Joseph, twins, students at Georgetown University; Jane L., Richard and Helen. Senator Murphy and his family reside, when in Troy, in their beautiful residence at No. 1819 Fifth avenue, where, besides their large circle of friends in this city, they have entertained many of the most dis tinguished men in public life. Personally Senator Murphy is of a courteous and kindly disposition, a staunch friend, liberal in his dealings with his fellow-men, and, above all, a man who never fails to keep his promises. These traits of character have won for him the respect of his fellow-citizens and are responsible for his rise to the distinguished position which he now occupies. ALBERT SMITH. BIOGRAPHICAL. 699 ALBERT SMITH. Albert Smith, son of Hiram Sheldon and Adaline (Warren) Smith, was born No vember 8, 1844, in Rupert, Bennington county, Vermont. His ancestors were among the early settlersof New England, the paternal branch of the family having descended from the Rev. Henry Smith, who left the Plymouth Colony with Thomas Hooker and was installed the first pastor of the church at Weathersfield, Conn. , in 1636. About a century later Nathaniel, his grandson, left Suffield with his family to find new homes in Vermont. Enoch, one of his sons, was one of the pioneer settlers of Rupert. His son Thaddeus was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. The maternal lineage of the family also originated in Massachusetts at an equally early period. Henry Warren, twenty years ago a well-known merchant of this city, an uncle of Albert, was the only immediate representative of his family in Troy, most of whom are located in the west and include several distinguished members of the bench and bar. Albert's boyhood was spent upon the ancestral farm, where he received the advan tages of education in the common and select schools, supplemented by the invaluable iustruction of his parents, both of whom had large experience as teachers. When his turn came to receive the liberal education which it was the highest ambition of his parents to give to their children, Albert pursued a preparatory course at the Seminary in Castleton, Vt., and entered Union College in the fall of 1866. His natural aptitude and previous training placed him at once in the front rank of his class. Throughout the course he was the recipient of the Dr Nott prize scholarship for general proficiency in his studies, received the first prize, a gold medal, for excel lence in Greek, and on his graduation was appointed salutatorian and class orator. He was also a member of the Alpha Delta Phi and Phi Beta Kappa societies. Im mediately after graduating he came to Troy and entered the law office of Townsends & Browne, from which he was admitted to the bar in 1872. At once opening an office he continued in practice alone until 1878, when he formed a partnership with George B. Wellington and Frank S. Black under the firm name of Smith, Wellington & Black. At the end of one year Mr. Black retired, the remaining members of the firm continuing together under the firm name of Smith & Wellington until 1887, when Henry W. Smith, the only brother of Albert, was admitted to the firm, which con tinued, so constituted, until the death of Albert, March 27, 1893. Mr. Smith was married September 3, 1879, to Eliza J. Haigh, daughter of Edward Haigh, a prominent woolen manufacturer of Newburgh. They had five children, two of whom, Albert Edward and Bertha M. , survive. He was a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., of which he was master during the years 1888 and 1889 ; also a member of Bloss Council, Apollo Chapter and Apollo Commandery, of which he was captain-general at the time of his death. He belonged to no religious organization, but was a member of the congregation of the First Presbyterian church of Troy. A staunch and life-long Republican, the only political office to which he was ever elected or for which he was a candidate was that of school commissioner, which a deep interest in educational matters induced him to accept, and which he filled with ability for eight years, ending 700 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. In the professional career of Albert Smith, measured by its actual achievements the casual observer would fail to discover anything to distinguish him from many other successful lawyers, yet achievement is not always the true measure of great ness. Circumstances are often a controlling factor in determining success, and separ ate judgment must often be pronounced upon a man and his works. With no extra neous assistance beyond the self-denial of his parents in placing within his reach the opportunities for a liberal education, he won his way to a position among the leading- members of the Troy bar. Many others have been apparently as successful in their profession who would by no means be accorded equal rank by those capable of mak ing a just estimate of men, and many others have won far higher distinction at the bar and on the bench possessing no greater qualifications nor higher attainments. He was a man of strong intellect, fine sensibilities and a will that never faltered in the accomplishment of a worthy purpose. His reasoning faculties, well trained, subjected everything which claimed attention to rigid analysis. Sine ratione nil might be said to have been his motto. His examination of every subject was a search for principles. No authority had weight with him which did not convince his own understanding. His investigations were those of the judge seeking the truth rather than the advocate endeavoring to fortify his position. Eminently practical and fertile in resources, no expedient which savored of indirection was ever employed to win a case. By inheritance and as the result of early training his judgments were habitually ethical. He would have deemed it disloyalty to his higher nature to rest upon a conclusion which did not accord with his intuitive sense of justice. His understanding asserted what he conceived to be its divine right and duty to pass upon the claim of everything which sought a place in his category of truth. Nn human authority was in itself sacred. His own judgment and conscience were the tribunal of last resort no less in theology than in the domain of law and philosophy. It was natural, therefore, that, repelled by dogmatic doctrinal theology, it should be left for the experience and deeper insight of his mature years to reveal to his nature religious truth. His profound interest in the subject of human duty and a future life were attested in his later years by a constant attendance of the church of his choice whose spiritual teachings exerted deep influence upon his life. Though in general undemonstrative, he possessed a deeply emotional nature which found expression in acts of sympathy and kindness in every relation of life. In the words of an intimate associate and friend, "His sympathy for the down trodden and his active aid to many of the unfortunate and struggling fellow beings who came within his limited abilities to assist was most marked, and I believe, un usual." Excessive modesty, rather than an under-estimate of his own ability, led him to shrink from the pursuit of office, preferring even in his professional duties to assign the more public part to others. Self-advancement for public honors was to him unseemly. His modesty, coupled with perhaps undue sensitiveness or over- refined sensibilities, constituted a weakness which may have been responsible for his failure to be called to some important official station, which he probably would have occupied later had he lived. His judgment of men as well as of legal questions was sound and charitable. He invariably refused to undertake a case where he be lieved his client was consciously in the wrong, and advised a settlement if he regarded the issue doubtful. This habit won for him a desirable clientage and made his clients friends. He was at his best where combined legal knowledge and business judgment HENRY W. SMITH. BIOGRAPHICAL. 701 were required. He carried out a campaign with as much ability as was displayed in laying it out, never relaxing his efforts until the end was accomplished. It was this quality which helped gain for his portrait a place by that of General Grant over the desk of a loyal client and friend, who was accustomed to point to them, saying: "Those are my two generals." In the brief space alloted to this sketch a meagre outline only is possible of a char acter which was the embodiment of intellectuality, gentleness, integrity, fidelity — in a word, true manliness. More brilliant minds have adorned the profession, but few enjoyed a higher degree of confidence and respect among those who knew him best and they never doubted his loyalty to truth and justice. HENRY W. SMITH. Henry W. Smith was born in Rupert, Bennington county, Vt., October 6, 1848. He is the younger brother of Albert Smith, the subject of the preceding sketch, in which appears the family origin. His father's family consisted of seven children, two sons and five daughters. On leaving the schools of his native town he com pleted his preparatory course at Burr and Burton Seminary, Manchester. Vt., and Alfred Center, Alleghany county, N. Y., entering the sophomore class in Dartmouth College in the fall of 1872, and graduating with the class of 1875. Following in the footsteps of his brother he became a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Society. During sophomore year he was appointed one of the editors of both the weekly and monthly college periodicals, occupying that position throughout the remainder of his course. He was twice appointed to represent his class as prize speaker, received the Grimes prize for excellence in English composition, together with commencement honors, and on graduation was elected a member of the' Phi Beta Kappa Society. Soon after leaving college he came to Troy and commenced the study of law with his brother, who had just opened an office. To replenish his exchequer, he ac cepted a position on the Troy Morning Whig for the following winter. Resuming his law studies in the spring, he was admitted to the bar in February, 1878. Com mencing practice on his own account in the office of Smith & Wellington, he con tinued alone, though clpsely connected with the firm, until 1887, when a partnership was formed which continued until his brother's death in 1893. The following January the partnership between Mr. Wellington and himself was dissolved, since which time he has been alone and enjoys a lucrative practice. Mr. Smith is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., of which he was master in 1894 and 1895 ; also a member of Bloss Council, Apollo Chapter, Apollo Commandery. and the Scottish Rite bodies of Troy. He was mar ried June 6, 1886. to Annie Bainbridge Wendel, daughter of Robert Bainbridge, who for many years held a responsible position in the Troy Steel and Iron Com pany. Mrs. Smith died August 2, 1891. Their daughter, Eleanor W. Smith, died in February, 1889. One son, Sheldon Bainbridge Smith, survives. Mr. Smith is a member of the First Presbyterian church of Troy. In politics he has always been a zealous Republican and an influential member of his party. He is engaged in the general practice of the law, and by his legal knowledge and natural 702 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. qualifications has won an enviable reputation for skill and ability. In the practical solution of legal and business complications he occupies a prominent position in the very able bar of Troy. JAMES K. P. PINE. James K. P. Pine is a native of the town of Hoosick, Rensselaer county. N. Y., born November 21, 1841. He received his early education in the public schools and at Ball's Seminary in Hoosick Falls, and in 1860 became a clerk for Coon & Van Valkenburgh, collar manufacturers of Troy. In 1862 he established himself in that business in Troy, and subsequently became a member of the firm of Cole, Dyer & Pine, later Dyer & Pine, and afterwards Dyer, Pine & Miller. This name was changed to Pine, Miller & Dunham, and again the name was changed to Pine, Adams & Dunham. On the death of Mr. Adams in 1878, a laundering department was added to the collar trade, Mr. Myron Hamlin having charge of the former under the firm name of Pine & Hamlin. Mr. Hamlin died in 1880 and Mr. Pine conducted the entire business until 1890. In 1884 Mr. Pine erected the present factory in Lansingburgh, and in 18(0 The United Shirt and Collar Company was incorporated and succeeded to the entire business. Mr. Pine was the treasurer, and in the spring of 1893 was elected first vice-president, and on the death of Mr. Sanford he was elected president of the company in August, 1896, which position he now holds. On assuming the office of president he resigned the treasurer's office; the vacancy was filled by the election of his son, Charles L. Pine. Our subject has also been president of the People's Bank of Lansingburgh since its organization in 1889. He is a director of the Troy City National Bank, a trustee of the Troy Savings Bank, president of the Record Publishing Company of Troy, vice-president of the Ostrander Fire Brick works, a trustee of the Young Women's Association, and member of Mount Zion Lodge No. 311, F. & A. M., Bloss Council No. 15, Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., Apollo Commandery and the Scottish Rite bodies, having attained to the 32d degree in Masonry. He is a mem ber of the Troy Club, Riverside Club and honorary member of the Troy Yacht Club. In 1865 Mr. Pine married Clara M.- Adams, of Troy, N. Y., and they have two sons and three daughters; Charles L., I. Kate, Bessie H., C. Louisa, and Warren A. Mr. Pine and wife are members of the First Presbyterian church of Lansingburgh, and for the past fifteen years he has been an elder of that church. In politics he is a Republican and is influential in the councils of his party, always taking an active interest, though he is not rated as a partisan. For many years Mr. Pine has held front rank among the representative business men of this portion of the State, being a leader in many enterprises which have been a potent factor in the development of Lansingburgh and Troy. J. FRANKLIN FELLOWS. BIOGRAPHICAL. 703 J. FRANKLIN FELLOWS. J. Franklin Fellows was born in Troy, N. Y. , September 14, 1862. His father is A. Clarke Fellows, a man prominent in business circles in Troy for many years (a sketch and portrait of him appears on another page of this work.) His mother, Anna M. Fellows, is a daughter of Lyman Bennett, the founder of the collar indus try in Troy. J. Franklin Fellows received his early education in the public schools of his native city, afterwards attended the Troy Conference Academy at Poultney, Vt., and was prepared for college at the Centenary Collegiate Institute, Hackettstown, N. J., from which institution he graduated in 1881. He then entered Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., and spent four years at that institution. He was graduated from Wesleyan University with the degree of Ph. B. in the class of 1885. He then entered the factory of his father, in the manufacture of collars and cuffs, and is now one of the firm of Fellows & Co., succeeding his father, who retired from the busi ness in 1888. While in college he made a specialty of the study of chemistry, and made original researches in physiological chemistryT He investigated at some length the nutritive value of different foods, and also of the sources of the nitrogen found in plants. The results of these researches have since been published'by the United States government. He has also invented several machines which are used in the manufacture of collars very successfully, saving several large items of ex pense of manufacturing. He is a member of King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, and the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the East Side Club. He is an exempt fireman, having served a full term as member of the Read Steam Engine Co. No. 1. In 1890 he married Flora A. Haynes, of Saranac, N.Y. He has one child, Haynes Harold, born in July, 1891. Fellows & Co. — The leading industry of Troy, the manufacture of linen collars and cuffs, was begun about the year 1834, one of the first to engage in it being Lyman Bennett. When the business was established by Mr. Bennett its limits were extremely circumscribed and the amount of capital invested was far from adequate to the operations of a large establishment. It was only a question of time, however, and the business house founded by Mr. Bennett in a modest way over sixty years ago has now immense proportions, and a trade extending to all parts of the country, which lias been built up by his energy and that of the succeeding members of the firm Mr. Bennett conducted the business alone until 1851, when he associated with him Mr. Hicks and Mr. Edson, who carried on the business under the firm name of Bennett, Hicks & Edson. In 1855 Mr. Edson bought several sewing machines, and took them to his residence, where he instructed several girls in his employ how to "se them— the work previously had been done by hand. As soon as the girls had acquired sufficient proficiency the machines were taken to the factory, and at once revolutionized the industry. Afterwards the application of steam power to the operation of the machines materially increased their productiveness. The introduc- ,'on °' sewing machines became general after the event mentioned, and the cost of Imen collars and cuffs rapidly diminished as a result. 704 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. There are numerous changes to note in the style of the firm. In 1861, after the death of Mr. Edson, A. Clarke Fellows became a member of the concern, the firm being Bennett, Strickland & Fellows; by the retirement of Mr. Strickland soon after the firm was known as Bennett & Fellows; H. C. Curtis and George H. Atwood having been taken in as partners a few years later, the firm then became Bennett, Fellows & Co. ; a few years later Mr. Fellows bought out the interest of Mr. Curtis, Mr. Atwood retired, and the firm became Fellows & Company, Mr. Fellows admit ted as partners James C. Archibald and Geo. S. Hastings. In 1888 James Franklm Fellows was admitted as a partner, and later his brother, Hervey, A. Clarke Fellows retiring in 1888, the name of the firm remaining Fellows & Company, A. CLARKE FELLOWS A. Clarke Fellows was born in North Greenbush, N. Y., in 1836. He is the son of the late Zachariah and Catherine (Weatherwax) Fellows, of Greenbush, N.Y. He was educated in the public schools and at the Jonesville Academy in Saratoga county and came to Troy, N. Y., in 1857, where he had charge of the shipping de partment of the Washington Foundry for two years ; later he was for one year a bookkeeper in a store in Albany. In the spring of 1860 he went into the employ of Bennett, Edson & Strickland in the collar business as bookkeeper, and after the death of Mr. Edson, one year later, he became a partner in the concern, the name being Bennett, Strickland & Fellows; by the retirement of Mr. Strickland soon after the firm was known as Bennett & Fellows. H. C. Curtis and George H. Atwood having a few years later been taken in as partners, the firm then became Bennett, Fellows & Co. Mr. Atwood and Mr. Bennett retired, the firm then became Fellows ¦& Curtis, which continued about eight years, when Mr. Fellows purchased Mr. Curtis's interest and took in as partner James C. Archibald and George L. Hasting, and the firm has' since remained Fel lows & Co. In 1888 Mr. Fellows's eldest son, James Franklin, was admitted, and later another son, H. W., was taken in as partner, and Mr. Fellows retired from the firm, his sons continuing the business. The factory has been located on Fulton street over forty years. Mr. Fellows was for many years one of the stockholders of the Star Knitting Co. of Cohoes, N. Y., and was atone time president, and has been a director of the Union National Bank of Troy for twenty-five years, and for many years was one of the trustees of the Cable Flax Mills of Schaghticoke, and is still one of the largest stockholders in the same. He has been a member of the State Street M. 15. church for years. He married Mrs. Anna M. Bennett, a daughter of the pioneer collar manufacturer of Troy. They have two sons living, James Franklin and Hervey William, before mentioned. A. CLARKE FELLOWS. BIOGRAPHICAL. 705 DERICK L. BOARDMAN. The Hon. Derick Lane Boardman died at his home, No. 95 First street, Troy, N. V. on Wednesday morning, September 6, 1893, and was buried in Oakwood Ceme tery. He had been for over a year a sufferer from a complication of diseases. In Mr. Boardman's death Troy sustained that loss which every community sustains when one of its best citizens is called to his final reward. His was a career which, while confined almost exclusively to business circles, shed an added lustre to the city's name. Mr. Boardman came to Troy in 1867 and, in connection with the Rev. Stephen Parks and John T. Christie, assumed control of the general agency of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. In this position, which he retained up to the hour of his death, he by his indomitable energy and perseverance, coupled with his genial personality and enviable tact, built up a business which reached throughout the entire northern portion of the State and which to-day is one of the largest and most extensive of its kind in New York. Mr. Boardman's early man hood was devoted to the law. Born at Watertown, N. Y. , in March, 1824, he laid the foundation of his education in the public schools of that city. Then, after a preparatory course at the Jefferson County Institute, he entered Williams College in 1840, graduating with honor four years later. Immediately after his graduation he began the study of law, and in 1847 was admitted to practice, locating at Rome, N. V. Six years later he was elected to the Assembly from Oneida county, serving one term with ability and declining a renomination. In 1854 he, with the late D. M. K. Johnson, formed the legal firm of Johnson & Boardman, which enjoyed a lucrative practice until Mr. Boardman retired to enter the insurance business. The alma mater of the deceased, Williams College, also suffered a severe loss in Mr. Board- man's death. From the day of his graduation he took the liveliest interest in the affairs of old Williams, and for twenty-five years never failed to be present at commencement. In 1878 he was chosen an alumni trustee and six years afterward a life trustee. In addition he served a term as president of the Alumni Association. The Kappa Alpha fraternity numbered him as one of its most honored members. In addition to his insurance business, Mr. Boardman was prominently identified with Troy's banking interests, being at one time a director of the Central National Bank. and at the time of his death first vice-president of the Troy Savings Bank. The chief charm of Mr. Boardman's personality and the one which attracted and held the friendship of scores was to be found in his scholarly attainments and refinement of taste. His cultivated mind was a veritable storehouse of intellectual delight which his friends were always at liberty to draw upon. His conversational gifts were brilliant in the extreme and he never lacked for listeners when he chose to talk. 1 he religious side of his character was sincere and earnest, though never obtrusive. He was a member of the Second Presbyterian church and gave liberally toward the cause of Christianity. In addition he was a believer in charity of the quiet and practical sort and how many deserving persons who owe needed aid to his kindness will never be known. Mr. Boardman was the son of Rev Dr. George S. Boardman and a grandson of Derick Lane of this city. He is survived by his widow, the daughter of the late Hon. Henry A. Foster of Rome, a son, Henry F. Boardman, the surviving member of the firm of D, L. Boardman & Son, and one daughter, Mrs. E. s. Warren of Buffalo, 89 706 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. WILLIAM SHAW. William Shaw was born in Saratoga Springs, N. Y., June 13, 1842. He was of New England parentage, and his boyhood was spent on a farm at Chester, Vt. Ik- received a. district school education, and has earned his own living since lie was eight years of age. He came to Troy in 1860. He served as a private in the 25th N. Y. Vols, in the war of the Rebellion, after which he studied law in the office of Beach & Smith, and was admitted to the bar in 1865. He has since practiced law in the city of Troy, and at present is at the head ofthe law firm of Shaw, Bailey & Murphy. He was appointed assistant police magistrate of Troy by Gov. John A. Dix. He was captain of Troy City Artillery; president of the Young Men's Association Debating Society ; president of the Young Men's Association in 1877; and at the present time is court house commissioner. He is a director of and counsel for the United National Bank, the Manufacturers' Na tional Bank and the Troy City Railroad Company ; he is a director of the Waterford and Cohoes Railroad Company, the Union Railway Company of New York city, the Troy and Lansingburgh Railroad Company, Troy and New England Railway Com pany, and is receiver of the Gilbert Car Manufacturing Company, trustee of the first Baptist church of Troy, and a member of Post Griswold G. A. R. JOHN AUGUSTUS GRISWOLD. Hon. John Augustus Griswold, only son of Hon. Chester Griswold, was born in Nassau, Rensselaer county, November 11, 1818, and descended from a long line of worthy and influential ancestors, some of whom fought in the Revolutionary war, one being captured by the British and confined in the prison ship Jersey. Hon. Chester Griswold was for several years supervisor of Nassau, was member of assem bly for Rensselaer county in 1823, 1831, and 1835, and during a long and active life was highly esteemed and respected. He had one son, John A., and one daughter who married Isaac B. Hart, of the firm of Hart, Leslie & Warren, of Troy. John A. Griswold was educated for commercial pursuits. When seventeen he entered the hardware establishment of Hart, Lesley & Warren and when eighteen became bookkeeper for C. H. & I. J. Merritt, cotton manufacturers, with whom he remained some time, living in the family of his uncle, Major-General John E. Wool. Soon afterward he engaged in business for himself. He soon became interested in the manufacture of iron, which formed the principal business of his life. Mr. Griswold being first identified with the late Hon. Joseph M. Warren and other gentlemen in what afterwards grew to be the great Albany-Rensselaer Iron and Steel Company of Troy, which is well known in the past as having been one of the most conspicuous enterprises in this section of the country. Mr. Griswold was originally a Democrat, and in 1855 he was elected mayor of Troy. In 1862 and 1864 he was elected as a war Democrat to the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses, being heartily supported by the Republicans, and serving in each session as a member of the Committee on Naval Affairs. He was re-elected to the Fortieth Congress and served on the principal committee of the House and WILLIAM SHAW. STEPHEN KIMBALL. BIOGRAPHICAL. 707 the Committee on Ways and Means. He sustained Lincoln's administration through out the war and loyally supported all worthy measures. When the navy depart ment was attacked in the House he made a speech in defence of its policy and espe cially in regard to the construction of monitors. He aided in raising and equipping the 2d 125th, and 169th, the Griswold Light Cavalry, and seyeral other New York reeiments, and was a leading member of the War Committee of Rensselaer county during the Rebellion. Mr. Griswold and his associate, the late Hon. John F. Winslow, formerly of Troy, furnished the capital and built Ericsson's Monitor, the iron being largely furnished from the Troy works and the vessel itself being constructed in New York. As a matter of fact, the Monitor, when she fought the Merrimac, was still the property of Messrs. Griswold, Winslow and Ericsson, her designer, the government at that time not having fully accepted the vessel. The success of the Monitor led to the con tracting on the part of the government with Mr. Griswold and his associates, con tracts for the ironclad Dictator and a number of other vessels of similar type, many of which were conspicuous in the naval engagements of the Civil war. In 1868 he was nominated by the Republican Union State Convention for gov ernor of New York and received 411,355 votes, the largest number ever given for any gubernatorial candidate prior to that year. His party claimed his election by a majority of the votes actually cast, and many prominent members of the opposing party admitted the fact, but he was counted out through what were afterward proved palpable frauds. He died in Troy October 3, 1872. On September 14, 1843, he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Richard P. Hart, of Troy, and they had three sons and three daughters. STEPHEN KIMBALL. Stephen Kimball, whose portrait is pictured on the adjoining page, is of the fam ily of that name, so numerous throughout the New England States. He was born at Chepatchet, in the State of Rhode Island, March 29, 1818. His father, being limited in means but industrious in purpose, so soon as Stephen had acquired a knowledge of the studies taught in the district school of his neighborhood, put the boy to work. Accordingly, at an early age he became a practical blacksmith and wheelwright. Sunn after attaining his majority, deeming business opportunities more favorable in New York than in his native place, he immigrated to Saratoga county, where he commenced his business career. After a little he removed from Saratoga to East (ireenbush, making that place his home for the remainder of his life. Here he en gaged in his trade, of which he was master, and meeting with the success which ability and prompt attention uniformly secures, he enlarged the field of his industry by purchasing and conducting a farm. Later he became owner of the major part °i the stock of the Rensselaer and Columbia Turnpike Company, and for the period of twenty years was secretary, treasurer and general manager of the affairs of the company, to the profit and entire satisfaction of the other stockholders. Later in "le, and for several years, Mr. Kimball conducted a furniture store at 22 and 24 en s'reet in the city of Albany. He was to a considerable extent a dealer in real 708 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. estate, more especially in Albany. For several years prior to his death Mr. Kimball exercised supervision over the affairs of the property and management of the \arv.v farm of his daughter Charlotte, consisting of two hundred and forty-five acres situ ated in East Greenbush. The only civic office Mr. Kimball ever held was that of deputy sheriff, and that not from choice so much as by solicitations of friends. Mr. Kimball was eminently en ergetic and industrious,— no duty was left unperformed by him, no business interest allowed to slumber for a more convenient time for action. His promptness in these respects was coupled with probity, making his life a profit and blessing to his family. He died February 23, 1887, respected by all who knew him. Mr. Kimball was three times married ; first to Charlotte Anthony of Saratoga, second to Catherine Snook of Sand Lake, and third to Kate E. Bullock of Albany, who still survives. One son was born of each the first and third marriages, neither of whom survive. By the second marriage there were born two daughters, Charlotte A. and Sarah A., both of whom are still living, the latter unmarried and invalid. Charlotte A. while still in her teens became the wife of Albert Smith, an extensive farmer and successful business man in East Greenbush. The grandparents of Albert were Jesse and Rachel (Furman) Smith, of Providence, R. I., where Nehemiah, the father of Albert, was born, and who when a young man settled in East Greenbush as farmer and speculator. He was successful in business, being at the time of his death (1864) the owner of landed property in Albany and Rensselaer counties to the extent of eight huudred acres. Albert Smith died in 1866 at the age of twenty-nine years, leaving his widow and an infant son surviving. The son has since died. The widow, Mrs. Charlotte A. Smith, since the death of her father has developed into an all-round business woman, taking personal charge of her own large property, succeeding also to the offices, duties and responsibilities of her father in connection with the Turnpike Company, and exhibiting the business ability and personal characteristics of her father. GEN. JOSEPH B. CARR. General Josei-h Bradford Carr was born in Albany, N. Y., August 16, 1828, aud died in Troy, N. Y., February 24, 1895. His father and mother emigrated from Ire land in 1824. He attended the public schools of Albany, and early in life learned the trade of cigar-making. In 1842 he removed to Troy and engaged in cigar mak ing, continuing in that business until the breaking out of the civil war in 1861. His military career began in 1849, when he joined the Troy Republican Guards, being promoted by degrees to the command. He was chiefly instrumental in organizing the SecondRegt, N. Y. State Vols., and April 15, 1861, was elected lieutenant-colonel of that regiment. The regiment was mustered in May 4, 1861, and left Troy May IS in command of Colonel Carr. In May, 1862, he was given command of a brigade, and shortly afterward was ordered to report to General McClellan at Fair Oaks, Va., and was assigned to Patterson's Brigade of Hooker's Division of the Army of the Potomac. At the battle of Malvern Hill he superseded General Patterson, and Sep tember 7, 1862, upon recommendation of General Hooker, "for gallant and merito- BIOGRAPHICAL. 709 rious service in the field," he was made brigadier-general of the Volunteers. Janu ary 12, 1863, he was given command of the Second Division, Third Corps, and de stroyed the Rappahannock bridge. In April, 1864, he was assigned to the command of the Fourth Division, Second Corps. He afterwards commanded divisions in the First Corps, had charge of defenses on the James River, and June 1, 1865, was bre- vetted major general. He was mustered out of service August 24, 1865, having pre viously been nominated for secretary of state of New York. In 1879 he was a candidate for secretary of state on the Republican ticket and was eleced by a large majority. He was re-elected in 1881 and 1883. In 1885 he was the Republican candidate for lieutenant-governor, but was defeated. Upon returning to Troy General Carr became the senior member of the firm of J. B. Carr & Co., chain manufacturers, continuing in that business until the time of his death. Without any previous knowledge on his part he was appointed by the gov ernor to be major-general of the Third Division, N. Y. S. M. He was highly esteemed at home and abroad, and many organizations bestowed honorary member ship upon him. He was connected with the Old Guard of New York, the Ninth Regiment, the Troy Citizens Corps, and the Burgesses Corps of Albany. He was a member of the Loyal Legion, the highest military organization in the country ; the Second Regiment Association, the Third Army Corps Association, Post Willard, the Troy Club, the Ionic Club, was vice-president of the Rensselaer County .Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Association, a director in the Mutual National Bank, second vice- president and a director of the Troy City Railway Company, and a trustee of the New York State Gettysburg Monument Association. At his death he left a widow, formerly Mary Gould; a daughter, Mary Carr; and a son, William G. Carr, JOHN A. QUACKENBUSH. Hon. John A. Quackenbush was born on the homestead on the banks of the beau tiful Hoosick River in the town of Schaghticoke, N. Y., October 16, 1828. His edu cation was obtained in the district schools and Stillwater Academy. He is a farmer and speculator in farm products and lumber. September 29, 1852, he married Harriet E. Kinney, of his native town ; they have two children, a son and daughter, namely: John H, and Ema. John H. was educated in the common schools, and Poultney Academy, Vermont, and Willbraham Academy, Mass. He is farming in connection with his father at home. They have a herd of registered Jersey cows in which they justly take much care and pride. John H. married Nellie Newland of Stillwater, N- Y\ ; they have one daughter, Lionne N. Ema married G. Ira Haner of the town of Schaghticoke. Mr. Quackenbush's father, Herman, was born here ra the year liM, was educated in the schools of that day, and was a farmer and surveyor. He married Elizabeth Baucus, of his own town ; they had four children, Jacob, John A., Harriet A., and Charlotte L. He died at the age of thirty-four years and his wife died in January, 1878. Mr. Quackenbush's grandfather, Jacob Quackenbush, was horn here on the old homestead in the year 1770. He married Anna Groesbeck. mis property has been in the family since 1705. A census was taken of this town in ''12 and nineteen Dutch families were found at that time. The eighth generation 710 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. is now living on the property in the person of Mr. Quackenbush's granddaughter, Lionne N. Mr. Quckenbush has been elected three times supervisor of the town of which he is an honored citizen, viz.: in 1861, 1862, and in 1863. In 1868 he was chairman of the Board of Supervisors. In the fall of 1862 he was elected member of assembly of the Second district and served his constituents with ability. He was elected sheriff of Rensselaer county in the fall of 1873, and served in that capacity three years. In the year 1888 he was elected to the Fifty- first Congress, and re elected in 1890 to the Fifty-second. In tbe first he served on the committee on public buildings. In his second term on the committee on rivers and harbors and other important committees. He has been a member of the State Central Republi can Committee for the past ten years. He has served as delegate to three national conventions and was an alternate to the St. Louis convention. In caring for his con stituents' interests, this congressional district never had a member who did mure than did Mr. Quackenbush. During his term in Congress he secured the appropria tion for the building of the magnificent court house in Troy, and was largely instru mental in securing an appropriation of two and a half millions for the improvement of the Hudson River, which improvement will be finished during the year 1897; also some appropriations for the improvement of the navigation of Lake Champlain. It was through his determined efforts that sufficient protection in the McKinley bill was given to the shirt and collar industry of Troy, by which they were enabled to prosperously conduct their business. The family attend the Presbyterian church at Stillwater. Mr. Quackenbush is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M., and Apollo Commandery of Troy. The ancestry of this family is Holland Dutch and German. EZRA THOMPSON GALE, C. E. Mr. Ezra Thompson Gale was born in Troy, N. Y. , April 27, 1819; died at his residence in North Greenbush at 12,30 o'clock, July 4, 1887. Mr. Gale suffered from creeping paralysis, and had been an invalid for several years. He passed a portion of the last two summers at Saratoga, and was greatly benefited. On the 23d of June of the latter year he went to his summer residence, where he died. The re mains were brought to his residence on First street. The Rev. T. P. Sawin, of the First Presbyterian church, of which the deceased was a member, conducted the service. The remains were interred in Oakwood Cemetery. Mr. Gale was a. native of Troy, having been born in this city April 27, 1819. His father was Dr. Samuel Gale, whose father was also Dr. Samuel Gale, who came to this section of the country from New England, Killingworth, Conn., in the latter part of the last century, September, 1787. His ancestors came to America at a very early date, prior to 1640, and settled near Boston, Mass. Edmund Gale died in Boston in 1642, and the first Dr. Samuel Gale studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. Benjamin Gale, Killingworth, Conn., who was also a professor in Yale College. He held a captain's commission under Gov. Jonathan Trumbull, dated May 1, 1775, serving a considerable time during the Revolutionary war. The elder Gale was a physician, and for some years was the only one practicing in the valley adjoining Ashley s -^^, BIOGRAPHICAL. 711 Ferry, as the latter place occupying the present site of Troy was called. Dr. Gale was one of the original trustees of the First Presbyterian church, which were appointed December 31, 1791. The meeting at which they were chosen was held at the house of Stephen Ashley. The place was then known as the town of Troy. Dr. Gale had been in Troy about four years at the time that this church was organized. On arriving here he bought of the patroon, Jacob Van Der Heyden, the second lot of land below the ferry on the river road. He desired to become possessed of the next lot north, but the patroon would not part with it, and Mr. Gale was obliged to con tent himself with what he could get. Mr. Van Der Heyden had not yet become very well acquainted with the new comer, and for some business reason he did not care to give him a piece of land that might control the ferry, which was a fruitful source of income to the patroon. We read in these days of the treatment of small-pox by inoculation, but Dr. Gale possessed that theory and reduced it to practice when he first came to Troy. He inoculated many of the inhabitants, and they had small pox as the result. Dr. Gale was evidently a man who lived beyond his time, as his inoculation plan showed. The small pox ran its course, and the thriving young village was soon free from all danger of a sudden and severe visitation of that disease. Dr. Gale grew in public favor and estimation. A cotemporary man said Dr. Gale was a boni gentleman. His figure was tall and commanding, and he was built in good proportion. Besides being a gentleman by nature he was a splendid specimen of physical manhood. In those days he drew about him men of superior intelligence and worth, and was indeed the leader in a refined and cultured circle. The nobler attributes of the man came down to his son and to his grandchildren. E. Thompson Gale was a man of unusual strength of character, and the most natural thing to him was to be a refined and cul tured gentleman under all circumstances. No trait in his character shows with more resplendent brilliancy than this. Dr. Gale's whole heart was in the young village that began to prosper soon after he arrived here. One day there came to this part of the country Wait Rathbun. He was considered a wealthy man, and had 88,000 in his money bags. He desired to settle in Troy, and offered to purchase of the patroon a lot on the northwest corner of Congress and First streets, and to the surprise of everybody he wanted to pay cash for the entire amount. Mr. Van Der Huyden did not understand why a man should wish to pay all cash when he could get the prop erty by paying so much each year, and declined to sell. Mr. Rathbun took himself t« Lansingburgh, and was about to settle there, but Dr. Gale prevailed upon the patroon to accept the proposition, and the new comer was retained as a resident of troy. He erected a handsome residence on his purchase, and it stood there until Ur. Wotkyns built the block of stores that now occupy the site. The death of Mr. Gale left his brother, John B. Gale, the sole remaining repre sentative of that New England element that came to the valley of the Hudson at the time we have above referred to. Other men and women survive to represent the later comers to Troy, but of the ones referred to nearly the last vestige has passed away, As the coming of Dr. Gale to Troy marked a new era in the progress of the place, so the birth of his grandson, E. Thompson Gale occurred at a time when the whole country was swelling with pride at the successful ending of the second great war with England. Only a short time after the close of that war Mr. Gale was born. His father early took special pains to guide the footsteps of his boy into that path of 712 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. rectitude in which he himself had trod, and to lay in him the foundation of a career of usefulness and honor surpassed by no man who ever called Troy his home. That is a broad compliment to pay to him ; it is to choose him from among many men who have left behind them enduring monuments of their public spirit and boundless generosity; but that compliment is deserved.' If ever a man merited the approba tion of his fellows and the plaudits of his friends, that man was Ezra Thompson Gale. His early education was received in the select schools of the town and village, and the rudiments of practical work were carefully instilled into his young mind. He entered tbe Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute when that school was in its infancy, and its fame was yet to be earned and spread. He was a good sample of the work done there, and a credit to the Institute, as he was to everything else with which his name was connected. After he left the Institute he spent the next few years in ex tensive travel in America and in Europe. The late William Howard Hart was his companion in some of his European travels, and the two enjoyed not only the rare scenes and places that they visited and the companionship of traveled people, but they enjoyed the opportunity that they got to add to their store of knowledge by that sure and certain teacher — observation. The journeys of Mr. Gale were not taken for the pleasure that often prompts such goings — idle curiosity to see that which others have not seen, and to relate for the edification of friends, and for self glorifi cation, stories of life in other lands and of people in other climes. He was a searcher after knowledge. He was laying broad and deep that sure foundation on which he was to build the superstructure of a life filled with that success that comes of honest effort and well directed attention to the work that is given him to do. He entered tbe business world as a clerk in a mercantile house, and in 1840 the hardware firm of Brinkerhoff, Catlin & Gale was organized, with our subject as the junior partner. During his connection with this house, he made his European journeys. In 1843 the firm became E. Thompson Gale & Co. They did business on lower River street, and the style remained unchanged until 1853, when it was changed to Catlin & Sex ton, with Mr. Gale as a special partner. The firm manufactured as well as traded in hardware, and the business was a very extensive one. In 1857 Mr. Gale closed out his interest and withdrew, but a few years later his eldest son, Alfred de Forest Gale, entered the firm, and the style became Lane, Gale & Co. Alfred de Forest Gale died March 30, 1877. As a financier Mr. Gale took high rank among the most successful men of that class in this county. His habits of life led him to be careful and systematic in his dealings, and to search for cause and effect in his own way. He never studied a subject on its superficial bearing. He did not look for results to-day or to-morrow, but beyond the present he saw the reward that would come to well-matured plans, or the ruin that would follow some fleeting fancy of the hour. In 1850 he became a director of the Farmers' Bank. He took the seat that was once occupied by his dis tinguished father in this, one of the oldest monetary institutions of the land. In 1859 he was elected president of the bank, and held that position until 1865, when the bank was consolidated with the Bank of Troy under the name of the United National Bank of Troy. He was chosen president of the new institution, and held that posi tion until 1885. when he passed it to the care and keeping of other men, while he re tired to enjoy the evening of his life, after a day well spent and fruitful of good works. Under his guidance, the bank made a reputation throughout the State for its solid- BIOGRAPHICAL. 713 ity and fair conservatism. In speaking on several occasions with the writer on various topics, Mr. Gale often showed that he had great confidence in men of moderate means who had gathered their hoardings themselves, and also knew the value of them. He seemed to think that the motto, " Come lightly, go quick,'' was never more appropriately applied than to men who inherited fortune and suddenly became possessed of the idea that they were financiers when theretofore they had shown little or no aptibility for anything but ease and comfort. " I have more confidence in the note of a man who is worth $20,000," he said, " than I have in one of a man who is worth $100,000. The former will not fail if he can help it ; but very often the latter will not pay if he can help it." In 1848 the question of building the Troy & Boston Railroad was laid before our citizens. Mr. Gale was foremost in advocating the building of the road. He brought to bear on this subject the foresight and sagacity that had done him such good ser vice on numerous other occasions. He lent not only his influence and experience to the scheme, but he freely put his money into it, and was satisfied to wait for a return. He saw that the road would be of material benefit to the city in bringing trade and business to it, and he saw also that the route selected was the only one that could reach that fertile section of the country through which it was to run. . No other road could divert the trade to some competing centre, for the short route of the Troy and Boston practically excluded competing points against Troy. He was for many years connected with the Troy Gas Company, and was one of its original organizers. In the Troy Savings Bank he was a director, and in its board of trustees his financial ability was of vast value to the bank. The same conservative and far-seeing policy that marked his connection with the United National Bank was used here. Mr. Gale considered his trust a sacred one. He guarded the meagre holdings of poor people with even more jealous care than he did those of more fortunate ones. In times of panic, when runs were made on the Savings Bank, he knew that the storm was but a passing one, and when it should leave, the atmosphere would again be clear and bright. He knew that the safe and sure policy of the institution during many years had prevented its vaults from being filled with wild-cat securities, and that as soon as the strain should cease and men's minds assume the natural bent, the old Troy Savings Bank would be found steady, strong and firm amid the financial wrecks. Kindly and firmly he told this story to the assembled people. Those who knew Mr. C-ale only waited for his opinion, and having been assured of safety they went away content. Those who did not know him listened to the cool, dispassionate advice of the man. His very manner and bearing brought conviction, and thus many dollars of poor people were saved. In 1859 Mr. Gale became a director of the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad board. Much costly and valuable work was done during his term. His profession of a civil engineer made him a safe adviser, and his suggestions were followed by the board. In 1860 Mr. Gale was elected a trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a position which he held at the time of his death. Some two years ago Mr. Gale said to the writer: "There are two things that I hope to see accomplished before I die. They are the endowment of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Young Men's Association." These objects were not lost sight of. When the work of years had begun to tell adversely upon his physical self, his brain was active and alert. While he sat is his quiet library at his home, he spent his hours in devising plans to 714 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. reach these two great ends. His whole heart was iu that work. " I will go about from house to house, from friend to friend, begging money to help these great institutions," he said. Mr. Gale gave from his means liberally to these objects. He never asked anybody to give more than he could give himself, and in fact, none gave more. The men who had the means and the disposition to assist worthy public objects, and who would outdo our respected townsman, were few — in fact, there were none. While in the perfect possession of his mental powers, he saw the great engineering school rise from want to a state of independence. He saw the institution that has given his native city a world-wide fame placed on a substantial basis and made perpetual. The Troy Young Men's Association was always a great pride to Mr. Gale. His do- sire for the education of the masses was ardent. He often remarked that education was the great leveler of crime ; it was the hope of American institutions. He was one of the founders of the old free reading room, and he contributed liberally to its support. In its library was placed the "Gale Alcove," in memory of his son, Alfred de Forest Gale, whose death is noted above. He desired that the Troy Young Men's Association should share the prosperity of other like institutions in the country. The only way that this could be done was to endow it. For fifty years it has been maintained by the efforts of active young men of the city, who yearly sold membership tickets and gathered money for its maintenance. The task was be coming too arduous to be successfully performed, and other objects called for the attention of those who had been active there in other years. Its library contained a choice collection after fifty years of careful work, but they were sealed to all but members. Mr. Gale desired to give the public the benefit of this store of knowl edge. He headed the subscription paper with a liberal sum, and induced others to do the same. The work that he engaged in here was a labor of love. He pursued it steadily until its end was accomplished, and when the fiftieth year of its existence expired it was turned over to a board of trustees, created by law to have the care and management of the funds that had been raised for its endowment. The Troy Female Seminary was also an object of deep concern to Mr. Gale. He, with a number of other gentlemen, bought the property some eight years ago in order that the school of Mrs. Emma Willard, which educated some of the brightest women of the land, should hold its identity. He subscribed liberally to the fund that brought about this, and he felt a just pride that he was able to aid so worthy an object. These are but a few of the many acts of ben-svolence and public spirit that char acterized the life of Mr. Gale. It is not possible to present the list in anything like its completeness. These are but the acts that necessarily came before the public. The greater portion of his good works he kept concealed from the world. His left hand rarely knew what his right hand did. In the deep recesses of his generous heart he kept the secret of his well-doing. He sought not the pleasures of the world. His reward and his satisfaction lay in the consciousness that he had lent a helping hand to a needy object. Creed and nationality were never considered by him. He looked only at the object that sought his help, and Catholic institutions, as well as those of his own faith, shared his gifts. The Memorial Chapel at the Day Home that overlooks Seventh street, was built by him from his private purse. It stands there a prouder monument to his goodness than would ever be made by a polished shaft or a bronze tablet. Although his life race is run, and he sleeps the ¦ 111 1 1 llSl i ¦ 111 1 1 1 Wllfc : : ; ¦ „ "ft! m:.,. " '.•¦¦¦ I5 IB f* 1 EDWARD O. HOUSE. BIOGRAPHICAL. 715 sleep of death, his works survive him, and this will ever keep his memory green in the community where he lived, and where every man called him friend. Mr. Gale married Caroline de Forest, a daughter of Benjamin de Forest, a prominent merchant of New York. Mr. de Forest died in 1850 and Mrs. Gale in 1864. Seven children were born of this union, four of whom are now living — Mrs. lohn Clatworthy, Miss Margaret E. Gale, Edward Courtland Gale and Miss Caroline de Forest Gale, now Mrs. S. Alexander Orr. — Troy Daily Press, July j, 1887. RICHARD H. VAN ALSTYNE. Richard H. Van Alstyne was born in Troy, N. Y., May 23, 1851, being the son of Hon. William L. and Calsina (Johnson) Van Alstyne. Mr. Van Alstyne (William L.) was descended from a long line of Dutch ancestry who were early and honored pion eers of the original colony and Empire State. Both he and his wife were natives of Columbia county, N. Y. After settling in Troy he engaged in the dry goods business on River street, and subsequently became a wholesale grocer at 221 and 223 River street. He served one term as mayor of Troy. Politically he was a Democrat. He ran twice for Congress against Hon. John A. Griswold ; it being a strong Republican district, he was defeated. He was a long and honored resident of the city for many years, where he continued to reside until his death. The death of his wife also oc curred in Troy. They were both members of the Fifth Avenue M. E. church. Richard H. was educated in the public schools and academy of Troy, and then took a position as clerk in the First National Bank, subsequently became teller of the National Exchange Bank, which position he filled until 1878, when he engaged in the insurance business. In 1887 the present copartnership of Van Alstyne & Har rington was formed. He was elected alderman of the Fourth ward in 1883, and afterwards was elected supervisor for six years. In 1889 he was appointed deputy col lector of internal revenue for the county of Rensselaer, holding that office until Novem ber 1, 1894. In 1895 he was elected county clerk, being the candidate of the Republican party. He is a prominent Mason, being a member of King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, the Mystic Shrine, and Royal Arcanum. He is also member of the Pafraets Dael, the Laureate Boat Club and the Trojan Hook and Ladder Company, Troy Republican Club, and is likewise an honored member of the Holland Society. Mr. Van Alstyne was married on the 6th of October, 1875, to Eleanor Morris, of Troy. In politics he has always been an active Republican, exercising a strong influence in the ranks of his party in Troy and the county. EDWARD O. HOUSE. Edward 0. House, son of Samuel A. and Elizabeth S. (Morrison) House, was born m Mechanicsville, N. Y. , April 24, 1853. His parents moved to Troy, where he re ceived his education, graduating from the Troy Academy in 1868. 716 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. He became a member of the firm of S. A. House & Sons, which firm continued in the shirt and collar business until January 1, 1878, when Mr. S. A. House, father of Edward O., retired, and the name of the firm was changed to S. A. House's Sons. Mr. S. A. House died September 29, 1886. July 1, 1890, the United Shirt aud Collar Company was organized by the consolidation of several independent firms, among them that of S. A. House's Sons. Of this company Edward O. House was elected director and secretary, in which latter office he continued until August, 1896, when he was elected first vice-president. Mr. House is a member and first vice-president of the City Club of Troy, a director of the Central Branch of the Young Men's Christian Association, and oftheNational Machine Company; an official member of the State Street Methodist Episcopal church, and a trustee of the Oakwood Cemetery Association. Politically he has al ways been identified with the Republican party. As a business man, he is recog nized as broad-minded, liberal, energetic and clear-headed, and has been a potent influence for good in the commercial life of the community in which his life has been spent. He was married on October 14, 1874, to Annah K., daughter of Joseph Hillman, of Troy, and they have two children, Edward H. and Beatrice A. REV. THEOPHILUS P. SAWIN, D. D. Rev. Theophilus Parsons Sawin, D. D., was born at Lynn, Mass., January 14, 1841. His ancestors came to this country in 1632 and settled in Boston. His grand father, Robert Mason, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was a participant in the battle of Saratoga when Burgoyne surrendered to General Gates. His father, the Rev. T. P. Sawin, was a prominent Congregational minister of New England, who died in January, 1886. His mother, Martha Mclntyre Mason, was born in Andover, Mass., and died in 1895. Rev. Theophilus graduated from the High School at Manchester, N. H., and pre pared for college at the Kimball U"nion Academy and entered Yale in the class of 1864. He left college in the sophomore year on account of poor health. He subse quently went to New York city where he taught in the Mount Washington Collegiate Institute two years, later he engaged in newspaper work and still later went to Mil waukee, Wis., where he was a professor of Latin and Mathematics in the Milwaukee Academy, during the time pursuing his theological studies, and was ordained to the gospel ministry at Racine, Wis. , where he preached for four years. He was then called to the Congregational church in Janesville, Wis., where he served for six years. During this period his well known interest in educational work led to a State ap pointment as lecturer before the Teacher's Institutes. He was also made a member of the Board of Examiners at the Whitewater Normal School. From Janesville he received a unanimous call to the Mystic Congregational church in Medford, Mass. After serving here for nearly five years he was called to the First Presbyterian church of Troy, the oldest church in the city, and was installed June 17, 1880, CHARLES L. ALDEN. BIOGRAPHICAL. 717 This church eelebrated its centennial anniversary in 1891, and Dr. Sawin prepared the historical records of the same, which were published in a volume of 140 pages. During his ministry here he has been in demand as a lecturer on literary and his torical subjects. He has been invited to deliver the Baccalaureate sermon before the R. P. I. five times, and every year since his coming here he has delivered the Memorial Address before the Grand Army Posts on the Sunday evening preceding Memorial Day. He is an associate member of Post Griswold, G. A. R. He is also a trustee of the Troy Academy. He received the degree of D. D. from Williams College. Many of his sermons and addresses have been published in pamphlet form, but his most extensive work is a volume entitled The Transfiguration of the Cross. He was married in 1864 toEmeline T. Farel, and has had two children, the younger of which died in 1887. The elder, Cara Angenette, was graduated at the Lasell Seminary, Auburndale, Mass., in 1896. CHARLES L. ALDEN. Charles L. Alden was born in the town of Essex, Essex county, N.Y. , on August 21, 1827. He is the son of Isaac and Hannah (Snow) Alden. Mr. Isaac Alden was a native of Massachusetts and Mrs. Alden of Vermont, she being the second child born in Montpelier. Isaac Alden on his removal from Vermont to Essex, N. Y., in 1821, established the first nail works in that part of the country, subsequently moved to Westport, N. Y., where he owned saw mills, and afterwards moved to Lewis, N. Y., where he had a saw mill and a farm and where he died August 17, 1860 ; the death of his wife occurred November 23, 1869, at Sand Lake, N. Y. This branch of the Alden family are lineal descendants of the celebrated John Alden of colonial fame and our subject, Charles L., is of the eighth generation in regular descent. William Alden, grandfather of Charles L. , was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and his son, Isaac, served in the war of 1812, and Gen. Alonzo Alden, a brother of Charles, participated in the war of the late Rebellion, becoming a distinguished offi cer; thus it will be seen that the family is one of patriotism and soldierly valor. When he was about six months of age the parents of Charles L. moved to West- port, and when he was about eleven years old they moved to Lewis, N. Y. , he remain - ing there until January, 1843, being there employed on his father's farm. On Janu ary 11, 1843, he left the parental home and after a narrow escape from drowning in Lake Champlain, arrived in Troy January 13, 1843. and entered the dry goods store »f his brother, J. J. Alden, where he continued until October 1, 1844. He then went to Oberlin, Ohio, where he fitted for college, spending the freshman'and sophomore years; he then entered Williams College, Mass., in the junior year, from which in stitution he was graduated in 1851. In 1852 he became clerk and student in the law office of Hunt, Fairbanks & Gale, of Troy, and after attending the Albany Law School was admitted to the bar in March, 1853. In 1S55 he became one of the firm of Fairbanks, Gale & Alden ; the same year Mr. Fairbanks removed from Troy and the firm became Gale & Alden; in 1884 Henry A. King became a member of the firm and so continued until 1890, when Mr. John 718 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. B. Gale removed from Troy, and since that time Mr. Alden has practiced alone, be ing engaged in a general practice. He has always enjoyed a lucrative practice and for years has been recognized as among the able lawyers of the bar of Troy. Much of his time has been given to that branch of the law relating to real estate and the settling of estates. In October, 1868, Mr. Alden married Mary L. Taylor, daughter of James W. Tay lor of St. Paul, Minn. They have four children Hving and three others died in early youth. Politically since the beginning of the late Civil war he has been a Reptib- ican, and for nearly thirty-two years has been treasurer of the First Presbyterian church of Troy. He has been president of the Troy Young Men's Association. Mr. Alden is a man of scholarly attainments, genial manners, graceful and pleasing ad dress. LEWIS E. GURLEY. The subject of this sketch is of New England parentage. His father, Ephraim Gurley of Mansfield, Conn., having with his wife, Clarissa Sharpe, moved in 1813 to the State of New York, and taking up their residence in Gibbonsville, now Watervliet, opposite the city of Troy. In 1818 he removed to that young and growing city, and with Alpheus and Truman Hanks erected on what is now the southeast corner of Fifth avenue and Grand street the first iron foundry in the place. Their youngest child, Lewis E. Gurley, was born December 30, 1826, and three years after, with an older brother, William, and a sister, Clarissa A., was left to the charge of his widowed mother, then a woman of delicate health and limited means. Lewis was sent to the best private schools and later entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he remained for three years, completing the course of instruction there, "but not receiving his degree until some years later on account of his youth. In the year 1814 he became an .apprentice to Jonas H. Phelps in the business of the manufacture of philosophical and mathematical instruments. Earnestly craving a better education he, in 1847, entered Union College, Schenec tady, and supporting himself largely by working at his trade in vacations and holi days, he graduated with credit in 1851, receiving the degree of A. B. In February, 1852, in connection with his brother William, he purchased the interest of Mr. Phelps and the firm assumed the now widely known name of W. & L. E. Gurley. The following April the brothers purchased the Hanks property on the northeast corner of Fifth and Fulton streets with the buildings thereon for the sum of $4,2511, and at once began the erection of a building suited to the needs of their business, completing it in time for the starting of the engine on the 10th of December. Here began an interest destined to an uninterrupted success, and which made the name of the firm almost a household word all over the world. The new firm commenced with about twenty-five workmen, but soon increased their force and supplied instruments to almost every civilized country, sending their products to all parts of the United States, Mexico, South America, Australia, China and Japan, and making constantly new friends by the superior character of their work. The factory, with hundreds of other buildings, was completely destroyed in the BIOGRAPHICAL. 719 great fire of May 10, 1862, but before the flames were extinguished they had secured a part of the building at No. 41 Ferry street, in which they commenced work on the following week. They immediately began the erection of a new building three times the size of the old one and on an enlarged site, and had the satisfaction of again starting a new engine and machinery on December 10 of the same year. To-day the firm is easily the largest in the world engaged in the manufactnre of engineer's and surveyor's instruments and usually employs about 150 men. On January 10, 1887, occurred the death of the lamented William Gurley, but the name of the old firm was still retained, the younger brother becoming the senior partner, with his son William F. associated in the business, and Paul Cook, a son- in-law of William, representing his estate in the concern. In 1858 Lewis E. Gurley married Olive E. Barnes of Brunswick, whose death oc curred in 1874, leaving a son, William F., and a daughter, Grace, now Mrs. J. L. Young of Watervliet. In 1878 Mr. Gurley was again married, his second wife being A.Louise Brown of Newport, N. Y. , and of this union were born two daughters; May L. and Edith B. Mr. Gurley has always been a busy man and though ardently attached to his own chosen business, has yet found time to fill numerous positions of honor and useful ness. In 1861 he was elected a school commissioner and served the schools with un wearied interest for twelve years, in the last of which he was president of the board. Upon the death of his brother in 1887 he was elected president of the Union Na tional Bank, which office he has since continued to fill. Taking a great delight in rural occupations and scenery, he was for years presi dent of the Rensselaer County Agricultural Society and has many choice friends among the farmers of his vicinity. He has been always active in religious move ments and work, having been for over forty years superintendent of the Sunday school of the Fifth Street Baptist church and president of the County Sunday School Union for at least half that period. Mr. Gurley has been ever interested in all that concerns the welfare of his native city and has been president of the Citizens' Asso ciation, vice-president of the Orphan Asylum, a governor .of Marshall Infirmary and trustee of Colgate University at Hamilton, N. Y. His warm interest and arduous labors in the cause of education have been conspicuous in the time and money he has given to the preservation and development of the Troy Female Seminary, now the Emma Willard School. This famous school, endeared to him as the source of his cherished sister's education, was saved in 1873 very largely through the heroic de votion of William Gurley, assisted by his younger brother. After William's death there came the thought of giving to the school a larger and more modern building, which should not only serve as a lasting and beautiful home for the institution, but be as well a sacred memorial of his brother and sister, so dearly associated with its history, The structure was erected in 1891 and dedicated complete in June, 1892. the furnishing being supplied by the munificence of the heirs of William Gurley. lhe Gurley Memorial Hall, costing a fortune in itself, forms the center of a group of magnificent buildings to which every resident of Troy points with feelings of pride. Mr. Gurley has been president of the trustees of the seminary for ten years and beside the gift already named has been unwearied in his devotion to the interests of 720 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the school and marvellously successful in securing the beneficence of others in its behalf. Mr. Gurley has ever been a man of strong religious nature, with hand and heart ready for the furtherance of every Christian and charitable work and has bestowed largely of his time and means for the support of the smaller churches of his own and other denominations. Especially has this been true of the South Baptist church, of which he has been the leader and constant reliance in all its history. He has also warmly sympathized with the Young Men's Christian Association in all departments of its work, and largely contributed to the Railroad Branch in Troy from the time of its first inception. Though in many ways a public man, Mr. Gurley has always found his truest hap piness in the more private circle of domestic life, and there surrounded with his dear ones, with choice books and the companionship of his many friends we are glad to leave him now. JOHN M. FRANCIS. Hon. John M. Francis, the founder, editor and senior proprietor of the Troy Daily Times, comes of a hardy stock, noted for its physical and intellectual vigor and marked force of character. The Hon. Thomas L. James, ex-postmaster-general of the United States, is of the same race origin. In a recently published article Mr. James related in a most interesting manner the journey from Wales, in the latter part of the last century, of a party including ' ' Joseph Harris andfamily and Thomas Price and family of Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, and Richard Francis, probably the ablest and wealthiest man aboard the ship, with his family. This party came from Wales and made their new home at Utica, N. Y. Subsequently Mr. Francis purchased a tract of land at Frankfort Hill, four miles from Utica, and still later he removed with his large family to Prattsburgh, Steuben county, then little better than a wilderness. Joseph Harris was the grandfather of Mr. James's father and Thomas Price was his mother's father. Richard Francis was the father of John M, Francis. Hence the close personal relations which have always existed between the latter and Thomas L. James are founded on ancestral ties created about one hundred years ago, as well as the fact that they sprang from the same virile Welsh race.' In concluding his article Mr. James paid this tribute to Mr. Francis: " I may be permitted to say, in closing, that the life and labors of John M. Francis present to my mind one of the most attractive and instructive subjects which one can contemplate. Industry, conscientiousness, absolute fidelity to duty, and a pref erence for a high plane of moral conduct have been conspicuous traits of his character. They were the adequate guarantee of the eminent success that crowned his efforts, and of the tribute of esteem that is paid to him by all who enjoy the privilege of his acquaintance. ' Not he alone,' said the Roman moralist, ' serves the state who pre sides in the public councils, or administers affairs of peace or war ; but he who by earnest advocation cares for the education and elevation of the people and thus in a private station is filling a public office.' This is the present station in life of the father and founder of the Trov Times." BIOGRAPHICAL. 721 lohn M. Francis was born at Prattsburgh, N. Y. , March 6, 1823. He was next to the youngest of his father's thirteen children, and early started out to make his own way in the world. The advantages of education accessible to him were very limited, but he found his training in that "college of journalism," the printing office, to which his taste strongly inclined him. Serving an apprenticeship on the Ontario Messen ger at Canandaigna, N. Y. , to which place he had gone in 1838 without pecuniary means, and reinforced by the dauntless will which was to carry him to success, he soon won recognition as a forcible writer, and in 1843 was engaged for editorial work on the Palmyra Sentinel. Subsequently he was associated for a period with the late Hiram Bumphrey in the editorship of the Rochester Daily Advertiser. In 1846 he went to Troy and became chief editor of the Northern Budget, then one of the leading Democratic journals of the State, of which he also became a joint owner. invested with full editorial control. At this period occurred the memorable split of the Democratic party into the " Barnburner'' and " Hunker " factions. Mr. Francis, with his ardent love of liberty and justice, heartily espoused the Barnburner or Free Soil side, and his advocacy of its principles was characterized by the vigor which he has ever displayed in the expression of his convictions. In 1849 he sold his interest in the Budget, and for a short time was connected with the O'Reiley telegraph en terprise, but later resumed journalistic work under a brief engagement on the Troy Daily Whig, a morning newspaper. On the 25th of June, 1851, was founded the Troy Daily Times, which has become the proudest monument to his enterprise. It was a small affair compared with its present dimensions, but it had in it the germ of a sure and healthy growth. Mr. Francis started out to make it first of all a news paper, and that has been its unfail ing characteristic ever since. It required the most arduous toil, unremitting self- sacrifice and wonderful endurance to successfully carry on the work, but all necessary qualities were combined in John M. Francis. What the Times is now, in its forty- sixth year, and the maturity of its powers, Mr. Francis has made it — a live, enter prising, clean and popular paper, enjoying a reputation for excellence unsurpassed by any of its contemporaries. Mr. Francis became a member of the Republican party at its birth, and has ever since labored consistently and faithfully for its principles. Under his guidance the Troy Times has been and is one of the ablest and most influential exponents of , Republicanism in the country. But in his fidelity to party there has been no ser vility by Mr. Francis. He has been loyal to his own convictions at all times, and has not hesitated to express his views even when they were contrary to those of his political associates. His counsels have ever been on the side of right and justice, and he has never sacrificed his principles to expediency. These are the qualities which have made him and his paper powerful agencies for public good. High political honors, though unsought, have come to Mr. Francis. In 1867-8 he was a member of the New York State Constitutional Convention, and served in that body with conspicuous ability. In May, 1871, President Grant appointed him United states minister to Greece, and he accepted the trust and discharged its responsi bilities with marked capacity and to the great satisfaction of his government, for nree years. After tendering his resignation he made a tour of the world, accom panied by Mrs. Francis. President Garfield had chosen Mr. Francis for the mis- 91 722 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. sion to Belgium, but the pistol of Guiteau prevented the carrying out of the plan. President Arthur, however, appointed him minister to Portugal, and in 1884 he was promoted to be«nvoy extraordinary andminister plenipotentiary to Austria-Hungary with a. residence at Vienna. In 1893 the Republican state convention without his knowledge nominated Mr. Francis as one of the candidates for delegates-at-large to the constitutional convention which the law required to be held the following year. The Republican nominees were elected, and Mr. Francis received the largest number of votes cast for any del egate to the constitutional convention. When that body met at Albany in May, 1894, Mr. Francis, owing to his previous service of like character, was given impor tant committee assignments. He was made chairman of the Committee on Preamble and Bill of Rights, had second place on the Committee on Cities, and was a member of the Committee on Civil Service. This all involved work of a very exacting kind, and Mr. Francis labored most industriously and indefatigably in committee and on the floor, making numerous speeches and putting forth earnest and effective effort in the support of some of the most important amendments which were adopted by the convention and subsequently ratified by the people, and are now embodied in the revised State constitution. An act which became a law March 26, 1895, incorporated the Trustees of Scenic and Historic Places and Objects, and named a number of prominent citizens of the State and their associates and successors as such trustees. The list of trustees in cluded William H. Webb, John M. Francis, Andrew H. Green, Chauncey M. Depew, Horace Porter, Benjamin F. Tracy, John Hudson Peck, and other well known gen tlemen. April 6, 1895, the trustees met in New York for organizaton. Andrew H, Green was chosen president and John M. Francis first vice-president. The organi zation as then effected has since remained intact and the trustees have done much valuable work in preserving and perpetuating objects and places of historic and scenic interest. Mr. Francis, although fond of travel and absent more or less from his editorial desk, may be considered as " in the harness" and still is the controlling power in the conduct of the Troy Times. Associated with him, under the firm name of J. M. Francis & Son, is his only son, Charles S. Francis, upon whom is devolved the man agement of the paper. JAMES LANSING. James Lansing, of Troy, N. Y., was born at Decatur, Otsego county, N. Y., May 9, 1834, and resided there with his parents for about twenty years. Just before at taining his majority he went to Mississippi, locating at North Mount Pleasant Soon afterward he became a school teacher there, and later at Macon, Tenn., his work in that profession covering a period of eight years. While at the latter place he married Miss Sarah A. Richardson, of Poultney, Vt. , who returned with him and assisted him in the school in his charge. While he was engaged in teach ing he began the study of law, pursuing his research evenings. Later on he re turned to New York State and entered the Albany Law School, from which he JAMES LANSING. BIOGRAPHICAL. 723 trraduated in 1864. He then removed to Troy and began the practice of his chosen fession. ye remained a few months in the office of Warren & Banker, soon re ceiving the appointment of clerk to the Surrogate's Court under Hon. Moses Warren, then surrogate of Rensselaer county. Three years later he formed a copartnership with Hon. Robert H. McClellan, which continued for fourteen years. On the disso lution of that firm he practiced law alone for several years until he associated with him William P. Cantwell, jr. Upon the death of the latter John B. Holmes was ad mitted to partnership, which still exists. Mr. Lansing has been a successful lawyer and has long enjoyed a large practice. His reputation as an accurate, painstaking and critical lawyer, not only in the courts of original jurisdiction, but in the appel late courts of this State, was established soon after his admission to the bar, and this position gained by close and careful study aided by capacity of a high order, he has maintained for more than a quarter of a century. He has been connected with many of the most important litigations in civil cases that have occurred in this county during that period. In 1891 Mr. Lansing was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, upon the occasion of his presentation of an argument in a case then pending in that court, upon the motion of Hon. William M. Evarts, then United States senator from this State. In 1889 Mr. Lansing was elected surrogate of Rensselaer county and held that office for a term of six years. He was a candidate for re-election in 1895 and, though defeated, ran ahead of his ticket by a large number of votes. In 1896 he was a candidate forthe office of county judge, but the county was carried by the Republicans by a large majority and Mr. Lansing's opponent was therefore elected. Upon his retirement from the office of surrogate the Troy Times spoke of his life and services as follows : "The Times, which aided in Mr. Comstock's election, endeavors to be fair to political opponents. It is simple justice to say, therefore, that the retiring surro gate, Hon. James Lansing, has presided for six years with admirable dignity and fairness. His decisions and opinions, always sustained by the higher courts, have added to his reputation as a lawyer, while his courtesy has increased the personal esteem in which he is held. "Mr. Lansing's ancestors came from Holland early in the seventeenth century (1666) and settled in Albany. He was born and bred on a farm in Otsego county, spent some years of his early manhood as a teacher, and at the time he entered upon his duties as surrogate had long been a prominent member of the bar of this county. "Mr. Lansing's industry is shown in the plan which he has followed of writing exhaustive opinions in the more important cases which have come before him. Many of these opinions have been published, and, though coming from an inferior tribunal as Surrogate's Courts are designated, they have been extensively cited as authoritative in legal publications, notably such prominent ones as the latest edition of Bliss's Annotated Code of Civil Procedure and of Redfield's Law and Practice in Surrogate's Courts. During his term of office Mr. Lansing has observed some abuses incident to the established procedure in dealing with decedent's estates; and for his successful efforts to remedy some of them he has earned the gratitude of the people not only 724 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. of this county but of the entire State. We call attention especially to certain amend ments to the Code of Civil Procedure which at his suggestion were enacted by the Legislature of 1895. Heretofore the surrogate had (as he still has, except by con sent of parties), no power to pass upon disputed claims. Such claims must either become the subjects of regular actions in the Courts, or else were sent to a referee— this was the practice favored by the statutes. The result was that the expense of litigation would often be quite out of proportion to the amount in dispute, and as a choice of evils it was not infrequent to pay unjust demands in full or in part, rather than subject estates to the expense and delay of references. The amendments spoken of were a substitute for the reference, the submission of claims to "the sur rogate to be determined by him, upon the judicial settlement of executors' or admin istrators' accounts, and make it to the interest of both parties to consent to such sub mission. This preserves all the good features of the former practice, since the sur rogate still has it in his power to appoint a referee whenever he deems it advisable; while at the same time it enables him to decide the smaller cases himself, and to summarily dispose of a legion of groundless claims. Both the economy and justice of this legislation are apparent, and its adoption is primarily due to Surrogate Lan sing, who prepared the bill and watched its progress through the Legislature. "As Mr. Lansing retires to devote his entire time to his extensive private practice, we feel sure that the people of the county will unite with the Times in extending him God speed." Mr. Lansing is in religion a Presbyterian, and has for many years been president of the Board of Trustees of the church of which he is a member. He is also a trustee of the Albany Law School. In politics Mr. Lansing is a staunch Democrat. He has been the father of eight children, six of whom are now living. Mrs. Lansing died April 7, 1895. GEORGE WEIDMAN DAW. George Weidman Daw, son of Peter Ferris Daw, a prominent lawyer and public officer of Cohoes, Albany county, was born in Cohoes, N. Y., May 24, 1855, attended the public schools of his native place and of Albany, and was graduated from the Albany High School. His father's death prevented him from securing, as he had intended, a college education, and in 1877 he entered the offices of Smith, Fursman & Cowen of Troy, as a student at law. He was admitted to the baT in 1H80 and immediately began the practice of his profession. In 1882 he formed a copartnership with Eugene L. Peltier, which continued until 1890, since which time he has prac ticed alone. He was attorney for the Excise Board of Troy from 1883 to 1886, was one of the organizers of the Rensselaer Union (now the Troy Republican) Club, and was an organizer of the People's Bank of Lansingburgh, of which he is a director. He is also a director in the R. T. French Company of Rochester, N. Y., and was acting chairman of the Rensselaer County Republican Committee during the Blaine campaign of 1884, having seventeen uniformed clubs under his charge. He is a member of the Troy Club, was the originator and is a director of the Riverside Club of Lansingburgh, is a vestryman of Trinity church, Lansingburgh, and is prom- GEORGE W. DAW. BIOGRAPHICAL. 725 inently identified with several other local organizations. While in Southern Califor nia in 1887 he plotted and laid out the now thriving village of Vernondale. His paternal ancestors were French Huguenots, who, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, came with other religious refugees to New Rochelle, New York. He was married on May 10, 1882, to his cousin, Miss E. Eugenia, only daughter of Daniel Weidman, of Albany, and they have had two children ; Ellen Elmina and Georgena. Both Mr. and Mrs. Daw are descendants of Capt. George Denison, a noted officer in the Indian Wars of Connecticut, whose wife was Lady Boradail, an English lady of rank. His father, William Denison, came to America in 1631, in the good ship Lion, with his wife Margaret and three sons, Daniel, Edward and George. Captain George, after the death of his first wife, returned to England, served under Cromwell in the army of the Parliament, was wounded at Nasby, was nursed at the home of John Boradail by his daughter Ann, whom he married, and returned to Roxbury, Mass., and finally set tled in Stonington, Conn., where he has been described as " the Miles Standish of the settlement." Mr. Daw's grandmother was Esther, the third child of Daniel and Elizabeth Denison ; Daniel was the second child of Daniel, jr., (and Esther), who was the ninth child of Daniel (and Mary), who was the fifth child of Captain John (and Phebe), who was the first child of Captain George (and Lady Ann). Esther Denison was born in 1776, married Miner W alden at Pawlet, Vt. , and moved to Berne, Albany county, N. Y., where Mr. Daw's mother was born. WILLIAM T. SHYNE. Occupying a prominent position among the largest and best equipped livery, boarding and sales stables in Eastern New York, is that of Wm. T. Shyne, of 22, 24 and 26 State street, Troy. This stable having been in existence about thirty years has a first-class reputation for efficient service and liberal business methods, which has developed for it a very large patronage. The premises occupied are comprised in a two-story building 100x125 feet in dimensions, which is furnished, with spacious stalls, commodious carriage rooms, harness rooms and office, well lighted and ventilated and supplied with every modern convenience for the transac tion of business. Mr. Shyne is an experienced horseman and gives his personal attention to all operations of the business. His horses are all safe and free drivers and nowhere else in Troy can be obtained more stylish and attractive turnouts, which include wagons, single and double carriages, coaches and coupes ; victorias, «c., are provided for funerals, weddings, theatres, shopping and calling. The service is prompt, attentive and reliable. This stable offers unsurpassed accommodation for boarding horses, and the greatest care and attention is given to both horses and carriages belonging to private parties. The community is to be congratulated upon the accession of so valuable and well conducted an establishment as this one, and its future success and influence may be confidently predicted, as it las increased to enormous proportions under the management of its preseut pro prietor. "¦ T. Shyne, son of Wm. Shyne, was born at Brunswick, Rensselaer county; he received a public school and business college education, assisting his father on his farm, 726 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and other business in the meantime. At an early age he managed one of the meat wagons ; later he was transferred to the milk route, which work he continued until it became one of the most extensive in the city of Troy. In 1894 he purchased the livery stable formerly occupied by J. B. Clark, which establishment is a successful factor of the trade accommodations of this city. He is a member of Robert Emmet Association, B. P. O., Elks, No. 141, and the Troy Democratic Club. FRANK S- BLACK. Hon. Frank S. Black was born March 8, 1853, in Limington, York county, Me, His father was Jacob Black, a respected farmer of that community, who died in 1882. Frank S. Black was one of the eleven children born to Jacob Black and his wife, Charlotte B. Black, and he received only those advantages which fall to the lot of a son of a poor New England farmer. From his early youth he was thrown upon his own resources. Beginning with hard manual labor on a farm, and afterward teach ing school and earning his way through college, he gradually made his way upward, Early in his youth he made up his mind to become a lawyer. He taught his first school when he was but seventeen years of age, and in the following year, with the money thus earned, together with the money secured by working on a farm, he en tered Dartmouth college at Hanover, N. H.', with the class of 1875, at the age of eighteen years. He had prepared for college partly through his own exertions and partly through Lebanon academy, in his native county, but his preparation had been indifferent, and he found the greatest difficulty in keeping abreast with his fellow-classmen. To make the burden worse, he was compelled to provide himself with the necessities of life. How pluckily he combatted his troubles is shown by the fact that during his junior year he attended the college session eleven weeks only, the re mainder of the time being occupied in teaching. He taught every year he was in college, and during the summer months, when the schools were closed, he was em ployed on his father's farm. But despite the obstacles in his path, he was one of the editors of the college magazine, twice was chosen prize speaker and had the distinc tion of being an honor man at commencement. Immediately after being graduated from college Mr. Black went to Johnstown, N. Y. , where he began the study of law. As far as he knew, he had not a friend in all New York State. In Johnstown he entered the law firm of Wells, Dudley & Keck. The necessity of gaining a livelihood forced him to accept the management of the Johnstown Journal, then under the proprietorship of W. M. Ireland. Mr. Black con ducted this paper for several months, when he came to Troy. In Troy he became a reporter on the Troy Whig, then under the proprietorship of Alexander Kirk patrick of Lansingburgh, but after a few months he entered the registry department of the Troy post-office as clerk. At the age of twenty-two he resumed the study of law in the office of Robertson & Foster, and in 1879, four years after his graduation from college, he was admitted to the bar. In the following year Mr. Black, with Albert Smith and George B. Wellington, formed the firm of Smith, Wellington & Black. A year later he retired from the firm and from that time forth practiced alone. J. H. OSTERHOUT. BIOGRAPHICAL. 727 One of Mr. Black's rules as a lawyer has been never to conduct the trial of a crim inal case, and once only has he appeared in a divorce trial, and then only at the most earnest solicitation of a woman whom he believed to be the victim of persecu tion. He was a stranger to all criminal proceedings until the tragedy on election dav in March, 1894, when his services at the inquest into the death' of Robert Ross, who was murdered by Bartholomew Shea at the polls, made him a conspicuous figure. He also was counsel for the special Senate committee which investigated the government of the city of Troy. Mr. Black was attorney for the receivers of the Troy Steel and Iron company and prepared the papers in the proceedings which effected the receivership. He also acted in the same capacity in connection with the affairs of the Gilbert Car company, and he has been interested either as counsel or attorney in many of the most important legal actions in Troy and vicinity for sev eral years. Up to the year 1894 Mr. Black had not been conspicuous in political affairs, although in 1888 and again in 1892 he took the stump in behalf of the national Re publican nominees. He had never held nor sought political office, although he had been his party's choice for about every office in its gift in Rensselaer county. In the fall of 1894 he became the Republican candidate for member of Congress from his district by the unanimous vote of the Congressional convention, and was elected over Charles D. Haines, who was a candidate for re-election, by a plurality of 3,440. His career so recently begun in Washington made him the acknowledged leader of the Republican party in Rensselaer county. At the Republican State convention held in Saratoga Springs August 26, 1896, he received the nomination for the gover norship, after a spirited, but manly and honorable contest. At the election held No vember 3 following he was elected governor of the Empire State by a majority of 212,9t>2, larger than ever before had been given to any candidate of any party in the State. In speaking of Mr. Black's characteristics the Troy Times, on the day of his nom ination for the governorship, said: " Mr. Black is Essentially a home man. He finds his greatest pleasure with his family, with whom he spends a month of each year in seeking recreation out of the city. Every year he visits his native county, in which he takes much pride as being one of the counties which compose the district in Congress which Speaker Reed rep resents. Mr. Black enjoys a legal practice second to none in this locality As a member of the bar his integrity, sincerity and ability have won him a standing of much prominence." Mr. Black was married in 1879 to Miss Lois B. Hamlin of Provincetown, Mass. They have had three children, but only one, Arthur, a boy sixteen years old, survives. JOSEPH H. OSTERHOUT. Joseph H. Osterhout was born in Warsink, Ulster county, N. Y., September 9, 1845. He was educated in the public schools and Monticello Academy. He left his athers farm at the age of sixteen, and was a clerk m a dry goods store eleven years. He then came to Troy, N. Y. , where he has conducted a shirt factory for 728 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. twenty years, first in company with George W. Chapman for three years. At his death he bought the entire plant, and has done a prosperous business, employing six hundred people in the factory and surrounding villages. November 21, 1882, he married Elizabeth O. Vosburg, of Troy, N.Y. They have two sons, Eugene V. and J. Gordon. Mr. Osterhout's father, Joseph, was born at Stone Ridge, Ulster county, N. Y., in the year 1824; he was a farmer by occupation. He married Rachael Dol- son, of Greenfield, of his native county. They had three children: Joseph H„ Eugene I., and Mary. Mr. Osterhout died in 1893, and his wife in 1855. Mrs. Osterhout's father, Allen J. Vosburg, was born in Montgomery county, N. Y., in 1823. June 2, 1845, he married Susan Grant, of Glenville, Schenectady county. They had seven children : Mary, Elizabeth, A. Leslie (who died in infancy), Fannie, A. Leslie, Martha, and Charles. Fannie and Martha are also dead. Mr. Vosburg died August 27, 1885. Mr. Osterhout purchased Fernwood' farm in 1888, for a country seat and home, and for the purpose of breeding first-class blooded horses, such as Hambletonian, Wilkes and Electioneer. COL. CHARLES L. MACARTHUR. Coi.. Charles La Fayette MacArthur was born at Claremont, N. H., January 7, 1824. After a partial education in the district and select schools he was graduated from the Black River Institute at Watertown, N. Y. He was editor and proprietor of the Carthaginian at Carthage, N. Y. , and then went west and became a local reporter for the Detroit Free Press. From there he went to Milwaukee, Wis., about 1843, and joined a government party as secretary of the expedition to make a treaty with the Sioux Indians, on the upper region of the Platte River. He was the first editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel, which was the first daily paper published in Wis consin. He remained in Milwaukee until 1846, when he moved to New York city and became the city editor of the New York Sun. In September, 1847, he joined John M. Francis in the purchase of the "Troy Daily Budget." In 1851 he went to Europe and in 1856 he visited Cuba, under a secret government commission, to look into certain matters connected with the island con sulates. He continued with the " Budget" until January 1, 1859, and on October 18, 1859, established the " Troy Daily Arena," but sold out in the spring of 1861 to go to war as quartermaster of the 2d N. Y. Vols. He was in the battle of Great Bethel and went with his regiment, after the cap ture of Norfolk, to Portsmouth and participated in its experiences until appointed by President Lincoln as captain and assistant quartermaster in the regular army. He served as brigade and division quartermaster, and was at the battle of Fredericks burg, through all the battles from Fair Oaks and McClellan's seven days' fights, in the change of base to the James River. On leaving the army he received two brevet promotions from Governor Fenton for faithful service in the late war. In the fall of 1864 he established the " Troy News," the first Sunday newspaper outside New York city. He sold the " News " in 1866, having become one of the proprietors and editors of the "Troy Daily Whig.' March 24, 1867, he re-established the "Troy Northern Budget," as a Sunday jour- SAMUEL O. GLEASON. BIOGRAPHICAL. 729 ml In the publication of the " Budget" he has associated with him his son, under the firm name of C. L. MacArthur & Son. Mr MacArthur has been an active and influential politician. He was a Free Soiler in 1848 and a Democrat up to the time of Lincoln. He was for several years a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, and a delegate to the na tional convention of 1856 and a frequent delegate to the State conventions. He was alderman of the Second ward in 1852 and 1853, and twice for a number of years col lector of the port of Troy. Since Lincoln's first election he has been a Republican. He was a member of the State Senate in 1881 and 1883, representing the 19th district, and declined a renomination. Colonel MacArthur has been a prominent officer in the organization and doings of the G. A. R., and was president of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Association. In the later years of his life he has devoted much of his time to travel in foreign countries, and to the publication of accounts of his journeyings, which have been widely read, and have given him a high reputation as a traveler and writer. In 1X96 he was appointed one of the park commissioners of Troy by Mayor Molloy, and was also one of the founders of the Citizens' Steamboat Line, of which he is director and one of the large stockholders. SAMUEL O. GLEASON. Samuel 0. Gleason was born in Shaftsbury, Vt. , in 1833. He is descended' ffom a long line of New England ancestors who came from England to the Colony of Massachusetts and made a settlement about year 1654. His great-grandfather was in the colonial wars, knownas the French and Indian wars. He served with the Eng lish forces. Both his great-grandfather and his grandfather served in the Revolu tionary war, enlisting in a Massachusetts company and regiment from the town of Spencer, Worcester county, Mass. They bore an honorable part in that eventful struggle for independence. His father, Samuel Gleason, was born in Jamaica, Vt. , and was a farmer and school teacher. He died in Troy, N. Y., in 1851 ; his wife, the mother of our subject, was Polly (Ober) Gleason ; she died many years ago. Samuel 0. received a common school education and came to Troy in 1850, where he clerked in the drug store of Wallace & Knickerbocker until January 1, 1856, when ne purchased the drug store at 314 River street, where his store was burned in the big fire of 1862. He rebuilt and resumed business; he subsequently sold out to C H. Bosworth in 1882. In September, 1882, he was elected cashier of the Manu facturers National Bank of Troy, which office be has held since. He was elected treasurer of the Fire Department in 1855 or 1856, holding the office five years. In 1863 he was a candidate for county treasurer, but was defeated by Roger A. Flood. He was appointed county treasurer in March, 1864, to fill the vacancy made by the leath of Mr. Flood, and was nominated by the Democratic party for the same office ln the fall of 1864, and was elected ; re-elected in 1867, and again in 1870, holding office for nearly ten years. In 1870 he had no opponent to run against him, it 730 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. being the only time that such an occurrence ever happened in the couuty. He was appointed fire commissioner about 1878, holding the office a little over a year, when he resigned. He is also a member of the Board of Water Commissioners, being appointed February 3, 1887, and has been president of the board since 18N8. Mr. Gleason is one of the commissioners of the funded debts of the city of Troy, and one of the trustees of the Troy Gas Co. On April 1, 1893, he was called to the treasurer- ship of the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Co., and served iu that capacity until the company dissolved in December, 1895. Mr. Gleason isa life member of Mount Zion Lodge, F. & A. M. Iu 1 859 he married Mary Burdick of Greenwich N.Y. She died in Troy in 1869, leaving two daughters: Carrie E., now the wife of William Henry Warren, and Mary B. , at home. In poli tics Mr. Gleason has always been a strong and influential Democrat, representing this Congressional district on the State Democratic Committee five years from 1870, and was also chairman of the Democratic County Committee about the same time. He was one of the strong and influential supporters of Mr. Tilden for governor in 1874, and for the presidency in 1876. As a careful and conservative business man and financier, Mr. Gleason has made a most honorable and enviable record. JEROME B. PARMENTER. Major Jerome B. Parmenter, lawyer, soldier, editor, and literary mau, was born in Pittstown, Rensselaer county and State of New York, and was the youngest son of Dr. Azel F. Parmenter. He was educated at Cambridge Academy, and gradu ated with distinction at Union College in 1857. Studied law in the office of his brothers, Roswell A. and Franklin Jay Parmenter, at 47 First street, Troy, N. Y. ; was admitted to the bar in 1859. In August, 1862, on the organization of the One Hundred Sixty-ninth Regt. N. Y. Volunteers, he became first lieutenant, was soon promoted to captain, and afterwards was placed in several responsible positions, as adjutant on Colonel Buel's staff, and on Colonel Buel's military commission as judge advocate. The 169th made a glorious record during the Rebellion. Of the nine hundred and fifteen men on the rolls at the first muster, less than one hundred and twenty returned home with the regiment at the close of its term of service. In August, 1863 Major Parmenter, while leading an attacking force at the siege of Charleston, S. C, was struck down by the concussion of a shell fired by the besieged. He was borne off the field, supposed to be mortally wounded, and taken to the hos pital at Beaufort, S. C, where he remained for some time, and in December of that year, he was honorably discharged " on account of physical disability contracted in the service." In 1864 he returned to Troy, and resumed the practice of the law, and became a member of the firm of Parmenter Brothers, whose clientage was among the first at the bar. But after his serious injury at the siege of Charleston, before mentioned at certain seasons of the year, he suffered much pain therefrom, as his spine had been much injured, but he would not apply for a pension until, at last, spinal men ingitis set in, and he was confined to his house, out of which he never came again in life. His pension did not wait the slow process of red-tape, but was granted at once, FRANKLIN J. PARMENTER. BIOGRAPHICAL. 731 one or more officers of the pension bureau having known Major Parmenter during his military service in the South. In 1868 Mr. Parmenter, with Charles C. Clark, purchased the franchise and prop erty of the Troy Press, and the paper was conducted by Parmenter & Clark until Mr Clark's death in 1873. Mr. Parmenter then became the sole owner, and en larged and improved the paper vastly iu its daily and weekly editions; and being an able and ready writer, he made the Press a great favorite, and many of his political articles were copied by all the leading journals of the country. The late Samuel J. Tilden was his warm political and personal friend. His biographical sketch of Dr. Nott, the late president of Union College, with whom Mr. Parmenter was a great favorite during his attendance at the college, attracted much attention and was copied by the New York journals. As soldier, lawyer and writer Mr. Par menter has left a bright and honorable record; and his character as a man of ster ling honor and integrity, and pleasing manners, endeared him to all with whom he had political, business, or social relations. This accomplished man died at his temporary residence in Bennington, Vt. , on the 27th day of April, 1891, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. FRANKLIN JAY PARMENTER. The Parmenter family is of French origin, tracing their descent from Jehan Par- mentier, who was born at Dieppe, France, in 1494. He was a distinguished navi gator and author, being the first known discoverer of the Indies as far as Sumatra, where he died in 1530. His works were published in Paris the year succeeding his death. Prom him descended Jacques Parmentier, the celebrated painter. The founder of the American family, Robert Parmenter, was born in England in 1621, and with his wife, Leah, settled in Braintree, Mass., in 1648. Their eldest child, Joseph Parmenter, was born October 20, 1655, and lived to the age of eighty-two. His son, Benjamin, was born September 9, 1682, married Hannah Bigelow of Wes ton, Mass., and about the year 1716 settled in Newport, R. I, Their eldest son, also named Benjamin, born December 16, 1712, was the father of John Newton Parmenter, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. His son, Azel Fiske Parmenter, born in 1781!, was agraduate physician, and came to this State in 1810. He did not prac tice his profession, however, but for many years taught schools in various parts of N'ew York State. In 1820 he married Lavinia, daughter of Roswell Ray of North umberland, N. Y., soon afterward removing to Pittstown, where Franklin Jay Par menter was born August 28, 1829. His mother was a most extraordinary woman. Always of delicate constitution, yet gifted with much beauty in her young woman hood, her ambition was beyond her physical strength, and notwithstanding her strong ana resolute spirit, her life went out before her hair was gray. Her son was wont to say that to his mother's industry and her practical business sagacity, he and his brothers were indebted for the greater part of their educational advantages; and thai to whatever success in after years the brothers may have attained, is in a great degree attributable to that good mother's fond and solicitous incitements to their 732 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. ambition. Mr. Parmenter's mother died in 1848, and her husband died ten years later. Franklin Jay Parmenter, after attending the district schools in his town, in 1846 entered the academy at Hoosick Falls, where he remained for about two years, teaching school during the winter seasons to help pay his expenses. In 1848 he en tered the Troy Conference academy at Poultney, Vt., where he completed his aca demical education. In April, 1849, he came to Troy and began the study of law in the office of McConihe & Parmenter. He taught a district school in Brunswick the following winter, and in the spring of 1850 opened a select school on the corner of First and Ferry streets, Troy. At the close of 1851 he abandoned teaching, and ap plying himself diligently to the study of his profession, was admitted to the bar May 4, 1852, and at once began practice. He was police justice of the city of Troy from 1860 to 1864, and during the rebellion contributed largely to the expense of raiding the 169th New York Vols. , and made many speeches in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war. In 1869 Union college conferred upon him the degree of M. A. Mr. Parmenter is a brilliant writer and the author of many poems. The best known, perhaps, is the "Welcome to Dickens," published by the Harpers and re published in England with illustrations. His poem of "Troy's Centennial" was greatly admired, and is republished below. June 16, 1886, the Troy Conference academy held its semi-annual meeting, and Mr. Parmenter was chosen as the poet of the occasion. In 1872 he married Lorenda Silliman, daughter of the late Capt. Robert D. Silliman. Their son, Frank Silliman Parmenter, is now a student in the Harvard Law school. TROY'S CENTENNIAL— 1 7H9-18.su. BY FRANK J. 1'ARMKN'IEK. Where rolls the rapid Delaware to greet the Schuylkill's tide A band of hardy patriots resolved, whate'er betide, That this fair land Columbus found, to which the Pilgrims fled, Should bow beneath no tyrant's rod while t/n-v had blood to shed ! They fought, thev won, and passed away, and on their graves the sun, As mindful of such sacred dust, an hundred years has shone. Their country's harps their praise have hymned, and History's graver pen Has traced the struggle well and oft of those bold-hearted men; And as we celebrate to-day a City's birth, and view. With hasty glance, her mighty strides a busy Century through, l)ur hearts turn back to those true souls that sowed for us to reap, And their bequest of Liberty in grateful memory keep! And other men, and nearer friends crowd on the scene- to-day: The Founders of our City that so lately passed away, Whose vigorous brain impelled the power that, like Uranus' son, Struck with a hundred-handed force till victory was won, And " Vanderheyden's Ferry " that had grown a strong-limbed boy, Received the manly toga, and the classic name of Troy;-- A name the blind old harper sang throughout the Isles of Greece, A City war can't terrify although her paths are peace! BIOGRAPHICAL. 733 Of those gray Sires to whom we owe so great a debt, a few As they were stepping Heavenward, ourselves and children knew: — A Tibbits with his stalwart form worn more by toil than age, Once only, and while Death looked on, I saw that reverend Sage ! Like him, the Warren brothers left their impress all around, And we behold with grateful hearts their footprints on the ground; Nor does it bring less joy to lis or the observant Muse To see their children's children stand in the ancestral shoes. The Lanes, the Vails, the Harts unite in equal zeal with those, And like her ancient prototype our lofty City rose; That upon old Scamander's bank and this by Hudson's side, As wide apart in time and place, their fame may be as wide; Though let us hope that ours shall not beneath the sword expire; As for its ally, we have shown we gather strength from fire ! But let ns pause to look around and mark what change is here Where scarcely stops the cradle's rock before we call the bier:— Along the shores of yon bright stream that rolls his peaceful tide Whilom, the red Mohican in his bark canoe did glide; And where the cunning Scotchman's wheel in ponderous round is whirred, In aid of Labor's handicraft the Pequoit yell was heard; And all along our eastern bounds and where the Poestenkill, To turn the spindles of the town, leaps roaring down the hill, The Indian camp-fires burned; and there, beside the brawling stream, The dusky brave his maiden wooed beneath pale Dian's beam; They did not tarry long with us, but they have left behind The most euphonious names of all that History can find; Tomhannock, Mohawk, Wompeconck, and Schaghticoke are known; Bad taste has blotted others out to substitute his own. Our thoughts come back to later times, and with a joyous pride, Hail Fulton's genius panting up the noble Hudson's tide ! No son of ours, but yet we feel an interest in his fame, And every town the tide-waves wash should bless his sacred name ! See yonder toiling Ferryboat, two horses on each side, Sore struggling under thong and oath to cross the heaving tide, Lo, what a change!— a trim-built craft floats gracefully and free; A Silliman applied the steam where "Brommy's" power was,—" Gee:'" And on the glorious river's breast where crawled the sloop so slow, Dependent on the fitful breeze whether she stand or go. The rapid steamers laden with the products of our town, With busy men, and women fair, sail swiftly up and down; And on our streets the lumbering stage no longer shocks the sight, And Gas and Electricity have put whale-oil to flight, To Morse who loosed the Lightning's tongue, and him whose telephone Can send to distant ears the voice, to both our debt we own; Yet to our own home enterprise the stirring Century through, More than from any other source our present strength is due. One instance must suffice to show how Trojans override All obstacles that come athwart their profit or their pride:— Three stout young Trojans (two <>f whom are now returned to clay, Though Robinson is vigorous still) felt -much inclined one da}-, To stroll through Boston Commons, but the Mountain barred their way ! Opposed by such tremendous power what could our three friends do ? Turn back?— They seized the pick and spade and tore the mountain through, ^ ent on their course, surveyed " The Hub," secured what freight they could. And then returned ; but Weed and Vail sleep now in green Oakwood ! 734 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Trade and our Manufactories are seldom idle here, Except when Labor, wrong or right, u gets up upon his ear," Throws by his tools, suspends his craft, and forming some compact, Rejoiced if he and Capital both suffer from the act ! . 'Tis strange a twain that God ordained to journey hand in hand Can find no common ground whereon with equal rights to stand ! We must not boast too much to-day, though pride may tinge the theme And vanity close whisper us to let the Eagle scream; And so my Muse with humble brow forbears to sing or sav Yon mountain could not stop our march nor conflagrations stay; But modesty, methinks, may urge, nor startle him who hears, That not a city in the State within these hundred years, Has taken longer strides, and shown what enterprise can do, Aided by thoughtful hand and brain, with future weal in view, Than this, the City of our love, that sits on Hudson's shore, Whose furnaces and workshop's ring with labor's ceaseless roar. And where to Toil and Capital she opens wide her door. Where so much virtue can be found within our City's bounds, IC one should find a fault or two, it should not call for frowns ; Most rules have their exception, and the virtues 1 have named Cannot be dimmed by censure, nor blush when justly blamed ; So now if my censorious Muse, in tune a little out With her glad song that's gone before shall sing to you about A few sad evils that exist, but easy to remove, .She hopes you'll heed the censure mild and cordially approve : You'll own it is a sore reproach that seventy thousand dwell Within a city that contains not one first-class hotel ! Those that we have are fairly kept, but surely cannot vie With many in less wealthy towns that stand reproachful by ! And then we need a cable road, an inclined plane at least, So that our pent-up citizens will people the broad East That lies in sunlight, sweet and vast, and smiling with good will. And singing in her healthful voice, "Wise men, come o'er the Hill ! And build upon our lovely plain, the first to greet the sun. And watch the roaring Poestenkill his boisterous journey run !" Besides, we've not a breathing spot to free the lungs of Toil, Where Fain may find a quick relief and Pleasure stroll awhile ; Where Beauty with her winning face may trip along to see, ;As if she saw him not), her lover sighing by the tree ; Where Age may hold his crutch, and sit beneath the tuneful shade And take a little grateful rest before his grave is made ; And where the heaviest tax-payer may find relief from care, Xor think his purse too highly taxed for all his comforts there. Do I assume too much, my friends, when I express belief, That ere these blessings come to us the time will be but brief'' Sherry, our Man of Ross, has not the only heart that beats With philanthropic sentiment upon our crowded streets; A thousand others just as strong but in the pulse less fast Only require some time for thought before the die is cast. But I must close ; the Century ends, and here must end my song : Time fails, or I would sing of more will be remembered long; It but remains for me to hope the next one hundred years May bring to those shall fill our place, more joy and fewer tears ! H. O. INGALLS. BIOGRAPHICAL. 735 HARRY O. INGALLS. Hakky 0. Ingalls was born at the city of Troy, N. V., March 15, ]M7(), where he still resides with his parents. O. F. Ingalls, his father, came from the village of Hartford, Washington county, N. Y., when a young man in the year 1860, and with his brother, T. E. Ingalls, entered into the Hour and produce business, and has since that time been one of the wholesale merchants'of Troy in that line. His mother ia Mary E. (Hale) Ingalls, formerly of Hartford, N. Y. Horace H. Ingalls, the grand father of Harry O. Ingalls, is a farmer and although ninety-one years of age is yet very active at his home in North Granville, Washington county, and still attends regularly and punctually to his affairs. Harry 0. is one of a family of four brothers. He received a public school educa tion, and perfected himself in the higher courses of study under private instruction. After serving a clerkship as a student at law in the offices of Smith & Wellington, he entered the la\v department of Union University, the Albany Law School, and graduated from that institution in the class of 1893. He was admitted to the bar as an attorney and counselor at law at the General Term of the Supreme Court held at Saratoga Springs in September, 1893, since which time he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession with offices in the Keenan building. He is identified with the Republican Club of Troy, and was a member of the executive .Gommittee of that organization for the years 1892-93. He is also a mem ber of the Trojan Hook and Ladder Company of the Troy Fire Department. In March, 1896, he was elected attorney to the Board of Supervisors of Rensselaer county. It was during his term as such attorney that the defalcation of George H, Morrison, county treasurer, was discovered. After an investigation by the finance committee of the Board of Supervisors, he brought several actions for the county of Rensselaer to recover the amount embezzled by Morrison, which was about §250,000. Those actions are now pending in the Supreme Court. PART III. FAMILY SKETCHES. FAMILY SKETCHES. Speirs, James, born in Scotland, September 9, 1832, is a son of Allen and Jean (Dunlap) Speirs, both born in Scotland, where they lived and died. He was reared a^ a weaver and educated in the common schools. He came to Paterson, N. J., and began working in Adams's mosquito net mill and was there until 1869, when the mill burned and Mr. Speirs went to Pine Meadow, Conn. , and engaged in a mill manufacturing hammock cloth ; after about fifteen months he went to New York city in the employ of James C Thompson, now of Valley Falls, and engaged in the manufacture of mosquito netting for eight years; in 1877 he came to Valley Falls as general manager in a cotton mill for four years and in 1881 built the hotel he now occupies. Mr. Speirs was married in 1865 in Paterson, N. J., to Catherine Finley, born in Scotland and daughter of William Finley of Scotland. Mr. Speirs is a Re publican in politics and was school collector about seven years. He is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. ; he was a member of the Chapter Lodge in Scotland. He is also a member of Columbian Lodge No. 689, I. O. O. F. In 1887 he built a large tows hall known as Speirs Hall. In this hall the First Baptist church originated November, 1891, and it was used by that church two and a half years. Mr. Speirs and wife attend and support the Baptist church. Sproat, Charles A., born in Lambertville, N. J., December 26, 1857, is a son of Henry and Harriet (Perriman) Sproat, born in England and emigrated to Philadel phia and then to Lambertville, N. J. , in 1861 ; Mr. Sproat died in 1869 ; his widow still lives at Valley Falls. Mr. Sproat was engaged in the manufacture of twine and formed a partnership with Thomas Lape. Charles A. was educated in the common schools and Troy Business College from which he was graduated in 1872, after which he worked for his brother, John Sproat, in the manufacture of cigars ; at the age of twenty-one years he engaged in the same work and has been very successful, em ploying seven men. Mr. Sproat was married in 1877 to Maria Beach, and has two children : Laura and Charles H. Mrs. Sproat died in 1882 and Mr. Sproat married Georgia A. Bennett in 1884; they have one child, Frank R. Mr. Sproat is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F & A. M., Valley Falls Lodge No. 689, I. O. O. F., and is also a member of the Elks, No. 141, Troy. Snyder, Charles W., born in Pittstown, September 1, 1843, a son of John A. and Anna Eliza (Finch) Snyder ; he born in Pittstown and she in Schaghticoke. The grandfather of Charles W. was Andrew Snyder, a native of Pittstown and son of John, The grandfather was a farmer and lived and died on the farm now owned 4 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. by Charles W., whose father was also a farmer and owned at one time 326 acres of land in Pittstown ; he died July 8, 1870, and his wife March 2, 1881. Charles W. was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools, Jonesville Academy and was graduated from Bryant & Stratton's Business College of Troy in 1862. He follows farming and owns 380 acres of land. He has been supervisor of Pittstown for eight years (1873-74, 1881-83, and 1893-95). Mr. Snyder was married October 4, 1865, to Eliza E. Giffin, born in Morriston, St. Lawrence county, and daughter of Rufus T. and Dorothy E. (Reese) Giffin ; he a native of St. Lawrence county, where his wife died in 1889 ; he was a carriage maker, and served in the late war. To Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Snyder were born three children: Nellie F., wife of Stephen L. Cushman of Pittstown; they have two children: Grace and Mabel. John A., de ceased. Ermina, attending Lansingburg Academy. Mr. Snyder was a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M., Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., of Lansing burgh, and a charter member of Raymertown Lodge No. 672, I. O. O. F., and is also deputy of the district. The family attends the M. E. church. Mr. Snyder is a member of P. of I. and is grand trustee for the State and president of the county and has been since its inception. Snyder, Jacob H., was born in Pittstown, N. Y. He is a son of Jacob and Eliza beth (Alexander), he a native of Pittstown and she of Brunswick. The grandparents . were Andrew and Esther Harmon, he was a native of Pittstown. Two brothers of . Mr. Harmon were in the battle of Bennington in the Revolutionary war. The great grandfather, John Snyder, was born in southeastern New York, whence he came • to Rensselaer county. He was a natural mechanic and built and ran mills in Pitts- . town and Schaghticoke and owned about 700 acres of land. He married Barbara . Weatherwax. Mr. Snyder died near Tomhannock. His son Andrew, father of Jacob H., was a farmer of Pittstown, where he died in 1849 at the age of eighty-five - years. Jacob A. was under General Eddy in the war of 1812. In 1825 he bought the farm where Jacob H. now resides and here lived and died. _ He was born in 1796 and died May 25, 1878. Mrs. Snyder was born 1792 and died January 16, 1877. Jacob H. has always resided on the homestead. He married Mary Talbut, a native of Ireland. Mr. Snyder has about 700 acres of land and carries on mixed farming. Van Wirt, J. D., M. D., born in Ancram, Columbia county, N. Y., August 8, 1858, . is a son of Rev. Nichols and Mary P. (Campbell) Van Wirt, he a native of Johnstown, Fulton county, N. Y., and she of Schoharie county, N. Y. The grandfather of Dr. Van Wirt was Daniel Van Wirt, a native of Johnstown, N. Y., where he lived and died. The father of Dr. Van Wirt was a Lutheran minister who was educated at Fairfield Seminary and took a theological course at Hartwick Seminary and the The ological college at Gettysburg, Pa., from which he was graduated about 1863; he taught seven languages and had many private students; he came to Rensselaer county in 1877 and settled at Melrose, N. Y., for about five years; then went to Montgomery county and engaged in the mercantile business at Palatine Bridge and Canajoharie, N. Y., until 1894, when he came to live with Dr. Van Wirt at Johnson-' ville, where, October 14, 1895, he passed to the land beyond. Dr. Van Wirt was reared at Sharon Springs and Stone Arabia, Montgomery county, and educated at - Hartwick Seminary, Fort Plain Seminary, and Troy Academy ; he was graduated from Albany Medical College in 1883 and, went to Ketchum's Corners and Quakers FAMILY SKETCHES. . 5 Serines N. Y., where he practiced five years, thence removed to Boyntonville, N. V and was there until December, 1891, when he came to Johnsonville, where he has a successful practice. He was first married in 1883 to Mary I. Bonesteel of Mel rose who bore him one son, J. Purcelle. His wife died in April, 1892 at Johnson ville September, 1894, he was married to Mary Esther Herrington of Johnsonville, N Y. He is a Republican and justice of the peace ; he is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M., and Johnsonville Lodge No. 411, I. O. O. F. The family at tend and support the M. E. church. October, 1894, he also engaged in the drug business in Johnsonville, N. Y. Dr. Van Wirt is a member of the Medical Associa tion of Troy and Vicinity. Wright, E. L., was born August 9, 1833, in Hoosick, N. Y. He is a son of Edmond and Charlotte (Payne) Wright, he a native of Hoosick and she of Massachusetts. The grandfather of Mr. Wright was Moses Wright, a native of Rhode Island and one of the early settlers of Hoosick ; he was a captain in the war of 1812 under Gen eral Eddy ; his wife was Miss Haynes of Rhode Island, and her father was one of the early settlers of the town, coming on horseback following his route by marked trees. The father of Mr. Wright was a harnessmaker and lived in Boyntonville for forty years; he died in October, 1873; his wife died about 1846. Mr. Wright was reared in Boyntonville and educated in the common schools and the academy of Hoosick Falls. At the age of eighteen years he went West and finally landed in California when he was about twenty-four years old; he remained there twelve years, engaged in mining and in mercantile business. In 1869 he returned to this State and was engaged in mercantile business at Eagle Bridge for five years ; in 1879 he came, to Johnsonville, N. Y., and built the store he has since occupied. He is a member of the Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. October 3, 1872, he was married to Mary E. Silkworth, of Pittstown, N. Y. They have two children: Lena A. and Elsa M. Lena is a graduate from, and Elsa is a member of the class of 1897 atTemple Grove, Wadsworth, G. H., was born in Pittstown, N. Y., January 7, 183T. He was edu cated in the common schools and Bennington Seminary and began life as a teacher; about three years after he engaged in mercantile business at Boyntonville for three years and then went to Eagle Bridge and was in partnership with E. L. Wright in the same business for six years. They sold out and Mr. Wadsworth retired to Boyn tonville and was engaged in selling agricultural implements for three years, and in 1880 he went to Valley Falls and engaged in business as a merchant and continued until 1892. He then went to Blue Mountain Lake and cared for his sick daughter until her death, which occurred January 7, 1894. At present Mr. Wadsworth is en gaged at auctioneering, a business he has followed for twenty-nine years. Mr. Wadsworth was married in 1858 to Lottie P. Wright, born in Pittstown and daugh ter of Edmund and Charlena (Payne) Wright, he was born at Hoosick Falls, and she in Springfield, Mass. The grandfather of Mrs. Wadsworth was Moses Wright, an early settler of Hoosick Falls. The wife of Moses Wright was Polly Haines, daugh ter of Edmund Haines, who built one of the first frame houses at Hoosick Falls. Mr. Wadsworth and wife had one daughter, Kittie L., born in 1859, educated at Bus- rob where she was prepared for Mount Holyoke Seminary, from which she was graduated in June, 1880. She was married in 1884 to B. L. Crapo of Pittstown and 6 . LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. had four children : George W. , Earl (deceased), Virgie (deceased), Vera K. (deceased). She died January 7, 1894. She was organizer of the Blue Mountain Lake division Sons of Temperance, which adopted resolutions at her death. Her husband is a M. E. preacher. Mr. Wadsworth was overseer of the poor eight years. The grand father of Mr. Wadsworth was Joseph Wadsworth, who was born in Connecticut. He was supervisor of Pittstown for nine years in succession and member of assembly for three years, and a blacksmith by trade. He built a hotel at Boyntonville of which he was proprietor many years and was succeeded by his son H. H. Wads worth. Mr. Wadsworth was for seven years captain of a company of National Guards in the State militia. He had also been a teacher of vocal and instrumental music for a number of years and was chorister of his church for twelve years. Richmond, Theodore C, born in Pittstown, N. Y., October 20, 1815, is a son of Josiah and Phoebe (Warren) Richmond, he born in Taunton, Mass., in 1786, and she at Fall River, Mass., in 1788. Edward Richmond, the grandfather of Theodore C, came to Hoosick in 1792 and lived and died there; he was a lieutenant in the Revo lutionary war. The father of Theodore C. was a wagonmaker by trade; he was afterwards a farmer and hotel keeper at Potter Hill in town of Hoosick, and died there September 12, 1835, and his wife in July, 1843; he was commissioner of high ways and held other minor town offices, and, also, served in the war of 1812. Theo dore C. was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools and at Benning ton, Vt. He has been a farmer and was in early life a dealer in wool and produce. Most of his life has been spent in Pittstown, where he has bought and sold land and in 1863 settled on the farm of 125 acres he now owns; he also owns in Pittstown and elsewhere 243 acres and 200 acres in Grafton. He was married first in 1838 to Emily ; C. Geer; she died in 1853, and in 1854 he married Caroline Baucus, daughter of William I. Baucus. They have had five children: Charles T., who resides in Cleve land and is one of the stockholders of the Natural Carbon Co., was president of the Thompson-Houston Co. at Fremont, Ohio, and a graduate in 1876 from Yale; Emily, who is at home ; Phoebe, wife of William S. Gunnison of Lansingburgh ; Mary R. and William I. at home. The daughters were educated at Pittsfield, Mass. William I. was graduated at Greylock Institute, and has been justice twenty-four years and super visor two terms. He was active in his town during the late war, and Mrs. Richmond was president of a ladies' association during the war for the purpose of raising money and supplies for the suffering. The family attend and support the M. E. church. Potter, L. E. , during his seven years' residence at Hoosick Falls has won as a man the high esteem of the community besides having established the reputation among his townsmen of being one of the best and most successful dentists in the county. He made able preparation for his profession, which he acquired at Philadelphia, spending two years at the Philadelphia Dental College, thence to the New York Dental College, from which he was graduated in 1887. He is a horseman and is the possessor of fast trotters ; also a valued member of the Order of Odd Fellows. "He married Nellie E. Holnbeck, of Bennington, by whom he has one daughter, Alice B., now five years old. Her twin sister, Ruth, lived to be six months old. Stewart, Hiram E., a prominent and well known veteran of the late war, was FAMILY SKETCHES. 7 born in Petersburgh in 1842. Eliphalet, his grandfather, was one of three brothers who came from Scotland before the Revolutionary war ; he became a soldier and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, and after the war removed to Petersburgh, where he engaged in farming. He was twice married and reared three 'children by his first wife and four by his second ; he lived to be eighty-eight. Hiram, father of Hiram E., was bcrn in Petersburgh in 1812, a child of the last marriage; he spent his life as a farmer. His wife was Mary A. Hiscock, born in Peters burgh in 1817 and a daughter of William Hiscock; their children were Hiram, William, Franklin and Sarah ; he died in 1888 and his wife survives him and resides on the homestead ; they were both members of the M. E. church. Hiram E. re mained at home until the war broke out, when he enlisted in Co. H, 169th N. Y. Volunteer Infantry, August, 1862, and served three years, participating in all the the engagements of his regiment. He was wounded in the leg in the battle of Petersburg. After his return he became station agent for the old Troy and Boston Railroad at North Petersburgh, with whom he remained until 1870, when he en gaged in the hotel and general mercantile business, and was postmaster from 1871 until 1888. In politics he is a Democrat and he has served on the Board of Super visors three years, chairman of the board one year, and held all other responsible offices of his town. He is a member of the G. A. R., Post Wood of Hoosick Falls. In December, 1866, he married Frances E., born in Stephentown and daughter of Garrison Town. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are both members of the Christian church. Jones, Eugene M., M.D., was born in Berlin in 1859. Timothy Jones, his great grandfather, was born in Rhode Island, one of ten sons whose father settled in Berlin at an early date, where he took up 1,000 acres of land. Russell R., his grandfather, was born in Petersburgh in 1808, became a farmer and owned two farms at the time of his death. His wife was Annis Clark ; their children were Darius, Ann, Samantha, Lucinda, and Antoinette, all now living but Ann ; he died when about sixty-eight years of age. Darius, the father of Eugene, was born in Petersburgh in 1827, became a wagonmaker, owned and operated a shop in the vil lage of Berlin for twenty years and also followed carpentry for some years. About 1819 he came in possession of his father's homestead of 100 acres, and in 1885 re moved to the farm where he has since resided. His wife was Jane, daughter of Oliver and Nancy (Wilcox) Main. Their children are Byron W., Eugene M., and Ransom L. Dr. Jones worked in his father's shop when a boy, later engaged at blacksmith work in the village of Berlin. When twenty years of age he married Carrie, daughter of David C. and Ann Eliza (Saunders) Crandall; to this union were born two children, Lena C. and Nellie B. His wife died about three years later. When twenty-two he began the study of medicine under Dr. Merryott. He later registered and practiced one year under Dr. Moses of Petersburgh, then studied three years under Dr. Fred Green, during this time attending the Al bany Medical College, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1887. In 1891 he passed the State Civil Service examination and received his certificate. His first practice for himself was begun in March, 1887, in the town of Grafton, where he practiced for five years. In the spring of 1892 he removed to the village of Petersburgh, where he soon had an extensive ride and in addition to this he retained his practice in Grafton, In February, 1896, through the earnest 8 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. solicitation of his friends and patrons of the town of Grafton, he returned to that town, where he has a good and reliable patronage with bright prospects for a future life of usefulness and success in his profession. In May, 1887, he married his second wife, Miss Mamie O'Neil of Albany. They have one child, Viola T. Darling, David, has been an extensive contractor and builder, as many buildings of Hoosick Falls and elsewhere will attest ; the Holmes block, Wilder building and many dwellings are among the number. He came here in 1880 from Pittstown where he followed the same vocation. He also acts as agent for Hon. J. Russell Parsons. He has been village trustee, and was once commander of the G. A. R. Post here. His birthplace was Grafton, N. Y., where he was born in 1838, son of Allen Darling, of an old Vermont family. He was reared in Shaftsbury, Benning ton county, and enlisted in 1861 in First Vermont Cavalry as a private. He was in the battle of Gettysburg and at Second Bull Run, was taken prisoner at Broad Run, Va., and incarcerated at Libby. An exchange soon was made and he joined the regiment at Gettysburg, where he was injured by being thrown from his horse, and was discharged, when he went to Pittstown. He is an official member of the M. E. church. Mosher, F. D., the popular principal of the Eagle Bridge school, is one of the fore most educators of his town, and a teacher who has had a wide field of experience, having always followed that profession. He was born near Bennington, Vt., in 1855, son of Dyer P. Mosher, a farmer. He is a graduate of Easton Seminary, Washington county, and of Troy Business College in 1876. Mr. Mosher also carries on the culture of small fruit, shipping to various towns in the vicinity. Politically he is a Republican. He married Marcia Howard in 1881 and has two children: Rose S., a stenographer at Boston, and Howard F. Gooding, Walter C. , is the only son of the late Hiram M. Gooding, who died aged fifty-three in 1889, leaving a widow, Charlotte Fenton Gooding, five daughters and Walter. The latter was born at Eagle Bridge in 1872 and resides on the old home- . stead, a pleasant country home with 200 acres of choice land devoted to general farming, of which Mr. Gooding has the charge. His widowed mother and unmarried sister reside with him. They are people of simple benevolence and spontaneous : geniality. Mr. Gooding was educated at Lansingburgh and upholds Republican principles. His two married sisters are Mrs. Clarence Durfee of Buskirk Bridge, and Mrs. W. B. Aiken of Massachusetts. His grandfather, Cyrus Gooding, was born at Hartford, Conn., and was an early settler here. He was a personal friend of Martin I. Townsend. Brown, Adelbert, proprietor since 1879 of the Eagle Bridge hotel, was a member : of the celebrated " Black Horse" cavalry, with whom he enlisted in 1861, in Co. A, , serving till their disbandment. In 1862 he again enlisted with the 123d New York ; and shared their lot until the close of the war. He was born in 1842 at Pittstown, , where his father, Sampson Brown, was a carpenter. Before the war he was em- ployed in various cotton mills, and in 1866 resumed the same occupation. His first ; hotel experience was at the " Exchange " of Pownal, Vt., which he ran for about two years. Mr. Brown is, of course, a " Grand Army '' man and also a member of che order of K. of P, FAMILY SKETCHES. 9 Hurd, A. J., the highly esteemed miller and dealer in feed, oats and flour, at Eagle Bridge, is a native of Sandgate, Vt. , where he was born in 1849. His father, Chauncey J. Hurd, a farmer, was also a native of that place, to which his great grandfather, Captain Lewis Hurd, a soldier of the Revolution, came as an early settler. A. J. Hurd's boyhood was spent at Sandgate, and his education completed atCambridge, where he met Lydia Ray whom he married in 1874. At Manchester, Vt, he entered his first business engagement as manufacturer of gloves and mittens. After four years he came to Eagle Bridge and built most of the mill himself. He has acquired a large and profitable business, employing at times twelve or fifteen men. He is a Republican and has served his town as highway commissioner, but prefers private life. His two daughters are Nellie and Jessie. Cottrell, Mrs. Sherman, representative of an old Hoosick family, was Phebe M. Case of Pittstown before her marriage in 1867 to the late Sherman Cottrell, who died in 1886 in the same house where he was born in 1844. He was the fifth son of Jonathan Cottrell, and one of the foremost farmers of his time. One may point with pride to his record as a man and a citizen. The county in which he resided, the community where he lived, will long have cause to regret his loss. Besides his widow he left five noble sons, and one daughter : Jay C. ; Nathan Cottrell, residing with his mother at the old homestead; Case; Hattie, the daughter; Walter S. ; and Ernest J. One daughter, Mary, died in 1877, aged six years. Allen, Amos, M. D., was born in Petersburgh, N. Y., January 28, 1815, a son of Bennajah and Zipporah (Scriven) Allen, he born in Rehoboth, Mass., and she in Great Bamngton, Mass., and came to Petersburgh in an early day. The grand father of our subject was Joseph Allen, who came to Petersburgh early and there lived and died. Bennajah Allen was a farmer. He was a member of assembly one term. He died June 18, 1858. Amos Allen was reared in Petersburgh and educated in the common and select schools, began studying with Dr. Hiram Moses of . Peters burgh, was graduated in 1846 from Pittsfield Medical College, and has practiced his profession in Rensselaer county. He was supervisor one term and superintendent of township schools three terms. He assisted in the organization of the Republican party in 1856 in Rensselaer county. Dr. Allen was married in 1839 to Betsey M. Avery, who was born in Berlin, N. Y., by whom he had four children: Harriet E. , wife of Silas C. Peckham of Petersburgh ; Martha E., wife of George A. Sweet of Petersburgh; A. H., who married Emma Maxon, daughter of Hon. David G. Maxon; and Agnes, who resides at home. The doctor was for many years a member of Mazeppa Lodge I. 0. O. F., of Petersburgh. Mrs. Allen died September 18, 1893. Waite, Reuben S. F., was born in Grafton, Rensselaer county, March 27, 1834, son of Rufus and Lois (Maxon) Waite, both born in Petersburgh ; he a son of Reuben Waite a native of Rhode Island, who came to Petersburgh about 1790 and there lived and died; he was in the war of 1812. The father of the subject was a physi cian and came to Grafton when a young man and practiced his profession until his death, which occurred May 20, 1860, and that of his wife May 13, 1882. Reuben S. '¦ Waite was reared in Grafton and educated in the common schools, and early in "e learned the blacksmith trade, which he followed about thirty-five years. He was married August 6, 1854, to Betsy Maria Hakes, daughter of Jabez Hakes, one 10 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. of the early residents of the town. To Reuben S. F. Waite and wife were born two." sons: Chester F., born June 20, 1835 educated in the common schools, married Sylvia West of Grafton, December 25, 1876, is a Republican in politics, and was town clerk four years; and William C, born October 13, 1858, educated in the common schools,' married, January 28, 1880, to Hattie Jones of Grafton, by whom he has one son, Millard R. Waite, is a Democrat in politics, and was town clerk three years. He and his brother are in partnership in farming and own eighty acres of land, and also engaged in mercantile business in Grafton, February 15, 1890. Our subject was a Republican and was town clerk eight years, justice sixteen years, and justice of ses sions two years. He died March 8, 1896. The family attend and support the Bap tist church. Richmond, P. W., is one of the foremost men in the town of Hoosick, a leader ir. agricultural pursuits, politically prominent, financially successful, and respected bj his fellow men. And this honored position is due to his own labor and genius, foi Mr. Richmond is a selfmade man. He has been a resident here since 1823, at whicl time he came with his father, Josiah Richmond, who practiced wagonmaking anc conducted a hotel here until his death in 1835. Mr. Richmond inherits the well-de.: veloped physique of his family, noted for longevity, and bears his seventy- four yean- with an erect and agile form, and a vigor which carries him jauntily through lifej He owns 400 acres devoted to general farming, the farm and buildings being model: of their kind. He has served as postmaster at Potter Hill nearly half a century;, having been appointed in 1849 under Buchanan's administration, which position hi-, has held to the present time. He belongs to the Republican party and has officiate! : many years as town assessor; he is also president of the " Hoosick Co-operativi.; Fire Insurance Co." In 1848 he married Sarah C, daughter of James Campbell o , Pittstown. She bore him five children: Josiah, born 1849; Mary Agnes, born 1851., Edward Albert, born 1853; Emily Geer, born 1857; Ruth Warren, born 1860. Case, Nathan, is the owner of the 400 acre Case farm of Hoosick Falls, which ha . never been in the possession of other than the paternal ancestors of the Case family-" His father, Jonathan Case, a native of this place, died in 1881, after having spent : :¦ life of eighty-one years in agricultural pursuits. His mother was Lydia Baker of ar old family. She died twenty-one years ago, leaving two sons and six daughters?. Nathan spent his boyhood on the old farm where he was born in 1844. He has an other farm of 210 acres, thus making 640 acres under his direct supervision. Beinj possessed of an inborn love for horses, he deals largely in the Old Volunteer stoc. and other famous breeds. He married in 1866 Waity, daughter of Joseph Swan o Potter Hill. Three sons and three daughters are the issue of this marriage. Mi Case is a Republican. Cottrell, Jay C. , is the eldest of the Cottrell brothers, and conducts the well know Cottrell Valley Stock Farm, one and one-half miles west of Hoosick Falls. The- made a specialty of thoroughbred short horn cattle, Shropshire and Merino sheep, Mr. Cottrell was born in Hoosick in 1869, where he spent his boyhood and has sine. been engaged in farming. His father, the late Sherman Cottrell, was until his deat , a correspondent for agricultural papers. The correspondence has been continue. by Jay on the same topics for the American Agriculturist. He is also corresponden. FAMILY SKETCHES. 11 for the local papers. Mr. Cottrell is a member of the First Baptist church, and of the Military Band, Thirty-second Separate Co. In 1890 he married Georgia Agan, daughter of Lyman B. Agan of Raymertown. Percey, Elon, is a representative of an old local family whose ancestors came from Rhode Island and from England. His father, James Percey, was a native of this town and a farmer. Elon was born in Hoosick in 1830, and has always lived here, being educated in the common school and at Ball's Seminary. He engaged in farm ing until 1873. In 1881 he established a feed store and acted as a grain buyer and shipper; he also deals in coal and wood. He is a Republican and has been justice of the peace five years and police justice of the village three years, but does not seek political preferment. He married in 1855 Mary Walworth of Hoosick, daughter of Harper Walworth, by whom he has three children : Morgan F. Percey, clerk in the Wood Machine Co. ; Welton C. Percey, a lawyer educated at St. Lawrence Univers ity who was admitted to the bar at twenty-one years of age after two years in the office of Attorney-General Russell at Albany ; Blanch R. , wife of Victor M. Allen of Albany. Riley, Hon. Francis, the present county clerk of Rensselaer county, enjoys a wide popularity in both social and political circles and is a man of much public spirit and liberality. He is a Democrat and has been prominently identified with the affairs of the town of Hoosick, filling with credit many of the principal offices, including that of school trustee, president of the village three years, overseer of the poor three years, supervisor two years, and county clerk three years ; also treasurer of the Industrial Manufacturing Company. He is a prominent member of the R. C. church and trustee of the parochial school. Mr. Riley was born in Ireland in 1848, son of John Riley, who came to America and to Hoosick Falls in 1860, where for forty years he was an employee of Walter A. Wood. He is now a resident here, eighty-six years old and universally respected and has twice been village trustee. Hon. Francis Riley acquired his education iu Ireland, and first engaged in a grocery business at Trumanville and erected the Trumanville hotel while there. He estab lished a livery business at his present location in 1875 which has become an exten sive one. He also engaged in the coal business in 1890, and the agency for carriages. He married Margaret Bowen of Bennington, by whom he had ten children, of whom four are living. Akin, Byron S., born in Pittstown, N. Y., November 12, 1838, is a son of Benja min, a son of William. Benjamin Akin was born in Pittstown on the farm where he now resides December 22, 1802. He was educated in the common schools. He is a farmer and owns about 250 acres of land, but he sold and divided among the children. His wife was Amy J. Stitt, a native of Pittstown, by whom he had seven children, of whom four are now living. She died in September, 1893. Mr. Akin, hya previous wife, Nancy Falkner, of Pittstown, had two children, one of whom is living. Mr. Akin was reared on the farm where he now resides. He is engaged m tarmmg and mercantile business, and except fifteen years in the flax business and hotel business at Minnequa Springs, has resided in Pittstown. He engaged in the mercantile business December 18, 1894, carrying a general line and agricultural im plements. He has a farm of 140 acres. He was married in February, 1862, to 12 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Sarah J. Darrow, daughter of Josiah and Agnes (Hill) Darrow, both born at Cam bridge, Washington county. To Mr. and Mrs. Akin was born one son, Harry B November 13, 1871, educated in the common schools, Poultney Academy, Vermont' and Mount Herman, Mass., and graduated from Albany Business College in 1894.' He is a member of Johnsonville Lodge No. 411, I. O. O. F., and Hoosick Falls En campment No. 130. Akin, John, born in Pittstown, N.Y., November 5, 1811, is a son of William, a son of Benjamin Akin, who was a Quaker, born at Quaker Hill, Dutchess county, and came to Pittstown in 1776 and settled on Hoosick River and owned a large tract of land, which he gave to his son and spent his last days in Dutchess county. The father of John was a farmer and owned 1,000 acres of land adjoining and in Pitts town. His wife was Rebecca Follett, daughter of William Follett, a native of Con necticut, who came to Pittstown at an early day, and was a blacksmith ; his wife was' Lois Burnham of Nova Scotia; he was the first Methodist coming to the town. To Mr. and Mrs. Akin were born four sons and six daughters. William A. was a Jack- : son Democrat and afterwards a Republican. He died in January, 1860, and his wife in December, 1858. John was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. When he was twenty-four years old his father gave him a farm of 140 acres; he has owned 260 acres with personal property and pays the highest taxes in: the town. Mr. Akin was appointed one of the enlisting committee and was sent to Canada to enlist men and remained there during the war. John Akin has been deputy sheriff for twenty-three years. He was married November 20, 1834, to Janei Button of Troy and has had four children : Dr. Washington Akin of Troy ; Daniel" S , died in 1879; John and Francis, at home. Mrs. John Akin died March 16, 1891,: aged seventy-seven years and sixteen days. > File, Hiram, was born in Brunswick, November 27, 1830, and is a son of Peter and; Hannah (Hayner) File, both born in Brunswick. Peter was a son of Christopher File, a native of Dutchess county and a son of Malchart File, a native of Germany,. who came to Dutchess county and finally to Brunswick, where he lived and died.. The father of Mr. File was a farmer, and at the age of sixty-five came to Pittstown ¦with his father and here lived and died. His wife died May 6, 1840. Mr. File was reared on a farm and educated at the Albany Normal School, and taught for about fifteen years. He owned a farm in Brunswick, which he sold in 1866. He then. came to Raymertown and bought a farm of fifty acres. He bought a saw and grist mill, and also had a flax mill, which he ran on a large scale for fifteen years. He has been justice for fourteen years and resigned and has been supervisor for twc years. In 1863 he married Margaret L. Wool of North Lansingburgh by whom he has had two children: B. W., who was educated at Lansingburgh Academy anc Union College and read law with Gale, Alden & King and was admitted to the bai. in May, 1889; and Sarah J., deceased. Herrington, Merritt C, was born on the farm he now owns, March 2, 1835. He was a son of Abraham W. and Sallie (Comstock) Herrington, natives of Pittstown ! she was a daughter of John and Sarah (Stover) Comstock of Connecticut. Thr grandfather of Mr. Herrington was Silas Herrington. The father of Mr. Her rington was a farmer and had 135 acres of land. He died 1839 and his wife Marcl1 FAMILY SKETCHES. 13 20 1883. Mr. Herrington was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools and Cambridge Academy. He followed farming and has 157 acres of land. No vember 17, 1869, he married Emily, daughter of Clark and Sallie B. (Cottrell) Shedd. She was a daughter of Nathaniel Cottrell. Clark Shedd lived and died in Pittstown, his death occurring in 1847. His father was Asa Shedd, born July 2, 1779, died April 20 1834; his wife was Hannah Joslin, born June 27, 1783, died April 30, 1863. Their children were Isaac, Clark, Anna and Sarah. Clark Shedd's children were Asa, Sarah, Priscilla, Charles and Emily (Mrs. M. C. Herrington). Mr. and Mrs. M. C. Herrington have one son, Clarence M., born September 27, 1872. He was educated in Troy Conf erence Academy and Lansingburgh Academy. Hutton, M B., M. D., was born in Washington county, N. Y., August 12, 1854. He was a son of William and Mary A. (Blair) Hutton, both natives of the town of Putnam, Washington county, where Mr. Hutton died in 1889. He was a farmer by occupation, and justice of the peace for about thirty years. The grandfather of Dr. Hutton was Peter Hutton, who was a. native of Putnam, Washington county, his father being one of the first settlers. Dr. Hutton was reared on a farm and educated in the Albany Normal School, and then taught three years. After a while he studied medicine with Dr. J. Fenimore Niver and was graduated from the medical depart ment of the University of Michigan in 1882, and in the fall of that year came to Val ley Falls where he has had a very successful practice. October 10, 1883, he married Helen M. Wright of Cambridge, N. Y. , by whom he had one daughter, Annie M. Dr. Hutton is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M., and Montgomery Chapter No. 257, R. A. M., at Stillwater. He is a member of the Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity, New York State Medical Society, and also of the Rensselaer County Medical Society. Hunter, Judge Albert, was born in Pittstown, September 1, 1841. He is a son of John E. and Amy J. (Eycleshymer) Hunter. He was born in Pittstown and was a son of Jeremiah Hunter, who came to Pittstown at an early day and there lived and died. The mother of Mr. Hunter was born in Pittstown and was a daughter of Peter and granddaughter of John, who was one of the first settlers of the town where he died. Jeremiah Hunter was in the war of 1812. The father of Albert Hunter was a farmer and died in 1873; his widow still lives in Pittstown. Mr. Hunter was reared on a farm and educated in the common and high schools. He followed farm ing summers and taught school winters for a time and afterwards learned the car- pentertrade, and was contractor and builder formally years. In 1871 he was married to Hattie Martin of Monroe county, and has one daughter, Eva. He has been justice for ten years, still holding that position, and has been justice of sessions. Mr. Hunter has dealt in wagons and farm implements for several years, and represented the Walter A. Wood firm for about fifteen years. Herrington & Co. is composed of Silas and Henry Herrington ; Silas is a native of Pittstown, and was born November 2, 1842. He was a son of Merret, a son of Silas Herrington, a native of Rhode Island and who was one of he earliest settlers of the town where he lived and died. His father was a farmer and was assessor nine years and justice for twelve years. He died April 3, 1886. His wife was Catherine A. onyder, born in Pittstown and a daughter of Christopher, a son of one of the first 14 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. settlers. Silas Herrington was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He followed farming until thirty-six years of age, also buying and selling produce. In 1879 he came to Valley Falls and engaged in the produce, coal and straw business, and in 1889 formed a partnership with Henry J. Herrington ; their business now is coal, lumber, lime, cement, straw, hay, grain, feed, grass seed,' farm ing tools, etc. December 14, 1864, Silas Herrington was married to Rachel Ingra- ham of Pittstown, by whom he had one daughter, Georgianna. Mr. Herrington has been commissioner of highways for nine years in succession. He is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. Henry Herrington was born in Hoosick January 10, 1846. He was a son of Ephraim, a son of Josiah, a native of Rhode Island, born June 24, 1780, and there lived and died, and Ephraim was born in Hoosick. The father of Mr. Herrington was a farmer and a manufacturer of mowers and reapers. His wife was Mary A. Hill, born in Hoosick, a daughter of Henry Hill, who owns a farm in Hoosick. He and his wife lived in West Hoosick. The Herrington family are of English descent and emigrated from Durham, England, to Rhode Island in 1660 and settled at Smithfield with five children. Mr. Herrington was educated at West Hoosick common schools. He learned the trade of machinist at the age of eighteen years, followed it three years and then came to Valley Falls and engaged in the manufacturing and selling of agricultural implements for about eight years. He then was in the grist milling business for six years and in 1889 formed a partner ship with Silas, as stated. December 7, 1869, he was married to Clara Ball of Pitts town, daughter of John P. Ball, one of the early settlers. Mr. Ball was engaged in the manufacturing of linseed oil, and owned. one of the first mills in this section. He was prominent in politics, and served as county clerk. Mr. Herrington is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. Hoag, Jonathan, was born in Pittstown March 21, 1830. He is a son of Thomas and Phoebe (Comstock) Hoag, both natives of Pittstown. Thomas Hoag was one of the leading farmers of the town ; he served his town as supervisor, assessor, and was captain of militia and was a Quaker in faith. The parents of Thomas were Abraham and Elizabeth (Thomas) Hoag, he a native of Easton and she of Rhode Tsland ; they were early settlers of Pittstown, where they lived and died. The great grandfather of Mr. Hoag was Jonathan Hoag. who came from Dutchess county at a very early date to Whitehall where he was prospecting, but not finding the soil suitable went back to White Creek, where he married Sarah Hall and then went back to Beetal Hill, where he reared his family and died at Easton. Mr. Hoag has always followed farming and stock raising; he is now engaged in raising thorough bred Devonshire cattle in connection with general farming. In 1850 he married Eliza J., daughter of William and Abigail Akin, by whom he had ten children, three of whom survive: Shandanette, who is engaged in the mercantile business at Tom hannock. Jonathan, jr., a, lawyer at Fort Myers, Fia.; he graduated at the State Normal School at Albany and then taught in the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute; losing his health he went to Florida and studied law with Judge Bullock and was admitted to the bar in September, 1895. U. S. Grant, who is connected with his father in his farming operations. Mr. Hoag was road commissioner for twelve years and served for four successive years as supervisor; has been justice for two terms and served one term as associate justice, having been one of the last to hold that FAMILY SKETCHES. 15 position at the time the office was abolished by law. He was one of the first sur veying agents of the Pittstown Fire Insurance Co., and for eleven years served as secretary when he was elected president, which position he still holds. Hoag, Alvin T., born on the farm he now owns in Pittstown, July 4, 1847, is a son of Thomas Hoag. Alvin T. was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools and at Fort Edward Institute. He follows farming and owns the homestead of his father containing 230 acres to which he has added 195 acres of land. He is making a specialty of dairying. He was asessor one year (appointed). He has also been highway commissioner, inspector of election about six years and trustee of his district for over twenty years. He is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M., and has held most of the offices in the lodge. He was married September 8, 1869, to Arzelia Akin, daughter of Humphrey Akin. Mr. and Mrs. Hoag have four sons: Thomas A., Howard W., Merritt C, George A. Howard W. married Nellie Francisco of Tomhannock, N. Y. They have one daughter, Mildred. Mr. Hoag has been agent for the Pittstown Fire Insurance Co., the largest insurance company of any one town in the State of New York. Lohnes, George W., was born in Schaghticoke, August 18, 1845. He is a son of Adam and a grandson of Adam Lohnes, a native of Germany, who came to Bruns wick, N. Y., in a very early day and was in the war of the Revolution and also of 1812 under Major Lansing as an ensign ; he died in Pittstown. The mother of Mr. Lohnes was Jane Whalie, born in Hoosick. His father was born in Brunswick ; he was a manufacturer of powder and politically was a Democrat until 1862 and Repub lican thereafter until his death, which occurred in 1886 ; his wife died in 1882. Mr. Lohnes worked for the Schaghticoke Powder Co. until eighteen years of age, and then learned the carpenter trade at which he worked about nine years. He then engaged in the coal and lumber and general produce business which he followed at Valley Falls for fourteen years, and then disposed of it and engaged in manufactur ing wood alcohol for three years, and also in fire insurance, and, finally, March, 1895, began mercatile business. He was married September 22, 1871, to Mary E. Sproat of Valley Falls, by whom he has two sons, Harry and Willie (deceased). Mr. Lohnes is a Republican ; he was collector for two years and served as supervisor during the years 1888-90. He is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M., and Columbia Lodge No. 689, I. O. O. F. He enlisted in the 96th N. Y. Vols., and was elected sergeant and promoted to second lieutenant, holding that office until the company was disbanded. Mr. Lohnes is a member of the M. E. church of Valley Falls, trustee and treasurer of Elmwood cemetery and treasurer of Union Free school at Valley Falls. He was postmaster during Harrison's administration, and the first year of Cleveland's administration. Bissell, James Harvey, M.D., was born in Beloit, Wis., in 1857. His father, Ben jamin F. Bissell, was born in Cooperstown, N. Y. , in 1808 and removed to Beloit in 1853 and entered the paper manufacturing business. Later he removed to Ballston, N. Y., where he at present resides. His mother is Harriet (Du Bois) Bissell, born in Rock City Falls, N. Y., in 1817 She was a student of Oberlin College. He at tended the grammar school and graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1887, being historian of his class, and commenced the practice of medicine in Troy; later 16 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. studied medicine in Berlin and Vienna for one year and returned in 1893 to his prac tice in Troy. He belongs to the Rensselaer County Medical Society, the New York State Medical Association, and the Anglo- Austrian Medical Association. He was married to Miss Della Leggett of Troy in 1895. He is a prominent member of the Masonic order, being a member of Apollo Commandery, K. T., Troy; he is also a Shriner. Waldo, Howard L., M.D., was born in Centreville, N. Y., September 13, 1852. His great-grandfather, Dr. Waldo, was a surgeon in the Revolutionary war. His father, Dr. Lyman B. Waldo, was born in Otsego county, and for a number of years he practiced in Adams, Lansingburgh and Oswego, N.Y., and died in West Troy in July, 1879. His mother, Mary S. (McEntee), was born in Oneida county. She died in 1891. He attended the Hungerford Collegiate Institute and graduated from the High School in Oswego. He then went into the office of Dr. H. M. Payne in Albany, and at tended lectures in Albany Medical College. In 1875 he passed the examination of the State Board of Medical Examiners and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of the State of New York. For thirteen years he practiced in West Troy and in 1887 he came to Troy and has since that time been in active practice there. He belongs to the Homeopathic Medical Society of Albany county and the New York State Homeopathic Medical Society, and has been president of the Al bany County Medical Society, and secretary and treasurer of the State Medical So ciety. He married Maria Elizabeth Hawley of Albany, in May, 1880. He has two daughters. In politics he is a Republican. Belding, Rufus Elisha, M.D., was born in Minerva, Ohio. His father is Warren A. Belding who was born in Randolph, Ohio, September 5, 1816. He practiced medicine for many years, and then changed his profession to that of a preacher of the gospel. He is now a very prominent divine and has baptized over 10,000 people with his own hands. His mother was Myra E. (Ward) Belding of Randolph, Ohio. She died in November, 1860. Dr. Belding received a common school and academic education, afterwards he attended Hiram College in Ohio, the Cleveland Homeo pathic Medical College and the Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1866. He commenced practice in Syracuse and in 1870 came to Troy, where he has established a large and extensive practice. He belongs to the Central N.Y. Homeopathic Medical Society, the International- Hahnnemanian Association, also honorary member of the Albany County Homeopathic Medical So ciety. He is a member of the Church of Christ and has been chorister of the same for many years. He is a member of the Troy Vocal Society. He makes a specialty of diseases of the eye. He was married to Martha A. Seymour of Meridian, Cayuga county, N. Y., January 6, 1862. He has four sons. The oldest, Warren S., is an electrician in Buffalo. His second son, Paul W., is in the rubber manufacturing business. He has one son in New York city, and one attending school. Broderick, Edmund, was born in Troy, N. Y., July 12, 1839. His father, Edmund Broderick, came from Ireland about 1834 and worked on the Erie Canal at Amster dam, N. Y., and came to Troy where he died in 1843. His mother, Mary (Kelley) Broderick, was born in Ireland and died in Troy in 1870. Edmund received his education in the public schools and learned the mason's trade first with Burns & FAMILY SKETCHES. 17 Lyons and completed it in Chicago. He then returned to Troy and started in busi ness in 1861 forming the firm of Kelley & Broderick. which continued until 1875 ; he then carried the business on alone until 1890 when his son, Edmund D., was taken in and the firm name of Edmund Broderick & Son was assumed. Among the build ings erected bythem are several malt houses, Washington Steamer house, the Anna Plumb Memorial building, the new court house, the Hart Memorial, the St. Law rence German Catholic church, the Presbyterian church on Green Island, and others. He served on the Board of Supervisors in 1873-1875 and is now president of the Master Masons Society. He was married in 1865 to Catherine Higgins of Troy. His children are Edmund D., Margaret U., and George J. He and his family are all members of the Catholic church and worship at St. Joseph's church. In politics he is a Democrat. Garrison, Henry, was born in the town of Schaghticoke, N. Y., November 26, 1832. His education was obtained in the public schools, and he has been one of the town's best farmers. December 20, 1865, he married M. Emma Ralston, of his native town, and they had two children, a daughter and son; Stella E., and Clarence H. Stella E. was born March 13, 1871, and died December 25, 1879. Clarence H. was born October 17, 1872, and died March 18, 1880. Mr. Garrison's father, Hassil, was born in the town of Hoosick in the year 1800, was educated in the schools of that day and was a farmer. He married Mary Hunt of the town of Schaghticoke, and had six children, four daughters and two sons: Henry, Esther E., Kate M., Abbie, H. Jane, and John H. Hassil Garrison died in 1885, and his wife May 9, 1872. Mrs. Garrison's father, John Ralston, was born in this town February 9, 1801. He was educated in the schools of his day, and was a successful farmer. He married Caro line Briggs of Schaghticoke. They were members of the Presbyterian church of that place. They had three children, two sons and a' daughter: Warren E., John E. and M. Emma. John Ralston died July 23, 1872, and his wife March 7, 1776. Mr. and Mrs. Garrison are members of the Presbyterian church of Johnsonville. Gifford, Hiram, was born in Easton, Washington county, N. Y. , September 19, 1816. He was educated in the common schools, and at an academy at Rensselaer- ville, Schoharie county. He has been an intelligent farmer since he attained his majority. In 1841 he married Lois Hall of his native town and county; they have two daughters, Elizabeth and Europa. Elizabeth married William Gow, of John sonville, N. Y. Europa at this date resides at home. Mr. Gilford's father, Allen, was born in Cambridge, Washington county, N. Y., in 1792. He too was a farmer. He married Anna Hoag of Easton : they had six children : Hiram, Haviland, Eliza- hefh, Lydia, Cornelia, and Elisha.- Mr. Gifford died in 1890, and his wife died in 1886. Mrs. Gifford's father, Richard Hall, was born in Easton in 1783. He married Europa, daughter of Redford Dennis of his native town. They had five children: Hiram, Lucina, Anna, Emeline, and Lois. Mr. Hall died November 19, 1835, and his wife died in 1822. Mr. Gifford and family have resided in the town of Schaghti coke since the year 1875. He is one of the solid men of the town, and has been the architect of his own success, ably seconded by his excellent wife. The ancestry of the family is of Norman origin, on the maternal side of New England stock of Eng lish origin. Hiram Gifford has always been a staunch Republican. 18 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hewitt, Clifford, M.D., has practiced his healing art at Hoosick Falls with em " ment success since February, 1884, and is no less popular and well esteemed as a" physician than as a man and citizen. He is an active member of the Baptist church, also the Temple of Honor, and believes in the necessity of absolute prohibi tion of the liquor traffic. He married in 1878, while a resident of Fort Edward N. Y., Miss MaryE. Wood of that place. They have four children. Dr. Hewnt:: was born January 23, 1855, at Greenfield, N. Y., son of Clark Hewitt of a family descended from the Scotch people and whose first American ancestors settled af' Stonington, Conn. His father died when he was thirteen, and having an1 elder brother already practicing medicine at Fort Edward, he went there, complet-'1' ing his preparatory education at the seminary there and in 1872 beginning medica1 research in his brother's office. In 1878 he attended lectures at Burlington, Vl. '< and thence to the University of the City of New York, whence he was graduatec- in 1879. Bovie, Hewitt, was once engaged in farming, but for the last twenty years hai- lived retired from active business life. He is a native of Hoosick, born in 1817. Hi is of Holland ancestry, and son of Henry Bovie, who was born in Breese Hollow. Ther latter was a farmer also, and a deacon of the Baptist church. Hewitt Bovie marrieri: in 1841 Eunice Wylie of Wallingford, Vt. Their two children, Mary E. and Jennie- each died when about one year old. ;j Rising, G. Frank, is one of the well known firm of Easton, Rising & Worden, o"' Hoosick Falls, and who was born in the town of Hoosick, January 14, 1859, son (fi George A. Rising, another lifelong resident. His business life began when at fifteer- years of age he took a clerical situation with M. F. White & Co., with whom he re mained six years, developing abilities of rare order. In 1880 he became associated with C. W. Easton in the large business now operated by that firm. Mr. Rising i^l highly esteemed for his many sterling qualities and we venture to predict for him -A brilliant and prosperous future. He married in 1880 Miss Elnora Buck of Eagl-Jt Bridge, and they have one son, Harold. -3 Thompson, George S. , is a member of the firm of Stevens & Thompson, pape.rjl manufacturers of North Hoosick, This has become a large and important industry^, also controlling the output of the Bennington Falls Pulp Company. The mills a ;; North Hoosick are devoted to mill paper specialties and produce at least ten ton \i per diem, and those at Walloomsac nearly twice as much of a similar product, als^ choice book and manilla papers. Mr. Thompson is of an old English family an^a was born at Troy in 1840. From 1861 to 1869 he was engaged at Troy as a whole-,;. sale grocer, and still has large business interests there, his association with Mi>jj Stevens in the manufacturing business dating from 1870. Carpenter, J. M. , is a central figure in the business and social life of Hoosick Falls'«a; He is at the head of the extras, advertising, and shipping departments of the Waite ^ A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Company, a very responsible and important position to the onerous duties of which he is fully equal. Mr. Carpenter was born a'^ Schenectady February 6. 1850, son of Cornelius and Anna Carpenter, now resident;^ of Hoosick Falls, having removed here in 1869. Mr. Carpenter learned the trade <^, machinist at the Schenectady Locomotive Works during a four years' apprenticeship FAMILY SKETCHES. 19 and in 1869 entered the employ of Mr. Wood as a machinist. Mr. Carpenter's ad vancement to the position he now occupies has been due to personal ability and faithful service. The late Mr. Wood was a rare judge of character and was quick to recognize and reward genius and fidelity. Mr. Carpenter has been prominently identified with local affairs and is not only a ready supporter, but an organizer and inciter of measures for public good. He is president of the Permanent Savings and Loan Association, a concern whose financial operations are on a large scale. He is a most efficient and active president of the Health Board, and a trustee of the First Baptist church, towards whose building and maintenance he has been a liberal con tributor. He is a past master of the Masonic lodge and has been identified with the fraternity for a quarter of a century. His marriage in 1872 was to Miss Sarah J. Leonard, daughter of the late Edgar Leonard, the pioneer expressman, and the chil dren are two— Leila May and Frank M. Powell, George E. , was born in Petersburgh in 1836. James Powell, his grand father, was a native of New Jersey, and settled in Petersburgh in 1798 when a young man. He married Polly Wilkinson, born in Petersburgh and daughter of John Wilkinson who moved from Rhode Island and settled in Petersburgh in 1773; they reared one child, James. Mr. Powell died when quite a young man, and his wife lived to a very old age. James, the father, was born in Petersburgh in 1799 and spent most of his life in this town as a farmer. His wife was Elizabeth Church of Charleston, R. I. ; they reared three sons and three daughters. He lived to be eighty years of age and his wife lived to be seventy. George E. was the second child born to this union, He received an ordinary school education, but by per severance and hard study fitted himself for teaching, which he began when sixteen years of age, and has followed it for over forty years. He has served as justice of the peace for twenty-five years, and is an honored member of the Masonic fraternity of twenty-five years' standing. He is now principal of the Petersburgh school. In 1882 he married Zipporah Scriven, daughter of Daniel E. and Lydia (Allen) Scriven. They have three children : Mary, Georgia and Rosaltha. Manchester, Edward B., was born in Petersburgh on the farm and in the house he now owns, November 8, 1849. Asel Manchester, his father, was born in Monroe county, N. Y., in 1801, and spent his whole life in agricultural pursuits, coming to Petersburgh about 1821 where he spent the balance of his life on the farm. His wife was Angeline, daughter of Solomon Brimmer, who was also born in the house now owned by Edward B., and she is a descendant of John George Brimmer, the pioneer settler in Petersburgh and founder of the Brimmer family in America. To them were born six sons and five daughters. He died in 1882 and his wife in 1855. Ed ward B. attended the common schools and when twenty he went to Kalamazoo, Mich., where he was an attendant in an insane asylum for two years, when he re turned home and engaged as clerk in a. grocery store in North Adams, Mass., for a short time. He then went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was attendant in an asylum 'or four years, when he accepted a position in the House of Refuge at Randall's Island, After three months he was promoted to an instructorship, which position he held for ten years, when, on account of failing health, in 1891 he returned to retersburgh and purchased the homestead farm, where he is making the breeding of poultry his specialty. From 1891 to 1895 he served as school trustee, and is now 20 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. filling the office of assessor. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. In 1868 he married Eva Nichols, and to them were born two children : Myrtle, wife of Irving Howard of Petersburgh ; and Mabel, wife of Charles Piser, of Pittstown. Mrs. Man chester died in 1890. In 1891 he married Mary Burgess, who was a graduate from the State Normal School and a teacher on Randall's Island in the same institution where Mr. Manchester taught. They have two children: Burgess and Ida. Mr. Manchester's brother Franklin when seventeen years of age enlisted in the 125th New York Regi ment, was taken prisoner at the battle of Fair Oaks and died in Andersonville prison. His brothers and sisters were Martin, Loue'na, Paulina Moroa, Adeline, Frank Adelbert, and Ambrose. Hakes, Albert C, was born in this town in June, 1840. Solomon Hakes, his great- great-grandfather, was born in the county of Durham, England, about 1680, and came to America in 1700 and settled in Stonington, Conn.,- in 1709. He married Anna Billings and they reared four children. His great-grandfather, Jonathan, was born in Stonington, Conn., in 1724. He was a farmer by occupation and a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His wife was Hannah F. Brown of Westerly, R. I. ; they reared seven sons and one daughter; he died in 1779. Weiden, his grandfather, was born in Stonington, Conn., in July, 1771, and came with his six brothers to Peters burgh in 1780, where he pursued farming and lived to be seventy-four years of age. His wife was Sybil Smith, and to them were born four sons and three daughters, three of whom grew to maturity: Weiden, Jeremiah S, and Seth E. Weiden, jr., the father of Albert C, was born in Petersburgh, March 7, 1798. He married Rebecca S., daughter of Joshua Peckham and granddaughter of Braddock Peckham, a Revolutionary soldier; they reared six sons; Ira D., Stephen S., Joshua W., Leon ard S., Jeremiah S. , and Albert C. Mr. Hakes was a farmer. He died in Peters burgh in October, 1855. Albert C. remained with his parents until he was twenty- one, when he assumed charge of the homestead, which has been in the possession of the Hakes family one hundred years. His parents resided with him until they died. In 1884 he purchased the Union Hotel property in Petersburgh, which he conducted until 1895, when he retired and leased the hotel. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Star Lodge No. 670 of Petersburgh, in which he has held office. In Sep tember, 1862, he married Permelia F. Hakes, born in Petersburgh, and a daughter of Danforth Hakes. Their children were Alice, Hattie, wife of James Silsby of Lunenburg, Vt. ; Chauncey, a shoe merchant of Albany, and Minnie. Reynolds, William T., was born in Petersburgh on the farm he now owns in 1831. Squire William W. Reynolds, his grandfather, was a native of Westerly, R. I. He settled in Petersburgh in 1780 and became a prominent and successful farmer, and filled the office of supervisor of his town for several terms, and was magistrate for many years. He served in the Revolutionary war as a volunteer for a short time without pay, and participated in the battle of Bennington. He reared four sons and two daughters. Elijah, the father of William T. , was born in Petersburgh in 1782 ; he was an industrious and successful farmer and accumulated a large prop erty ; his wife was Betsey, a daughter of Thomas Crandall ; they reared three sons and three daughters ; he died in 1859 and his wife survived him many years and died in 1886. William T. was reared on a farm and received a common school education. He devoted his whole life successfully to agricultural pursuits, and in the mean time FAMILY SKETCHES. 21 has added largely to his real estate possessions. For two years he was engaged in shoe manufacturing business in the village of Petersburgh. He lost his factory by fire and never rebuilt. He was supervisor of the town for five years. In 1857 he married Mary J. Wilcox. She was born in Petersburgh, the daughter of Currenton and Hannah (Hewitt) Wilcox. She is the great-granddaughter of Sterry Hewitt, the Revolutionary soldier. To Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds were born four children : Minnie M. (deceased), Mrs. Fannie B. Rosenburg, Frank E. and Mrs'-. Cora A. Jones of Hoosick Falls. Parsons, Hon. J. Russell, was born at Hoosick Falls, October 14, 1830, and con tinues to reside at the old homestead on High street in that village. Educated at the Ball Academy and at Brown University, he was graduated from the latter in stitution as a civil engineer, and for many years practiced that profession on State canals and in construction of various railroads throughout the United States. Since 1852 he has been associated with the Walter A. Wood Machine Co. as vice-president, and as a trusted adviser of the late Mr. Wood. For about twenty-five years he has had charge of the patent business of the firm, demonstrating legal and administrative ability of the highest order. Mr. Parsons is a Democrat of the old school, earnest, determined, and sincere, and is popular with all classes and parties. Of his personal benevolence little has become known outside those who have benefited by his noble and unostentatious charities. Always foremost in advancing educational interests, he has, during a long term of years as president of the local Board of Education, done much to elevate the standard of educational facilities, and in the county legis lature left a clear and admirable record as its presiding officer. Wilder, L. C, and one sister in the West are the only surviving children of the late Lyman Wilder, who was born at Brattleboro, Vt , in 1798. He was an architect, drawing his own plans, and came here in 1826 following that work. In 1830 he married Virtue Ball, the mother of Mr. Wilder, who died in 1850, and he married Catherine E. Haswell of this place who survives him. He went into business here with Mr. Parsons, a manufacturer, at whose death he carried on the work alone. He was a great lover of natural science and had a fine collection of geological and ornithological specimens. He was one of the organizers of the Presbyterian church and his death in 1885 at eighty-eight years of age was mourned by all who knew him. His son, L. C. Wilder, on whose shoulders his mantle fell, was born in 1833 at this place. He was educated at the Ball Seminary and the State Normal School, graduating in 1854; he taught school six years, then enlisted in Co. H, 30th N. Y. Infantry, in 1861 for two years. Their brigade was known as the " Iron Brigade" and was in many battles — at Fredericksburg where he was knocked over by a shell and two of his comrades were killed, at Chancellorsville, second Battle of Bull Run, and Antietam. He was shipping clerk on the Troy and Boston Railroad three years, and after a course at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was engineer on the Champlain Canal survey, 1874-1876, and under the investigating committee on canals under Gov. Tilden. In 1877 he came home to the help of his father in real estate and surveying, which is still his principal business. "He has been a central figure in the local affairs of the town, holding positions of trust and honor. He is a Republican, commander of the G. A. R. Post, a member of the Hoosick Club, a member of the Masonic orders and the Raymond Chapter, the Board of Trade, and the Historical 22 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Society of the Town of Hoosick ; one of the principal originators in forming the Hoosick Building and Loan Association and one of the organizers of the Board of Sewer Commissioners. Getty, Addison, cashier of the First National Bank of Hoosick Falls, was born at East Greenwich, Washington county, in 1847, son of James McW. Getty of Scotch an cestry and a farmer. Addison's boyhood until fourteen years of age was spent at Hebron, thence to Brockport for three years. He first began business life in a bank ing establishment at Salem in 1872 as clerk where he remained eight yeais, coming here in 1880 to the First National Bank, with which institution he is still connected. Mr. Getty is a Republican and a man of real worth and sterling integrity. He has heen twice married; in 1877 to Harriet J. Crane of Phoenix, N. Y., who left one son, Carl, seventeen years of age; and in 1895 to Martha L. Cottrell of Easton, N. Y. Mr. Getty is a worthy and efficient member of the the Presbyterian church of this place. Geer, Danforth, one of the leading citizens of Hoosick Falls, is the second son of A. C. Geer, a prominent business man of this locality, who for years was the central figure of the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Co. He was a native of Glens Falls, educated at Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt. ; also a graduate of Union College in 1840. As a lawyer he became a partner of Judge Olin of Troy, which relations continued for ten years. For five years he was collector of internal revenue with office at Troy, thence here in 1867 as secretary of the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Co., remaining until 1885 His wife was Helen Augusta Danforth, of an old and prominent family of Williamstown, Mass. She was a woman of high intellectual attainments, and was vice-president of the Daughters of the American Revolution. There are but two children living; Walter Geer of New York, the elder son, is now president of the New York Architectural Terra Cotta Co. and Danforth, who was born at Williamstown, in 1859, and was graduated at Williams College in the class of '79. He at once became a member of the firm, with which his father had been so long connected as assistant secretary; also one of the trustees of the institution. He was the organizer of the Hoosick Club, of which he has been president since its organization. In politics he is an ardent Republican ; trustee of the village and president of the Board of Trade. He was united in marriage in 1887 to Amy Gay, daughter of William Gay. Three chil dren are the issue of this union. Putnam, William B., M.D., one of the leading physicians .of Hoosick Falls, was born in Putnam, Ontario county, in 1855, a place named in honor of his father, Thomas Putnam, who was a magistrate of that county. His family is of English ancestry; his grandfather served as a lieutenant in a New Hampshire regiment at Bunker Hill; his mother was Nancy Harris and grandmece of General Herkimer. He left his native place at sixteen, and having decided on the medical profession as his life work, entered in 1872 the class of '76 at Toronto University, but entered Brantford Institute for two years before completing his course at the former school. In 1875 he went to Cleveland, O., and entered the homoeopathic college there, grad uating in 1878 and at once began practice here, where he-has resided for seventeen years. He has enjoyed a successful practice from the first. Dr. Putnam, determined to profit by an opportunity presented to acquire such knowledge as he desired, went Family sketches. 23 to Europe in 1885 and there pursued his investigations, making a specialty of pul monary affections. Skinner, Dr. Smith Austin, was born in Thetford, Vt. He is the son of Smith Skinner and Rhoda Heaton, daughter of Dr. Solomon Heaton and Rhoda Whittier, an aunt of the poet, Whittier. The practice of medicine seems to have been hered itary in both branches of the family, and he read medicine with his uncle, Jonathan Skinner, at Brownington, Vt, and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1854. He practiced medicine in his native State until 1864, when he settled at Hoosick Falls, where he continues to reside. In 1863 Governor Holbrook of Ver mont appointed him as one of the medical examiners of Vermont to examine men enrolled in the militia who applied for exemption from military duty in the Rebellion. He was also appointed assistant surgeon of the 7th Vt. Vols., but on account of poor health could not accept. Dr. Skinner is a member of the American Medical Asso ciation, and has been appointed a delegate to its national conventions. He is a char ter member of the New York State Medical Association, a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society and was president for a number of years of the Union Med ical Society. The doctor is an inventor of merit and has taken out many patents from surgical appliances and fountain pens to rifle implements. During the Re bellion Governor Fairbanks of Vermont equipped a regiment with his hospital bed and stretcher, which was most highly recommended by some of the leading surgeons in the army. Dr. Skinner was vestryman of St. Mark's Episcopal church of Hoosick Falls for many years. He is a Mason, and a member of Apollo Commandery of Troy, N. Y. He was junior warden of the Grand Commandery of the State of Ver mont when he left the State. He was associated with Judge Ball in forming the Board of Health of Hoosick Falls, was the first health officer and held the position for eight years; he was instrumental in first having the streets lighted, and was an agitator for a sewer system and pure water. He has written several papers on med ical and surgical subjects. On ballistics (rifles and their ammunition) he writes under the nom de-plume of Medicus. On November 19, 1850, Dr. Skinner married Catharine Hinman Blake of Salem, Vt. She is the daughter of Hon. Samuel Blake and granddaughter of Judge Timothy Hinman, who served in the Revolutionary war, and was with Washington at Valley Forge during the winter of 1778. They have two daughters, Mabel Katrine, an amateur sculptor, and Katherine Annette, an artist in oils and china painting. Cahill, William A., began his successful law practice in Hoosick, his native town, after two years in a law office of Troy. He was born in 1866, son of John Cahill, and has always resided here. He entered Rock Hill College, Maryland, in 1881 and after a three years' course was graduated. For one year he read law with Stroud & Green. He was admitted to the bar at Saratoga in 1890, after having en gaged in the drug business for two years. His first public office was that of justice of the peace, and he was again elected in 1895 for another four years' term, as he proves a most efficient and popular official. Parsons, Warren G., one of the prominent merchants of Hoosick Falls, is a son of Andrew C. Parsons, who was born at Bennington, Vt., coming here when a boy of twelve to learn the tailor trade. He began the business at Richfield Springs, re~ 24 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. maining there until 1849, when he returned to this place and engaged in the hard ware business, occupying the present store, where Warren "has carried on such an extensive trade, having entered the store at twenty-five and succeedinghis fatherto the entire management of the establishment. Under his supervision the store has been enlarged, and is now a department store filled with various lines of house- furnishing goods. A. C. Parsons was an old-time Whig until the formation of the Republican party, but not an office holder. He died in 1883 at an advanced age, honored and esteemed by all. Warren G. was six years old when he left Richfield! where he was born in 1843, and received employment in a dry goods store from the' age of fourteen to nineteen, then entered Eastman College. He is also a Repub lican, but not an aspirant for public office. Hannon.T. H..M.D , a young and promising physician of Hoosick Falls, is a grad uate of Bellevue Medical College, one of the famous hospitals of the world, where he completed a three years' course in 1891. Prior to this he had been in the office of Dr. J. C. Hannon of this place as a student for two years. He was born at North Hoosick in 1864, and his father is Thomas Hannon of that place. Before he began the study of medicine he had been at Troy High School, and Troy Business College. Even in the short time he has won the confidence of a large circle of friends, and a brilliant career is before him. McWayne, L. D., M. D., one of the prominent physicians of Hoosick Falls, is o: Scotch descent, and the son of a blacksmith. He received a common school educa tion at Pawlet, Vt., where he was born in 1836 and where he resided until nineteen years of age. He began medical study at Akron, Ohio, with Dr. W. E. Chamber lain with whom he remained for four years. In 1876 he entered Worcester Un versity at Cleveland, O. , and was graduated in 1879. He then practiced seven years at Akron, and came here permanently in 1890. Dr. McWayne is a well known spe cialist, and eminently successful in his practice. He claims the wonderful record o: treating 2,000 cases of diphtheria without a loss. White, John B., is one of the oldest citizens of the town of Hoosick and a personal landmark. He has been a resident since 1818, when he came here with his father. George W. White, who conducted a. blacksmith shop. The death of the latter occurred in 1867, after a long life of eighty-one years. John B. was born in Massa chusetts in 1815 and labored on the farm and at the blacksmith business until he be came a resident of Hoosick Falls, twenty-seven years ago. He is emphatically a selfmade man and acquired his wealth by speculation in cattle, sheep and wool, and now owns considerable real estate here. He was once commissioner of highways, but is not interested in politics now. Mr. White married in 1851 Almeda Wood of Hoosick. Of their five children none is living. Kelyer, William, has been a lifelong resident of Hoosick, his native town. Born in 1830, he engaged in farming until thirty-six years old, then sold mowers and reap ers in Rensselaer county one year. He acquired through his own efforts his education and his success in life is due to close application and shrewd business capacity devel oped early m his career. He dealt largely in real estate and still continues in the business. He is one of the directors of the First National Bank, and a member of the Board of Trade. He has been a Mason twenty years, and his connections with FAMILY SKETCHES. 25 the M. E. church began at a very early date, and almost from the beginning he has been called to various positions of responsibility, trustee twenty-five years, and class leader thirty years, and one of the building committee. He married Betsey Arvilla Reynolds, daughter of Lyman Reynolds, of Petersburgh. One son was born to them in 1855 but died in infancy. Stroud, Mrs. Harriet L. — Mrs. Stroud was born in Bennington, Vt., the daughter of Anthony Breese, who was born in Hoosick and most of his life was spent there on a farm. Her paternal grandfather came from Holland and settled at Greenbush, N.Y. Several descendants of his family are residents of the southern part of Hoosick. Charles E. Stroud, who died here in 1888, had been for a number of years one of the foremost men of the place. The law firm was Stroud & Whitcomb until 1884 when George E. Green became Mr. Stroud's partner. Mr. Stroud was noted for legal ability and integrity and public spirit as well. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank here and, while never seeking public office, was always interested in the public well being. He was of Stamford birth, and a graduate of Williams College. Reynolds, A. Olin, born in Hoosick, April 20, 1863, is the younger son of the late Hon. Gideon Reynolds, an ex congressman, who died July 13, 1896, at eighty-three years of age, and whose public life with relation to Rensselaer county affairs will be found elsewhere detailed. The wife of Gideon Reynolds, now deceased, was Julia Richmond of landmark family. They were married in 1845 and she bore him seven children, of whom four are living now: Josiah Reynolds of Marquette, Mich. ; Anna R., Marcus T., a banker of North Adams, and A. Olin Reynolds. The handsome old homestead at Hoosick has been in the possession of the Reynolds family since 1836, when Thomas Reynolds, the father of Gideon, settled here. Quackenbush, John B. V., is the elder son of Benjamin V. Quackenbush, a well preserved landmark of Hoosick, born in 1811, who was a son of John Quackenbush, a descendant of au old Holland family. They first settled in New York city, and the family spread to Albany, thence to Hoosick. The mother of John B. V., the late Helen Armitage Quackenbush, died in 1895, aged seventy-three. She was a repre sentative of a prominent family, her father, James Armitage, having married one of the daughters of Garrett Lake, who came from New Jersey about 1790 and settled at White Creek. Mr. Quackenbush has in his possession several silver souvenir spoons made from knee buckles worn in the Revolution by John Lake, an ancestor of the Armitages, and an old Dutch painting from Holland, 200 years old, represent ing a Bible scene, also a land patent given by George the Third of England to James Lake and four others for 5,000 acres of land, dated December 24, 1761, and bearing the great seal of George III. Mr. Quackenbush was born in 1850 at Hoosick and his boyhood was spent on the old homestead. He has always engaged in farming. He married in 1890 Marian R. Wilder of this place. They are members of the Pres byterian church. Mr. Quackenbush is identified with the Republican party. Reynolds, A. E., a most prominent man of Hoosick, has been a resident here forty-two years. He came to this place in 1858 and purchased nearly 300 acres of and near Hoosick and has a wide acquaintance in the county, having taken an act- lve part in its political affairs. He is an ardent Republican and served as town asses- 26 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. sor many years. He was a colonel of militia before the war, and raised a company of fifty men, called the " Mountain Guard." He was born at Petersburgh in INI'.1, son of Elijah Reynolds, also a native of that place. The family came from Rhode Island. His grandfather, William, was one of the first coroners here Mr. Rey nolds in early life taught school, then was a merchant in his native town for eight years conducting a general store. Here he married in 1H42 Mary R. Knowlton, who died in 1892 leaving four children: Harriet Elizabeth, wife of Livingstone Quackenbush of Le Seaur, Minn. ; Harlan, a prominent man of Washington, Iowa; William H., who died in 1876; Jennie L. , wife of Dyke Quackenbush of Hoosick; Fremont A., born in 1856, who has never married but remained with his aged father to support and cheer his declining years. Woolley, Marsden, though born at Edmeston, Otsego county, in 1818, has spent most of his life in Hoosick. He was but a child when he came to Walloomsac to live with his grandfather, Nathaniel Barnet, a Scotchman and soldier of the Revolution. Mr. Woolley was reared in this home on the site of the battleground of Bennington, and educated at Poultney, Vt. He inherits the scholarly attainments for which his ancestors were distinguished, and is recognized as a man of superior intellectual attainments. His father, Fitzgerald Woolley, was of English and Quaker descent. He was a farmer and once a resident of Walloomsac, but later went West and died in Illinois. Marsden married in 1853 Lydia Milliman of Salem, Washington county. He is politically a Republican. In the M. E. church he is a faithful and consistent member. Gooding, Mrs. Seymour. — In 1894 Hoosick was called upon to mourn the death of one of her most prominent and influential men, Mr. Seymour Gooding. He was active ra political life and identified with every interest of the town. He was well informed upon all legal questions, and a kind and safe counsellor to the many who sought his advice. Farming he followed extensively and was also a speculator in cattle, sheep and wool. This is not his native town as he was born at Hartford, Washington county, but he came here when a child. His wife, who survives him, was Marcia A. Milliman, daughter of Halsey Milliman of Salem, Washington county, whom he married in 1859. He served as postmaster eight years at North Hoosick. His son Elmer was also postmaster four years. The latter resided at home taking charge of the several farms since the death of his father. At the age of fifteen years he entered the Rutland R. R. station and remained fourteen years as agent. Parker, Joseph W. , was born in Schaghticoke, April 14, 1853. He is a son of Joseph and Mary (Wren) Parker, both of whom were born in England, he August 17, 1817, and she, February 22, 1819. They came to Waterford about 1845 and in a short time to Schaghticoke, where he was a manufacturer of shoe thread until a few years of his death, which was March 1, 1871, and his wife on September 26, 1882. They had a family of four children: Sarah, born November 17, 1841; Ann, born December 29, 1843; Mary E., born April 17, 1848; and Joseph W., who went to school until the age of seventeen years, and then learned the tinsmith trade, and came to Valley Falls in August of 1879, purchased the property he now owns and engaged in the hardware business, in which he has been very successful. December 26, 1877, he married Elizabeth Cannon, of Schaghticoke, by whom he had three cml- FAMILY SKETCHES. 27 dren: Mary E., Nina J. (deceased), and Joseph W. , jr. Mr. Parker has been collector for two years of the town of Pittstown, and was elected supervisor of said town in 1896. He is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. Cottrell, Charles C, was born in Hoosick, July 5, 1827. He was a son of Nathaniel and Emma (Booth) Cottrell, he born in Rhode Island and she in Pittstown, N. Y. His grandfather was Samuel Cottrell, one of the pioneers of Hoosick, coming with an ox team from Rhode Island. He died in Hoosick January 7, 1813. His wife, Hul- dah (Southwick) was born in 1765 and died in Hoosick January 7, 1833. On the maternal side his grandfather was Samuel Booth, who for about thirty years was a schoolmaster in Pittstown and was known as Master Booth; his wife was Rebecca Gurney; he served in the Revolutionary war and for six months was a prisoner in the old Sugar House in New York, and so starved his parents did not recognize him. He died August 15, 1837, aged seventy-six, and his wife in 1836, at the same age. The father of Mr. Cottrell was a farmer and carpenter. He was commissioner of highways of the town of Hoosick for many years, and was one of the builders of the old fashioned bridges ; he removed to White Creek in 1835 and was assessor several terms; he died June 25, 1873, aged eighty years. His wife died April 25, 1845, aged forty-five years. Charles C. Cottrell was reared on a farm and educated in Hoosick and White Creek and at Ball Seminary. He has always followed farm ing and lived in White Creek from the time he was eight years old until 1883, when he came to Pittstown and bought the farm known as the Francis Ingraham place. He is the man who preserved the Delaine Merino fattening breed of sheep, which was originated by G. C. and E. C. Olin of White Creek. He has been a breeder of sheep for forty-eight years. Mr. Cottrell was for two years (1872, 1879) supervisor and one year town clerk of White Creek. October 13, 1852, he was married to Eunice F. Fisher, a native of White Creek and daughter of David and Juliet (Perry) Fisher, both of whom were born and died in White Creek. To Mr. and Mrs. Cottrell were born six children: H. Edgar, born August 23, 1853. died November 10, 1893; David F., horn September 25, 1855, and died February 6, 1858 ; Agnes L., born August 27, 1858, died November 11, 1893; Evvie J., born September 19, 1862, and died September 17, 1866; Clarence, born December 17, 1864, died September 20, 1866; Nathaniel, born June 7, 1868. The latter was educated in the common schools and Troy Busi ness College, and is a farmer and has charge of his father's farm. December 27, 1894, he was married to Ruth J. Eldred, brn near London. He came to America at eighteen years of age and at once studied for the ministry. He died in 1891 at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, having been forty five years in the ministry. Dr. Fox took a classical course at Fort Edward before entering the medical college in 1879. He married in 1894 Sylvia M. Niles, of White Creek, N. Y. They have one son, Walter R. Webster, A. H., a prominent and successful farmer of the town of Hoosick, had a tendency to follow that vocation by inheritance and taste, as his father, Alvah H, Webster, was also a farmer during the greater period of his business life. The latter was thrown on his own resources when nine years of age, and stood a conspicuous specimen of the selfmade man until his death in 1884. He conducted the North Hoosick hotel for a time and the old Pheonix hotel, and was afterward agent for the Walter A. Wood Co. He ably served his town in holding public offices, and was supervisor for five years. Mr. Webster was born here in 1849 and educated here and at Mills school, Williamstown, Mass. He was village trustee two years, and overseer of the poor for two terms. He married Helen M. Wilcox of this town. Five children are the issue of this marriage. Hines, John, was born in Ireland, September 12, 1839, and came to the Uuited States when he was seven years old. His mother being dead, they first located in Easton, Washington county, N.Y. , where the boy attended school two winters. He afterwards attended school in the town of Schaghticoke, and then again in Easton, where he resided for some time. August 11, 1862, he enlisted in Co. I, 123d N. Y. Vols. This regiment was assigned for duty to the Army of the Potomac. Mr. Hines took part in all the engagements with his regiment, including Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. After this battle they were transferred to the Army of the Cumber land, and were with General Sherman in his glorious march to the sea. In Atlanta Mr. Hines, in helping to take down a building, was injured severely by a timber falling on his head. He was in the field hospital afterwards in New Albany, Ind., and when convalescent obtained a thirty-day furlough, which was extended thirty days. He was honorably discharged June 26, 1865. November 11, 1868, he married Mary A. Golding of Easton; they had four children: Mary E., Anna, John, jr., and Carrie E. , deceased. Mary E. married Charles Rinehart of Washington county, N.Y. Anna married Garret Van Vrankin of Saratoga county, N. Y. ; they have one son, ¦ John Chester. Mr. Hines is a member of Hartshorn Post, G. A. R., department of New York. The ancesfry of the family was Irish on both sides. FAMILY SKETCHES. 31 Baker, Lorenzo, was born in the village of Schaghticoke, August 28, 1826. He was educated in the public schools, at Greenwich Seminary and at Manchester Seminary, Vermont. He was employed in Troy for six years, and afterwards was a merchant tailor and clothier in the village for forty-four years up to 1896, and is still carrying on the business. October 20, 1859, he married Matilda H., daughter of the Rev. Hiram Dunn, then of Saratoga county. They had one son, Alfred C. , who is astudent at Mechanicville, Saratoga county, N.Y. Mr. Baker's father, Ezekiel, was born in the town of Pittstown in 1795, was educated in and graduated from Will iams College, Massachusetts. He was an eminent physician by profession. He married Harriet Bryan of this place. They had six sons: David B., Charles, Rob ert P., Lprenzo, William H., and John E. Ezekiel Baker organized the first Sunday school in connection with the First Presbyterian church in this place, and was elder and truustee of that church and clerk of the board of sessions until he died. He practiced medicine here for fifty-one years and died in 1866; his wife died in 1872. He was a thorough abolitionist, and his house was a station on the underground railway to Canada. Mr. Baker's mother's great-grandfather, Ezra Bryan, had a brother, Alexander, who was a scout and spy under General Gates in the Revolu tionary war. Ezra Bryan was born in 1740; his son David was born in 1767. Alex ander, son of David, was born in 1791, by second wife, so we find that his mother, Harriet Bryan, was the daughter of the fifth generation of Ezra Bryan. Ezekiel Baker enlisted in the 1st New York Mounted Rifles, served during the war, and was honorably discharged. The ancestry of the family was New England stock on both sides. Wiley, Frederick (deceased), was born in the town of Pittstown, this countv, April 24, 1833. He was educated in the common schools, Fort Edward Institute and Char- lotteville Seminary. He taught school four terms; in early life he devoted his time to farming. March 27, 1861, he married Hester M. Baucus of Schaghticoke; they had three children: William E., Clara M. and Frederick, who died when six years of age. William E. married Esther, adopted daughter of Dr. D. W. Tarbell of this town and village. Clara M. married Rev. John H. Colernan, who is now presiding elder of the Albany district. Mr. Wiley came to reside in this village in 1874 and became a paper manufacturer in company with James Baucus, under the firm name of James Baucus & Co., which continued until 1880, when a new company was formed under the firm name of Wiley & Button. Mr. Wiley's father, William, was born in the town of Pittstown in the year 1797 ; he was educated in the schools of that day and followed the honorable occupation of farming. He married Ann Her rick of that town; they had five children: Elizabeth, Smith, John, Frederick and Jacob. Mr. Wiley died in December, 1857, and his wife died in 1842. Mrs. Wiley's father, James W. Baucus, was born in the town of Schaghticoke in the year 1811, where he was educated, and was a farmer by occupation. He married Maria Swarthout of his native town ; they had nine children: Eliza J., Hester M., Frances A., Catherine E., Sarah A., Ida L., J. Irving and Clara L. Both father and mother are living at this date, 1896. Mr. Wiley was town clerk for two years, and super visor of this town three years and was serving his second term as justice of the Peace; he was also a member of the Board of Education, a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. The ancestry of the family was English and Dutch, Mr. Wiley died March 27, 1896. 32 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Button, Theodore, was born on the Button homestead, February 24, 1859. He was educated in the common and graded schools and has always followed the occu pation of farming. December 23, 1885, he married Minnie Smith of the town of Brunswick. They have three children: Olive J., Arthur P., and Hazel E. Merritt the oldest son of William Pitt Button by a second marriage, was born November 21, 1852. He was educated in the common schools and Middletown Academy in the town of Half Moon, and has served his townspeople as supervisor two terms. He was highway commissioner six years, and is an excellent farmer and is not married at this date, 1896 Mr. Button's father, William Pitt, was born in old Schaghticoke in that part which was set aside for the town of Pittstown, January 22, 1806. He was educated in the schools of that early day and was a farmer by occupation. In 1831 he purchased his first real estate. He married twice, first on February 23, 18IS2, to Lois, daughter of Jabez Buckley of this town. They had six children: George W., David M., Edwin S., J. Warren, Sabra A., and Sarah J. George W., Edwin S. and J. Warren are dead. Mrs. Button died March 1, 1849. For his second wife, on June 20, 1850, he married Susan Wing, born Lounsbury; they had four children: Emily F., Merritt, Harriet A., and Theodore, William P. Button joined the M. E. church in 1835. He died January 9, 1887, one of the representative men of the town. Mrs, Theodore Button's father, Paul Smith, was born in the town of Brunswick about the year 1839; his education was obtained in the common schools. He is a business man. is a shirt manufacturer and has a saw and grist mill. He married twice, first to Emily J. Button. They had three children, Minnie, Mary and Reuben. Mrs. Smith died in 1868. For his second wife, he married Delia F. Dingman. They have four children: Paul, jr., Harriet, Charlotte and Theodate. Mr. Smith survives at this date, 1896. The ancestry of the Button family goes back to England in 1610. Sir Thomas Button made three voyages of discovery to this continent, viz. : in 1610, 1611, and again in 1612. His son, Mathias, settled in Salem, Mass., in 1628. There was a Robert Button in Salem, also, in 1641, who went to Boston in 1645; next there was a John Button who was an early pioneer in Boston in 1633. Mathias Button came to America with Governor John Endicott and settled in Salem, Mass. He went to Boston as early as 1633, to Ispwich in 1641, to Haverhill in 1646, where he died in 1672. His son Mathias was born in 1657; he moved to Plainfield, Conn., in 1690 and died in 1725. The following are the descendants: Peter, son of Mathias. Joseph was the son of Mathias. Jesse was born in 1747. Richard, the son of Jesse, was born in 1776. Mathias Button third had five wives, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He died in Rutland county, Vt, in 1811, aged eighty-four years. John, son of Mathias and Phebe Button, was born in' 1754; married twice, first to Mary Burch, whose children were Louis, Harmon, John, Mary, Ransom, Mil ton, Sarah, Olive, Lucy, Ira, William P., and Eliza; children of second marriage, Horace, Hiram, and Harmon R. John Button died at Schaghticoke in 1832. Eliza beth, daughter of Mathias, married her cousin, Daniel Button, son of Ebenezer But ton ; their children were John, Hazard, and Daniel. John, son of Daniel and Eliza beth, was born at Groton, Conn.; he married Cynthia Clark; their children were John H., Emily C, Charles B., Orpah M., Olive C, Elisha L., George W., Dency, Daniel A., and Zydia C. Their father John died in Michigan in 1859. Both Theo dore and Merritt Button are staunch Republicans. The ancestry of this family in their several marriages is English, Dutch, and German. FAMILY SKETCHES. 33 Waldron, Peter, was .born in Easton, Washington county, N. Y. , November 18, 1837. His education was obtained in the common schools and he has always fol lowed the honorable occupation of farming. June 8, 1870, he married M. Elizabeth Van Veghten. Mr. Waldron's father, Peter W., was born here, January 5, 1809; he was educated in the schools of that day and was a farmer by occupation. He mar ried Maria Hemstreet; seven children were born to them: Peter as above, Jacob, Catherine, Alida (deceased), Alida, Mary E. , and Albert, of whom only three sur vive, Peter, Alida and Catherine. Mr. Waldron died in 1875 and his wife in Octo ber, 1892. Mrs. Waldron's father, Jacob Van Veghten, was born on this homestead in 1818. He married Elizabeth Green, formerly of Glens Falls; they had five chil dren, M. Elizabeth, James, Alida, Castilla, and Elmer. Mr. Van Veghten died April 9, 1895, and his wife Match 25, 1896. The family attend the Reform church at Rey nolds; Mr. Waldron in his political choice is a thorough Democrat. The ancestry of the family was Dutch on both sides. Both families have been identified with the growth and prosperity of the county and the town in which they reside. Baucus, Elisha S., was born on the old Baucus homestead in the town of Schaght icoke, October 6, 1817. He was educated in the schools of that early date, and always followed the honorable occupation of farming. He was elected supervisor of the town three term. February 7, 1855, he married Caroline A. Diver of his native town; they had two children, Elisha S. and Mari. Elisha S. was educated in the public schools, and is one of the town's intelligent farmers. He married Kate H. Haner of this town; they have three children: Florence, Marion and Helen M. Marion resides with her brother, as yet unmarried at this date, 1896. Mr. Baucus died August 6, 1888, and his wife died May 8, 1890. There were two brothers, John and William, who resided together many years on the farm southeast of this one. John and the father of Elisha S., sr., moved to this homestead where they, the present generation, reside. The family with their parents came here from Dutchess county, N.Y. The great-great-grandfather Baucus came from Germany to Dutchess county. The ancestry of this family is German on both sides. The late Wyatt R Swift was born in Monmouth, Me. , in the year 1798. He re ceived a good education, and when a young man he was sent to Schaghticoke to superintend the Joy Linen Mills, and had full charge of the business until the death of Mr. Joy. He then purchased a controlling interest in the Schaghticoke Powder Mills and became its general manager. Was instrumental in making it an incorpo rated company in 1858, and was its president until in March, 1863. In 1850 he mar ried Maria 0. Morris of Schaghticoke, and they had one adopted daughter, Jeanette 1'. Russell, of Hoosick Falls. Mrs. Swift's father, Jedediah P. Morris, was born in the year 1800. He married Olive Congdon of Pomfret, Conn., in 1824, and came to Schaghticoke soon after their marriage. They had three children Maria O. , Francis A., and Frances B. Doremus, Thomas L., of Montclair, N. J., came to Schaghticoke when a young roan and entered the employ of the Schaghticoke Powder company as bookkeeper which position he held until 1868, when he was made secretary and treasurer of the company and in February, 1896, was elected its president. He married Jeanette P. Swift (Russell), by whom he had eight children : Wyatt Swift, Thomas Edmund, Car- 34 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. oline Harrison, Margaret Isabel, Edward B., and Janet G, and two who died in in fancy. Mrs. Doremus died in April, 1893. Mr. Doremus has held several positions of trust in the village in which he lives, is quite prominent in Masonic circles, being a member of Victor Lodge F. & A. M., No. 680, and of Apollo Commandery of Troy, N. Y. Baucus, Hon. J. Irving.— His father, James W., was born on the Baucus home stead December 19, 1812, was educated in the district schools, and has been a farmer, paper manufacturer and speculator in real estate. October 27, 1836, he married Maria A. Swartout of his native town ; they had ten children, one died in infancy, Eliza J.. Hester M., Frances A., Sarah A., Catherine E., Ida L., J. Irving, Lucy E., and Elva L. ; one died in infancy, and Lucy E. died at the age of eleven years. E. Jane married David M. Button; they have three children, J. Warren, Minnie E., and Ernest D. Hester M. married Frederick Wiley. Sarah A. married Job Vial; they had one daughter, Jennie E. Mrs. Vial died October 16, 1894. Catherine E. married Howland Baker. Ida L. married Abram Beers; they had three children, Iva L., Julia M., and F. Leroy. J. Irving has married twice, first to Anna P. Beers; they had one daughter, Emma; the wife died December 5, 1884. He married sec ond Cara A. Beers and they have one daughter, Ethel R. J. Irving Baucus has served as supervisor of his town two years. He was elected to the State Legislature for two years, 1887 and 1888 ; he served on the committee of commerce and naviga tion, also on the committee on railroads and internal affairs with ability. Elva L. married John W. Fry; they have two daughters, Hester M. and Edith E. J. liv ing's grandfather, John Baucus, was born in the year 1772. He married Maria Weitsel of this town ; they had eleven children: William I., Maria, Elizabeth, David, " George W., John A., Joseph, James W., Julia A., Elisha S. , and H. Jane. Mr. Bau- : cus died in 1832 and his wife in 1889. Hunt, Lewis, born in Cambridge, Washington county N. Y., September 25, 1846. His education was obtained in the public schools and his early life was devoted to - farming. February 25, 1864, he enlisted in Co. A, 2d N. Y. Cav. ; while in the army of the Potomac he took part in all the general engagements, also while with Sheri dan in the Shenandoah valley ; he was honorably discharged from the general hos pital at Washington, D. C, on surgeon's certificate of disability, August 9, 1865. He married three times: first, to Emily Terrill of Pittstown, September 22, 1868; she died in April, 1869. For his second wife, in January, 1870, he married Amy Terrell of the same place; they had two daughters: Emma, who married John Will-'= iamson of Schaghticoke and has one child, Lewis; and Mayetta, married Frederick ; M. Askins; they have two children: Frederick, and Amy J. Mrs. Hunt died Sep tember 4, 1884. For his third wife, September 16, 1888, he married Mary Stevenson . of Albany. Mr. Hunt's father died when he was three years old. He is a member. of Hartshorn Post No. 487 of Schaghticoke, G. A. R. ; he has been its commander ;: for one year, and is serving his third year as their chaplain. He is a member of Vic tor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. , and is tiler of the lodge. He is also a member of Schaghticoke Lodge No. 526, I. O. O. F., and has been through all the chairs. Mr. Hunt is superintendent of the Elmwood cemetery. Ackart, Edwin.— Jacob Ackart was born in Schaghticoke April 22, 1813. He was FAMILY SKETCHES. 35 educated in the schools of that day and was a farmer. September 14, 1836, he mar ried Christina Bratt of Schaghticoke ; they had four children : Melinda E., who died August 5, 1874; Edwin, Phebe E., and Chauncy. Jacob Ackart's father, Peter, was born in the same town, January 16, 1784. He married Maria Benway of his native town; they had eight children; David, who died; John, Maria, Jemima, Eleanor, Peter B., Jacob, and David No. 2. Mr. Ackart died April 23, 1861. Jacob Ackart's grandfather and his brother Solomon were born in Dutchess county, and were soldiers in the war of the Revolution. Edwin, son of Jacob, was born in Schaght icoke. He was educated in the public schools and is one bf the town's most intelli gent farmers. He married Josephine Blewer of Easton; they had six children: MaryC, Fannie E., George E. , Charles L., Jacob N., and Forrest C. Mrs. Ackart died November 14, 1888. The ancestry of the family is Dutch. Stroble, August, was born in Bavaria, Germany, in the year 1830. He was edu cated in their schools and has been a farmer from boyhood up. In the year 1852 he came to the United States and first located near Troy. He has resided in the town of Schaghticoke on the same farm for over twenty-two years. He has married twice, first, on March 28, 1855, to Caroline Rink, formerly of Wirtemburg, Germany ; they had four children : Charles, Albert, Caroline and Henrietta ; the latter died April 14, 1875. Mrs. Stroble died May 3, 1872. For his second wife he married Catherine Slocum. Charles married Sophia Apton of Troy, N. Y. ; they have two children, Edna and Ida. Albert married Ida Belden. Caroline married Henry Melhuron of this town: they have two children, Augustus and Henrietta. Mr. Stroble is a thor ough farmer and by honest industrious thrift has earned a competency. The an cestry of the family is German, and his present wife of New England stock. Gage, William H., was born in the town of Farmington, Oakland county, Mich igan, January 1, 1840. He was educated in the schools of that place, and his early life was devoted to farming. December 22, 1864, he married Olive Beadle then of Michigan, formerly of this locality. They have two children, William A. and Mary S. William A. married Susan T. Lewis of Oyster Bay, Long Island. Mary S. married George S. Wright of Cambridge, Washington county; they have one daughter, Olive. Mr. Gage's father, Simeon F., was born in Johnstown, Fulton county, N. Y., in the year 1802. He was educated in the schools of that day, and was a carpenter and joiner by trade. He married Hannah Waite of Cambridge, N. Y., and had four chiidren: Mary, Eunice, Eliza Jane, and William H. Mr. Gage died in California in 1855, and his widow died at home in 1864. Mrs. Gage's father, John F, Beadle, was born in the town of Easton, Washington county, N. Y., in the year 1803. He was educated in the common schools, and was always a farmer. He married Mary Waite of Cambridge ; they had nine children: Elijah E., Sarah A., Joseph R., Firra W., Marcus, Horace, Mary S., Philena, and Olive. Mr. Beadle died in 1875, and his wife in 1885. Mr. Gage is now engaged in the produce busi ness here, in connection with an office in New York city, with his son as partner, who has charge of the New York office, under the firm name of W. H. Gage & Son. He is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M., Raymond Chapter, Hoosick Falls, No, 248, and Bloss Council, Troy, No. 14, R. & S. M. Purdy, Forrest A.— His father, Henry E. Purdy, was born at Millertown, this 36 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. county, in the year 1827. He was educated in the public schools, and always followed the honorable occupation of farming, and was an upright citizen of the town and county. He married Caroline Weatherwax of Lansingburgh, N. Y. They had six children, five sons and one daughter ; EmmaR., Edward J., William L., Clarence W., Forrest A. and Howard. Henry E. Purdy died in the year 1888, and his wife May 22, 1896. October 17, 1888, Emma R. married Dr. Andrew C. Crounse, for- merley of Albany county, N. Y., and a graduate of Albany Medical College. He is now a successful practicing physician at Melrose, N. Y. Edward J. was born in the town of Lansingburgh May 22, 1862. He was educated in the public- schools and Lansingburgh Academy and is a farmer. December 9, 1883, he married Addella W., daughter of George Button. They have one son, George H., born December 13, 1886. William L. was born at the old home, has a good liberal education and is a farmer by occupation. He married Carrie, daughter of George Button. Clarence W. was born in the town of Schaghticoke, January 25, 1864; he also has a liberal education and is a farmer by occupation. He is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A M. He married Ida A., daughter of Isaac Mabb; they have one son, Le RoyC, born September 1, 1888. Forrest was born on the old home place near Mel rose,- N. Y. , in 1867. He was educated in the public schools and Troy Business College. The early years of his life were spent on the farm. He is now manager and superintendent of the American Axe and Tool Company at Johnsonville, N. Y. He is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M., and of Apollo Commandery No. 15 of Troy and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. Howard wasbornatthe old home near Melrose in the year 1860. He was educated in the public schools and Troy Business College. He is a passenger conductor on the Fitchburg Railway from Troy to Boston, and is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15 of Troy, and of the Mystic Shrine. Gifford, David, was born in the town of Schaghticoke, N. Y., August 12, 1818. He was educated in the common schools and has always followed the occupation of farming. In the year 1841 he married Jane Tyler of the town of Pittstown. Mrs. Gifford died November 5, 1893. Mr. Gifford's father, Robert, was born in Schaghti coke in 1790; he married Betsey Sherman of Essex county, N. Y. They had five children: David, Delilah, Darius, Sally and Benjamin. Mr. Gifford died in 1834 and his wife in 1888. Mr. Gifford is a member of the M. E. church at South Cam bridge, being one of its stewards. He has resided on the homestead forty-seven years. The Giffords are of Norman extraction. Gallagher, Andrew, was born in Hoosick, January 23, 1849. He was a son of John and Julia (Lebaron) Gallagher, he a native of Ireland, and she a native of Hoosick, and daughter of one of the early settlers who came from Rhode Island. The father of Mr. Gallagher was a farmer by occupation, and- died in 1852; his widow lives in Hoosick. Mr. Gallagher was reared on a farm and educated in the com mon schools and followed farming for a short time, then went to New York city and engaged in the ice business for about six years, and in 1879 came to Johnsonville and engaged in the mercantile business near the axe factory, where he is still located, conducting a very successful business. Mr. Gallagher was married in 1877 to Mary A. Mitting of Pittstown, N. Y., by whom he had four children : Frank N., Bessie M. Howard F. and Chester A. FAMILY SKETCHES. 37 Mabb, Isaac, was born in the town of Schaghticoke, January 7, 1841. He was educated in the common schools and has always followed the honorable occupation of farming, and is the architect of his own success. February 13, 1867, he married Sabra A. Button, a member of one of the oldest families of the town; they had three children : Clarence E., George W. , who died when he was three years old, and Ida A., who married Clarence W. Purdy of this town; they have one son, Le Roy C.,born September 1, 1889. Clarence E. was educated in the schools of this town and Albany Business College and is a farmer at home with his father. Mr. Mabb's father, Robert, was born in this town in 1811. He was educated in the schools of that early day and was a farmer by occupation. He married Henrietta Gatefield, formerly of England, who came over with her parents when a little girl. They had nine children : Alonzo, Harriet, Isaac, Elizabeth, Helen, Emily F. , Mary, Edwin R. , and Amelia J. Mr. Mabb died in his eighty-second year, and his wife died June 2, 1M4. The ancestry of the family was Dutch, German and English. Doty, Job, was born on the old homestead at Melrose, N. Y., April 21, 1857 He was educated in the public schools and at the Lansingburgh Academy. He taught school ten terms, has been a farmer and is now a produce and coal dealer. October 3,1889, he married Nellie Chapman of Schuylerville, N.Y. Mr. Doty's father, John L, was born here November 12, 1812. He was educated in Lansingburgh Academy ; he taught school and was a farmer by occupation. He married Olive R. Brown of this town and she was born in the year 1823. They had seven children, four sons and three daughters: Augusta, who died in infancy; Ormon J., John D., Antoinette, Job, Ida and Charles, who died at the age of twenty-nine years. He was a. member of the Masonic order. Orman J. married Jessie F. Eaton of Troy; they have two children: Ollie F. and Leonard. Mr. Doty died November 18, 1884, and his wife survives at this date, 1896. He was a captain in the State militia and in the home guards during the late war. Job Doty's grandfather was Orman Doty. This farm has been owned in the family for over 100 years without mortgage. Mr. Dotv is a member of Victoria Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M., Phoenix Chapter, Lansingburgh R. A. M., Bloss Council No. 13, R. & S. M., and Apollo Commandery No. 15. The ancestry of the family was Dutch and English. Gunner, Richard C, was born in Canterbury, England, December 24, 1826. He was educated in their schools, learned the baker's trade and came to the United States in 1851, landing in Schaghticoke the same year, and here he began business on his own account. He purchased the property in 1866, and his business has been a continued success since. In 1855 he married Elizabeth Ablett of this village. They had six children : George C. who died in his third year; Mary F., William O., Richard C, who died at the age of three years; Lizzie F. and Daniel W. Mary F. married John B. Ackart of this town and they had two children: Herbert, died at five years of age, and Everett. Mr Ackart died in 1881. Lizzie F. married Lorenzo Streeter of this village, and they have two children: Lorenzo, jr., and Mary E. Mr. Gunner is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680 of Schaghticoke, F. & A. M. He is one of the trustees and treasurer of the M. E. church. His son William O. is in the same business with his father, and he is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. Mr. Gunner is treasurer of the lodge and is past master. Daniel W. was a grad uate of Cornell University and died at the age of twenty-four. 38 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Myers, A. Y., M. D., the highly esteemed physician of Buskirks Bridge, is among the foremost of the medical profession of Rensselaer county and is a valued member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society. He is a representative of a family closely identified with the history of Schoharie county, where he was born in 1854, son of John Myers, a farmer. The first American family of Myers settled in that county. When eighteen years of age Mr. Myers left the farm to attend the Fort Edward Academy. After two years there he spent seven years in teaching chiefly in places in Albany county, one year being engaged as teacher in Albany Business College. While thus employed he fitted himself to enter Albany Medical College in 1879, grad uating in 1882. He first practiced in Otsego county, coming to Buskirks Bridge in 1883. Here he takes an active interest in local matters. He is a member of the M. E. church, and a zealous Prohibitionist. He married in 1875 Mary Defendorf, by whom he has two children, Victor C. and Ralph. Ball, L. Burke, born in 1838, is the son of L. Chandler Ball, whose death in 1875 was so deeply mourned by the community in which he resided. He was born in Vermont of English ancestry and when a young men went to New Orleans and en. tered a store kept by an elder brother. Having little or no opportunity for attend ing school he became his own instructor. The superior educational attainments he acquired are due wholly to his own efforts. When twenty- one years of age he came to Hoosick and engaged in farming and became very successful in that vocation. He was a steadfast and lifelong Republican and became county judge in 1840, and in 1860 was a member of assembly. He served three years in the late war, organiz ing a company of militia and filling all its offices to major. Judge Ball's character and abilities are revealed in his "Annals of Hoosick'' as originally published in the "Standard" and recognized as a masterpiece of description and history. Mr. L. Burke Ball (the subject) was the first man to enlist in Hoosick Falls in Co. H, 30th N. Y. Vols , where he served until physically disabled. After the war he remained in Washington as government clerk in the quartermaster's department for a while; then, though a machinist by trade, he became shipping clerk for the world renowned Wood Company. He married in 1861 Mary V. Fisk of this place, by whom he has three children. Lamb, George M., M. D., one of the practicing physicians of Hoosick Falls, is a native of Troy, born in 1857. His father was a prominent merchant there, and once supervisor of the Fifth ward. Dr. Lamb first graduated from the public school in 1876, then spent one year at Albany Medical College; thence two years at Hahnne- man Medical College, Philadelphia, graduating in 1879. He then gave one year to post-graduate work in the lying-in hospital there and six months to general work. He began practice at Troy and came to Hoosick in 1882 where he has an extensive field of work. Since that time he was away two years at Townsend, Mass., for the recovery of his wife's health. She was Emma J Dick of this place, whom he mar- riee in 1880. They have one son, Percival, aged twelve years. Dr. Lamb was health officer and has held many other positions. Haussler, Louis, sole living representative of the long established and prominent furniture house of Haussler & Son of Hoosick Falls, was born in this town and grew up into the business under the fostering care of his father, Joseph Haussler, FAMILY SKETCHES. 39 who came here from Schaghticoke nearly forty years ago, and soon after established the business which has grown into one of the most important retail houses of Hoosick Falls. Of the elder brother, Joseph, who died in November, 1896, a more extended sketch will be found elsewhere. The business will be ably managed by Louis Haussler, under the old firm style, with a fine line of modern furniture and under taking facilities of the finest. Case, H. D., a prominent farmer of Eagle Bridge, is the owner of 118 acres of land, the old homestead of Pardon Moseley, father of Mrs. Case, born Carrie B. Moseley, whom he married in 1860. Their children are Leonora, Mrs. Henry Kipps, Estella J., wife of John B. Hill of Hoosick, and Fannie M. Mr. Case was born in Pittstown in 1837, son of David Case, who was born near Hoosick Falls, and en gaged in farming. Mr. Case makes a specialty of Merino sheep. He is a Repub lican, but not an aspirant for political preferment. He is an officer of the Hoosick Co-operative Fire Insurance Company, and a director in the First National Bank of Hoosick Falls. Pine, P. S., is of English ancestry. The first American of this family settled in Rhode Island, and the ancestors of Mr. Pine were cloSely identified with the early history of Hoosick and adjacent towns. He was. born in Pittstown in 1844, son of James Pine, who was also a native of that town. Mr. Pine has been a resident of West Hoosick since 1868, and is engaged in farming. He is a man of integrity and highly esteemed. He is an ardent Republican, and has served two years as com missioner of highways. His wife was Hulda A. Guile, daughter of Roger Guile, by whom he has three sons and two daughters. Osborn, Amos, of Hoosick Falls, is the second son of David Osborn, a native of the adjacent town of Pittstown. The latter spent most of his life at Hoosick, being a large and successful farmer. His death occurred in 1881 at seventy-four years of age. Amos Osborn was born at West Hoosick and has always been engaged in farming here, owning about 200 acres. He is a descendant of an old local family ; his grandfather, John Osborn, a very early settler, came here from Boston. He in herits the sterling qualities of his forefathers and occupies an honored place among the citizens of his town. He married in 1861 Mary Rowland, daughter of William Rowland. Their son, Frank, married Eveline Smith of Pittstown, and Estella, the iter, is at home. Felter, Mahlon, M. D., was born in Eminence, Schoharie county, in 1831. His father, Mathew Felter, was a native of Rensselaerville, Albany county, N. Y. , and one of the leading church men of that place. He died in 1872. His mother, Sally Phelps, died in 1894 at the age ot ninety-four years. He attended the New York Conference Seminary and went from there to Union College from which he was graduated in 1879. In 1857 he became a student of Prof. James McNaughton, and at the same time entered the Albany Medical College from which he was graduated m 1859. August 1, 1859, he began the practice of medicine in Troyt since which tune he has enjoyed an extensive practice. He received the degree of A. M. from Union in 1860. He is a member of the American Academy of Medicine and belongs to the New York State Medical Society and the Rensselaer County Medical Society. He was city physician of Troy in 1861-1862 and is a member of the American Medi- 40 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. cal Association. He was married in 1857 to Sarah A. Bingham of Albany, who died in 1872. His son, Edgar M., is superintendent of the Maryland Steel Co. at Balti more. The doctor for many years has been prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, having attained the thirty second degree. In politics he has always been a staunch Republican. He is an associate member of Griswold Post No 338 G. A. R. Bloss, Richard D., M. D., was born in Royalton, Vt, March 25, 1835. His father, Richard Bloss, M. D. , lived in Royalton and came to Troy in 1840 where he opened practice with Dr. Richard S. Bryan at 26 Fourth street; he was a member of all the medical societies and died in 1863. His mother, Gratia (Parkhurst) Bloss, also of Royalton, died in 1891 at the age of ninety-two. Richard D. Bloss received his edu cation at the Vermont Medical College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. After graduating he practiced medicine in Racine, Wis. , and after a short time came to Troy where he has since been engaged in the practice of medi cine. He has always been a Democrat. He belongs to the National and State Homeopathic Societies. He was major in the 2d New York Vols., under Gen. Joseph B. Carr two years. He has one son who is now attending the Peekskill Military School. Stockwell, Mrs. Adelia S., is the widow of the late Godfrey E. Stockwell, who had been a resident of Hoosick Falls since he was twenty years old. He was born in Vermont, and married at Bennington in 1848 Adelia Sophia Dill who was born at Petersburgh, daughter of Thomas Dill. Four children were the issue of this mar riage : Adele M. Clark of this place ; George E. Stockwell pastor of the M. E. church at Fort Plain; Charles H. of Hoosick Falls, engaged in real estate business; and Albert M. now traveling for a shirt manufacturing company. Mr. Stockwell's death occurred in 1878, mourned by the whole community as an honored citizen and by his family as a loving father and a kind and indulgent husband. He was a faithful and consistent member of the M. E. church, with which his memory still linger as a benediction. Curtis, Montgomery G., was born in Durham, Greene county, N. Y., January 15, 1843. His father, Gilbert Curtis, went when quite young with his parents from Cheshire, Conn., to Durham, where he started a cooper shop and saw mill, and for many years was the proprietor of a hotel at South Durham; he died in 1893; his wife, Minerva A. (Stevens) Curtis, died some years before her husband. When nineteen years of age Curtis G began clerking for Mr. Connolly in the carriage and saddlery hardware business, which relationship existed for three years; February 1, 1869, he purchased an interest in the business, the firm becoming Connolly & Curtis; Mr. Connolly died and he purchased his late partner's interest, and in 1886 he took in partnership Seward Richardson, forming the firm of Curtis & Richardson which continued until January 1, 1892, when Charles A. Newell took Mr. Richardson's in terest in the firm, changing the title of the firm to Montgomery G. Curtis & Co. The business was originally to supply harness-makers and carriage-makers with supplies for those trades ; it has changed very much in thirty years ; they now depend largely upon the country merchants for their trade, supplying them with blankets, robes, horse goods and carriage supplies of every description ; they manufacture harness and many saddle specialties for the wholesale trade. Mr. Curtis is a director in the FAMILY SKETCHES. 41 : and Hudson Valley Humane Society and a member of the Troy Good Gov ernment Club; for four years he was a member of the city Common Council. He was married to Mattie Rickerson in 1868 ; she died in 1890. In 1893 he married Mrs. Helen L. Dunham of Troy, and has one son and a daughter. Brockett, Samuel S. (deceased), was born in Massachusetts, May 2, 1822. His parents (Ithra and Phoebe Brockett) lived in Massachusetts many years, but died at Burlington, Conn. Mr. Brockett came to Greenbush when a young man. He en gaged in painting and paper-hanging and carried on that business until he died, January 15, 1896. He was twice married ; first to Elsie M. Winnie, by whom he had four children, of whom one is living: Fred S., born in Greenbush and educated in Greenbush, Cass's private, and Fulsom's Business College of Albany. He is a painter and paper-hanger. Mrs. Brockett died in 1881, and in 1884 he married Mary J. Wagner, daughter of George H. and Amanda Smith, born in Albany county and died in Greenbush. He died April 7, 1881, and she September 7, 1864. To Mr. and Mrs Brockett were born three children: Elsie M., Elmer B. and Ethel H. Mr. Brockett was at one time poormaster, and a member of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Lodge No. 157. Gray, James, was born in Greenbush, August 17, 1862. He is a son of John and Mary (Forester) Gray, both born in Scotland and came to Greenbush in about 1844 ; here Mrs. Gray died in 1895, and the father retired. He was a ship builder. Mr. Gray was educated in Greenbush and learned the tinner's and plumber's trade, and in 1883 engaged in the hardware business, in which he has been very successful. Mr. Gray has been inspector for the Board of Health for three years. He is a mem ber of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., Greenbush Chapter No. 274, R.A.M., DeWitt Clinton Council, Temple Commandery and the Cypress Shrine; the three latter orders are in Albany. June 5, 1889, he married Libbie Kemp of Schodack Center. In 1894 Mr. Gray took a trip through Ireland, England and Scotland on his wheel. He also visited Paris. Smith, C. J., was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., June 23, 1853. He is a son of Peter P. and Rachiel E. (Moul) Smith, he born in Brunswick and she in Dutchess county. The grandfather of Mr. Smith was also a native of Rensselaer county. Hisfatherwas Peter Smith, an early settler of Brunswick. The wife of Peter P. , grand father of Mr. Smith was Hannah Smith (no relation before marriage). The maternal grandfather of Mr. Smith was Frederick I. Moul. He was a son of Jacob Moul, born April 16, 1776, and one of the early settlers of Rensselaer county, where he died in the town of Poestenkill. His wife was Catharine Moul, born February 11, 1778. Jacob Moul died December 11, 1863, at the age of eighty-seven years, and his wife died March 20, 1865, at the age of eighty-six. The father of Mr. Smith was a carpenter by trade. He spent thirty-three years in .Saratoga county at carpenter work and the manufacture of lumber, but spent most of his life in Rensselaer county. He died February 24, 1895, and his wife June 24, 1877. Mr Smith was educated in the common and select schools of Saratoga. He engaged in the manufacture of lumber and brush supplies and continued in business eight years, then came to Lansingburgh and manufac tured doors, sash and blinds for one year and a half. In 1878 he came to Bath on the Hudson and was in the grocery business until 1888, and then engaged in the coal 42 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and wood business in Greenbush and Bath. He is collector of the United States Loan Accumulating Association of Albany. He owns three residences in Fifth street in Bath and vacant lands fifty by one hundred feet on Fourth street Mr Smith is now one of the trustees and chairman of the Fire Committee of Bath. He is chairman of the Water Committee and also a member of the Street Committee He is a member of the Riverside Lodge No. 47, K. of P., and is also a member of the Bath Hook and Ladder Company, and is agent for the opera house. He is at present administrator of Julia A. Moul's estate of the town of Poestenkill. Febru ary 21, 1872, he married Ella C. Rickerson of Providence, Saratoga county. They have had six children : Berton J., Charles W., Philura E., William, Harry E., and Cora. Unger, John C, was born in Greenbush, N. Y., August 31, 1865. He is a son of Henry and Anna (Adair) Unger, he born in Switzerland and she in Ireland. Mr. Unger came to the L^nited States when a young man and spent most of his days in Greenbush. He died July 21, 1895, and his wife died September 12, 1895. John C. Unger was reared and educated in East Greenbush and learned the trade of painting and paper-hanging. March 1, 1896, Mr. Unger removed his business to 1(18 Broadway, where he keeps on hand a fine stock of wall paper and paints, and where he also manufactures floor oil ; the building is a capacious three storied brick, with store office thirty-five by eighteen feet. This property is-owned by Mr. Unger; he erected the building in the early part of 1896. Russell, George H., was born August 13, 1848, in Rochester, Windsor county, Vt., of New England stock, his ancestors having come from northern Massachusetts into New Hampshire and then into Vermont in the days when the State was first settled. George H. Russell, on the first day of the opening, May 7, 1859, commenced work as a cash boy in the branch store in Albany of Ubsdell, Pierson & Co. of New York (now W.M. Whitney& Co.), continuing until the spring of 1863 when his parents removed to Pittsfield, Mass. His time there was spent in part at the High School of the town, after wards in a store connected with the woolen mills of L. Pomeroy's Sons, thence he went as superintendent of the mills run by Sarsfield & Whittlesey, and then was for a time in the employ of the American Express Co. In 1867 he returned to Greenbush with his parents. His father was for nearly forty years in the employ of the Boston & Albany Railroad, and at the time of his death, in 1889, he was one of the oldest con ductors connected with the road. This connection was the reason for various changes of residence, one of which was a two years' stay in Boston, Mass., in 1854- 56. Returning from Pittsfield and having finished a course at the Albany Business College, George H. was for one year in the employ of Hinckley & Lewis, a worthy- pair of ex-coaster captains from Cape Cod, who were for a long time in business in the city as shippers and forwarders in connection with the Eastern markets by ves sels, the shipment of lumber and other products of the West, being consigned to them and here transferred to the schooners which they chartered. This was in 1868 in the last days of the Yankee coasters which formerly crowded the docks of the city. He was next employed in the office of the tobacco factory of Benjamin Payn, leav ing this to go to Westfield, Mass. An illness caused him to give up his position, and returning to Greenbush in November, 1871, he entered the employ of Charles R. Knowles, who was then, as now, doing a very large fire insurance business as man- FAMILY SKETCHES. 43 aeer of several companies of New York State, headquarters at Albany. In 1874, after eight months spent in travel in the Western and Southern States, he made a connection with Mr. E. J. Knowles who had been appointed manager for the State for the Western Assurance Company of Canada, which was continued to the present time In 1878 the firm of Knowles & Russell was formed for the transaction of the fire insurance business locally, and this connection also continues in force. They have represented a large number of companies, and have built up a large and profit able business as a result of persistent effort and intelligent methods. In addition to the main office in Albany, Mr. Russell has an office in this village, and he is con nected with various enterprises in both places. Mr. Russell is a pastmaster of Green bush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., past high priest Greenbush Chapter No. 274, R. A. M. memberof De Witt Clinton Council No. 22, R. & S. M., Temple Commandery No. 2 K. T. He is trustee of the Albany County Savings Bank, Albany Camera Club, and the Greenbush M. E. church. He has been trustee for the Fourth ward for two years, and was president of the village one term (renomination declined). He was married in 1875 to Miss Phebe A. Hermance, a descendant of the old Columbia county Dutch settlers. They have had two children: Mabel A., who was a graduate (and president) of the senior class of the Albany Female Academy in 1896 ; and Clarence H., who was a graduate of the (captain Co. A, Cadet Battalion, winners of the Guidon drill) Boys Academy in 1896. Mr. Russell has resided for twenty-one years at No. 14 Third street where he has a delightful home, and he has also a summer cottage at Vischer' s Ferry on the Mohawk. Lodewick, Charles C, was born in Schodack, N. Y. , December 24, 1849. The father of Mr. Lodewick was a farmer and merchant; he built the Rensselaer House and owned the block known as the Lodewick block ; he was treasurer of the village for many years, and was a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M. ; he died in Greenbush in 1874, but for the last ten years lived in Loudonville, Albany county. Charles C. Lodewick was reared and educated in Greenbush. He was graduated at the Classical Institute of Albany and also attended the boarding school at Geneseo, N. Y. Mr. Lodewick went to St. Louis at the age of twenty years and was in the office of Missouri Pacific Railroad for about four years. He then came to Greenbush and engaged in the grain business, which he has followed ever since, and is also proprietor of the Greenbush flouring mills. In 1869 Mr. Lodewick was married to Martha Ring, daughter of James N. Ring, one of the most prominent citizens of the place. He has been president of the village for many years. In 1885 Mr. Lodewick was a member of assembly, and also represented his district in the State Committee while Murphy was mayor of Troy from 1882 to 1886. Mr. Lodewick was superintendent of the United States postal works during Cleveland's first ad ministration. To Mr. and Mrs. Lodewick were born three children : Bertha, James, and Florence. Morris, James A., one of the firm of Morris & Smith, dealers in coal and wood, was born in Greenbush, April 8, 1843. He is a son of Alexander and Julia Ett (Ring) Morris, he born in Dutchess county, a son of John Morris, who came from Columbia county to Greenbush in a very early day, where he lived and died. The father of Mr. Morris was a rope-maker until about 1840, and then engaged in the coal business, being the second dealer in Greenbush. He died September 26, 1888, at the age of 44 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. eighty years, and his wife died August 10, 1888, at the age of eighty years. Mr. Morris was reared in Greenbush and educated there and in the select schools of Al bany, Charlotteville, and Warnerville, Schoharie county. He began in the coal business in April, 1865, with Captain William Smith, an old resident of Greenbush. In 1864 Mr. Morris married Julia R. Craig, daughter of Captain S. W. Craig of Green bush. To Mr. and Mrs. Morris were born two children : Alexander, clerk for the firm ; and Daisy. Mr. Morris is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M. He has been supervisor of East Greenbush for two years, and chairman of the board in 1877. Mrs. Morris died April 18, 1875. November 13, 1879, Mr. Morris married L. Cornelia Cornell of Greenbush, by whom he has one daughter, Julia Ett. Melius & Hemstreet, the firm of, is composed of Charles Melius and Eugene Hem- street. Mr. Melius was born at Saratoga Springs, October 1, 1834. He was a son of Jeremiah and Catherine (Mink) Melius, he born in Hudson, N. Y., and she in Canada. The grandfather of Mr. Melius was Jacob Melius ; he was born in Hudson and spent most of his days there; he came to Greenbush about 1843 and there lived and died. The father of Mr. Melius was a blacksmith; he died in Rochester, N. Y., in 1871 and his wife died about 1880. Charles Melius was educated in the common schools. He was an engineer for the Hudson River Railroad for about twenty years, and in 1871 engaged in the mercantile business and has been very successful. He has been assessor and trustee of the town and was supervisor in 1868, 1869, and 1870, and has been school trustee for about ten years. He is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M. , and Greenbush Chapter No. 274, R. A. M. December 24, 1857, Mr. Melius was married to Anna Hyler, by whom he has had four children: Hattie, of Yonkers, N. Y. ; Cornelia, at home ; Carrie, of Camp Clark, Neb. ; and Charles, deceased. Carr, Fred, & Son. — Fred Carr was born in New Hampshire, April 14, 1825. He is a son of Benjamin, born November 26, 1779, and Sarah (Wilcox), born December 5, 1782, she born in Newport, and he in Hillsborough, N. H. The Carr family trace their ancestry to seven brothers coming in the Mayflower and four of them settled in New Hampshire. The father of Fred Carr lived and died in New Hampshire, He was colonel in the State militia, and died October 31, 1859. Mr. Carr was reared and educated in Newport. He went to Boston when of age and began life as a bundle boy in a dry goods store where he remained for five years, then went to Wisconsin where he engaged in the lumber and saw mill business, also general store, grain and commission business ; he was postmaster under Lincoln, and also express and steamboat agent at De Sota, Wis. May 11, 1866, he came to Greenbush and engaged in the cracker and biscuit business with J. Whitney on the corner of Second avenue and Washington street and continued in partnership with him until his death in 1881 ; after this Mr. Carr continued alone until 1892 when his son George W. be came a partner ; the firm is now Fred Carr & Son. They have done an extensive business. He was married in 1861 to Mary Whiting, daughter of Jonas Whiting, by whom he has had two children : George W. and Hattie E. B. George W. was born November 16, 1864, in De Sota, Wis. ; he was educated in Greenbush and the Boys' Academy at Albany, N. Y. ; May 22, 1891, he was married to Mildred Lansing of Greenbush, by whom he has had two children: Frederick L., and Charles W. Mr. F. Carr was treasurer of the Sewer Commission ; he is now president of the Board of FAMILY SKETCHES. 45 Health and president of the Greenbush Cemetery. He is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., of Greenbush Chapter No. 274, R. A. M., and of Green bush Lodge, No. 133, I. O. O. F. Mrs. Carr died in 1876 and in 1877 he married Fannie Rifenburgh of Sandy Hill, Washington county, N. Y. Cullen, John, was born in Ireland, April 19, 1826. He is a son of Lawrence and Mary (Maddan) Cullen, who were born and died in Ireland. Mr. Cullen came to America in 1847 and worked in Mount Hope and various other places. He was in the employ of the Hudson River Railroad for fourteen years, and about 1865 came to Greenbush and engaged in the mercantile business. He was a poor boy when he started out and is now one of the wealthiest men in Greenbush. In 1859 he married Mary Sellery, born in Ireland. They have no children. Cole, John P., was born in Troy January 5, 1850. He is a son of John L., a son of Lewis, whose father came from Dutchess county in 1796 and settled in North Green bush on the farm now owned by Thomas Cole, where he lived and died. Lewis Cole was a farmer and spent most of his days in North Greenbush ; he died in Brunswick in 1878. John L. Cole was a, farmer, hotel keeper and merchant in Albia, N. Y., where he spent most of his days; he was alderman and supervisor for several years and held other minor offices ; his wife was Elizabeth Phillips, of North Greenbush, a daughter of Davis Phillips, who spent most of his days in that town, but died in Albany county at the age of ninety-three ; to Mr. and Mrs. Cole were born four daughters and two sons, of whom five are now living; Mr Cole died in 1861 and his wife April 14, 1891. John P. Cole lost his father when twelve years old, and worked for his uncle for four years ; he spent one year in Illinois and then returned to New York and worked on a farm in Albany county for two years, after which he came to Rensselaer county and worked on a farm for two years. In 1870 he married Jennie M. Dings, daughter of Henry Dings, an early settler of East Greenbush. To Mr. and Mrs. Cole were born three sons and one daughter; Edmond, educated in the common schools and the Albany Business College, and is now engaged in the mayor's office in New York; Gracie, educated in the Albany Female Academy and Albany Normal School; C. Frank L. was graduated from the Albany Business College; and David, deceased. Mr. Cole was a member of assembly in the years 1895 and 1896. He is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., Greenbush Chapter No. 274. R. A. M., and Albany Lodge, B. P. O. E., No. 49, and is also a member of the A. O. U. W. of Greenbush. He was a farmer until 1885, when he came to Greenbush and was in the restaurant business for six years. He then bought the Rensselaer House, now known as the Cole's Hotel, of Greenbush. Ryan, Cornelius A., was born in Greenbush, February 1, 1856. He is the son of Cornelius and Mary (Gorman), both born in Ireland, and came to Quebec in 1845, then came to Albany, and finally to Greenbush where they both lived and died ; Mr. Ryan died in May, 1895, and Mrs. Ryan in October, 1883. Cornelius Ryan was reared in Greenbush, where he also received his education in the Brothers' school. He then went to work as a brakeman with the Boston & Albany Railroad, where he remained for about sixteen years. He was then elected receiver of taxes and village clerk of Greenbush, which position he, now holds. Mr. Ryan was elected police com missioner for two years and supervisor for three years; he was also elected trustee of the village, which position he resigned to take the one which he now holds. 46 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Dean, Peter, one of the most thrifty farmers of Stephentown, a native of Ger many, was born April 18, 1824. His parents were Peter and Christina Dean ; they were farmers of Germany where they lived and died. Peter received his education in Germany and in 1852 emigrated to America, settling first in Grafton, thence came to Stephentown where he still resides on a farm of 258 acres which he purchased in 1875. He keeps a dairy of about seventeen cows. In 1850 Mr. Dean married Phoebe, daughter of Daniel and Mary Youngs, of Germany, by whom he has had six children: Christina, died at the age nineteen; Jacob, a farmer of Stephentown; Charles B., of Cane's Mill, Sand Lake; Mary, wife of Andrew Wise, of Stephen- town; Carrie P., wife of Andrew J. Lapp, who farms the homestead; Peter, engaged with Hugh & Simpson, manufacturers of boxes, Troy. Pomeroy, Harmon, was born in Stephentown, December 23, 1827. He is a son of Quartus Pomeroy and Sally (Tifft) Pomeroy. The grandfather, Titus Pomeroy, came from the East and settled in Rensselaer county where he engaged in farming; he died at Sand Lake. The father of Mr. Pomeroy was born July 20, 1794. He was four teen years old when he came to Rensselaer county; he settled in Stephentown on the farm now owned by his son Harmon Pomeroy in 1834, and died February 12, in 1870. Mrs. Pomeroy was born June 10, 1794, and died August 10, 1869. Harmon Pomeroy has spent the greater part of his life on the farm which he now owns. In 1856 he married Ellen M., daughter of Clark Vary, of Stephentown. To Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy have been born three children: Ida J., Silas H. and Charles V. Weatherby, George W., was born in Stephentown, February 13, 1808, and died in December, 1885. He was a son of Uriah and Betsey (Coleman) Weatherby. Mr. Weatherby came from the North of England when a young man and settled in 'Stephentown where he married Betsey Coleman. He engaged in farming and here lived and died. George Weatherby was reared on a farm. He learned the carpen ter trade and engaged in and ran the turning business for about forty-five years at Stephentown Center. He was for years deacon of the Baptist church at Stephen- town Center. August 29, 1830, Mr. Weatherby married Zillah U. Town; she was born in Nassau December 17, 1810, and still resides at the Center. Her parents, John and Lois (Willard) Town, were natives of Rhode Island, whence they emigrated to Nassau about 1800. He died at Glenville December 17, 1844, and she died at Dunham Hollow, November 20, 1842. Mr. Town was a shoemaker by trade. To Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby were born two children- Nancy, who died in 1848 at the age of five years and six months; Martha, married William H. Brown, who was a turner at the Center. Mr. Brown died January 1, 1885. Mrs. Brown, with her adopted daughter, Addie U. Brown, reside with Mrs. Weatherby. Russell, William F., was born in Stephentown, and is the fourth generation of the Russell family on the farm he now owns. The farm was first settled by his great- grandparents, William and Mary Russell, at a very early date; he came from France, and died September 28, 1812, at the age of eighty-two, and she September 23, 1816, at the age of seventy. The farm was next occupied by a son, John, whose wife was Sarah Humphrey; he was born on the farm, and she was born near Garfield; they died on the homestead, he November 4, 1859, at the age of seventy-nine, and she in 1857, at the age of seventy-seven. He was succeeded by Frederick Russell, father FAMILY SKETCHES. 47 of William F. ; he married Eliza Kittle, and they spent their lives at farming on the home farm. Frederick Russell and his wife Eliza both died at the age of eighty- three. William F. married in 1854 Harriet E., daughter of Alonzo and Matilda (Chapman) Rogers, he a native of Stephentown and she of Connecticut. To Mr. and Mrs. Russell have been born seven children: William E. , born June 13, 1855; he married and has four children: Mary L., Laura V., Ida M. and Lillian P. ; they live in Iowa. Virginia is at home. Joseph F. was born October 8, 1859, and is a farmer of Stephentown; he married and they have four daughters: Elizabeth, Marguerite, Louise R. and Dorothy G. Antoinett E. C. is a graduate from the New York Medical College and Hospital for Women in New York city, and is now resi dent superintendent of the Women's Homoeopathic College of Philadelphia. Harriet R, is the widow of Byron Greene and is a graduate of Waltham Training School, Mass., and is a professional nurse John died in infancy. Mary W. married Horace W. Provost. Mr. Russell has the old home farm of eighty acres and bought 120 acres, of which he gave to his son a part. Mr. Russell has made a specialty of sheep husbandry. Tooley, Hiel J., was born in Rutland, Vt., January 1, 1833. He is a son of Ben jamin F. and Manda (Carr) Tooley, he a native of Rutland and she of Stephentown. The grandfather, Joshua Carr, came to Stephentown in pioneer times and engaged in carpenter work and farming ; he was one of the founders of the Baptist church at the Center. Benjamin F. Tooley came to Stephentown in 1833 and engaged in farming and lumbering; he died in 1895, at the age of ninety -five years; Mrs. Tooley died in 1840. Hiel J. Tooley has given his principal attention to the coal and lumber business. He bought the farm of 107 acres near Stephentown Center in 1878, where he still resides. In 186i Mr. Tooley married Delia, daughter of Sylvester and Betsey Craver of Sand Lake, by whom he has two children: John F., a farmer of Stephen - town, and Harry, in an electric shop in New York city. August 11, 1862, Mr. Tooley enlisted in Co. E, 125th N. Y. Vols., and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. He participated in the battles of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Gettysburgh, and in all eighteen battles and skirmishes.' At Gettysburg he was wounded, and also in the thigh at the first charge of Petersburgh. Chase, Lorenzo D., was born at Stephentown Center, December 18, 1840. He is a son of Lorenzo and Permelia (Casey) Chase, both natives of Rensselaer county, he of Stephentown. The grandfather, Benjamin, was a pioneer of Stephentown from Connecticut; he married Margaret Sweet ; he was a farmer and lumberman. The father of Mr. Chase spent his life at the Center; he was a carpenter and mason, and ran a turning mill at the Center. Lorenzo D. Chase was reared and educated at Stephentown Center. He ran a saw and turning mill and in 1865 he bought the farm where he has since resided, carrying on general farming. In 1862 Mr. Chase married Mary A., daughter of Samuel and Eliza Cole of Stephentown. Fellows, Lorenzo D , was born in Stephentown, December 2, 1822. He is a son °f David and Chloe (Turner) Fellows, he a native of Stonington and she of Nassau. The grandparents were William and Susana (Rathbun) Fellows, natives of Connec ticut; he was a ship carpenter bv trade and came to Stephentown, where he spent the latter part of his life, and died at the age of eighty-four. The maternal grand- 48 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. father, John Turner, was an early settler of Nassau, and was a minister of the Bap tist church. David Fellows was three years old when his parents came up the Hudson River and settled in Stephentown. He was reared on the farm and always followed farming; Mr. Fellows died in 1857 at the age of seventy. L. D. Fellows has always been a farmer. Knapen, John J , born in Herkimer county, N. Y., May 15, 1841, is the son of Jo siah and Phebe (Smith) Knapen, he a native of Stephentown, born April 7, 1801, she of Chatham, born January 21, 1805. The grandparents were Asa and Sally (Fuller) Knapen ; he was born in Columbia county. The great-grandfather of John J.. Samuel Knapen, was a cooper at Chatham where he died. The Knapen family are of Welsh extraction. The maternal grandparents were Seth and Eunice (Aldrich) Smith, who were married in 1795; he died 1858 and she in 1846; he was a farmer and butcher. Asa Knapen was an early settler of Stephentown and a shoe maker by trade. The father of John J. was reared in Stephentown, married and removed to Herkimer county, thence in 1852 to Chatham and finally settled on the farm now owned by John J., where he died in 1863. Mrs. Knapen died in 1889. John J. was reared on the farm and was fourteen years in the butcher business in Stephentown ; then he went on the farm in South Stephentown where he carries on general farming and buying and selling butter, eggs, and poultry. He has 128 acres. In 1871 Mr. Knapen was married to Maggie, daughter of Dyer and Marga ret (Chatman) Arnold of Berlin, by whom he has one daughter, Alice M., wife of William G. Costine ; they have one son, Harold E. Eldridge, Nathaniel A., was born in Hancock, Mass., in 1820. He is a son of Thomas and Rachel (Hall) Eldredge, he a native of Hancock and she of Stephen- town. The grandfather of Mr. Eldredge was Thomas Eldredge, a pioneer settler of Hancock, coming thither from Rhode Island. George Hall was a blacksmith by trade and died in 1812 at the age of seventy-eight. The father of Mr. Eldridge was born iri Hancock in 1778 and came to Stephentown in 1849 and died in 1859. Mrs, Eldridge was born April 11, 1780. and died in 1860. Mr. Eldridge has always fol lowed farming, at which he has been remarkably successful. In 1844 he married Nancy M. Gorton of Hancock by whom have been born three children: Dorr, who died at the age of three; E. Dora, who married Lewis Brown, and after his death she married C. H. Brown, brother of Lewis, who is the leading criminal lawyer in the city of Omaha; Eldorus, formerly traveling salesman in the West, but now a farmer on the home farm of 250 acres; he is also a dealer in horses; he married Lelia, daughter of E. R. Potter of Stephentown; he was supervisor of Stephentown in 1888, 1889, and 1890, and was also clerk. He is a member of the Mt. Whitney Lodge No. 647, I. O. O. F. Mrs. Eldridge died in 1881 and in 1884 Mr. Eldridge married Mrs. Thomas J. Hazard. Moffitt, John Jay, was born in Stephentown, January 7, 1831. He is the son of Jay and Amy (Clark) Moffitt, he a native of Stephentown, and she of New Lebanon. The father of Jay, General Hosea, was also born in Stephentown where he lived and died. He was high sheriff of this county and for two terms was member of congress from his district. He was one of the leading men of this section of the country, both in farming and politically ; he owned a large tract of land in Stephen- FAMILY SKETCHES. 49 town, and his father, Dr. Thomas Moffitt, was one of the first settlers of the town. Jay Moffitt was reared on the farm, and followed farming; he died in 1841 aged forty years. John J. Moffitt was reared on the farm and farming is his occupation. In 1853 he married Miss Lucy E. , daughter of Sylvester and Alma (Russell) Gardner, she a native of Stephentown, but her grandparents came from France. Mr. Gardner had a large farm in Stephentown ; his father, Benjamin Gardner, emigrated from England and was a pioneer at Stephentown Depot, and at one time owned all the land around where the village now stands. The wife of Mr. Gardner was Eunice Northope, daughter of Captain Northope, who married a Miss Needham, daughter of an English gentleman. The brother of Eunice, Elder Nicholas Northope, was the founder of the first Free Baptist church of Stephentown Centre about 1790. To Mr. and Mrs. Moffitt have been born one son, Charles, who died in 1892, and Ora E., who died in 1882; she married Charles Ford, and leaves one son, C. Moffitt Ford, who has been reared by John Jay Moffitt. Mr. Moffitt' s children were both of exemplary habits, and their loss will always be deeply mourned. Moffit, Henry, was born in Stephentown, August 7, 1828. He was a son of Guy and Elizabeth (Bennett) Moffit, both natives of Stephentown and both died on the farm now owned by Henry. He died in 1859 and she in 1880. Henry is a grandson of Hosea Moffit and great-grandson of Thomas Moffit of Scotland. Henry Moffit has always followed farming on the Moffit homestead. He owns 140 acres and keeps a dairy of fifteen cows. In 1851 he married Nancy, daughter of Elisha and Betsey (Chapman) Bennett, natives of Stephentown. The grandparents of Mrs. Moffit, Willard and Abigail (Eggleston) Bennett, were pioneers of Stephentown. The father of Mrs. Moffit died in 1858 and her mother died in 1836. Mrs. Moffit is a member of the Presbyterian church. They are the parents of one child : Mary Jane, wife of Sylvanus. Pratt. Piatt, Theodore D., was born in Stephentown March 15, 1818. He is a son of Henry and Martha (Chatman) Piatt, both natives of Stephentown. The grandparents, Henry and Susan (Delaverne) Piatt, were natives of Dutchess county, N. Y., who came to Stephentown about 1780 and here lived and died. He was a merchant and miller. He was nine or ten years supervisor of the town, and for about ten years member of assembly. He died in August, 1842; Mrs. Piatt died in January, 1843. The father of Theodore D. was also a merchant and miller ; he died April 17, 1876, and Mrs. Piatt died February 18, 1864. Theodore D. Piatt has been a farmer and merchant, and for many years was engaged in the manufacture of wadding at Gar field which business he established in 1849 and retired from it in 1873. In 1840 Mr. Piatt married Ann Drozilla, daughter of Alexander and Polly Gardner, both natives of Stephentown. To Mr. and Mrs. Piatt were born three children: Emiline, wife of deling H. Smith, lawyer of New York city; Theodore died May 4, 1893, at the age »f forty-nine, and William H. is a farmer on the homestead farm. Mr. Piatt has been justice, clerk and supervisor of the town. Potter, E. R., was born in West Greenwich, R. I., June 22, 1835. He is a son of Allen and Waity (Arnold) Potter, both natives of Rhode Island, where they lived and died. The grandfather, George Arnold, was a pioneer of Stephentown, and was aid-de-camp to George Washington during the Revolutionary war. E. R. Potter 50 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. was left an orphan when a small boy and his first work for himself was at forty dol lars a year. He then worked by the month in Rhode Island till he was of age, when he came to Stephentown and worked four years by the month, then at farming and speculating for seven years. In 1872 he engaged in the sale of lumber, lime, coal, feed, cement, and in shipping all kinds of produce, in which he has been very suc cessful. In 1855 Mr. Potter married Phoebe, daughter of George Taylor, a farmer of Stephentown; she died March 12, 1882, and September 4, 1885, he married Anna McMahon. He had five children: Lelia Z., wife of Eldorus Eldridge; Minnie, who died aged twenty-one; George A., Agnes M. and Gertrude A. Brown, Spencer C, was born in Stephentown, March 26, 1833. He is a son of Joseph R. and Amanda M. (Carr) Brown, he a native of Connecticut, and she of Columbia county, N. Y. The parents of Joseph were Adam and Susana (Morey) Brown, who came from Stonington, Conn., in 1802, Joseph being then two years old, and settled in Stephentown where they lived and died. He was a captain in the war of 1812. The maternal grandparents were Spencer and Zelpha (Goodrich) Carr; he was born in Stephentown, and his father, Edward Carr, was a very early settler of the town; he came from Rhode Island, being in Stephentown during the Revolu tionary war; he helped to establish the Baptist church in Stephentown, and was a deacon many years ; he died at the age of ninety years. Joseph R. Brown was a farmer of Stephentown throughout his whole life; he died in 1850 at the age of fifty years. Spencer C. was reared on the farm and at the death of his father took charge of the home farm. In 1871 he married Annie, daughter of John H. and Mary Ann (Goodrich) Conklin of Hancock, Mass. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born three children: J. Willis, at school at Suffield, Conn. ; Edith E., also at school; and Mary, died at the age of three years. In 1871 Mr. Brown engaged in general mercantile business in Stephentown, which business he is still carrying on in connection with farming. Mr. Brown has been road commissioner, justice, supervisor, andfor fifteen years auditing superintendent of the poor of the county, and is also postmaster at Stephentown. He is a member of the New Lebanon Springs Lodge No. 9, F. & A. M. Barnes, W. D., born in Columbia county, N. Y., April 4, 1856, is a son of Walter and Mary (Dillon) Barnes, both natives of Columbia county, and there Mr. Barnes died and his wife died in Canada. He was a land architect which he followed for years. Mr. Barnes was reared in Hudson and educated in the public schools of that place. He began the manufacture of cotton cloth in 1879 in Brainard which he fol lowed for four years and was burned out ; he then built a paper mill and has since been engaged in the manufacture of paper except six years in New York city, where he built a paper mill and followed the same business. He manufactures manilla paper, box paper, and light wood boards, manilla tissue, andwhite and colored tissue a specialty. The capacity of the mills is 10,000 pounds per day; Mr. Barnes is also engaged in the manufacture of shirts. He was married in February, 1891, to Miss Katharine F. Hart, daughter of John Hart of Albany, to whom two children have been born : William Harold and Annette Marion. Goodell, George W. E., M.D., was born in Mexico, Oswego county, N. Y., Janu ary 21, 1863. He isa son of William S. and Martha (Hamilton) Goodell of Mexico. George W. E. was reared on a farm and educated in Mexico Academy. He studied FAMILY SKETCHES. 51 medicine with Dr. George P. Johnson of Mexico, and was graduated from the Al bany Medical College in 1894. He practiced medicine at Green Island and in 1895 came to Brainard Station, where he has a successful practice. He is a member of the Tsatsawassa Lodge No. 356, I.O.O.F. Bonacker, Adam, was born in Germany in 1843. He was a son of Conradt and Catharine (Boider) Bonacker, both born, lived and died in Germany. Adam Bon acker came to New York city in 1859 and was educated in the common schools; he remained there two years, then went to Greenbush, where he found a brother, August Bonacker, who had been in the United States about six years. August, one of the well-to-do business men of the place spent his life in Greenbush. Adam Bonacker had eighty-seven cents when he came to the United States. He enlisted in 1861 in a New York State regiment and served three years and two months ; he was a prisoner twice, was in seven battles and eight skirmishes, and was wounded at Sulphur Springs, Va. The regiment nnmbered 1,100 and had eighty-eight men when discharged. Mr. Bonacker was first lieutenant before twenty-one years of age, After his discharge he came to Greenbush and after a short time went to New York city and started a meat market ; being defrauded out of this business and losing his money, he again returned to Greenbush, settling on a back street, and be gan work in a coal yard but soon hired out to Mr. Bret in a slaughter house ; he re mained with him nine winters ; during the summer he bought calves and slaughtered them and peddled them in baskets. He butchered them in his wood-shed, back of East street, then owned by Bryan Smith. He soon bought a horse, wagon and harness for seven dollars and traded until he had a better horse. He continued in the stock business until 1890, having a meat market from 1875. He also worked a piece of land. He now owns the Van Rensselaer Island ice business whose capacity is about 20,000 tons, a building on Broadway where he lives, two near the viaduct, one in East Greenbush, and several others in Greenbush. Mr. Bonacker now lives a retired life. He was married in 1864 to Mary Bodesine, by whom he has had ten children, four of whom are living. His second wife was Mary O'Neil, by whom he had seven children, three of whom are living. Two sons of Mr. Bonacker, Philip and Adam, are engaged in the ice business ; the youngest son by the first wife, John, is now engaged in the grocery business. Mr. Bonacker worked two months for his board when he came to this county and now he is the second largest taxpayer in the village of Greenbush. He was lieutenant in the 25th Regiment of Home Guards, serving for twelve years under Captain Health, he being the senior captain. Leggett, Joseph A. , was born in Marmora, Canada, January 3, 1860. He came with his parents to Troy in 1864, attended the public schools and the business col lege and entered the employ of his father in the manufacture of paper boxes, in which business he became a partner in 1882. He is a member of all the Masonic bodies, and was master of King Solomon Lodge, F. & A. M., and upon retiring from office was presented with an elegant past master's jewel. He is also a member of the Elks, a trustee of the Fifth Avenue M. E. church, a director in the National Bank of Troy, treasurer of the Troy File Company and a director of the Troy and Cohoes Shirt Company. Mr. Leggett is a. staunch Republican and is at this date, '898, chairman of the county committee ; he is also a member of the Pafraets Dael and the Riverside Clubs. In July, 1896, he was elected president of the Empire 62 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. State Paper Box Manufacturers' Association. In 1880 he married Mary Belle Davis of Troy, by whom he has two daughters. Wilkinson, jr., Joseph B., was born in Troy, N.Y., September 8, 1847. Hisfather, Joseph B. Wiikinson, was born in Scituate, R. I., October 17, 1817. He took an active part in what is known as Dorr's Rebellion in 1840. He came to Troy in 1842 and opened a clothing store at 169 River street, taking his brother as a partner. Eight years afterwards he opened an establishment in New York and remained there until the death of his brother, when he returned to Troy and again took charge of the business. He died January 22, 1890. Joseph B., jr., received a common school and academic education. He was admitted to the bar in Albany in 1870 and prac ticed about a year in Troy. He was elected alderman in 1872, and was in the cham berlain's office two years. Since 1879 he has been in the fire insurance business, and is connected with the State Board of Underwriters. He has been a member of the fire department since 1865, and also of the Troy Citizens Corps. He is a member of Apollo Lodge, Chapter and Commandery, and of the Oriental Temple, Mystic Shrine. He was married in 1874 to Ella S. Crane. He has four children. Ingalls, H. H. G., was born in the town of Milton, Saratoga county, N. Y., May 18, 1850, and is a son of Daniel T. and Sally M. (Dake) Ingalls, he born at Bellows Falls, Vt. , and she in Greenfield, Saratoga county. Daniel T. was a journeyman papermaker from the time he was fourteen years of age until 1860, when he began leasing and operating mills on his own account and superintending for others until 1873, when he and H. H. G. Ingalls (his son) bought a mill in South Manchester, Conn. , and were in business until 1888 ; Daniel T. then sold out his interest and lived retired in Castleton, where he died in 1892, and where his widow still resides. H. H. G. Ingalls entered a paper mill at the age of twelve years and continued as a journeyman papermaker and superintendent for others up to 1873, when he formed a partnership with his father, as above stated. Upon the retirement of his father from the firm, H. H. G. formed a partnership with his successors, and afterwards formed a stock company in Castleton and built the Oak Grove Paper Mills, of which company Mr. Ingalls is secretary, treasurer and general manager. In 1872 Mr. Ingalls was married to Jane E. Reese of Fonda, N. Y., who died August 30, 1881. April 16, 1885, he was married to Hattie R. Tracy of South Manchester, Conn., who has borne him four children: Luella E., Maud H., Florence L. and Edmond Harvey. For the past twenty years he has been a member of the Methodist church and has been superintendent of the Methodist Sunday school of Castleton for two years, and for fifteen years has occupied an official capacity in the church, He was a member ot the Board of Trustees of Castleton for two years, and in politics is a staunch Republican. Knickerbocker, Milton I., was born in Schodack on the farm he now owns, Jan uary 29, 1852. He is a son of Milton, born in Columbia county. January 10, 1815, who was a son of James Knickerbocker, who lived and died in Columbia county. The father came to Schodack about sixty years ago and bought the farm Milton I. now owns, where he lived and died; his death occurred September 8, 1894; he was supervisor for three years and was justice for twelve years ; his wife, Sally A. Pock- man, died April 2, 1878. Mr. Knickerbocker was reared on a farm and educated in FAMILY SKETCHES. 53 the public schools. He is a farmer and has 121 acres of land. In 1888, he married Ora E. Link of Columbia county, by whom four children have been born : Beula L. , Claud M., Harry P., and A. Irving. Knowlton, F. M., was born in Castleton and educated in the schools of the village. He started the business of life for himself as a clerk with Joel D. Smith and became a partner in the business in 1888 with W. P. Smith under the firm name of Smith & Knowlton. Mr. Knowlton is a representative young business man and is universally popular; he is a member of the fire department of which he is treasurer, a member of the steamer company, foreman of the fire company and a member of the Masonic order. He is one of tbe Owl Club and is president of the organization. Larkin, Egbert, was born in Nassau, October 12, 1828, and is a son of Caleb K. and Linda A. Smith, both born in Nassau. He is a son of William Larkin, a native of Rhode Island, and one of the early settlers of Nassau, where he died at the age of ninety-two; he was in the Revolutionary war. The father of Mr. Larkin lived and died in Nassau, and had two brothers, who were in the war of 1812. Mr. Larkin was educated in the common schools, and for some time bought and sold cows. In 1810 he came on the farm he now owns of sixty-eight acres; he was commissioner for nine years, and was assessor for one year. In 1854 he was first married to Mal- vina Williams of Nassau, who died March 22, 1887, and in 1801 he was again mar ried married to Louisa Becker of Schodack, and has two children: Jessie and Hazel L, Masten, W. J. & C. P., of South Schodack, N. Y. , dealers in general merchandise, dry goods, groceries, hardware, &c. , are the sons of James H. and Sarah M. (Ostran der) Masten ; she born in Schodack, N. Y. , December 12, 1814, he born in Columbia county September 9, 1812, and was a son of William Masten, who was born in Can ada and came to Columbia county when a young man at the age of twenty-one years and settled there for a few years, after which he came to Schodack and bought the farm near South Schodack, and now owned by his grandsons, where he spent the remainder of his days and where he died July 15, 1856, at the age of seventy- two years. His wife, Sallie (Wiltse) Masten, died August 4, 1868, aged eighty years. The wife of James H. Masten was born in Schodack and was a daughter of Peter Ostrander and Margaret (Welch) Ostrander, who were among the early settlers of Schodack, where they spent all their lives and both died in their ninety-fourth year. The father of W. J. and C. P. Masten was a farmer and spent most of his days at that occupation, but lived a retired life the last twenty years, and died August 22, 1882, aged seventy years. W. J. and C. P. were reared upon the farm and educated in common schools. W. J. also attended school at Carlisle, Schoharie county, and Fairfield Seminary, Herkimer county. C. P. attended school at Claverack, Columbia county, and Fairfield Seminary. In the year 1865, May 1, W. J. engaged in the mercantile business at Schodack Landing, N. Y. , where he remained for two years and in 1867 he, with his brother C. P., commenced in the same business at South Schodack, N. Y., and have continued in business there ever since. W. J. was assist ant postmaster at Schodack Landing for one year, and postmaster at South Schodack 'or twenty-five years and six months in succession. On December 15, 1880, W. J. married Phebe S. Decker, of Schodack, by whom he has one daughter, Sarah D. 54 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. The only daughter of James H. Masten and his wife was Rosalind E., wife of John S. Budd, a prominent farmer of Schodack, and they have four children : Charles I, William H., Mary E. and Sarah B., all of whom are still living. Miller, Capt. George R., was born in Schodack on the farm he now owns, July 6, 1839. He is a son of Garrett and Martha (Seaman) Miller, both born in Schodack! Garrett was a son of John I., a son of one of the earliest settlers of the town. The grandfather of Mr. Miller purchased the farm where he lived and died. The father of Mr. Miller was a farmer; he died in 1861 and his wife died January 20. 1893, at the age of eighty-four Mr. Miller was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools; he is a farmer and has 172 acres of land, following general farming; he was supervisor of the town in 1880 and 1881, and was also collector. In 1869 Mr. Miller was married to Theresa De Forest, a daughter of David and granddaughter of Jacob De Forest, an early settler of North Greenbush. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller were born four daughters: Martha (deceased), Maria J., Helena and Sarah A. Mr. Miller is a member of Schodack Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., and is past master. He was captain of Co. B, 72d Regiment, State militia. Morey, F. R., was born in Nassau, July 1, 1869, and was educated in the public schools and Cornell University. His people are farmers and his life was passed on the farm and at school until the spring of 1895, when he entered into partner ship with William E. N. Van Hoesen in the coal and freighting business, and in January, 1896, purchased his interest and has since conducted the business alone. He handles 1,500 tons of coal annually and over 4,000 tons of freight. Mr. Morel's parents were Gardner and Lydia (Robinson) Morey; the latter is deceased. His grandfather, Robert Morey, came from Connecticut. Mr. Morey is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is a young business man of prominence and more than ordinary ability. Parks, Alonzo H., was born in Sand Lake, January 26, 1827, and is a son of Jon athan and Elmira (Hunt) Parks, he born in Sand Lake and she in Columbia county. Jonathan was a son of Whiting Parks, a native of Dutchess county, who came to Sand Lake, where he married, lived and died. Jonathan, father of Alonzo H., was a wheelwright and a farmer and was in business in Sand Lake; he died in Stephen- town, and his wife in Sand Lake in 1842. Alonzo H. was reared on a farm and educated at Sand Lake Academy and has always followed farming. About 1851 he came to Schodack and worked at the carpenter's trade at North Chatham two years, and was engaged in the manufacture of wagons at Muitzes Kill for about five years, and then came to the farm of seventy-five acres, to which he added seventy-five. In 1858 he was married to Mary Miller, daughter of Christopher Miller, who owned about 250 acres of land in Schodack, where he lived and died. Mr. Parks was at one time a member of the I. O. O. F. at Sand Lake, and was also a member of the Sons of Temperance. Philip S. Parks, son of Alonzo H. Parks, was born in Schodack, August 30, 1860, and was educated in the Albany Business College. He is one of the progressive farmers and owns about 108 acres of land. He follows general farming , and makes a specialty of apples. May 16, 1879, he was married to Mary J. Reefer, of Greene county, by whom two sons have been born: Alonzo S. and Elba K. Mr. , Parks is a Republican and has been inspector of elections. FAMILY SKETCHES. 55 Peaslee, J. S., M.D., was born in Montgomery county, March 15, 1849. He was ed ucated in the Cazenovia Academy, at Cherry Valley, Fort Plain, N.Y. , and in Albany Medical College, from which he graduated in December, 1874. In the spring of 1875 he began practice at Schodack Landing and has been there ever since, except one year, 1878. In 1879 Dr. Peaslee married Josie Springsteen ; they have two children: Zebeth S. and Ruth. Dr. Peaslee' s parents were Joseph B. and Lany (Seeber) Peaslee. He is the present postmaster at Schodack Landing and held the same office during Cleveland's first administration. Politically the doctor is a staunch Democrat. Phibbs, William H., was born in Sligo, in the North of Ireland, May 25, 1842, and came to this country in 1857 in company with his two brothers who are now in the ice business in Albany. He started in the retail ice business in Albany in 1869 and con tinued it until 1879, when he came to Castleton and purchased part of the Collins farm and erected building for the wholesale ice business. In 1885 he was instru mental ill forming the Montauk Ice Company of Brooklyn, being a director and managing superintendent as well as one of the heaviest stockholders. In 1891 he bought the village ice house which he ran in connection with his other business. In 1893he started in the lumber business in Castleton, which business he is in at present. He withdrew from active work in the ice business in 1894, although he still remains a stockholder. In the year 1872 he married Jennie Smith of Albany ; they have had six boys, five of whom are living, as follows: William H. , Howard T., Joseph R., Ed ward P., and Robert M., all of whom with the exception of the youngest, were born in Albany. Mr. Phibbs owns considerable village property including the handsome house in which he now lives. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, and has never taken any active part in politics or held any office, although he has always worked for the success of the party to which he belong". He is a member of the Water Commission of Castleton. Randerson, John, was born in Yorkshire, England, December 30, 1812. He is the son of Thomas and Nancy Randerson, both of whom died in England. About 1832 Mr. Randerson came to Schodack and worked for $12 a month ; afterwards he began the manufacture of the " Randerson plow,'' which he followed for about forty years ; he also invented and manufactured the "Scotch drag." He finally in 1850 bought 140 acres of land, to which he has since added 400 acres, put up new buildings and otherwise improved it. He was married first to Sally A. Schermerhorn, who bore him three children, all deceased. For his second wife he married Catharine Cham- plin, by whom he had thirteen children, ten of whom are living: Antoinette, wife of Mr. Van Dacarr, who is on a government boat at New York city ; Mariette, wife of Mr. Stanley, overseer of the Sweeney farm near Maiden Bridge ; Elizabeth, wife of Stephen F. Miller of Kinderhook; John, a prosperous dredger at New York city; George, at home in charge of the farm ; Martha, wife of Frank Rossman of Kinder hook; Kittie, wife of Pierson Lobdell of Troy; Lavina, wife of Remus Lasher, agent 'or the Homer Wagon Co. ; Julia, wife of Edward Brousseau of Burns's Dock; Ida, wife of Irving Johnson, a farmer of Schodack. Mrs. Randerson is a daughter of William and Elizabeth Champlin, he born in Vermont and she in Coxsackie, N. \ . ; they came to Rensselaer county about 1826 and resided on afarm until their deaths. Mr. and Mrs. Randerson have twenty grandchildren and one great-grandchild, 56 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Rhoda, William H., was born in Schodack, N. Y., June 12, 1826. He is a son of Charles and Christina (Hulsapple) Rhoda, she born in Schodack, N. Y.. and he in Columbia county, she a daughter of William Hulsapple, anativeof Dutchess county, who when a young man came to Schodack, and there lived and died. The father Af Mr. Rhoda was a carpenter by trade ; he died June 1, 1877, and his wife died Novem ber 21, 1885. William H. Rhoda was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He is now a farmer and has forty-two acres of land, his father's homestead, he being the only son. He had two sisters of whom one is living. He was married September 21, 1855, to Elizabeth Link, a native of East Greenbush and a daughter of William Link. To Mr. and Mrs. Rhoda were born four daughters: Hattie, Mary, Annie, and Alice. The wife of William Hulsapple was, Susannah Link who died November 7, 1839. They were married March 1, 1795. Smith, William P. was born in Castleton, May 23, 1846, and was educated at Mechanicville and Fort Edward. He was engaged in the coal business for three years when he went into the manufacture of brick for five years and embarked in mercantile business in which he is still engaged as senior partner of the firm of Smith & Knowlton. Mr. Smith has long been an active Democrat and is highly ap preciated by his party. He has served as delegate to the county and State conven tions as well as judicial conventions; has been clerk of the village of Castleton for ten years; was postmaster under Cleveland's administration and has been again throughout the present presidential term. Mr. Smith is president of the Commercial Union Co-operative Association and is also trustee and treasurer of the Cemetery Association. He married Anna Knowlton, who died December 10, 1893, leaving two children, William K. and Lucy. Mr. Smith's parent's were Joel D. and Hannah E. (Stearns) Smith. Joel D. Smith was the founder of the Castleton National Bank and was its president from its organization till his death in 1886. Smith, Joel D., was born in Castleton, October 28, 1866, and was educated in Castleton and at the Albany Institute. He engaged in milling in connection with George T. Callanan and afterwards became connected with the freighting firm of Charles H. Smith & Co., of which his father was formerly a member and whose place he took when his father died. The firm is one of the largest, strongest and best known freighting concerns on the Hudson River and does a vast amount of carrying. In 1889 Mr. Smith married Mary W. Golder. His parents were John D. and Magdalme (Hudson) Smith. His grandfather was Joel D. Smith, the head of the Smith family of Castleton which has for upwards of a century played an important part in the business and public life of the town and village. Joel D. Smith, although quite a young man, has already achieved the reputation of being one of the ablest business men in the county. Seaman, Jacob, was born in Castleton, Rensselaer county, July 28, 1849. His father was a merchant in Castleton, and after his school days he went into the store with which he has ever since been connected, and of which he is now sole proprie tor. The business was founded by N. N. Seaman & Sons in 1883, followed by J. & C. Seaman, and in the sp'ring of 1895 the business passed into the hands of J. Sea man. In 1868 Mr. Seaman married Sarah Allendorph; they have one daughter, Delia A., now Mrs. Arthur Backman. Mr. Seaman is a prominent and active Re- FAMILY SKETCHES. 57 publican, is chairman of the town committee and has been delegate to many county and State conventions, and has also been trustee of the village of Castleton. Mr. Seaman's parents were Nathan N. and Rachel (Ostrander) Seaman, both of whom are Hollanders by descent. His father was a prominent man in tis day and was justice of the peace for sixteen consecutive years. His brother, C. Seaman, who died in the spring of 1895, was twice president of the village. He was a prominent Mason and was treasurer of the lodge at his death. He was also secretary of the Castleton Cemetery Association, which was organized by N. N. Seaman, which office fell to Jacob upon the death of his father. Jacob Seaman owns one of the most historical landmarks of Rensselaer county, Castle Hill, a tract of twelve acres which has been in the family for over thirty years. Schlemmer, George, wasborn in Germany November 23, 1834, and came to America in the spring of 1852, with his mother and one brother. He settled in East Schodack but came to Castleton in 1854 and has resided in the village ever since and has done a great deal towards building up the village. He has erected the great majority of the buildings in the place and has a high reputation for good work and honesty in all his dealings. In 1859 Mr. Schlemmer married Martha Primmer and they have a family of three children : Fred G. Schlemmer, Mrs. Dr. Waldradt and Olive Schlem mer. Mr. Schlemmer's parents were Frederick and Salome Schlemmer. Mr. Schlem mer is a large owner of real estate and houses in Castleton and is a selfmade man. He bad two brothers killed in the Civil war, William being killed in Gettysburg and Jacob at Cold Harbor. Smith, Zacariah Z. , was born on the farm he now owns, December 22, 1805. He is the son of Zacariah and Susanna (Lown) Smith, both of whom were born in Dutchess county, he the son of Philip also born in Dutchess county, who was a cap tain in the Revolutionary war; he lived and died in Columbia county. Mr. Smith's father came to Schodack, N. Y.. in 1794 and took up ninety-four acres of land and there lived and died; he cleared his farm from a wilderness; he died in April, 1827, and his wife in June, 1848, aged seventy-nine years. Mr. Smith was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He has followed farming and now has 1,050 acres in Nassau and Schodack. Mr. Smith has rented his land since 1862. Seaburgh, Joseph M., was born in Germany, November 30, 1840. He is the son of Charles and Mary (Passo) Seaburgh, both of whom were born in Germany and there lived and died. Mr. Seaburgh came to America in 1869 and worked for his brother, John Seaburgh, for one year, and then worked by the month for some time ; he then rented farms for six years and in 1883 bought the farm of fifty-two acres upon which he has lived ever since. He was married in 1869 to Wilhelmina Schultz, daughter of Christian and Carolina Schultz ; she died in Germany and Mr. Schultz in Scho dack, N. Y. Mr. Seaburgh had $150 when he came to New York city ; he has made his own property and owns a good farm. Smith, Isaac N., was born in Schodack, in 1835, a son of John N. and Anna (Hendricks) Smith, both of whom were born in Rensselaer county, he a son of Nich olas Smith, and she a daughter of William Hendricks. Mr. Smith was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He is a farmer and owns a farm of 100 acres. He is a member of Sunnyside Lodge, No. 731, F. & A. M. He was married li 58 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. in December, 1860, to Catharine E. Carpenter, a daughter of Walter and Christina (Miller) Carpenter of Schodack. To Mr. Smith and wife were born four children : Elva C, Georgina, Hattie, and John N. Sliter, Edgar and John W., were born in Greenbush, John W. October 12, 18f,l, and Edgar, March 22, 1854. They are the sons of Christopher and Catherine (Sliter) Sliter. The father was born on the farm now owned by his sons and the mother in Poestenkill. The grandfather, George Sliter, was a carpenter and farmer, bought the farm and there died when Christopher was only six years of age. He was then reared by his uncle, John C. Carner, a farmer of East Greenbush. He came to North Greenbush in 1844 and bought the old homestead, where he died April 28, 1894. Mrs. Carner died in August, 1889. In 1881 Edgar Sliter married Margaret Sliter of Poestenkill and has one daughter, Mary A. In 1890 John W. married Liz zie M. Lash of East Greenbush, by whom he has two children: Arthur J. and Edith M. The two brothers Sliter, Edgar and John W., purchased and took charge of the homestead farm after their father's death in 1894. It consists of 156 acres; they make a specialty of milk and keep about thirty-seven cows. They are members of Silver Brook Lodge No. 722, I. O. O. F., and J. W. is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 327, F. & A. M. ; both are members of the order of the Patrons of Industry. Van Buren, Charles, was born in Castleton, N. Y., September 14, 1843, and is a son of Abram and Martha (Finkle) Van Buren, he born in Schoharie and she in Cas. tleton. He was a son of Cornelius P., born in Schodack, a son of Henry Van Buren who came from Holland and died in Schodack, previous to the Revolutionary war The father of Mr. Van Buren had been a boatman for about sixty years, and now lives a retired life. He is a Democrat and has been collector and road commissioner, He was a member of Hudson River Lodge, I. O. O. F., now out of existence Charles Van Buren was reared in Castleton and was also educated in that place He started as sloop boatman and was in the freighting and commission business. In 1881 he bought a farm in Schodack where he lived for seven years; he then re turned to Castleton and engaged in the meat and grocery business. He is a Demo erat and has been collector of taxes, and is a member of the Sunnyside Lodge No. 731, F. & A. M., of which he is now master. Iu 1870 he was married to Frances H Wiltse of Greenbush, by whom three children have been born: Lillian, William, and Martha. Van Buren, Abram W., was born on the farm where he now lives, August 8, 1854. He is the son of Abram B., born on the same farm, a son of Barent VanBuren, also born on the same farm, and his father Abram was either born on this farm or came here when a mere child with his parents, Johannes Van Buren and wife. Abram Van Buren was a captain in the Revolutionary war and was afterward appointed captain in the militia. The grandfather of Mr. Van Buren served in the war of 1812. The father of Mr. Van Buren was commissioner of highways, assessor, overseer of the poor, and collector; he died March 15, 1893; his wife was Katharine Van Buren, daughter of Andrew Van Buren, formerly of Columbia county and of German de scent ; his wife is now living on the old homestead. Mr. Van Buren was reared and educated in Schodack. He has always followed farming and owns 110 acres of land. He was married in 1886 to Anna Ostrander, a native of Schodack and a daughter of FAMILY SKETCHES. 59 Hiram Ostrander of Castleton, N. Y. To them were born one son, Andrew, who is the sixth generation living on the same farm. Welch, C. D., M. D. , was born in Albany, June 14, 1848, and was educated in the nublic schools and by Dr. William Arthur, father of President Arthur. He took a medical course in Albany Medical College and finished at the New York Homeopathic Medical College from which he was graduated in 1877. He practiced medicine in Schoharie county for nine years when he moved to Albany and practiced for three years and then settled in Castleton where he has built up a large practice. Dr. Welch is a prominent Mason of the Blue Lodge and Chapter, and is also a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy. He was health officer of Cobleskill, Schoharie county, and also of Castleton village. In 1881 Dr. Welch was dele gate from the American Institute of Homeopathy to the International Home opathic Medical Convention in London. In 1884 he married Mary Harwood. They have an adopted daughter, Mercedes Hulett. Dr. Welch's father was Rev. B. T. Welch, D. D., a Baptist clergyman who long officiated in the North Pearl Street Baptist church, now the Emanuel Baptist church on State street, Albany, and who died in 1870. He was the founder of the Albany Rural Cemetery, and the church and his friends have erected a magnificent Quincy granite monument to his memory, the inscription upon which records the fact. Dr. Welch's mother was Mary Law rence, daughter of Dr. Lawrence of Baltimore; she died in 1892, aged eighty-five. On his mother's side he is a direct descendant of Commodore Lawrence. Wood, W. W., was born in Goshen, Orange, county, November 18, 1833. He lived on a farm until he was sixteen years of age, when he went to New York and engaged in the milk business. In 1851 he began to learn the trade of tinner, and in October, 1852, he came to Castleton and embarked in business for himself. He has been a very successful business man, and his long record is as honorable as it has been suc cessful. Mr. Wood's parents were Horace S. and Martha (Drake) Wood. In 1871 Mr. Wood married Maria Knowlton. Roberts, Abram E., was born in Schoharie, July 9, 1832. He was a son of Abram and Catherine (Bost) Roberts, he born in Rensselaer and she in Schoharie county. His grandfather was Abner Roberts, who spent most of his days in Brunswick, N.Y. His father came from England and settled on the farm now occupied by Merritt Roberts and Isaac Roberts. The great-grandfather of Abram Roberts was killed hythe Indians on his own farm during the Revolutionary War. Mr. Roberts was educated in the town of Wright, Schoharie county, and was a farmer until nineteen years of age and has since been a carpenter. He came to Albany from Brunswick, and in 1868 came to Bath where he now lives. He owns a large building on the corner of Second and Fowler streets, and also a three story brick building at the cornerof First and Fowler streets, and a residence on Broadway. In 1857 Mr. Rob erts was married to Elizabeth File, daughter of Peter File. To them have been horn four children : Dr. A. O., Emma, deceased; Minnie L., wife of Ira Hayner, of Brunswick; and Everet H., of Washington, D. C, in the employ of the government. Mr. Roberts is a member of Wadsworth No. 417, F. & A. M., also Rensselaer Lodge No.240, A. 0. U. W., Fort Cralo Legion No. 58, Select Knights, and Fort Cralo Auxiliary No. 2, Select Knights. Mr. Roberts has been justice for twenty years and 60 Landmarks of Rensselaer county. is now holding that office. He was elected assessor and has been trustee for six years, and also has been trustee of the school district for three terms, which position he now holds and has been president of the Board of Education. Whitman, Peter D., was born in Canaan, Columbia county, N. Y., January 27 1833. He was the son of John and Mary (Deyo) Whitman, he born in Chatham, and she in Schodack, N. Y. His grandfather was Samuel Whitman ; he lived in Wayne county and spent his last days there. His father was a farmer, and died in 1877 ; his widow is now living. Peter D. Whitman was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He is a farmer and in 1866 he came to Schodack and in 1873 bought a farm of 160 acres. In December, 1860, he married Rosamond Shofelt of Schodack, by whom he has had five children: Sarah, Cordon, deceased, Catharine, William and Clarence. Reynolds, Rollin C. , was born in Steuben county, October 22, 1863. He is the son of Nathaniel Reynolds who came to Troy in 1874, and entered the furniture business at 446 River street. In 1886 his father retired from business and he has taken charge of the business since. In 1892 he leased the store in the McCarthy building, Monument Square, formerly occupied by the I. Keith Furniture Co., and has since acquired nearly the entire building. The sales have increased from 820,000, annu ally to §175,000 in 1895. Mr. Reynolds has over 40, 000 feet of floor room in his estab lishment and has the largest stock of furniture and carpets in Northern New York. He has also established branch stores in Cohoes and Greenwich. He belongs to Apollo Lodge, F. & A. M., Read Steamer Co., and the Trojan Wheelmen. Riley, C. W. , was born in Greenbush, January 13, 1851. He is a son of Edward and Mary (Vaughn) Riley, both born in Ireland. In 1841 his father, when a young man, came to Greenbush and in 1850 married Mary Vaughn who had come with her parents to Greenbush in 1847. They soon removed to East Greenbush and settled on a farm, and are now residents of that town, practically retired. C. W. Riley was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools and in Fulsom's Business Col lege from which he graduated in 1869 and returned to the homestead, where he en gaged in the milk business with his father and brothers and continued therein until April, 1886. He then engaged in the boot and shoe business at 367 Broadway, East Albany, and has been very successful. He was collector and highway commissioner of East Greenbush for six years continuously from 1876 to 1882, and was elected cor oner in 1879 and again in 1882. He was married June 27, 1883, to Mary J. McDer- mott of Albany, at that time the organist in St. John's church of Greenbush. To Mr. Riley and wife were born six children : Edward, Mary and Lottie (twins), who both died at the age of one year and five days, Florence, Paul and Eugene. Mr. Riley was elected treasurer [of the village of Greenbush in 1893, and re-elected in 1895. He is a member of Branch 57, C. M. B. A., and also of the United Friends of Greenbush. Mary Vaughn, mother of Mr. Riley, was a daughter of Dennis Vaughn, mentioned in another part of this work. Scriven, William H., born in Grafton, N. Y., April 20, 1852, is the son of Joseph and Nancy M. Scriven, daughter of Joshua M. Scriven, a native of Grafton, and son of Joseph Scriven, a native of England, and one of the very first settlers of Grafton and who served in the Revolutionary war. The great-grandfather and FAMILY SKETCHES. 61 grandfather of William H. both died in Grafton. The father of William H. was a stonemason by trade and lived in Grafton and Petersburgh ; he died in Petersburgh in 1891; his wife died in 1895. The paternal grandfather of William H. was Joseph C. Scriven, who was born in England and came to Grafton in an early day and there lived and died. William H. Scriven was reared on a farm, educated in the common school and learned the carpenter's trade with Clark Scriven in Troy and followed that trade until 1889, when he fell from St. John's church and has since been a cripple. He is now in the real estate business. He came to Bath-on-the- Hudson in 1870 where he has lived since excepting three years in Washington, D. C. Mr. Scriven was married in 1872 to Mary A. Finkle and has had five children: Ines F., born in Bath; Lily M., born iu Washington, D. C. ; Anthony T., Wesley H. and William H., deceased. Mr. Scriven has always been a Republican, to which party he is devoted, and has been trustee of the village one term and town assessor one term, and is now serving first term as justice. He is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., and also of Central Lodge No. 1, I. O. O. F. Washington, D. C, and is also a member of the A. O. U. W. of East Albany. Sharpe, Buddington, was born in North Greenbush, July 27, 1874, on the farm he now owns and which was settled by Nicholas Sharpe at a very early day. The place has since been occupied by George and Rachel (Douglass) Sharpe, John G. and Hannah D. (Hosford) Sharpe. He was born on the farm and there died in 1896 at the age of seventy eight years ; she died August 13, 1888. Marshall H. and Mary L. (Van Hosen) Sharpe, parents of Buddington, spent their lives on the Sharpe home stead, where he was born in 1846 and died May 19, 1894 ; Mrs Sharpe died in August, 1876. In politics Marshall H. was a Democrat; he was an insurance agent, justice of the peace, and a member of Lodge No. 47, K. of P. Buddington Sharpe is the fifth generation on the same farm. The farm was left to Buddington and his sister, Anne C, who married, June 5, 1895, Anthony Herrington, a milk dealer of Troy. Buddington bought his sister's interest in the farm in 1895 and now owns 107 acres; he keeps a dairy of fifteen cows. In politics he is a Republican, has been inspector of elections, and adheres to the church of his parents, the Reformed church. Snyder, William J., was born in North Greenbush, June 13, 1821. He was the son of John H. and Agnes (Martin) Snyder, both of Greenbush. His grandfather, Harmon Snyder, came from Dutchess county to Greenbush on the Hudson River by a sail boat, being a week on the voyage; he settled on the farm now owned by Will iam J. Snyder, near Snyder Lake; he owned 300 acres of land and died in 1860; Mrs. Snyder died in 1847. William J. Snyder was reared on the farm and farming has been his main occupation, though being a natural mechanic, he was engaged for a time in bridge building in the West. In 1856 he married Catherine, daughter of Samuel and Elmira Lape of Sand Lake, by whom he has had three daughters and two sons: William, a farmer of North Greenbush, who runs the home farm ; Jesse, farmer; Martha, Grace and Ada. Mr. Snyder has seventy acres and does general farming. Tierney, Michael A. , was born in Troy, N. Y. , May 25, 1853. His father, Patrick Tierney, came from Ireland in 1846 and settled in Vermont, and then came to Troy and for many years was in the grocery business. His mother was Anna (O'Connor) G2 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Tierney of Troy, who is still living. Michael A. Tierney attended Christian Broth ers' School. He left school at the age of thirteen and learned the cigar-making trade and started in the business himself in 1873, which he still continues; his business has increased to large proportions, employing on an average twenty-five men; the business is located at 111 Congress street. He is also proprietor of the Hotel DeEcho, situated at the corner of Third and State streets. For five years he was a member of the Donahue, Tierney & Isengart Brewing Co. of Troy. He was elected alder man in 1877, was president of the Common Council in 1878, and afterwards served four successive terms. He- was elected general assessor in 1886, which office he still holds. He has been identified with and has been a leader in the Democratic party since casting his first vote. He was a member of the Young Men's Catholic Literary Association, the Robert Emmet Association, the B. P. O. E., and ex-member of the Osgood Steamer Co. He was married in 1876 to Eleanor J. Cox of Troy, who died May 18, 1896. She was the sister of William D. Cox who was aldermen many years. In 1892 he married Julia A. Hart of Troy. He has one daughter. Vaughn, Judge Michael, was born in Ireland. He is the son of Dennis and Maiden Maloney, both born in Ireland and who came to Canada in March, 1847, where he died the same year. Michael Vaughn was reared in East Albany and educated in the same place. He began his business life in the employ of the Vermont Central railroad, then for a time he was a clerk in Albany. When sixteen years of age he began work for the Boston & Albany railroad and continued with that company for about fifteen years; he then engaged in the grocery business for himself in East Albany for about twelve years, and since that time he has been practicing law. He was elected justice of the peace for sixteen years, and crier of the Court of Record of Rensselaer for about fourteen years. He has also been poormaster in Greenbush for six years. He was married November 23, 1855, lo Margaret Collins of East Albany, by whom he has had fifteen children, five of whom are living: Margaret, May A., Edmund, Elizabeth, and Allen. Mr. Vaughn began life for himself at the age of ten years. Mcintosh, Francis T. , M. D. , was born in Troy, N. Y. , November 10, 1857. His father, Edward Mcintosh, came from County Armagh, Ireland, about 1836 and settled in New York city. He was a traveling dry goods merchant and came to Troy in the early forties, and opened a hostelry on River street where he remained until 1862 when his place was destroyed by the big fire; at various times later he was in the brewing and ice business until 1867. On account of ill health in 1867 he retired from active business and died in February, 1888. His mother, Eleanor (Walsh) Mcintosh, was born in County Kildare, Ireland, June 19, 1819, and died in Troy, January 23, 1872. He was educated at the La Salle Institute and later studied architecture for one year, then deciding to study medicine he entered the Albany Medical College from which he was graduated in 1886. He was elected essayist of his class. He be gan practice in Troy at 2654 Fifth avenue where he has met with continued success since. He has been city physician since 1890. He belongs to the Medical Associa tion of Troy and Vicinity, the Medical Society of Rensselaer county, the Alumni of the Albany Medical College, Alumni of La Salle Institute, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He has always been a strict party Democrat. Mallet, Ovila, M. D., was born in Montreal, Canada, February 10, 1858. His FAMILY SKETCHES. 03 father. Victor Mallet, was born in Pointe Claire, Canada; he carried on an extensive meat business in Montreal for many years and died in 1893. His mother was Onezime (Hurtubise) Mallet of Montreal and is still living. He entered St. Mary's College and afterwards studied medicine in Victoria and Laval University m Mon treal, opened practice in Montreal and has also practiced in Fall River, Mass., and WestTrov. He came to Troy in 1885, where he has since been in active practice. He belongs to the Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity, and the C. B. L., the Colum bus German Association, and is one of the physicians of the Troy Hospital, physician of St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum and St. Joseph's Hospital. In 1881 he married Diana Goyette of West Troy, by whom he has two sons. Leonard, Rev. Joseph F. , was born in Albany in 1846. His father, Thomas Leon ard, came to the United States in 1834 and settled in Troy. Four years later he moved to Albany, where for many years he was an official in the post-office and was alderman in the old First ward in 1854. He died in 1875. His mother, Mary (Dowd) Leonard, was born in Ireland, and died in 1886. He received his philosophical and theological education in St. Joseph's Provincial Seminary in Troy and was ordained to the priesthood June 3, 1871, by Bishop McQuaid of Rochester, N. Y. , and located in Albany, and for thirteen years was pastor of St. Mary's church in Sandy Hill, Washington county, N. Y., and was appointed to St. Francis church, Troy, March 1, 1887, to succeed Father Charles Reilly, who died January, 1887. Father Leonard has been active and energetic in the work to which he dedicated his life. By bis genial and pleasing manners he has won the esteem and respect of all classes, whether within or outside of the church. He is a graceful and pleasing speaker and one who carries conviction to his hearers. Grant, Peter, was born in Scotland in 1824 and came with his parents to this country in 1832, and settled in Newark, N. J. In 1844 he went to New York to com plete his trade (which was that of a maible worker) with Fisher & Bird. He re mained with that firm fifteen years, the last five years being a partner in the con cern, and came to Troy in 1859. In 1867 he located his business on the corner of Fifth and Federal streets, and has since done business at that location. He married Anna Pratt, daughter of Andrew Pratt of Paris, Oxford county, Maine ; she died in 1890. He has three sons and three daughters. Gravatt, Edwin J., M.D., was born in Clarksburgh, N. J., January 30, 1870. He is the son of Henry C. and Ann Amelia (Mount) Gravatt, of Clarksburgh. His father is a civil engineer. Dr. Gravatt came to Troy when a boy twelve years of age and was educated at the public and high schools, and was graduated from the University of the City of New York in 1891. He has been in practice in Troy since. He is a member of the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity and the New York State Medical Association. He is medical examiner for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. October 21, 1895, he married Margaret Jackson of Troy. Carpenter, John, was born in Schodack, on the old homestead, August 15, 1786. He was a son of Walter and Mary (Huyck) Carpenter, he born November 4, 1753, and died November 4, 1800, who came from Long Island to Schodack previous to the Revolutionary War, and bought the farm now owned by two grandsons, Isaac and Lucas S. Carpenter. The grandfather furnished a substitute for the Revolu- 64 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. tionary war. He was born in 1740 and died February 25, 1816 John Carpenter was a farmer and was justice for a number of years. He was a Mason and a mem ber of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87. In 1806 he was married, and died in 1849. He was a lieutenant in the State militia, appointed by Daniel Tompkins, April 10, 1811, and was appointed ensign, April 26, 1807. To Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter were born seven children: Walter, born November 26, 1807, and died April 4, 1888; Mary A., born May 26, 1809, and died January 20, 1813; Joel, born June 5, 1812, and died December 17, 1870; Mary A., born March 11, 1814, and died September 9, 1870; Elizabeth B., born August 6, 1817, and died March 2, 1836; Isaac, born February 17, 1821. He was reared on the farm and educated in the common schools, is a farmer by occupation, and with his brother Lucas owns the homestead of 160 acres of land. He was justice for a number of years, and was at one time a member of the I. O. O. F. In 1858 he was married to Caroline Van Dyke of Schodack, by whom three children have been born: Mary L., died at the age of six years; De Witt, born October 25, 1866, and is a farmer on the homestead; and Mary, born September 12, 1869, and also resides on the homestead. Mr. Carpenter was a member of the Board of Supervisors in 1875 and 1883 Lucas S. was born November 10, 1822, and was educated in the common schools. He is a farmer by occupation. November 15, 1854, he was first married to Eizabeth Kittle, of Schodack, by whom three children have been born: Chester, born August 28, 1855, and is now on the farm; Anna M., born October 7, 1862, and died April 17, 1863; and Jennie B., a twin sister, died May 26, 1863. The family is of English descent. The house on the farm was partly built previous to the Revolutionary war. There have been a number of arrow heads and other relics found on the farm. Cargon, Silas, was born in Castleton, February 2, 1838, and after receiving a lib eral common school education he engaged in boating on the Hudson river until 1859, when he enlisted in the United States navy on the war ship Mohigan, which was sent to the west coast of Africa to stop the slave trade It was this vessel which captured the sailing vessel Erie, commanded by Captain Gordon, with a cargo of slaves for the south. Gordon was transferred to New York and afterwards hanged for his crime, the only one who ever suffered the extreme penalty in this country for engaging in the slave trade, and the Erie was the first vessel captured on that station. In 1862, having been honorably discharged from the navy, Mr. Cargon en listed in the Duryea Zouaves, 5th N. Y. Regiment, but was subsequently transferred to the 146th New York Regiment. He lost his right arm in the first day's fight in the Wilderness and was also taken prisoner and held for six months in Libby and other prisons. In 1865 he was discharged and returned to Castleton. In 1866 Mr. Cargon was elected justice of the peace and served for eight consecutive years in the same office. He was also coroner for three years, was excise commissioner of the town, trustee of the village of Castleton and president of the village. His father was Silas Cargon, his mother, Christina Rose. Her grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mr. Cargon has been twicemarried, but has no children. Hisfirst wife was Adelaide L. Burnside, who died March 4, 1880; his present wife was Sarah Peacock. Horton, Captain George W., was born in Esopus, Ulster county, N. Y., March 18, 1836. His grandparents were Quakers. His father, David Horton, a native of FAMILY SKETCHES. 65 Orange county, was a Quaker and held the highest office in the Quaker church, and died in 1856. His mother, Deborah Walters, was a native of Washington, Dutchess county, N. Y. ; she died in 1857. He received his education in the district school, going to school three months in a year and working on a farm. In 1854 he went to New York, where he entered a wholesale jobbing house. One year later he went in business in Ulster county. His brother died and he returned to his home. His mother died shortly after and he sold the homestead and went in the steamboat busi ness, " Cornell's Line," at Rondout, N. Y. In 1861 he was appointed freight agent of the line and held that position for four years and formed the firm of Cornell, Horton & Co., and bought out the Catskill Steamboat line. He came to Troy in 1872 and was one of the organizers of the Citizens' Line of steamers and has held the position of general agent since. He is a member of the State street M. E. church and one of the governors of Marshall Infirmary. He was married to Catherine A. Fulton of Columbia county, who died. His present wife was Catherine E. Stickle of Dutchess county. Kelley, James, was born in Cornwall Bridge, Litchfield county, in 1841. He is of Scotch and Irish descent. His father, Perry Kelley, was born in Ireland, and came to this country in 1832; at one time he owned the land where the city of Rome now stands; he died in 1892; his wife, Mary (Gibson) Kelley, was born in Scotland, and died in 1893. James received his education at the common school in Pittsfield, Mass., and went to work in a factory in that place when he was very young ; in 1857 he entered a shop to learn the machinist's trade. At the time of the Civil war he went south as an engineer, and after the war came north and went to work at his trade in the Boston & Albany Railroad shops in Greenbush. In 1869 a copartnership was formed with John Knowlson, jr., the firm name being Knowlson & Kelley, which has since existed. They have an extensive machine repairing business and manufacture all kinds of stationery engines, which are second to none in the market. He is a prominent Mason of Troy, being a member of King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M., Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and also a member of Green Island Lodge of Odd Fellows. In 1866 he married Miss Annie Blaco of Columbia county, by whom he has two sons. Hartwell, Frank C, was born in Saratoga Springs, N. Y., February 4, 1852. His father, Austin Hartwell, was born in Northumberland, N. Y. . and when young moved to Saratoga Spring where for many years he conducted a harness store and died in 1890. His mother, Sarah (Brotz) Hartwell, was born in Saratoga Springs and died in 1885. Frank received his education in the public schools and the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute and came to Troy in 1870 and worked for Keith. Ensign & Nelson in the furniture business until 1877 when he was taken in as a partner, and m 1879 took a position with A. L. Plotchkin in the same business and wherein he remained until February. 1888, when he with Louis S. Crandall bought out Hotch kin and the furniture firm of Crandall & Hartwell was formed which continued until W92, when a stock company was formed called the Hartwell, Bainbridge & Co. He belongs to all the Masonic bodies, the I. O. O. F. and the Royal Arcanum. He was married May 8, 1878, to Miss Jennie Adams of Brunswick, N. Y., by whom he has °ne son and one daughter. 66 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Bainbridge, Edgar R., was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1866. His father, Robert Bainbridge, came to this country from England in 1851, landing in New York city, and settled in New Orleans, La., but later returned to New York city and for a num ber of years was in the wholesale stationery business, where he remained until he came to Troy, which was in 1865, and entered the employ of the Corning & Winslow Iron Company, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1886. His mother, Martha A. (Smith) Bainbridge, lives in Brooklyn, N. Y. Edgar received his education in the public schools of Troy and engaged with the Troy Steel and Iron Company, where he learned the trade of machinist and later was a machinist in the Watervliet Arsenal. He then came to Troy and started in the felt business under the firm name of Orr & Bainbridge, and in 1892 entered the wholesale and retail furniture business, buying out Mr. Crandall's interest in the firm of Crandall & Hartwell and changing the firm name to Hartwell & Bainbridge. He represents the Third ward in the Board of Aldermen and is now serving his second term. He belongs to King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter and Bloss Council. He is also a member of the Trojan Hook and Ladder Company, the East Side Club, and the Troy Yacht Club. In 1892 he married Alice P. Woodruff, by whom he has one son and one daughter. Kimball, James E., was born in Albany, N.Y., May 5, 1828. His father, Edmund Kimball, was born in Newton. Mass., June 29, 1803, and came to Troy in 1830 and was engaged in the brick business and later removed to Massachusetts, where he died in 1890. His mother, Betsey M. (Warner) Kimball, was born in Springfield, Mass., and died in 1867. James E. Kimball received his education in the public schools and the Madison University at Hamilton, N. Y., and was employed as clerk with the firm of Bates & Griffin until 1858, when he entered in the flour, grain and feed business with J. M. Bradley, the firm being Kimball & Bradley until 1868, when John P. Wight was taken in as a partner, the firm taking the name of James E. Kimball & Co. Mr. Wight went out of the firm in 1876 and James E. Kimball and his son, Charles P. Kimball (who had previously become a partner in the concern), continued the business under the firm name of James E. Kimball & Son without in terruption to the present time. He is a director of the National Bank of Troy and was one of its organizers. He married in 1850 Susan Frances Wheeler of Troy. His son, Charles P. Kimball, was born in Troy and received a high school education and was taken into the firm as partner in 1875. He is a member of the Trojan Hook and Ladder Company. He married, October 6, 1875, Mathilda Tracy Everingham of Troy, by whom he has one son and one daughter: James E. and Jessamine. McCrossen, Caroline.— Her father, Samuel Gould, was born in the northeastern part of Schaghticoke about the year 1793. He was educated in the schools of that early day, and was a brick manufacturer by occupation. He married Cynthia Fowler of the same town ; ten children were born to them, two of whom died in in fancy: Eliza, Caroline, Edward S. and Edwin N. (twins), Lucy, Cassie, Miranda, and Ardelia ; all are now dead except Caroline. Mrs. McCrossen has married twice ; first to Philip Kane; they had six children: Annie, Philip, George, Edward, Carrie, and Frank. They are all dead except Philip and Edward. Philip married Sarah Good rich ; they have two children : Robert and Ruth. Edward married Nora Fitzpatrick of Troy; he is employed at the station of the N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. The oldest FAMILY SKETCHES. G7 son is a merchant at Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Kane died April 22, 1867. Mr. Gould was a soldier in the war of 1812, and he died at a ripe old age. Mrs. Kane married for her second husband, James McCrossen, formerly of near Paisley, Scotland. Mr. McCrossen was born in 1831 ; he came to the United States in 1844 and located in Troy, and afterwards in Schaghticoke. He was a carpenter by occupation. The ancestry of the family is Scotch. Jones, E. M., has been prominently associated with the leading business men of Hoosick Falls since his residence here in 1856. He was born in 1832 at Wardsboro, N. Y. His father was Thomas Jones and his great-grandfather was a Welshman. He was educated in the common schools and began his mercantile life here as clerk for Wallace & Co. , of which firm he afterward became a member. He is now a mem ber of Jones, Parsons & Co., organized in 1895. This establishment consists of a large department store, with a full line of fancy and staple dry goods, boots and shoes, groceries and provisions, carpets and oil cloths, clothing, crockery and wall paper. Mr. Jones has been a life long Republican, and as town clerk proved an efficient official ; he is also an attendant of the Presbyterian church. Devoy, James H., was born in Ireland in 1841. He is a son of Mathew and Ellen Grady, both natives of Ireland, the Devoys being of Spanish descent; the father of Mr. Devoy came to New York city in 1847, then went to Canada, and from there to Connecticut, from there to Schaghticoke where he now lives, aged eighty-five. His wife died in 1847 in Quebec. Mr. Devoy was educated in Colchester, Conn. , and first worked in a rubber factory in Connecticut and farmed in Canada. He came to Pittstown, July 4, 1862, and has lived here since. He first worked in an axe factory for several years, and then for five years was in the grocery business in Troy, and in 1873 returned to Johnsonville and engaged in the produce business and hotel busi ness, and built the Devoy house in 1873. October 29, 1865, he married Margaret Campfield of Troy, N. Y. She died December 29, 1893. Gerhaensser, Charles, was born in Augsburg, kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, July i, 1856, His parents came to the United States in the year 1864, locating in Brook lyn. Charles was partly educated in Germany, and also in Brooklyn, N. Y. In process of time he began to learn the barber's trade. The family came to Troy in 1871, and returned to Brooklyn for their permanent residence in 1877. Charles came to Schaghticoke the same year (1877) where he owns and conducts a first-class barbershop. September 11, 1877, he married Orcelia Bedell of Sand Lake. They have had six children , three sons and three daughters, Ella, Harry, who died in his sixth year; Alice L., who died in her third year; Grace B., Foster H., and Ralph A. Mr. Gerhaensser's father, Anton, was born at the old home in Germany, January 6, 1829 He was educated in their schools. He had married twice, second time to Josephine Sindel of Bavaria ; they had thirteen children ; he died in 1876, and his widow survives, Mrs. Gerhaensser's father, John Bedell, was born in Saratoga, Saratoga county, N. Y., in 1829. He married Sarah Strope of Sand Lake; they had four children, three daughters and one son : Orcelia, Alice, Carrie and Joseph. Mr. Bedell died in 1882, and his wife in 1895. Mr. Gerhaensser is a member of Schagh ticoke Lodge No. 526 I. O. O. F. and was its chaplain one term. He has held the position of steward for the past thirteen years, collector for nine years and is now 68 Landmarks of rEnsselaer county. recording steward. Commodore Perry was related to the family. His uncle has been secretary of state in Germany. The ancestry of the family is German and English. Reynolds, Thomas J. , the well known musician and orchestra leader of Hoosick Falls, was born at Dundee, Scotland, in 1870, of a family distinguished for their musical ability. He came to America in 1881. Mr. Reynolds began the study of music at the age of nine years ; the violin being naturelly his favorite instrument. He was placed under the instruction of the late Prof. Andrews ; later he studied with some of the best teachers in Troy and afterwards with Felix Winternitz, the celebrated Austrian violin soloist. In 1890 he commenced the study of clarinet un der E. S. Thornton of Troy, and afterward studied banjo, mandolin and guitar with V. W. Smith of Troy. He has at present a class of nearly one hundred performers. In 1895 he was married to Miss Antoinette Cahill of Hoosick Falls, who is also a musician. Prof. Reynolds is a very successful and popular teacher and his fine orchestra of twenty pieces is in freqnent demand. Sproat, William H., was born in Lansingburg, N. Y., May 25, 1855. He was a son of Henry Sproat. William H. was reared as a carpenter at Lambertville, N. J., and educated at Valley Falls. He followed his trade about ten years and in 1877 engaged in the meat business for about four years, and then again worked at his trade, and November 1, 1885, he again engaged in the meat business and was very successful. March 12, 1879, he was married to Mary G. Andrew of Pittstown, by whom has been born two children, George W. Sproat and Hattie Irene Sproat. Mr. Sproat was collector for one year and is a member of Columbian Lodge No. 689, I. O. O. F. Willis, Wilbur F., was born in Coeymans, Albany county, September 24, 1851. He was educated in Coeymans Academy and Fort Edward Institute. He began his life as a clerk in a grocery store and at the same time opened a telegraph office. After five years he came to Castleton as assistant to J. W. Van Hoesen and took charge of the post-office and also the railroad office as assistant agent. When J. W. Van Hoesen died in the spring of 1895 Mr. Willis became agent for the New York Cen tral Railroad, American Express Company and manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company at Castleton. Mr. Willis is a member of the Masonic fraternity in which he has passed to the Royal Arch degree. His parents were Alexander E. and Harriet (Blaisdell) Willis. His father was born at Ballston, Saratoga county, in 1812 and died in 1895. He began business in Troy as a dry goods merchant along with his brother, Uriah B. Willis, and from there he went to Coeymans where he engaged in the freighting business, and finally went into the grocery business. He also owned the Cedar Point grist mills. He was an active and successful business man and lived a long and honorable life. Mrs. Harriet Willis is still living at Coey mans. Their children were eleven : David, Benedict, Alexander Blaisdell, Wilbur F., Charles Clifford and Sarell Wood, growing to manhood. Charles Clifford was a dentist and Alexander Blaisdell was a physician, both now deceased. The Blais- dells were a Scotch family and influential in the old country, and a lineage of second cousinship existed between N. P. Willis (the poet) and Mr. Willis. McCormick, John J., son of John and Mary Ann McCormick, natives of Ireland, FAMILY SKETCHES. 69 was born in Brunswick, Rensselaer county, November 23, 1849. His parents came to America about 1845, were married in Troy, and settled on a farm in Brunswick, but later removed to Troy, where they died — the father in 1871 and the mother in 1889. Mr. McCormick was educated in the public and high schools of Troy, was for two years a clerk for W. W. Whitmen, dealer in wall paper, and then learned the carpenter's trade with W J. Howes, which he followed as a journeyman under sev eral contractors. In 1878 he accepted a clerkship in the County Clerk's office under James Keenan, and two years later became bookkeeper and cashier for Kennedy & Murphy, now the Kennedy & Murphy Brewing and Malting Company, which posi tions he has since held. He has been secretary of the Democratic General Commit tee of the city of Troy for twenty years, has been delegate to various county, dis trict, State and other political conventions, and has been the city clerk since 1886, being first appointed by Mayor Whelan. He is a member of the C. B. L. and has been treasurer of St. Francis's church about ten years. Winslow Bros. — William James Winslow was born in Argyle, Washington county, in 1825. His education was obtained in the public schools ; in his early life he was a. carpenter and in 1851 he came to Schaghticoke village and carried on the clothing trade and also the grocery business in connection with it. March 23, 1852, he mar ried Mary J. Thompson of this village ; seven children were born to them : Estella, Margaret J., Ella A., Edward M., Charlotte, Albert and Mabel. The four children who survive reside at home. Mrs. Winslow's father, Robert Thompson, was born in the North of Ireland about the year 1803. He was educated there and came to the United States when a young man, and located in this village. He married Sarah Irvin of Schaghticoke. They had six children: John, James, Mary J., Ruth A., Robert and Sarah C. Mr. Thompson died January 7, 1851, and Mr. William James Winslow died February 26, 1894, and his wife survives at this date, 1896. The sons, Edward M. and Albert, succeeded him in the grocery business. Mr. Winslow was a member of the Victor lodge No. 680, F and A. M. , and was a village officer when he died. He was also overseer of the poor of the town of Schaghticoke for fourteen years. Edward M. is treasurer and assistant secretary of the Presbyterian Sunday school. Van Schaack, Mrs. Alice A. — William W. Van Schaack was born- in Stillwater, Saratoga county, N. Y., January 31, 1822. He was educated in the public schools, and was a house, carriage sign, and ornamental painter by trade. December 2, 1846, he married Alice A. Thayer of Bennington, Vt. They had three children: Theodore, Chauncey T. and Nettie O. Chauncey T. married Ida Clocum of Troy, NY. Nettie married George Bancroft ; they had five children, Thomas E. , Alice 0., Marcia R. and Gratia L. (twins) who died at the age of six months, and William W. Mr. Van Schaack in 1861 enlisted in Company K, 125th N. Y. Vols., and was wounded in the battle of Gettysburg and was honorably discharged at the close of the war as duty sergeant. He was a member of Hartshorn Post No. 487, G. A. R., Schaghticoke. He died October 8, 1882. Mrs. Beecroft died July 25, 1885. Mrs. "an Schaack's grandfather was Simeon Thayer, who was a soldier in the Revolu tionary war. The family on the paternal side were of Dutch origin and on the ma ternal side of New England stock. Kenyon, Elizabeth J. — The late Benoni Kenyon was born in the town of Schaghti- 70 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. coke, Rensselaer county, N. Y., December 4, 1789. He was educated in the Nine Partners Friends school in Dutchess county, N. Y. He was a farmer by occupation. He married Hannah Ketcham who was born in the town of Easton, Washington county, N. Y. They had ten children- William, Dorcas, Lydia, Benjamin, Sarah, Elizabeth J., Calista, John, Hannah Ann and David Adams. Benoni Kenyon died May 18, 1864, and his wife died April 10, 1887, in her ninety-second year. Miss Ken- yon's grandfather, Benjamin Kenyon, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., Novem ber 13, 1746, and married Lydia Hawkins. They had twelve children. The family came to the town of Schaghticoke in the year 1783, and four of the children were born here. This locality was then a wilderness and bears and other wild animals were numerous. Miss Kenyon's great-great-grandfather, James Kenyon, came from England at a very early date. He brought a Bible with him which bears the date of 1715. Banker, Christopher A., born in Pittstown, June 15, 1824, is a son of Timothy and Mary A. (Snyder) Banker, she born in Pittstown March 11, 1803, and he a native of Lansingburgh, born January 24, 1797. He was a son of Adolphus Banker who came to Pittstown very early and here lived and died. The maternal grandfather was Christopher Snyder who was one of the first settlers of Pittstown. T, Adolphus Banker and wife have four sons and one daughter. The father of Christopher A. was a farmer; he was justice of the peace and assessor and held other offices; he and his wife were members of the M. E. church; he died January 12, 1878, and his wife died April 14, 1878. George W. Banker, the oldest brother of Christopher, was born in 1820 in Pittstown and was a farmer and owned a grist mill, saw mill and flax mill, employing at one time seventy-five men ; he was supervisor three terms and a member of Assembly one year, elected by 1,500 majority; his wife was Harriet J., daughter of John aid Sarah (Stove) Comstock, he of Connecticut and she of Pitts town. To Washington Banker and wife were born three children: Sarah S., George S. and Timothy S. George W. Banker died in 1882 and his widow lives in the vil lage. Christopher A. was reared on a farm and educated in Lansingburgh and Hoosick Falls. He was a farmer until 1866, and then went into the mercantile busi ness and followed it three years and then manufactured twine for one year, and has since followed various occupations. His wife was Cornelia Miller of Albany county, daughter of Anthony Miller and Nancy Dorman, early settlers of Pittstown and Millertown, named in honor of his father. Anthony Miller. To Mr. and Mrs. Banker were born eight children, four sons and four daughters of whom one is living, M. Louisa, wife of Edward Hutchinson who has one daughter and one son, Agnes B. and H.. Willis. Mr. Banker has been assessor for three years; he is a Free Mason. He and his wife are members of M. E. church. The oldest daughter of Mr. Banker was Nancy D., wife of Frank Viall; she had one daughter, Cora M., a student of Oswego Normal school. Hoyt, Alden S. , was born in Lansingburgh August 25, 1855. He is a son of Joseph and Eliza (Lockrow) Hoyt, he a native of Vermont, and she of Brunswick, Rensse laer county. The grandparents, Joseph and Betsey (Quimby) Hoyt, were farmers of Vermont. Joseph Hoyt came to Lansingburgh about 1830 where he engaged in the manufacturing of brushes and there died December 28, 1891. Mrs. Hoyt died No vember 8, 1891. Alden S. was reared and educated in Lansingburgh and graduated FAMILY SKETCHES. 71 from Lansingburgh public school in 1871 and Troy Business College in 1873. He was for a while engaged in the brush business with his father, but in 1878 located on the farm of 120 acres in Pittstown near Valley Falls, where he has since been engaged in general farming. December 18, 1878, he married Ettie L., daughter of Edmund 1, and Lavinia Gilbert of Green Island by whom he has four children: Bertram A., Grace M., Donald G., and Lotta R. Satterlee, John H., was born in the town of Berlin, January 1, 1862, and is the son of David G., who is also a native of Berlin, born December 11, 1833. Be is a son of Hawley Satterlee. Hawley was the son of Rev. William Satterlee, who was one of the organizers of the Seventh Day Baptist church of Berlin, and also one of the organizers of Alfred S. D. B. church of Alfred, N. Y. David G. in early life fol lowed carpentry, but most of his life has been given to agricultural pursuits, in which he has been fairly successful; he now owns and operates the Satterlee home stead and is a breeder of Southdown sheep ; he has been elected poormaster, as sessor, etc.; his wife was Nancy D*retta Davis; she was born in Berlin and is a daughter of John Davis, son of Robert Davis of Rhode Island; their children were JohnH., Mrs. Uretta M. Tift of Berlin, Henry R., Mrs. Sarah E. Vars of Berlin, William D., who died when nine, and Nancy who died when five years of age; his wife died April 16, 1893 ; she was a member of the Seventh Day Baptist church, as is also Mr. Satterlee. John H. was reared on a farm, and attended the Free Union school in Berlin village. When twenty-one he began farming for himself which he followed three years; from that time until 1889 he followed carpentry. He then en gaged in the manufacturing of cheese, which business he still follows during the summer seasons. He was elected inspector of elections in 1885-86-87, and in 1888 he was elected town clerk. In April, 1894, he was appointed postmaster of the Berlin post-office. He is a member of the Masonic order, Star Lodge No. 670 of Peters burgh, N. Y., in which he has passed several of the chairs and has also been elected to Raymond Chapter in Hoosick Falls, N. Y. He is a member of the Sheldon Cor net Band of Berlin in which he has played for five years. In 1884 he was married to Mrs, Eliza J. (Breer) Martin ; she was born in Berlin and is a daughter of Alonzo and Jane (Smith) Breer. They are both members of the Seventh Day Baptist church. Mrs. Satterlee is a member of the Eastern Star Delta Chapter. No. 3 N. Y. city. Brown, Henry F., was born in Atkinson, Me., May 7, 1833. He was the son of Daniel C, who was a native of New Hampshire, born in 1801. He was one of four sons and three daughters born to Jacob Brown, who for many years was a keeper of a temperance hotel in Atkinson, Me. Daniel, the father, was a farmer and a pio neer in the town of Atkinson, Piscataquis countv, Me., settled in the forest and here cleared him a farm ; he was prosperous and acquired over 300 acres of land ; he was prominent in political affairs of his town and county; he filled various town and county offices, and represented his district in the Legislature several terms. His wife was Betsey Frost, who was born in Lincoln, Me. Their children were Nelson, Payson, Melinda, Henry, Amanda, Aurelia, Lyman, Daniel C, Thaddeus, Daniel and Emma. Payson died at the age of seventeen ; Daniel C. died at the age of nine months; Thaddeus at the age of one -year; Melinda died in 1892; Daniel died in '891, and Amanda in 1862. He died in 1865 and his wife in 1878. They were both 72 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. members of the Christian church. Henry F. received a limited district school edu cation; when sixteen he was the main instrument in forming a Christian church in the town of Atkinson, Me. ; when nineteen he went to Staten Island where he plied his trade, and remained until 1857; during this time he purchased property and erected a house; he then bought out a dining business in New York city which he conducted until 1867, when he sold out his business and removed to Scarsdale, West chester county, N. Y., where he lived two years; in the meantime his wife, who was Angeline Decker a native of Staten Island, died, leaving a daughter. He then re turned to New York city and engaged in the dining business; in 1872 he married Mrs. Emily R. (Hewitt) Jones, and three years later removed to Berlin, where he built him a home and several tenement houses. He soon became interested in church work, when he with a few other citizens hired a hall and engaged a pastor to preach, and later was instrumental in forming a class of thirty and started a Sab bath school of which he was superintendent. Through him in 1878 an M. E. church was formed. He solicited subscriptions and raised money to build a church, be doing nearly the entire carpenter work himself. A portion of his time he was in terested in the meat business and later added furniture, which business so increased that he erected his present stoie and put in a full line of furniture, carpets, bedding, etc., and in connection with this he conducts an undertaking business. He later added to his line blacksmith and wheelwright supplies. Mr. Brown is an enterpris ing business man and carries the largest stock and most complete assortment of goods that can be found outside of a large city. Still, Charles. — The late George Still was born in Brandon, Vt., in 1820; he was educated in the schools of his day, and was a manufacturer of bedsteads and carried on the painting business. In 1844 he marred Elizabeth Spotten of Lansingburgh, and a daughter of one of the old settlers, by whom six children have been born Anna, George, Charles, Edward, Josiah and William. Mr. Still died in 1894 and his widow survives at this date. His father, Pember Still, was born in Hinsdale, N. H. He married Eliza Pratt, by whom he had eight children. He died in 1856 and his wife died in 1869. Mrs. Still's father, William Spotten, was born in Lansingburgh about 1782, and August 6, 1814, he married Betsey Gilliespie of this place, who bore him six children : Andrew, Sally, Josiah, Thomas, Elizabeth and Charles, all of whom are now dead with the exception of Elizabeth. Mr. Spotten died about 1836 and his widow died about 1876. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and Andrew Gilliespie was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. George is a member of the Masonic order. The ancestry of the family is English, Scotch and Dutch. Bovie, William H., was born in Pownal, Vt, June 4, 1842. He was the son of Parker R. and Caroline (Palmer) Bovie, he a. native of Vermont and she of Troy, The grandfather of Mr. Bovie was a native of New Jersey, but settled in Vermont where he engaged in farming, He was a soldier in the Mexican war and drew a pension for services. Parker Bovie was a carpenter by trade. He died in 1843 at the age of twenty-seven. Mr. William Bovie lived on a farm in his boyhood days, and for a few years at a hotel, then he learned the blacksmith trade which has been his life work. In 1861 Mr. Bovie married Annie, daughter of John and Annie Whit beck, of Albany, by whom he has had two children: George P., a blacksmith of Chicago, and John E., who is with his father in the blacksmith business in Defrees- FAMILY SKETCHES. 73 ville, where Mr. Bovie located in 1871. They make a specialty of shoeing horses. John E. Bovie is a dealer in bicycles in addition to his business connection with his father; he married Fannie L., daughter of David Philips (see elsewhere). She died February 6, 1890, leaving one daughter, Ella. Fortier, John F., was born in Lansingburgh, December 23, 1865. His father, George N., was born in Canada, where he was a merchant for a number of years and came to Troy in 1859 and was identified with the stove industry; he died in 1886. His mother, Louisa (La Croix) Fortier is still living in Troy. John F. was educated in the Christian Brothers' Academy and entered the store of J. M. Warren & Co., where he is still engaged as salesman. He is a member of the Irpquois Club, of which he is financial secretary; of the Snow Shoe Club, and is treasurer of the Franco Republican Club, and is also a member of the Troy Yacht Club. He is a Republican in politics and has been prominent in the Eleventh ward and has been ; to several different State conventions. Shroder, James D., was born in Troy, N. Y., November 9, 1858. He is the son of Charles J. Shroder, who came to Troy when but a young man and worked for many years at his trade of carriage making and died in 1893. His mother was Louisiana (West) Shroder, and she died in 1875. He left school when but thirteen years of age, and learned photography, and in 1883 opened a studio on River street, where he is in business at the present time. McCrea, Fred A., was born in Williamsburgh, Mass., in 1851. His father, Chris topher M. McCrea, was born in Scotland and when young came to the United States and settled in Williamsburgh; he died in Troy in 1881. His mother, Jane (Mason) McCrea, was born in Troy and is now hving in Massachusetts. Fred was educated in the public schools and went in 1885 into the fruit and oyster business in Troy, N.Y. His business is mostly with the jobbing trade. He belongs to the Diamond Rock Lodge, I. 0. 0. F. In 1871 he married Ella F. Hicks, of Troy. Myers, John L. , was born in North Greenbush and is a son of John S. Myers. John L. was educated in the common school and in the Troy Business College, from which he graduated in 1875. In 1880 he married Anna A., daughter of Prof. Henry Izard and Pamelia (Reynolds) Izard of Woodstock, Ont., Canada, who were natives of Brighton, England, and who now reside in Troy, N. Y. To Mr. and Mrs. Myers have been born five children ; Alice, John, Minnie, George and Warren. Mr. Myers has a farm near Troy, upon which he resides. In 1889 he received the appointment of letter carrier in Troy which position he still holds. He is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. and A. M. Heinzer, Peter, was born in Germany, October 26, 1854, and came to America in 1871, settling in Albany, where he pursued the occupation of baker for several years ; he also worked at his trade for a year and one-half in Greenbush. He came to Cas tleton in May, 1879, and in February, 1880, began business for himself in which he has been very successful, and is a man of moderate means and controls a large 'rade. He is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge in Castleton and was one of its organizers. He is trustee of the village, to which position he was elected without any effort or desire on his part. Mr. Heinzer married Catherine Brickner and they 74 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. have a family of two children: Frederick and Jennie. Mrs. Heinzer's parents were also German. Ostrander, Louis F., was born in Columbia county, December 19, 1823. He was a son of Simeon and Hannah "(Fellows) Ostrander, he born in Schodack and she in Troy. He was a son of Hubbard Ostrander, born in Schodack, and son of Abram Ostrander, a native of Holland. He, with two brothers, came to this country, of whom two settled in Rensselaer county and one m Dutchess county. The great grandfather, grandfather and father were all farmers and lived and died in Scho dack. The father died in March, 1876, and his wife died in 1874. Mr. L. F. Os trander was reared on a farm and educated in public schools, and also attended the Canaan Center Academy for three years. He is a farmer by occupation and was superintendent of a large plantation in Virginia previous to the time of the war. He owns twenty-four acres of land where he resides and raises small fruit. March 20, 1854, he married Cornelia M. Lansing of Schodack, daughter of Garrett Lansing, one of the prominent men of Schodack. To Mr. and Mrs. L. F. Ostrander were born seven children: Harriet, Magdaline, Louis L., Jacob L., Frances M., Cassie L. and Rachel K. Harriet married Abram C. Ostrander of Schodack. She was graduated from the East Greenbush Academy and the Utica Female Academy and followed teaching until she married. Magdaline was educated at East Greenbush Academy. Louis L. was educated at Pontiac High School. He is in Duluth and December 4, 1890, married Harriet G. Cook. Jacob L. was educated at Castleton and is with the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company Railroad at Albany. Octo ber 8, 1895, Jacob L. married Frances Prentice. Frances M. Ostrander was edu cated at home and the Castleton Academy and is now teaching at Tonawanda, N. Y. Cassie L. was educated at home and also attended the Albany Normal School and is now teaching at Freeport, N. Y. Rachel K. is at home. Moses, Miss Elizabeth — There is not a name in the vicinity of Hoosick Falls held in more loving veneration than that of the late Dr. Salmon Moses. Here he spent his life in self-sacrifice as a physician in administering to the sick and ailing, still ing the fevered brain and allaying the pangs of disease with his skillful hand, and as a devout follower of his Saviour in keeping alive with two or three faithful per sons the spiritual life of a church for twenty years, of whom St. Mark's Episcopal church holds in loving memory. Amid all the labor and exhaustion of his profes sional life for fifteen years he was lay reader, sustaining the services of the church with often but one hearer in the little red schoolhouse on the hill. The beautiful memorial window, showing Moses, the law giver, before the burning bush on Mount Horeb, is truly a very fitting design. He was born at Norfolk, Conn., in 1792, son of a farmer, and first practiced medicine in Petersburgh. He came here in 1821 and continued in practice for fifty years, or until his death in 1874, caused by a gradual breaking down from the weight of his many years. His wife was Sarah Haswell of this place. Seven children survived him, three daughters, of whom Elizabeth is the oldest residing here. Markham, E. P., one of the most prominent men engaged in mercantile business in Hoosick Falls, is a representative of an old English family, and born at Granby, Mass., in 1839. His father, G. IC Markham, was superintendent of the woolen milte FAMILY SKETCHES. 75 at Conway, Mass., until his death in 1844. Mr. Markham was graduated from the academy thare in 1856 and married in 1859 Mary J. Phillips of that place. When but seventeen years old he kept books for a" factory there, and at twenty went to North Pownal, Vt. , as bookkeeper of a woolen manufacturing firm, where he re mained until 1884. He then spent two years bookkeeping for the State on Hoosac Tunnel. At the same work he remained two years with the North American Life Insurance Co. at Albany and then came to North Hoosick in 1869 and engaged in mercantile business. In 1874 he established a grocery at the corner of River and Church streets, where he still carries on an active trade. He occupies a prominent place in the social life here, and enjoys a wide popularity. He is a worthy member of the M. E. church and a Mason, member of both Van Rensselaer Lodge and of the Raymond Chapter; he is a Republican, and has been trustee of the village and is at present chairman of the board of sewer commissioners and president of the First National Bank. He has two sons and one daughter: George P. Markham, E. P., jr., and Hattie D., wife of B. Frank Agan of Johnsonville. Peters, Mrs. S. S., widow of the late Charles Edward Peters, was Sarah S. Ester- brook of Hoosick Falls. She was married in 1848 and has three children: Eugene Merrill; Fanny Amy, wife of Edward McLean, a well-known resident here; and Dora, wife of J. H. McEachron, a jeweler of this place. Mr. Charles Edward Peters was born in 1826, and occupied the position of foreman of the iron working depart ment of the Wood Machine Co. His death occurred in 1877, but his memory will long be revered in the hearts of his fellow men as a man possessing great nobility of character. The son, Eugene Merrill, born in 1849, is a machinist by trade and prom inent in the town. He is an earnest advocate of temperance and a member of the Presbyterian church, in which the whole family have been associated for years. Wilcox, Charles G., hatter, furnisher, and clothier at No. 43 Church street, is the younger son of the late John E. Wilcox, a lifelong resident of the town of Hoosick, who was among the first employees of Walter A. Wood. He held prominent posi tions with this firm many years, and was also a central figure in the local affairs of Hoosick Falls at the time of its incorporation, being one of its most valued citizens in both political and business circles. His sudden death in 1894 was a severe blow to his family and to his fellow citizens, by whom he was held in the highest esteem. Charles was educated here, where he was born in 1868, and first engaged in journal ism, corresponding for the " Observer," "Press"' and other papers. He engaged in his present business in 1891, with M. D. Kincaid under the firm name of Kincaid & Wilcox. He succeeded Mr. Kincaid in the business in February, 1896. He is a member of the Hoosick Club, and an honorary member of the Citizens Corps, and has served aterm as trustee of the village. He marriedMary L., daughterof Thomas A. Hutchins, of Bennington. Mrs. Wilcox is a noted contralto singer and has sung in the churches of Albany, Troy, and North Adams, as well as her birthplace, Ben nington, and has by her talent added to the popularity of her husband. Surdam, Burke, representing a family of local pioneers, and the son of Walter Sur dam, still resident at Hoosick Falls, was born here June 14, 1851, and has always lived here. His mother is a Hawthorn, of another family whose name adorns the early annals of the town of Hoosick and whose ancestry is English, while that of the *6 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Surdams is Holland Dutch. Burke was two years employed by the mower shop here but later, having learned the harness making trade of his father and of his father's preceptor, has made it the business of his life, also dealing in kindred goods apper taining to the comfort and well-being of the horse. The business is one of the old establishments, not less than seventy-five years at least. In 1872 Burke married Miss Anna A. Phillips of this place. Of unblemished personal character and strong convictions, he is a valued member of the Methodist chnrch and an active exponent of the cause of prohibition. Lawrence, P. E., now retired from the activities of business life, a well known and esteemed resident of Hoosick Falls, was born at Schuylerville, Saratoga county, N. Y., August 12, 1826, son of a woolen manufacturer, Ira Lawrence, who engaged in business at Schuylerville as early as 1810. Mr. Lawrence learned the mason's trade at Troy and soon became a master of the business, taking extensive contracts for erection of brick and stone structures here and elsewhere. He built in 1871 the Malleable Iron Works here and later the high school on Main street and several blocks. The late James Esterbrooks of this place was at one time his partner. Mr. Lawrence has permanently resided here since 1870. He has no children, an only daughter, Luta May, having died in 1858. Mrs. Lawrence is a daughter of the late Samuel Crosby of Hoosick Falls. Mr. Lawrence is an amateur musician of some note, especially as a singer, and Mrs. Lawrence an artist in oils, decorating her home with charming landscapes. Ely, William H. , a merchant and estimable citizen of Hoosick Falls, is one of the company of Wallace, Jones & Ely, a firm organized since 1867. This general store with its immense stock is one of the most enterprising houses of the place. Mr. Ely came here at twenty-one years of age in 1865. He was born at Littleton, N. H., in 1844, son of George W. Ely who moved to St. Johnsbury, Vt. in 1847 and established the Ely Hoe & Fork Co. , which is still operated with Henry G. Ely, brother of Will iam, as its president. The principal business of the father, who died in Philadelphia in 1876, was the manufacture of agricultural implements. Mr. Ely at seventeen entered the reta.il department of the store of E. & T. Fairbanks, the great scale manufacturers, where he remained three years. He married m 1869 Amanda R. Royce, of Waterbury, Vt., by whom he has eight children. Two sons are associated with him in business. He attends the Presbyterian church and is a member of the Hoosick Club. In politics he is a. Republican and has officiated on the Board of Health many years. Horsley, Benjamin, the able editor and proprietor of the "Rensselaer County Standard," has been a valued member of society in the community of his adoption since his residence in Hoosick Falls, where he located in 1880. The paper was es tablished in 1872, the files of which contain valuable material of local interest, and is conducted conscientiously and for the best interests of the town, where the editor is esteemed as a man and a citizen, Mr. Horsley was born at Soham, Cambridge shire, England, in February, 1848, a very ancient town, and a great religious seat in the days of the ancient Saxons. He was educated at this place in the King Ed ward school also at Ely Cathedral chorister school. After completing his education he learned the printing business, and at the age of twenty-one he went to Leeds; Family sketches. 77 from there he went to Cambridge and London successively, holding positions in each place. From London he went to Ottawa, Canada, filling an engagement in the ffovernment printing office in that city. Later, he became connected with the Orange County Press at Middletown, N. Y., and remained there nearly nine years. He is what is known as a self-made man, and although of English birth actually came of the same original Puritan stock that emigrated to this continent and colonized that portion of the United States generally known as New England. Johnson, Henry A., practicing lawyer at Eagle Bridge, originated in Shaftsbury, Vt., son of Freeborn Johnson, a physician of prominence and long standing in Shaftsbury. Henry was educated at the LTnion Seminary of Danville, 111., and at Oberlin College, Ohio, and he followed teaching several years; he was principal of the union schools at Sandwich, 111., and Newark, 111. He married his present wife, Margaret Gooding, daughter of Mathew Gooding of White Creek in 1870. Two chil dren were born to them : Wesley B. Johnson, aged twenty- two, and Guy, aged fif teen. Mr. Johnson settled at Eagle Bridge in 1872. He was assistant district at torney under Samuel Foster, term expiring 1880. He is an Odd Fellow ; a member of Van Rensselaer Lodge No. 400, F. & A. M., of Hoosick Falls; of Sandwich Chapter No. 107, of Sandwich, Ills. ; of Apollo Commandery No. 15, of Troy; and Albany Sovereign Consistory. He is a supporter of the M. E. church, of which his wife is a member. His first wife was Emily George, daughter of Judge Dennis George, of Shaftsbury, Vt. She died in 1866, leaving one daughter, Anna, now Mrs. Lynn Cornell, of Jamestown, N. Y. Joslin, E. A., is the fourth descendant in a direct line to become owner of the Joslin homestead. His great-grandfather, Potter Joslin, was the first ancestor that settled at Eagle Bridge. He is the grandson of Thomas Joslin, and son of Arnold Joslin, whose whole life was spent here where he died in 1887, aged sixty-eight. The latter was a very influential citizen whose advice was sought by young and old ; he was much engaged in the settlement of estates and was nine years in succession commissioner of highways. The present estate consists of 126 acres, but the pa ternal ancestors originally owned a large tract of land here. Mr. Joslin makes a specialty of fine merino sheep. In 1878 he married Minerva A. Kipp of Pittstown. They have two children : Clarence W., aged seventeen, and Sylvia, aged sixteen. In politics Mr. Joslin is a Republican ; he attends the Baptist church. Sheridan, William, is the son of Thomas Francis Sheridan whose death was deeply mourned by the residents of Hoosick Falls in 1885. He lived to seventy-four years of age, and was a wagonmaker and carpenter by trade; in 1850 he built the first Catholic church in the town of Hoosick on Church street ; it was destroyed by fire years ago. William was born in Ireland in 1840 and came to America in 1850. He was educated at Ball Seminary and first learned the iron moulder's trade, enter- tering the employ of the Wood Machine Company in 1855, remaining in the foundry thirteen years. In 1868 he went into the liquor business and conducted » hotel twenty-five years. He is now retired from active life, after having also served his town officially as overseer of the poor several terms ; he has also been village trustee four terms, being a Republican politically. He is a prominent official of the R. C. church and eminently respected wherever he is known. He married in 1863 Sarah Keenan, daughter of a pioneer settler of Manchester, Vt. 78 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hawthorn, Harris S., is a native of Salem, N. Y., and first son of William Haw thorn, also a native of that place, born in 1796. He was a blacksmith, and died in 1845 after only one year's residence in Hoosick Falls. Harris S. was born in 1832, and educated at Hoosick Falls. He acquired the carpenter's trade and was twenty- five years in the mower shops. He is a prominent official in the M. E. church, and a devout and faithful member ; also chaplain of the G. A. R. Post. Mr. Hawthorn has a worthy war record. Enlisting in 1860 in Co. F, 121st N. Y. Vols., he served three years and rose from a private soldier to a sergeant. Perhaps the most striking event of his life was his capture of General Curtis Lee, son of Major-General Robert E. Lee, an act of personal prowess and gallantry duly established and recorded in the official annals of the war, and for which he but recently received a commemora tive medal, a just but tardy recognition of his bravery. He is a member of Van Rensselaer Lodge No. 400, F. & A. M., of Raymer Chapter No. 248, R. A. M., and a member and medallist of Honor Legion, Washington, D. C. He is a thorough Republican, and is proud in asserting it. Barnes, Horace H., is a son of Sardius B. Barnes, a wagonmaker, of English ancestry. The former was educated at the famous old academy of Mexico, N. Y., where he was born in 1835, and first learned the trade of carriage painting, engaging in business for himself at Salem, N.Y. He has since 1868 been a resident of Hoosick Falls and was for eighteen years foreman of the paint shop at the Wood works. In 1865 he married Delia A. Andrus of Montclair, N. J. Their one son, Louis H., born in 1870, is a mechanic in the Colt Armory at Hartford, Conn. Mr. Barnes is a po tent factor in both social and political life of the place. He has been a Mason for thirty years; is vestryman of St. Mark's Episcopal church, and has served his town in many of its offices, as town collector, auditor, and was once village trustee. He is a member of Post Wood No. 294, G. A. R. Bradley, John C, is a representative of a family closely identified with the history of Vermont State, and that of the nation. He is of English ancestry, and his great- great-grandfather, Lieutenant Joseph Bradley, was one of the first settlers of Sund erland, Vt., where John was born in 1858. Here this paternal ancestor participated in many an exciting conflict as a "Green Mountain Boy" to assert the right to the estates which have been in the family name more than a century. Captain Lemuel Bradley, great-grandfather of John C, was conspicuous in the battle of Bennington and other encounters throughout the Revolution. Mr. Bradley is a son of Gilbert Bradley, whose father was Ethan Bradley, and was educated at Burton Seminary, Manchester, Vt., and in New York city. In 1875 he went to Colorado, and after serving as salesman for a time he engaged in a confectionery business for himself. After one year he came home to care for bis aged father, who died in 1881. The same year he came to Hoosick Falls and entered the employ of the Hoosick Mallea ble Iron Co. as an apprentice to the moulder's trade. Before serving full term at that trade he was made foreman of the annealing department, where he remained nine years. Upon the resignation of M. D. Greenwood, the superintendent of the Malleable Iron Works, he was promoted to that position which he still holds. He is a member of the Baptist church and an enthusiastic worker, being superintendent of the Bible class of that church seven years. For the last three years he has been volunteer pastor of a small church at West Hoosick. He is much interested in the FAMILY SKETCHES. 7f) V. M. C. A. and has lectured in its behalf in various cities in the State; and also responded to calls from Vermont, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. In 1877 he married Fannie M. Baker of Fort Edward, N. Y., by whom he has three children: Helen M., born in 1878; Edith S., born in 1879; John H., born in 1882. Cowan, Andrew J., was born iu the town of Oshkosh, Wis., in 1858 ; he is the son of James and Jean Cowan. James Cowan was born in Catrine, Ayrshire, Scotland ; his wife was also born in Scotland; she was the daughter of Adam and Margaret Bell, mentioned in this work. James Cowan came to New York with his father and mother in 1851, and shortly after came to Bath-on-the-Hudson; he was married there and afterwards went to Wisconsin and resided about two years, where Andrew was born, and then returned to Bath-on-the-Hudson and has lived there ever since. James Cowan worked for the firm of Clemenshire & Bruice ; this firm did the first carpenter work on the new capitol. A. J. Cowan was reared and educated in Bath and at Folsom's Business College at Albany. He learned his trade with John Osborn as roofer and sheet iron worker, beginning at the age of fourteen years, and was in New York city with William Orr, plumber, for about a year. At this time he attended the Plumbing Trade School in that city; he then came back to the old firm in Albany, and in 1887 hought out Delbert Wager's tin shop in Bath-on-the- Hudson and occupied the building for one year ; he then bought the building he now owns and occupies, corner of First street and Tracy avenue. He is a plumber, tin and slate roofer, sheet iron worker and dealer in hardware, stoves, house furnishing goods and drain tile. He was married May 10, 1886, to Helen Miller of Bath-on-the- Hudson, by whom he has three children : James, Sarah and Andrew. Mr. Cowan is a member of the K. of P. of Bath ; also a deacon of Bath Baptist church, and has been a trustee of the village. Coutts, Peter, the long established jeweler at No. 75 Church street, Hoosick Falls, has been a resident of the village twenty two years. He was born in Dundee, Scot land, in 1838. His father was John Coutts, an engineer. Six years in the large jewelry establishment of Whytock & Sons of Dundee sufficed to make him master of his trade, after which he met with some adventure in his travels, which were exten sive. He went to London in 1856, then to India in 1857, but his business arrange ments there were upset by the great Sepoy rebellion, and he became an English soldier, enlisting in the Seventh Dragoon Guards. After the mutiny was over he went to work again in his old place in Calcutta, and in 1866 returned to London. In 1867 he went back to Scotland, where he was married. While he was serving in the army he worked more or less at his trade, being the only watchmaker in the brigade who had his tools with him. In 1870 he came to America, remaining two years in New York, thence to Troy where he worked for Mr. Timpane, L. Champany, and Thomas Goldsmith ; in 1874 he settled in Hoosick Falls. Mr. Coutts carries a hand some stock of staple goods in his line and gives his personal attention to repairs. He was married in Dundee in 1868 to Elizabeth Gardyne of that place, and has two children: Edwin and Vesta. Kincaid, George H., of Hoosick Falls, a man cf wide popularity, came herein 1889, employed as painter in the Wood Mower Works. He was born at Hartford, N. Y., m 1838, son of John Hamilton Kincaid a farmer. His grandfather, James Kincaid, 80 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. came to America from Scotland in 1786 and settled in Lansingburgh as a merchant Mr. Kincaid began business by farming, but in 1859, went into the drug business at Granville. While there he married Phebe M. Brayton of Hartford, N. Y., in I860- after thirteen years there he went to Richmond, Va., and engaged in agricultural pursuits three years. He is a Democrat and his first office was that of justice of peace; he is now police justice; also a member of the order of Odd Fellows. He has five children : William, at Portland, Oregon, in the interest of the W. A. Wood Co. ; Manfred, senior member of the firm of Kincaid & Wilcox; Lulu, wife of Dewitt Johnston of this place ; Edith, recently united in marriage to John Liddle, a com mercial traveler ; and George who resides at home. Peters, J. Fred, associated with Charles W. Brown in the publication of the Hoo sick Valley Democrat, was born November 9, 1855, in Hoosick Falls, a son of John G. Peters, who was an architect and builder of considerable prominence for nearly forty years in Hoosick Falls, and who died December 22, 1885. Fred J. Peters re ceived a high school education, and was employed for a number of years in the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Works as a machinist. He has held the office of village asses-sor. He entered the employ of the Hoosick Valley Demo crat in 1895, and January 20, 1896, formed a partnership with C, W. Brown and pur chased the Democrat, Mr. Peters being the editor and Mr. Brown the business man ager. He was married October 1, 1885, to Maria L. Moses, daughter of T. S. Moses of Hoosick. Three daughters have been born to them. He is an ardent Democrat, and a lover of music, being a musician of considerable ability. Sherman, Levi, born in Pittstown, N. Y., August 5, 1849, is a son of Sanford T and Roxinie (Gifford) Sherman, born in Pittstown, he a son of Stephen Sherman, one of the early settlers of this town. Mr. Sherman was a farmer and lived and died in Pittstown, his death occurring November 22, 1889, and that of his wife April 1, 1886. Levi was reared on the farm and educated in the common schools; he is a farmer and owns a hundred acres of land; he was married in December, 1873, to Lizzie Hall, born in Pittstown, a daughter of Dennis and Pnscilla (Brownell) Hall; he is a native of Rensselaer county and she of Pittstown; she died 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Sherman have had one daughter, Minnie J. Mrs. Sherman died in May, 1879; and March 2, 1881, he married Lida Perkins Mason, born August 6, 1851, in Porter county, Ind., daughter of Edwin and Mary (Davidson) Mason ; her mother was born in Sodus, Wayne county, and her father in Marion, same county, and removed to Indiana and she died in Sodus, July 4, 1856, and he died in Indiana, April 29, 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Sherman have one son, Arthur W. White, Salem H., is the fourth son of Salem White who is a well known and hon ored resident of Bennington, Vt. Salem, inheriting the sterling qualities of his English ancestry, is an enterprising, energetic young business man as his establish ment at the corner of First and Center streets will attest. This store was at first a meat market only, where he began business in 1887 It has grown steadily and in 1894 was added a grocery filled with provisions of all kinds which commands a large patronage. He was born at Bennington, Vt., in 1863, and at fourteen years of age moved here. He attended Troy Business College and afterwards was in the employ of Gardner & White's meat market ten years. He is a Democrat and was village FAMILY SKETCHES. 81 treasurer three years, proving a worthy official, He has been supervisor of Hoosick for two years and is the present incumbent ; he is one of the largest real estate owners in the village of Hoosick Falls. Jones, E. C, of Gibson & Jones, leading grocers of Hoosick Falls. This business establishment has its commodious departments at 39 Church street which was pur chased of John Gibson, the painter and wall paper dealer, in 1889. The firm is composed of young and energetic men, fully up to date and in accord with modern methods, and handle a choice line of goods. Ernest C. Jones was born at Berlin in 1865, where his boyhood was spent until 1882. When seventeen years old he en gaged as foreman of a department for the Miller, Hall & Hartwell Shirt Factory. After one year he entered a grocery here, remaining three years and acquiring a. knowledge of the retail grocery business. He afterward spent another three years in the grocery of John Gibson. He is a Republican, but seeking no political pref erment. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and of the Board of Trade. He married in 1886 Alice Tuttle of this place, daughter of Charles J. Tuttle. They have one son, Willis, born November 14, 1895. Greene, Dascom, was born in Richmond, Ontario county, N. Y., June 15, 1825. He is of New England descent, his ancestors for five generations having been resi dents of Worcester county, Mass. His preliminary education was received in the schools of Western New York, and he entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the autumn of 1851, graduating two years later. He served two years as assist ant in mathematics, and thirty-eight years as professor of mathematics and astron omy in the institute. He resigned his chair in the summer of 1893, and was made professor emeritus. He also acted as librarian of the institute from 1864 until he re signed his professorship. In November, 1874, Professor Greene was elected pro fessor of mathematics and astronomy in Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., but de clined to accept the appointment, and the following year he was informally offered and declined a professorship of mathematics at Cornell University. At the time of the erection of the Williams Proudfit Memorial Observatory in 1877, Professor Greene was charged with the duty of preparing plans and superintending the con struction of the building, and in this connection he devised the improved method of constructing domes for astronomical observatories by covering them with paper. A dome of this kind was placed on the Proudfit Observatory, and others have since been built for the observatory of the United States Military Academy at West Point, that of Columbia College, New York, and of other institutions. Professor Greene has published text-books on Spherical and Practical Astronomy, and on the Integral Calculus, besides occasional papers in various scientific and educational journals. In 1859 he married Sara Irene Parsons of Utica, N. Y., who died in 1861, leaving a son, William, who died in 1864. In 1866 he married Elvira, daughter of the late Jairus Dickerman of Troy. Armsby, Clark L., was born in Petersburgh, March 8, 1837. He is a son of Chris topher and Polly (Sanders) Armsby, she a native of Grafton and he of Petersburgh. The grandfather of John Armsby was born in 1753 in Rhode Island and emigrated to Petersburgh in pioneer times when they had to go by marked trees; he was a farmer by occupation, and died in Petersburgh in 1845; he was a soldier of the 82 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Revolutionary war. His wife, Priscilla, was born in new Bedford, Mass., in 1756 and died in 1849. Christopher Armsby was a harnessmaker in Petersburgh and was successful in business. He was born in 1793. He died in 1853, and Mrs. Armsby (born in 1796) died in 1884. Clark L. commenced his business career as teacher in winter and farming in summer, which he followed for about ten years; he gave up teaching and has since devoted his time to agricultural pursuits, at which he has been very successful. In 1878 he bought the Greene farm of 146 acres at North Stephentown, where he has since resided and made a specialty of dairy farming. In 1865 Mr. Armsby married Mary M. Tilly of Grafton, by whom he has three chil dren: John D., who is manager of the home farm ; Frank N, who attended the AL bany Business College and prepared for telegraph operator; and Charles E , also in Albany Business College. Ostrander, John, an early settler of the town of Schodack, took up a large tract of land and there lived; he died in 1841; his wife was Sarah Carpenter ; she died in 1848. Walter Ostrander, a son of John and Sarah Ostrander, was born in Schodack; his wife was Eliza Wilbur, born in Johnstown, N. Y. ; he died in 1880; she died in 1887. Walter Carpenter Ostrander is a son of Walter and Eliza (Wilbur) Ostrander, was born in Schodack and reared and educated in Schodack and Albany ; was in Cohoes, N. Y. , for a while in the market business and with E. J. Weeks of Albany in pork packing business for twelve years; since then has been a farmer in Schodack and running a milk route with an average of fifteen cows. He was married in 1877 to Phila J. Starkey of Mansfield, Pa., who was born in Swansey, N. H. One child blesses their union, Archie Wilbur Ostrander, born in Schodack. Stevens, William N., special superintendent of the Walloomsac Paper Co., was born at Warwick, Mass., 1856. In 1860 he moved with his parents to Walpole, N. H., where his boyhood was spent and his education acquired. There his father, Gilbert T. Stevens, and his mother, Elizabeth Arnold, engaged in farming. In De cember of 1879 he came to North Hoosick, where he was engaged as machinist for seven months, after which he spent two years at Winchester, N. H., in the tanning business. At this place he became a member of Philesian Lodge No. 40 F. & A. M. ; then returning to Walloomsac, N. Y., permanently in 1883, occupying a position as bookkeeper, then as assistant superintendent for this company. He is a Republican, and has served as notary public for six years. He is a member of the Presbyterian church of Hoosick Falls, N. Y., of which he is an elder and a. zealous worker. He has been a member of the church since he was eighteen years of age, and was su perintendent of the Presbyterian Sunday school for three years, and also superinten dent of the Sunday school at Walloomsac for four years. In October, 1886, he mar ried Katherine, a granddaughter of Dr. Solomon Moses of Hoosick Falls, and daughter of Solomon Moses of Pownal, Wt. They had four children : Mary and Nathaniel E. died of scarlet fever six years ago, and John, aged four and a half years, and Katherine aged three years, died last March, with the same disease as the first two. Mr. Stevens is now a member in good standing in Van Rensselaer Lodge No. 400, and Raymond Chapter No. 248, of Hoosick Falls. He has served as trustee in his school district for three years past, and is now serving his fourth year. Edmans, George D., was born at Deal, county of Kent, England, in 1851. He FAMILY SKETCHES. 8d came to America with his father, John Edmans, a cabinet maker and located at Troy when fifteen years old. He has had to work his own way in the world and the positions he has occupied have been due to his own efforts. He learned the trade of cabinet making, and came here in 1873, entering the employ of Walter A. Wood. He rapidly rose in his calling, and was only twenty- five when he accepted the re sponsibilities of foremanship. In politics he is a Republican. He has been twice married, first in 1875 to Margaret Gillen Bain of Elgin, Scotland, who died in 1890, leaving four children. He again married in 1892 Julia Leonie Pratt of Cambridge, by whom he has one son. He is a member of St. Mark's Episcopal church, a mem ber of Van Rensselaer Lodge No. 400 F. & A. M. , and has filled all the offices at var ious times, being master in 1889-90. Smith, Charles H., is the junior partner of the firm of J. D. Smith & Co. ; he was born in Castleton November 2, 1848, and was educated in the public schools of that village. He spent one year in a law office, and then engaged in the grocery trade which he followed eight years ; then for four years manufactured brick, and was a year in New York in the hay business, when he returned to Castleton and engaged in the milling trade for five years, and finally embarked in the freighting business, in which he is still actively engaged. Mr. Smith has always taken a lively interest in his native town ; he has twice been supervisor and three times trustee of the village of Castleton. In 1869 he married Hester J. Callanan ; they have two children, Grace and Emma; the former is now Mrs. Fred Coleman of Albany. He lost his wife in September, 1892, and married in March, 1895, Ella M. Clifford. Mr. Smith's parents are Joel D. and Hannah E. (Stearns) Smith. The firm of J. D. Smith & Co. have a large freighting business, and a storehouse 45 by 125 feet in dimensions for storing goods. Miller, Andrew J., was born in Albany county, town of Berne, July 3, 1857. He is the son of Albert and Sophia (Bogardus) Miller, both of whom were born in Al bany county, he the son of John Miller, a native of Connecticut and one of the early settlers of Albany county, where he lived and died ; the father of Andrew Miller has always been a farmer and came to Greenbush in 1873 and here resides, living a re tired life. Andrew Miller was reared and educated in Albany. In 1886 he estab lished a milk route and has been very successful; he has always followed farming and owns about twenty acres on the river and a residence on the river bank ; he has at present twenty-five cows and five horses. Mr. Miller was at one time one of the assessors of East Greenbush. He married Maggie A. Smith of New Baltimore, Greene county, N. Y., December 23, 1879, by whom he has had two children- Addi son R. and Libbie E. McKearin, Patrick, a prominent man and much esteemed citizen of Hoosick Falls, has been a resident here since 1872, when he took charge of the Western Union Telegraph business. He now conducts a large business in life and fire insurance, his elder son, George, being in the office with him. He is a member of the Demo cratic party and has served the people of this town in an official capacity as super visor and county clerk. He was born at Brandon, Vt., in 1853, and educated in the common schools. He learned telegraphy at Pittsford and Rutland, Vt. , and worked as night operator, attending school through the day. He is past master and past high priest in the Masonic fraternity, of which order he is a valued member. 84 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hayner, Henry C, born in Pittstown, May 4, 1842, is a son of Sylvester and Betsey Freiot Hayner. The grandfather of Henry C. was Jacob Hayner, who spent most of his life in Pittstown, N. Y., but died in Brunswick ; his wife was Jane Van Dercook of Pittstown. Sylvester, father of Henry, was a farmer by occupa- pation and spent most of his life in Lansingburgh ; he was a commissioner of high ways for a number of years ; he was a Universalist and she an Episcopal or Meth odist ; he died February 17, 1882, and his wife died October 8, 1852. Henry C. was reared on a farm and educated in common schools ; he follows farming and owns 124 acres, where he has lived for thirty-two years, and has improved most of it. Mr. Hayner was once an assessor. He was married March 19, 1862, to Mary J. Hayner, daughter of Abner Hayner whose wife, Cornelia Vandercook, was a daugh ter of Peter Vandercook, one of the early settlers of Pittstown. To Mr. and Mrs. Hayner were born two children: Cora, wife of Charles E. Ryan of Pittstown, and have one child by marriage, Burnice G., and one by adoption, Edna F. ; and Fred H., of Mechanicville; he married Minnie Sharrock and has one son, Henry C. Politically Henry C. Hayner was until the year 1885 a Republican ; since then he has been a Prohibitionist. He cast his first vote for Lincoln's second term as president. Stevenson, George H., was born in Albany, N. Y., May 11, 1847. When he was three years of age his parents moved to Green Island, near Troy, where he was edu cated in the district school and Troy Business College ; in his early life he was en gaged in various occupations, among others as painter- and moulder, In 1868 he married Sarah L. Jones of North Albany ; they have six children living, four sons and two daughters: Hugh T., Charles H., George E. T., Mary, Edwin A. H., and Elenor J. Hugh T. married Etta Van Vallen ; they have one living son, Perry J. Charles H. married Rosalie Whitney. In 1865 Mr. Stevenson enlisted in the 192d N. Y. Vols. , and was honorably discharged at the close of the war ; he is a member of Hartshorn Post No. 487, G. A. R. of Schaghticoke, department of New York; he has been commander three terms, quartermaster one term and is now adjutant; he is also a member of Schaghticoke Lodge No. 526, I. O. O. F., and is past grand of that order ; he was the first deputy district grand master, Rensselaer and Washing ton district, I. O. O. F., serving two terms. In 1873 he entered the employ of the Cable Flax Mills of Troy as bookkeeper, and when the company moved its office to Schaghticoke in 1883, he came also ; in 1880 he was promoted to the position of sec retary, which he still holds, Mr. Stevenson's father's name was Hugh; he was born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1825 and came to the United States with a brother when he was twelve years old ; he married Jane Roderic ; they had only one son, Geoige H. Both father and mother are dead. The oldest and third sons of Mr. Stevenson are ministers of the Gospel in the Baptist church. Ingraham, Nehemiah, born in Pittstown, February 26, 1801, was a son of Henry and Mary (Denton) Ingraham, both natives of Pittstown. The grandfather of Nehe miah, Humphrey Ingraham, was a pioneer of Pittstown and cleared the forest from the farm now owned by C. C. Cottrell. The grandfather of Mrs. Ingraham on the mother's side was also a pioneer of Pittstown and settled on the farm now occupied by Norman Carpenter near Newcomb's Pond. Such was the fear of the Indians at that time the families covered up their property first with dirt and then with leaves FAMILY SKETCHES. 85 and fled for their lives to a place of safety. April 16, 1835, Nehemiah married Phebe, daughter of Jonathan and Hannah Purdy. To Mr. and Mrs. Ingraham were born six children, to wit: Jonathan, Caroline, Hannah Jane, Calista Ann, George W. and Alice all born in the residence where she now resides. Jonathan was born in 1836, always lived with his mother, was a bachelor, and died in 1882. Caroline was born in 1838, married in 1864 to Potter J. Prior, a farmer of Saratoga county ; they have two daughters, May and Gertrude. Hannah Jane was born in 1841 and married lames Haviland in 1862; they had two children, Merritt and Minnie; their mother died in 1868 and the children were brought up by their grandmother; Merritt mar ried Minnie Rose, has two children and resides in the town; Minnie married Milton Johnson has one child, and resides in a Western State. Calista Ann was born in 1845, became Mrs. Cubertson and died in 1893. George W. was born in 1848, married Fanny Shell in 1874 and have one living child, Walter G. George W. died in 1880 in his twenty-second year. Alice was born in 1851, was married to Charles M. Holmes in 1873, and has two children, Kittie and Neddy; Mr. Holmes is a farmer in Colorado. Nehemiah Ingraham died in 1858; then Jonathan managed the farm till 1882, when he died, since which Mrs. Ingraham has carried on the farm successfully. She is now in her ninetieth year. Gibson, John, the well known dealer in wall paper and paint on Church street, en tered business life at thirteen years of age in the paint shop of the Eaton & Gilbert car works of Troy where he began as an apprentice. In 1856 he became employed in the Walter A. Wood Mower and Reaper Co's. shops at Hoosick Falls. From 1872 to 1883 he had full charge of the painting and packing departments of the William Anson Wood M. & R. Co.'s shops, both in Albany, N. Y., and Youngstown, O. After the termination of this association he came here and engaged in his present business and has accumulated a fine property, He was in the 7th Cavalry in the war and is now a member of the G. A. R. and has been junior vice-commander. He was born in 1840 at Toronto, Canada, son of John Gibson ; is a Republican and has been prominent in local affairs. Viets, M. H., is the genial and popular official in charge of the Fitchburg depot at Eagle Bridge, and where he has come to be considered a personal landmark by reason of long tenure of position. He was born at West Pawlet, Vt., May 27, 1849, son of Captain H. R. Viets. While yet a boy he mastered the mysteries of teleg raphy, and his first engagement was at the town of his birth. In 1869 he was ap pointed station agent at Eagle Bridge for the Troy and Boston Railroad. In June, 1887, when the Fitchburg Railroad bought the Troy and Hudson, and the Boston Hoosac Tunnel and Western road, he took charge of both stations. In December, 1890, he was made joint agent for the Fitchburg and Delaware and Hudson Canal Company's road. In 1875 Mr. Viets married Miss Elsie Slade of Saratoga, and has one son, Harry, now seventeen. He holds high rank among the Masonic fraternity, and in the esteem of a wide circle of friends. Eldredge, J. William, the enterprising and popular manager of the Holmes Furni ture stores, came to Hoosick Falls in 1883, being then about twenty years of age, as an assistant to his paternal uncle, Charles Q. Eldredge, who was in the lumber busi ness, Mr. Eldredge possesses in a marked degree the qualities that make up a 86 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. modern man of business, and made himself so indispensable that when the business was purchased by E. B. Hurd, he was retained as business manager. This position he held for five years, until Mr. Hurd sold out the business to Easton, Rising & Worden. In 1831 he became assoociated with Mr. Holmes and has for several years handled the large trade enjoyed by that house. Mr. Eldredge was born at Mystic, Conn., in 1863. In 1884 he graduated from the Troy Business College and has more' recently taken a course in the United States College of Embalming, at New York, thoroughly fitting himself for the rather arduous duties of the modern, scientific em- balmer and director. Mr. Eldredge is not only a business man in every sense of the word, but an exemplary and estimable member of society, and an enthusiastic worker for the cause of temperance. He is a member of the Temple of Honor, the Young Men's Christian Association, and of the Baptist church, secretary of the Sun day school and president of the Young People's society. In 1887 he married Miss Jennie Harder of Hoosick Falls, and they have two daughters: Bessie T. and Elfreda. In November, 1895, Mr. Eldredge resigned his position as manager of Mr. Holmes's furniture and undertaking business, to accept a position with Dodd, Mead & Co., publishers of New York city. Mr. Eldredge entered upon his duties in Janu ary, 1896, and at present he is a special representative of that firm for the sale of the International Cyclopaedia. Mr. Eldredge still makes Hoosick Falls his home. Corcilius, Louis D., was born in Germany, November 28, 1849, and came to Amer ica in 1869. He settled in Easton, Pa., for a short time, and then came to Nassau, Rensselaer county, where he remained one year, when he went to Syracuse for a while and then to Clyde, N. Y. After one year in Clyde he returned to Nassau in 1873 and remained there until 1878 when he removed to Schodack Center where he resided for ten years. He came to Castleton in 1888 and opened his excellent meat market which has proved a great success. This establishment is the only one of any kind in Castleton lighted by electric light by his own plant, a fact which indicates the enterprise exhibited by Mr. Corcilius in his business. In 1874 Mr Corcilius mar ried Catherine Kurtzennacker, by whom he has one son, William Corcilius. Button, Elihu L., was born in Pittstown, N. Y., September 6, 1872, a son of Lyman L. and Sarah (Lansing) Button, he a native of Pittstown and she of Watervliet, Albany county, N. Y. The maternal grandparents, Garret I. and Margaret (Has- well) Lansing, were farmers of Albany county, and died June 4, 1873, and July 16, 1848, respectively. The parents of Garret, Jacob and Jane (Vanscoyk) Lansing, were pioneers of Albany county, settling near Cohoes. The parents of Lyman L. were Lyman and Mercy Downing. He was born in Pittstown in 1792 and died in October, 1869 ; she was born in 1794 and died May 8, 1866. The great-grandparents of Elihu L., Simeon and Ruth (Eddy) Button, settled on the farm now owned by Elihu L. at a very early date. He was born April 5, 1757, and died August 22, 1836 ; she was born at Swanzy, Conn., July 12, 1759, and died June 17, 1854. April 6, 1871, Lyman D. married Sarah Lansing. Elihu L. was reared on the farm and has chosen farming as his occupation ; he was educated at the Lansingburgh Academy. In 1895 he married Minnie, daughter of John and Jane (McChesney) Gibbs, of Pittstown. In 1892 Mr. Button took charge of the home farm of 100 acres. Nelson, Dr. Horace G, was born in Troy, January 7, 1847. His father, Dr. Thomas FAMILY SKETCHES. 87 Nelson, was born in the North of Ireland and practiced dentistry in Troy, N. Y., for many years and died in 1871. His mother, Louisa M. (Stone) Nelson, was born in Potsdam, N. Y., and died in 1867. Dr. Nelson received his education in the public and private schools of Troy, and studied dentistry with Dr. C. H. Jenkins three years, and in July, 1873, succeeded Dr. S. J. Andres, who had been in practice six teen years. In 1875 he went to Stillwater, N. Y., where he practiced until 1877, when he returned to Troy and for about two years was with Dr. E. J. Young and then resumed practice on Grand street. For the past twelve years he has been located on Fifth avenue, where he is still practicing. He is a member of the Third District Dental Society and has been a delegate from that Society to the State Society for many years. He has a summer home at Melrose. He is a member of Trojan Council No. 86, Royal Arcanum, and is a past regent of that organization. He married in 1872 Martha M. Valance, daughter of Isaac W. Valance, an old resi dent of Troy, N.Y. Lynam, H. D. , was born in the State of Delaware in 1855. He is a son of Thomas P, and Mary T. (Stidham) Lynam of Christiana, New Castle county, Del. H. D., after leaving the Wilmington Academy, entered the Philadelphia Dental College, from which he was graduated in 1879, and in the fall of the same year came to Troy and practiced in the office of O. R. Young for two years, and in 1881 opened an office on Third street with Mr. Knauff, under the firm name of Lynam & Knauff. Mr. Knauff retired from the firm in 1891 and Mr. Lynam has since carried on a very successful practice. He is a member of the Third District Dental Association, and is also a member of the Mt. Zion Lodge, F. & A. M., and the Rensselaer County Wheelmen. He is a director in the Pioneer Building and Loan Association. In 1881 he married Lelia M. Lukens of New Castle county, Del., a daughter of the late Dr. Lukens, a prominent physician of Delaware. Payne, Capt. Martin, was born in Waterbury, Conn., in 1827. His father, Thomas J. Payne, also born in Waterbury, Conn., was a farmer and died in 1874. His mother was Nancy Frost, who died in 1880. He received his education in Waterbury and learned the trade of millwright and for a number of years was engaged at bridge building ; in 1862 he had charge of placing the armor plate on the gunboat Galena in Mystic, Conn., and afterwards came to Troy and about 1876 started a carriagemaking establishment on First street, where he is still located. He makes a specialty of the sulky manufacture, on which he has a number of patents. He was engineer on the staff of Colonel Babcock with rank of captain. He belongs to all the Masonic bodies and was captain of the Osgood Steamer Company. He was married in 1865 to Jane E. Brown of Troy, N..Y. He has one son, John E. B. Payne, who assists in the business. Stiles, Franklin O., was born in Wardsboro, Vt. He is a son of Orrin and Lucy (Wakefield) Stiles. His father was born in Massachusetts, and moved to Vermont when twenty-one years of age and bought a farm, where he lived until his death in 1873. His mother died in 1880. He received a common school education and at the age of nineteen left Vermont and traveled through Jefferson county, N. Y., selling his ware from a wagon, which occupation he followed until 1859 when he came to "roy and entered the concern of E. G. Akin & Co. , and after five years took a quar 88 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. ter interest in the concern, and twelve years later bought them out and has con tinued in the business as sole propeietor since, which is house furnishing, plumbing, tinning, etc. , having a large establishment and an extensive stock of goods. He has not been out of employment since he was eighteen. He belongs to all the Ma sonic bodies of Troy being a thirty-second degree Mason. His wife is Elizabeth (Morton) Stiles of Brunswick, to whom he was married in 1876, and has one son and one daughter, Franklin O., jr., and Helen H. Smith, Robert G. , wholesale grocer, came from Ottowa, Ont. , to Montreal in the year 1844, at the age of fourteen, and engaged as clerk with the dry goods firm of Howard & Co. He remained with that firm until 1848, then came to Troy and en gaged with William B. Fry in the retail dry goods business until 1851. In the fall of that year he removed to Cohoes, N. Y , and went into the dry goods and clothing business, and continued in that business until 1860. He then formed a copartner ship with the late G. M. Cropsey for the manufacture of flour, and in that year built the Hudson Valley Flour Mill. In 1864 he sold his interest to the firm of Mills & McMartin of Albany and after the close of the war, in 1866, assumed the duty of superintendent of the mill for that firm until 1877, when he engaged in the produce business on River street. In 1880 he bought the interest of the late Robert C. Col- lison in the wholesale grocery business and formed the firm of Stevenson, Smith & Co., afterwards Smith & Stevenson, and in 1894 Mr. Smith assumed control. and still continues the business at No. 327 River street. He was alderman of the Fourth ward in 1887-1888, and is a member of Mt. Zion Lodge, F. & A. M., and Apollo Com mandery of K. T. Mr. Smith served in the office of the Watervliet Arsenal during the Civil war. He was married in 1854 to Sarah A. Cropsey of Waterford, N. V., who died in 1873. His present wife was Sarah A. Smith of Northampton, N. Y , to whom he was married in 1876. His children are Mrs. Dr. A. Ives, of Grand Ridge, 111. ; Clarence, who is salesman in the store, and R. George Smith, who is chief clerk in the medical department of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics and joined the party at its formation in 1854; voted for John C. Fremont for president in 1856 and for William McKinley, jr., in 1896. Thomas, Henry B., was born in Middleboro, Mass., April 15, 1844, the son of Oliver and Johanna (Stewart) Thomas, who came to Troy in 1854. His father died in 1860 and his mother in 1890. After attending the public schools and the Albany Business College he started in the manufacture of kegs in which he is at present en gaged. His factory has a capacity of making 700,000 kegs per year. He is a park commissioner and was candidate for mayor on the Republican ticket in 1891 but was defeated. He belongs to the Troy, East Side, and Pafraets Dael Clubs, and is pres ident of the East Side Club, a past commander of Apollo Commandery, No. 15 of Troy, trustee of the Troy Orphan Asylum and trustee of the First Presbyterian church. In 1864 he was married to Charlotte E. Bainbridge, who was born in Lon don,. England, and by whom he has three sons and one daughter. Wight, Arthur M., was born in Troy, April 20, 1860. His father, William W. Wight, was one of the pioneer collar manufacturers and came to Troy about 1832 and was at one time clerk of the Board of Canal Commissioners ; he died in 1868 ; his FAMILY SKETCHES. 89 mother, Lydia P. (Van Auken) Wight, died in 1893. Arthur received his education in the public schools and for several years was bookkeeper in the office of a knitting mill on Ida Hill, and in 1884 became one of the proprietors of the Trojan Button Fastener Company, of which he is secretary and treasurer. He became member of the Trojan Hook & Ladder Co. in January, 1880, and has held the office of presi dent, vice-president, and in 1864 was elected captain of that company, which office he fills at present. He married in 1886 Miss Hattie Slocum of Schaghticoke. She was the daughter of the late Chauncey B. Slocum who was at one time a member of assembly. Westervelt, E. W., was born in Grafton, Rensselaer county, in 1850. He is of Holland Dutch ancestry. His great uncle was supreme court judge and his grand father was a Dutch Reform minister. His father, Ralph Westervelt, was born in Brunswick, N. Y., and was by trade a blacksmith and was also justice of the peace at Quackenkill where he was also postmaster for thirty years ; he died in 1892. His mother, Judith M. Ives Westervelt, lives in Brunswick. Mr. Westervelt received his education in the academy at Poestenkill and came to Troy and was in the carpet department of the Quackenbush store for eleven years. He started in the steam carpet cleaning business in 1878 at Spring avenue and later at 102 Congress street. He now has a fine plant at 120 Ferry street where carpets are cleaned by machinery and he has built up a large and profitable business. He was married to Sarah E. Simpson of Jersey City, N. J., in 1871. He has four sons, Vincent R., Clarence E., Eugene S. and Nelson H. Crosby, Clement S., M.D., born in San Bernardino, Cal., November 1, 1867, is the son of Benjamin S. and Caroline (Jaggard) Crosby, he a native of Columbia county, N.Y., and she of New Jersey. The grandfather of Clement S. was Thomas Crosby, a soldier in the war of 1813 and who spent most of his life in Illinois. The father of Clement S. was a Presbyterian minister who in 1858 went to California, where he lived some years and returned to the State of New York and afterward went to Kansas, remaining about ten years, when he returned to New York State and died at Malden-on-the Hudson in July, 1889. Clement S. was reared in various places and was educated in the University of Lawrence, Kan., and studied medicine with Dr. Larkins of Albany, and was graduated from Albany Medical College in March, 1890. He practiced medicine in Columbia county and in 1891 went to East Nassau, where he has a successful practice. He was married October 31, 1894, to Eliza Shaver of East Nassau, N. Y. Dr. Crosby is a member of Tsatsawassa Lodge No. 356, 1. 0. 0. F., and Rensselaer Encampment No. 96 at Sand Lake. He has been a member of the town Board of Health. Fellows, John T., was born in Stephentown, July 19, 1820. He was the son of David and Chloe (Turner) Fellows; he died in 1870, and she died in 1878. John T.'s grandfather was William Fellows of Stonington, Conn. , a ship carpenter by trade. John T. was reared on a farm and educated in the common and select schools ; he learned the carpenter's trade at the age of seventeen and has since been a con tractor and builder. He came to Brainard in 1848 and has lived where he now re sides for twenty-eight years. February 1, 1848, he married Diana Rhodes, daughter of Case and Hanna (Kenyon) Rhodes, who spent part of their lives in Nassau and 90 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Lebanon and finally came to Schodack, where he spent his last days. To Mr. and Mrs. Fellows were born seven children: Frank. Edgar, Ella D., Charles, George Leland (deceased) and Hattie M. Mr. Fellows has been highway commissioner for three years. Mrs.' Fellows died December 7, 1888. Thomson, James, born in Nassau November 1, 1841, is the son of Oliver and Jerusha (Wheeler) Thomson, both born in Columbia county, N.Y. The grandfather of James was Edward Thomson, who spent his life in Columbia county. The ma ternal grandfather was Henry Wheeler, who lived and died in the same county. The father of James was a merchant at Hoag's Corners, a member of assembly and justice of the peace about twenty years and also supervisor of the town for several terms. He died March 11, 1861, and his wife in March, 1885. James was reared at Hoag's Corners and at the age of sixteen went to Troy to clerk in a store, and in August, 1862, enlisted in Co. D, 125th N. Y. Vols., and served until the close of the war. He was at Harper's Ferry, Gettysburg, Auburn Ford, Bristoe Station, Mine Run, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, front of Petersburg, and there wounded. After his discharge he came to Nassau and has since been engaged in the meat business, Mr. Thompson was married October 12, 1869, to Mary Shillinger of New Lebanon, daughter of Andrew and Rhoda (Wilson) Shillinger, he born in Germany and she in Kinderhook ; he came to Pittsfield about 1845 and is now living at West Lebanon ; his wife died in August, 1869. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomson were born four children : Wilson C, Charles F. A. (deceased), Robert M. and Austin A. (deceased). Mr. Thomson is a Republican and has been justice six years. He is a member of Grati tude Lodge No. 674, F. & A. M. The family attend and support the M. E. church at Brainard. Thomson, Lester B., was born in Hoag's Corners, April 6, 1849, a son of Oliver C. Thomson. Lester B. was raised at Hoag's Corners and there educated. He went to Valatie at the age of sixteen years, and engaged as shipping clerk for John Snyder and was with him for six years. In 1867 he married Catherine Ayrault of Valatie, by whop five children have been born: Daniel E., Ernest C, Jamie (deceased), Kittie and Bessie C. He then went to Hudson and engaged in the man ufacture of tinware for four years. He afterwards bought out a shop in West Troy and continued business for six years and in 1886 he came to Brainard Station and engaged m the mercantile business. He has been excise commissioner and school trustee for six terms. He is a member of Tsatsawassa Lodge No. 356, I. O. 0. F., and the Rensselaer Encampment No. 96 of Sand Lake. Webster, Nelson, born in Stephentown, N. Y., September 8, 1835, is the son of Aurelius and Elsie (Brockway) Webster, both born in Stephentown, he January, 1804, and she June 14, 1814. The grandfather of Nelson, Constant Webster, settled in Stephentown when a young man and lived and died there. The maternal grand father was George Brockway, a native of Stephentown where he lived and died. His father was one of the earliest settlers of that town. The paternal great-grand father of Nelson lived and died in Massachusetts. The family trace their ancestry to Governor John Webster of Connecticut. The father of Nelson spent most of the latter part of his life in New Lebanon. He was a teacher about ten years and town school superintendent and was justice of the peace in New Lebanon for many years. FAMILY SKETCHES. 01 His principal occupation however was farming. Nelson was reared on a farm and educated in the Transylvania Institute of Nassau, Wilbraham Academy, near Spring field Mass., at Fort Plain Seminary, and at the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute. He first taught school six years and in 1859 began the study of law at East Nassau under Judge E. Smith Strait and has since practiced his profession at that place. He was married July 24, 1866, to Theressa M. Warden of East Nassau and has three children: Mattie E., wife of Charles R. Fort of Pittsfield, N. Y. ; A. Frank, who married Evaline Donnely and is patrolman in New York city; Nellie B. at home. Mr. Webster is a Republican and has been town clerk, town auditor and" justice of the peace. He is a member of Gratitude Lodge No. 674, F. & A. M., of which he is now past master and is also a member of Tsatsawassa Lodge No. 356, I. O. O. F. Millius, Melvin R., was born in East Nassau, July 16, 1858. He was a son of Adam andMaryL. (Harris) Mellius; he was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., and she in Nassau. She was a daughter of Robert and Lurena (Sliter) Harris, who settled in the town at a very early date. The father of Melvin was a carpenter by trade and came to Nassau about 1855 and enlisted in Company E, 125th N. Y. Vols. His widow lives in East Nassau. Melvin R. was reared on a farm and was" educated in the common schools. He followed farming and then clerked in East Nassau for H. J. Hayes for about four years and in 1885 bought out Mr. Hayes and has had a success ful business. In politics he is a Republican and is now serving his second; term as supervisor. Van Wie, Charles H., Rev., was born in the town of Ira, Cayuga county, N. Y. October 22, 1851. He was educated in the public schools, Monroe Collegiate Insti tute, Hamilton College, and was graduated from Auburn Theological Seminary with the degree of B. D. in 1877. Shortly after leaving the Seminary he received a call to Forest church at Lyons Falls, N. Y. , where he was ordained to the Gospel ministry and installed by the Presbytery of Utica. After three years he resigned this pastorate and accepted a call to the churches at Williamstown and West Cam den, N. Y., where he labored seven years. In December, 1889, he accepted an invi tation to supply the Presbyterian church at Melrose, and was installed as pastor in May, 1890, taking charge also of the Presbyterian church at Tomhamock. Septem ber 21, 1886, he married Fannie E. Becker of Mexico, Oswego county, N. Y. Mr. Van Wie's father, Henry, was born in the town of Guilderland, Albany county, November 17, 1797. He was well educated, an industrious and successful farmer. He was twice married, first to Lydia Conger. Seven children were born to them : Rosina E., Blendon M., Isadore, Mary C, Lionel E., Vrooman W., and Benedict G. Mrs. Van Wie died April 1, 1848. November 21, 1850, he married Mary D. Taylor, of Cato, Cayuga county. They had three children : Charles H., Jessie and Jennie. Henry Van Wie died April 2, 1876, and his widow, Mary D., October 12, 1895. The ancestry of the family was Dutch, English and Scotch. Macardle, George W. E., Rev., was born in Newburg, Orange county, N. Y., March 20, 1842. He was educated in Union College, Schenectady, and Shurtliff's College at Alton. 111., graduating as an engineer. July 4, 1861, he entered the vol unteer army of the North as first lieutenant of the 48th N. Y. Vols. He was trans ferred to the engineer corps, and became chief engineer. He was brevetted captain 92 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. in 1864, and honorably discharged in 1866. In October, 1871, he was ordained as a Congregationalist m the ministry and located at Reynolds as pastor of the Dutch Reform Church in 1893. In 1868 he married Anna M. McKelsey of Lansingburg, N. Y. They had one son, David C, who died at the age of two years. Mr. Mac- ardle's father, George W., was born in Wethersfield, Vt., in 1808. He was educated there and married Lenora J. Eddy of his native place; they had six children : George W. E., Franklin G., William P., Eustice W., Lucy A., and Anna E. E. The family came to this State at an early day. Mr. Macardle died in 1872, and his wife in 1859, Mr. Macardle has many relics, among which was a pair of gloves that Colonel Ells worth were when he tore down the rebel flag, at Alexandria, Va. He is an inventor of no mean merit. His ancestors were in the early wars. He is a member of the A. O. U W. at Pecatonica, 111. The ancestry of the family was of New England stock and of Scotch origin. Halstead, De Witt C, was born in the town of Pittstown, November 19, 1824 He obtained his education in the public schools, taught twelve winters, and has always been one of the county's thrifty farmers. He married twice, first, on March 14, 1849, to Eliza McChesney of the town of Brunswick; they had one daughter, Eliza M., who married Arthur Cady of North Adams, Mass., and had one daughter, Marion, who is a student in North Adams Academy ; Mrs. Cady died January 29, 1883. Mrs. Halstead died December 16, 1855, and for his second wife, on September 9, 1857, he married Harriet Stover of the town of Pittstown; they have had three children: Harriet J., Francis E., who died in infancy, and Francis De Witt. Harriet J. mar ried Leonard Morrison now of Lansingburg, N. Y., of the firm of Morrison & West- fall Co., of Troy, agricultural implements and seed store. Mr. Halstead's father, Jonas, was born at the old home in Pittstown, April 24, 1783, and educated in the schools of that early day. He married Anna McCoon, who was born January 20, 1784 ; they had nine children : Alexander G. , Charlotte C. , Lydia M. , Anna C. , Joseph J., Charles M., Emily E., De Witt C, and Ambrose L. Mr. Halstead died July 16, 1861, and his wife August 13, 1860. Mr. Halstead's grandfather, Joseph Halstead, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y. His great-grandfather, was Samuel Halstead. Mrs. Halstead's father, Jacob M. Stover, was born in Pittstown, November 9, 1784, and educated in the schools of his day; he was a farmer; November 14, 1805, he married Christine Wetsel of the town of Schaghticoke ; they had ten children : Martin J., Maria, George, Elizabeth, John, Harriet, who died in 1821; Jacob, Mar garet A., Jane C. , and Harriet A. Mr. Stover died September 5, 1849, and his wife August 28, 1858. Mrs. Halstead's grandfather, Martin Stover, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y. De Witt C. Halstead began life without capital, and through indus try, integrity, and sobriety has secured a fine competency. He has been elder of the Presbyterian church for many years. The ancestry of the family was English, German, and Dutch. Dater, Jacob, was born in the town of Brunswick, Rensselaer county, October 12, 1825. He was educated in the district schools and has always followed the honora ble occupation of farming. December 26, 1852, he married Catharine E. Wetsel of Schaghticoke; they had five children, four sons and one daughter: Clarence W., H. Newton, Alta, Irving C, and Charles L. Clarence W. was married to Julia Mc Chesney and they have a son, Henry. H. Newton married Minnie M. Daniels of FAMILY SKETCHES. 93 Schaghticoke, and they have one living daughter, Clara E. Alta married Rev. Will iam F. Barnett, who is the pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church at Mel rose N. Y. ; they have two children, Nelson D., and Dorothy. Irving C. married Catherine Schemerhorn of Troy; they have three children, I. Clinton, Ruth and Margaret. Charles L. is the farmer at home with his father, not married at this date. The eldest son is in the coal business, in Cambridge, Washington county, N Y. Mrs. Dater died April 29, 1890, mourned by a bereaved husband and chil dren. Mr. Dater's father was born at the old home in Brunswick, February 12, 1801. He married Catherine S'ryder of his native town, born December 29, 1803 ; nine chil dren were born to them: Lena Maria, Mary Christina, Harriet, Jacob, Elizabeth, John, Mary, Calvin and Henry. Lena M. died in her seventieth year. Elizabeth died at the age of twenty-six. John died in 1894. Mr. Dater's father, Henry, died December 21, 1883, and his wife March 27, 1854. Mr. Dater is a member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church at Melrose, N. Y. He has been one of the elders many years. Mr. Dater's great-grandfather was born in Claverack, N. Y. The ancestry of "the family was German and Welch. Denison, Henry E., was born in Stephentown in 1828. He is a son of George T. Denison, born in Stephentown in 1795, one of two children (George T. and Rebecca, wife of Dr. Emerson Hull of Berlin), born to Griswold Denison, who was a success ful farmer, and acquired a large property ; he died in 1826 from the effects of a wound received by burglars who entered his house at night, and were later impris oned for life; he always lived in North Stephentown. George T. was a farmer in Stephentown, but moved to Berlin in 1838 where he owned a large tract of land and was very prominent ; he was colonel of a company of State militia in which he took great pride and interest; he served as justice for many years and was member of assembly', and was loved and respected by all who knew him ; his wife was Nancy Niles, born in Berlin, and daughter of Deacon Eliphalet Niles. Their children were Parley N., Porter G. , and Henry E. He died in 1874 and his wife in 1853. When fourteen years of age Henry E, began to clerk in a store, and when twenty-three purchased the stock of his employer and conducted the business for five years, when he retired to attend to other business. He now owns the homestead of five acres which belonged to his grandmother, Rhoda Tifft, the wife of Griswold Denison, who was a remarkable business woman. Mr. Denison has officiated as justice of the peace, inspector, and justice of sessions. He is a member of Troy Lodge No. 13, F. &A. M , and a member of the Berlin Chess Club, and has been a musician from boyhood. December 8, 1850, he married Hannah M. Godfrey, born in Berlin, daughter of Josiah and Sarah (Burnell) Godfrey; they have one son, Frederick P., a well known and successful musician of Albany. Rogers, William Franklin, the subject of this sketch, was born in Grafton, Rens selaer county, April 29, 1829. His education was obtained in the district schools of Berlin, to which place the family moved in 1831, and have since resided there. At an early age he began to learn the jeweler's trade in hisfather's shop. He manifested a talent for music when quite young, and, having advantages soon developed into an excellent musician, the violin being his favorite instrument. He, as an orches tra leader, has a wide reputation, Mr. Rogers was one of three gentlemen to or ganize and incorporate the Berlin Water Supply Company, which has proven an 94 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. enterprise of much importance. The water, which comes from a reservoir on the hillside, being used to run motors in shirt factories, and for general town supply. In 1856 Mr. Rogers purchased the mill known as the "Bentley mill" which he con ducted for ten years, when he purchased a woolen factory which he converted into a larger mill; this he conducted until 1876 when he purchased the Hammond mill and converted into a cider and grist mill; this he still owns and conducts. In 1855 he was married to Louise Dimond, who was born in Stephentown, daughter of Cap tain William and Malvinnia A. (Johnson) Dimond. To them were born two children: Wallace, who died young, and Van Vechton, whose ability as a musician is acknowl edged in the leading musical circles of America. Mrs. Rogers' father was born in Grafton, December 11, 1790, and was a preacher, and jeweler; his mother was born in Petersburgh, Rensselaer county; their children were; Joseph, Carey, Amos, Dor othy, Deborah, Samuel, Sullivan, Justin, William, Dorsey, and an infant who died without being named. Of these but three are living. Mr. Rogers' father was a Re stricted Communion Baptist and for nine years was pastor of the Berlin Baptist church. He died Juiy 27, 1860, aged sixty-nine, and his wife in 1842, aged forty- five. Rev. Carey Rogers, the grandfather of William, was born in the town of Hoosick. He was a farmer as well as preacher, and his father was one of three brothers who were pioneers in that town. Rogers, Edwin D., was born in the town of Berlin, January 13, 1856. He is a son of Joseph Davis Rogers, who was born in the town of Grafton, September, 1810, and he a son of Rev. Joseph Rogers. Joseph D. , the father of Edwin D. , was a carpen ter and painter, which trades he followed for many years ; he was a first-class me chanic, active and energetic, and in his later years he ran a grist mill; his wife was Minerva Godfrey, who was born in Berlin in 1822, daughter of Captain Robert and Hannah (Lewis) Godfrey. Their children are Mrs. Saturna Wrenn and Edwin D. He died in February, 1885, and his wife survives him and resides with her children. Her father, Captain Robert Godfrey, was born in Rhode Island, in October, 1779, and died in July, 1830; he came with his parents to Berlin in 1791, and reared three sons and four daughters, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. Edwin D. Rogers received his education in the common schools of Berlin ; he followed carpentering with his father, and worked at his father' s mill until 1884, when he embarked in the meat bus iness in Berlin. This business he carried on for nine years, when he sold out and en gaged in the baking business which he now conducts. It is the first and only bakery, with the exception of one conducted here for two years, ever established in Berlin. He has been three times elected commissioner of the highways and is at present filling that office, and is a member of the Berlin Chess Club. In 1883 he married Miss Carrie A. Bonesteel of Troy, daughter of Frank and Eliza M. Bonesteel. Their children are Frank D., born .September 27, 1884, and Fred B., born August 3, 1886. Greene, Edgar R. , was born in Berlin in 1830, a son of Ray Greene, born in Berlin in 1802, son of Amos Greene, whose father, Squire John, was the pioneer settler in Berlin in 1772; he was justice for forty years, and also served histown as supervisor. The father of Edgar R. was a farmer by occupation, prominent and successful; he spent his whole life in the town of Berlin ; he was never an aspirant to public office, but always interested in the welfare of his townspeople; his wife was Lucy Maxon, born in Berlin and daughter of Jairus Maxon ; their children were Melissa, Eliza FAMILY SKETCHES. 95 Edgar R., William D , Halsey B., Eglon L., John T., Castello. Helen D., Nancy E., and Denio; he died when eighty eight years old, and his wife in 1892, aged eighty- eight. Edgar R. was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. When , seventeen years of age he engaged in mercantile business in the village of Berlin as clerk, and with the exception of two years spent on the farm has followed tbe mer cantile business since nineteen years of years. He engaged in business for himself with a partner, and in 1859 erected his present store. Mr. Greene is a thorough business man in every way and owes his success to his integrity and perseverance. He was one of the pioneers in the white shirt manufacturing business in Berlin, be ginning about 1851, which he continued successfully until 1893. In 1850 he married Eliza 0. daughter of Schuyler and Phoebe (Whitford) Greenman. To them were born Mrs. Ida A. Denison, Mrs. Hattie Cowee, Lucy, and Arthur, who is in business with his father. Mrs. Greene is a member of the Ladies' Aid Society. Greenman, George N. . was born in Berlin, September 24, 1854, and is a son of George Nicholas, who was born in Stephentown in 1805 ; he was one of three sons, William, George M. and Schuyler, born to Silas, who was a farmer and native of Rhode Island. George N., father of the subject, was a farmer nearly all his life; he removed to Berlin in 1826, and in 1850, with his brother Schuyler, engaged in the shirt manufacturing business, which he continued until his death in 1859; he was thrice married, his first wife being Elizabeth Saunders, by whom five children were born: James F., Mary L., Joel A., Thomas E. and one who died young; his second wife was Annis Saunders, a sister of his first wife; his third wife was Phoebe Saunders, a cousin of his former wives ; to the latter marriage were born two chil dren, Rosetta P. and George N. ; he was a member of the Seventh Day Baptist church, with which he was prominently identified. George N., jr., was educated in the common schools. He remained for a while on the farm with his mother, but began to care for himself at an early age by doing farm work, and for seven years was a clerk in a general store in Berlin. In 1890 he leased the grist mill and saw mill in Berlin which he has since conducted; he is also a dealer in grain and feed and manufactures a large amount of lumber, In politics Mr. Greenman is a Repub lican. In 1877 he married Mary J., daughter of Philanda and Jennie (Bills) Man chester, and they have one son, Oscar C. They are both members of the Seventh Day Baptist church. Hull, Alson J., was born in Berlin in 1856, and is the son of Schuyler Hull, born in Berlin in 1825, one of eight children, four sons and four daughters, born to Elisha Hull, a native of Rhode Island, born December, 1795. He was a son of Thomas Hull, a native of Rhode Island, who removed to and settled in Berlin in 1797. He was a blacksmith and farmer. Schuyler Hull was a carpenter and first-class me chanic and made it a life business, erecting many bridges, etc. He was elected to and served in all the town offices, and was active and energetic in all affairs. His wifewas Mary Burdick, born in Berlin and a daughter of Smith and Levina Burdick ; their children were Alson J. and Dr. John B., of Williamstown; Mass. He died in 1890 and his wife survives him and resides in South Berlin. Alson J. attended the village school in Berlin and worked at carpentry with his father from 1875 to 1880. He engaged in the ice business in New York city, but returned to Berlin and engaged in farming on a rented farm, and in 1890 he purchased his present farm of 175 acres 96 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. on which he has erected a fine modern house and commodious barns and other buildings. He conducts a dairy and furnishes milk to many of the villagers, and is also interested in the breeding of high grade sheep and horses. He has served his town as collector, poormaster and school trustee ; in the spring of 1895 he was elected excise commissioner and made a strong contest for no license. In 1879 he married Lillie Allen, born in Vermont and reared in Berlin; she is the daughter of Alexander and Celia (Clark) Allen. Their children are Thurman, Schuyler, Perry, Eugene and Mildred. Mr. and Mrs. Hull are members of the Baptist church, of which he is a trustee. Mr. Hull's farm is known as the Sunny Bank Farm. He has proved himself a model and successful farmer. Whyland, Willis W., was born in Rochester, N. Y., in 1866. He is a very popular and enterprising young man, a son of Calvin Whyland, who was born in Poesten kill, Rensselaer county, January 1, 1824. He was one of thirteen children, ten sons and three daughters, born to Leonard Whyland, of Holland descent, and grandson of the original Whyland who came to America, and was a farmer by occupation. Calvin, the father of Willis W., was reared on a farm and when young was engaged at different times in the nursery, grocery and laundry businesses, the latter of which he followed successfully for thirty years, beginning in Troy in 1869. He made his home for a number of years at Saratoga. In 1876 he went to New York city and engaged in the laundry business, where he remained for two years, then he removed to Berlin and erected the present laundry. Under his supervision the business steadily increased, and he increased the building proportionately until the present large structure was erected ; the business gives employment to abo'ut sixty people. He was a Mason and an energetic and enterprising man and had the good will of the community. His wife was Mary Rhodes, born in Sand Lake and daughter of Daniel (an agriculturalist in Orleans county, N. Y.) and Emeline (King) Rhodes. Their children were Mrs. Emma Sharp of Michigan, Herbert, Mrs. Cora Greene of Berlin, and Willis W. Mr. Whyland died March 22, 1891, and his wife survives him and resides in the village of Berlin. Herbert is a traveling salesman and is a member of the Berlin Chess Club and of the Royal Arcanum Lodge. Willis W., since his father's demise, has carried on the laundry business very successfully, the work being mostly on new shirts. He is a member of the Berlin Chess Club. Mrs. Whyland, his mother, is one of five children, two sons and three- daughters. Her father, Danie Rhodes was born in Berlin, April 4, 1805. He was one of seven children born to Walter, who was also a native of Berlin, born about 1775, and was probably the second or third generation from the first Rhodes who came from England to America in 1744. Grant, Richard Edward, was born in the county of Kilkenny, Ireland, May 22, 1843. He is a son of James Grant, a native of Ireland, son of Walter of Scotland, who removed to Ireland, where he reared a family of three sons and one daughter. He was a general agent for English landlords. James, the father of Richard E., was a prosperous farmer and land owner, and also a general agent for English land lords. He was recognized as a leader in his district and was one of the promoters of fairs where stock was exhibited. He gave his children a liberal education. His wife was Alice Ryan; their children were Mary, Ellen, Catherine, Anastatia, Mar- garget, Walter, Richard E., Alice, Hannah, Lawrence, Lizzie and Anna. They also FAMILY SKETCHES. 97 adopted and reared an orphan boy. In 1859, when a lad of sixteen, Richard E. emigrated to America with his foster brother, unknown to his parents, coming direct to Troy, he being the only one of his family who came to America; he went to Poestenkill, where he did chores for his board the first winter. In 1859 he came to Berlin and engaged in farm work, where he has since resided, devoting most of his time to superintending farms. He is now superintendent of Mr. Wyckoff's farm in Berlin. In 1862 he answered his adopted country's call and enlisted in Co. E, 113th New York Infantry, and served until the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged. He participated in the battles of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, North Anna River, Petersburg, Reams Station and Appomattox. At Reams Station he was wounded by a musket shot ; the ball passed through his hip and he was disabled for several months. He is a member of Silas Tappan G. A. R. Post of Berlin, which he organized and was its first commander, w-hich office he filled for five years. He is a member of Little Hoosick Lodge I. O. O. F. of Berlin, of which he is now vice-grand master, having passed through all chairs to that office ; is also a member of the Protective Order of Elks of Hoosick Falls, the Berlin Chess Club, and the Encampment I. O. O. F. of Hoosick Falls. He has served three years each as tax collector, commissioner of highways and excise commissioner. In November, 1865, he married Hannah M. Ervin, born in Berlin and daughter of Patrick and Margaret (Nelson) Ervin ; their children are Mary, wife of John T. Kelley, of Millford, Mass. , assistant chief of the fire department; Margaret A. of Troy, Lizzie A., Hannah M., and Walter E. Mr. Grant served as deputy sheriff under Sheriff Tappan. Jones, Halbert H., was born in Stephentown, August 17, 1835. He is a son of William Jones, a native of the same place, born August 26, 1789. William was the third of eight children born to Major James Jones, a native of Connecticut, a soldier in the Revolutionary war, who came to Stephentown about 1772 and devoted his life to farming ; his wife was Catherine Denison and they lived to good old age. Will iam, the father of Halbert H., was a prosperous farmer and prominent and actively interested in the political welfare of his town and county. His wife was Phoebe Green, born in Stephentown and daughter of Lanctford Green ; their children were Oscar, Laura, Catherine, Phoebe, William L., Griswold D., Abigail and H. H. He died in May, 1861. Halbert H. received his education in the common schools and Fort Edward Institute. He began farming for himself when about twenty-three years of age, was interested in a woolen mill in Massachusetts for a short time, and for many years had dealt in agricultural implements and phosphate. In 1875 he re moved to South Berlin, where he has since resided on his farm. He served two years as justice in Stephentown, and is now serving his third term in Berlin in the same office. He is a member of Little Hoosick Lodge No. 578, I. O. O. F., in Ber lin. In 1858 he married Mary A. Kerlin, daughter of Patrick Kerlin ; they had one child, Allison. Mrs. Jones died in April, 1861. His second wife was Mary J. Jerome of Berlin, daughter of Hilton R. and Mary A. (Colver) Jerome, whom he married in November, 1862; their children are Arthur M. and Mary A. Mrs Jones died in 1890, and his daughter, Mary A., is now keeping house for him. Mattison, Edwin D., was born in Berlin, November 28, 1855. He is the son of Job Mattison, whose sketch follows this. Mr. Mattison remained with his father until after he attained his majority; when twenty-six years of age he rented a farm 98 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and engaged in agricultural pursuits; four years later he purchased his present farm of 240 acres, on which he does general farming. Mr. Mattisoii has been successful in everything he has undertaken. He isa member of Little Hoosick Lodge, 1.0. 0.F., and of the Berlin Chess Club. In 1883 he was married to Miss Alma E. Shaw, who was born in Berlin on the farm now owned by Edwin D. She is the daughter of Rinaldo and Loretta R. Shaw. Mr. and Mrs. Mattison are both members of the Christian church at South Berlin, of which Mrs. Mattison has been organist since she was fourteen years of age. Mattison, Job O., was born in the town of Berlin in 1821. Allen Mattison, his grand father, was a native of Rhode Island and was a soldier in the Revolutionary army. He emigrated to Berlin about 1788, where he settled in the forest, made a home for himself and family and there spent his remaining days. His children were David, Job, Ebenezer and Allen David. His father was born in Rhode Island in 1781, came to Berlin with his father in 1788. He was a farmer and blacksmith, having his shop on his farm ; he was moderately successful. His wife was Anna Fuller, daughter of Daniel Fuller of Berlin. Their children were Stephen, David O., Emeline, Louisa and Job O. They were both members of the Baptist church. He died in 1854, and his wife survived him about ten years. David O. is the only surviving son ; he is a wealthy farmer in South Berlin and owns a portion of the original homestead ; he has two children, Martha and Amanda, the latter the wife of Albert O. Mattison. Job 0, was a shoemaker by trade, which he followed during his early life. He later en gaged in agricultural pursuits of which he made a success. He was a member of the order of Odd Fellows. His wife was Hannah Nichols, who was born in Ber lin, a daughter of George Nichols. Their children are Edwin D., Albert 0., and Eunice A. They were both members of the Christian church. He died in June, 1895, and his wife died in 1874. Mattison, Albert O., was born in Berlin in 1861. He is a son of Job Mattison. He was reared on a farm and received a common school education and remained with his father until the tatter's death. Since 1890 he has had the supervision of the farm of 700 acres belonging to his father-in-law and aunt. He is interested in dai rying, milking from thirty to forty cows. He is also a surveyor and does consider able work in that line. Mr. Mattison has officiated in his time as collector and com missioner of highways and is now filling his second term in the latter capacity. He is a member of Little Hoosick Lodge, I. O. O. F. In 1889 he married Miss Amanda Mattison, daughter of David O. and Helen M. (Rose) Mattison. They have two chil dren: Allen, born in 1893, and Harold, born in 1895. Lewis, William H., was born in Erie county, Pa., in 1841, and is the son of Zuriel Lewis, jr., born in Poultney, Vt.. who was one of eight children born to Zuriel, sr. When a young man he went to Wills Pond, Vt., where he engaged at his trade of millwright; in 1853 while in Virginia he was taken sick and died. His wife was Rebecca Austin of Granville, N. Y. His children were Jonathan A., Henry H., William H., Frank G., who was killed in the late war, Armina, Mary Ann, Adaline, Eliza and Rollin C. His wife survived him many years and died in Berlin in 1885. William H. when twelve years of age went to live with an uncle, and when eighteen began an apprenticeship as a tinner, which trade he followed for three years. When FAMILY SKETCHES. 99 the late war broke out he enlisted and served three months and after his return worked at his trade for a time, then spent about one year on a farm, thence to St. Thomas, Canada, where he engaged in lumbering and farming with his brother in-law. He then removed to Sioux City, Iowa, remained a short time and returned to Erie, Pa. , his native place. In 1867 he came to Berlin and purchased his present business which he has conducted successfully. He later added to his tinware a hardware business. He has served as town clerk and also in other offices. In 1866 he mar ried Theodocia Adams, born in Michigan and daughter of I. B. Adams; their chil dren are Mrs. Ida R. Green of Berlin ; R. Frank, who is in business with his father; William E. and Charles H. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are both members of the M. E. church, of which he is trustee and steward. Niles, George D., is a son of John B. Niles, who was born in Berlin in 1797, one of eight children born to Eliphalet, born in Berlin and a prominent man, served as deacon of his church and supervisor of his town. He was the son of Nathaniel Niles of Connecticut who was a pioneer in Berlin. John B. was a prosperous farmer and spent his whole life in the town of Berlin ; he was captain of a company of State militia, receiving his appointment from Gov. De Witt Clinton. He served his town as assessor and supervisor in 1849, and was a merchant for two years in the village of Berlin. His wife was Rosanna (born in 1800), daughter of Henry Brimmer, son of Godfrey. Their children were Alanson B. , Martin B. , Henry E. , and George D. He lived to be eighty-four, and his wife fifty-seven years. They were both mem bers of the Baptist church. George D. , born in .1836, received his education in the com mon schools, and from the age of nineteen was for two years in the canal collector's office in West Troy, N.Y. ; the following year he taught school, and in 1857 he engaged in aunion store in Berlin; he then spent one year on the farm, when he again returned to the store in Berlin, in connection with which he manufactured white shirts by con tract. From 1861 to 1871 he was on his father's farm, when he bought his present store where he has since remained. He has held the offices of collector, assessor, justice and supervisor in 1891 and 1892, and has been prominently identified with the school board for the past twelve years, having been treasurer of the board six years and three years chairman. When very young Mr. Niles manifested great ability as a musician, and when fifteen years of age became leader of the Berlin band, which he led for thirty years and is still a member. In 1856 he married Emeline Maxon, born in Petersburgh and daughter of Gideon P. Maxon. Their children are Mrs. Florence Denison of Petersburgh, Fannie, who died when twenty, and Arthur. His wife died in 1885. She was a member of the Baptist church and president of the Ladies' Aid Society. His second wife is Carrie Sireing of Berlin, a daughter of George Sireing. Mr. Niles is trustee and for six years was Sunday school superintendent of the Baptist church. Stillman, Harry N., was born in Berlin in 1850. He is a son of William N., .born in Berlin in 1822, who was one of seven children born to Paul, a native of Rhode Island. He was a carpenter by trade and came to Berlin about 1816. William N., the father of Harry N., was a farmer, filled several town offices and was very prominent in politics, and a member of the Masonic fraternity. His wife was Sarepta Main, daughter of Isaac and Sally (Buddington) Main, who were natives of Rhode Island ; Mr. Main was a blacksmith by trade, and was a soldier in the war of 100 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. 1812; he died when sixty-five years of age, and his wife in June, 1896, at ninety-five. To Mr. and Mrs. William N. Stillman were born six children: Harry N., Eben W.' Luann, Frank, George and Charles. Mr. Stillman died in 1893, and his wife sur vives him and resides in Berlin. Harry N. received a common school education. His first enterprise was that of a confectioner, and he later engaged in the shirt business which he followed until 1888, and then removed to Middletown, N.Y., where he was engaged for two years as superintendent in the shirt factory of E. Miller & Co. He returned to Berlin in 1890 and started the branch Manhattan Shirt Mills for Levi Wechsler & Co. ; beginning with one stitcher and foot power, in one year he occupied a factory previously occupied by one of his competitors and increased his business one-half. Under Mr. Stillman's excellent management this business has steadily increased until he now employs seventy stitchers, in all furnishing employ ment to about 125 people and running in full time the year round, and manufactures strictly first-class articles. Mr. Stillman is a member of Little Hoosick Lodge, I. 0. O. F., in Berlin. In 1876 he married Eva M., daughter of John A. and Rebecca (Sheldon) Rasico of Berlin. Their children are Louise, who died when three years of age, Marks and Arthur. Mrs. Stillman is a member of the W. C. T. U. Satterlee, Russell Hawley, was born in Berlin, July 31, 1836. He is the son of Hawley Satterlee, who was born in Berlin in 1803, one of seven children born to William, who was a native of Hopkinton, R. I., born September, 1766, and he was the oldest of nine children born to William and Eunice (Clark) Satterlee ; William, jr.. was the grandson of Nicholas, the first of the family to emigrate to America from England at a very early date. William, 'the grandfather of Russell Hawley, was in early life a farmer. He came to Berlin with his father in 1780, became a farmer and was prominent in political affairs ; he was elected to a number of the town offices and served on the Board of Supervisors ; he was active in church mat ters and later became a Sabbatarian minister and preached until he was eighty-five years of age; he lived to be ninety-six. He became a power in the church. When he was ordained his church numbered 125 members; during the first four years of his ministry the membership of his church had increased to 425. He was one of the principal founders of the Alfred Seven Day Baptist church at Alfred, N. Y., making . the journey there and back on horseback. His wife w'as Mehitable Moon; she lived to be eighty-seven. Hawley, the father of Russell Hawley, was a farmer in early life ; when about thirty-five he was taken with asthma, which compelled him to re main quiet and what little work he was able to do from that time on was shoe- making. His wife was Esther Randall of Petersburgh, daughter of Benjamin and Sally (Babcock) Randall. Their children were William F., Sarah U, Waity E., ' David G. and Russell H. They were Doth members of the Seven Day Baptist church. Mrs. Satterlee was a sister to Capt. Henry Randall, who was the first man to raise the second deck on lake or ocean boats. Russell was educated in the com-t mon schools, remained at home and took charge of the farm work until he was twenty-one, when he began for himself as farmer in 1877 ; in addition to his farming he engaged in manufacturing cheese. He later spent four years manufacturing but ter, but finally returned to the cheese business. Mr. Satterlee has a wide reputation, his goods always selling at the highest market price. He is also a dealer in hay and and harvesting machinery. He has served on the Board of Supervisors and filled FAMILY SKETCHES. 101 many other minor offices. In 1863 he was married to Nancy M. Peckham, who was born in Petersburgh, and daughter of Johnson Peckham. They are both members of the Seven Day Baptist church. Packard, Chauncey D. , was born in Troy, N. Y. , January 4, 1822. His father, Davis Packard, came from Brockton, Mass.. about 1812, and started in the shoe business on Congress street, Troy ; his father, Timothy, also was engaged in the same line many years before, in fact, the Packard family have been in the shoe business for seventy-five years. Davis Packard died in 1876; his wife, Hannah Sherman, was born in Troy and died in 1859. Chauncey D. was educated in the public and private schools and went into the shoe store with his father when nine years old. At the age of twenty- one (in 1843) he went into business for himself and has continued up to the present time. About 1852 he formed a partnership with his father under the firm name of Davis Packard & Son. Later his brother Warren took his father's interest and the firm became C. D. Packard & Co., which continued until the death of Warren in 1868. Mr. Packard then took his son into the concern and the name of the firm became C. D. Packard & Son. He joined Trojan Lodge No. 27, I. 0. O. F., in 1843, also the Troy Citizens Corps the same year. He is the oldest shoe dealer in Troy. He married. January 31, 1843, Harriet E. Palmer of Nassau, N. Y. ; she died in 1879. He has three sons: Eugene C. of Boston; Augus tus, in business with his father; and Angelo in the employ of C. D. Packard & Son. Melius, Harry E., born in Greenbush, N. Y., November 6, 1865, is a son of Reuben and Harriet E. (Crane) Melius, his mother born in Middlebury, Vt. , and his father in Columbia county, N. Y. Reuben J. came to Rensselaer county when a boy four years old with his parents, Harry C. and Martha (Decker) Melius, both of whom died in East Greenbush. The grandfather of Reuben was Conradt Melius, a native of Columbia county, who there lived and died. The father of Martha Decker was Samuel, who lived and died in Columbia county ; both he and Conradt Melius were in the same company in the war of 1812. The father of Harry E. was a farmer for a number of years, and in 1864 came to Bath; previous to this he was in mercantile business, also boating on the barge Geraldine, he having built that boat. He started first a coal yard in Bath in 1864 and continued in it for two years, since which time he has been engaged in contracting and building. He is a Democrat and has been overseer of the poor for three years. The family attend the M. E. church. Harry E. was educated in Bath and first worked for F. M. Tousley in the grocery business, he then started a general store on his own account, which he carried on for eight years; at present he is in the coal business. He is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., and Greenbush Chapter No. 274, R. A.' M. ; he is also a mem ber of the C. A. Bailey Hook and Ladder Co No. 1, Bath on the Hudson. Allen, Frederick P., was born in Keeseville, Essex county, N. Y. , January 13, 1832. His father, Anson H. Allen, was an old resident of that section and was for many years editor of the Keeseville Herald. He died at the age of fifty-two. His mother, Mary (Morehouse) Allen, died in her eighty seventh year. Frederick received his education at Keeseville Academy and studied law in the office of George A. Simmons in that village. In 1849 he accepted a position as clerk in the Canal Collector's office at West Troy. In December, 1851, he entered the Commercial Bank of Troy as as 102 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. sistant bookkeeper. Two years later he entered the old Bank of Troy as teller, where he remained ten years, and when the First National Bank was organized he took the position of teller. In August, 1858, he became interested in the firm of Buckley, Allen & Co., which carried on a crockery and glass business at 235 River street where he is still doing business as one of the firm of of Starkweather & Allen, He was elected several terms as school commissioner and was for seven years super visor, from 1878 to 1885, representing the Third ward of Troy, several terms of which he was unanimously elected by both parties. He was for many years presi dent and treasurer of the Young Men's Association, of the Young Men's Christian Association, first as secretary and president, and is now one of the directors of the Railroad Christian Association and secretary and treasurer of the Oakwood Ceme tery Association ; he is a member of the Second Presbyterian church on Fifth avenue, and for over thirty years a ruling elder in that church. He was married to Char lotte A. Baker of Racine, Wis., October 14, 1858, by whom he had one son, Frank L., who died in 1889 when thirty years of age. He is a member of Mount Zion Lodge, F. & A. M., of Troy. Ackert, Dr. William S.,was born in Dutchess county, N.Y. , December 18, 1865. He is the son of Virgil A. and Louisa A. (Frost) Ackert, both natives of Dutchess county, where Mrs. Ackert died in 1868 and where V. A. Ackert now lives. He was a farmer by occupation. The grandfather of Mr. Ackert was William H. Ackert; he was born in Dutchess county and died May 1, 1896, in the eighty seventh year of his age. His wife (Maria Pultz) is now living in Dutchess county, aged eighty two. The maternal grandparents of Dr. Ackert were Samuel S. and Barbara E. (Traver) Frost, natives of Dutchess county ; the former died there in 1885, aged seventy-five years; the latter still resides on the old homestead. Dr. W. S. Ackert was educated in the common schools and the De Garmo Institute of Rhinebeck, N. Y. He is a graduate of the Albany Medical College, having graduated in 1891. He practiced in the Albany City Hospital for about one and a half years. In December, 1892, he located at No. 382 Broadway, East Albany, where he has since continued in practice of his profession very successfully. Dr. Ackert was married November 30, 1892, to Margaret Parker of Schenectady; she was a nurse in the Albany Hospital. They had one child which died in infancy. Allen, Charles Sanford, M. D., was born in Greenport, Columbia county, N. Y., June 8, 1824. He is the son of Peter and Hannah (Coval) Allen. Peter Allen was a successful farmer, and he and his wife died in Columbia county. Dr. Allen was educated in the common schools, and at the age of twenty-two studied medicine at the Concord Columbia College under Dr. Coffin and also with Dr. Elbridge Simpson of Hudson, N. Y. He graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Woodstock, a branch of the Crosby Street Institute of New York, June'9, 1849. He came to East Greenbush in 1849 where he remained for one year. In 1851 he came to Greenbush where he has been very successful. He is a member of the New York Medical Society, a member of the New York Medical Association and was one of the founders and an original charter member of both. He is a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, and a non-resident member of a like society in Albany, and an ex-member of the American Medical Association. He was elected coroner of the county in 1859 for three years and served a second term, and in 1862 he was com- FAMILY SKETCHES. 103 missioned by Governor Morgan an assistant surgeon of the 125th Regt. of N. Y. Vols., commanded by Colonel Willard of Troy; he withdrew from the position on account of ill-health. On September 14, 1857, he was commissioned by Gov. Reuben E. Fenton, surgeon of the 72d Regt. Infantry of National Guards of tbe State of New York. He was largely instrumental in the liquidation of the village debt, in the securing and erection of the engine house and in the purchase of two handsome lire engines. November 26, 1851, he married Sarah, daughter of Edwin Willis of Greenbush but formerly of London, England. To them were born three daughters and three sons; two of the sons are dead, the other, Dr. W. L. Allen, is now living. Mr. Allen was trustee of school No. 1, for eighteen years. He has been superin tendent of the Sunday school for two years, and still connected with the Sabbath school as teacher. He was elected president of the village in 1895, which position he is still holding. He is a commissioner in lunacy, appointed by the State, and is a staunch Republican and a member of the G. A. R. , and was appointed health officer of the village by the Board of Health. Dr. W. L. Allen was born November 7, 1860, in Greenbush. He was educated in the Albany Boys' Academy and graduated in 1881 from the Albany Medical College ; he also spent one year abroad under Jona than Hutchinson and Dr. Sutton in England in the London Hospital and Dr. Allchin of Westminster. He practiced one year in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1883 he was married to Abbie J. Dewey by whom he has had two children: Charles S. and William D., eleven and seven years of age. He is an ex-member of the American Medical Association, and is a strong temperance man respected by all who knew him. Baker, William V., was born in Troy, N. Y., June 16, 1836. His father, Lorenzo D, Baker, was born in the town of Schaghticoke, N. Y. , in 1806, and came to Troy in 1824 and was for many years engaged in the forwarding, lumber and crockery business. He was a trustee of the Second Presbyterian church for many years and was also a prominent member of the Young Men's Association ; he died in 1869. His mother, Charlotte A. (Van Buskirk) Baker, was of Dutch descent; some of her ancestors were in the Revolutionary war, and she died in 1844. William V. received his education at the Troy Academy and at the Graylock Institute, Williamstown, Mass. He then removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained for two years, went thence to Racine, Wis., and took a position in the Racine County Bank and was afterwards engaged in the commission business. He removed to Madison, Wis., and took a position in the State Treasurer's office and later returned to Racine, and was made secretary and treasurer of what is now the Western Division of the St. Paul Railroad. For a number of years he held this position, and in 1869 came to Troy, and engaged in the crockery business, forming the firm of W. V. Baker & Co. , afterwards Starkweather, Allen & Baker, and in 1880 retired from the business and was appointed general agent of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. for Eastern New York, which position he still holds. He has been greatly interested m Sunday school work and was superintendent of the Memorial and Second Pres byterian churches Sunday schools, and is now one of the elders of the Second Pres byterian church. He is a member of Apollo Commandery of Troy. He was mar ried June 8, 1859, to Sarah F. Terry of Chicago, 111. His children are John T., Louis H., Charles V., Charlotte A., and Anna T, 104 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Betts, Clarence E., was born in Brunswick, N. Y., September 13, 1846. His grand father came to Brunswick in 1789 and died in 1860. His father, Joseph B. Betts, resides in a house in the vicinity of that which his grandfather went to live in when he came to Troy in 1789. His mother, Sarah E. Betts, is a daughter of Plenry A. Clum, who has been county clerk for several terms. Clarence E. received his education at the ward and high schools. He was clerk of the Surrogate's Court from 1884 to 1890, clerk for the Board of Supervisors 1894 and 1895, afterwards again clerk of Surro gate's Court, which position he occupies at present. He belongs to Apollo Lodge, Chapter, and Commandery, and also is a member of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Fie married Emily S. Van Arnum of Brunswick, N. Y., by whom he has one son. Clapp & Hines, is composed of Alexander H. Clapp and Arthur W. Hines. Mr. Clapp is a native of Kinderhook, Columbia county, born February 20, 1858. He is a son of Alexander Clapp, who was born in Stuyvesant, Columbia county. His wife was Leah Van Housen, born in Greene county, N. Y. The grandfather of Mr. Clapp was Alexander Clapp of Massachusetts. Mr. Clapp was educated in the com mon schools and came to Troy in 1878 and was special officer for the Burden Iron Company for eleven years. In 1892 he came to Greenbush and went in partnership with A. W. Hines in the grocery and meat business. In 1889 Mr. Clapp married Margaret Hines, daughter of Andrew Hines, who was born in Ireland and came to Greenbush at an early day, where he lived and died. His wife was Eliza Macleese. To Mr. and Mrs. Clapp was born one son: Alexander. Mr. Hines was born in Greenbush, August 18, 1863, and was educated in the common schools. He was engineer in Burden's Iron Works of Troy for two years, and was fireman for the B. & A. railroad for six years previous. In 1892 he joined Mr. Clapp in the grocery and meat business. He is now inspector of election in the Seventh district. He is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M. , of Greenbush Chapter No. 274, R. A. M., De Witt Clinton Council No. 22, R. & S. M., the Templar Commandery No. 3, K. T., and is also a member of the B. L. F. No. 215, of Greenbush. Dowling, Thomas P., was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1854. He is the son of Edward Dowling who was born in Ireland and was a moulder by trade. He was killed in the battle of Gettysburg, July 4, 1863. His mother, Ann (Cassidy) Dowling, died in 1869. Thomas received his education in the public schools of Troy and went into the news business ; afterwards learned the monumental trade. In 1876 he entered the employ of E. F. Rogers in the laundry business and in 1879 was taken as a part ner, the firm name being Rogers & Dowling. In 1889 he bought Mr. Rogers's inter est in the custom laundry and has carried on the business. He was appointed civil service commissioner for five years, also trustee of the Trojan H. & L. Co. Decem ber 29, 1885, he married Mary Keenan, daughter of James Keenan the contractor. Donnelly, Annie.— Peter Donnelly was born in County Roscommon, Ireland. He came to Greenbush with a brother. After a time his father, who now lies in St. John's Cemetery of Albany, also came to Greenbush. His mother died in Ireland. Mr. Donnelly was for several years in the grocery business in Greenbush, but finally engaged in. the drug business and remained in that trade for about thirty years. He was married in 1874 to Annie Shields of Ireland. He was elected trustee of the vil lage for several years and was also tax receiver. He died January 28, 1894. FAMILY SKETCHES. 105 Draper, Frederick E., was born in Rochdale, Worcester county, Mass., October 12, 1843, and came to this State with his parents when he was three years of age ; he was educated in the public schools of Troy; he was clerk for Levi Willard for four years; in October, 1861, he enlisted in the Eleventh Independent Battery, Light Artillery, New York Volunteers, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. September 8, 1869, he entered into partnership with Philip Fitzpatrick, under firm name of Fitzpatrick & Draper, in the manufacture of cigars, and wholesale dealers in leaf and manufactured tobacco, which has continued successfully until this date, 1896. Mr. Draper is a director in the Mutual National Bank of Troy, and is also director of the Troy Gas Co., of the Wilbur Shirt and Collar Co. of Troy, and of the Boutwell Milling and Grain Co. of Troy ; he is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M., and also of the Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M. December 26, 1871, he was married to Ann J. Woodcock, of Boston, Mass., formerly of Troy, by whom three children have been born: Frederick E., jr., Philip H. and Louis Le Grand. Mr. Draper is a member of Griswold Post of Troy No. 338, G. A. R. The ancestry of the family is English and Dutch. Dodds, Archibald, was born in the North of Ireland, and is a son of Robert and Sarah (Porte) Dodds; Robert was a native of Scotland and his wife a native of Eng land. The father of Robert emigrated from Scotland to the North of Ireland, where he spent his life in the linen business. Archibald came to America in 1857, and in 1861 he married Nancy, daughter of Joseph Davenport of Lansingburgh. To Mr. and Mrs. Dodds have been born six children: Sarah, Joseph, who died in infancy; Thomas is a farmer ; Mary is a milliner in Troy; Nellie, wife of Henry White, of North Greenbush ; and Bessie M. Mr. Dodds commenced farming in Brunswick and in 1872 bought the Barringer farm, where he has since carried on a successful business in general farming. For a good many years he made a specialty of milk. Mr. Dodds has made many improvements on the farm. He has been and is at pres ent assessor, and is not an office seeker. They attend and support the Lutheran church, of North Greenbush. Glenn Bros.— This firm is composed of Robert and James D., sons of Robert and Catherine (Daly) sr. , both of Albany, N. Y., and except three years spent in New York and a short time in Low Point, N. Y., they have lived in Albany and Green bush. Robert Glenn spent his life in the restaurant and oyster business, and for four years, in connection kept the Boston House hotel. He retired in 1892 and his sons purchased and took charge of the business, located at 355 Broadway, Green bush. Robert was born August 15, 1867, and James, October 21, 1868. They were both educated in the district school, finishing in the Folsom Business College. Hoyt, Thomas S., was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1860. His father, Stephen F. Hoyt, was born in New York city, and came to Troy in 1851 and since then and up to the time of his death which occurred December 23,;1895, he was manager of the Northern News Company. He was foreman of the Neptune Hose Co. His mother, Linda F. (Newman) Hoyt, was born in New York city ; she at present resides at Round Lake. Thomas S. received his education in the public schools of Troy and entered the Northern News Co.'s store and at his father's death succeeded him as manager of the same. He belongs to King Solomon Lodge, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, Bloss 106 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Council, Apollo Commandery and the Oriental Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a corporal in Senior Co. Troy Citizens Corps. He belongs to the Pafraetsdael, Riverside, and Laureate Boat Clubs. He married Carrie S. Pike, of Bennington, Vt., July 7, 1886, a daughter of Dr. S. B. Pike, a prominent dentist of Bennington. Halla, Julius F., was born in Germany in 1855 and came to the United States and settled in Cohoes in 1871, where he was employed in a factory until 1877. when he entered the concern of C. F. Lucas, confectioner and caterer, and remained with him until his death, which occurred in 1887, and then Mr. Halla and George S., the son of the late Mr. Lucas, carried on the business until 1895, when Mr. Halla pur chased the business and he is now sole proprietor. He gives his whole attention to catering. The concern was established by Mr. Lucas in 1863 and since that time has established a reputation second to none in that line of business. He has fur nished all the entertainments for the Executive Mansion in Albany for many years, also the banquet for President Cleveland's farewell reception given at Albany upon his first election to the presidency in 1884. He also had charge of the dinner at the Centennial Celebration at Williamstown where 1,000 people were seated at one time ; also the majority of wedding entertainments for Albany, Troy and the surrounding country. They have catered for the commencement at Williamstown for twenty- five years. He married in 1885, Emma Lucas, daughter of C. F. Lucas. They have one son and a daughter. Knowlson, Alexander M., was born in Sand Lake, Rensselaer county, in 1842. His father, Richard J. Knowlson, came from England in 1804, and settled in Albany, N. Y., and engaged in the dry goods business, afterwards moved to Sand Lake and went into the manufacture of glass. In 1824 he went into the lumber business at Sand Lake and erected the first steam saw mill in Rensselaer county. He died in 1857. A. M. Knowlson attended educational institutions in Sand Lake and Stam ford, Conn. , and came to Troy in 1858. He went into the employ of W. E. Hagan, and on February 16, 1864, purchased Mr. Hagan's interest and has carried on the business himself since. Finding that his business required more room, he built the store on Broadway and on January 16, 1871, moved into it. Mr. Knowlson has one of the most complete drug stores in the country, and his motto has always been ac curacy, promptness, and cleanliness. He carries the largest stock of photographic materials in Northern New York both for amateurs and professionals. He is a member of Mt. Zion Lodge No. 311, F. & A. M. He married Mary R. Peters of New York, February 20, 1868. Krauss, George, was born in Germany, June 20, 1868. He is a son of George and Mary (Emery) Krauss, both born in Germany, where he died in 1883; the mother is still living there. Mr. Krauss was educated in Germany and came to America in 1888. He had learned the trade of shoemaker and after working in Greenbush at his business for three years, in 1890 he started a shoe store in East Albany where he has been very successful. January 17, 1893, Mr. Krauss married Katie Kurtz of Albany, by whom one child has been born: George. Mrs. Krauss died Febru ary 6, 1896. Lape, John F. , was born in Troy, February 2, 1851. He is the son of William and Martha Matilda (Clickner) Lape ; William was a son of one Mr. Lape, a son of A. M. FAMILY SKETCHES. 107 Lape who settled in East Greenbush and there died. The family came from Holland about 1660. The Clickners were of Scotch descent and came to the United States about 1650; for a time they lived in Connecticut, then removed to Dutchess county, N.Y, where the family settled, but finally came to Rensselaer county, N.Y. William Lape, the father of John, is a carpenter and has built some of the largest buildings in this section. He now resides at 15 Riverside avenue. John F. Lape was reared in Troy until about fifteen years of age and was there educated. In 1866 he came to Albany and engaged with Rathbone & Co., manufacturers of stoves. He removed to Brooklyn in 1871 and returned to Albany where he began to study architecture, which pursuit he has followed since 1884. He was also a correspondent for the Troy Times. He is the original projector of the scheme to deepen the Hudson River from Troy to Coxsackie in 1889; and through the efforts of Congressman Tracy and Hon. John A. Quackenbush, Congress appropriated §2,470,000 and the work is now progressing. In 1876 Mr. Lape came to Greenbush and in 1886 purchased a tract of the Van Rensselaer garden, on which he has built sixteen houses. He was married to MissMaryE. Smith, daughter of Philip H and Mary A. (Miller) Smith, in 1893, by whom he has had one daughter, Ruth M. Mr. Smith now lives at Pine Plains, Dutchess county. Mrs. Smith died in 1895 ; she was the daughter of Martin Miller, of Sand Lake, and the granddaughter of one of the early settlers of Sand Lake. Lape, John E., was born in North Greenbush in 1862. He is the son of Christo pher and Hannah (Hidley) Lape, both natives of North Greenbush ; he was born in 1830. The grandparents were Andrew and Catherine (Carnes) Lape, he of Sand Lake, and she of Greenbush. William Lape, the great-grandfather of John Lape, lived and died iu Sand Lake; Christopher Carnes, the maternal great-grandfather, was a pioneer of Greenbush. John E. Lape was educated at Hartwick Seminary, Oswego county ; he was married to Wilhelmina Fisher of Troy, by whom he had one daughter, Mildred. Mr. Lape commenced business as a milk dealer in Troy, but after four and one-half years he sold his route and purchased the Jacob Hart homestead near De Freestville and carries on general farming. He is also a dealer in Cleveland phosphates. Miller, Abraham, was born in Sand Lake, March 6, 1834. He is the son of Jacob and Regina (Cipperley) Miller, both natives of Sand Lake, where they follow farm ing. Mr. Miller died in 1876 and Mrs. Miller in 1875. The grandfather of Abram Miller, Silas, came from Columbia county, and settled in Sand Lake. The maternal grandfather was George Cipperley of Sand Lake. Mr. Miller was reared on the Miller farm and educated in the common schools. In 1854 he married the daughter of Nicholas and Mary (Crane) Sharp of North Greenbush, by whom he has had five children: Nicholas, a farmer of Sand Lake; Sydney, works on the farm; George, died at the age of fifteen ; Lena, who died at the age of two and a half years ; and Ida, now at home. Mr. Miller commenced his business career as a farmer, then was a painter for nine years, and in 1880 again settled on the farm of 164 acres, beauti fully located on Snyder's Lake, North Greenbush, where he has carried on general farming and dairying. In politics he is independent. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are members of the First Lutheran church of West Sand Lake. Norton Frank E., was born in Troy, N. Y., September 19, 1855. He is of English 108 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. descent, his early ancesters having settled in Connecticut about 1626. His great grandfather, John Norton, was a captain in the Colonial army in the Revolutionary war. His father was born in Bennington, Vt., January 6, 1818, and for a number of years was a dry goods merchant of that place ; he lived for a time in Troy and later in Milwaukee, Wis., and returned to Bennington and was teller in the Bennington County National Bank ; he died March 9, 1885. The mother of our subject, Clarissa B. Norton, was born in Bennington, October 20, 1820, and died May 4, 1888. Frank E. received his education in the public schools of Bennington and came to Troy in 1873 and entered the Troy City Bank as assistant bookkeeper and later was discount clerk and bookkeeper, and on January 1, 1893, was elected cashier, which office he holds at present. He belongs to the Troy Citizens Corps, Pafraets Dael Club, and is trustee of the Laureate Boat Club. He married, June 7, 1887, Jane Y. Drake, daughter of Francis Drake of Troy; she died December 3, 1891. He has one daughter, Gertrude S. His present wife was Clara P. French, daughter of Dr. S. D. French of Troy, married October 9, 1895. In politics he has always been a Repub lican. Phillips,' David, was born in Greenbush, August 15, 1838. He is the son of John and Frances (Vandenburgh) Phillips, he of North Greenbush, born in 1799, and she of North Greenbush. The grandparents, David and Martha (Morehouse) Phillips, were old settlers of Greenbush. John Phillips was a farmer by occupation ; he set tled on the farm now owned by David' Phillips and there died in 1867. Mrs. Phillips died in 1849. David Phillips was reared on the farm of 142 acres which he now owns, and has always resided there. He makes a specialty of dairying, keeping from twenty-five to thirty cows, producing milk forthe market. In 1860 Mr. Phillips mar ried Emeline, daughter of Nicholas and Eliza (Hilton) De Freest, by whom he has had six children : Fannie, who married John E. Bovie, mentioned elsewhere ; she died, aged twenty-eight years, leaving one daughter, Ella M. ; Ella; John, employed in Albany ; Melvin, milk dealer in Troy ; Cyrus C. , at home ; Adaline, wife of Albert A. House, farmer of Eagle Mills. Palmer, Mrs. Eliza D., is a native of Wayne county, N. Y. ; she has been a resi dent of Greenbush for a number of years and is one of the largest property owners in Greenbush and Bath. She is a very pleasant business woman, and has but little trouble with her tenants. Mrs. Palmer comes from one of the early and prominent families of Rensselaer county; her father, Jacob Van Der Karr, was born in Sand Lake, N. Y. ; he was a son of Aaron and Irene (Tucker) Van Der Karr, he a native of Holland ; he and a brother Samuel came from Holland in an early day and were among the first settlers of Sand Lake, but Aaron died in Wayne county, N. Y. He was in the Revolutionary war, and wore silver knee buckles which were appropriated by the tories, but were redeemed and are now in the possession of the family. Jacob went to Wayne county with his parents, and finally to Illinois, where he died. Aaron was the owner of 500 acres of land and was the first justice in Rensselaer county. Mrs. E. D. Palmer's father was a physician ; his wife was Irene Tucker, born in Rensselaer county and died in Illinois. They had eight children, three of whom are now living: Christina, widow of John McChesney of Brunswick; Aaron, who resides in Los Angeles, Cal. ; and Eliza D., wife of Joel H. Palmer, a native of Ithaca but who has lived in East Albany for forty-two years. Mrs. Palmer was FAMILY SKETCHES. 109 nreviously married to Thomas Goewey, born in Rensselaer county, and son of David Goewey, and one of the early settlers of Rensselaer where he lived and died. Mr. Goewey was in the transportation business. To Mr. and Mrs. Goewey were born two children: George V. D., who married Jennie Garrison of Greenbush, and John T. at the Boy's Academy, Albany. Mr. Joel H. Palmer was seven years conductor and seven years assistant superintendent of the Greenbush division of the B. & A. railroad. His mother was an Ingersol of Stockbridge, Conn., and died in East Albany at the age of ninety-one years. Mr. Palmer's aunt married a brother of David Dudley Field. Pfeiffer, Henry J., was born in North Greenbush, May 29, 1839. He is the son of Henry and Mary C. (Gabriel) Pfeiffer, both natives of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, whence they emigrated to North Greenbush in 1837, where they lived and died; his death occurred January 14 1894, aged eighty-four, and she died June 20, 1893, aged eighty-one. H. J. Pfeiffer was reared on a farm, and has been successful in the business. He has a farm of 136 acres, and carries on mixed husbandry. In 1861 he married Miss Mahala M., daughter of Frederick and Charity Shaver of Sand Lake. Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer have three children : Mary C, wife of Arthur Sharp of East Greenbush ; Frederick H. , a farmer of North Greenbush ; and Charity A. Purcell, John, was born in Troy in 1863. His father, James P. Purcell, was born in Ireland and came to this country in 1860 and settled in Troy ; he died in 1884. His mother, Nora (Myers) Purcell, died in 1880. John attended the Brothers' School, now the La Salle Institute; he then learned the moulder's trade, and in 1885 started a fancy grocery store at the corner of Third and Munro streets where he remained until January, 1896, when he started in businees at his present stand on Third street. He was elected alderman in 1885 and held the office for three terms, representing the Ninth ward, and has been an assessor since 1892. He married Annie Foley of Troy in 1894. Roberts, Addison O., M. D., was born in Brunswick, N. Y., August 7, 1856. He is a son of Abram E. and Elizabeth (File) Roberts, she a daughter of Peter File. Mr. Roberts was educated in Albany and Bath and finished in Albany State Normal and taught for six years. He read medicine with Dr. Swinburne of Albany and was graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1882. He began the practice of med icine at East Greenbush where he remained a year and a half, and then went to West Sand Lake where he remained for seven years. In 1890 he came to Bath where he now resides. November 14, 1882, he married Maggie J. Cowan, who was born in Bath and is a daughter of James and Jean (Bell) Cowan, both born in Scot land. James Cowan came to Albany when twenty-one years of age and resided in Bath, His wife came to Bath when nine years of age, with her parents, Adam and Margaret (Brodie) Bell. Adam Bell died at the age of ninety-one, and his wife is now living at the age of ninety-four. Mrs. Roberts was educated in Albany Normal school. To Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have been born two children; Elizabeth J., and Jenette M. Mr. Roberts has been health offier of the town and village for six years. He is a member of Riverside Lodge No. 47, K. of P. at Bath. Reynolds, F. A., was born in Greene county, N. Y. He isa son of John Reynolds, who was born .in Columbia county, and there lived and died; his mother was a 110 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. daughter of John Salisbury of English descent, born in Greene county, and there lived and died. The father of Mr. Reynolds was a blacksmith by trade. He was sheriff of Columbia county and also deputy sheriff during the anti-rent troubles. He died in 1870, and his wife died in 1891. They were married in 1833. Mr. F. A. Reynolds was reared and educated in Hudson. At the age of seventeen he started to learn the blacksmith trade, but soon gave it up, and at the age of nineteen went to work for the Hudson River Railroad as brakeman and worked himself up to con ductor and soliciting agent for the Troy, Boston & Fitchburg Railroad, and was also with the Boston & Albany Railroad for fifteen years, known as the head or livestock conductor. In 1888 he retired from the railroad service and purchased the residence he now lives in; in addition he owns fourteen houses in Bath. From 1861 to 1882 Mr. Reynolds lived in Albany and East Albany; previously from 1855 to 1861 his residence was in Troy. In 1855 he married Mary Clinton of England who came over with an uncle when a mere child. To Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds were born six children: John; Annie, wife of William Daniels of Bath, who have three children; Jennie, Clara and Frederick, deceased; and William T. at home. John married Catherine Hollenbeck of Albany, and has five children. He is a machinist at West Albany. Mr. Reynolds has been receiver of taxes in Greenbush and for eight years was a member of the Board of Education. Mr. Reynolds at present lives a retired life, and is a member of the old Reliable Conductor's Insurance Company. Anderson, Hon. George, was born in Albany county, December 11, 1839, andafter learning the carpenter's trade and pursuing it for a few years he embarked in the manufacture of rakes for three years. He then returned to farming for two years when he went into the meat business under the firm name of Anderson & Co. This firm did a large trade and continued for eighteen years, when Mr. Anderson pur chased the fine farm he now owns and to which he gives his entire attention outside of his political duties. He is a prominent Republican and was three times president of the village of Castleton and has been supervisor of Schodack for four years. In the fall of 1895 he was elected to the Assembly where a still wider field of usefulness awaits him. His popularity and the confidence of the people in his executive abili ties are well illustrated by the fact that he was the first Republican supervisor in Schodack in nineteen years. Mr. Anderson married Elizabeth Requa. They have three children ; Frank Anderson, William Anderson, and Etta, now Mrs. Thomas Timmons of Peekskill. Mr. Anderson's parents were Gilbert and Julia (Lawrence) Anderson. Burton, Charles W., was born in Nassau, August 22, 1837. He is a son of Isaac and Ruby (Taylor) Burton, he born in Chatham and she in Nassau. Isaac was a son of Ruben Burton, who lived in Columbia county and finally went to Sand Lake where he died in 1810. The maternal grandfather was William Tabor, who lived and died in Nassau. The father of Mr Burton was a blacksmith by trade, but died a farmer; he came from Nassau to Schodack in 1839 and died September 20, 1884, and his wife died in 1852. Mr. Burton was reared and educated in Schodack. He is a farmer and owns ninety-two acres of land. In October, 1860, he was married to Maggie Palmateer, of Greenbush, by whom one son has been born: Peter P., born in Scho dack April 1, 1862. He was educated in Claverack College and followed farming at home. His wife was A. Catherine Pockman, by whom one son has been born: Charles R., born April 25, 1895. The Burton family is of high English descent. FAMILY SKETCHES. Ill Bame, William H., was born in Clavarack, Columbia county, October 9, 1817. He was a son of John and Jane (Mull) Bame, both born in Schodack, be a son of William Bame, born in Dutchess county, a son of Mr. Bame, born in Germany, who settled in Dutchess county, where he died. The grandfather of Mr. Bame died in Claverack and the father died in Schodack. Mr. Bame was reared and educated in Schodack and has always followed farming. He has a farm of 104| acres of land and has lived there for forty years. He was first married to Ann Traver, by whom three children were born : Jane H., wife of Otis Bates of Massachusetts; Mary, now Mrs. Golder of Greenbush; Eugene, a farmer of Schodack; and Anna, died Novem ber 8, 1842. For his second wife he married Catherine Barner, by whom have been born seven children: John H., Eva, Ida E., Catherine A., Hanna C, Emma L. and Abram. Mrs. Bame died November 10, 1888. Hanna, a daughter of Mr. Bame, died November 10, 1885, and Ida A. died September 28, 1889. Callanan, Stephen, was born in Albany county in 1821, and is a son of James and Mary (Williams) Callanan. He was born, lived and died in Albany county. His father was Patrick Callanan, who came from Ireland at the age of eight with a brother, and spent his days at Callanan's Corners, Albany county. He died in 1824 at the age of eighty-four. Stephen was reared on a farm and educated in the com mon schools. He lived in Albany county until 1866, when he came to Castleton and bought the Downers mills, of which he has since been proprietor. He was first married to Emma Coonley of Albany, by whom four children were born; Henry (deceased), Esther (deceased), James and George. James, is superintendent of the Barber Asphalt Company of Omaha, Neb., and George has charge of the mill. Mrs. Emma Callanan died July 16, 1876. George T. Callanan was born in Castle ton and educated in the common school, Home Lawn, N. Y., and the Albany public schools. He followed railroading and was doorman and conductor for the Long Island Railroad Company, and took charge of the mill in 1889. He is a member of the M. E. church at Castleton June 13, 1878, Mr. Callanan was married to Mary J. Hunter. She died May 21, 1896. Boyce, Josiah W., was born in Schodack, N. Y. , Octobet 14, 1824. He is a son of Ananias Boyce. Mr. Boyce was reared on a farm and educated in common schools, Albany Normal School and the Nassau Academy. He followed [teaching for about twenty years and was superintendent and commissioner for two terms, and was also first commissioner for the Second district of Rensselaer. He then bought the farm he now owns of 109 acres and followed farming for several years, now making a specialty of dairying. He was justice of the peace for four years. He is a member of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M. March 1, 1851, he was married to Martha E. Shaver of Sand Lake, by whom four children have been born: Alice C, wife of James W. Vosburgh of East Schodack; Ella M., who married Myron W. Devereaux, died in 1891; Carrie L., wife of Henry' Legal of Schodack; Mary L. , deceased. Boyce, Frank M., M. D., was born in Schodack, August 3, 1851. He is the son of Anson M. and Carolina (Stewart) Boyce, both of whom were born in Schodack. Anson M. was the son of Ananias Boyce, mentioned elsewhere; and she a daughter of George W. Stewart, a farmer and teacher, and came to Schodack early. He finally went to Wayne county, where he died. Anson M. Boyce was educated in the common 112 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. schools and the- Nassau Academy. He was a teacher at Saratoga Springs for seven teen years. He was also school commissioner of Saratoga county and supervisor of Saratoga Springs. He died in September, 1878, and his wife in 1889. Frank Boyce was reared in Castleton until three years of age, when he went to Wilton, Saratoga county, and at the age of eight years he went to Saratoga Springs, where he was educated. He graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1872, and practiced medicine at Saratoga Springs for seventeen years. In 1891 he came to Schodack and settled on a farm, where he also practiced medicine. He owns 168 acres. He was married February 5, 1874, to Catherine Payne, daughter of Harmon Payne, who spent his life in Schodack. To Dr. Boyce and wife were born three children: Cora A., Frank M. and Edwin A. Mrs. Boyce died April 20, 1889. August 9, 1896, he was married to Emma Van Buren of East Greenbush. Dr. Boyce was supervisor of Saratoga Springs in 1889 and represented the second district of Sara toga county in the Assembly of 1890. He was also trustee of the Second ward of the village for four years. He was coroner of Saratoga county for three years. In the spring of 1896 Dr. Boyce was elected supervsior of Schodack. Bedell, Alcandar, was born in Schodack, May 18, 1823. He is a son of Daniel and Ellen (Perry) Bedell, he born in Schodack, and son of Joseph Bedell, of Dutchess county, who settled in Schodack at a very early date ; his wife was Phoebe More house, of Dutchess county. The father of Mr. Bedell was a farmer and spent his days in Schodack. Mr. Bedell was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He owned two farms in Sand Lake, which he sold in 1873. He then came on the farm he now owns of 108 acres and followed general farming. In 1851 he was married to Emaline Backus of Saratoga, by whom four children have been born, but one of whom is living — Willard H. He is a farmer and is. married to Emma Francis and has three children : Effie, Ada, and Horace. The great-grandfather of Mr. Bedell came from England and settled in Dutchess county. Downer, James R., was born in the village of Castleton, February 1, 1840. He was educated in the public schools and Fort Fdward Institute. He was engaged in the forwarding and freight business for many years between Castleton and New York; Mr. Downer was associated with Joel D. Smith and Capt. J. V. D. Witbeck in the building of the steam propeller, Andrew Harder, which was chartered and used by the government as a transport during the Civil war. He became cashier of the National Bank of Castleton in 1874, which position he has since filled with marked ability and success. In 1864 Mr. Downer married Margaret N. Herrick and they have a family of three sons and one daughter: Frank H., Edgar J., Mary L., and Charles R. Mr. Downer's parents were John R. and Mary (Smith) Downer. John R. Downer came to this country in 1823 and purchased a mill property near Castle ton. He was the inventor of the first revolving hay rake. Mr. Downer's grand father, John Smith, kept the old Tammany Hall in "New York city and had Aaron Burr as one of his boarders at the time Burr and Hamilton fought a duel. Mr. Downer has been interested at various times in property tending to the commercial welfare of Castleton, and is one of the leading citizens of the town Schodack. He has been identified with the Republican party and has been prominent in its counsels many years. His father, John R. Downer, is ninety-three years old and hale and heartv. FAMILY SKETCHES.' 113 Fuller, W. K., was born in Castleton, October 12, 1844, and followed boating for some years prior to the war. He enlisted in 1864 in Co. I, 91st New York Volunteers, and served with his regiment till the close of the war, participating in the battles of Gravelly Run, Five Forks and other engagements and was present at the surrender of Lee. After the war he engaged in boating for some time, but finally went into the meat business in 1887, which he has since that time conducted most successfully. Mr. Fuller has as partner Mr. G. J. Davenport, and the business is now conducted under the firm name of Fuller & Davenport. In 1867 Mr. Fuller married Josephine Follansbee. His parents were John S. Fuller and Betsey (Rose) Fuller. Mr. Fuller's family originally came from the vicinity of Danbury, Conn. Some of his ancestors on his mother's side were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. Wilcox, George E., is a native of Hoosick Falls, and was first associated with the Wood Machine Co. in 1880 as clerk, but now has charge of a warehouse and incom ing freight, and is also connected with the main office. He was born in 1848, son of the late John E. and Eleanor J. Wilcox, daughter of Jacob and Nancy Odekirk, who were the earlier residents of the town of Hoosick. She died in 1870 and the father in 1894. The death of the latter removed a most influential and honorable citizen of his native town. He was the eldest son of Oliver and Sophia Wilcox, and en gaged in mercantile business with J P. Armstrong at Hoosick, the firm afterwards becoming Wilcox & Richmond. Later he became associated with the firm of Thayer, Hawks & Wilcox here. Selling out in this firm, he took a position with Walter Wood Co., where he remained twenty-five years, being one of the stockholders. He was also interested in the Gas Light Co. and the New York Architectural Terra Cotta Co., and one of the organizers of the First National Bank here. For four years George was druggist in Washington county, and was one year with Morey Brothers. Eight years he was correspondent for the Budget, Telegram, and Press. He is a member of the Masonic order, and was town clerk in 1870 and tax collector one year. He married in 1885 Emma F. Clement of Janesville, Wis., at that time a resident of Troy. They have two children, Edmond Clement, aged ten years; George .Skinner, aged eight years. Hitchcock, William C, was born in Hoosick, May 19, 1847, and is the son of George W. and E. G. (Carpenter) Hitchcock, he a native of Pittstown and she of Hoosick. George W. Hitchcock was a carpenter by trade but spent his life at farming. He was a Republican in politics, twenty years overseer of the poor and assessor a num ber of years. He was a very active member of the Reformed church. The parents if George W. were Lewis and Nancy (Springer) Hitchcock. Lewis H. was born at Deerfield, Mass. He was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade at East Pittstown »nd owned a large tract of land. The father of Lewis was Oliver Hitchcock, whose father, Arthur, graduated from Harvard in 1769. Oliver was a member of the Ma sonic Lodge with General Washington when the meetings were held under trees. Oliver was at the battles of Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, and helped to throw up entrencements at Dorchester Heights. Edward H. was president of Amherst College from 1845 to 1854 and professor of natural theology and geology from then till his death. The family of Hitchcock have always been educational people. Will iam was educated at select schools under the auspices of the Reformed church at Buskirk Bridge, taught by a student of Middlebury College. He has taught school 1H LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. thirty years. He married, in 1870, Fannie, daughter of Peter and Harriett (Parker) Link, of Saratoga county. To Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock have been born four chil dren: Charles Roscoe, Bessie A., George B., and Henry Gordon. In politics Mr. Hitchcock is a staunch Republican and is contributor to several newspapers. He is also a recognized authority on entomology and a member of the Reformed church of Buskirk Bridge. Oliver Hitchcock was, while a native of Massachusetts, a member of the Congregational church, but united with the Dutch Reformed church at Bus kirk Bridge. He, his son Lewis and grandson George, have served as elders in that church. Guy, Thomas H., was born in Troy, N. Y., March 31, 1867. He is the son of Dr. Thomas J. Guy, president of the Board of Education. He attended the Troy High School, and from September, 1886, to January, 1887, was at Georgetown College. He entered Yale in September, 1887, and graduated with the class of 1891, afterwards graduating from Albany Law School, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1893. In 1894 he was appointed private secretary to Mayor Molloy, which position he still holds. Gibson, George H., was born in Troy, N. Y., in February, 1874. His father, James W. Gibson, was born in Schenectady county, and came to Troy early in life; at present he is a foreman in the Troy File Works. His mother, Laura A. (Sherman) Gibson, was born in Troy and is a daughter of William C. Sherman. George II., after leaving the Troy Business College, entered the insurance office of Neher & Carpenter, where he remained six years, and was afterwards in the law office of King & Speck, where he remained one year. Mr. Gibson is a member of the Royal Arcanum. He was married in February, 1895, to Miss Bessie C. Green, a daughter of Fred C. Green of Troy. Eagle, Herman J., was born in Troy, N.Y. , in 1867. He is the son of Jacob Eagle, who came from Germany in 1857 and settled in Troy. His mother, Louisa (Falken- hagen) Eagle, was also born in Germany. Mr. Eagle was educated in the common schools and at the Christian Brothers' Academy, and entered the drug store of his father as a clerk. On July 21, 1890, he started in the drug business for himself at 527 Fourth street, where he remained until 1894, when he moved to his present site at 539 Fourth street. He does a general drug business and also deals in paints, oils, and varnishes, and hardware. Mr. Eagle also manufactures Eagle's impervious oil for floors, which allows no dust to rise, and requires sweeping only to insure per fect cleanliness. Mr. Eagle pays particular attention to his prescription department, which is second to none in the city. Burdick, W. R., was born at Afton, Wis., in 1858. His father, M. W. Burdick, now a resident of Hoosick Falls, is a citizen of considerable prominence, the first to hold the office of police magistrate. For thirty years he has been a deacon of the First Baptist church. During his residence in Wisconsin he was justice of the peace for a long term of years. In 1875 W. R. Burdick was first employed by the Walter A. Wood Co., and in 1877 he married Miss Hattie, daughter of George W. Wilson, representing a family of local pioneers. Mr. Burdick is an active and enthusiastic element in the Republican party here, having filled ably several official positions in its organization. He was a charter member of the local Temple of Honor, and is FAMILY SKETCHES. 115 an active and faithful member of the Presbyterian church ; assisted in the organiza tion of the Thirty-second Separate Company, and has served as its lieutenant and otherwise. He is a musician of much ability and a forcible and dramatic public speaker, having been at one time a pupil of Prof. Frank Bradford, the noted elocu tionist. He has served for a term of years as captain of L. E. Worden Division No. 30, 4th Regiment, Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias, a finely drilled organiza tion. Mr. Burdick has served for several years as president of the Board of Health and is an active member of the Board of Trade. Beckett, James A., though born in Ireland in 1854 is of English ancestry, and son of William Beckett, late of Hoosick Falls. They came to America in 1860 when James was but six years of age, yet a storm at sea between Westport and Liverpool is visibly impressed upon his mind. They located at Cohoes, where James was ed ucated at St. John's school. He came to Hoosick in 1871, beginning work for Mr. Wood in learning the molding trade. He became an enthusiast on the subject, and in 1887 was made superintendent of the foundry, where instituted reforms and im proved methods are due to his genius. Mr. Beckett is a Republican, and was chair man of the assembly and of the county convention in 1895, and was twice commis sioner of police, and conspicuous in local reforms of government. He is a member of St. Mark's Episcopal church and prominent in Masonic circles. He is the author of "One Hundred Years of Free Masonry in Hoosick,'' issued in 1893 and recognized as a masterly and exhaustive work. In 1876 he married Annie Acton of Albany. Johnston, C. A., whose position as postmaster attests the popularity in which he is held, is a son of Alonzo L. Johnston, the well known manufacturer. He assumed control of the post-office immediately after his appointment in 1892. He was ed ucated in the high school of Hoosick Falls, where he was born in 1860 and went in to his father's store at the age of nineteen, where he still remains. He has practi cally managed the establishment, his father being occupied with other enterprises. He is an, attendant at the Presbyterian church and a member of the Hoosac Club, was married in 1882 to Mary L., daughter of Henry C. Thayer. Their two children are as follows : Mary T. aged twelve, and Bessie L. aged seven. Agan, Willard J., an energetic, progressive young man, is the owner of the gen eral store at Potter Hill which he established in 1880. He is a Republican and acting postmaster since 1881. He is also interested in farming, and one of the di rectors of the Hoosick Fire Insurance Co. In 1882 he married Alice M. Clint of Troy, by whom he has one son, Ralph W. , aged eleven years. Both are members of the M. E. church. In 1872 he attended the H-ddson Vale Institute, Lansingburgh, N. Y. In the winter of 1874 he attended the Troy Business College, and the following spring accepted a position as clerk with R. T. Brock, druggist and retail grocer, Troy. In the spring of 1877 he enlisted as private in the Troy City Artillery, N. G. S. N. Y. ; in July, 1878, was elected corporal and in 1879 was elected sergeant of 'he company, which office he held until he left the city in the spring of 1880. His father, Richmond Agan, is a farmer in Hoosick, where he was born in 1866. His grandfather, the late James P. Agan, was a farmer and blacksmith in Potter Hill. Percy, G. N., the well-known horse dealer, has an elegant place in North Hoosick where he breeds and drives his fancy stock, training trotters and pacers and like 116 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. work connected with the business. He was born at White Creek, Washington county in 1845, of English ancestry, where his father, Benjamin A. Percy, who now resides in Cambridge, was also born. At eleven years of age he came to live with his grand father and began business life as a farmer. Later he left farming and went to New York city engaging in the ice business where he remained eighteen years. He then returned to'Hoosick at the present location. He married in 1871 Rebecca Sweet of Walloomsac, daughter of Truman T. Sweet, a retired resident of this place. They have one son, Burton, born m 1877 who has not completed his education. Tyler, Amos H., was born in Boonville, Oneida county, N. Y., November 12, 1833. He was a son of Amos and Elizabeth Tyler, he born in Woodstock, Vt., and she in Fairfield, Herkimer county, N. Y. The family is of English descent, and his ances tors came on the Mayflower. Mr. Tyler was reared in Boonville, and attended select schools under Harvey P. Willard and Holland Patent Academy and Watertown Academy. He began teaching school and followed farming until about eighteen years old ; he then began as clerk at Forestport, Oneida county, and clerked about three years for Jackson & Blake, formerly of New York city. He was afterwards in company with Jackson & Co. ; dissolving partnership, he purchased another store and had a successful business. For about five years he assisted in filling the quotas. He was nearly killed two or three times by men who wished to prevent drafting. He then formed a copartnership with N. B. Foot of Rome, N. Y., and followed the wholesale and retail business at Lyons Falls, Lewis county, N. Y., under the firm name of A. H. Tyler & Co. ; he was also postmaster at Lyons Falls. After four years he dissolved partnership and came to Troy, N. Y., and engaged in the shoe business on River street for a few years. He lived in Troy for about three years, then sold out and came to Bath-on-the Hudson, where he engaged in the grocery business for about two years, and was then a traveling salesman for Wolf & Co. of Philadelphia, and has since engaged in real estate business. He married about 1866 Laura E. Hale, of North Granville, Washington county, N. Y., and has had five children: Arthur (deceased), Mary B. , Hattie Blinn, Bessie L. and Edith H. Youlen, P. M., dealer in watches, clocks, jewelry, etc., at Hoosick Falls; he has been a citizen of this place only since 1883, but has in those few years gained much personal popularity as well as success in business. He was born in Saxville, Wis., January 6, 1856, the son of Philip E. Youlen, late of Utica. His boyhood years were passed mainly at the farm home at Rupert, Vt., and at Ilion, N. Y. He learned at Utica the technical and mechanical details of the watchmaker's trade, and in 1883 after several years experience engaged in business at the present location on Main street. Mr. Youlen is an expert adjuster of time keepers and makes a specialty of fine and accurate watch work. He married in 1892 Miss Lila M. Wark, of Hoosick Falls. Mr. Youlen is of English and Welsh descent. Mrs. Youlen's father is of Scotch de scent, though he was born in the North of Ireland; her mother is of English descent. Mrs. Youlen is one of eleven children. Her people are all devoted church members, mainly Methodists; she has one brother — Rev. William Orr Wark— who is pastor of the Congregational church at Saratoga. Mr. and Mrs. Youlen belong to the Protest ant Episcopal church. Boland, Charles P., was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1869. His father, Lawre nc FAMILY SKETCHES. 117 Boland, was born in Ireland and came to this country when young and settled in Troy; he was later in the coal business under the name of Buckley & Boland; he has since retired. His mother, Margaret (Buckley) Boland, was born in Troy, a daughter of Lawrence Buckley, a prominent mason and builder of that city ; he died in 1879. Charles P. Boland received his education in the public schools and was graduated from the La Salle Institute; he learned the mason's trade with Button & Buckley, afterwards Peter H. Buckley, with whom he was associated ten years, after which he formed a partnership with John McGowan as McGowan & Boland, in the contracting and building business Among the buildings they have erected are the city hall, court house and jail buildings at Cohoes, N. Y., the Stanton ale brewery, refrigerator and storage building, and many residences in Troy and vicinity. In September, 1896, the firm of McGowan & Boland dissolved and he continued in busi-' ness alone. He is vice-president of the Master Masons' Association, a member of the Robert Emmett Association, the C. M. B. A, and the C. B. L. He married in November, 1894, Elizabeth M. Hunt of Syracuse, N. Y. ; she is the daughter of Frank Hunt, a prominent contractor of Syracuse. They have one son. Faulkner, T. H., was born in Johnsonville, N. Y. , June 5, 1870. He was a son of Albert and Mary J. (Miller) Faulkner, he a native of Pittstown, N, Y. , and she of Pellstown, N. Y. He is a son of Jacob Faulkner, who lived and died in Middletown, The maternal grandfather was Reuben W. Miller, a native of Pittstown, a son of one of the early settlers of the town of Pittstown. Millertown was named in honor of the family. The father of Mr. Faulkner was a butcher by trade and spent his life in Pittstown. Mr. Faulkner died July 24, 1890, and his widow still lives at Miller- town. T. H. was reared on a farm and educated in common schools, and graduated from Troy Business College in 1892, and worked as clerk for John Robinson & Co., wholesale druggists of Troy, for two years, and in 1894 came to Johnsonville and engaged in the mercantile business, where he has been very successful. Fry, John W., was born at Clifton Park, February 26, 1857, and is a son of Will iam and Hetty M. (Doty) Fry, both born in Saratoga county. He is a son of Michael Fry, a native of Waterford, N. Y. , and spent most of his days at Clifton Park. She is a daughter of Michael Doty, of Schaghticoke and went to Clifton Park, where he lived and died ; he was in the war of 1812*. The father of Mr. Fry was a farmer and came to Schodack in 1885, and died July 5, 1891, and his widow lived in Schodack. Mr. Fry was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy and is a farmer by occupation. In 1883 he came to Schodack and bought a farm of 100 acres, making a specialty of fruit and is a dealer in carriages, wagons, and harness. He was married in 1879 to Elva Baucus of Schaghticoke, daughter of James W. Baucus. To Mr. and Mrs. Fry were born two children: Hettie M. and Edith E. Johnson,- Seymour, was born .in Chenango county, N. Y., March 7, 1833. He is the son of Peter and Abigail (Ver Plank) Johnson, both born in Albany county, N- Y. His grandfather was Isaac I. Johnson, born in Ghent, Columbia county, N.Y; married and settled in Albany county, there spending his last days. He furnished a substitute for War of 1812. Peter Johnson was a farmer in Albany county. The few last days of his life were spent at Schodack Landing, Rensselaer 118 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. county; he died February 21, 1881; his wife, Abigail, died in Albany, December 28, 1860. Mr. Seymour Johnson was reared on a farm, educated in the common schools; by trade he is a carpenter, but at present a farmer ; he owns and lives on a farm con taining 135 acres of land and follows general farming. He was married January 12, 1860, to Sarah K. Knowlton, a daughter of William Knowlton, a merchant of Albany. To Mr. Johnson and wife was born one son, Irving S., who was married April 27, 1887, to Ida S., daughter of John Randerson, by whom he has three children: Will iam Knowlton, Katharine Willard and Seymour Ackroyd. Hewitt,' Rensselaer W., was born in Petersburgh, Rennselaer county, N. Y., in 1829. He was educated in the district schools of that place and commenced teaching in January, 1846, and continued teaching during the winter term in that and adjoin ing towns until March 1, 1858, when he came to Troy and was engaged as principal of the old First Ward school, and taught continuously in the schools of Troy until March 1, 1896, when he' declined a re election, feeling that the work should be com mitted to younger and abler hands. Hutton, jr., William, was born in Troy, N. Y., September 1, 1863. His father, William Hutton, came to this country from Belfast, Ireland, in 1849 and settled in Troy. He was in the grocery business of Ida Hill for a number of years and started in the livery business in 1865. William, jr., graduated from the La Salle Institute in 1881 and was later employed by John McBride, the contractor, as bookkeeper and estimating clerk from 1882 to 1886. He entered into the livery business as partner with his father May 1, 1889, under the firm name of William Hutton & Son. No vember 28, 1888, he married Miss Carrie Kennedy, by whom he has had two sons, one of whom died in 1889. At the present time he is president of the Alumni of La Salle Institute; esteemed loyal knight of Troy Lodge No. 141, B. & P. order of Elks; and is a nominee (1896) for member of assembly, Second district, on the Democratic ticket. Don, John, was born in Scotland in 1841, of Scotch parentage; he is the youngest of a family of ten, six of whom died in infancy; he was named after his father, John Don; his mother's name was Janet Bailile ; he came to America when about fifteen years of age, and since then has resided in Troy. He was engaged in the cut-stone business until about 1888, when he became interested in the manufacture of wrought iron pipe in Cohoes, N. Y. , under the name of the Cohoes Tube Works, which employs about 250 hands. He is also president of the Syracuse Tube Com pany of Syracuse, N. Y., whose specialty is the manufacture of high ^grade boiler tubes. A Republican, he has taken an active interest in political affairs, and was alderman of the Seventh and Fourth wards two years each, being first elected in 1870. He was a member of the Public Improvements Committee during its exist ence. He has been a trustee of the Masonic Hall Association since the erection of the temple and is now president of its board of trustees. He is first vice-president of the Republican Clnb of Troy, has long been a director of the Troy City National Bank, is a member of the Troy Club, was one of the Committee of Public Safety, and for about fourteen years served on General Carr's staff. On October 3, 1896, he was appointed by Governor Morton treasurer of Rensselaer county, vice George H. Morrison resigned. He received the nomination of county treasurer October 8, FAMILY SKETCHES. 119 1896, by the Republican convention. Mr. Don is an energetic, public-spirited and enterprising citizen, and a business man of unquestioned ability and integrity. Lewis, Frank M., was born in Almond, N. Y., in 1843, and is a descendant of the Lewis family who settled in Rhode Island in the early part of the seventeenth cen tury. His father, Lester Lewis, was born in Petersburgh, Rensselaer county, and removed to Allegany county in 1838 and was a prominent farmer of that county, holding several political offices in his town. He died in 1892, at the age of eighty- six. His mother, Anna (Jones) Lewis, of Petersburgh, died in 1870. Frank M. was educated in the public schools and came to Troy in 1863 and was employed by Mrs. Emma Willard, of the Seminary, and later was employed byjohn Bogardus in the hay pressing business. In 1873 he bought out the express and general teaming business of George Hill and has continued in that business since. He represented the Thirteenth ward in the Board of Supervisors fron 1887 to 1890 and was re-elected in 1892. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., and of Athenian Lodge No. 96, I. O. O. F. , and has represented that lodge in the Grand Lodge for three years. He also belongs to John W. Nesbott Encampment No. 10 In 1865 he married Sarah Hyde, who died in 1876. They had one daughter, who is now Mrs. Kate Jordan. He was married again in 1878 to Ida Stillman, who died in 1886. He had three sons by his second marriage; Frank B., Lester L , and Ray mond A. His present wife was Mrs. Elijah H. Coonradt of Troy, to whom he was married in November, 1892. Evans, John N., was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., December 25, 1842. He is a son of Nelson and Cornelia M. (Ostrander) and grandson of John Evans, farmer of New York, but died in Pennsylvania. The maternal grandfather was David Ostrander. Nelson Evans was forty-two years engaged in farming in Stephentown, and died in 1890. John N. married Nancy, daughter of Hiram and Frelove (Finch) Belknap of Stephentown. Mr. Belknap was a farmer and died June 4, 1868. Mrs. Belknap now resides with John N. Isaac Finch, father of Mrs. Belknap, was born at Chatham, N. Y. ; he married Lucy Beers of Stephentown. The father of Isaac, James Finch, was a pioneer of Chatham. Isaac Finch was a Revolutionary soldier under Capt. Simeon Tift. To Mr. and Mrs. Evans have been born two sons: Will iam E., farmer on the old homestead of 137 acres, which John N. bought for him in 1892; Edward M. is at home. John N. has always been a farmer and has aboi t 125 acres, the farm where he resides. On September 14, 1864, Mr. Evans enlisted in Co. M, 13th Heavy Artillery, and was honorably discharged June 28, 1865. He is a member of the P. Coleman Post No. 545, G. A. R. of West Stephentown. Abbott, Henry J., was born in Stillwater, N. Y., November 4, 1819, and is a son of Ira and Elizabeth (Terry) Abbott, Ira a son of Judd who came from Connecticut and settled near Cropseyville ; his children were Henry, Walter, Jonas, Judd, John Urich, Sallie, Jerusha, Ira. Ira's early life was spent on a farm ; when young he learned the blacksmith trade with his brother Judd. Afterwards he married Eliza beth Terry and moved to Stillwater, and one year later moved to Albany county, where he stayed ten years, when he moved to Brunswick. His children were Henry J., Mary, Joseph, Elmira, Sara A., Jane, Elizabeth, Mathias and Alonzo. Henry J. was associated with his father until twenty-six years of age, and on December 17, 120 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. 1845, he married Martha Jane, daughter of Richard C. Derrick, and has eight chil dren : Maria, wife of Eugene A. Van Pelt, Richard Henry, Ira Willard, Franklin Eugene, Emma Betts, wife of Eugene Van Pelt, Carrie Derrick, wife of Clarence Van Zandtj Jessie Belle, wife of J. W. Whitbeck, Edwin Lincoln. Franklin Eugene is a gradu ate of Union College and follows civil engineering ; he married Grace Millard. Rich ard Henry graduated from the Troy Business College and married Anna Riddle. Ira married Charlotte Lohnes. Carrie and Jennie are graduates of Albany Normal School. Henry J. is active in education, school and church and religious work; also in town and county affairs. Crehan, Henry A., was born in East Greenbush, May 1, 1838, and is a son of Charles A. and Delila (Chandler) Crehan, he a native of Canada and she of Massa chusetts. Mrs. Crehan was a sister of Zach Chandler. Charles A , the grandfather of Mr. Crehan, came from France to Canada as interpreter; he came to Troy and finally settled on a farm now owned by Mr. Crehan; he was a miller by trade and ran a mill in East Greenbush ; he died on the farm in November, 1870, and Mrs. Crehan died in February, 1871. In 1854 Mr. Crehan married Sarah, daughter of Leonard and Maria Rysdorph. Mr. Rysdorph died in 1894, and Mrs. Rysdorph now resides with Mrs. Crehan. To Mr. and Mrs. Crehan were born five children: Amelia, wife of John Karnes; Alice, wife of Nelson Vaughn, a dealer in horses; Ellen and Minnie, at home; and Leonard, a milkman. Mr. Crehan ran a dairy business of about thirty-five cows. McCaffrey, Cornelius. — His first business engagement, after becoming a resident of Hoosick Falls, was with the Walter A. Wood Company. After three years he embarked in business for himself, and has since that time been an extensive dealer in sand and building stone, besides carrying on a teaming and trucking business. His father, Cornelius McCaffrey, was also an extensive dealer in like building mate rial in Ireland where he (Cornelius J.), was born in 1835. Just before sailing for America in 1863, Mr. McCaffrey was united in marriage to Catherine Toal. They came at once to Hoosick Falls, which has ever since been their home and birthplace of their six children: Mary E., wife of William Houlton, of this place; Rose A., Cor nelius jr., John Charles and Arthur; who also carry on the same business. Mr. Mc Caffrey was bereaved in 1894 of his faithful wife, Catherine. Diamond, George T. , was born in Albany, May 14, 1838. He was a son of Thomas S. and Margaret (Lainhart) Diamond, he a native of Albany and she of Guilderland, N. Y. The grandfather of Mr. Diamond was William M. Diamond, who was the first male child born in Lansingburgh, and in honor of ( the event Judge Lansing deeded him a lot. His father was Thomas S. , of French extraction ; he was quarter master in the Revolutionary war and was present at the Boston Tea Party. Thomas S. Diamond settled in Lansingburgh and then removed to Albany and afterwards to New York city. While in Albany he was one of the founders and junior warden of the Master's Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. His father was Sir Hugh Dia mond. The father of Mr. Diamond (Thomas S.) was a carpenter and spent most of his days in Albany, and in 1853 came to Greenbush and worked at the B. & A. shops, and in about 1867 went to Amsterdam where he died in 1878. His wife died September, 1864. For his second wife he married Mary Jones, who died in Mont- FAMILY SKETCHES. 121 clair, N. J. Mr. Diamond was reared and educated in Albany, and was first em ployed by George T Carter in the variety business when a lad twelve years old. He was then with the Western Union Telegraph Company as a messenger boy, and soon after was with Hugh J. Hastings as collector and in a short time went in the daguerreotyping business employed by R. Emmitt Churchill, and remained with him until he came to Greenbush. He was then employed by the B. & A. Railroad for about eight months and left to take a position with the Hudson River Railroad and was with them until 1857. He then went into the mercantile business and was engaged for twenty-six years to a day. He discontinued the mercantile business in 1883 and now carries on the trucking business, and is at present in Albany employing five men. Mr. Diamond has been town clerk, trustee, police commissioner twice, collector of the village, and treasurer four times. He has been a member of Green bush -Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., for about twenty-nine years, and is a member of the K. of P. September 13, 1860, he married Jane E. Bell, a native of Greenbush and daughter of Stephen Bell of Greenbush, who was a miller for several years. To Mr. and Mrs. Diamond were born five children ; Annie, at home ; Allen B., Min nie, George, and Grace, who are dead. Finch, George W., was born in Valley Falls, N. Y-, August 23, 1824. He is a son of Lemuel S. and Ann Eliza (Woolman) Finch, who was a native of Pittstown,- and son of Louis Finch, a native of Columbia county, N. Y., and came to Pittstown at an early day. The father of Mr. Finch was a farmer and deputy sheriff; he died July 2, 1875, and his wife died March 27, 1876. Mr. Finch was educated in common schools and Poultney Academy and studied engineering and surveying. He was connected with the Troy and Boston Railroad for about thirty-two years, and for seven years had charge as chief engineer of the road. He was also a builder and contractor and was engineer of the bridge at Valley Falls and Johnsonville and was resident engineer for the Schaghticoke Powder Co., changing from the old system to the electrical system. Mr. Finch was married December 31, 1846, to Louisa Baker of Stillwater, N. V., by whom has been born seven children: Alice L., Mary J., Philip B., Frederick B., Fannie L. (deceased), Helen M. and Lemuel S. Mr. Finch is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. , and was its first master for nine consecutive years and afterwards for six years. He also was a member of Schaghticoke Lodge No. 216, I. O. O. F., and was a member of the 96th N. Y. Vol. State Militia and held every office from private to lieutenant-colonel; hisfirst com mission was signed by Horatio Seymour, then governor of the State. He also served for fourteen years in the Schaghticoke and Langsingburgh artillery com panies. Graham, James, was born in Galashiels, Scotland, December 9, 1850. He. was educated in their schools, also received a technical education as a textile pattern de signer, which occupation he followed at the Schaghticoke woolen mills. July 9, 1877, he married Mary Richardson of his native place. They have had six children : Janet F., Bella A. (who died in her second year), Mary R., James A., Nellie A. and George D. They came to Canada in 1880; he entered the employ of the Colburg Woolen Co. in Ontario as a superintendent and designer, and was also a stockholder in the company. On January 1, 1895, he came to the United States and located in Schaghticoke, N. Y. Mrs. Graham's father, George Richardson, was born in Scot- p 122 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and in the year 1825 ; he was educated there, and was a carder by occupation ; he married Janet Frier of his native place; they had nine children, five sons and four daughters: Christina, Robert, Ellen, George, Christina, Thomas, Mary, James and John. Christina No. 1, Robert, James, John and Ellen are dead. Mr. Richardson died in 1878, and his wife in March, 1866. The Grahams are in direct line of de scent of the Grahams, the Marquis of Montrose; also of the Hays of Dun's Castle, Berwickshire, Scotland. The ancestry of the family is Scotch on both sides. Moore, Edward, was born in Troy in 1862. His father, Joseph Moore, came to this country from Germany and first settled in Albany, and later came to Troy, and worked at his trade for a number of years. He resides in Troy. His mother, Sophia (Bates) Moore, was born in Germany and is now living in Troy. Edward upon leaving school went to farming in the country for eight years and then re turned to Troy, and in 1878 entered the employ of Flack & Dennison, and has been with that concern and its successor since, and is now superintendent. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge, F. & A. M., of the Chapter of Lansingburgh, and of Bloss Council and Apollo Commandery of Troy. Miller, H. C, M. D., was born in Schodack, N. Y., in June, 1846. He is a son of John S., born in Sand Lake, a son of Stephen Miller, one of the early settlersof Sand Lake. John S. Miller, M. D., a graduate of Castleton Medical College, Vermont, came to Greenbush, where he practiced for a short time; he removed to Schodack, where he had a very successful practice; he died in 1883. Dr. H. C. Miller was ed ucated in the common schools and Fort Edward Academy, and was graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1874 and came to Greenbush, where he had a very successful practice. In 1872 he was married to Mary L. Mould, by whom one daugh ter has been born : Hellen E., at home. Dunvar, John, was born in Ireland and educated in the Mouruth College of that country; he emigrated to New York city when' about twenty one years old, and soon engaged with the Hudson River Railroad and located in Greenbush ; he was made bookkeeper as soon as the office was located in Greenbush, which position he held until his death. November 19, 1854, he married Anna. Halloran, born in Greenbush where the Rensselaer House now stands, and is the oldest native born Catholic of Greenbush. The parents of Mrs. Dunvar were Thomas and Eliza (Powers) Halloran, natives of Ireland, and early in life came to Greenbush and here lived and died; he died at the age of eighty-four and she at the age of fifty-four. They had four daughters of whom three are living. To Mr and Mrs. Dunvar were born six chil dren : Thomas, Elizabeth (deceased), Michael S. , John J. , Vincent A. , and Catherine. Ketchum, Sanford B., was born in North Greenbush, April 4, 1864, and is a son of George W. and Lavinna (Hayner) Ketchum,' he a native of Schenectady county and she of Greenbush. The maternal grandfather, George Hayner, was a carpenter and a millwright; he married Magaret Fellows of West Sand Lake, and died in 1872. George W. spent most of his life near Wynantskill. He died March 14, 1881, at the age of fifty-four, and his wife resides with Sanford B. Sanford B. was educated in Troy, and in 1888 he married Sarah M., daughter of Phillip S. and Sarah (Kinney) De Freest of North Greenbush, by whom he had three children: George S., Eugene C. , and Milton De F. Sanford B. commenced his business career as a clerk for P. J . FAMILY SKETCHES. 123 Westfall, with whom he remained for eleven years, and in 1890 bought him out and has since carried on a large business. Link, Calvin E. , was born in Poestenkill, June 5, 1849. He was the son of Stephen and Eliza (Wattenpock), he of Poestenkill and she of Sand Lake. The grandfather, Peter Link, was an early settler of Poestenkill and was accidentally killed by the running away of a horse. Stephen was a farmer of Poestenkill. He died in 1882 and Mrs. Link died in 1877. Calvin Link was educated at Scram Seminary, Sand Lake, and was married in 1872 to Mary E., daughter of Lewis E. Wagar, of West Sand Lake, by whom he has had two daughters: Alda M. and Ella F. In 1879 Mr. Link bought the farm on which he now resides and makes a specialty of dairying ; he has put up fine buildings and greatly improved his place. Howell, Mrs. Ophelia F. B. , was born in New York city, as were her two sisters, Mary Magdalena and Sophia Helena, daughters of Bernard and Mary Magdalena (Neumiller) Rotnbach. Bernard Rombach was a native of Hanover and his wife of Frankfort-on-the-Main. Mr. and Mrs. Rombach came to New York city in 1850 and engaged in the furniture business. He was a carver by trade, having learned in the old country. After a short stay in New York city the family removed to Troy. where Mr. Rombach worked at his trade ; he was a Mason ; he died in 1870 and Mrs. Rombach died in 1886 ; also the two daughters Sophia Helen and Mary Magdalena, leaving only one of the number, Ophelia F. B. Rombach. At the age of twelve years Ophelia Rombach was employed in the collar manufactory of Smith & House and soon became forewoman, remaining about five years, when being offered a better position, she engaged as forewoman for Tim & Co., where she had charge of all the works; she remained with them until she married Dr. Lyle A. Plowell, son of Albert L. and Ellen Homer Howell of Mohawk. Mr. Howell is a dentist by profession. They have one daughter, Lura Alice Sophia Howell. In 1884 Mrs. O. F. Howell purchased the Burden Lake Hotel, now known as The Howell, or Lakeside Inn; it has been rebuilt and greatly enlarged and improved, and is one of the finest summer- resort houses among the lakes of the town ; the fishing is excellent, and guests re ceive first-class accommodations. Fike, Enos, was born in Nassau, August 30, 1850. He was a son of Peter and Sophia (Sheller) Fiske the former born in Germany and the latter in Holland ; he came to Nassau m 1843 at the age of eighteen years, and she came in 1842 at the age of ten years ; they settled on the farm now owned by Enos in 1864, and here he died in 1891. Enos Fike, with the exception of nine years spent in Castleton, has spent his life in Nassau. November 15, 1871, he married M/ rriett Clark of Nassau, by whom five children were born: Emma S., who was educated in the common schools and Albany, is now engaged in teaching ; Elmer C. is in the employ of the Albany & Boston Railroad; Abbie M., who is also a teacher; Ira P. and Willard E. are at home. Mrs. Fike is a daughter of Shubel and Abigail M. (Curtis) Clark. Mr. Clark was a son of Richard A. , a son of a Revolutionary soldier. Mr. Clark died May 19, 1889. McKenna, James T., M. D., was born at West Troy, July 23, 1863, and is a son of John and Mary B. (Mclntyre) McKenna. John McKenna was born in Ireland and «me to this country in 1850, settled in West Troy and is a blacksmith by trade; in 124 Landmarks of rensselaer county. 1870 he was elected superintendent of the police of Troy, which position he held for fifteen years; he was lieutenant-colonel, 24th regiment N. G. S. N. Y. ; he is now agent for a Kentuckey distilling house. James T. was educated in the public schools and was graduated from the Troy High School in 1880. He received the degree of A. B. from Williams College in 1884, and was one of the orators at commencement day and received the degree of A. M. from the same college in 1887, and the degree of M. D. from the Albany Medical College in 1896, and has the honor of being one of the members in the United States of the Cobden Club, of London, England. In September, 1884, he was elected third male assistant of the Troy High School, and in 1886 was promoted to first asssistant, having charge of the classics. In 1891 he was elected principal and resigned in February, 1896, to take up the practice of medicine. He was elected instructor in physiology in April, 1896, at the Albany Medical College. He opened an office for the practice of medicine, June 1, 1896. He is a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Association, the Doctors' Club, and is medical examiner for the Knights of Columbus, and was a member of the Robert Emmett Association, and of the Troy Citizens Corps for many years. In April, 1885, he married Rose Duffy, of Troy, by whom three children have been born : Nellie, Walter and Rose. Edward, Brother, was born in Scranton, Pa., November 29, 1854. In his early years he attended the public schools and afterwards St. John's Academy, of Pitts- ton, Pa. He was destined by his parents to follow in the footsteps of an uncle, a physician of much note in that locality, but this proved distateful to him and he entered upon the duties of a commercial life, which he pursued but a short time, and in October, 1874, he entered the order of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. After passing through the ordeal of the novitiate and training school of the Brothers, he was sent to teach in one of their schools in New York city. In less than two years he was made principal and acted in that capacity until 1888, when he became assist ant director of the De La Salle Institute, one of the largest academies of the order in New York city. In 1890 the principalship of La Salle Institute of Troy becoming vacant, Brother Edward was sent by his superiors to assume charge of the institute, and in this capacity he has shown himself to be a most successful instructor and manager. Shortly after taking charge of La Salle Institute, Brother Edward wish ing to successfully compete with the high schools and academies of the State, applied to the University of the State for admission ; and after the regular requirements were complied with, the school took its first examination in June, 1891 ; the results were far below his expectations, but this did not dishearten him. Gathering around him his confreres he infused into them his own spirit and at the close of the follow ing scholastic year, he had the distinguished honor of seeing La Salle Institute receive the highest academic honors ever granted by the Univerrsty of the State of New York. This distintion it has continued successively to hold from June, 1892, to the present time, June, 1896. Brother Edward is still in the prime of life, and is possessed of untiring activity and will no doubt continue to make his influence felt in the cause of education. Gottschalk, Charles, was born in Bavaria, Germany, October 22, 1833. He was educated in the schools there, and was by occupation a coachman. September 6, 1861, he married Christina Ropke, of his native place, by whom he has had six chil- FAMILY SKETCHES. 125 dren: Ida H., Minnie E., Endumun C, Charles F., Bertha S., and Emma M., who was born in the United States. The family came to this country in 1871 and located in Lansingburgh, N.Y. Ida H. married Frederick Hiller; they have five children living: Frederick, jr., Charles, Albert, Randolph, and Henrietta. Minnie E. mar- Jacob Spears, and they have two children; Bertha J. and Edna. Charles, jr., mar ried Lena Sage, they have one son, Harold. Hammann, Conrad, son of Conrad and Elizabeth (Fike) Hammann, was born in Darmstadt, Germany, January 2, 1849, came to America with his parents in 1854 and was educated in the Albany public schools, working summers to enable him to study winters. In 1864 he learned the barber's trade with George Helt, in Albany, where he remained two and a half years. In 1867 he came to Troy and worked for George Steenberg until 1871, when on May 1 he started in business for himself at No. 8 State street. March 3, 1878, he sold out and returned to Mr. Steenberg's and on April 9, 1881, he opened his present barber shop. Mr. Hammann is a member of Harmensinger Germanliloches and in 1869 was elected a member of Athenia Lodge No. 96, I. 0. 0. F., but left it the same year to become a charter member of Rhein Lodge No. 248, I. O. O. .F. ; he is a member of Augusta Lodge of Rebecca, I. O. O. F. and was a member of America Lodge No. 37, K. P., until the charter was surren dered, when he joined Guttenberg Lodge No. 112, of which he has held every office up to and including that of chancellor. In 1882 he joined King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., Bloss Council No. 15, K. T. and has attained all the Scottish Rite degrees, including the thirty second; he is also a member of Oriental Temple, Nobles of Mystic Shrine; he is an honorably discharged member of Co. K, 21th Regt, which disbanded in 1879 and is a member of the Mannerchor Singing Society. July 13, 1868, he married Rebe Toxina, daughter of Charles Rhodes, of Troy. She died July 24, 1892, and August 29, 1893, he married Julia Rupp, widow of Andrew Ford. He had two children by his first wife, Conrad, jr., who married Catharine Boyce of Troy, April 15, 1896, and Daisy R., who was married to Herman F. Pussut, in February, 1892. Quinn, James T., was born in Troy, N. Y. , in March, 1855. He is the son of Michael and Esther (Dougdale) Quinn, who came to Troy in 1846. His father died in 1888 and his mother in 1883. He was educated at the public schools, afterwards learned the carpenter's trade, and in 1882 started a liquor store on Third street and remained in it till 1895, when he started a confectionery store in the same place where he is still doing business. After being alderman from the Eleventh ward for seven years he resigned and was elected general assessor, which office he now holds. He is a member of the Osgood Steamer Co., the Pilnser Democratic Club and several other organizations. He was married October 22, 1894, to Miss Katie Cusack. Dunn, Patrick, was born in Wicklow, Ireland, March 17, 1845. He was a son of John Dunn and Jane Roche, both of whom lived and died in Ireland. The former died in 1872 and the latter in 1853. The paternal grandfather of Patrick was George Dunn, whose wife was Mary Burns. His maternal grandfather was -Charles Roche and his wife was Ann Dunn. The great-grandfather Dunn was a farmer in Ireland, and the farm he owned is now occupied by William, a brother of Patrick Dunn, and has been in the family over three hundred years. Patrick Dunn came to America 126 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. in 1865, settled in East Greenbush, and has since followed farming in North Green bush. He has a farm of about eighty acres one mile from Albany and keeps a dairy of thirty-five cows. In 1872 he married Hannah, a daughter of John Grady and Catharine Dunnivan, both of Limerick, Ireland; they emigrated to America in 1844 and first settled in Danby, Vt. ; Mr. Grady died in New York city in 1895, and Mrs. Grady, now seventy-five years of age, resides with Mr. Dunn. To Mr. and Mrs. Dunn have been born ten children, but four of whom are living: Jane, Kate, Sarah and Dennis. Mrs. Dunn died at her residence in Blooming Grove, August 13, 1896. Mills, Thomas, was born in Scotland, May 3, 1816. He was educated in their schools, and was a confectioner by occupation. He located for a short time in New York and Brooklyn, and while there took a pleasure trip on the Hudson as far as Lansingburgh, where he found an opening for the business. The date of his arrival in the United States was April 14, 1842. He has had a successful business here for fifty-four years. He was married twice, first in 1842 to Isabelle Reid of his native place. She died here soon after their arrival, and for his second wife he married Helen Reid, a sister of his first wife, by whom four children have been born : Isabella ; Franklin P ; James R., who died at the age of twelve; and Margaret, who died in her fourth year. Isabella married James H. Jewett of Buffalo, and Franklin P. mar ried Ada Balcom of Troy, by whom two children have been born: Thomas and Helen. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., and of Phoenix Chap ter No. 33, R. A. M. F"ranklin P. is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355. The ancestry of the family on both sides is Scotch. Gibbs, Luman H., was born in Boyntonville, Rensselaer county, N. Y., May 22, 1839. His education was obtained in the public schools and he had a variety of occu pations: farmer, cooper, manufacturer of linseed oil, merchant, and commission merchant in flour and extras in Troy N. Y., for 'wenty-eight years. August 1, 1891, he became associated with E. J. Powers of Wilmington, N. C , in the manu facturing of a high grade fertilizer, under the firm name of Powers, Gibbs & Co. For the past four years he has been treasurer of the Cable Flax Mills of Schaght icoke, N. Y. He is now a resident of Johnsonville, N. Y. He was married twice; first, on May 22, 1868, to Elizabeth Yetto, of Troy. They had six children ; two daughters and one son survive: Marie E., Rosalie E., and Lafayette A. Mrs. Gibbs died February 21, 1878. For his second wife on July 5, 1880, he married Mary E. Yetto of Troy, N. Y. They have three children; Leo C, William S. and Gertrude M. Mr. Gibb's father, Benjamin, was born in Connecticut in 1799 and came with his parents to this State when a boy. He was educated in the schools of that time, and was a carpenter by trade. He married Matilda Geer, formerly of Connecticut. They had five children: Lydia A., Emily F., Albert B., Luman H. and Adeline M. Benjamin Gibbs died in 1888, and his wife in 1882. Mr. Gibbs is a member of King Solomon Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., and Bloss Council No. 13, R. & S. M. Fuller, Charles L., was born in South Berlin, September 4, 1864, is the son of Henry E. Fuller, born in Petersburgh, December 9, 1830. He was one of three children, two daughters and one son, born to Lewis Fuller, also a native of Peters burgh, born July 9, 1806; he was the son of Amos Fuller, a native of Nine Paitners, FAMILY SKETCHES. 127 Conn. He was a farmer and a pioneer of Petersburgh, settled in the wilderness. cleared him a farm and here he spent his last days. Lewis, the grandfather, was also a farmer, and removed to South Berlin, where he spent his life in farming; his wife was Sarah Wilcox ; he died January 25, 1888. Henry E., the father, came to South Berlin in 1861 and engaged in the general mercantile business which he con ducted until 1873, when he engaged in farming, which business he followed until 1883; he also dealt in agricultural implements. In 1869 he was appointed post master, which office he filled until his death, which occurred June 3, 1894. He was a Republican in politics. His wife was Jeanette Lapham, a native of Adams, Mass., and daughter of Daniel and Lucy (Hull) Lapham. Their children were Charles L. and Fannie H. His wife survives him and resides in South Berlin. Mr. Fuller was an active member and liberal contributor of the Baptist church, as was also his father and grandfather. Charles L. spent his life with his father on the farm and in the store. Since his father's death he has conducted the mercantile business in con nection with four farms consisting of 438 acres on which he makes a specialty of raising Guernsey cattle, having some fine thoroughbreds and a large number of grades. He is an enterprising and successful young man in politics. He has offi ciated as inspector four terms and is now holding the office of assessor in his town, and is also school trustee and a member of the American Protective Association. Hull, Daniel J., a representative citizen of the town of Berlin, was born in this town on the Hull homestead in 1844. Daniel Hull, his great-grandfather, was a native of Connecticut, he settled in Berlin in 1772 bringing his family with him. Major Daniel his grandfather, was born in town of Redding, Conn. , in 1762 ; he grew to prominence in the town of Berlin in the military; held various offices up to a ma jor's commission, by which title he was generally known. He was one of the political men of the old school, affiliating with the Federalists; a frequent member in con ventions representing his people in State and county, and a member of the Legisla ture. He was a strong advocate of freeman's rights; unambitious, acting from principles of duty that he owed to his fellowman, a promoter of arts and sciences, a friend to the oppressed ; when the Declaration of Independence was received he read it for the first time, publicly, in the Valley of the Hoosick to the inhabitants of this part of the country who had assembled at this place to hear it read ; he was an active worker in raising troops for the Revolutionary army and later took part himself and was at the surrender of Burgoyne, his son, Hezekiah, being with him ; he was a mag istrate for many years; he died August 26, 1811; age had impaired his intellectual powers and for several years before his death he was incapable of attending to busi ness; he reared three sons and one daughter. Benjamin Hull, the father of Daniel J., was born on the same Hull homestead in 1787; he spent his entire life on the homestead which he later owned ; he was thrifty, ambitious and prosperous and in politics a staunch Republican ; his wife was Maria Jones, who was born in Berlin, a daughter of James Jones and granddaughter of Major James Jones of Revolutionary war fame; they reared two sons and four daughters; he died in 1869 and his wife in 1883. Mr. Hull is the youngest of his father's family. He remained on the home stead, cared for his parents during their old age and until their death, and later owned the home farm where he resided until 1891, when he sold his farm and re tired to the village of Beriin. Mr. Hull has been prominently identified with the 128 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Republican party for many years ; his first public office was in 1870 when he acted as justice of the peace, and since then has been elected supervisor seven terms, in which capacity he is now serving; at one time he filled the office for five successive years. He was president of the Republican Club for three years, is a member of the Berlin Chess Club, and a prominent and active man in all town and public affairs appertaining to the welfare of his country. In 1865 he was married to Miss Adelaide Denison. She was a native of Stephentown and daughter of Pardee Denison and granddaughter of Col. George T. Denison, who was assemblyman from his district. To Mr. and Mrs. Hull were born three children : Arthur D. , Louis, and Daniel Streeter. Arthur is a resident of Rome, Ga., where he is manager of a manufacturing com pany. Mrs. Hull died January, 1891, much lamented ; she was a member of the Bap tist church. Mr. and Mrs. Hull were noted for their hospitality and as entertainers they were always ready for company and the companv was always welcome. Canfield, Thomas. — One of the highly esteemed citizens of Hoosick Falls for the last quarter of a century, and for about the same length of time an efficient trusted employee of Walter A. Wood Company is Mr. Thomas Canfield, whose recent occu pancy of the village presidential chair is but one proof of his personal popularity. He was born in Ireland in 1849; in 1866 made his residence in Troy until 1870, when he located in Hoosick Falls, therefore being a resident twenty-six years. He is by trade an iron molder, and also operates a general store at Elm and Third streets. He married in 1872 Miss Mary A. Mulcahy of Troy, who is the mother of twelve children of whom all but three are living, a large and interesting family. Mr. Can- field is an earnest advocate of temperance principles, and was for many years offi cially connected with the Father Mathew Society as president and as treasurer. His administration of village affairs was characterized by economy, honesty, and sole regard for the public good. Welch, Edgar A., was born at Pownal Vt., August 17, 1837, son of Josiah Welch, a farmer and who was also born in that town. The first American ancestors of this family were from Holland, and settled in Connecticut. His great-grandfather fought in the Revolutionary war, was taken prisoner by the British at the battle of Hub bardton, Vt., made his escape and rejoined the federal forces at the battle of Ben nington, Vt. Mr. Welsh is also a descendant of the famous Baptist preacher known far and near as " Elder Bennett." He is a veteran railroad man having entered the employ of the Troy & Boston Railroad at a time when a horse was used to pull cars between Hoosick Falls and Hoosick Junction. He worked his way steadily toward the top; among the various positions held, we mention, two years in the depot at North Adams, several years as brakeman, two years as general baggage master at Troy and eight years as conductor on a train between Troy and Rutland. He was also station agent at Williamstown, Mass , and Hoosick Falls. While engaged in coupling cars in 1871, at Valley Falls, he was severaly injured. In 1881 he relin quished life on the rail, and was five years foundry foreman for the Hoosick Mallea ble Iron Co. In 1887 he opened a store for the sale of meats, fish and oysters, in which business he is now engaged. Mr. Welch has been twice married and has three children, Frances lone, the wile of Capt. C. W. Eddy, Elmer E. and Bertha May, the wife of Clarence B. Solomon. His first wife and mother of his children was Sarah Daniels of Hoosick Falls. Her death occurred on the fiftieth anniversary FAMILY SKETCHES-. 129 of her birth, and in the house where she was born. His second wife was Annie E. Sweet, with whom he is now living. Mr. Welch is a member of the First Baptist church, a member of Apollo Lodge F. & A. M., of Troy, N. Y., Democratic in poli tics. He has read the Troy Press for forty years. Akin, Oliver, was born in East Greenbush September 9, 1856, and is a son of Fred erick W. and Ann (Doughty) Akin, he a native of Greenbush and she of Dutchess county. The grandfather, William Akin, came from Dutchess county and purchased a large tract of land in Rensselaer county near Greenbush. Mr. F. W. Akin was reared in Greenbush and has always followed farming. He died in 1879 and his wife died in 1878. After the death of Mr. Akin the farm was carried on by a son of Fred erick W. who carried on a large milk business. He died in 1892. Oliver was reared on his father's farm, and in 1884 he married Josephine Prepenbrink, daughter of Frederick and Johanna Prepenbrink, natives of Germany, came with his family to America when quite young. He was a decorator and upholsterer by trade. To Mr. and Mrs. Akin was born one daughter. Mr. Akin now carries on the homestead farm of 125 acres of land and keeps about fifty cows. De Freest, Frank, was born August 14, 1855. He is a son of John A. and Elenor (Manville) De Freest. He was born in Troy, January 16, 1826, and "she was born in North Greenbush in 1826. The parents of John A. were Abram and Lizzie (Marble) De Freest, both natives of Rensselaer county. The father of Abram was David De Freest. John A. De Freest bought the farm in 1847 and here died in 1894. The parents of Elenor Manville were Jonas and Mary (Wheeler) Manville, he a native of Amsterdam and she of Troy. He followed farming in North Greenbush where he died in 1888, at the age of ninety-eight years. His wife, Mary Wheeler, died in 1873, aged seventy-six years. To Mr. and Mrs. John A. De Freest have been born three sons and two daughters: Llewellyn, farmer of North Greenbush; Mary L. , wife of John Cipperly ; Abram and Franklin run the homestead farm and keep a dairy of thirty-two cows and buy and sell milk. They and their father have been in the milk business for thirty-five years. Mr. De Freest is a member of Silver Brook Lodge No. 722, I. O. O. F. , at Wynantskill. Denison, D. Oscar, was born in Berlin, May 1, 1840. He is a son of Albert G. , a son of Daniel Denison, who lived and died in Berlin at the age of eighty-six years. Albert G. was born, lived and died in Berlin and was a farmer. He was in ternal revenue collector under Lincoln's administration. He died in 1864 and his wife, Catherine Jones, died in July, 1885. Mr. Denison was reared in Berlin, and was educated there and in the select schools of Petersburgh. He left home when nineteen years of age to clerk in the county clerk's office, J. Thomas Davis being county clerk at that time. He was there about three years and then went on a farm for a short time. December 1, 1862, he came to Greenbush and engaged in the grocery and hardware business with Griswold Denison, who was also postmaster. Mr. Denison and his partner after two years were burned out and D. Oscar Denison engaged in the ice business for one year in Greenbush ; then he went to New York and was in the ice business for about three years, and was also in the trucking busi ness for two years. He came to Greenbush in 1872 and entered into partnership with T. Miles & Co. ; T. Miles was father-in-law of Mr. Denison. Mr. Miles died in 9 130 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. 1878, but his sons, William T. and James I. Miles, and Mr. Denison continue the business under the same name. The wife of Mr. Denison was Maria E. Miles; they were married in 1865 and have two children : Oscar M. and Susan M. Mr. Denison has been trustee of the village for two terms, and has been for eight years trustee of school district No. 1. In 1895 he was elected police justice and took the office January 1, 1896. In 1896 he was elected civil justice and will take office January 1 1897. Vandenburg, Cornelius N., was born in Troy in 1826. He was a son of Cornelius M. and Catherine (Frank) Vandenburg. The grandfather of Mr. Vandenburg was Matthias, who settled on the farm now owned by Mr. Vandenburg. C. M. Vanden burg was born and reared on the farm and spent most of his life there. He died in 1868 and Mrs. Vandenburg died in 1881. Mr. Vandenburg has always carried on general farming and dairying. He and his wife have a farm of 100 acres and keep a dairy of thirty cows. In 1851 he married Harriet, a sister of David Phillips. To Mr. and Mrs. Vandenburg were born seven children: John and Otis, on the home stead; Arba, in Gordinier's store in Troy; Harriet, deceased; Mary, wife of James Farrell, a lawyer of Troy. Worthington, Albert, was born in the city of Troy, December 28, 1847, and is a son of Lynus P. and Hannah L. (Haner) Worthington, he a native of Grafton and she of Sand Lake. The grandparents, John and Lovisa (Robinson) came from Con necticut to Grafton at an early day and engaged in farming. Lynus P. Worthing ton was reared on the farm in Grafton, and commenced farming and then went into the grocery business in Troy and spent his last days in North Greenbush, on the farm now owned by Albert, where he died August 8, 1882. Mr. Worthington was justice of the peace and supervisor of Grafton. Albert was educated at Lansing burgh Academy. In 1882 he married Sarah E., daughter of William and Mariah Ostrander, he a native of North Greenbush and she of East Greenbush. To Mr. and Mrs. Worthington have been born two children : Lena B. and Edgar L. Mr. Worthington owns the farm of eighty-seven acres and keeps from eighteen to twenty cows. Koon, Alfred, was born in North Greenbush, June 26, 1855. He was the son of Alfred Koon and Delia Sharp, both natives of North Greenbush. His paternal grandparents, Henry and Ann (Lansing) Koon, were both born in Rensselaer county. Henry Koon was a farmer, lawyer, and judge, and served in the militia in the war of 1812 ; he was a large owner of real estate, part of which was a tract of 200 acres, located in that part of the city of Troy now occupied by Pawling, Maple and Pine Woods avenues, and justly esteemed by many to be the most beautiful portion of the city. Henry was the son of John Koon who came to Greenbush at a very early day and owned a large tract of land near Wynantskill. The parents of Delia Koon were Frederic and Mary (Renter) Sharp. The father of Frederic Sharp was Peter Sharp, a pioneer of North Greenbush and a Revolutionary soldier; his wife was Catharine Barringer. The oldest brother of Mary Renter entered the Revolutionary army as a drummer boy at the age of twelve years, but being of unusual size and strength was soon placed in the ranks ; he survived the war living to the age of ninety and becoming a man of wealth and the progenitor of a large family. A FAMILY SKETCHES. 131 younger brother of the above served in the war of 1812 and lost his life at the mem orable battle of Lake Erie September 10, 1813. Alfred Koon the elder was born November 1, 1809, and died July 22, 1872; he was a farmer, dairyman and stock- dealer, held the office of postmaster at Wynantskill and in his early manhood was lieutenant-colonel of the 155th Regt. of State Infantry, his commission signed by Governor Marcy being still in the possession of the family. Delia Koon was born February 21, 1812, and is still living. Alfred Koon, the younger, was educated at Cazenovia Seminary and resides with his mother on the home farm at the village of Wynantskill. The farm, which is fertile and carefully tilled, is pleasantly located on the south bank of the beautiful stream known as the Wynantskill; the buildings are large and commodious and in perfect repair. The Troy and New England Elec tric railway passes through the farm giving easy and pleasant access to the city of Troy, whose eastern boundary is only one mile away. In addition to general farm ing Mr. Koon carries on the business of market gardening, and as agent, has the care of his mother's property. McDonnell, George J., was born in Troy, N. Y., May 8, 1868. His father is Fran cis McDonnell, who for many years with John Ryan carried on an extensive carpet business in Troy, N. Y., and who subsequently became associated with William Cox in the boot and shoe business in this city, under the name of McDonnell & Cox. Mr. McDonnell in September, 1886, entered Holy Cross College, Worcester, Mass., and graduated from that institution in 1890, receiving the degree of A. B. He taught school for two years at the Amsterdam Academy at Amsterdam, N. Y. ; at the same time he studied law with Westbrook, Borst & Perkinsof that place; he was admitted to the bar in 1892. He then accepted the position of managing clerk for the law firm of Merritt & Ryan of Troy and continued with that firm until shortly before the death of Mr. Ryan. He then formed a partnership with Henderson Peck under the firm name of Peck & McDonnell. Mr. McDonnell is a memberof the Troy Citizens Corps and the Arba Read Steamer Co. In politics he has always been a Democrat and has made many speeches in the interests of his party. Flack, Frank M., was born in Flackville, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., July 8, 1845. He is of Scotch-Irish descent. His father, Benjamin W., was born in Flackville, and was many years a justice of the peace. He died January 17, 1891. His mother, Augusta Ann (Forsyth) Flack, was born in Lisbon, N. Y. , and is at present living in Flackville. Frank M. was educated in the public schools and went to Chicago, where he remained for one year, and in 1865 came to Lansingburgh, where he was a clerk in a hardware store for one year. He then took a course in the business college, and in the spring of 1867 was employed by Sydney D. Tucker as bookkeeper, and was a partner in the concern from 1876 to 1887, and since that time has been in charge of the office work. He belongs to all the Masonic bodies. In January, 1877, he was married to Frankie M. Long, of Troy. Speck, Henry J., was born in Troy, N. Y., December 7, 1867. He attended both public and private schools. He studied law with Gale, Alden & King and at the age of twenty-one was admitted to the bar in February, 1889, and the same year was taken into the firm, Mr. Gale having retired, under the firm name of Alden, King & Speck, which was continued some years. Later Mr. Alden retired and the firm con- 132 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. tinued under the firm name of King & Speck until Mr. King's removal to Massachu setts in 1895. He belongs to the Troy, East Side and City clubs. Otis, Major George H., was born in Halifax, Vt., January 27, 1830, and came to Troy with his parents in September of the same year. He is a descendant in a a direct line of John Otis, who was born in England and settled in Hingham, Mass., in 1635. Stephen of the fifth generation was born in 1738 and was in the French war under General Putnam and was also in the Revolutionary war. Stephen of the sixth generation was a member of the Vermont Legislature and died March 16, 1859. Chandler Otis, the father of George, was born April 6, 1803, and married Mary Miner of Massachusetts in 1828. He died from injuries received by a fall during the building of the Union depot in Troy February 25, 1854. His mother died in July, 1876. Major Otis after receiving his education entered a hardware store and later entered the employ of the old Troy Steamboat Company and was in New York city in the dry goods business until June, 1852.. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he raised Co. C, 2d N. Y. Vols., and left May 18, 1861, for the front as captain of the same. On July 27, 1861, he was promoted to the rank of major and served with the 2d Regiment until after the battle of Malvern Hill, when he was obliged to resign on account of his health being poor. He was a member of the Old Troy Citizens Corps, and from 1870 to 1877 was inspector on Brigadier-General Alden's staff with rank of major. He was thirty-one years bookkeeper in the office of the John A. Griswold Steel and Iron Company. He is a charter member of Post Griswold, G.A.R., I.O.O.F. and Mt. Zion Lodge No. 311, F. &A. M. He isalsoa mem ber of the Third Army Corps Union, and the Society of the Army of the Potomac. September 6, 1853, he married Miss Cordelia S. Babcock of Rochester, N. Y., who died in December, 1882. His present wife was Mrs. Marian Van Arnam, to whom he was married April 24, 1884. Pie has one son and one daughter by his first wife. McWhinnie, Dr. Henry, was born in Chateauguay county, province of Quebec, Canada, May 16, 1865, and received his early education at Ormstown. He remained on the farm until 1880 when he became an apprentice to the blacksmith's trade in Missisquoi county, Canada. In 1884 he entered Huntington Academy and in 1886 matriculated as a student in the medical department of McGill University in Mon treal, from which he was graduated in 1889. While studying, he followed his trade of blacksmith summers, earning partly enough in this way to put himself through college. In 1889 he removed to Troy, where he has built up a successful practice as a veterinarian. He joined Chateauguay Lodge No. 36, Q. & R., December 25, 1888, and affiliated with Apollo Lodge, F. & A. M., of Troy in 1890. He is also a mem ber of Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery and Oriental Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; he is a member of the New York State Veterinary Medical Society, the United States Veterinary Medical Society and the McGill University Veterinary Society, and an honorary member of the Montreal Psychological Society. May 7, 1890, he married Wilhelmina, daughter of Creighton Cassidy and sister of Rev. Creighton Cassidy of Montreal. Peoble, Charles W., was born in Clermont county, Ohio, November 19, 1827, and learned the trade and worked at chairmaking for five years, and for many years was employed in the furniture business as manager and salesman for Robert Green. FAMILY SKETCHES. 133 from 1863 until 1867 ran a furniture business of his own. He was burned out in 1867, and for ten years was employed by W. M. Whitney & Co., Albany, as manager of their furniture department. He became connected with the fire department June 5, 1845, as a member of Cataract Engine Company No. 8, and continued with that company, with the exception of two years, until January 18, 1850. when he joined what is now Trojan H. & L. Company No. 3, serving with that company for thirty- four vears, when he resigned March 27, 189(1; was appointed clerk of the Board of Fire Commissioners March 1, 1875, which position he still occupies; and is a member of the Exempt Firemen's Association. He is a member and past master of King Solo mon's Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48 R. A. M., Bloss Council No. 14 R. & S. M., and 33° member of the Supreme Council A. & S. Rite U. S. A. In 1849 he married Henrietta Luce of Cohoes, who died in 1885. His present wife is Catherine Shipperman of Amsterdam and his children are Mrs. J. W. Ben nett of Harvey, 111. : Mrs. J. A. F. Bosworth of Philadelphin ; Fred G. Peoble who is in the furniture business in Cincinnati, and Robert Green Peoble who is a traveling salesman. Quigley, John H., son of Thomas and Mary (Devine) Quigley, was born in Schuy lerville, Saratoga county, October 11, 1860, and was educated in the public schools at Victory Mills, where he lived with his grandmother after his mother's death in July, 1862. He also attended St. Peter's Sisters school in Troy. After a few years spent in Saratoga and Schuylerville, he went to Greenwich, Washington county, where for three years he was clerk of the Central House, under George Dawley, pro prietor, with whom he went to Schuylerville when he purchased the Goldsmith House, now the Schuyler House ; soon after he purchased a restaurant in Schuyler ville and finally went West for a short time. He returned to Troy in May, 1884, and on September 15, engaged in business with George Dorian, at the footof Broad .vay, where he remained until Mr. Dorian's death in 1886. August 31, 1889, he purchased his present restaurant. May 13, 1886, he married Ella E., daughter of Arthur M. Moynihan, of Greenwich, N. Y. , and they have four children; Mary A., James J., Johanna and Helen. Manss, Frederick H., son of John and Catharine (Meisch) Manss, who were born near Frankfort-on-the-Maiu, Germany, was born in Troy, January 15, 1864, received his education in the public and high schools and took further tuition under J. T. Mc Kenna, formerly principal of the Troy High School. May 19, 1876, he secured a position in the passenger department of the Troy and Boston Railroad, where he became chief clerk. He resigned this position in 1885 to accept that of night ticket agent in the office of the N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. at Troy, where he remained two years. In 1887 when the joint office was formed, he was appointed ticket agent for ' the several lines forming the Troy Union Company, which position he now holds. Mr. Manss is a member of the Old Guard of the Troy Citizens Corps; he is a Mason and a member of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T. In October, 1887, he married Caroline L. Fenn, of Rutland, Vt., who died December 19, 1893, leaving one son: Paul Herman. Treanor, John P., son of John B. aud Margaret (Donnelly) Treanor, was born in Abbottsford, Province of Quebec, Canada, March 15, 1866. In 1870 he came to Troy 134 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. with his parents and was educated in the public schools. He learned carriage black- smithing and followed that trade for seven years, with Martin Payne and the Gilbert Car Works, on Green Island. In 1890 he was appointed agent and later assistant superintendent of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, which latter position he held about two years. He was selected by the faculty of the La Salle Institute of Troy, N. Y., as military instructor in November, 1892, and assisted in forming the present batallion of cadets ; he retained this position until October, 1895, when he resigned, on account of business; he also instructed the students of St. Joseph's Parochial School in the elementary principles of military tacticsin 1892. In October, 1893, he was appointed a clerk in the adjutant-general's office at Albany, where he remained one year. In July, 1894, he was appointed letter carrier at the Troy office, by postmaster M. F. Sheary, which position he still holds. He is a member and trustee of Byron Council C. B. L. , a member of the choir and Young Men's Sodality of St. Joseph's church, of the Alumni Association of the La Salle Institute and an honorary member of the Tibbitts Cadets. January 30, 1895, he married Mary E., daughter of James Crowley, of Troy. Flynn, John, was born in Ireland, May 5, 1839, and came to America in 1848 with his father, his mother having died when he was six years of age. They settled in Troy. At the age of ten years John Flynn was working on a farm ; he next worked in a chair factory in Troy and again farmed for seven years ; he was subsequently engaged on State and government works, building dykes, etc. In 1863 he became connected with the ice business in which he is still engaged. He is now superin tendent for the Consolidated Ice Company. On February 14, 1852, Mr. Flynn mar ried Bridget Minnock ; they have a family of two sons and two daughters, namely, Frank Flynn, who is superintendent for the Yonkers Ice Company, and William Flynn; Mrs. Thomas Clinton and Mrs. William Thomas Clifford. Mr. Flynn was trustee of the village of Castleton two years; was elected president of the village in the spring of 1895, and was re-elected in 1896. He has the fullest confidence of all classes and is widely respected for his sound judgment, business ability and sterling integrity. Herrick, G. M., jr., was born in Schodack on the farm he now owns, April 22, 1851, a son of G. M. Herrick, sr., and Lucretia (Dings) Herrick. G. M., sr., was born in East Greenbush, June 9, 1803, and his wife was born in Columbia county, January 19, 1812. The grandfather of Mr. Herrick came from Dutchess county to East Greenbush where he died. The father was a farmer; he came to Schodack in 1840 and bought the farm Mr. Herrick now owns, and there died, January 9, 1874. Mrs. Herrick was a daughter of Adam Dings. To. Mr. and Mrs. Herrick were born five children: William I., of Schodack Landing; Mary J., wife of Johnson Willard, of Wilmington, Del; John A., of Schodack Landing; Maggie N, wife of James R. Downer, Castleton; and G. M., jr. G. M. Herrick, jr., was reared on a farm and received a common school education. He is a farmer and has 210 acres of land, where he lives, and his wife has a farm of 133 acres in Saratoga. January 27, 1875, he was married to Hattie A. Fry of Clifton Park, N. Y. To Mr. and Mrs. Herrick were born two sons: John W., born September 28, 1878; and Herbert E., born Octo ber 15, 1886. The parents of Mrs. Herrick were William and Hettie (Doty) Fry, both born in Clifton Park, he in 1817 and she in 1820. They came from Saratoga FAMILY SKETCHES. 135 to Schodack in 1886, where he died in 1891, and his widow lives in the town. His father was Michael Fry, one of the early settlers of Clifton Park. The father of G. M. Herrick, jr., was first cousin of Dr. Herrick. Hamilton, Roswell, was born in Athens, Greene, county. April 1, 1840. His ear lier years were spent on the farm but while yet a boy he went into brickmaking and was so occupied from 1853 until 1861, when he first became connected with the ice business, entering the employ of the Knickerbocker Ice Co. of New York city. After being four years in the employ of this company he was made superintendent of one of their depots in New York, which position he filled for eight years. In 1872 he came to Schodack Landing and built their mammoth ice house for them. He then returned to New York as superintendent and remained until 1884 when he went to Schodack landing as superintendent for the company on the Hudson River, which position he still holds. In 1858 Mr. Hamilton married Rachel J. Smith and they have a family of two daughters: Carrie E. Hamilton and Ethel, now Mrs. Harry Connolly. Mr. Hamilton is a prominent Mason and a member of the Odd Fellows. During his business career in New York he kept his residence in Athens and was for many years a member of the Board of Education and was twice president of the board; also served as president of the village for two years. His parents were J. B. and Lany (Saulsbury) Hamilton. His grandfather, Samuel Hamilton, was a Scotch man and served in the Revolutionary war. Herrick, John A., was born in the town of Schodack, May 27, 1841, and has re sided in Rensselaer county all his life. He was reared on a farm and at the age of twenty-two went into the forwarding business which he followed from 1863 until 1873 when he sold out and embarked in mercantile business, starting the dry goods and grocery business which he still conducts. In 1864 Mr. Herrick married Mary L. Van Hoesen who died leaving three daughters: Carrie L. , Cora B. , and Grace E., now Mrs. William Kennedy. Mr. Herrick's father was G. M. Herrick, and his mother, Lucretia Dings. Mr. Herrick is a successful and enterprising business man and is a prohibitionist in politics. Butterworth, Charles F., was born in London, England, in 1836, where he learned the furrier's trade, and came to this country in 1857 with his father, Fred Butter- worth, also a furrier. His father died in 1862, and his mother, Elizabeth (Pige) Butterworth, died in 1894. Charles F. was engaged in the manufacture of furs in New York, and came to Troy in 1869 and was foreman for Mr. Boughton for several years, when he entered in partnership with H. Broughton, under the firm name of Broughton & Co. Three years later he started a business of his own at 259 River street, where he carried on the fur business. In 1863 he was a member of the 13th Regiment of Brooklyn National Guards and is now an honorary member of the Tib bits Cadets. He belongs to King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M., to all the Masonic bodies of Troy, of the Albany Sovereign Consistory, and has been a member of the I- 0. 0. F. since 1859. In 1860 he married Catherine Rice of Brooklyn, and their children are Elizabeth J., Charles H., George P., Frederick G., Louise and Albert. Bussey, jr., Esek, was born in Troy, January 15, 1866. His grandfather on his mother's side was a major in the Continental army. His great-grandfather, Robert Cruinkshank, was born in 1800 ; he was appointed major of the militia by 136 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Governor Clinton ; he died in 1892. His father, Esek Bussey, was born in Hoosick Falls and came to Troy in 1855, was with his father in a stove store on River street, and later with Charles A. McLeod formed the celebrated firm of Bussey & McLeod, stove manufacturers. Esek, jr., entered the Riverview Military Academy, from which he was graduated in 1886, and entered the firm of Bussey & McLeod in 1890, and is now secretary and superintendent of the works He is a member of the Esek Bussey Fire Company, of which he has been captain six years. June 16, 1892, he was married to Miss Eva Macy of Hudson, N. Y. Hutchms, Charles P., was born at Schuyler Lake, Otsego county, March 21, 1829, He is of English and German descent. His great-grandfather, William Hutchins, was a captain in the French and Indian wars, and was a resident of Bennington, Vt. , at the time of the Revolutionary war and participated in the celebrated battle of that name. His father, the Rev. Stephen, was born in Otsego county and was a Baptist clergyman ; he died in 1843. His mother was Mary (Zimmerman) Hutchins, born at Minden, Montgomery county, N. Y., and died in Utica in 1882. Charles P. attended the Bennington Academy, and at the age of fourteen entered a carpenter shop at Cooperstown, where he remained for three years. In 1846 he came to Troy and worked for Z. E. Fobes, a prominent builder, for seven years. In 1858 he formed a partnership with John Shannahan, under the firm name of Shannahan & Hutchins. In 1860 he went in business for himself and since that time he has done an extensive building and jobbing trade and keeps a force of men employed all the year round. His first wife was Elizabeth Talmadge of Troy, who died in 1866. His present wife was Miss Mary Baldwin of Charlotteville, to whom he was married in 1867. He has one son, J. Maynard Hutchins. Hislop, James W., was born in Troy, N.Y., February 3, 1860. His father, Thomas T. Hislop, was born near Glasgow, Scotland, and came to this country, settling in West Troy, where he worked in an iron foundry, and later came to Troy and was engaged as foreman in the Marshall foundry, where he remained for eighteen years, when he purchased the business and run it until his death, which occurred in 188(1. The foundry manufactured machinery castings. His mother, Elizabeth Williams, was born in Wales, and came to this country when young; the foundry is now run in her name. They had ten children. James W. received his education in the public schools and the Business College of Troy, and learned the tinsmith's trade with H. Joice, where he remained seven years, and since his father's death he has had charge of the foundry; they employ from fifteen to twenty moulders on an average and do all kinds of moulding and tinning on malleable, wrought and cast iron. He married in 1890 Ada C. Miller of Troy, a daughter of Abram Miller, a well-known hotel man of Albia. Hoffman, Heman F., was born in Brunswick, N. Y., in 1847. He the son of Adam H. Hoffman who was a mason and died in 1875. His mother was Christina (Meyers) Hoffman of Troy who died in 1855. Heman received his education in the public schools of Brunswick and Troy and was in the U. S. navy from 1863 to 1865, after which he returned to Troy and learned the machinist trade and nine years later became connected with the wholesale and retail ice business of B. Cooper & Co. where he has been since. He belongs to Rensselaer Lodge No. 53, I. O. O. F. In FAMILY SKETCHES. 137 1871 he was married to Julia Winne, who died in 1880. In 1883 he was married to Hannah Horton, who died in 1890. His present wife is Ouida Whipple, to whom he was married in August, 1892. He has two sons and one daughter. Sayles, John P., was born in Adams, Mass., April 11, 1811. He is a son of Nathan Sayles who was born at Smithfield, R. I., in 1780, and died in 1860. His mother, Harty (Lippitt) Sayles, was born in Cheshire, Mass. , in 1783, and died in 1858. John P., received his early education in Adams, Mass., and later learned the trade of cabinet making. He came to Troy in 1833 and for a time worked at this business, but soon took up the business of pattern making for the leading stove factories of Troy, including, Vedder, Davy, Inram & Phillips, Fuller & Warren, and other con cerns of Troy. In 1844 he was married to Celia Wilmarth of Troy who died August 28, 1896. They have one daughter, Mrs. George Hitchcock of Troy. Adt, L. F., M. D., was born in Torrington, Conn., April 4, 1866. He received his education in the High School of Waterbury, Conn., and entered the Albany Medical College in 1889, graduating in 1892, afterwards studying for two years in France, Germany and England. He is a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, also of the Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity. He took a special three months' post-graduate course in the New York Polyclinic. He located in Troy, N. Y., Octo bers, 1894. He is a specialist on the eye and ear, and is connected with the Troy Hospital, House of the Good Shepherd and the two orphan asylums of Troy. Stillman, Wait J., was born in Petersburgh, N. Y., in 1816, and is a son of David M. and Susannah (Powers) Stillman, both natives of Petersburgh. His father died in 1825 and his mother in 1874. Wait J. attended the common schools and Benning ton Academy, and for eleven years taught school in Brunswick and other places. For many years he was a dealer in horses, cattle, and sheep. He later engaged in farming and ran a mill. He moved to Troy in 1870 and entered the insurance busi ness, and a few years later started a teaming business in connection with the insur ance and real estate business, under the firm name of Stillman & Sons. Mr. Still man is a Jeffersonian Democrat and a member of Apollo Lodge, F. & A. M. He married Sevena M. Haner, who died November 6, 1891, and his children are Wait H., Byron and Marie Antionette. Captain Wait H. Stillman, the eighth of the name, was born at West Sand Lake, June 14, 1850, and received his education in the district and boarding schools at West Sand Lake, the Troy Academy and the Troy Business College, and has been a member of the firm of Stillman & Sons since 1870. He was elected a member of the Troy Citizens Corps December 6, 1876 ; enlisted in the 6th Separate Company as private, January 22, 1877; promoted quartermaster- sergeant, March 6, 1877; reduced to sergeant on his request, January 11,' 1878; hon orably discharged at the expiration of his term, March 23, 1882 ; re-enlisted as pri vate, March 27, 1882; promoted sergeant, March 31, 1882; first sergeant, February 21, 1884; second lieutenant, December 13, 1888 ; first lieutenant, May 7, 1891, resigned, honorably discharged, February 14, 1893, and was commissioned captain, March 9, W93. He is a member of Mt. Zion Lodge, F. & A. M. and Apollo Chapter, and is 'ice-president of the Albany Camera Club, vice-president of the Troy Camera Club, and is a member of the Pafraets-Dael Club. He married Nella F. Mathews of Troy ; she is the daughter of the late Hiram Mathews of Troy. Captain Stillman is a mem her of the First Baptist church, and politically a staunch Republican. 138 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Burton, Henry B., M. D., son of the late Dr. Mathew H. Burton, was born in Troy, N. Y., April 11, 1869. He attended the Christian Brothers' Academy, the Troy Academy and graduated from the Albany Medical College in the class of '92. He then went abroad and studied medicine in London and Berlin two years. He re turned to Troy and began an active practice with his father. He was attending phy sician of St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum and Troy Orphan Asylum, which positions he resigned, and belongs to Read Steamer Co., is a member of the Royal Arcanum, and the sons of Veterans. He is secretary of the Rensselaer County Med ical Society, and the Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity and member of New York State Association. Butler, George T., was born in Troy in 1859. His grandfather, John Butler, came from Yorkshire, England, about the year 1820, was very prominent in Lansingburgh politics and died in 1884. His father was born in Lansingburgh, was a brush man ufacturer by trade and previous to his death, which occurred in 1865, he was in busi ness with his brother manufacturing those articles. His mother, Mary F. (Sands) Butler, was a native of Troy, N. Y. He received a public school education and entered the drug store of R. H. Lawton where he remained eight years. He then took a position with D. F. Magill and after twelve years opened a drug store at 21 Hoosick street, forming copartnership with A. W. Loudon under the firm name of George T. Butler & Co. He is a member of Apollo Lodge F. & A. M., and belongs to the State Pharmaceutical Association. In 1889 he married Miss Mary Elizabeth Shepardson of Troy. Burton, Mathew H., M. D., was born in Albany March 17, 1833. He studied medicine in the office of his father, C. V. W. Burton, and with Dr. Leonard, and was graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1853. He then came to Troy and located with the Sisters in the old Troy Hospital on Washington street; afterwards was one of the medical staff and one of the surgeons to that institution, where he remained until 1858. He then opened an office on the corner of Third and Congress streets for general practice. He was elected coroner of Rensselaer county and was health officer of Troy for sixteen years; he was attending physician at the Marshall Infirmary, the Troy Hospital, the St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, St. Joseph's Pro vincial Seminary, and Troy Orphan Asylum. He was a volunteer surgeon during the war, serving on General Carr's staff. He was sent to Berlin, Germany, in 1892 as a delegate from the New York State Medical Society: he belonged to allthe med ical societies. He was a member of King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter and Commandery, and was a thirty-second degree Mason. He was also a member of the Troy Citizens Corps. He died in Bay Shore, L. I. , at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. J. Ives Plumb, April 28, 1895. He was a member of St. Paul's church of Troy. Bloss, Jabez P., M.D., B.N.S., was born in Windsor county, Vt., in 1827. He was educated at the Royal Academy in Vermont and afterwards entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, from which he graduated in 1846. In 1846 he went to work as first assistant engineer on what is now known as the Boston and Albany Railroad. In 1849 he sailed around Cape Horn to California, afterwards sailing up and down the Spanish Main, visiting the Islands of the Pacific Ocean, Japan, etc., FAMILY SKETCHES. 139 in a vessel of which he was part owner until 1853. On his return he studied medi cine and graduated from the medical department of Columbia College in 1854. He then began the practice of medicine in Troy, N. Y., where he is now located. He belongs to the County and the State Homeopathic Societies and the American Insti tute of Homeopathy. In 1863 he married Catherine Van Schaick of Troy; she died in 1893. He has two sons and one daughter: Frederick S. , also a physician of Troy ; Richard P., resident engineer of Duncan Pulp and Paper Works, at Mechanicville; Gratia L., married Frank Harrison of Toledo, Ohio. Chase, Philander, was born in Chesterfield, N. H., in 1844. He is the son of Charles and Thirza E. Symonds Chase, formerly of Chesterfield, but now living in Keene, N. H. Philander received his education in the public schools of New Hamp shire, where he worked until he was twenty-two years old when he came to Troy in 1866 and entered the employ of the Street Railroad Co., where he remained until 1877 when he went to work for J. B. Anthony & Co. and for their successors in the roasting business and bought out the business and has since been sole owner and proprietor. He belongs to Clinton Lodge F. &. A. M. He was married in 1868, to Miss Mary Herbert of Troy, by whom he has seven daughters and one son. Davitt, Alfred H., was born in Poestenkill, Rensselaer county, N. Y. , in 1850. He is the son of George W. and Catherine (Stowell) Davitt. His father died in 1888. Alfred received an academic education in the Lansingburgh Academy and came to Troy and formed a co partnership with William Place in the grocery business, the firm name being Davitt & Place ; two years later he bought out Mr. Place and con ducted the business himself. He was in the grocery business for twenty-two years. In 1892 with Thomas H. Dwyer he opened a carriage repository at No. 1500 Sixth avenue, the firm being Dwyer & Davitt; they have also a large storehouse. He ran for supervisor in 1892 but was defeated by twelve majority. He married, January, 1875, Frankie Horton of East Poestenkill. Dutcher, T. Henry, was born in Troy, N. Y., September 28, 1844. His father, Jacob M. Dutcher; was born in Hadley, Saratoga county, N. Y. , June 24, 1818, and died in Poestenkill, February 22, 1890. His mother, Phoebe A. (Morrison) Dutcher, was born in Sand Lake. T. Henry left school and entered the grocery store of his uncle in Troy and later was appointed mail clerk by Postmaster Clowes, which position he resigned to enter the mercantile .business with his father under the firm name of J. M. Dutcher & Son, in the manufacture of tin, sheet iron, etc., at 118 Congress street; they were burned out in 1881, then started business at 96 Congress street, adding to their regular business hardware and fishing tackle. He has represented the Second ward in the Board of Supervisors and had the honor of introducing the resolution to build the new court house which is now in course of construction. November 15, 1869, he married Lydia A. Northrup, by whom he has one son and one daughter. Dickson, Thomas G. , M. D. , was born in Troy, N. Y. , October 2, 1868. His father, Thomas Dickson, was a member of the Legislature in 1887 and 1888, and was county treasurer from 1889 to 1891. His mother was Sarah (Purdy) Dickson. Thomas G. attended the public and high schools of Troy and entered the University of Pennsyl vania in 1888 and was graduated from that institution May 1, 1891. After associating with Dr. Harvie in practice for a short time he opened an office on Fifth avenue for 140 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the practice of medicine, where he is at present located. He is assistant surgeon at the Troy Hospital; a member of the State Medical Association, the Rensselaer County Medical Society and secretary of the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity. Dickinson, Melville Day, M.D., was born in Seward, Schoharie county, N. Y., March 24, 1868. His early ancestors came from England in 1660; he is the son of Dr. Charles Dickinson, a physician of Seward, N.Y- ; his mother was Celia (France) Dickinson, who died in 1877. Melville Dickinson was graduated from the Cobles- kill High School, and after taking a two years' preparatory course at Cornell Uni versity he entered the Albany Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1890. He studied with Dr. Van Devere of Albany, during which time he was house physician for St. Peter's Hospital. In the fall of 1890 he came to Troy. He belongs to the Rensselaer County Medical Society, which he served as secretary, and to the New York State Medical Association ; also is a member of the Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity, and a member of the New York State Medical Society ; he is assistant surgeon with the rank of first lieutenant to the 12th Separate Co., N. Y. N. G. ; he is assistant surgeon of the Troy Hospital, attending physician of St. Vin cent's Female Orphan Asylum, and has been city physician of Troy for four years. He married Miss Emma G. Cole of Brunswick, N.Y., in 1889; they have one daugh ter, Celia. Geer, William Clarke, was born in Orange, N. J. , September 29, 1859. His father, George S. Geer, was born in Troy. Through the influence of John A. Griswold he secured an appointment on the Monitor and remained with that vessel until she was lost off Cape Hatteras. He was in the United States navy until the close of the war, when he was engaged as engineer on a steamship running between New York and Brazil, and came to Troy in 1870 and was for some time engaged in the paving and stone business. He was a charity commissioner two terms and was a member of Post Griswold, G. A. R., and at the time of his death, which occurred in 1893, he had charge of the Bradley Fertilizer Works at Charleston, S. C, at which place he died. His mother was Martha Clarke (Hamilton) Geer of New York cily ; she came from an old Quaker family ; she now resides in Troy. William received his education in the public and high schools of Troy and entered the real estate and insurance office of Gilbert Geer, jr., as clerk. In 1880 he was admitted to the busi ness, the firm taking the name of Gilbert, Geer, jr., & Co., which is the oldest in surance firm in Troy. He is secretary and treasurer of the Wynantskill Knitting Mill, vice-president of the Harvester Fertilizer Company, director in the Boutwell Milling and Grain Company, trustee and secretary of the First Baptist church and has been civil service examiner for a number of years. He married Kate Ever- ingham, daughter of Richard Everingham, who was for some years connected with the Burden Iron Company store. He has one daughter. Hutchison, James C, M.D., was born January 18, 1846, in Halifax, England. His parents were Scotch and came to this country when he was seven months old. His father, James Hutchison, was a designer of carpets and oil cloths and made the first designs for tapestry carpets that were made in this country. He died August 25, 1893. James C. received his preliminary education in the Lansingburgh Academy, FAMILY SKETCHES. 141 Mount Pleasant Academy in Sing Sing, and the Troy Academy. He graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city March 8, 1866. After attending lectures with the class of 1861, P. and S. , he came to Troy and entered the Marshall Infirmary as medical assistant, where he remained until 1865. After taking his degree he practiced for a few months in Newark, N. J., then came back to the Marshall Infirmary as assistant physician ; two years later he opened an office on Ida Hill, and in May, 1875, removed to the corner of Third and Ferry streets; he remained there until 1891 when he moved to his present quarters on Fourth street. He was one of the attending physicians at the Troy Hospital for fourteen years, and is now one of the consulting physicians. He is a member of the New York State Medical Society and also of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, of which he has been secretary, vice-president and president ; he was city physician in 1874 and 1875 ; he took charge of the small -pox hospital during the epidemic of 1881. He is a member of King Solomon's Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48, Bloss Council, R. & S. M., Apollo Commandery and the Albany Sovereign Con sistory. He married Alice Miller of Troy, in 1869, and has two daughters, Sarah Louise and Jane Carmichael Eddy of Rockford, Ills. He attends the Fifth Avenue Baptist church. Hannon, Edward, was born in Albany county in 1842 and came to Troy in 1847 ; he re ceived his education in the public schools and the La Salle Institute and for many years was a prominent contractor and builder of Troy. He represented the Eleventh ward in the Board of Aldermen from 1870 to 1877 inclusive, and during that time was president of the board one year, and was police commissioner for twelve or fourteen years ; he was one of the commissioners appointed to construct the City Hall in 1875 and 1876 ; in 1889 he was appointed by Governor Hill as superintendent of public works, which office he held until January, 1892, and was reappointed by Governor Flower and served until the middle of January, 1895, since which date he has resumed his former business as builder and carpenter, which he is carrying on with his old time vigor. He married Ellen Halpin of Troy in 1872. His children are Charles, Edward, Frank and Ellen. Howes, W. J., was born in Peru, N. Y., in 1819, and was reared in Chelsea, Vt. , until sixteen years of age when, in 1836, he moved to Troy, N. Y. He worked on a farm for two years, then went to Boston and learned the trade of carpenter and builder; he then returned to Troy and entered the employ of Hezekiah Thayer, one of Troy's most competent builders, and after four years he commenced business for himself with varied success until 1878, when he entered the wholesale and retail lum ber trade ; he retired from business in November, 1883. In the great fire of 1862 Mr. Howes lost $42,000. Some of the finest buildings in Troy were erected under his plans and direct supervision. Mr. Howes has a beautiful farm in Castleton, Vt, where he spends most of the summer months and where he is a very successful breeder of horses. In 1842 Mr. Howes married Miss Eliza Bartlett of Stillwater, who died in 1843, and in 1845 he married Miss Flora Mackie. During their married life they adopted and reared four children, only one of whom is now living. He and his wife are members of the Second Presbyterian church. Horton, Mahlon F., was born in Sand Lake, N. Y., in 1846. His father, James 142 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Horton, was a carpenter of Sand Lake, and died in 1878. His mother, Lany (Feathers) Horton, died in 1854. He was educated in Sand Lake and in 1866 went to New York and for three years was in the employ of the Knickerbocker Ice Co. ; he came to Troy in 1869 and became connected with the firm of B. Cooper & Co., wholesale and retail ice dealers, and is still a member of that concern. In 1868 he was married to Cornelia Cooper, who died in 1882; his second wife was Alice Brade of Troy, to whom he was married in 1883 and who died in 1894. He had four chil dren: Meritt D., Allie, Lucy and Clarence. Kennedy, John H., was born in Ireland, June 26, 1850, and came with his parents to this country when very young. He received a public school education and went to Boston, Mass., in 1866 and entered the firm of Stephen, Smith & Co. as an appren tice in the manufacturing of furniture and was later in the employ of Edward Hixon of Cambridgeport, Mass. He came to Troy in 1871 and worked for Robert Green three years and then returned to Boston and two years later came back, to Troy and was in the employ of Green & Waterman five years, and with three of his fellow workmen started in the furniture and "upholstery business, but in 1889 he became sole proprietor of the business, which is located at 55 Congress street, where he does all kinds of custom work in the furniture line, also does hard wood finishing, uphol stering, etc. He was a member of the Robert Emmett Association and is senior vice-chancellor of the C. B. L. He married in 1876 Katie Hart of Troy, N. Y., by whom he has two children, Mary and John. Mattocks, James E., M. D., was born in New York city, May 29, 1823. His father, John S. Mattocks, was born in Sing Sing in 1797 and was a practicing physician in New York city and Troy, and died in 1873. His mother, Clarissa (Palmer) Mattocks, died July 20, 1873. James E. received a common school education and entered the Metropolitan Medical College in New York city, graduating in 1853. In 1862 he entered the army as a contract physician and after the war was over he came to Plattsburgh, Clinton county, where he practiced medicine until 1870, then removed to Sing Sing where he remained until 1876, when he came to Troy and has been in active practice since in that city. He is a member of the State Medical Society, be longed to the Seventh New York Regiment, and is an exempt fireman of Troy; for a number of years he served as police surgeon. He married Anna M. Thompson of Troy in 1848, and has one daughter living, Josie Palmer, and lost one daughter, Emma A., and a son, George A. The family belong to the Episcopal church. Murray, John A., was born in Troy, October 25, 1863. His father was John Murray, born in Brandon, Vt. ; he came to Troy in 1839, and was for many years in the hotel business; he died May 1, 1889. His mother was Sabina (Fitzpatrick) Murray, born in Ballinrobe, Ireland, and came to this country with her parents when quite young; she died November 29, 1893. John A. entered the Brothers' School of West Troy, then attended the public schools of Troy, and in 1878 entered Troy Business College. He was in the employ of W. H. Frear for six years. The follow ing eight years he managed the upholstery department of the A. M. Church Co., and for the past four years has had a large furniture store on River street. He was married to Miss Elizabeth McDonough of Richmond, Va., in 1887. He has two daughters and one son. FAMILY SKETCHES. 143 Prendergast, Felix R,, of Prendergast Bros., was born in South Dorset, Vt. , Feb ruary 5, 1865. He is the son of Patrick Prendergast who came to this country from Ireland in 1846 and settled in West Granville, N. Y. ; later he moved to Dorset, Vt., where for twenty years he was foreman in a stone quarry and monumental works, and later removed to Schaghticoke where he was engaged in business in monumental work, and came to Troy in 1883. His mother is Mary Ann (McConnell) Prendergast ; her parents came from Ireland nearly one hundred years ago. Felix R. Prendergast attended the public schools of Schaghticoke, and there with his brother, P. J. Pren dergast, took charge of the monumental works when their father retired at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Rensselaer streets. Patrick J. belongs to the A. O. H., and has five sisters living. Walz, Rev. Adolph F., was born in Dauphin county, Pa., in 1862. His father, the Rev. Frederick Walz, was born in Baden, Germany, where he received his ed ucation and came to this country and settled in Wilmington, Del., where he had charge of the German Lutheran church, and later had charges in Dauphin county and from there to Sellersville, Pa. ; for a number of years he was on the editorial staff of the Herold and Zeitschrift, a paper printed in Allentown, Pa. His mother, Charlotta (Stimmler) Walz, was born in Wuerttemberg, Germany. Rev. Adolph received his education in the grammar schools of Sellersville andgraduatedfrom the college in Elmhurst, 111. in 1882, and also graduated from the Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 1885. He then took charge of a church in Schlichters, Pa., one year and came to Troy in September, 1886, and took charge of Trinity Lutheran church where he has since been located. He has been very successful in the work he is engaged in. He organized a mission in Cohoes in 1889 which is now self sup porting. He is a member of the New York Ministerium and also a member of the State Luther League. In May, 1888, he married Katharine Bissikummer of Albany, and they have one son, Matthias F. Rev. Mr. Walz resides at his home at No. 3. West Sunnyside. Whitman, William W., was born in Chester, Mass., in 1820. His father, Asa B. Whitman, was a native of Massachusetts, and was in the mercantile and manufac turing business in Chester and Westfield, Mass., for many years, and also represented West Springfield and Westfield districts in the Massachusetts Legislature ; he was in the war of 1812; his wife, Annis R. Clark, was also a native of Massachusetts and died in 1882 at the age of eighty-three years. William W. Whitman was educated in the public schools and entered Brown University, at Providence, R. I., and was admitted to practice law in Massachusetts in 1846. He practiced until 1849, when he came to Troy and became the proprietor of the Troy Budget, which he sold to Col. MacArthur in 1853. He was appointed postmaster of Troy in 1852 and held that of fice until 1858. He then entered the mercantile and manufacturing business, the firm being Whitman & Vosburgh ; this partnership was continued until 1862 when Mr. Vosburgh retired. In 1876 the establishment was burned out, and Mr. Whitman has since retired from active business life. In 1846 he married Caroline Perkins of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. ; she died in April, 1868; they had three children: Mrs. Ida N. Marvin of Germantown, Pa.; Frank P. , a professor in Adelbert College, of Cleve land, 0.; and Marie Antoinette, a graduate of Vassar and now a missionary in Japan. His present wife was Mrs. Annie J. Carleton of Waterville, Me., whom he married in 1873; they have one daughter, Helen L., now attending Vassar. 144 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Goldthwait, B. L., M. D., is a native of the city of Troy, where he was born in 1865, son of Abel G. Goldthwait, the well known mechanical engineer. His medical research began with Dr. Carpenter and afterwards in the office of Dr. J. W. Morse, matriculating in 1885 at Albany Medical College. He first practiced at Rensselaer- ville, and only recently opened an office at Eagle Bridge. Sherman, Wesley E., born in Pittstown on the Sherman homestead January 21, 1857, is a son of Piatt and Phebe (Francisco) Sherman, he also born on the farm of Wesley E., and she in Western New York. The grandfather, Stephen Sherman, came from Dutchess county at an early day, settling on the farm now owned by W. E. Sherman ; he married Ruth Sisson. Piatt Sherman was reared on the farm and with the exception of about three years, spent his life on the homestead. Mr. Sher man was born April 11, 1814, and died July 15, 1882. Mrs. Sherman was born Feb ruary 17, 1820, died February 8, 1892. W. E. Sherman was reared on the farm and has always resided on the homestead which he now owns; he has 194 acres of land. He is at present a road commissioner and a member of P. of H. January 2, 1879, Mr. Sherman married EllaM., daughter of Stephen and Caroline (Lamb) Pierce, he a native of Hoosick and she of Pittstown ; Mr. Pierce was a farmer. Mrs. Pierce resides with Mr. Sherman. To Mr. and Mrs. Sherman were born two children: Everett Eugene, and Emily Frances. McCarthy, Charles A., the well known lawyer and justice of Hoosick Falls, was born at North Adams, Mass., November 28, 1860. When he was nine years of age his parents moved to Mexico, N. Y., thereby giving him the advantage of an educa tion at the famous old academy at that place, from which he graduated June 16, 1881. He first studied law with George B. French of Mexico and also spent three years as a clerk in the Second National Bank under Mr. French. Mr. McCarthy was admitted to the bar at Syracuse, November 13, 1885, and first practiced at Hoosick Falls the following year and has continued since. He has during that brief period of residence made himself a potent factor in business and political life, serving as police justice, from March 17, 1891, to March 17, 1894. He is one of the local man agers of the A. O. H. Leonard, Edgar, the manager of the Leonard's Express business of Hoosick Falls, is a son of Edmund N. Leonard, who was also manager of express here, which he established in 1852. The latter was born in 1814 at Pownal, Vt, and when he first located here in 1840 was engaged in manufacturing. He was an influential man of the town and enjoyed the respect and esteem of a large circle of friends and his death in 1889 was mourned by the whole community. Edgar Leonard was edu cated in the public schools of his native place and, after clerking for Wallace, Jones & Ely from April 1, 1865, to April 1, 1871, entered partnership with his father in 1871, who then retired from active life, and has had sole control of the business since that time. He is now agent for the National Express Co. separate from his own private express business, and is also connected with a new clothing industry here. He is a. Republican and has officiated as president of the village and member of the Board of Trade, and is a director in the Building and Loan Association. He was born in 1846 and married in 1869 Mary E. Jones of New York city. They have two children: Walter A., a student of Colgate University; and Norma, wife of George E. Bartlett, of Bristol, Vt. FAMILY SKETCHES. 145 Gardner, James J., was born in Petersburg in 1836, and moved with his parents to Hoosick when three years of age, where he has since lived. He owns a farm of 300 acres and devotes himself mainly to the raising of sheep, dairying, and cultiva tion of the grasses. He is the son of Varnum W. Gardner and Eliza Steenbergh. His father's ancestry dates back to an old Rhode Island family, and his mother's to the first settlers of the Mohawk valley. His family have ever been noted for their industry and longevity. His great-grandparents, his parents, four uncles and aunts, of which two are still living, lived to an average of nearly eighty-five years, there being ten in number. The aggregate ages is nearly 850 years. Cottrell, jr., Jonathan, one of the most worthy farmers and estimable men of West Hoosick, was born in 1843. His father, Jonathan Cottrell, also a native here and lifelong resident, died when Jonathan, jr., was but a boy. He is a descendant of an old Rhode Island family ; his grandfather, Samuel Cottrell, was one of the first settlers here. He has always been engaged in farming and once operated 400 acres. In politics he is a Democrat. He married in 1866 Mary, daughter of James Pine, one of the oldest local families. Scriven, Clinton W. , was born in the town of Grafton, N. Y. , July 16, 1870, is a son of John H, and Pamelia J. (Ives) Scriven, his father having been born in the same town, September 13, 1840, and his mother in the town of Poestenkill, N. Y., July 15, 1843. He was reared in the town of his nativity and educated in the public schools and the Troy Business College. For .the past eight years he has been bookkeeper of the J. A. Scriven Company's Shirt Factory of Grafton. He is a Republican in poli tics, and was elected justice of the peace in the spring of 1894. He has for several years been a member of the Rensselaer County Republican Committee, and was a delegate to the State Conventions of 1893, 1895 and 1896. Mr. Scriven is leader of the Grafton Centre Cornet Band, and a writer and publisher of band music. Num bered among his compositions are the " Town Talk Polka," "Argo Schottische," and overture "Grand Central." His father, John H. Scriven, was at one time a merchant and a manufacturer of shirts. He was a Republican and was postmaster of Grafton for eight years. He was in partnership with his brother, J. A. Scriven of New York city, at the time of his death, August 19, 1886. The grandfather of the subject of this sketch was Caleb W. Scriven, who was born in Grafton April 5, 1805, and he was a son of James Scriven, also born in the same town. His wife was Mercy Scriven, who was born in Grafton September 2, 1811, she being a daughter of John Scriven, who was also born in Grafton. As a result of this union thirteen children were born, eleven of whom grew to maturity. He spent most of his life in Grafton, where he was a hotel keeper, merchant, and engaged in the manufacture of shirts. He brought the first sewing machine into Grafton. He was supervisor of the town three years, which office he held at the time of his death, which occurred July 27, 1868. His widow is living and quite hearty and strong as the ripe old age of eighty- five years. West, Daniel M., was born May 3, 1851 ; he was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools, and is a farmer by occupation and owns fifty-three acres of 'and; he is a Republican in politics. He was married September 16, 1874, to Celia Hakes of Grafton, by whom have been born six children : Alta, Edna, Cora, Arba, 146 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Nina, and Osta. The father of our subject was Joseph J. West, who was born 'in Grafton, March 23, 1828, a son of Francis and grandson of William, who, with two brothers, Nathan and Laton, came from Rhode Island and settled in Grafton, N.Y., in a very early day, being among the first settlers of the town. William and Nathan lived and died in Grafton and reared large families. The father of the subject spent his life in Grafton as a farmer; he was a Democrat in politics and justice of the peace a number of years; he died in 1837, aged forty-four; his wife was Olive Rey nolds, who came from Rhode Island and here lived and died February 24, 1870, aged sixty-nine years. Joseph J. West is a cooper by trade but now is a farmer; he has made his own way in the world and owns 120 acres of land ; he was a member of the Loyal League, is a Republican and has been overseer of the poor. He was married, December 23, 1848, to Priscilla Saunders, daughter of Daniel and Ruth (Jones) Saunders of Grafton. To Joseph J. West and wife 'have been born five children : Arthur J., Daniel M., subject of sketch, Emma A., wife of Albert R. Waite of Wis consin, Ida P., wife of Albert Coons of Grafton, and Ruth, wife of John E. Burdick. They have four children: Adelbert A., John, Victor A., Mattie A. Scott, Walter, began his work for Walter A. Wood by taking the agency for mow ing machines in 1867. Two years later he acted as general agent for the machine, traveling throughout the Northeast States, and selling 500 machines in the year 1871. In that year he received a letter from Mr. Wood which he. still treasures, en gaging him as wholesale agent. This necessitated him traveling to all parts of the globe, the engagement continuing to the present time. Mr. Scott has probably sold more mowers than any other living man. He is of Scotch ancestry, born at Fort Ann, Washington county, in 1839. His father was Henry M. Scott, a farmer. The oldest daughter of Mr. Scott is Helen S. Locke, widow of Norman W. Locke. She is again an inmate of her father's house. Mary H. Scott, aged seventeen, is a stu dent here. Mr. Scott is a Republican but not an active politician ; he is also a mem ber of the Baptist church. He was engaged in farming prior to his association with Mr. Wood, whose entire confidence he cherished. Thorpe Brothers. — George L. Thorpe is the' senior member of the firm of Thorpe Brothers, leading pharmacists of Hoosick F'alls. Mr. Thorpe first came to this village in 1883 and purchased Atwood's interest in the Elm-street store, the new firm being Thorpe & Cahill until 1886, when he bought the Cahill interest and took a younger brother, W. L. Thorpe, as clerk, and in 1890 as partner. In 1892 Mr. Thorpe purchased the business of William Archibald on Classic street, and the brothers now operate two stores, each personally supervising one of them. George L. Thorpe was born at Bennington, Mich., and his boyhood was passed on a farm at that place, educated at Michigan University and at Mexico (N. Y.) Academy. He turned his attention to chemistry while at the latter institution and soon became an assistant of E. L. Huntington, a druggist of Mexico, where he remained for seven years, gain ing the thorough and practical knowledge of the business and of pharmacy as a pro fession that has conduced to their success here. He has been for twenty years a working member of the M. E. church, is of high rank in the order of K. of P., and of the Odd Fellows, and is a steadfast Republican. His wife was Miss Emma A. Mat tison, of Mexico, N. Y. Willis L. Thorpe, the junior member of the firm, also born at the old homestead in Bennington, Mich., began the study of pharmacy at Mexico FAMILY SKETCHES. 147 N. Y., and was for two years a clerk with Huntington, the druggist of Mexico. He became a resident of Hoosick Falls in 1886 and has already made for himself a high place in the public esteem in social and business circles. He is allied to the well known family of Easton by his marriage to Miss Pearl, daughter of C. W. Easton, in 1893. Holmes, Watson M., head of the experimental department of the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Co., is the son of Hector A. Holmes, also an in ventor, who had previously been associated with the late Walter A. Wood until 1895, when he removed to Austin, Minn., where he now resides, retired on a large farm. In his earlier life he engaged in farming, but in 1868 established himself in Minnesota as an inventor of harvesting machines, and it was in 1879, after the com pletion of a successful grainbinder, that he came to Hoosick Falls. Watson M. was born at Lawrenceville, St. Lawrence county, in 1856, and was educated at the dis trict school, working on the farm for board and clothes in the mean time. At twenty years of age he entered a machine shop to learn the trade. There he found a wide field for the development of genius such as his. He has received twenty patents on harvesting machinery. Always a Republican, his first public office was that of village trustee, and in 1893 he became supervisor, which office he holds at the pres ent time. He has been an extensive traveler, adapting machines to all conditions and to all nations, United States, Canada, Old Mexico, New Zealand, Africa and Kurope. He is associated with all the business enterprises of the place and is an active promoter in all matters pertaining to the public good. Bovie, Israel, one of the oldest residents of Hoosick, was born in this town Febru ary 5, 1824, and never resided elsewhere. His father, Henry Bovie, was also a life long inhabitant, and his grandfather, John Bovie, was one of the first settlers. Israel Bovie has been principally engaged in farming, and also in bee culture, having at one time over 100 swarms of the latter. He was recently bereaved of his wife, his beloved companion for half a century. She was Ruby Lee Barron ; they married March 26, 1846, and her death occurred August 2, 1896. There are no children. Mr. Bovie is highly esteemed for his sterling worth, and has served as highway commissioner and as postmaster. He has in his possession one of the old-fash ioned tall wooden clocks which kept time for both grandfather and father, and which he values not only as a memento but as a good time keeper. Herrington, Mrs. Sylvia A. — Benjamin F. Herrington, late of Buskirk Bridge, whose name must remain associated with all that is honorable in the life of a citizen, was born at Hoosick in 1829. He was a Republican and took an active part in the political affairs of his town, and held several positions of trust and responsibility. He was intimately identified with the M. E. church, and a faithful supporter until his death in 1891. He married in 1856 Sylvia A. Case, daughter of David Case, an old resident of Pittstown. Of their three daughters only one is living: Mary I., wife of John Kenyon, a merchant of Buskirk Bridge. Quackenbush, Dyke, was born in Hoosick, November 12, 1851, a successful farmer on a large scale, and a fair type of the modern farmer whose views are broadened hy contact with fellow minds and by the surroundings and refinements of modern civilization. This family is of Holland ancestry, and the elder Quackenbush, Benja- 148 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. min V. of Hoosick Falls, was a most successful farmer in the vicinity of Hoosick. Dyke Quackenbush still operates his farm of 200 acres, but inhabits a handsome modern home in the village, completed in 1890. May 29, 1878, he married Jennie L. Reynolds, daughter of Almon E. Reynolds of Hoosick. They have three children: Annabelle, Benjamin V., jr., and Helen M. Rudd, Sanford H., a man much esteemed for his sterling character, is a progres sive farmer who came to Hoosick twenty years ago, purchasing 200 acres devoted to dairy productions; he is also a dealer in agricultural implements. He was born in 1827 at Bennington, as was also his father, David Rudd, son of Joseph Rudd, who came to Bennington from Connecticut about 1760; the latter participated in the bat tle of Bennington under no commander but his own conscience, melting up the last platter in the house for bullets; he captured a sword from a Plessian officer which is still cherished as a relic by Mr. Rudd; also a letter dated August 26, 1777, at Ben nington, from Joseph Rudd to his father ten days after the battle, which it describes in detail. Mr. Rudd values relics and is much devoted to historical research. He is a man of sound judgment and has proven an efficient official as assessor for seven years. He is the father of ten children: one son, Sanford L. Rudd, died in 1894. Bratt, Seneca, is of Dutch ancestry, son of John Bratt and grandson of Daniel Bratt, founder of the family in America. The latter came from Holland and settled in Albany during the latter part of the last century. Seneca has always followed the pursuit of farming as did his father before him ; he has served his townsmen as commissioner of highways and acted as school trustee. Until recently he was a Democrat, but now is a Republican. He is a native of Hoosick, born in 1813, and carries the infirmities of age with remarkable vigor. He has in his possession a Dutch Bible 200 years old which was brought by his grandfather to America. His wife, who was Christina Haynar, died in 1876, leaving nine children, seven of whom are living. Wilson, Lorenzo, is a native and lifelong resident of Hoosick with the exception of two years spent in New York city as an employee of the Knickerbocker Ice Co. Re turning in 1860 he purchased a farm in Pittstown, but sold it in 1865 and bought 200 acres where he is at present located. The home was destroyed by fire in 1892, but has since been rebuilt. Mr. Wilson was born in 1827, son of Solomon Wilson who came here from Vermont an early settler. The wife of Lorenzo was Sarah Brim mers, daughter of David Brimmers of Petersburgh ; she had been a helpless invalid for years but bore her lot with true Christian fortitude until her death in 1895, aged fifty-five. She left three children: Mary T., wife of William Lawton of Tomhan nock, who has two children; Cora B., and Lizzie. The last two named care for the father, who is also an invalid. Reardon, John J., D. D. S.. — Mr. Reardon is a native of the village where he now successfully practices his profession, having been born here in 1862. In 1889 he was graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery at Philadelphia after a four years' course, and opened an office on Main street in Hoosick Falls. He had previously been an associate of Dr. Boynton for several years. In 1883 he married Miss Joanna Agnes Donovan of Hoosick Falls, who bore two children, but neither survived infancy. FAMILY SKETCHES. 149 Peckham, Silas C , was born in the town of Petersburgh, June 18, 1841. He is a descendant from Sir John Peckham, who with a brother came from England and settled in Newport, R. I., in 1638; the brother died soon after. Sir John reared a large family and his descendants for a hundred years were in the ship building and the shipping business. Abel Peckham, great-grandfather of Silas C, was a native of Westerly, R. I. He was a farmer by occupation and reared four sons and two daughters. He and his two sons were minute men during the Revolutionary war. Joshua, his grandfather, was born in Westerly, R I., in 1770. He was a ship car penter by trade and soon after the Revolutionary war he, with two of his brothers and two sisters, removed to Rensselaer county and settled on the wild forest land in the town of Grafton ; here he made a home and became prosperous. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was married twice ; his first wife was Sarah Stetson, bywhom four sons and three daughters were born. His second wife was Sarah Burdick, to whom were born two sons and two daughters, and ten of his children grew to maturity. He died in 1851. Stephen, the father of Silas C, was born in the town of Grafton in 1803 ; he was a blacksmith during his younger days, but he soon left this and engaged in the business of drover, which he followed extensively for many years, driving to New York, Buffalo and Boston ; his last years were spent on his father's homestead; his wife was Cornelia Van Brown; she was born in 1806 and was a daughter of Nathan Brown and granddaughter of Elder Elijah Brown. They reared five sons and five daughters, all of whom grew to maturity. He died in 1883 and she died in 1888. Silas C. Peckham received his education in the common and select schools and when nineteen years of age began to teach. He went to Chicago, 111., where, in March, 1863, he enlisted in the famous Chicago Board of Trade Bat tery and served in that until the close of the war. This battery has recorded to its credit seventy-nine battles, eleven of which were the hardest fought battles of the war. The principal battles in which Mr. Peckham participated were Chickamauga, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Noon-Day Creek, Atlanta, Nashville, Pulaski, Selma, and Wilson's raid. He received a dangerous wound in the battle of Noon-Day Creek by a musket ball entering and passing through his hip ; the ball he has now in his possession. After his return from the war he taught school one term and then settled on his present farm, where he has since resided, doing general farming. He is a life member of the Chicago Board of Trade. He is also a member of the Chicago Battery Association, and of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland, and of Tappan G. A.R. Post of Berlin. In 1861 he married Harriet E. Allen, who was born in the town of Petersburgh, and is a daughter of Dr. Amos and Betsey (Avery) Allen. They have one child, Allen, who is a commercial traveler for a drug house in New York. Henderson, Joseph C, was born in New York city in 1825. His ancestors on the paternal side were Scotch, and on the maternal side of the old families of Holland Dutch. His grandfather on his father's side came to Troy in 1808 from New York and started the manufacture of all kinds of webbing, which was the first concern of the kind in the United States. His father, John Henderson, was born in New York c'ty and came with his parents to Troy, was engaged in business with his father, and in 1829 married Dorothy Cole, who was born in North Greenbush. John Hen derson died in New York m 1832 and his wife in 1869. Joseph C. received his ed- 150 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. ucation in the public schools of Troy and in 1834 entered the establishment of William T. Smith, a manufacturer and dealer in paper, with whom he remained one year ; he was afterwards engaged with a Mr. Atwood in the manufacture of stoves. He attended school for a period, and in 1844 again went into the stove business. In 1848 he was employed as foreman in a foundry at Brockville, Ont. , and later he returned to Albany and in company with Anthony Weller began furnace manufac turing. He continued in this business until 1861, when, being a staff officer of the 9th Brigade New York Militia with the rank of major, he was detailed by Governor Morgan to take command of the volunteer post at Saratoga, one of five established in the State for the reception of recruits and organizing them into companies pre paratory for active service in the field. Later he went to the front with the 77th N. Y. Vols, as lieutenant-colonel and remained with the regiment until June, 1862, when he returned to Albany and resumed the manufacture of furnaces until 1864. In 1866 he came to Troy with Charles Eddy & Co., which was later Shaver & Hen derson, Sheldon Greene & Co., and is now J. C. Henderson & Co. He belongs to Masters Lodge F. & A. M. of Albany, the I. O. O. F., and is now a Royal Arch Mason of Albany, and is a member of the East Side Club. In 1850 he married Mariel Beecher, a relative of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher; she died in 1855. His present wife was Marietta Beecher, a sister of his first wife. He has had five sons and two daughters; four of the sons are now living — Charles H., David P., William B. and Frank. Dwyer, Thomas H., was born in West Troy November 22, 1847, and is a son of William and Ann (Delaney) Dwyer. His father died in 1863 and his mother in 1882. He was educated in the public schools and St. Joseph's Academy. In 1862 he en listed at Troy, in the(12th N. Y. Cavalry and served in the Department of North Carolina until August, 1865. Upon his return to Troy he learned the carriage- maker's trade at Lown & Horton's carriage works, at the corner of Broadway and Seventh street, where the Geo. P. Ide & Co.'s collar factory now stands; they were the largest carriage works in Troy at that time. He was appointed a member of the Old Capitol police force in 1870 and served as a police officer until 1874, when he purchased the carriage and wagon business of Lawrence Sheary, and carried on the business alone until 1892, when he formed a partnership with A. H. Davitt and car ried on tbe business under the firm name of Dwyer & Davitt for the sale of the cel ebrated Studebaker vehicles, for which they have the sole agency for Troy and Al bany. He is senior vice-commander of the John McConihe Post No. 18, G. A. R. In 1876 he married Margaret Dorsey of Troy. Burton, Lebbeus, was born in Norwich, Vt., June 24, 1826. He is the son of Jacob and Betsey (Safford) Burton, of New England ; his father died in 1843, and his mother in 1830. Lebbeus Burton received his education in the Norwich High School and in 1848 came to Troy and entered the drug business with the firm of Baddeau & Stod dard with whom he remained as a clerk seven years, when he became a partner under the firm name of Stoddard & Burton. Mr. Stoddard sold his interest and the firm name was changed to L. Burton & Co., which was continued until January 1, 1896, when Mr. Burton retired, still retaining his interest therein as a special part ner. The firm has always done a large wholesale and retail trade, and is the second oldest wholesale drug firm in the city of Troy ; the success of the business was accom- FAMILY SKETCHES. 151 plished largely through the personal and energetic efforts of Mr. Burton. Soon after becoming a partner he established the system of paying cash and receiving the benefits of discount, being among the first in the trade in the city to adopt that sys tem, and he credits that as being one of the causes of his success. He has a beau tiful place on Ninth street, Troy, called " Sunnyside," where he resides. "Sunny side " is one of the handsomest places in Troy ; the lawn contains several acres hand somely laid out and ornamented with beautiful trees, shrubbery, and flowering plants. In 1885 he married Mrs. Rachael Burton, who died in 1888. In politics Mr. Burton has always been a Republican. As a business man he has always held a prominent place in Troy, being recognized as among the most reliable men in the city. Akin, Washington, M. D., was born in Pittstown, N. Y., August 22, 1835. His father, John Akin, was also born in Pittstown in 1811; he removed to Johnsonville where for many years he was deputy sheriff. His mother, Jane (Button) Akin of Pittstown, died in March, 1891. Washington Akin secured his classical education at the Cambridge Academy, Cambridge, N. Y., where he graduated, and in 1855 removed to Sandy Hill, Washington county, and began the study of medicine with Dr. William H. Miller; afterwards he studied with Dr. A. Hill of Buskirk's Bridge, and in September, 1856, he came to Troy and entered the office of Dr. Reed B. Bontecou and remained with him until he graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1858; he then began practice in Troy. In 1862 he joined the 125th Regiment, N. Y. Vols., as assistant surgeon, and was at the battle of Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Siege of Petersburg, and at the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox, Va. He has served as city physician, jail physician, police sur geon for twelve years, and at present president of the Board of Examining Surgeons for Pensions. He has served as president of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, also its secretary. He belongs to the American Medical Association, and the Troy Scientific Association. He is attending physician of the Marshall Infirmary, and one of its governors. He has been attending physician at the Sisters' Hospital. He is vestryman of Christ's church. In 1866 he married Miss Margaret Euphemie Blais dell of Coeymans, Albany county. They have had three children, two of whom are living: Josephine, married George F. Houghton of North Bennington, Vt. ; Isabella. at home; and Winthrop, who died at the age of one year. Van Hagen, James, was born in the town of Glen, Montgomery county, N. Y., May 17, 1824. His parents moved to Caughnawaga, in the town of Mohawk, from there to Canajohane, and from there to Troy, N. Y., in 1831. He was educated in the common schools, and learned the tin, sheet iron, and copper trade. He then went to Boston, Salem, and Medway, where he remained for sixteen years, follow ing his trade. In the year of 1860 he returned to Troy and became manager in tbe tin department of Fuller, Warren & Co., where he remained for six years. He was in New York city for one year, then returned to the city of Troy and took charge of Troy Stamping Works, which grew and enlarged under his fostering care from small beginnings to a successful business, until 1875. He then began business on his own account in North Adams, Mass., in stoves and tinware which continued one year. He then again returned to Troy and began business in cotnpany with his son, John E., under the firm name of James Van Hagen & Son, conducting the Troy Tinning 152 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Works, which continued until 1889. They then began another business of hardware, heaters, ranges, etc., under the same firm name which continues until the present _time with success. January 16, 1847, he married Mary J. Fox of Troy, N. Y., form erly of Montgomery county, by whom he has had six children: Janett, James G., Fred, John E. , Mary H. , and Fred (2), all of whom are dead except John E. and Mary H. The ancestry of the family is Dutch and German. Thomas, Jeffrey P., is descended from an old Rhode Island family, his earliest traceable ancestor being Peleg Thomas, a Revolutionary soldier, who married Miss Russell Aylsworth, and who, about the close of the war, brought his family on an ox-cart from Warwick, R. I. (where he was probably born) to a farm in the south part of tbe town of Berlin, Rensselaer county, where he died. He was a pioneer of that then rude locality, and had twelve children. Rowland Thomas, his eldest son, was born in Warwick in 1761, served in the Revolution under Washington, and died in Berlin, aged twenty-six. His wife, Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Phebe (Lang ford) Greene, was born June 21, 1764. Peleg Rowland Thomas, their only son and one of three children, was born in Stephentown, Rensselaer county, December 7, 1780, was a blacksmith and farmer, and in the spring of 1826 moved with his wife and six children to Sand Lake, in the same county, settled on the old Fellows farm, and died there February 9, 1847. He married Freelove, daughter of George and Mary (Hopkins) Arnold, descendants of the Arnold and Hopkins families of Rhode Island. She died June 18, 1863. [William Arnold, born in Dartmouth, England, set sail May 1, 1635, for America, arriving in Hingham, Mass., June 24, and on April 20, 1636, settled with his family in Providence, R. I. Receiving grants of land from Roger Williams his initials, W. A. are second in the famous initial deed. His estate was mostly in Providence, Pawtuxet and Warwick, where he had houses. He held various offices. Stephen Arnold, his youngest son, was born in Dartmouth, Eng land, December 22, 1622, came to America in 1635, and died November 15, 1699. He married Sarah, daughter of Edward Smith, of Rehoboth, R. I., and their children were Esther, born September 22, 1647; Israel, October 30, 1649; Stephen, November 27, 1654; Elizabeth, November 2, 1659; Elisha, born February 18, 1662, died March 24, 1710; Sarah, born January 26, 1665; and Phebe, November 9, 1671. Elisha Arnold was born in Warwick, R. I., where his son James was also born. James Arnold was appointed by Gov. Stephen Hopkins an ensign in the 2d company of trained band of Warwick March 14, 1758, and by Gov. Josias Lyndon a major in the Kent county militia June 20, 1768, and by Gov. Joseph Wanton, lieutenant-colonel May 6, 1769. He had a son James, who was deputy governor of Rhode Island in 1788, member of Assembly, and an officer of militia. George Arnold, son of James, sr., was born in Warwick Oct. 12, 1754, and was appointed by Gov. Arthur Fenner the ninth justice of the peace of that town May 7, 1792. He married, Sept. 7, 1781, Mary Hopkins, who was born Aug. 15, 1760, and who died April 15, 1803. He died March 22, 1829. Their children were Gorton, born January 25, 1783; Benjamin, Nov. 10, 1784; Zilpha, Feb. 25, 1786; Simon, Oct. 4, 1787; Joseph Hopkins, Feb. 17, 1789; Wate, September 12, 1790; Freelove (Mrs. Peleg Rowland Thomas), April 16, 1792; Mary, May 13, 1793; Phebe, April 2, 1795: George Anson, November 19, 1796; Ayl- sey and Elizabeth (twins), October 5, 1799; Elijah, March 15, 1801; and Minerva, April 12, 1803.] The children of Peleg Rowland and Freelove (Arnold) Thomas were FAMILY SKETCHES. 153 Burton Arnold, born July 15, 1809, died December 28, 1880; Sarah Greene, born December 21, 1810, married William Vary, October 12, 1833, and died January 26, 1849; Rowland, born March 4, 1813, drowned in the Mohawk river at Glenville, N. Y. by a falling bridge, June 9, 1880; Phebe, born October 13, 1814, married Alvaro R, Traver December 24, 1835, and died January 19, 1851 ; Russell (a daughter), born May 20, 1818, married Mervin C. Traver November 20, 1841, and died March 22, 1869 ; Alonzo, born July 2, 1820, died December 17, 1889 ; Mary Esther, born May 28, 1827, married William Vary December 20, 1849, died November 28, 1854 ; Marilla, born March 16, 1831, married Charles M. Traver February 19, 1848, and died August 21,1885; Albert Peleg, born January 15, 1834, died June 23, 1886; and Minerva, born March 12, 1836, married Reuben Van Decar March 25, 1856, and died Sep tember 29, 1893. Burton Arnold Thomas spent his early life on his father's farm and attending the district schools, developed a. taste for surveying and land scape gardening and at the time of his death was one of the oldest surveyors in Rensselaer county. He read law and was admitted to the bar October 10, 1842, under George R. Davis, first judge, practiced successfully in the probate courts, set tled many estates, was commissioner and inspector of schools, town clerk, super visor, justice of the peace twelve years, was first a Democrat and later a prominent Republican, and died December 28, 1880. He married Maria, daughter of Henry Cipperly, of Sand Lake, who survives at the age of eighty-seven. [Her family de scends from Barrent Zippertie, a blacksmith, a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and one of the religious refugees brought to America by Gov. Robert Hunter in 1710. He came with one son, Barrent, jr., and settled in Rhinebeck, N. Y. In 1712 his two other sons, Frederick and Michael, joined him. He was a widower, and married here, February 27, 1711, Anna Maria Reichard (or Rykert), daughter of Hans Ry- kert, of Wurtemberg. Michael Zippertie (Cipperly) was born in 1707, and had a son Joseph Henry Cipperly, who was born in Rhinebeck in 1743. The latter married Elizabeth Teall and had five children: Henry, George, Katharine, Regina, and Ger trude. Henry Cipperly, born in 1768, married Catharine Minick, of Greenbush, who was born the same year. Their children were Elizabeth, born May 14, 1792 ; Peter, June 14, 1793; Margaret; George; Jacob; Michael and Philip (twins), May 25, 1802; Henry, October 22, 1803; Nicholas, September 1, 1805; David, June 8, 1806; and Maria (Mrs. Burton Arnold Thomas), February 14, 1810. The family moved from Rhinebeck to Sand Lake, Rensselaer county, about 1790.] Burton Arnold and Maria (Cipperly) Thomas had two children : Alsina, born August 1, 1833, married George N. Goewey March 2, 1854, and died June 13, 1854; and Jeffrey Peleg, born in West Sand Lake December 2, 1838. Jeffrey P. Thomas was educated and studied sur veying at Hartwick Seminary in Otsego county, and when nineteen began surveying with his father, continuing about fifteen years. He was superintendent of the Albany Rural Cemetery from June 1, 1868, to July 1, 1893, and many adornments of that beautiful spot are due to his taste and skill. His father did more or less work on that cemetery for thirty-two years. January 1, 1896, Mr. Thomas formed a partner ship with Charles G. Witbeck, as Thomas & Witbeck, and opened an office in Troy. He is a Republican, was town clerk of Sand Lake, and is a 32° Mason. June 14, 1865, he married Sarah Henrietta, daughter of Jacob and Jane A. Warner. [Jacob Warner was born January 1, 1800, married Jane Ann Cochrane June 5, 1839, and had five children, all born in Wynantskill, Rensselaer county, viz.: Eliza Maria, 154 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. (Mrs. James H. Chapman), born April 16, 1840; Matilda Ann, born January 1, 1842, died May 25, 1855; Almyra Jane, born January 9, 1845, died July 30, 1845; Sarah Henrietta (Mrs. Jeffrey P. Thomas), born January 1, 1847; and Nancy Catharine, born January 23, 1850.] Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey P. Thomas have had three children: Burton Arnold, born April 21, 1868, died May 22, 1894; Jeffrey Warner, born Sep tember 3, 1871, died September 19, 1871 ; and Jessie Florence, born November 7, 1872, who married James Annan Ayers September 2, 1896. Bontecou, R. Brinsmade, M. D., was born at Harwood General Hospital at Wash ington, D.'C, December 1, 1864, where his father, Dr. Reed B. Bontecou, at the time had charge of 3,000 wounded soldiers. In 1883 he entered Williams College where he remained one year, and afterwards entered Harvard University where he was for one year; subsequently he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city where he was graduated in 1889. He then began practice in Troy where, with the exception of about six months, he since has continued. He has been president and secretary of the Rensselaer County Medical Society; was a dele gate to and is now a permanent member of the New York State Medical Society; is a member of the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity ; one of the governors and surgeon of the Marshall Infirmary; secretary of the Pension Board, and a mem ber of the Troy Scientific Association. He was one of the medical sanitary inspec tors during the cholera scare in 1893, and belongs to the Arba Reed Steamer Com pany. In 1890 he married Lula May Vail of East Marion, Long Island, by whom he has two children, Susan May and Louise Cluett. Smith, Charles H., was born in the city of Albany, N. Y. , September 7, 1854. He was educated there in the public schools, and entered the employ of the Troy City Railway Co. in the year 1870, first as barn boy. In 1880 he was made foreman ; in 1881 he was appointed general superintendent; in the year 1885 he was appointed general superintendent of all the lines under this contract, and later when the Troy & New England Railroad was built, he was appointed general manager of the road ; he is one of the directors and is one of the executive committee. July 7, 1887, he was married to Catharine Cranner of Cohoes, Albany county, N. Y. They have had two sons, William and Charles A. Mr. Smith is a member of Cohoes Lodge No. 116, F. & A. M., of Cohoes Chapter No. 168, R. A. M., of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., Delta Lodge of Perfection, Delta Council P. of J., Delta Chapter, Rose Croix of Albany. He is a member of the Waterford Club of Waterford, Saratoga county ( and a member of the celebrated Apollo Drill Corps. Bowman, Joseph, jr., was born in Troy, September 9, 1852. He was educated in the public schools and Bryant and Stratton's Business College. He worked at the paper collar business for eight years in New York city; he then came to Troy in 1876 and became a collar and cuff manufacturer under the firm name of Joseph Bowman & Sons. He has married twice, first, in 1874, to Nettie Wilson of New York city, by whom one daughter has been born: Vinnie G. Mrs. Bowman died in 1879. For his second wife, on April 3, 1882, he married Emma A. , daughter of Daniel and Jane Ford of Troy, by whom three children have been born: Albert M., Clarence F., and Florence B. The father of Mrs. Bowman, Daniel Ford, was born in the town of Grafton in 1818. He spent his early life on a farm, and was afterwards a contractor FAMILY SKETCHES. 155 and builder. He married Jane Bonesteel of the town of Brunswick, by whom three children were born: Martha, Ellen, and Emma A. Mr. Ford died in 1888, and his widow survives at this date. Mr. Bowman is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M., of Troy, of Phoenix Chapter No. 133 R. A. M., of Lansingburg, of Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., of Troy, of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T. of Ori ental Temple A. A. O. N. M. S. , and of Apollo Drill Corps. The ancestry of the family is German, Scotch, and English. Sweet, Hon. Rufus, born in Stephentown, January 22, 1833, is the son of Rufus and Mary (Shaw) Sweet, both natives of Stephentown. The grandfather, Elnathan Sweet, came from Connecticut to Stephentown on horseback in pioneer days. He married Miss Rodgers, a daughter of one of the early settlers of Stephentown. The Sweet family are of English and Scotch descent. The parents of Mary Shaw were An thony and Dianah (Smith) Shaw, who were early settlers of Stephentown, coming from Rhode Island. The father of Rufus during his early life was engaged in various occupations, but in his latter days followed farming. He was justice and town clerk and collector twenty-one years in succession. He died in April, 1860. Mrs. Sweet died August 27, 1856. Rufus was educated in the common and select schools in Stephentown and when quite young took charge of the home farm on which he has always resided. He owns the homestead of 190 acres to which he has added 125 acres. In 1857 Mr. Sweet married Eunice M., daughter of Malankin and Eliza C. (Smith) Bently of Hancock, Mass. To Mr. and Mrs. Sweet have been born three children: George B., farmer of Hancock, Mass. ; Mary E., Carrie, a teacher in Virginia. Mr. Sweet has been ten years supervisor of Stephentown, railroad com missioner several years, and member of the Assembly from 1882 to 1883. June 14, 1893, he was appointed superintendent of the poor of the county and in the following fall was elected to the same office by a majority of 7,121. He is a member of Amity Lodge, F. & A. M., also of the I. O. O. F. Winnie, Daniel R. , was born in Lansingburgh, February 11, 1824. He was edu cated in the public schools and began his life work about 1841. He was with Captain Alfred Mosher on his sloop on the Hudson River, and through life's various changes always attended to his business with various partners until 1874. At that time he went into partnership with Cooper & Co. in the ice business, which was continued until 1894, when a joint stock company was formed with the following members: B.Cooper, president; Daniel R. Winne, first vice-president; G. T. Bond, treasurer and secretary; M. F. Horton, manager; and H. Hoffman, assistant manager and bookkeeper. Mr. Winnie is a member of the Board of Charities and served as presi dent of the board. He was married twice, second time in 1857 to Kate Geer of Troy. He had two children by his first marriage: Julia F. and Mary J. Julia F. married Herman Hoffman, by whom three children have been born: Irwin, Daniel W., and Kate. Mary J. married Peter Mealy of Troy, by whom eight children have been born: Daniel R., Walter B., Alice, Grace, Clarence, Chester, Alida and Susan. Mr. Winnie's second wife died and for his third wife he married Mrs. Anna E. House, born Philip, of Troy. He has two great-grandsons, Daniel Hoffman and Walter Gunther. His father, Philip, was born near Lansingburgh in 1798; he married Roxie Robinson, by whom niie children were born: Julia A., Daniel R., Jane, Hester, Levinas, Susan, Maria, Philip, Catherine and Nancy. Daniel R. Winne 156 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. is a member of the Apollo Lodge No. 13 of Troy, F. & A. M. The ancestry of the family was of Dutch and New England extraction. Galbraith, Hugh, was born in Troy, October 22, 1865. He is the son of William J. Galbraith, who was born in Ireland and came to this country about 1850 and set tled in Michigan. He came to Troy in 1855 where he died 1880. His mother is Sara Jane (Crooks) Galbraith, who was born in Paisley, Scotland. He received his education in the public schools and went to work in the Troy and Boston railroad office for two and a half years and then was with Boutwell & Son, and in 1892 the Boutwell Milling & Grain Co. was incorporated and he has been one of the firm since and is secretary and manager of the same ; he is a director in the Troy Hydraulic Co., a member of the Senior Company of the Troy Citizens Corps, Laureate Boat Club, Apollo Lodge, Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, and Ori ental Temple of the Mystic Shrine. In 1891 he married Caroline L. Sturtevant of Troy. Heimstreet, Thomas B., M.D., was born in Troy, March 11, 1843. His father, Dr. Charles Heimstreet, was for many years a druggist in Troy, being the first prescrip tion druggist in the city ; he died in 1854 ; he was married to Miss Harriet J. Walsh of Lansingburgh, N. Y., in 1838 ; she died in 1876. Thomas B. received his education at the common and private schools, Albany Medical College, and graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in March, 1867, when he began practice in Troy. He has been one of the attending physicians of the Troy Hospital, and is a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, the New York State Medical Association, and the American Ornithologists' Union. He was librarian of the Troy Young Men's Association for nine years. In 1871 he married Miss Mary E. Quintal of Fall River, Mass. Bowman, Joseph, sr., was born in Royalton, Windsor county, Vt., April 30, 1815. He was married three times as follows: Sarah Van Arnam, of Lansingburgh, N. Y. ; Sarah G. Moseley, of Troy, N. Y., and Mrs. Cynthia Everett, of Troy, N. Y. He was one of the first to manufacture collars and cuffs in Troy under the name of Bowman & Moseley in 1853. His sons now compose the firm which is known as Joseph Bowman & Sons. He was the oldest fireman in Troy, having been appointed in 1843. He died September 11, 1896, in his eighty-second year, leaving two sons and one daughter. Greenman, Charles Edgar, M. D., was born in Manchester, Mich. ; September 29, 1867. His father, Lorenzo Greenman, was born in Waterloo, N. Y., and when young came to Troy and learned the mason's trade, later moved to Michigan and enlisted in the Third Michigan Cavalry and in 1870 came to Cohoes where he died in 1880. His mother, Ellen (Magary) Greenman, was born in Montreal, P. Q., and is at present living in Troy. Dr. Greenman received his education in the public schools and graduated from the Albany Medical College March 21, 1889, and has since been in practice at 179 First street, Troy, N. Y. He is assistant physician of the out patient department of the Troy Hospital and is examining physician for the Union Central Life Insurance Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, and belongs to the New York State Medical Association, Rensselaer County Medical Society and the Medical Associa tion of Troy and Vicinity. He also belongs to King Solomon's Lodge F. & A. M. FAMILY SKETCHES. 157 June 3, 1891, he married Margaret Frances Mitchell of Waterford, N. Y. They be came the parents of one son, Harold, who died January 20, 1896. Donovan, jr., Daniel D., M. D. was born in Troy, N. Y., November 5, 1873. His father, Daniel Donovan, came from Ireland in early childhood and settled in Troy. His mother is Ann (Daly) Donovan ; she was born in Ireland. Daniel D. was grad uated from St. Mary's in 1892, and entered the Syracuse University for the study of medicine, afterwards entering the Albany Medical College from which he was grad uated in June, 1895. He is now resident physician of the Troy Hospital. He is a member of the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity and Rensselaer County Medical Society. Kinloch, Osman F., M. D., was born in Brunswick, Rensselaer county, N. Y., Jan uary 29, 1853. He is a son of Charles and Catherine A Kinloch ; Charles was a mer chant in Troy for many years and was in the grocery business at the time of his death. Osman F. first attended the district schools of Brunswick, later the public schools of Troy, the Troy Academy and the business college, and graduated from the medical department of Union University at Albany in 1879. He was a student of Drs. Reed B. Bontecou and C. E. Nichols. He .was elected delegate to the Medical Society of the State of New York, and is now a permanent member of same. He has been secretary, treasurer and vice-president of the Rensselaer County Medical Society and is now serving as president of the same. He is also a member of the Medical Asso ciation of Troy and Vicinity for which he served as first secretary and treasurer He was city physician for five years, was deputy health officer at the time of the small pox epidemic, and was physician and surgeon in charge of the Rensselaer County Hospital during the absence in Europe of the regular apointee (Dr. Herrick) in 1887; he was jail physician for one year. He is medical examiner for a. large number of life and accident insurance companies. He is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., a member of Trojan Hook and Ladder Co., and in 1886 served as its president. He is now serving as alderman from the Fourth Ward, and is a member of the Good Government Club. He married May L. Fales of Troy, November 8, 1881 ; she is the daughter of the late Joseph and Harriet H. Fales. Rickerson, Le Roy, was born in Durham, Greene county, N, Y., in 1845. His father was Lyman Rickerson, who was born in 1818 ; he was a captain in the State militia. His mother was Laura (Bagley) Rickerson ; she died in Troy in 1888. Le Roy received a public school education and afterwards worked with his father on the farm, and afterwards clerked in a village store, He came to Troy in 1871 and went to work for P. M. Marston in the grocery business. . He bought Mr. Marston out in 1873 and carried on the business until 1876, when he engaged in the flour and grain business under the firm name of Lape & Rickerson ; after six years Mr. Lape retired and Mr. Rickerson bought his interest in the business. He was alderman from 1888 to 1892, and is secretary of the Citizens' Association, treasurer of the Uni tarian Church Society, a member of the East Side Club and the Farnham Steamer Fire Company. He married May M. Murphy of Dutchess county in 1883, and has two children. Carter, Edward, was born in Oxford, England in 1825, and came to this country 158 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. in 1831 with his parents, Richard and Elizabeth (Wells) Carter. His father came to Troy in 1833 and started the plane manufacturing business, which he continued at until he removed to Lewis county in 1855 and died in 1891 ; his wife died in 1875. Edward received his education in the public schools of Troy and Troy Academy and entered the manufacturing business; he has been sole propriotor of same since 1864. He represented the Fifth ward in the Board of Aldermen ten years and during that time was president of the board one year ; he has been general assessor for ten years ; he was a member of the Arba Reed Steamer Company five years, and was five years a member of the Farnham Steamer Company, during which time he was president of the company. Mr. Carter was one of the number selected to form a committee of one hundred who had charge of the proceedings to commemorate the anniversary of Troy's Centennial in 1889. In 1849 he married Lucy A. Stevens of Troy. They have two sons, Richard, jr., and Edward, jr., who assist in the manu facturing business. Crandall, Louis S., was born in Troy, N. Y., December 25, 1850. His ancestors were English and came from Rhode Island early in the present century, and settled in Brunswick, N. Y. His great-grandfather, Ethan Crandall, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His father, Ethan A. Crandall, was born in Brunswick in 1814. He came to Troy when a young man, and entered into the manufacture of mill stones, and was thus engaged until his death, which occurred in 1860. His mother was Leona (Smith) Crandall, who was born in Troy in 1824, and died in August, 1866. Louis S. received his education at the high school and afterward entered the academy for a short time. He clerked for J M. Warren & Co. from 1868 to 1870, and then started the manufacturing of mill stones which he continued for ten years. In 1880 he with George H. Morrison bought out the seed business of Warren & Taylor and conducted business under the firm name of Crandall & Morrison; in 1886 he sold his interest in the concern and bought A. L. Hotchkin's furniture store. In 1890 he bought a controlling interest in the Troy Belting and Supply Company, and has been secretary and treasurer since; he is also interested in pulp and paper mills in Essex county, of which he is secretary and treasurer; he was elected alder man in 1894, and re-elected in the fall of 1895; he has been treasurer of the East Side Club since its organization. He married Miss Kate J. Lape of Troy in 1873. He has four daughters. Tupper, John H., was born in Troy, N. Y. , November 26, 1841. His father, Will iam W. Tupper, was a boatman owning a number of sloops. He retired from steamboating in 1851, and went into the lumber business in New York city and in 1862 entered the iron manufacturing business at which he was engaged until he died, which was in 1893. His mother, Frances E. (Perry) Tupper, is now eighty years of age and lives in New York city. He was educated in private schools in Troy and Brooklyn. He made several trips across the ocean for business and pleas ure. In 1860 he entered Charles Merrill & Sons' hardware store in New York city, where he remained until 1862, when he was engaged by the Hudson River Rail road and afterwards became first bookkeeper and then auditor for the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co., New York office. He left New York and came to Troy in the fall of 1869, and bought an interest in the coal business of William Barton, an old established business at 433 River street. In 1878 he purchased Mr. Barton's inter- FAMILY SKETCHES. 159 est and has since carried on the business alone. He belongs to the Laureate Boat Club, of which he was president tor a number of years, and has been president of the Troy Coal Exchange since 1891 ; has been lieutenant in the Troy Citizens Corps, and has been prominently connected with St. Paul's Episcopal and St. John's Epis copal churches; he is one of the directors of the Y. M. C. A. He married Miss Ade laide Taylor, May 20, 1868. She was at the time a resident of Brockville, Ontario, Canada. , Seaton, William G., was born in Troy, August 17, 1861. His father, Alexander S., was born in Scotland and came to this country in 1845. He was a currier by trade and took charge of Elias Plumb's tannery for a number of years, and died in 1888. His mother, Mary (Ridgeway) Seaton, was born in Ridgeway, England, and died in 1892. William G. attended the public schools of Troy and later entered a business college. Then he learned the papermaking trade, worked at that six years, when he learned the trade of a machinist and worked at that two years, when he went to work again at papermaking. In 1884 he started a news room and confectionery store on River street, and seven years later he moved to 706 River street, where he is at present conducting a gent's furnishing goods establishment. He served on the Board of Aldermen from 1890 to 1892. He is a member of Mt. Zion Lodge F. & A. M., Diamond Rock Lodge I. O. O. F. , and has belonged to the Troy Fire Depart ment since 1882. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum , the Brownie Club of North Troy and the N. T. A. C. of North Troy. Pollock, Philander, was born in La Chute, Quebec, Canada. His father, James Pollock, came from Paisley, Scotland, and settled in La Chute, Canada; he died in 1848. His mother, Maria (Stevens) Pollock, was born iu Vermont and moved to La Chute with her parents about the time of the War of 1812; she died in 1841. Phi lander went to work for a tanner and learned the trade and came to Troy in 1866. He worked for Mr. Haight one year, and for a short time afterwards worked in New York city. In 1870 he returned to Troy and entered the store of Ross & Smith as clerk; he was with that concern as clerk until January 1, 1873, when Mr. Ross died and he bought his interest in the concern and carried $n the business under the firm name of Smith & Pollock. In 1892 Mr. Smith died and he became sole owner of the leather business. He is a member of the Fifth Avenue Baptist church, and the Royal Arcanum. In 1867 he married Miss Jennie E. Hoyt of Troy. He has one son and a daughter. Peterson, S. A., was born in Fulton county, N. Y., March 18, 1844, son of William and Nancy (Riddle) Peterson. He received a district school education and was reared on his father's farm; at the age of seventeen years he came to Troy and en gaged in the coal business at his present location, and he has carried on his exten sive coal business since that time ; his office is on the west end of Fulton street with yards adjacent. In 1872 he took in as partner George A. Packer; Mr. Packer died in June, 1896. His father died in May, 1872, and his mother in July, 1892. On April 1, 1872, Mr. Peterson married Sarah M. Mackey ; one daughter was born, who died in infancy. O'Brien, Michael H., was born in Troy in 1857. His father andmotherdied when he was quite young. After leaving school he entered the clothing house of Julius 160 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Saul where he remained until 1888, when he went into the clothing business at 316 River street, taking in Mr. M. V. Molloy as partner. The firm is doing an extensive clothing and gent's furnishing goods business, under the name of O'Brien & Molloy. They occupy the entire building consisting of three floors, 130 feet deep and twenty- five feet wide. They carry a fine line of goods and sell strictly at one price. Hydorn, Frank, was born in Grafton, Rensselaer county, N. Y., in 1831. His father, David Hydorn, was a carpenter by trade and died in Delaware in 1894. His mother, Esther (Burdict) Hydorn, died in 186'. Frank received a common school education and learned the carpenter's trade and came to Troy in 1862. In 1867 he went in business with William Collins under the firm name of Collins & Hydorn, and was with that firm until 1878 when he started in the sash and blind business for himself on Front street, corner of Federal, where he has been since. He belongs to the I. O. O. F. and has held all the offices in the same. His first wife was Angeline Daniels of Brunswick who died in 1865. His present wife was aMrs. Shookof Troy, to whom he was married in 1868. He has two sons and one daughter; Nelson H., a commercial traveler, and George who assists him in his business. Hartigan, John J., was born in Troy, N. Y., October 81, 1853. His father, Maurice Hartigan, came from Ireland in 1849 and settled in Troy ; he was alderman and supervisor of the Eighth ward for many years. His mother, Ellen (Hogan) Hartigan, was born in Ireland, and died in 1889. John J. was educated at the Christian Brothers' Academy and entered the store of George Bristol & Co. as cash boy in 1867 and was with Bristol and his successors until 1888, when he started in the dry goods business on King street where he still remains. In 1895 he formed a copart nership with his cousin and started a branch store at 79 and 81 Congress street. He was president of the Robert Emmet Association in 1889, 1890 and 1891 ; also presi dent of the La Salle Alumni Association in 1890 and 1891. November 29, 1884, he married Elizabeth Clogan of Chicago, 111., by whom he has one daughter. Fitzpatrick, Philip, was born in Albany, N. Y., in 1844. His father, Francis Fitz patrick, was born in Ireland and came to this country in 1820 and was for many years in the teaming business in Albany, where he was killed by the premature dis charge of a gun while firing a salute on the 7th of April, 1847. His mother, Anna Kennedy, came to this country from Ireland in 1818 and died in 1852. Philip Fitz patrick received his education in private schools in Albany and entered a tobacco manufacturing house in Albany and afterwards learned the cigarmaker's trade. In 1862 he enlisted in the Eleventh New York Independent Battery. He was in most of the principal battles of the war and received his discharge in 1865. He then worked at his trade in Connecticut for three years and came to Troy in 1869 and with Mr. Draper started the firm of Fitzpatrick & Draper in the wholesale tobacco and cigar business. He was the first commander of John A. Griswold Post No. 338, G. A. R., organized in 1883. He married Mary Frances Bunting of Troy, September 16, 1873, who was a teacher in the public schools. They have two sons and two daughters. Lobdell, Archie S. , was born in West Troy in 1862. His father, Henry Lobdell, was for many years in the dry goods business in West Troy and came to Troy in 1876 and entered the house decorating business, where he continued until his death FAMILY SKETCHES. 161 which occurred in 1893. His mother, Alice R. (Tobias) Lobdell, is a native of West Troy. Archie S. received his education in Troy public schools and entered business with his father, and since his death has had full management of affairs. He belongs to Mount Zion Lodge, F. & A. M. He married Miss Florence A. Toy of Troy in 1886, daughter of John Toy. Duncan, Charles, was born in Scotland in 1844, in which country he learned his business as a carpenter and builder. He came to this country in 1864 and settled in Troy where he continued his business. In 1872 he started in business for himself and is now one of the prominent contractors and builders of Troy. He erected the State Armory at Troy and at Hoosick Falls and several collar factories, the Second Presbyterian church, and is at present at work on the new court house. He manu factures all kinds of lumber for buildings, sawing, planing, etc. ; his works are lo cated on Front street near Fulton. He is vice-president of the Pioneer Building and Loan Association, and a member of King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M. In 1871 he was married to Annie Buchanan of Troy, daughter of Archibald Buchanan who for forty years was connected with the Burden Iron Works. He has one son and four daughters. Brewer, Alonzo, was born in Greenwich, Washington county, in 1836. His an cestors originally settled in Rhode Island, and his grandfather, Daniel Brewer, moved from Rhode Island to Greenwich and worked in the first cotton factory in the State of New York. He died in the early forties. His father, Harvey Brewer, was born in 1810 and is still living in Greenwich, and his mother, Jane (Reynolds) Brewer, died in 1886. Alonzo was educated in the public schools and Greenwich Academy, and worked on a farm until he was seventeen years of age. He then learned the carpenter's and builder's trade and in 1863 started in business in his native town, which he continued until 1876, when he came to Troy and worked in the car shops for the Troy and Boston Railroad and from 1882 until 1884 had charge of the bridges of that road, and in 1884 was appointed master car builder of the Troy and Boston Railroad, which position he now holds at the Fitchburg car shops, and has charge of car building for the western division and of the buildings. He is a member of Apollo Lodge F. & A. M. In 1860 he married Matilda J. Pauley, by whom two children have been born: John R., who died in 1886, and Ida, who died in 1888. Dorrance, James A., was born in Woodstock, Conn. He is the son of Alexander and Mary E. (Fox) Dorrance, both born in New England. His father died in 1870 and his mother in 1849. James A. received his education in the public schools and for some years clerked in stores in different places in Connecticut and came to Troy in 1847 and was clerk in the shoe store of James Sutton two years, and in 1864 with Mr. C. D. Parkard opened a shoe store under the firm name of Dorrance & Packard. Mr. Packard sold out to Mr. Pellet in 1865 and the firm was continued under the firm name of Dorrance & Pellet and later Mr. Dorrance bought Pellet's interest and con tinued some years and in 1881 formed a partnership with his son, William J. Dor rance; the firm now is J. A. Dorrance & Son, one of the oldest shoe stores in the city of Troy. He married Eliza McBurney of Troy in 1850. His children are Mrs. Mary D- Heustis, William J., Fanny and Jessie. William J. Dorrance was a member of the school board from 1887 until 1893 ; he is now a member of the Knights of Maccabees 162 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and of the Trojan Hook and Ladder company No. 3, of which he was at one time secretary, having served altogether twenty years in the Troy Fire Department. Cheney, Edward D., was born in Troy, June 30, 1846. His father, Warner E., came to Troy in 1835, and was a mason and builder by trade, and in 1862 commenced the manufacture of lime ; he died June 29, 1889. His mother, Phoebe A. Smith, was born in Dutchess county, and now resides in Troy. Edward D. was educated in the public schools and in the Troy Business College. In 1866 he associated himself in the cement business with his father, and at the death of the latter became sole pro prietor. Mr. Cheney was school commissioner for two terms. He is a member of Apollo Lodge and Chapter and Commandery, and also of the Knights of Pythias. In 1869 he married Margaret A. Smith, a daughter of the late Leonard Smith, for many years a furniture dealer of Troy. He has two children : Edward W. and Clara Louise. Strauss, Moses J., was born in Albany February 11, 1846. His father, Joseph Strauss, was one of the oldest Jewish settlers of Albany, having come to this country from Germany in early life and settled in Albany, and was for many years in the grocery business ; he died in 1863. Moses J. at the age of fourteen left scnool and entered a fancy goods store at Albany, and came to Troy in 1862, where he clerked for his uncle until 1870. The same year he started a fancy goods store on Fulton street, under the firm name of Strauss & Stern, and two years later bought Stern's interest and moved to the corner of Fulton and Fourth streets, occupying three stores for the exclusive sale of ladies' and gents' furnishing goods, where he re mained until 1890, when he bought the building at No. 332 River street and changed his business to wholesale and retail millinery. He is a member of the King Solomon Lodge, F. & A. M., and also a member of the Troy Lodge of Elks, of which he is the present treasurer. He married Jennie Herman of Albany, daughter of the late Morris Herman, a jeweler, engaged in business for many years in that city. Caldwell, James B., was born in Troy, N. Y., January 25, 1843. He is the son of James Caldwell who was born in Belfast, Ireland, a'nd came to the United States with his parents when a young man and settled in Troy; he died in 1851. His mother was Nancy Sample, born in Glasgow, Scotland, and died in 1888. James B., after attending the public schools of Troy, started in as apprentice to learn the tailor's trade and after working at it some time went to New York city where he completed his trade. He then returned to Troy and entered the firm of Bernard Montague ; in 1885 he bought out the business and ran it until 1895 when Philip A. Morse was taken as partner, the firm being J. B. Caldwell & Co., custom tailors. He is a mem ber of the Exempt Fireman's Association and has been secretary 'and treasurer of the same. He married, May 18, 1870, Amanda Padley of Troy. His children are Charles H. and Maggie. MacKenzie, John, was born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, October 2, 1842. He is the son of John and Mary (Campbell) MacKenzie. His father died in 1885, and his mother in 1889. John went to sea at an early age and in 1859 settled in Boston, Mass., and learned the cooper trade. In 1860 he came to Troy and worked at his trade until August, 1861, when he enlisted in the Second New York Cavalry (Harris Light) and served over four years, during which time he was in prison over a year. When he FAMILY SKETCHES. 163 was mustered but of service he located in Bath, N. Y., where he worked at his trade with Requa & Co. and their successors until 1868, and later with A. Widenhamer bought out the small refinery and carried on business until 1870 when he came to Troy, when he brought refined oil from Pennsylvania and barreled it on Green Island, and in 1877 he took charge of the oil works on Green Island for the Standard Oil Co. He operated in opposition to the Standard Oil Co. from 1890 until 1895, during which time oil was sold as low as four cents per gallon. The business is now conducted on Fulton street. He is an inventor of several appliances, among which are a rail-joint and a floor oiler. He is commander of Post Tibbits, G. A. R. , No. 141, and belongs to King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M. He has been a trustee and an elder of the First Presbyterian church of Watervliet since 1879. He married Lucretia A. Streeter, a daughter of Dr. Lorenzo Streeter of Albia. Their children are Morris S. and Charles H., who are connected with the oil works; and John A., on the police force in West Troy, N.Y. Morse, Philip A., was born in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer county, in 1857. His an cestors came from England in 1634 or 1635, and settled in Newberry, Mass. His great grandfather, Peter Morse, came from Connecticut to Schaghticoke, where his grand father a'nd father were' born. His father, Amos Morse, removed to Troy in 1871 and for a time ran the Rensselaer House on River street ; he was auditing superintendent of the poor of Rensselaer county from 1867-69 ; he still resides in Troy. His mother was Elizabeth (Cipperly) Morse. Mr. Morse received his education in the public schools and entered as an apprentice in the tailor shop of Morris Gross on Third street, where he remained until 1880. He then went with A. Montague & Co., who sold out in 1885 to J. B. Caldwell, and in 1895 was made a partner, the firm name being J. B. Caldwell & Co., fine custom tailors. He is a member of the Troy Citizens Corps, and an elder in the Ninth Presbyterian church. He is also president of the Christian Endeavor Local Union, having some sixty societies in his charge. He married Miss Alice Northrup of Lansingburgh, N. Y., in 1881, by whom he has had one daughter, Lela. Rapp, Christian W., was born in Germany in 1835, and came to this country and settled in Newark, N. J., in 1854, where he worked at his trade, that of a brewer, for one year, when he came to Troy and worked at the cooper business. In 1859 he joined the New York State Militia in which he continued for ten years, five of which he was captain. He was one of the old Capital police force of Troy, and after wards on the Rensselaer police, of which he was captain. He engaged in the meat business with Fred Epting, under the firm name of Epting & Rapp, and in 1886 be came proprietor of the entire business, which is now in charge of his sons. He served in the board of aldermen from the 13th ward from 1875 to 1878 inclusive, and represented the same ward in the board of supervisors for three years ; also served as general assessor for nine years and two months. He is also a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13 F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, and Apollo Commandery, isa member of Oriental Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and of Rhine Lodge No. 248 1 0. 0. F., of the Mistletoe Grove No. 11, U. A. O. D., and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, and is a trustee of the German Hall Association. December 25, 1864, he married Amelia Grose, of Troy, and his sons are A. Christian and Fred erick L. 164 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Williamson, Stephen H., was born in Troy in 1851. His father, Howard William son, was born at Onondaga Hill, and was for many years a liveryman in Troy. He died in 1884. His mother, Helen G. Greenwood, was born at West Troy and died in 1856. Stephen H. was educated in the public schools and the Troy Academy, and at the age of twenty-one entered the livery business with his father, the firm being J. H. Williamson & Son, and later, after the death of his father, he became sole pro prietor. Mr. Williamson has one of the finest livery stables in the city of Troy, fully equipped with every kind of vehicles and excellent horses for riding and driving. The stables and office are situated in the central portion of the city at No. 22-24 Fourth street. He was the first to introduce the rubber tire on carriages and bug gies, and has several now in daily use. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council and Apollo Commandery. In 1875 he- married Ella J. Young, daughter of Dr. Orange R. Young, and has one daughter, Grace Bardwell Williamson. Pitts, Andrew F., M. D., was born in Clinton, Rensselaer county, N. Y., July 5, 1855. He is a son of John W. and Nancy M. (Finch) Pitts. Both were born in Nassau. Andrew F. is a grandson of David Pitts who spent his life in Nassau. The father of Andrew F. is a farmer and teacher in his seventy-eighth year. Andrew F. was educated in common and State Normal schools, and also Troy Business College, from which he graduated in March, 1881. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Thomas S. Robertson and graduated from the medical department of the Uni versity of Vermont in 1884. His diploma was endorsed by Bellevue Hospital Med ical College in July, 1884. He had practiced medicine with his preceptor in New York city for two years previous to this. After graduating he continued his practice from July 1, 1884, to August 15, 1885. He then came to Nassau where he has since had a successful practice. He married Libbie Wing of Nassau, by whom three daughters have been born: Ethel, Florence, and Marion. Hermance, Emily. — Ryer Hermance was born in Nassau, November 16, 1799. He was a son of Garret Hermance, a native of Dutchess county and one of the early settlers of Nassau, where he died. Ryer Hermance was descended from a Duke and Duchess Hermance, natives of Holland. The name itself (Hermance) means lord's man. Ryer was a farmer andwool dealer. He represented his district in the Assembly, and was a man of good judgment and high integrity, and was an enthus iastic worker in all charitable enterprises ; he was an office bearer in the Reformed church for many years and its liberal supporter. He died April 16, 1876. His wife, to whom he was married December 20, 1820, was Elizabeth Miller, who spent her life in Nassau, dying April 23, 1877. She was the mother of seven children: Garret (deceased), Mary A., Sarah E., Cornelia, Emily, an infant unnamed, and Peter M. (deceased). Emily now owns the old homestead, where she resides. Boyce, Charles A. , was born in Schodack, March 22, 1853. He was a son of Eli and Fannie Gardner ; he was a native of Schodack, and she of Rhode Island. The grand father of Charles A. was Isaac Boyce, one of the early settlers, of Schodack. Mr. Boyce was a farmer by occupation. September, 1874, he married Mary A. Pitts, daughter of William and Charity (Wood) Pitts. The grandfather of Mrs. Boyce lived and died in Nassau, and the father took up the land. The father of Mrs. FAMILY SKETCHES, 165 Boyce was a farmer, and held minor town offices. He died June 10, 1892, and his wife died in November, 1873. Mr. Boyce died January 3, 1890. Mr. Boyce was a natural botanist and made a study of that subject from childhood. Brown, Thomas G,, was born in Surrey county, England, October 29, 1838. He is a son of Jacob and Mary A. (Nightingale), both born in England and there lived and died. Thomas G. was educated in England and at the age of nineteen came to New York city. In England Mr. Brown worked at farming and lime burning, which busi ness his father carried on. He came to Nassau and worked by the month for Mr. George Carpenter, and continued work until 1859. He married SamanthaE. Knapp who was born in Nassau and daughter of Reynolds Knapp and Abigail Harris, who came to this farm in 1808 ; he was the son of Joshua Knapp, born in Nassau. Mr. Knapp owned the farm upon which Mr. Brown now resides. Mr. Brown began the manufacture of cider and vinegar in 1878, and has now added a feed mill. Dunham, W. V.. was born in Dunham's Hollow, N. Y., October 24, 1835. He is ason of Harry, a son of Isaac Dunham, who settled at Dunham's Hollow, N. Y., in about 1790 and there lived and died; he kept hotel for many years, and reared a family of seven sons and two daughters. The father of W. V. was a farmer; he died in 1851 ; his wife was Lucy Vary : they had two sons and three daughters. W. V. was reared on a farm and educated in common schools ; he followed farming until 1884; he came where he is now and bought the Knap grist mill; he has added a saw mill to it and is very successful. December 8, 1825, he married M. Eliza Lester, by whom he has had seven children: Ella, Henry, Mattie, Calvin. Jennie, Lena and Flora. Mr. Dunham has been commissioner of highways for six years, and also collector for one year. He is a member of Gratitude Lodge, F. & A. M. Germond, John T., was born in Nassau, N. Y. , December 27, 1829. He is a son of Willett and Susan (Loweree) Germond, both natives of Long Island, town of Flushing. The grandfather of Mr. Germond was Simeon Germond, who came from Long Island to Schodack in about 1820, where he lived and died. The father of Mr. Germond came to Nassau in 1822 and settled on the farm where Mr. Germond now resides and here spent his days. He died in December, 1859, and his wife died iu March, 1879. To Mr. and Mrs. Germond were born eleven children: Mary R. is at the old homestead ; Abraham L. is at home ; Fannie M. is the widow of John W. Huested; Sallie A. is at home; John T. ; Susan J. is the widow of Fenner Huested; Anna is the wife of Aaron Middlebrooks of Nassau; and Samuel is at Albany. John T was educated in common schools and farming has been his business. John T., his brother and sisters Mary R. and Sallie A., occupy the farm of 160 acres, 125 acres of which the maternal grandfather of John T. bought in 1824. Ham, C. G., was born in Greenbush, N. Y., December 9, 1856. He is a son of C. G. and Charlotte L. (Lyon) Ham, he born is Schodack, N. Y., and she in New Lon don, Conn. The grandfather of Mr. Ham was Isaac Ham, who was born in Scho dack and was a son of Frederick Ham, a native of Holland, who came to this county at an early day. The father of Mr. Ham was a railroad man and cashier in the office of the Boston Railroad at Albany. He came to Bath in 1871 and en gaged in the coal business, which he followed for about twelve years. He died in May, 1883, and his wife lives in Bath. Mr. Ham was reared in Greenbush until 166 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. eleven years of age, and was educated in common and model schools of Albany. He was in the railroad office at East Albany with the Boston Railroad for five years and at the death of his father succeeded him in the coal business. Hogeboom, John V. , born in Nassau November 29, 1827, was the son of Nich olas and Paulina (Valentine) Hogeboom, he born February 25, 1800, and she born February 24, 1804. Mr. Nicholas Hogeboom died in Nassau October 10, 1837; his wife married William Sikes and went to Rome, N. Y., afterwards to Niagara county, N. Y., where William Sikes died October 8, 1874, and she returned to North Nassau and resided with her son until her death, December 24, 1879. John V. Hogeboom was a farmer and saw mill man, and has owned the mill and farm on which the family now live for a number of years. He was a prominent Democrat in politics and was highway commissioner for ten years. He was a member of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., and united with lodge in 1867. He died February 1, 1891. His wife was Sophia Devereaux, daughter of Epaphroditus and Mittie (Crandell) Devereaux, both born in Nassau, and his father was Jonathan, one of the early set tlers of the town, locating and clearing up the farm where Mrs. Hogeboom and sons now live. To Mr. and Mrs. Hogeboom were born three sons: George M. was born February 27, 1858, educated in the common schools; he resides at Hoag Corners, and is connected with the milling business; is postmaster of that place; he is an active Democrat, and a member of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M. ; he married Mattie, daughter of Willett V. Dunham, and had one son, Aaron, deceased. D. Aaron was born April 9, 1864, educated at the Averill Park Seminary, graduated from the Evansville Academy in 1883, and has been engaged in teaching for thirteen years, being principal of the Averill Park Public Schools for three years ; he is a prominent Democrat, being elected town clerk two terms in succession, and was defeated for supervisor in 1894 by a small majority of thirty-seven votes ; he is a member of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87, F. &A. M., Interlochan No. 641, I. O. 0. F., P. G. and past member of the Grand Master's Staff, also Rensselaer Encampment, and is connected with several enterprises. Owen P. was born September 14, 1867, educated in the common schools, and he and D. A. are associated in the milling and lumber business; he is also a farmer. He is a member of Interlochan Lodge No. 641, I. O. O. F., and of Rensselaer Encampment. He is an active Democrat. He was married, February 23, 1893, to Edna Clark, daughter of Ira Clark of North Nassau. John V. and wife settled in the far west in the early fifties, but the climate not agree ing with them they returned east in a short time. Mr. Hogeboom was postmaster at North Nassau during Cleveland's first administration. James, Thomas D., was born in Albany, N. Y., November 4, 1848. He is a son of Thomas D. James, a native of Newark, N. J., born March 17, 1806; his mother was Mary Ford Ailing, daughter of Pruden Ailing who was a merchant and for a time postmaster of Newark. The father of Thomas D. was a graduate from Princeton College and studied law in Newark, N. J. ; he practiced for a time in Albany, N. Y., with Andrew J. Colvin, and then removed to New York city where he continued his practice until 1868, when on account of advanced age he retired from business and came to Nassau; he died December 2, 1883. He took a great interest in public affairs and was a very successful lawyer while in New York city. The children of Thomas D. James and Mary Ford Ailing were Maria, Charles, Josiah, Rose, Thomas FAMILY SKETCHES. 167 and Norwood. Thomas D. was educated in New York ; he went to Florida in 1870 and was engaged in the orange business near Palatka, and for twenty-three years lived in that State during the winter, and since 1893 his permanent home has been in Nassau. He has been postmaster in Nassau since 1893, and president of the village in 1896. He is a member of Gratitude Lodge No. 674 F. & A. M. The grandfather of Thomas D. was Josiah James, a son of David, who was taken prisoner by the British during the Revolution and confined in the old sugar house in New York city. Laydon, D. E. L., was born in Schodack, N. Y., September 8, 1846. He is a son of John and Mary (Janes) Laydon, both were born in Ireland, and came to Schodack about 1840 and afterwards went to Nassau, N. Y., where Mr. Laydon died in 1874, and his widow lives with a son-in-law, George W. Stratt of Nassau. Mr. Laydon was reared on a farm and educated in Vermont schools. He learned the carpenter's trade and has been a builder and contractor for some years; in 1877 he came to Bath, where he has since resided ; he is a real estate dealer and is president of the Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road Co., and is secretary and treasurer of the Rensselaer and Turnpike Road. In 1876 he was married to Mary F. Cotton of Sand Lake, a daughter of John T. Cotton, a wagon maker by trade ; he died in Brooklyn in 1894 at the age of eighty-five, and his wife, Adaline E. Williams, died in Sand Lake January 7, 1882, at the age of fifty- eight. To Mr. and Mrs. Laydon were born three children: Walter S., Jennie B., and Jessie D. E. F. Mr. Laydon has been overseer of the poor and trustee of the village. Lennon, Samuel J., born in Schodack, N. Y., December 31, 1844, is the son of James and Mary (Davis) Lennon, both natives of Wicklow, Ireland, and came to Schodack in 1828 and there lived and died. Samuel J. was educated in the common schools. He started in life at the age of ten years, learning the confectionery and pastry cook business, and after serving five years as an apprentice he worked two years as journeyman, and September 5, 1861, enlisted in Company C, 1st Battalion, Twelfth U. S. Infantry, H. R. Rathbone, captain, and served three years, and about a week previous to expiration of enlistment he was taken prisoner on the Weldon Railroad and taken to Libby prison and held for three weeks and four weeks on Belle Island and was in Salisbury prison, N. C, five months. Mr. Lennon was in the following battles: Yorktown, Williamstown, Second battle of Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, three days in the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Laurel Hill, North Anna, Tolopotomoy Creek, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad. At the close of the war Mr. Lennon was sick two years and then entered the confectionery busi ness in Nassau. His business rapidly increased, so that the output in sweets ex ceeded one-half ton. Mr. Lennon has been correspondent for the local newspaper and others for thirty years. Merchant, Abel, born in Schodack, January 31, 1829, is the son of Reuben and Susanah (Krum) Merchant, he a native of Amenia, Dutchess county, N. Y. , and she of Schodack, and a daughter of Martin Krum, one of the early settlers of Schodack. The grandfather of Abel Merchant was one of the pioneers of Schodack, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war at the battle of Saratoga, and first came from Connecticut to Dutchess county, afterwards removing to Schodack. The father of Mr. Merchant 168 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. was a farmer and for twelve years a merchant in Albany. In 1829 he purchased the Nassau Mills and removed to Nassau. In 1832 he bought the farm now occupied by his son Abel, and four years later disposed of the mill property. The mother died in 1844 and the father in 1850. Mr. Merchant graduated from Union College, class of '49, after a preparatory course at Nassau Academy. Upon graduating frem Union he was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society ; and being the oldest of seven children, all of whom excepting himself are now dead, he assumed charge of the business affairs of the family, upon the death of his father, and has since remained on the old homestead. Mr. Merchant was one of the organizers of the Mutual In surance Association of Nassau, Schodack and Chatham, and was its first president, which office he held for ten years, from 1856 to 1866, since which time has been its secretary ; he is president of the Nassau Free Library, of which he was also one of the founders ; he has been secretary and treasurer of the Nassau and Schodack Cem etery Association for some years, has had the settlement of several large estates, and now has a number of trusts in hand amounting to several thousands of dollars. He was married in January, 1868, to Miss Clara L. Doty of Stephentown, and to them five children have been born: Clarinda, a graduate of Nassau Academy and of Wellesley College, Mass., a member of the Zeta Alpha society, and now a teacher at the Albany Female Academy. Henry D. was educated at Nassau Academy, gradu ating from Union College in 1893, and from the Albany Law School in 1896, and also a member of Phi Beta Kappa; John C. and Abel, jr., are now students at Union College. Reuben died at the age of eight years. The family attend the Reformed Church. Mrs. Merchant was a daughter of Joseph S. Doty and Palmyra Jolls Dotv, both of Stephentown, N. Y. The grandfather of Mrs. Merchant was William Doty, and she traces her ancestry to Edward Doty who came over in the Mayflower ; her maternal grandfather was Stephen Van Rensselaer Jolls, who came from Rhode Island in the last century. Mynders, Archibald D., was born in Albany, N. Y. , July 27, 1860. He is a son of Jonathan and Magdaline (Halenbeck) Mynders ; he was born in Guilderland, and she was born in Bethlehem, both in Albany county. Mr. Mynders was a traveling man and lived and died in Albany county where his wife also died. Mr. A. D. Mynders was left an orphan and has made his own way in the world. He was under his grandmother's care, Jane Ann Hallenbeck, widow of Peter Hallenbeck, and one of the wealthiest men of Slingerlands, Albany county. Mr. Mynders received a common school edu cation and began life working on the farm for his grandfather; he got twenty-five cents per day and board. When about fourteen years of age he came to Albany and worked for Amos Van Groesbeck, a carpet dealer of North Pearl street, for about two years and then went to Poughkeepsie and studied for a professional nurse in the Hudson River State Hospital, taking a two years' course. September 15, 1887, he married Jennie L. Lord, by whom one son has been born; Clayton R. Mr. Mynders returned to Albany and worked at various occupations. April 5, 1890, he came to Bath-on-the-Hudson and purchased a newspaper route of about 200 customers from Harry Bates of Broadway, East Albany, and now has about 1,000 customers. He is now handling the news business in all its branches, conducting his route per sonally, and in four years built himself a home on the corner of Third street and McNorton avenue, and in addition to the news business carries tobacco, cigars, can- FAMILY SKETCHES. 169 dies, and soft drinks. Mr. Mynders employs one clerk and has two boys assisting in the newspaper route ; he has a system of blowing whistles which is very satisfac tory. Mr. Mynders has the agency of supplying the Bath schools with books. Penney, Thomas, born in Lincolnshire; England, February 12. 1850, is the son of Thomas and Ann (Broome) Penney, natives of England, who in the fall of 1852 came to Albany and in 1865 went to Saratoga and engaged in farming and in 1893 came to East Albany, where they now reside. Thomas was reared in Albany and educated in old school No. 10; he learned the carpenter's trade and followed that work until 1882, when he engaged with the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad as car inspector and has since continued with the company. He came to Bath in 1881 and is now stationed at Troy, where he has charge of car inspection and repairs. He was first married in December, 1872, to Annie Thornley of Al bany and had one son, Arthur William. Mr. Penney is a Republican in politics and at present is president of the village. He is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., and also of Greenbush Chapter No. 274, R. A. M. Pitts, Alvah, born January 14, 1815, is the son of William and Charity (Hoag) Pitts, who came to Nassau in an early day and settled about three miles north of where Mr. Pitts now lives and there both lived and died, Mr. Pitts was a farmer by occupation ; he and his wife were members of the M. E. church. Alvah has been one of the successful farmers of the town. He located on his farm in 1865, but in 1883 removed to Nassau. He was married in 1840 to Margaret Traver of Schodack, N. Y. They have three children: William H., who married Lavina Germond; they have three children : Anna, Bertha, and J. Alvah. After her death he was married to Mrs. Ida Mickle, by whom he has two children: Margaret and Oscar. George, who married Emma Taylor of Saratoga county, N. Y. Susan J. is the wife Martin P. Carpenter of New Lebanon, N. Y. Mr. Pitts has been assessor eleven years. The family attend the M. E. church. Raney, Mrs. B., was born in Ireland; she is the daughter of Christopher and Margaret (Powers) Russell of Ireland. Mr. Russell died when Mrs. Raney was a mere child. Mrs. Raney and a brother, John, came to America when he was sixteen and she seventeen years of age. They then sent for their only sister and their mother remained in Ireland, where she died in 1883. John Russell received his education in Ireland and was a good scholar for a boy. He began to work in the iron works of Troy, and soon after he worked in a drug store, and finally in the grocery business as a clerk. He, came to Greenbush when still a young man and en gaged in mercantile trade, which business he followed until his death, August 12, 1883. His wife, daughter of Cornelius Ryan, mentioned in this work, died in 1878. He left two children : Mary A. and John C. At the death of Mr. Russell, Mr. Raney bought out the business which has since proved very successful. The hus band of Mrs. Raney was Michael Raney, who came from Ireland when a young man, and here died in 1878. He left one son, John C, at home. Mr. Russell was city clerk and also village treasurer. Reichard, Elmer E., M.D., born in Nassau, March 12, 1866, is the son of Calvin T. and Almeda (Bartle) Reichard, both natives of Rensselaer county. He is a son of John Reichard, a son of Mr. Reichard who came from Germany and settled in 170 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Rensselaer county, where he lived and died. The father of Dr. Reichard was a farmer ; he died June 12, 1887, and his widow lives with Dr. Reichard. Dr. Reich ard was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools and Averill Park Seminary. He then taught school one year and began the study of medicine with Arlington Boyce of East Schodack ; he graduated from Albany Medical College in 1892 and practiced his profession at East Schodack for a short time, and then lo cated at Poughkeepsie and after six months left on account of health and located at Hoag Corners, where he has since had a successful practice. He was married Feb. 27, 1895, to Lottie M. Hitchcock, a native of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and a daughter of Mark and Maria Dewey of Oklahoma Territory, but he died in Kansas. Mr. Reichard is a Republican in politics. He is a member of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., and Tsatsawassa Lodge No. 356, I. O. O. F. Sharkey, Andrew J., was born in Ireland; his parents having died he came to Al bany ; he was the son of Barnett and Bridget Sharkey, both of whom lived in Bal- lina, Parish of Kilmore, County of Mayo, Ireland. Mr. Sharkey was engaged in the horseshoeing business and with the Hudson River Railroad'; he was also employed in the cotton mills in St. Lawrence county for about three years. He then went to Oneonta, N. Y. , remaining there for about eight years, returned to Albany, staid a short time in Troy, and then removed to Greenbush in 1881 and is now employed by the Boston & Albany Railroad in the shops. He has made his own property and now owns the place on Second street where he lives, and a house on East Eighth street. Mr. Sharkey was married in 1853 to Mary Welsh of Ireland by whom he has eight children, of whom three are living: John F. of Greenbush, Bernard L. at home, and Kate M. at home. When a young man Mr. Sharkey spent some time at sea, and when sailing for Galatz, Turkey, was shipwrecked. He has made a beautiful model of the sailing vessel on which he came to the United States ; it is called the Atlantic of Liverpool. Mr. Sharkey had a brother, James Sharkey, who was in the late war, and died in Massachusetts. He was left on orphan at the age of eight years, and was employed in a shop making horseshoe nails. He was employed in the Atlantic of Liverpool while coming to this country, which probably accounts for his coming to the United States. He is a natural mechanic but says he never at tended school. Twining, Francis B. , was born in Lansingburgh, December 3, 1856. He was edu cated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy. At the age of fifteen he became clerk in a grocery store here. Three years later he went to Troy and en tered the employ of old National Exchange Bank as messenger. Some time after wards he entered the employ of Ide Bros. & Bruce, shirt and collar manufacturers, as clerk. In 1882 he became partner in the concern, under the firm name of George P. Ide, Bruce & Co. After a few years Mr. Bruce withdrew and the firm name has since been, George P. Ide & Co. In December, 1889, he married Nomina, daughter of Dr. D. D. Bucklin of Lansingburgh, by whom one daughter has been born: Elea nor. Mr. Twining's father, Alfred, was born in the town of Tolland, near Lenox, Mass. , in 1806. He was well educated and was a merchant by occupation ; he came here when a young man and married Mary Frances Barton of Lansingburgh, by whom four children have been born : William, Frederick, Charles, and Francis B. They are all dead with the exception of the youngest son. Mr. Twining was a cloth- FAMILY SKETCHES. 171 ing merchant and died in 1885, and his wife died in 1888. Mr. Twining is a member of the Troy Club, of the Laureate Boat Club, of the Pafraets Dael Club, and of the Riverside Club of Lansingburgh. He is one of the directors of the People's Bank of Lansingburgh. Tyndall, James J., was born in Greenbush in December, 1862. He was a son of George and Ellen Tyndall, both natives of Ireland who came to Greenbush about sixty years ago and here lived and died. He died in 1882 and she died in 1895. Mr. Tyndall was reared and educated in Greenbush, and began life railroading for the Hudson River Railroad. He was fireman for eleven years and for the last ten years has been engineer. April 20,- 1881, he was married to Mary A. Vaughn, daughter of Judge Michael Vaughn and Margaret (Collins) Vaughn of East Albany. To Mr. and Mrs. Tyndall were born two daughters: Nellie and Bertha. Mr. Tyndall is a mem ber of the C. M. B. A., and is a member of the B. of L. F. Mr. Tyndall owns the home he resides in, No. 437 Broadway. Tifft, Willard D., was born in Nassau, August 13, 1834. He was a son of Sprague and Sophia B. (Watson) Tifft. He was born in Nassau, July 12, 1800, and she was born in 1809, in Red Rock, Columbia county. The grandfather of Mr. Tifft was a native of Rhode Island and came to Nassau where he lived and died. The father of Mr. Tifft was always a farmer; was the oldest man in the town of Nassau and at the time of his death in May, 1896, lacked two months and fifteen days of being ninety-six. His widow is eighty-seven years of age. Mr. Tifft was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. From the age of twenty-one until twenty-five he remained on the farm with his parents, receiving twelve dollars per month. He then came to Hoag's Corners and engaged in partnership with George W. Caswell; after a year and a half he bought him out and formed a partnership with Charles S. White and was with him for about six years. Mr. Tifft then sold out to him and engaged in the wood and lumber business ; after three years he purchased a farm which he kept two years, then bought out Mr. White and has since continued in business. He was assessor for four years and is a member of Gratitude Lodge No. 674 F. & A. M. July 4, 1864, he married Adaline S. Larkin of Nassau, by whom six children have been born : Minnie M. , Delmer D. , who died November 15, 1890, Charles S., Jennie A., Mabel F., Florence A. Thompson, John, was born in the North of Ireland (Londonderry), December 18, 1843. He was a son of William and Margaret Thompson, he born in Scotland and she in Ireland; he died in Ireland and his wife died in Greenbush. Mr. Thompson was reared and educated in Ireland, and at the age of fourteen years was copyist in an attorney's office. At the age of seventeen he came to Albany and began to work for the National Express Company and was with them for two years. He then began to work for the New York Central Railroad and was with them until 1866 ; since then he has been with the B. & A. and has been train dispatcher from 1872 until the present. Mr. Thompson is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A.M., and also of Chapter No. 274, R. A. M., and assisted in the organization of that chapter. In 1868 Mr. Thompson was married to Margaret Potts of Tyrone, Ireland, by whom nine children have been born : Martha J. , Sarah, John C. , Mar garet, Jessie, Josiah B. , Mary A. and Augusta ; one died unnamed. Mrs. Thompson died February 22, 1894. 1'2 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Van Valkenburg, Smith, born in Schodack, November 11, 1813, is the son of Peter C. and Maria (Griffith) Van Valkenburg, both born in Schodack, N. Y., he born Jan- vary 25, 1782, and she born May 20, 1790. The father of Smith Van Valkenburg, moved from Schodack in 1814, kept a hotel in Nassau until 1837 and then followed farming until his death in 1846 ; his wife died September 25, 1878. Smith was edu cated in the common schools and Westfield Academy of Massachusetts. He re mained in the hotel until twenty-five years of age and in 1836 engaged in the mer cantile business until 1868, since which time he has lived retired. He now owns 110 acres of land and it is on this farm that the grounds of the Agricultural and Liberal Arts Society of Rensselaer county is located. He was postmaster in Nassau under General Harrison; he was married in 1840 to Phoebe Griffiths, daughter of John Griffiths, one of the early settlers of Albany county. To Mr. and Mrs. Van Valken burg were born three children; Maria, born in 1842 and died in 1860; John, born November 22, 1844; Phoebe, born in 1849 and died in 1873. John was educated in Nassau Academy and was with his father in the mercantile business three years; in 1868 his father sold to Charles E. Huested and he and John were in partnership eleven years, and then Mr. Van Valkenburg sold to Mr. Huested and in 1881 again engaged in the mercantile business and sold in 1882, and in 1886 again went into business and in 1891 was burned out and then rebuilt the store which is now occu pied by Mr. Witbeck. John Van Valkenburg at the age of twenty-one was ap pointed town clerk and was justice of the peace eleven years; he was then elected supervisor one year. Mr. Van Valkenburg is a member of Gratitude Lodge, F. & A. M. He was married in 1869 to Sarah Mead, by whom he has four daughters: Maria E., wife of Delmar Lynd, who have one son, John A. ; Florence J., Katherine D. and Fannie P. Smith was one of the organizers of the Nassau, Schodack and Chatham Mutual Insurance Company, organized in 1856, and was secretary about ten years. Mrs. Van Valkenburg died in 1881 and he married Mary E. Kane of Schodack, a daughter of D. Kane of Albany. Wood, John B., was born in Schodack, March 22, 1839 and is a son of Hosea and Annie (McGill) Wood, he a native of Schodack and she of Columbia county, N. Y. The grandfather, Benjamin Wood, went from Albany county to Saratoga county and died in Clinton Park in 1854 ; he married Betsey Du Bois of Schodack. The father of Betsey was Richard Du Bois, who came from Dutchess county and was a pioneer of Schodack. The maternal grandparents were Gilbert and Maria McGill, who came from Scotland ; he was a captain on a sail vessel, sailing from Glasgow to New York city, and in old age he settled in Clearmont, where he died. Hosea Wood came to Schodack where he married and remained until 1861, when he re moved to Stuyvesant, Columbia county, and remained until 1884; he then came to East Greenbush and bought the Peter Hogle farm ; he died in 1888 and his wife died in 1853. John B. was reared in Schodack and educated in Saratoga. In 1872 he married Lucy M. Hadsell, daughter of William and Elvira (King) Hadsell, of Berk shire county, Mass. She was a daughter of Dr. King of Lebanon Springs and a graduate from Miss Willard's Seminary of Troy. Lucy M. Wood graduated at Holyoke, Mass. To Mr. and Mrs. Wood have been born two children: Walstine H. and Hazel E. Mr. Wood was educated for the ministry, but gave it up on account of ill health and took up farming. In 1884 Mr. Wood located on a farm in East Greenbush, where he has since carried on general farming. FAMILY SKETCHES. 173 Waugh, John, was born in Westchester county, N. Y., October 2, 1854. He was a son of William and Latitia (Taylor), he a native of Scotland and she of England. The father of Mr. Waugh came to Verplanks, where helived and died. Mr. Waugh was educated in the common schools of Verplanks and worked at various occupa tions. In 1873 he engaged in the ice business, and in 1880 he came to Albany and continued that business. He was employed as agent for the Knickerbocker Ice Company for sixteen years, and was also in their employ for seven years previous. Mr. Waugh is now engaged with the Consolidated Ice Company of New York city, of which he is agent. April 19, 1885, Mr. Waugh married Phoebe Simkins of Mon trose, by whom four children have been born; Raymond (deceased), Ethel M., John E. (deceased), and Nina (deceased). Mr. Waugh has been overseer of poor for one year, and is at present collector. He is a member of Cortland Lodge No. 6, I. 0. 0. F. of Peekskill, N. Y. Yadeau, George H., born in North Greenbush, N. Y., August 23, 1844, is the son of Moses and Emily (Barringer) Yadeau, he born in St. Lynn, Canada, and she born in North Greenbush, N. Y. He came to North Greenbush when a young man where he died soon after coming there and his widow has since resided with George H. George H. was reared on a farm and educated in Wynantskill, N. Y. , and has followed farming in North Greenbush and Schodack, and then in Kinderhook about three years and then again to Schodack and in 1872 came to Nassau and located near where he resides. In 1894 he bought the John W. Pitt farm where he now lives and makes a specialty of small fruit. He owns 156 acres of land. He has been a collector three years and supervisor five years. He was married March 25, 1866, to Mary Morris, daughter of William H. and Harriet Straight, both born in Nassau, he ason of S. Danas Morris, one of the first settlers of Nassau, and built one of the first houses in the village. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Straight was Shadrich Straight, an early settler of Stephentown. To Mr. and Mrs. Yadeau were born four children : Adelia (deceased), Alta, Will, and Jennie (deceased). Mr. Yadeau enlisted January 9, 1864, in Co. H, 169th N. Y. Vols., and served until the close of the war. He was turnkey under Sheriff Harrington thirteen months and has always held the chairmanship of prominent committees and the Board of Supervisors. Mr. Yadeau is a member of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M. Anderson, William, was born in New York city, March 11, 1834. He is a son of James H. and Christina Rodgers, both born in Ireland, of Scotch-Irish descent, and came to America in about 1832. He died in West Troy and she died in Saratoga county. Mr. Anderson was reared and educated in Saratoga. He then went to Schenectady and learned the machinist trade, and then came to Troy about 1859 and worked forthe Lilly Safe Works. He came to Greenbush in 1871 and worked in the Boston-Albany shops for fourteen years. He worked in the machine shops of West Albany and for the last two years worked in the machine shops of Greenbush. Mr. Anderson was married to Mary J. Jones of Berlin, N. Y., by whom have been born four children: Christiana E., deceased; Jennie, deceased; Eva M. and Mary. For his second wife he married Anna J. Thompson, by whom has been born one child, who died in infancy. His third wife was Orelia Rockerfeller, daughter of Stephen Rockerfeller of Bath, N. Y. Mr. Anderson has been engaged in mercantile business for about fourteen years. 174 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Raymond, William Gait, was born at Princeton, Iowa, March 2, 1859. He was prepared for college at the grammar and high schools in Leavenworth, Kansas, and at the Kansas State University took an engineering course. In 1879, 1880 and 1881 he was employed on surveys and construction for the Kansas Pacific Railroad and the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad, and in 1881 entered the Washington University at St. Louis, Mo. , where he remained for one year. After another year in railroad construction for the Kansas City, Springfield and Memphis Railroad, he returned to the Washington University in the fall of 1883, and was graduated in 1884 with the degree of C. E. In 1884 he was appointed instructor in civil engineer ing in the University of California, which position he resigned in 1890 to undertake some special railroad investigation in California. With Mr. James L. Bay he subse quently opened the office of Raymond & Bay, consulting engineers, in San Francisco, Cal., and engaged actively in engineering work in the State. He was town engineer of Berkley, Cal. , in 1892, when he came to Troy to assume the chair of Geodesy, Road Engineering, and Topographical Drawing in the Rensselaer Polytechnic In stitute, which position he now holds. He is engineer to the Board of Water Com missioners of Troy, and as chief engineer constructed the Troy and New England Electric Railway. He has served on numerous other engineering works as consult ing engineer. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. While in California and in Troy he has been active in Sunday school work, and is superin tendent of the Sunday school of the First Presbyterian church in Troy, where he has instituted new and advanced methods. His publications are a text book on survey ing and numerous papers on engineering subjects, including a number on Engineer ing Education. Osborn, M. L., is a native of Lansingburgh, born in 1851. His father, a coal dealer there, has been a boatman for many years on the Hudson. Mr. Osborn was reared in his native town, and his first business engagement was with his father in the coal trade and a grocery store. He came to Hoosick Falls in 1893 and assumed management of the business of renting houses for Charles Q. Eldredge. Mr. Osborn wes first married in 1875 to Julia A. Leavens of Lansingburgh, who died in 1885; they had three children: Julia R. and Susie H., and one deceased. He married sec ond Nellie leke, also of Lansingburgh, by whom he has four children: Wright H., Lloyd Q., Fannie L., Clyde L. Mr. Osborn is a member of the First Presbyterian church, and a Republican. He returned to Lansingburgh in 1896. Meekin, Alexander, was born in Middlebury, Vt., November 18, 1857. His father, James Meekin, was born in the North of Ireland and came to the United States in 1837, settled in Vermont and died in 1893. His mother, Mary (Culbert) Meekin, was born in the North of Ireland and died in 1876. They were of Scotch-Irish extraction, and brought letters from the Scotch Presbyterian church to their new home and joined the Congregational church there where they remained through life. Alex ander Meekin received his education in the Middlebury graded school, and learned the printer's trade in the office of the Middlebury Register, and later worked at the trade in Brandon, Rutland and Montpelier, Vt., Rochester, N. H., Providence, R. I., and Springfield, Mass., and came to Troy in 1883, where, with the exception of eight months in the fall and winter of 1884 and 1885, he worked until 1887, when he started a general printing establishment in the Manufacturers' Bank building. He is the FAMILY SKETCHES. 175 editor and publisher of the Trojan Advance. He joined the Congregational church at Middlebury wnen eighteen years of age. He is vice president of the Troy Bicycle Club, treasurer of the Rensselaer County Prohibition Society, and is a member of the Second Presbyterian church, and has acted in the capacity of secretary and vice- president of the Y. P. C. U. of that church. He was proof-reader for Tuttle & Co. , Vermont State printers, for two years and left them only on account of his health. He married, in 1888, Miss Agnes Buchanan of Troy, by whom he has one son and one daughter. Colby, John D., was born in Troy, N. Y., August 3, 1864. His father, the Hon. John H. Colby, was a prominent lawyer of Troy and was district attorney of the county. He was the author of Colby on Criminal Laws, Colby on New York Rail road Laws, Colby on Surplus Money arising from Mortgage Foreclosure. He died in January, 1885. His mother is Ellen (Desmond) Colby, of Troy. John D. was educated at the public schools and graduated from the Rensselaer Polytechnic In stitute in the class of 1884 and was in the department of public works in New York for a time, working on the Croton aqueduct. He returned to Troy and was transit- man and engineer in charge of the public improvements commission. He belongs to the senior company of the Troy Citizens Corps, and is a member of the Theta Xi Fraternity of the R. P. I., and is vice-president of the Foote-Thorne Glass Company of New York city. Loewenstein, Louis, was born at Neudam, Prussia, November 28, 1857. He is a son of Herman Loewenstein, who came from Prussia and settled in Troy in 1873, and officiated as rabbi with the congregation on State street for about two years, and is now retired. His mother, Esther (Behrendt) Loewenstein, died Jannary 11, 1894. Louis was educated in the public schools at Roessel, East Prussia, and then entered the gymnasium, where he took a four years' course, and came to this country in March, 1873. In December, 1874, he entered the office of Warren & Patterson in Troy, and was admitted to the bar in 1879, and is at present stenographer to the County Court of Rensselaer county. He was one of the organizers of General John E. Wool Lodge A. O. U. W. and has held all elective offices m that lodge. He is a apast president of Jeremiah Lodge I. O. B. B., and is a member of King Solomon Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M., also of the Illium Club. April 23, 1884, he married Gussie Cohen, of Troy, daughter of the late Jacob Cohen. They have one son, Al exander M. Kunz, John B., was born in Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, in December, 1851, came to America and located in New York city, in September, 1869, later went to Springfield, Mass., and in 1871 came to Troy, where he has since resided. Here he, with tw-o others, was employed by McLeod & Reardon, in the manufacture of gal vanized iron cornices, being the first in the city to do a regular business in that line. Mr. Kunz continued in that industry as foreman until 1880, when he became propri etor of his present restaurant on Federal street, succeeding Augustus Kolbe. He has been active as a Republican, casting his first vote for Gen. U. S. Grant for presi dent in 1876. He is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., Rhein Lodge No. 248, I. O. O. F., and he was one of the originators and is a trustee of the German Hall Association, and for sixteen years was a member of the Troy Fire Department, being captain of Ranken Steamer, No. 2, 176 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Stuart, Rev. Francis N., was born in Albany, February 8, 1863, and is a son of John Stuart, who came from Ireland to this country in 1820, and settled in New York city, later moving to Troy, where he was a contractor and builder, having erected some of the first public buildings in Albany. He was alderman for several terms and died in 1880. His mother was Mary Delhanty, also a native of Ireland, who died in 1892. Father Francis Stuart received his education in Montreal and in the Niagara University and then entered St. Joseph's Seminary, where he was or dained to the priesthood in 1889. Since that time he has been stationed at St. Jo seph's church, Albany, St. Mary's church, Oneonta, and came to St. Francis church in Troy in July, 1890, where he is assistant to Father Leonard, and is a member of the examining board of the Parochial schools. Donnelly, Michael W. , son of Richard and Catherine (Flenn) Donnelly, was born May 6, 1856, in Cambridge, Washington county, N. Y., where he received an aca demic education. He learned thetrade of stonecutter at Springfield, Mass., and fol lowed it until 1881, when he came to Lansingburgh, Rensselaer county, and bought a restaurant, which he conducted until 1884, when he became traveling salesman for M. Sheehan, wholesale liquor dealer of Troy. He later became salesman for Tappan & Toole and in 1891 entered into partnership with Robinson & MacLellan, wholesale liquor dealers, the firm name being Robinson, MacLellan & Co. Mr. Robinson died ' in August, 1893, and the name of the firm was changed to MacLellan & Donnelly. July 11, 1896, Mr. MacLellan died and Mr. Donnelly has since been manager of the business, conducting it under the firm name of MacLellan & Donnelly. Mr. Don nelly is a member of Glens Falls Lodge No. 81, B. P. O. E. September 28, 1892, he married Catherine Healy of Bennington, Vt, and they have two children: Richard Vincent and Marie Grace. Hutton, Samuel E. , son of William and Bridget (McGowan) Hutton, was born in Troy, June 25, 1855, was graduated from the Christian Brothers' Academy in June, 1872, and immediately obtained a position as bookkeeper at Kellogg's foundry on Ida Hill, where he remained three years. In 1876 he went to New York city and was for four years bookkeeper for his uncle, Michael O'Brien, wholesale produce dealer. He returned to Troy in 1880 and was employed by his father, who was for thirty years a liveryman, until 1885, when he was appointed registrar of vital statis tics, which position he held until 1888, when he engaged in the cigar business with William H. Ferinell, at No. 86 Third street. In 1890 he was appointed tax clerk in the office of the State comptroller at Albany, but resigned to accept the deputy county clerkship under Francis Riley. He held this position during 1894 and 1895, when he then became bookkeeper for Fitzgerald Brothers. He opened his restau rant at No. 69 Third street, May 13, 1896. Mr. Hutton is and has been a member of the F. W. Farnam Steamer Company since 1873, and was formerly a trustee; he is a member and was recording secretary of the Robert Emmett Association and a mem ber of Troy Lodge No. 141, B. P. O. Elks, and of the Troy Council, Knights of Columbus. He is well known as an expert penman and engrosser and is the posses sor of remarkable vocal talent, which he has frequently used in amateur theatricals, playing the roll of comic singer. Many benefits given for worthy charitable objects have had his gratuitous services. June 25, 1883, he married Frances V., daughter o1 Edward and Mary McCormick of Troy. FAMILY SKETCHES. 177 Wolf, John F., jr., born in Saxony, Germany, June 22, 1851, came to Troy with his parents in 1857. He was educated in the public schools and in 1875 started in business for himself at No. 5 Franklin Square, where he is still conducting a hotel and restaurant. He is a Mason, a member of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., and has also received the thirty-second degree in Albany Sovereign Consistory of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. In 1875 he married Susanna Pfeil, and they have five children: Alma L., Frederick P., Gretchen E., Louise W. and Leopold W. Schlosser, August, son of Jacob and Eliza Schlosser, was born in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, September 14, 1848, was educated in the public schools and came to America in 1866, settling in Tewksbury, Mass., where he learned the trade of cabinet maker. He moved to Boston in 1868 and followed his trade there until 1878, when, coming to Troy, he engaged in the restaurant business with his brother Jacob, whose in terest he purchased in 1887. He is a member and was for one year president of the Troy Turn Verein ;. he is a charter member of the German Hall Association building and was its president one year, and has been a trustee since its organization. He was the originator of the German Hall Association building and was chairman of the building committee. He is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M. and of the German Sangerbund and Mannerchor Singing Society ; he has been president of the German Bowling Club since 1888. In 1874 he married Elizabeth Schwartz of Boston, and they have five children: Annie M., August C. , Elizabeth C, Henry O., and Frederick A. Mr. Schlosser is one of the representative Germans of Troy, and has always taken a deep interest in all worthy movements. Estabrook, Ezra Robinson, was born in Stratton, Vt. , September 6, 1824. The father of the subject of this sketch, David Estabrook, was a lineal descendant of Rev. Joseph Estabrook, born in Middlesex, England, who emigrated to this country in 1660, and served as pastor of the Concord (Mass.) church from 1696 to 1711, the date of his death. Many members of the family were clergymen. His mother, Anner Brainard, was a descendant of Daniel Brainard, who arrived in this country from England in 1649. Daniel Brainard was one of twenty-seven young men who founded the town of Haddam, Conn, m 1662, his estate reverting to, and remaining in the possession of his descendants until the present time, a period of over two hun dred years David and John, grandsons of David Brainard, were noted missionaries, and the famed patriot and preacher of the late civil war, Rev. Thomas Brainard of Philadelphia, was also a descendant. In 1834 David Estabrook became a resident of Bennington, Vt., removing therefrom to Hoosick Falls, N. Y., in 1838, where Ezra Robinson Estabrook has since resided. Although he worked on a farm from the age of fifteen to eighteen in summer, he found opportunities to seek knowledge from useful books, and in winter he attended school, qualifying himself as a teacher. He taught school in the town of Hoosick during the years 1843 to 1846 inclusive. In 1844 his experiments with daguerreotypes led to the establishment of the business, which developed into modern photography, and it is still continued. In 1850 Mr. Estabrook entered into the insurance business, and by diligence and the application »f honorable business methods has attained an enviable position in the insurance world. His agency is the largest in Rensselaer county outside of Troy. Years ago the necessity of a water supply system for Hoosick Falls became apparent to him. Obstacles were many to the introduction of a water supply, but they were sur- 178 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. mounted, and his persistent efforts resulted in the organization of the Hoosick Falls Water Supply Company. Mr. Estabrook was elected secretary and superintendent, which offices he has continued to fill. To Mr. Estabrook is due all credit for the present excellent water supply system in Hoosick Falls. Since early in life Mr. Estabrook has been an active member of the Presbyterian church, at present being an elder, and for twenty-nine consecutive years he served as superintendent of the Sunday school. In 1849 Mr. Estabrook was elected town clerk, re-elected in 1850, and again in 1863, 1867 and 1868. In 1844 Mr. Estabrook married Lucy Taylor, member of a Vermont family of distinction, who died August 13, 1890. Of this union there were three sons, Ezra Brainard, Willie Harlan, and Frank Herbert, the latter two surviving. In September, 1891, Mr. Estabrook married Harriet M. Taylor, a sister of his first wife. Ezra Robinson Estabrook is one of the most respected and influential citizens of HoosickFalls. Of strict integrity, prominent in social, business and religious circles, and active and liberal in developing the business interests of his town. He assumes responsibilities, then zealously and conscientiously performs the duties pertaining to them. Broughton, Amos, has had charge of the railroad station over thirty years in Tiashoke and has been a resident here since 1857. From the first he engaged in railroad business and associated with an uncle, dealer in produce, etc. Until recently he was postmaster since the establishment of the office in 1873. He was born at Red Creek, Wayne county, N. Y. , in 1839, son of Amos Broughton, who was born in this town and who died at Red Creek, N. Y. , at the age of forty-nine. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of the town of Hoosick. Mr. Broughton married Mary Hitchcock, daughter of Daniel L. Hitchcock, whose ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Pittstown, N. Y. Amos, jr, is a Republican and an active politician, but not an office seeker. Story, C. B. , the secretary and superintendent of the Hoosick Railway Company, incorporated in 1893, was the organizer, and has been directly instrumental in bring ing several new industries to Hoosick Falls. Like a true type of the aggressive and enterprising American, he has led a very active life. He was born at Cambridge, Vt., and as his father, Elijah Story, was a farmer, his boyhood was spent on a farm. After spending some time at a Normal school he was employed by the International Telegraph Company at St. Johnsbury, Vt., thence to New York two years as an in spector of private lines in the Gold Stock Telegraph Company. Later he worked forthe Edison Illuminating Company, as foreman of the "wiring;" then went on the road and put up the second Edison dynamo for lighting outside of New York city, in 1882 going as far south as New Orleans, wiring and putting in electric plants and to Williamsport, Pa. In 1883 he entered the employ of P. B. Shaw, and organ ized electric light companies throughout the States of Pennsylvania and Ohio. He was employed in 1884 by the Brush-Swan Company of New York, traveling through out Maine installing isolating plants. The same year he went into business for him self at Brunswick, Me., when he rebuilt and equipped a water power and light com pany, taking controlling interest. Prior to his business here he was superintendent of the Giant Electric Motor Company at Portland, Me. Colgan, Arthur, is acknowledged among the personal landmarks of Hoosick Falls FAMILY SKETCHES. 179 by reason of long residence, apart from his sterling worth as a citizen. Born in Ireland, County Sligo, March 17, 1820, in fact St. Patrick's Day, he came to America in 1848,' without appreciable capital save his chest of carpenter's tools. But he has skill, industry, good health and an unsullied name. He first settled in Troy, and in 1850 removed to Schaghticoke and in 1856 made Hoosick Falls his permanent home. He was a master of the wood working trade, and became a contractingbuilder. He married in Ireland in 1846 Alice Naughton, his faithful companion for almost half a century. She died in 1893, leaving one son and five daughters. Mr. Colgan is a Democrat in politics, of somewhat quaint and original personality, the oldest resi dent member of the Roman Catholic church, and so lightly upon him sit his seventy- five years that he writes a good legible hand without the use of spectacles. Finkle, Harrison, was born in Columbia county, January 7, 1847. He was a. son of Calvin and Elanor (Dunbar) Finkle, he born in Dutchess county and she in Albany county. The father of Calvin was John Finkle of Dutchess county, where he lived and died. The father of Mr. Finkle was a farmer. He died in October, 1875, and his wife died in May, 1878. Mr. Finkle was reared in Columbia county until twelve years of age, and was in Albany county until 1878. He was educated in common and select schools and followed teaching for four years. In 1878 he came to Green bush and engaged in the sale of Helderberg blue stone and has ever since continued the business. September 30, 1868, Mr. Finkle was married to Anna C. Brate of Albany, but was reared in Westerlo, Albany county. To Mr. and Mrs. Finkle have been born two children : Katie M. and Flossie B. Mr. Finkle is a member of Green bush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., of the A. O. U. W., the L. O. Lodge No. 177 of Albany, N. Y., of the A. P. A., and is also a member of the C. C. B. C. No. 1, of Rensselaer county. Kerigan, Elizabeth. — James Jordan was born in Ireland and came to the United States in 1793. He came to Boston, then to Vermont, and then came to Greenbush and owned considerable of the land which is in Greenbush. He owned quite a good many houses which he rented. He was first to introduce ditching on farms in this section, and was a husbandman in England when a young man, and was wealthy in his time. His wife was Charity Fuller of Massachusetts, by whom were born six children: Mary, wife of James Kerigan, deceased; Robert and Brabazon, twins, de ceased; Elenor, who owns a fine residence on the corner of Second avenue and Academy street. She has quite a reputation as maker of wax fruits, and has often taken the premiums at various fairs. She resides with her sister, Mrs. Kerigan and niece, Elizabeth; James, deceased; Elizabeth. Mr. Jordon died April 9, 1842, at the age of seventy-six, and his wife died January 31, 1870, at the age of eighty-one. Mr. Kerigan was born in Rathagan, county of Kildare, Ireland. To Mr. and Mrs. Keri gan were born three children, of whom one daughter is now living: Elizabeth. She resides with her mother in Greenbush, her father having been dead for some years. Hotaling, F. W. , was born in Greenbush in the house he resides in, March 24, 1859. He was a son of Nicholas, a son of Christopher, whose father spent his life in New York State, his grandfather coming from Holland. The grandfather of Mr. Hotal ing, Bernard, was born in Coeymans, but spent most of his life in Sand Lake. The father of Mr. Hotaling came to Greenbush in 1845 and here lived and died. He was 180 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. a carriage maker and followed that trade until the last seven years of his life when he lived a retired life. He was trustee of the village in early years. His wife was Maria Belding of Greenbush and they had two sons and one daughter. Mrs. Hotaling died in 1863 and Mr. Hotaling married Anna Bateman and had two daugh ters and one son. Mr. Hotaling died August 10, 1891. F. W. Hotaling was reared and educated in Greenbush and at the age of sixteen began to learn the carriage making trade, and was in business with his father until 1883, since which he has carried on the business alone and has been successful. He now owns the homestead and the place where he carries on the business. He is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., and also of Greenbush Chapter No. 274, R. A. M., and the F'armers' and Mechanics' Lodge No. 157, the Rebeccas, and is also a member of the Ring and Fire Company No. 1 of Greenbush. Boyce, Elias B , was born in Schodack, Rensselaer county, N. Y., November 5, 1837. He was the twelfth son of Ananias and Sarah Boyce. Ananias Boyce was a native of Dutchess county and Sarah, his wife, was born in Nassau, Rensselaer county, N. Y. Ananias Boyce came to Schodack with his parents from Dutchess county when he was young, farming being their life work. Ananias Boyce died in 1865, and Sarah, his wife, died in 1872, he in his eighty-third year and she in her eightieth year. Elias B. was brought up on the farm in Schodack until he attained the age of thirteen years, when he removed with his parents to the town of Wilton, Saratoga county, N. Y. , where his father purchased a farm. He remained working with his brothers upon this farm until he was eighteen years of age, when he re turned to Rensselaer county and commenced the study of medicine with his brother, Dr. Arlington Boyce, who resided at that time at West Sand Lake. Elias B. grad uated at the Albany Medical College December 28, 1858. He practiced his profes sion in West Sand Lake for nine years when he removed to Valatie, Columbia county, N. Y. , on account of poor health. In 1872 he located at Averill Park and enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. February 5. 1860, he married Harriet C, daughter of William R. and Sarah Nichols, William R. being a native of Connecticut and Sarah, his wife, born in Kinderhook, Columbia county, N. Y. To Elias B. and Harriet C. Boyce was born one son, William E. Boyce, who died at the age of nine teen years. Elias B. Boyce, M. D., has served as health officer of his town for a term of nine years and was elected supervisor for the town of Sand Lake on March 3, 1896, to serve for the term of two years. He is a member of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., and also a member of Interlochen Lodge No. 641, I. 0. O. F. , and also a member of the Medical Society of Rensselaer County and a fellow of the Medical Association of the State of New York. Stapleton, Mrs. Timothy.— In the death of Timothy Stapleton, in 1894, Hoosick Falls lost one of its most useful men. He had served the public well officially as assessor, trustee and otherwise. He came to Hoosick Falls with his father, John Stapleton, in 1850, having previously spent two years in Troy, learning the machinist trade ; he became an employee of the Walter Wood Co. ; all of his business life was spent there with the exception of two years during the war, which was spent in the quartermaster's department at Washington. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1837, and came to America when fourteen years old. In 1864 he married Eleanor Smith, daughter of Patrick Smith of this place, by whom he had eight chil- FAMILY SKETCHES, 181 dren. Two of that number are not living. Mr. Stapleton was a home lover, and idolized by his family. He espoused the temperance cause and was an ardent ad vocate of the same. Clum, Martillus, born in the house where he now resides, September 18, 1856, is the son of Jacob and Catherine (Brust) Clum, who had four children: Paulina Miller, Jacob H., Orcelia Bulson, Martillus, and four deceased, Silus, Ozro, Dexter and Libbie, all born on the homestead. Jacob followed farming, and is public-spirited. He is interested in education and school work, also all affairs of the town and county, and is charitable and a supporter of the church. Martillus worked with his father until his marriage, January 10, 1878, to Laura C, daughter of Jacob Van Arnum and has one child, Martha. His wife died April 3, 1890. He is interested in all affairs of town and county, also in school and education. Rigney, Thomas, born in Ireland, and came to Greenbush with his parents, Thomas and Mary Rigney, who lived and died in Greenbush, he at the age of 100 years and she died of old age. Thomas Rigney was a hotelkeeper in Greenbush and built the Western Hotel about forty years ago and was proprietor until death. He kept the cattle yards and was also in the manufacture of brick which is now carried on by his sons, James and Thomas. He made his own property. He was married August 13, 1861, to Ann Ryan, born in Ireland and daughter of James and Mary Ryan of Ireland and came to Greenbush about 1840 and here lived and died. To Mr. and Mrs. Rigney were born nine children : James (deceased), Mary (deceased), Catherine F., Annie J., Mary X., James J., Thomas A., Margaret G. and Rose L. Mr. Rigney died March 25, 1882, and the hotel has since been kept bythe family. Teson, Charles, the subject of this sketch, was born in Troy, November 18, 1830. For several years he was in the employ of the New York and Troy steamboat Co. as stewards. Was later steward of the Steamboat Empire of Troy which was wrecked on the morning of July 16, 1853, a few miles south of Poughkeepsie, by which dis aster several lives were lost. Since that time and for nearly eight years he was in charge of the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad bridge as collector of tolls. Mr. Teson was initiated in Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M., May 27, 1852 and since that time has received all the grades in Masonry, up to and including the 32d degree. He was a charter member of Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., and principal conductor of the works from 1859 to and including 1862 and was elected thrice illustrious master December 18, 1863. Was appointed district deputy for the then 6th Masonic Dis trict for the year 1860. Mr. Teson was worshipful master of Apollo Lodge No. 13, during the years 1859 and 1860, was appointed tiler for the Masonic bodies of Troy, June 6, 1865, which office he has held for the past thirty-one years, and still occupies that position, and is the oldest living past master in Troy. In 1850 he married Amelia Brightman, of Poultney, Vt. She died June 27, 1874. June 8, 1880, he was again married to Mrs. Anna M. Freeman. He has one son by his first wife. Hansen, Nicholas, born in the Province of Rhine, Prussia, January 4, 1824, is the son of Mathew and Catherine Hansen, natives of Prussia. Nicholas came to this country about 1854 and for fifteen years was a farm laborer, after which he took up land for himself. January 21, 1856, he married Margaret (died May 28, 1893), daughter of William Zenner, and has three children, Herbert A., John, Philip and 182 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. one deceased, Nicholas, died October 26, 1873. Nicholas is public spirited. He is interested in school, churches, and all affairs of his town and county. He is a self- made man. He commenced with nothing and now has one of the finest farms in the country. His son, Herbert A., lives with his father and takes a great interest in all public spirited enterprises and affairs of the town and county. Nicholas served five years in the Prusian army. He enlisted in 1846, and was in the Prussian Baden war, and has his honorable discharge. Allen, Isaac A., is of English descent, and was born in Westford, Otsego county, N. Y. , April 27, 1843. Two years later his parents removed to New York where the family resided until the death of his father, William Allen, in 1850. Mrs. Allen, the mother, with her children then removed to Cherry Valley, N. Y. Mr. Allen received his education primarily in the ward schools of New York and later in the old Cherry Valley Academy, a noted institution of learning at that time In 1865 Mr. Allen in company with a brother, James W. Allen, came to Hoosick Falls, and became asso ciated with the Walter A. Wood M. & R. M. Co. He was foreman of the painting and packing department for a period of seven years. Later he traveled in the inter est of the company in Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Penn sylvania until 1878 when he was recalled to take the position of yard foreman. In 1882 Mr. Allen became one of the firm of Parsons, Redmond & Allen, but with drew from that firm in 1884; since that time he has been identified with the extra department of the Wood Co. In 1869 Mr. Allen was married to Mary Fay Hinsdill of Bennington, Vt., who was a sister of Mrs. J. Russell Parsons. The death of Mrs. Allen occurred in 1884. Two sons, Russell J. Allen and Harry Fay Allen, also a daughter, Caroline A. Allen, survive her. Mr. Allen has always been one of the most active members of St. Mark's Episcopal church. He became a communicant of Grace church, Cherry Valley, under Rev. Dr. Nicholls at the age of sixteen and was elected a vestryman of that parish before twenty years old. He has been a vestry man of St. Mark's parish for more than a quarter of a century, and for many years as at present the clerk of the vestry. He is also prominent in Masonic circles and well known throughout the State as an enthusiastic member of the order. He has served two terms as master of Van Rensselaer Lodge No. 400 ; also four terms as high priest of Raymond Chapter, No. 248, Royal Arch Masons, and is a member of and secretary of the Masonic Veteran Association of Hoosick Falls and vicinity. In 1885 Mr. Allen was appointed district deputy grand master for the 12th Masonic Dis trict, comprising the counties of Rensselaer, Albany, Schenectady and Columbia— the largest district in the State. This position was held by him during four succes sive terms. In politics Mr. Allen has always been a staunch, uncompromising Dem ocrat. He was elected unanimously in 1879 to the office of village president and has been appointed to other positions of trust. Jordon, William, was born in Westphalia, Germany, September 5, 1845, son of Joseph and Sophia Jordan. He was educated in their schools, and afterwards learned the trade of brushmaker. In 1865 he came to the United States and located in Lan singburgh, N. Y., where he plies his vocation. April 4, 1868, he married Caroline Bebernitz, of this place, formerly of Germany, by whom he had seven children, four of whom are now living: Fred, Frank G., Harry J. and Eugene. Mr. Jordon is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., in which he has held the position of FAMILY SKETCHES. 183 secretary for twenty years. He is also a member of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., and has been its secretary fifteen years; of Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T. He has served as trustee of the village in the First ward from 1886 to 1888. The ancestry of the family is German on both sides. Downey, William, was born in Cropseyville, town of Brunswick, February 29, 1852. He is the youngest of two sons and two daughters, born to Samuel and Car oline (Honsinger) Downey. The father was a laborer and died when William was an infant. The mother was born, lived and died in Cropseyville. Her death oc curred in about 1860. Mr. Downey at eight years of age began life's battles for him self, first doing chores and anything he could to gain a meal or a night's lodging, going from one house to another. He was later employed by his uncle in Pittstown who was a farmer, hotel keeper and butcher. With his uncle he remained for eighteen years, managing all his uncle's out of door work, buying all the cattle and butchering them and attending to the hotel business during his uncle's absence. In 1887 he engaged in the hotel business at Clum's Corners in his native town on his own account; there he remained seven years, when he removed to North Adams, Mass., but remained there but one month, when he returned to Brunswick and con ducted a hotel in Rock Hollow two years. In March, 1887, he removed to Poesten kill where he purchased his present hotel property. Since his residence here Mr. Downey has remodeled his hotel, added to the hotel building and made many essen tial improvements, making his house and barns highly suitable to all the require ments of a country village hotel. He served his town as tax collecter, and is a mem ber of the Odd Fellows, Poestenkill Lodge No. 704, having been transferred from the Mechanicville Lodge of which he had been a member for over ten years. In 1874 he married Hattie A. Newcomb of Pittstown, daughter of William and Betsey A. (Chase) Newcomb. They have four children: Carrie, wife of Edgar Wager of Poestenkill ; Foneta, Ermah, and Alta. Cottrell, George N., was born in the town of Poestenkill on the farm he now owns, March 9, 1856. Major George, the father, was also born on this farm, May 6, 1812, and spent his whole life time on the homestead, which was left to him by the will of his father. He was a lumber manufacturer and farmer all his lifetime. He filled the office of justice of the peace for several years, overseer of the poor, commissioner of highways, and was assessor for about twenty years, and was also major of the State militia. His wife was Bridget Sheary, who was a native of Ireland. Their children are Mary A., George N., James B., Mrs. Sarah M. Feathers, Mrs. Louise C. French, John W. and Calvin E. He died in January, 1891, and his wife died in August, 1893. Mr. Cottrell has spent his life on the homestead, dairying being his chief occupation, and is a thorough and practical farmer. He was collector for two terms, and was elected and served two terms on the Board of Supervisors. In 1892 he married Lulu Barber, a daughter of Charles Barber of Poestenkill. Fairweather, Alexander, was born in Schaghticoke, January 27, 1844. He is the son of David Fairweather, who was born in Scotland and came to the United States in 1824, settled in Schaghticoke and later moved to West Milton, Saratoga county, N. Y., where he settled on a farm and died in 1881. His mother, Sarah Gilchrist, was also born in Scotland and died in 1878. Alexander receiving a district school 184 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and academic education, accepted a clerkship in Ballston, N. Y., where he remained eight years and came to Troy for two years and then returned to Ballston. Later he came again to Troy and was a salesman for P. M. Marston in a store where the State Street M. E. church now stands. Then for three years he conducted a retail grocery business on River street, under the firm name of Fairweather & Williams; selling this business to M. H. Williams, Mr. Fairweather went into the wholesale commission and grocery business at 380 River street. In 1876 he sold out the busi ness and took a position as traveling salesman with Grace, Page & Co., and three years later acted in the same capacity with Wing Brothers & Hart of Albany, N.Y., and was with that concern twelve years, and since January 1, 1895, has been traveling for a New York house. He is a trustee of the Universalist church and has been superintendent of the Sunday school of that church. He has taken great interest in the Commercial Travellers' Accident Association at Utica, N. Y., and is now second vice-president of that association. He married Mrs. Mary Ogden of Troy, N. Y., a daughter of the late James Ogden, who died in 1856. They have one son, Dr. Harry Ogden, a graduate of Albany Medical College, who is now located at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. Derrick, Lewis W. , was born in the village of Lansingburgh, February 6, 1838. He was educated in the common schools and has had a variety of occupations. He has been a railroad man, a fireman, and an engineer on the Troy and Boston Rail road. March 1, 1881, he was appointed by the Board of Fire Commissioners as superintendent of the Fire Department of Lansingburgh, which position he has since filled with satisfaction. December 25, 1866, at Whitehall, Washington county, he married Alice E. Jillson of that place. They have four children: Carrie A., J. Edward, Flelen E. and Clarence L. J. Edward married Frances R. Wood of this place; he is superintendent of the Glens Falls, Sand Hill and Fort Edward Electric Railroad. The other children at this date reside at home. The father of Mr, Derrick, John S. , was born in the town of Brunswick ; he was educated in the schools of his day and was a farmer by occupation. He married Helen Weaver, of Lansing burgh, by whom four children were born: Lewis W., John, who died at the age of twenty-two years, Samuel and Adam, twins. Samuel died at the age of thirty-six. Mr. Derrick died April 14, 1867, and his wife died in 1872. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., and also of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M. The ancestry of the family is German and Dutch. McEachron, J. H., the leading watchmaker, jeweler and optician of Hoosick Falls, conducts what is perhaps the oldest established business in town, at No. 11 John street. He was for three years a partner of the late H. H. Parsons, the pioneer jeweler, and after Mr. Parsons's decease took as partner Charles A. Robson, who had been an employee of the house for five years, and was six years a partner. Mr. McEachron carries a very large stock and also a good line of musical instruments. He sustains a high reputation as an eye specialist in the fitting of glasses, having had marked success in many difficult and complicated cases during the past ten years. His father, David H. McEachron, is a jeweler at Argyle, Washington county, and was a resident of Oquawka, 111., at the date of Mr. McEachron's birth in 1858. The family have been long time residents of Washington county in the vicinity of Argyle. They are of Scotch ancestry, as the name would indicate. Mr. McEachron FAMILY SKETCHES. 185 learned the trade of his father at Argyle. He has taken a prominent place in Hoosick affairs, especially so in the Presbyterian church and in the local society of Y. P. S. C. E. Mrs. McEachron was Miss Dora Peters, youngest daughter of C. Edward Peters of this place. They were married in 1884, and have four children. Shea, Jeremiah, who represented the Prudential Insurance Company in Hoosick Falls and vicinity, was the son of an old resident here, Thomas Shea, a native of Ireland. Mr. Shea had charge of this agency from 1891, and previous to that time was employed by trie Wood Company as moulder. When a boy Mr. Shea exhibited unusual intellectual attainments and after graduating from the public schools here he attended Troy Business College. He was a member of the R. C. church and for twenty years was a member of the Father Matthew Temperance Society, of which organization he officiated as president and financial secretary. In 1887 he married Alice Kearney of Hoosick, by whom he had four children. Mr. Shea died Septem- bor 28, 1896. Craver, P. H., was born in East Greenbush, N. Y., May 20, 1828. He is the son of Jacob and Catherine (Shaver) Craver, both of Rensselaer county. He was born on the farm now owned by Mr. Craver, and which was settled by the great-grand father of our subject. Johannes Craver came from Germany to New York city prior to the Revolution, thence made his way to the farm in East Greenbush, which has passed down to Jacob and Rebecca (Spoor) Craver, Jacob and Catherine, and then to P. H. Craver. Johannes and son, Jonathan, joined the American army and fought in the Revolutionary war. Jacob Craver spent his life on the farm. He died March 26, 1886, and his wife July 25, 1872. P. H. Craver has always resided on the Craver homestead except four years which he spent near Albia, North Green bush. In 1868 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Barney U. and Eva (Hayner) Sharp of Wynantskill, by whom he had two children: Chester B., at home; and Willie H., who died aged four years. Jordan, Abraham, was born at East Greenbush, N. Y., in 1842, son of John and Sarah Ann (Smith) Jordan, who came from England in 1837 and 1841, respectively, having been married, prior to coming here. In 1880 Abraham Jordan married Bertha M., daughter of Joseph and Mary Ann (Gregory) Stickley of Bath, by whom he had four children: Bertha L., Rodney V., Abraham L. and John R. Mrs. Jordan's parents came from Gloucestershire, England, about 1872 or 1873 ; for a time her father was an engineer at the west end of the Hoosac Tunnel, but is now in the em ploy of the N. Y. C. & H. R. Railroad as an engineer. Mr. Jordan when a young man worked for twelve years at the painter's trade, and in 1875 settled on the farm where he and his brother carried on general farming and gardening until 1893, when our subject bought out his brother's interest, and has since carried on the business alone. He also runs a milk dairy for East Albany. He makes a specialty of fruit culture, having one of the finest peach orchards in the county. He is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M. Woodford, O. D., was born in Canastota, N. Y., March 7, 1869. He was educated at Pompey and Cazenovia Seminary. He then went into the undertaking business in Pompey, but in 1891 came to Castleton and established his present business, in which he has been remarkably successful under his able management. In addition 186 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. to the undertaking business he conducts a first-class upholstery and furniture estab lishment. In 1893 Mr. Woodford married Bertha Sherman. Mr. Woodford's parents were Melvin and Catherine Woodford. The latter died when he was quite young. Mr. Woodford is an enterprising and successful business man and a member of the Masonic fraternity. Dykeman, Garrett, was born in Paterson, N. J., June 6, 1843. He was a son of Richard and Catherine .(Lochies) Dykeman, both born in New Jersey, and both fam ilies of Holland descent. Mr. Dykeman was master machinist of Thomas Rodgers's Locomotive Works in Paterson, N. J. He died in 1847 and his wife died in 1884. Garrett Dykeman was reared and educated in Paterson, N. J., and at the age of nine years began to work in the silk mills for John Ryle. He worked until sixteen years old and then came to Greenbush and learned the machinist trade He worked at it for nine years and then took an engine and has been in the employ of the Hudson River Railroad for about thirty-seven years. He spent one year in South Alabama and one year in California. Mr. Dykeman is at present police com missioner. In 1873 he married Sarah E. Foreman, a native of England who came to Greenbush with her parents, George and Rebeckah Foreman, when a child. To Mr. and Mrs. Dykeman were born five children : G. Louis, Caroline D. (deceased). John F. , William F. (deceased), and Alice. Mr. Dykeman isa member of Green bush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., and also of B. of L. E. and A. O. U. W. Griffin & Rockefeller, undertakers. — Mr. Rockefeller was born in Greenbush, Jan uary 28, 1864. He was a son of Norman and Maria L. (Yergeson) Rockefeller, he born in Kinderhook, and she in Castleton. Mr. Yergeson was her stepfather, but her real name was Wellington, one of the first settlers of the town. The father of Mr. Rockefeller was an engineer for the B. & A. R. R. ; he was with them for twenty- five years, but formerly was a carpenter ; he died March 6, 1895, and his wife lives in Bath. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Rockefeller is William T. Rockefeller, who lives in Albany. Mr. Rockefeller was reared and educated in Greenbush, and attended the Albany Business College, from which he was graduated in 1886. Will iam E. Griffin, his uncle an undertaker, came to Greenbush and engaged in the un dertaking business in 1870; he died June 20, 1893, and Mr. Rockefeller in partner ship with his wife, Elizabeth Griffin, are now carrying on the business. February 6, 1886, he married Josephine Canon, by whom two children have been born: Edward G., born May 23, 1890; and Elizabeth W., born March 8, 1895. Mr. Rockefeller is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M. , and Greenbush Chapter No. 274, R. A. M. His father and uncle were also members of the same lodge. He is a member of Rensselaer Lodge No. 240, A. O. U. W., and of the Select Knights of East Albany No. 87. He has been inspector of election for five years. Marshall, Philo P. , was born in Germantown, Columbia county, N. Y. , November 4, 1842. He was the son of Alonzo and Margaret (Staats) Marshall of Germantown, where she died when Philo P. Marshall was an infant. Mr. Marshall came to Green bush in 1846 where he was employed by the Boston & Albany R. R., and remained with that company until his death. Philo was reared and educated in Greenbush, and was elected school trustee for several years. He was at the battles of Gettys burg. Malvern Hill, Antietam, and Seven Days battle of the Wilderness. He was FAMILY SKETCHES. 187 in all the battles with the army of the Potomac. Mr. Marshall has a medal issued by the State of New York which was given to all soldiers that served in the battle of Gettysburg from the State of N. Y. He returned to Greenbush and acted as fireman forthe Boston & Albany R. R., and was promoted engineer in 1870, and still holds that position. December 8, 1864, he married Jane E. Potts, a native of Columbia county, N. Y., and a daughter of William and Lucinda (Moore) Potts. Mr. Potts died in Columbia connty and his wife now resides in Winona, Minn. To Mr. and Mrs. Marshall were born two children: Minnie A., wife of George H. Mayer of Greenbush, having one daughter, Helen M. ; and William B. , a telegraph operator for the Boston & Albany R. R. Baily, Edmund, was born in Sand Lake, May 29, 1808, and was a son of Silas and Olive (Sweetland) Baily, he a native of Stephentown and she of Sand Lake. The grandfather, Samuel Baily, was a Revolutionary soldier. He settled on Baily Hill, Stephentown, being one of the first settlers in that part of the town, whence he went to Whitestown, where he died. Silas Baily was a farmer at Paris; from there he went to Sand Lake, thence to East Nassau, and spent his last days in Stephen- town, where he died in 1841. Mrs. Baily died about 1846. The great-grandfather of Edmund, Samuel Baily, came from England. In 1841 Edmund married Nancy, daughter of Jonathan and Rachael (Chapman) Turner. The father of Jonathan Turner was a minister in the Baptist church, and a pioneer of Nassau. To Mr. and Mrs. Baily have been born six children : Louisa, wife of Justice Hunt ; Mary, wife of Thomas Greenman ; Slias J., farmer of Nassau; Emily, wife of Erving Allen; Lydia A., widow of John Jones, who died in 1892; and Rachael, who died in in fancy. Edmund worked in a factory in Stephentown until about thirty years of age, when he engaged in farming, which he followed until 1894. In 1835 he bought 100 acres of land, and now owns 135 acres. He is a Democrat in politics, was elected justice of the peace, but did not qualify, and has been poormaster. Brown, Stephen J., was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., March 22, 1861. His father, Rev. Stephen D. Brown, D. D., was at different times pastor of the State Street and Fifth Avenue M. E. churches in Troy, and at the time of his death, which occurred in 1875, was presiding elder of the New York district. His mother, Lucy (Herrick) Brown of Burlington, Vt , died in 1866. Judge Stephen S. Brown of the Vermont State Court was his grandfather. Stephen received his education in the public schools of New York city, and entered the employ of Louis De Groff & Son, wholesale grocers of that city, afterwards accepting a position with the well known jewelry firm of Aiken, Lambert & Co. In 1880 he came to Troy and went to work as shipper for Taylor & Stal'ey, and later was employed by Morey & Lee. He purchased an in terest in the Globe Ventilator Co. in 1888, and has since been a member of that com pany. Mr. Brown is a steward of the State Street M. E. church and treasurer of its fund. He married Clara A. Morey in 1888. Quigley, Thomas F. , was born in Troy, N. Y. , March 22, 1853. His parents were Michael Quigley of Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland, and Mary A. Collins of Abersychan, Monmouthshire, Wales. They came to this country in June, 1842, and resided in Troy until the death of the former in 1860 and the latter in 1893. Thomas, the fifth son of a family of seven, entered the old Ninth Ward School as a pupil in 188 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. 1860. R. W. Hewitt, who retired in March, 1896, after thirty-six years' faithful service as a teacher, was then the principal of this school. In 1867 he passed from the grammar department to the Troy High School from which school he graduated with honor in 1871. In 1869, while still a 'pupil at the High School, he was elected assistant clerk of the Board of Education. He attended to the duties of his office and at the same time kept up with his class at school by reciting his lessons daily to the late David Beattie, who then held the position of superintendent, also that of principal of the High School. He held this position until 1872, when the board, which consisted of twenty-six members, was legislated out of office and a new one of thirteen members was created. For one year he was employed as salesman by his brother, P. J. Quigley, proprietor of a shoe store at 170 River street. In the fall of 1873 he was engaged by the managers of the Troy Catholic Male Orphan Asylum to teach in the parochial school, and in the following year by the Board of Education as assistant teacher in a branch school organized for the purpose of relieving the overcrowded condition of the Ninth Ward School. This branch school was known as Ninth Ward School No. 2. In 1875 Mr. Quigley was made principal of this branch school and in 1878 was promoted to the principalship of Ninth Ward School No. 1, which was considered one of the most difficult schools in the city to manage. This position he held for several years, giving entire satisfaction to the School Board and the patrons of the school. In 1885 he was transferred to School No. 13, his present position. It will thus be seen that Mr. Quigley has been connected with the schools of Troy as pupil and teacher for a period of thirty-five years. Fitch, Benjamin F., was born in Oswego Center, N. Y. , in 1851. His father, Henry P. Fitch, was born at New London, N. Y. , and died at Oswego Center in March, 1894. His mother, Emeline M. (Peckham) Fitch, died in 1884. Benjamin received his education in Oswego and at Eastman's Business College in Poughkeep sie. He came to Troy in 1886 and entered the office of Fellows & Co. as bookkeeper and since 1887 has been bookkeeper for the firm of Holmes & Ide. In 1875 he mar ried Larissa Smith of Oswego, by whom he has two sons and two daughters. Kinloch, Dr. Everett S. , son of Alexander G. and Mary S. (Reed) Kinloch, was born in Troy, July 6, 1866. His father was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1836, came to Troy when a boy and became a painter and later engaged in various business enterprises, particularly in that of real estate. He has four sons living. Harvey S., station agent at Frankfort, N. Y., Dr. Everett S., of Troy, Dr. D. Reed, of Utica, and Raymond A., of Troy. Dr. Everett S. Kinloch was educated in the public and high schools of his native city, read medicine with Dr. J. H. Bissell, and was grad uated from the Albany Medical College in April, 1895, receiving the two highest pr/ cs for scholarship. Since then he has been in active practice in Troy. He is a member of the Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity, and of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M. He was lecturer on physiology before the Troy Y. M. C. A. during the winters of 1895-96 and 1896-97. In March, 1889, he married Mary F., daughter of Walton S. Swartwout of Troy, and they have two children : Mabel F. and Donald. Potter, Darius E., was born in Brandon, Vt., July 21, 1834. He is a descendant in direct line of Robert Potter, who settled in Rhode Island in 1620 or 1625. His father, Joseph Warren Potter, was born in Clarendon, Vt, in 1801, and was a moulder FAMILY SKETCHES. 189 by trade and afterwards a farmer. He died in December, 1849, and his mother, Lucy (Fiske) Potter, was born in Danby, Vt, in 1800 and died in January, 1879. Darius E. comes of a family of six children, of whom four are now living: Mellissa P. Brewster of Iowa; Polly E. Tower of Iowa; and Noel, of Clarendon, Vt. Mr. Potter was educated at the public schools and came to Troy at the age of fifteen and learned the moulder's trade. He worked for Wager & Dater and their successors for nine years. In 1861 he enlisted in Co. F, 1st United States Sharpshooters, and served for two years, and on account of poor health was discharged. He afterwards followed his trade, but on account of army life exposure was obliged to give it up. He is a Knight Templar and member of Oriental Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and a life member of all the Masonic bodies, and is also a member of the Veteran Masonic Association. In 1895 he founded the chapter of the Eastern Star, and was president of the Moulder's Union for five years. December 29, 1864, he married Theda Davidson of Chester, Vt. Salmon, Thomas H., M. D., was born in Stratford-on-Avon, England, in 1835. His grandfather, Nicolas Salmon, gained considerable reputation as a teacher and writer and was the author of several Latin and French text-books which for years were used in the English colleges. His father was a man of literary ability and scholarly attainments. Dr. Salmon received his education in England and was for some time a surgeon in the British Mercantile Marine. In 1876, after his marriage to Annie E. Frost, he came to Lansingburgh where he has resided since. Of five children, but two reached maturity — Frank H. , a young man of exceptional promise, who was first employed in the Powers Bank and later with the Metropolitan Trust Company of New York; and Thomas W., who is following his father's profession. Frank H. Salmon died August 1, 1896, and two days after Mrs. Salmon's death occurred. The doctor is a member of several medical societies and of the New York State Pharma ceutical Society and is police surgeon of the village. Rourk, Margaret. — The late Patrick Rourk was born in the North of Ireland in 1803. He was educated in the schools of his day, and came to the United States in the twenty-fourth year of his age and located in Troy. After a period of two years he came to Lansingburgh. He was a cooper by trade and conducted a large coop erage for many years. In 1829 he married Catherine Cosgrom, of his native country, by whom eight children have been born : John, Anna, Thomas, Mary, Frank, Pat rick, Catherine and Margaret. The four sons are dead, and Anna married Terrance Duffy, of New York city. Mary married John Ryan, of Lansingburgh. The two younger daughters are not married. Mr. Rourk gained a competency by industry and fair dealing. He died July 24, 1887, and his widow died August 14, 1888. Perry, Clarence A., was born in the town of Lansingburgh, July 7, 1857, and was educated in the public schools, Troy Conference Academy, also in Manchester, Vt., and has always followed the honorable occupation of farming. December 1, 1887, he married Ellen De Forrest Bailey of Plattsburgh, N. Y., and have two daughters: Lucy D. and Mary L. Mr. Perry's father Aaron, was born on the homestead near Speigletown in 1818, and was educated in the schools of that day ; he too was a farmer. September 15, 1850, he married Maria Van Veghten of Old Schaghticoke, and had three children : Helen, Valentine and Clarence A. , as above. Aaron Perry 190 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. was a class leader, Sunday school superintendent, steward, and recording steward of the M. E. church. He died January 10, 1880, and his widow survives him at this date, 1896. C. A. Perry in his political choice is an ardent Republican (except in local matters). The Perry family are directly related 'o old Commodore Perrv; an cestry of family is of Dutch and New England origin. Patton, Alexander G., born near Troy, June 1, 1837, is a son of Thomas and Drusilla Patton. Thomas was a son of Alexander, who came from Scotland wheii a young man. Thomas when a young man was thrown on his own resources; he learned the currier's trade in Joseph Gary's tannery; when twenty-five years of age he married Drusilla, daughter of Benjamin Gorton of Troy, and had seven chil dren: James G., Alexander G., George H., Annie J., Frank, Mary D. and Sarah; later in life Thomas followed farming and the leather trade until 1865, when he re tired from active business. Alexander's early life was spent with his father. He had a common school education and also attended the Troy Academy. He started for himself when eighteen years of age as a clerk in Haight's leather store. * Later he learned the leather currying trade and was associated with his father until the latter's death in 1890. He is now engaged in general farming. He is an active, public-spirited man and is interested in schools and education and is at present treasurer of the district. He is a liberal supporter of the Presbyterian church. He married, in 1862, Emma, daughter of Cephas Gorton of New York city, and in 1875, Sarah J. Ives of Poestenkill ; and they have one child, Thomas, who is attending school in Troy. Converse, P. W. , was born in District of Montreal, Canada. He is the senior member of the firm of Converse, Collins, Merrell & Co. This concern was founded in 1806 by Gardner & Vail, and after several changes, Mr. Converse became con nected with its management in 1860, and the present firm was organized in 1884. Of late Mr. Converse has been in poor health and retired from active business in the store. He is one of the oldest and most respected business men of Troy. Hastings, Nathan Main, jr., son of Nathan Main and Ruth R. (Stillman) Hastings, was born in Brunswick, Rensselaer county, January 7, 1845, and was educated in the district schools of Brunswick and at the Cambridge (Washington county) Acad emy. He worked on his father's farm until 1872, when he moved to Troy and formed a partnership with Edgar D. Main, in the grocery and pork business. Janu ary 1, 1883, Mr. Hastings and Dr. Asa G. Stillman formed a partnership and en gaged in the ice business, which Mr. Hastings still continues, under the firm name of Hastings & Co. He is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48 R. A. M., Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., and Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Hastings is also a member of the Citizens' Association and Patrons of Industry and is secretary of the Troy Ice Dealers' Association ; is also a member of the Troy Vocal Society. September 28, 1870, he married Helen A. Robbins of Brunswick, who died May 29, 1880, leaving one son, Joseph R. May 23, 1889, he married J. Adelaide Coon of Marcellus, N. Y. Spencer, Charles G., of Hoosick Falls, N. Y., was born in Nassau, Rensselaer county, in 1839. His father, Allen Spencer, was a native of Rhode Island, where FAMILY SKETCHES. 191 he occupied a responsible position in a cotton mill ; he afterwards removed to Nassau where he engaged in farming and was soon elected school trustee. The family came to Hoosick Falls in 1844 when Mr. Spencer was five years of age. After leav ing the public schools of this village he was first employed in the Tremont Mills; then, after serving his apprenticeship as a machinist, he worked at his trade in Waterford, N. Y. , and in New York city between the years 1857 and 1865 ; since then he has been continuously in the employment of the Walter A. Wood Mowing & Reaping Machine Company, first as a tool maker, taking contracts under the com pany and hiring his own workmen ; and in 1879 as foreman of the machine shop ; and since 1893 as general superintendent of the works, a responsible position for which he is peculiarly fitted, being thoroughly conversant with the minutest details of the work of the various departments, besides possessing the tact and discrimination so requisite in the employment of workmen. He married in 1864 Caroline Bissell of Cohoes, N. Y., daughter of James P. Bissell, who in 1843 carried on a cotton mill in Homer, Cortland county, N. Y. , and afterward in Mechanicville, N. Y. ; later he was superintendent of the Caledonia Mills in Hoosick Falls. Their only child, Mary, is completing her education at the Albany Normal College. Mr. Spencer is a Mason and member of Raymond Chapter, an attendant of the Presbyterian church; a lib eral contributor to every good cause, and has held nearly every office in the gift of the village. , Van Valkenburg, Garret, was born in the city of Troy, July 6, 1822. He was a son of Tunis and Alida (Vandenburg) Van Valkenburg, he a native of Kinderhook, Columbia county, and she of Greenbush. The Van Valkenburg family are descend ants of Geronamus Van Valkenburg, who landed in New York in 1645. He went to Bevyrwick, Albany county, thence to Schodack. Tunis was born February 25, 1795, and at the age of sixteen came from Columbia county to Greenbush and worked at the blacksmith trade until he was twenty-one years of age, and then worked on a farm for five years. In 1821 he married, and was two years in the gro cery business in Troy. In 1824 he bought the farm now owned by F. H. Stone, and engaged in farming. He sold out here and purchased the farm now owned by Mr. Van Valkenburg. He died in 1870 and his wife died in 1866. In 1850 Mr. Van Valk enburg married Sarah, daughter of Cornelius M. Vandenburg of Greenbush, by whom he has five children: Herbert, Morton, Alida, Caroline, and Tunis, who runs the farm. They have eighty-two acres and have a dairy of about fourteen cows. Mrs. Van Valkenburg died April 7, 1891. Sullivan, John J., was born in Albany, August, 10, 1858. He was the son of Cor nelius and Mary (Crowley) Sullivan, both born in Ireland, and came to this country in 1849, located in New York city, but finally came to Albany where Mr. Sullivan worked at the carpenter's trade. He died October 18, 1888. His wife died April 20, 1892. They had a family of seven sons and two daughters. John J. Sullivan was reared and educated in St. John's Parish and the Brothers' School. When ten years of age he was employed by Bell & Ledger as errand boy, and before he was yet eleven he was traveling salesman, the youngest on record. He supported the family, his father being sick. He continued with this firm as traveling salesman for four teen years, he was then employed with Graham Martin of Albany for three years, and in 1885 started a general house furnishing store in Albany, and continued in that 192 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. business until April 1, 1889, when he engaged in the undertaking business and has been very successful. Mr. Sullivan has a fine residence on the corner of Broadway and Fourth avenue, and has also property in East Albany. Mr. Sullivan was first married in 1884 to Mary Rochford by whom he had two children : Lottie and Thomas (both deceased). Mrs. Sullivan died March. 19, 1891, and in June, 1893, he married Nellie Lynch of Greenbush, a daughter of John and Mary (Hannon) Lynch, both born in Ireland, came to the United States when children, and were here married in Greenbush where they now reside. They have had ten children : Francis J. is now chief of police in Greenbush. Mr. Sullivan together with his undertaking busi ness has a well stocked livery stable. He is one of the best funeral directors in the State and is a graduate of three of the best embalming colleges in this country. He is perfectly honest and enjoys the respect and confidence of all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance. Petersen, Peter, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, July 19, 1852. He was edu cated in their schools, and afterwards learned the carriagemaker's trade. November 2, 1879, he married Marthene Anderson of Odense, Denmark, and immediately came to the United States, locating in Troy, N. Y. , and in 1886 they came to Lans ingburgh, where he began business on his own account, manufacturing carriages, wagons, and general repairing. They have three children: John C, Agnes C. and Julia. Johnston, De Witt C, one of the foremost merchants of Hoosick Falls, was born in Hoosick Falls, N. Y., October 15, 1866, and completed his education there, grad uating from the High School in June, 1883, at sixteen years of age. He first engaged in business here with his father, Alonzo L. Johnston, a well-known merchant of this place. In the fall of 1894 he assumed full charge of the store, which contains a large and varied stock of dry goods and groceries, unsurpassed in its line, making specialties of Gray Brothers', Packard & Field's and Emersons' Sons' shoes; agent for Hammerslough Brothers Tailoring Company, H. W. John's asbestos paints, and National Milling Company's "Sunlight " flour. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, of the Hoosick Club, of the Seth Parsons Steamer Company, of Van Rensse laer Lodge No. 400, F. & A. M., and Apollo Commandery No. 15 of Troy, N.Y. He married in 1888 Lulu I. Kincaid, daughter of Judge George H. Kincaid of Hoosick Falls, N. Y. Two children have been born to them: Edith lone and Alonzo L. Sibley, Warren A. , one of the most prominent and highly respected citizens of Hoosick Falls, died at his home on Church street in that village on October 1, 1896, after a two weeks' illness of congestion of the brain. Mr. Sibley was born in Ben nington, Vt, Oct. 30, 1825, and was a son of Jason and Eunice Sibley. Mr. Sibley's boyhood and early manhood were spent in his native place, and it was there, in the public schools, he received his education. June 27, 1847, at Bennington, occurred his marriage to Susan A. Rice of that place. Two children were born to them: Charles H. Sibley of Hoosick Falls, who survives, and a daughter who died in child hood. An adopted son, Frank T. Sibley, also survives. In February, 1862, Mr. Sibley moved with his family to Hoosick Falls, N. Y., and August 13 of that year he enlisted for three years in Co. A, 125th Regiment N. Y. Vols. Mr. Sibley was an FAMILY SKETCHES. 193 accomplished horseman and it was as a wagoner that he enlisted. The regiment was almost immediately ordered to the front, and at Harper's Ferry Mr. Sibley was taken prisoner. He was paroled and sent to Chicago, 111., where he was exchanged about six months later, when he rejoined his regiment and was with it in all the principal engagements of the war. He was honorably discharged May 4, 1865. He returned home and was immediately offered and accepted the position of superin tendent of the works of the Hoosick Falls Gaslight Company, which position he has since held. Mr. Sibley was a trustee of the M. E. church, of which for over twenty- five years he was a faithful memher. He was a veteran Mason and member of Van Rensselaer Lodge No. 400, F. & A. M. Mr. Sibley was a man of strong Christian character. Quiet and unobtrusive by nature, he neither sought nor could be pre vailed upon to accept the public honors and distinctions which were frequently offered him, but preferred the rest and quietness of home and private life. The genial manner, cheery smile and pleasant word with which he greeted everybody won him the love and respect of all who knew him, and his death is regretted by the entire community in which he lived. Cross, George E., born June 6, 1868, on the farm he owns in Schodack, is a son of George W. and Delilah (Drew) Cross. He was born in Stuyvesant, Columbia county, N. Y., and she was born in Schodack. He was a son of Peleg Cross, born in Charles ton, R. 1., and his wife was Sallie Congdon. They had a family of four sons and three daughters, of whom one son and two daughters are living. He came to Scho dack in 1835, and here spent the remainder of his days. The father of George E. Cross was a farmer and had 158 acres of land. He was a member of the Grange. He died August 16, 1887, and his widow now lives on the farm. George E. Cross was reared on the farm, and educated in the common schools and Boys' Academy of Albany. He owns the homestead and follows general farming, and has ten acres of orchard. He was married December 17. 1890, to M. Frances Williams of Chatham Center, Columbia county, and daughter of Seymour and Christina (Cudd) Williams. Both died in Columbia county. Mr. and Mrs. Cross have two children : Maud C. and Mary C. Mr. Cross is a Republican and has been inspector of elections, and trustee of school district two years. Link, William H., is a son of Thomas B. and Aceneth (McChesney) Link. He was born in the town of Greenbush, March 17, 1844. His early life was spent with his father in the different occupations of farming. When about twenty-nine years of age he started in business for himself as a farmer, which he has followed to the present time. December 15, 1870, he married Hester A. , a daughter of Derrick V. and Caroline (Wheeler) Adams, a native of Brunswick. William H. is interested in school and educational work, and also in town and county affairs. He is excise commis sioner at present, and is also active in temperance work. Morrison, William, was born in Milburn, N. J., April 3, 1857, and was educated there and at Newark, where his parents moved when he was eight years of age. In 1877 the family moved to Brooklyn. February 2, 1881, he married Emma Fuller of Florida, Montgomery county, N. Y., and had three children: Louina, Sarah and William. Soon after his marriage Mr. Morrison came to Lansingburgh and became a manufacturer of brushes, and after some changes began the manufacture of com- 7 194 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. posite goods, brushes and mirrors, and invented a machine for the manufacture of these goods. January 1, 1893, the firm became known as Powers Bros., with William and John Morrison as managers. John married Millicent W. Moore, of New York city, and they have two children: John, jr., and Millicent. William is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., of Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., and of' Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. John is a member of Tuscan Lodge No. 704, F. & A. M., and of Orient Chapter, R. A. M., of Brooklyn. Witbeck, C. William, was born in Greenbush, Rensselaer county, N. Y., February 27, 1845. His parents removed to Troy when he was a child, where he was educated in the public schools. November 7, 1861, he enlisted in Co. K, 93d Inf. N. Y. Vols., as a musician, and December 10, 1863, re-enlisted in the same regimeut as a veteran. The regiment participated in twenty-five general engagements and lost sixty per cent, of its members in the battle of the Wilderness. Mr. Witbeck was honorably discharged June 29, 1865, with the rank of first sergeant and brevet captain. He was married twice ; first, May 23, 1870, to Mary L. Waldradt of Troy. N. Y. She died January 13, 1877, leaving one son, Selden M. Mr. Witbeck then married, May 13, 1880, Ella S. Tyler of Troy, by whom he has one son, Albert T. Mr. Witbeck has been a general merchant for ten years, but is now a traveling salesman. He is a member of Griswold Post No. 338, G. A. R., Troy; also a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., of Lansingburgh, N. Y. ; of the 2d Corps Club; of the 3d Army Corps Union ; of the Society of the Army of the Potomac ; one of the in. corporators of the Sans Souci Club ; has been village clerk for seven years ; presi dent of the village two years ; also a fire and water commissioner. Mr. Witbeck's father, Tobias, was born in the town of Schodack. N. Y., March 20, 1818. He mar ried Jane Burke, by whom he had ten children. He died August 12, 1893, and his wife June 30, 1876. The family is of English, Irish and Holland Dutch descent. Rising, George A., is one of the oldest residents of Hoosick who was born in the town, a type of personal landmarks who are becoming somewhat rare. He was born near Eagle Bridge in 1827 and never lived elsewhere. His father was Ebene zer Rising of Connecticut birth, but most of whose life was passed in Hoosick. Mr. Rising was brought up on a farm, but when a young man learned the builder's trade and has occupied his mature years in that business, and owing to the inheritance of a good constitution and correct habits does not yet consider himself retired from active life. He married in 1850 Susan R. Higley of this place, and their children are Daniel W. Rising, a box manufacturer of North Adams; Sarah A., wife of George Boynton, a manufacturing pharmacist of Waukegan, 111. ; Estella, wife of Hiram Allen of Bennington, Vt. ; Mary M., wife of James Glenn, a grocer of Hoo sick Falls; G. Frank Rising, of Easton, Rising & Worden; Emma, wife of Porter Huey, a lawyer of Kane, Pa. Fagan & Craig, the firm of, is composed of William Fagan and Arthur E. Craig. Mr. Fagan was born in Greenbush, June 6, 1833. He was a son of John and Mar- graret Fagan,' born in Ireland and came to Greenbush in 1830, where he lived and died. Mr. Fagan was educated in Greenbush, and was teamster for some time. He was with the New York Central Railroad for some time, and in 1887 engaged in the FAMILY SKETCHES. 195 mercantile business, and in 1892 formed a partnership with Arthur E. Craig. Mr. Fagan's wife was Charlotte Wornes, by whom five children have been born, one of which is living, Emma. Mr. Craig was born in Greenbush, May 16, 1866, and was there educated. He started out as clerk for Joseph Ferry with whom he was for nine years, and then went into the grocery business. January 1, 1895, he bought the building owned by William Lansing, at the corner of Broadway and Second avenue. They are one of the substantial firms of the town. Mr. Craig is a member of the A. 0. U. W. In August, 1887, he married Bertine A. Denison of East Green bush, by whom has been born one son, Berton S. Verbeck, W. Wallace, was born in the town of Easton, Washington county, N. Y. , June 10, 1841. His parents moved to the town of Schaghticoke, Rensselaer county, N. Y., when he was eight years old. He obtained his education in the public schools, and has always followed the honorable occupation of farming. He is now agent and salesman for the Page Wire Fence Co. of Adrian, Mich. He has married twice, first, January 11, 1865, to Abbie Garrison of the town of Schaghticoke; they had one daughter, Jessie M., who married E. J. Skiff of Easton ; they have two chil dren, George I. and Henry G. Mrs. Verbeck died March 11, 1872. For his second wife, on January 13, 1876, he married Mary E. Badgley of the town of Half Moon, Saratoga county, N. Y. ; they have two children, Alice M. and Herbert R. Mr. Ver- beck's father, John, was born in the town of Easton, Washington county, N. Y., July 18, 1814. He married Mary A. Groesbeck of Schaghticoke, N. Y. Ten children were born to them: W. Wallace; Adelbert V. (married Alice E. Holley of Lena, 111., February 11, 1892); an infant not named ; Mary L., George I. (married first Theresa Blair of Kansas, who died in June, 1879; second, Belle A. Walker, Kansas, March 81, 1881) ; Sidney H. (married Mary E. Wallis of Philadelphia, June 27, 1882) ; Chaun cey L. (married Carrie M. Ackart of Easton, February 22, 1882); Charles H. (mar ried Viola Acker of Lena, 111., September 24, 1885) ; John W. ; and Emma I. (married Arthur Heimstreet, March 29, 1887). Mr. Verbeck died August 1, 1883. Mr. Ver beck' s grandfather, William Verbeck, was born in Connecticut, August 20, 1779, and died May 27, 1847; he came to the town of Easton, Washington county, when he was sixteen years old with a cow and fifty dollars in money, his portion from his father; he was twice married, first, to Susanna Quackenbush, born March 16, 1777, died January 5, 1839 ; second, to Sarah Simmons, her sister, born June 20, 1785 (no children). By his first wife his children were Eliza, born October 9, 1805; S. Ada- line, born September 1, 1807, died August 22, 1896; Sidney, born September 18, 1809; Mariah, born June 1, 1812; John, as above; Christian, born October 14, 1816; and William, born June 20, 1820. Mrs. W. Wallace Verbeck' s father, Thomas B. Badgley, was born in the town of Half Moon, Saratoga county, N. Y., July 3, 1812. He mar • ried Elizabeth Lawrence of Stillwater; they had seven children: Mary E., Kather ine, Harriet A., Cornelia, Frank, Alice W., and Hannah. Mr. Badgley died July 3, 1888, and his wife died April 13, 1877. Mr. Verbeck's great-grandfather came from Norway. The ancestry of the family is Norman and Dutch. Reed, Colonel Leonard V. , was born in Pittstown, N. Y. , in 1798. He was a son of Joseph and' Mary (Baylis) Reed. He came from Dutchess county to Pittstown, early in life, where he died. She was born in Pittstown, where she lived and died in 1843. He kept a hotel here for many years. The place was Reedville, and Reed's 196 Landmarks of Rensselaer county. Hollow was named in honor of Joseph Reed. Colonel Reed owned stages in his early days in partnership with his brother, John B. Reed. This was when the stages ran to Troy and Albany. He owned several farms, and was a wealthy man. He owned a grist mill,a saw mill and also a flax mill. His wife was Ann E. Plume of Albany, and her father was Garrett Plume of Newark, N. J. To Colonel and Mrs. Reed were born four children: Mary E., who owned the homestead; Joseph, proprietor of the American House at Lansingburg; Evertsen E., who lived at the homestead ; Leon ard I., who died when seven years old. Colonel Reed was colonel in the State mi litia. He died in 1881 at the age of eighty-three years. Morrison, Andrew J. , was born in Argyle, Washington countv, N. Y. , October 3, 1828. The family moved to West Troy in 1837, where he was educated in the dis trict schools. He always had a taste for military life, and after a runaway from home, he joined Captain Stephenson's Regiment of 1st California Vols., and later Frisbie's company (Albany, N. Y.) of Colonel Butler's Dragoons of Philadelphia; the company was accepted in the regular army for the war with Mexico, but Mr. Morrison was too young to be sworn into the service. Captain Butler died soon after joining our army in Mexico, and Mr. Morrison accompanied the escort of the body to New Orleans; he then joined Gen. Narcisso De Lopez's command in an ex pedition against Spain in Cuba, where General De Lopez, three years later, was cap tured and garroted. After this he joined General Walker in Nicaraugua, Central America; this expedition was highly successful; years later General Walker was captured and shot. We next find Mr. Morrison with General Garibaldi in Italy; he was there a captain and afterwards a major on Gen. Gall's staff. When the Rebellion broke out at home he at once resigned his commission and returned to his native country. September 2, 1861, he organized the Northern Black Horse Cavalry, known as the 2nd N. Y. Vol. Cavalry; was mustered as colonel in November, 1861, and mustered out of the service in March, 1862. He then voluntered as aid on Gen. I. N. Palmer's staff, serving in the Peninsula campaign. June 25, 1862, he was shot in the hand. September 16, 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the 26th N. J. Nine Months Inft. Vols. November 4, 1863, he was commissioned colonel of the 3d N. J. Cavalry Vols., and was honorably discharged August 23, 1864. In January. 1862, in Philadelphia, Pa., he married Almira Vaughn of West Troy, N. Y., who, from injuries received on December 2, 1894, at her winter home in St. Augustine, Fia., by a hammock falling with her, died December 29 at her home in West Troy. Mr. Morrison is a member of Griswold Post No. 338, G. A. R., Troy; he is past commander of Willard Post, and is now in the postal service of the United States. Parmenter, Franklin Jay, was born in Pittstown, Rensselaer county, N. Y., August 28, 1829. He is a son of Dr. Azel Fitch and Lavinia (Ray) Parmenter, the former a native of Chester, Mass., and the latter of Wilton, Saratoga county, N. Y. His mother died in 1849 and his father in 1858. Franklin Jay attended the district schools and in 1846 entered the academy at Hoosick Falls, and in 1848 entered tbe Troy Conference Academy at Poultney, Vt, where he completed his academic edu cation. In April, 1849, he came to Troy and began the study of law in the office of McConihe & Parmenter (the latter a brother of the subject), on the corner of Con gress and First streets. In the spring of 1850 he opened a select school and taught the languages and higher English studies. He was admitted to the bar May 4, 1852, FAMILY SKETCHES. 197 and since that time has been in continuous practice. He was police justice of the city of Troy from 1860 to 1864. He contributed $2,000 towards the expenses of raising the 169th N. Y. Vols., and made many speeches in favor of a vigorous pros ecution of the war. In 1869 Union College conferred upon him the degree of M. A. Mr. Parmenter is the author of many poems ; the best known is the Welcome to Dickens, published by the Harpers and republished in England with illustrations. June 16, 1886, the Troy Conference Academy held their semi-centennial meeting and Mr. Parmenter was the poet of the occasion, and his poem was received with much applause. He is an accomplished scholar and rapid, graceful and easy writer. In 1872 he married Lorinda Silliman. Their son, Frank Silliman Parmenter, is now a student in the Harvard Law School. Weaver, Edwin C, was born in Lansingburgh, January 2, 1852. He was educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy, and has always carried on the meat business in a first class order. June 3, 1875, he was married to Susan Taylor, of Troy, by whom five children have been born : Edwin N. , George M. , and Clarence ; two died, Emma K. and Chester H. Mr. Weaver's father, Nicholas was born De cember 12, 1796. He was a boatman by occupation, first as cook, then as deck hand, and then as captain. He was a boat owner and dealt largely in lumber in company with his brother Charles. They, had lumber yards in Montgomery, Jefferson and Rutger streets, in New York city. He married twice; first, February 7, 1831, to Harriet Homan of Long Island, by whom four children were born: James H., Car oline, Albert, and Homan. Mrs. Weaver died in 1836. For his second wife, on May 81, 1838, he married Phebe A. Homan, a sister of his first wife, by whom seven chil dren have been born : Harrison, Frederick, Hattie A., Charles N., Edwin C. , Fil- more and Louise. He was a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M. , for fifty-eight years, was made a Royal Arch Mason in Apollo Chapter No. 48 of Troy in 1838. He was a charter member of Phoenix Chapter No. 133 R. A. M. He died June 20, 1878. His father, Lewis, was born February 25, 1769. He married Eliza beth Derrick, by whom nine children were born: Elizabeth, Margaret, Helen, Nicholas, William, Henry, Charles, No. 1, deceased; and Charles, No. 2, who sur vives at this day. John M. Weaver died April 12, 1861. The ancestry of the family is Dutch on both sides. Comeskey, James, was born in the North of Ireland in April, 1835. He was ed ucated in their schools and came to the United States in 1855 and located in Lansing burgh. He was a sawer in the brush factory for several years. He has a fine prop erty on Third avenue. When he was twenty-one years of age he married Elizabeth Graham of his native place. They have five children : Eliza, Robert C. , Thomas J. , Stephen and Ella. The father of Mr. Comeskey was Stephen ; he married Elizabeth McMurray, by whom five children were born : James, Robert, Mary J., John, and David. David was a soldier in the late war ; he re-enlisted in the cavalry volunteers of this State, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. He died of hardship endured in the war in 1867. Becker, Christian H., was born in Germany, September 14, 1842, and was educated in their schools. October 21, 1863, he came to the United States and located in New York city, and in 1868 came to Troy. He has been a grocery merchant in Troy, 198 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Green Island and Lansingburgh. He has married twice, first to Dora Schulat of Green Island. They had two children : Julia D. and Henry G. April 30, 1881, he married second Mrs. Louise Cook, born Maschke, formerly of Germany, and had one son, Christian J. Mrs. Becker died May 26, 1895. His father, J. Mathias, was born December 24, 1814, at the old homestead. He married Soaphia M. Raabe. She died March 18, 1891, and J. Mathias Becker survives at this date, 1896. He is a member of the Mount Zion Lodge No. 311, F. & A. M. of Troy, and is also a mem ber of the Rheine Lodge No. 248 I. O. O. F. and of the Ancient Order of Druids. The ancestry of the family is German on both sides. Pinckney, James E., was born in Albany, N. Y., April 22, 1861. His father, John W. Pinckney, was born in Coeymans, Albany county, and for many years has been weigher and measurer in the city of Albany. His mother, Mary J. (Cady) Pinckney, was born in Bennington, Vt. James E. received his education in the public schools of Albany and entered the piano store of Fred H. Cluett, and was later in the same business in Boston. He came back to Albany and engaged in the grocery business with his father under the firm name of J. W. Pinckney & Son. Two years later he accepted the position of assistant secretary of the R. R. Y. M. C. A. in Albany, and afterwards went to Plattsburg where he was general secretary of the association. In 1890 he accepted the same position in Troy where he has been since. He belongs to Mount Zion Lodge, F. & A. M., the Knights of Honor, and the Independent Order of Foresters. He was president of the Epworth League of the State Street M. E. church. He was married to Stella M. Schermerhorn, of Schodack Landing, N. Y., in February, 1884. Williamson, Isaac Hasbrouck, was born in Lansingville, N. Y., in 1860. He is the son of the Rev. R. D. Williamson, who came to Troy from Paterson, N. J., in 1871, and has been pastor of the First United Presbyterian church of Troy since that time. His mother, Phebe L. Cruikshank, was born in Troy. Her father was Robert Cruikshank, one of the oldest settlers of the county. He attended public school and afterwards took a course in the Troy Business College. He then took a position with the Bussey & McLeod Stove Co. , Troy, and had charge of the nickel plate depart ment of that concern. After two years' experience in the knit goods business, he entered the office of Tom S. Wotkyns as bookkeeper, and in 1893 was made a part ner in the concern, the firm name being Tom S. Wotkyns & Co., wholesale and retail coal business. He is a member of the Laureate Boat Club and the Pafraets Dael Club. In 1888 he married Miss Fannie Lee, of Troy, N. Y., by whom he has one son, Robert D. Phelan, John, was born in Ireland in 1849 and came to the United States in 1868, and learned the carpenter's trade, at which he remained until 1877, and since that time he has been in the contracting and building business. Among some of the buildings he has helped to erect are the House of the Good Shepherd, St. Patrick's church in the city of Cohoes, and a parochial residence for the Church of the Visita tion in the village of Schuylerville, N. Y., and many other prominent buildings and residences in Troy and vicinity. Spenard, Alexander, was born in Troy, N. Y., May 24, 1860. He received his edu cation in the public schools of Troy, after which he learned the moulder's trade, and FAMILY SKETCHES. 199 later made cigars. He then went into the tailoring business which he conducted for eighteen years. He was elected a member of the Farnam Steamer Co. in 1887, of which he was assistant captain for two years. He was the founder of the Lafayette Club, was a member of the first assembly of Troy, and was vice-president of the Celery Club in 1883. He married Esther Childs of Troy, April 29, 1883, by whom he had five children. At present he is carrying on the liquor business at 31 Adams street, Troy. Rising, Harold C, was born in Troy, February 28, 1872. He is the only surviving son of Charles H. and Emma (Seiler) Rising. He received his early education at the Troy Academy and the Graylock Institute at South Williamstown, Mass. ; later he entered Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass., where he prepared for Yale Col lege. In 1891 he began the study of law in the office of Seymour Van Santvoord. He was admitted to the bar September 13, 1894, at Saratoga. He became managing clerk for Mr. Van Santvoord in 1892, and when the firm of Van Santvoord & Well ington was formed he continued in the same capacity. He is a member of the Troy Citizens Corps. Laibach, Charles, born in Hesse, Germany, December 30, 1827, and is the son of Joseph and Catherine (Herlich) Laibach, who were farmers of Germany where they died, he in 1858 and she in 1847. Charles emigrated to America in 1856 and was a musician in New York city one year, having been educated in music in the Father land. In 1857 he came to Poestenkill and engaged in farming. In 1856 he married Mary Quandt of Germany and they have three children : Joseph H. , a farmer on the home farm; John F., a carpenter; and Mary Ann, at home. Mrs. Laibach died August 14, 1893. In 1876 Mr. Laibach came to Sand Lake, bought ninety-six acres of land and has since carried on general farming, making a specialty of small fruit. Miller, George C. , deceased, was born in Newark, N. J. , October 6, 1858. He was a son of Christian and Elizabeth (Muiller) Miller, both natives of Germany, who emigrated to America when young and settled in New Jersey. Mr. Miller is pro prietor of a large shoe manufacturing establishment at Newark. Mrs. Miller died in 1888. George C. was reared and educated in Newark. He commenced his business career with his father in the shoe business, and in 1885 he engaged in the sale of shoes, having one of the largest and finest retail stores in Newark. This business he continued until the summer of 1895; not enjoying good health he came to Sand Lake and purchased the paper mill. He had only just embarked in the new business when he was killed by a runaway horse. His death occurred October 3, 1895. In 1887 he married Catherine, daughter of William C. and Elizabeth Brown; he was a native of Connecticut and she of New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born two sons and two daughters: Ruth, Kenneth, George C. and Catherine. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Miller has carried on the business of manufacturing tissue paper. She gives employment to from twelve to fifteen people. Holser, Charles, was born in Sand Lake, December 11, 1851. He was a son of Jacob and Barbary (Gallei) Holser, both natives of Germany, and came to America about 1843. They stopped in Vermont for a short time, but soon settled in Sand Lake, where Mr. Holser did a big business in butchering and selling veal, Charles 200 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. commenced business with his father and has been a very successful man financially. He owns several hundred acres of land, a large interest in the Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road, a saw mill in East Greenbush, where he does a big business in lumber, and is also a dealer in wood. He has a spile yard on the river, and carries on an extensive farm business and deals largely in thoroughbred horses. He is now the owner of Jumbo Wilkes. He owns the Maple Grove Hotel and has property in Troy. Mr. Holser has been married twice ; first, in 1875, to Mary Hinke, by whom he has one daughter, Annie. Mrs. Holser died in 1877, and he married, second, Betsey, daughter of Hiram and Margaret A. Finch, who owned the farm where Mr. Holser now resides. By this marriage Mr. Holser has three sons: Charles H., John and Albert For the last four years Mr. Holser has been supervisor of his town. He is a member of Diamond Rock Lodge No. 565, I. O. O. F. of Lansingburgh. Kenyon, John H., of the firm of Dill & Kenyon, of Buskirk Bridge, was born at Tiashoke in 1866, son of Franklin Hamilton. But his mother having died when he was an infant he was adopted by his grandfather, taking his name by order of court. His grandfather, Henry Kenyon, died in 1887. He was a farmer and John was reared on the farm in Washington county, where he lived until 1891, when he began mercantile life at the present location. The firm was previously Rich & Dill, which carried a large stock of general goods. He married, in 1888, Mary Ida Herrington, daughter of the late B. F. Herrington. Four children are the issue of this marriage: Mildred Wynona, Benjamin Herrington, Zillah Sylvia and Orlo. Mr. Kenyon is a Republican and a Mason of high degree. Gaffney, Peter, is a public spirited, enthusiastic citizen who has ever been mindful of the welfare of Hoosick Falls. During his term of office as village trustee, electric lights were put in, and he was also instrumental in causing the first knitting mill to be established here, the Hoosick Falls Hosiery Co. He has been foremost in any advancement of local affairs of the town, of which he has been a resident since in fancy. He was born at New Haven, Conn, in 1855, where his father, Thomas Gaff ney, was engaged in the grocery business until he came to Hoosick Falls in 1856. Here he was in the Wood Co.'s employ, and Peter began his associations there as an errand boy. At seventeen years of age he went into the machine shop and acquired the machinist trade, and was die-maker nearly twenty years. For three years he was partner of Frank Riley in the livery business. Mr. Gaffney is a member of the R. C. church and was four years captain of the Fire Department ; also a member of the Order of Elks. Mr. Gaffney has never married; his aged mother lives with him; she was Mary Newcombe of Irish ancestry. Baucus, J Bryan, was born in Clifton Park, Saratoga county, N. Y., March 30, 1855. His parents moved to Schaghticoke when he was a child. He was educated in district schools, in Burr and Burton Seminary, Manchester, Vt, and Troy Busi ness College. He has always been one of the town's successful farmers. He is secretary, treasurer and manager of Schaghticoke Union Creamery. He was pres ident of the village two years, he has been a member of the Board of Education sev eral years. In August, 1894, he was elected president of the Board of Education of the Union Free school of Schaghticoke. December 18, 1878, he married Sarah E. Stover, of Pittstown. They had seven children: Ilai M., Edith S., Piatt B., John J., FAMILY SKETCHES. 201 Kate S., Raymond and Harriet E. Edith S. died at the age of three years. Ray mond died in infancy. Harriet E. died at the age of eight months. Mrs. Baucus died March 7, 1894. Mr. Baucus's father, John A., was born in this town January 5,1808. He married Elizabeth B. Banker of this town. They had four children: J. Warren and Harriet E. died in infancy; J. Bryan, and Jessie, who married Franklin Harwood ; she died September 13, 1884. Mr. Baucus's father died June 23, 1884, and his wife April 19, 1890; he was trustee of the Presbyterian church of Schaghticoke for many years and at the time of his death. J. Bryan Baucus suc ceeded to the position. Doig, John S., was born in Salem, Washington county, N. Y. , November 7, 1843. He was educated in the district schools, and has always been a farmer. He enlisted twice, first September 4, 1861, in Co. A, 7th N. Y. Cavalry, and was honorably dis charged March 31, 1862. August 6, 1862, he enlisted in Co. H, 123d N. Y. Vols., and participated in all the battles with his regiment until Chancellorsville ; in this battle he was shot in the head and right arm, which completely disabled him; he was hon orably discharged with his regiment at the close of the war. This regiment after the battle of Gettysburg was transferred from the Army of the Potomac, to the Army of the Cumberland. They were with General Sherman in his glorious march to the sea. March 17, 1869, he married Elizabeth Hunt of Greenwich, Washington county, N. Y. They ha.ve one daughter, Anna M. Abeel, living in South Glens Falls, N. Y. She has two sons, Elmer and Raymond. Mr. Doig's father, John B., was horn at the old home in Salem, June 7, 1804. He married Margaret Steel of the same place ; they had five children that grew to maturity ; Robert, Mary, John S. , Andrew and James, who was a soldier in the 112th N. Y. Vols. ; he was killed at the battle of Cold Harbor in 1864. Mr. Doig died in 1880 and his wife in 1850. Mrs. Doig's father, Edward Hunt, was born in the town of Pittstown, March 12, 1812. He was educated in the district schools, and in his latter days was a farmer. He married Almira Pratt, of Cambridge, Washington county, N. Y. They had six chil dren that grew to be men and women: Helen, Mary, Elizabeth, Delia, Adeline, and Edward. Mr. Hunt died January 1, 1893, and his wife July 15, 1888. Mr. Doig is a member of A. M. Cook Post of Greenwich, No. 326, G. A. R. The ancestry of the family is Scotch, English, and Irish. Weatherwax, John, was born in the town of Lansingburgh, N. Y., September 4, 1841. His education was obtained in the public schools, and he was a farmer by occupation. May 22, 1861, he married Louisa M. Cooper of the then village of Lan singburgh; they have seven children: John A., William M., Freeman C. , Arthur T., Albert E., Charles E., and Louisa M. John A. married Agnes Kerkpatrick, and William M. married Harriet Carpenter of Chicago. The four oldest sons are in the service of the Chicago Street Railway, and William M. is superintendent of the Chi cago Street Railway barns. Mr. Weatherwax's father, John A., was born in the town of Lansingburgh, January 24, 1794. He was educated in the schools of his day, and was also a farmer. March 6, 1817, he married Catherine Avery of his na tive town ; they had eight children : Eleanor, Andrew, Hannah M. , Eliza, Elizabeth, Amy C, Caroline, and John. He died January 18, 1879, and his wife died February 30, 1881. Mrs. Weatherwax's father, William Cooper, was born in Bristol, England, May 27, 1808, and came to the United States when a young man in 1838. He mar- 202 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. ried Jane James, formerly of Monmouthshire, England; they had four children: Louisa M., John T. , William K., and William J., No. 2. Mr. Cooper died Novem ber 6, 1874, and his wife survives. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge of Lansing burgh No. 58, F. & A. M., and of Phoenix Chapter, R. A. M. The ancestry of the family is German, English, and Welch. Abele, Luke G. , was born in the city of Albany, December 17, 1858, and is a son of Luke and Anna Abele, natives of Germany. He settled in Albany county about 1855 and engaged in the cooper business. She died in 1895. Luke G. was reared and educated in the city of Albany, and in 1883 he married Annie, daughter of Jacob Schaller of Albany, who now works part of Mr. Abele's farm. To Mr. and Mrs. Abele were born five children: Katie, John, Ann, Harry, and Thressa. Mr. Abele is a cooper by trade and was engaged in the business in Albany for several years, with his father and brothers. In 1894 he bought a farm of 173 acres in East Green bush, where he now carries on general farming, and will also engage in the cooper business on the farm very soon. Cushman, Robert T. was born in Pittstown, N. Y. , July 24, 1812, son of Stephen and Emma (Thomas) Cushman, natives of Fishkill, N. Y , and Nantucket, Mass., repectively. The grandfather of our subject, William Cushman, was born in Brat- tlesborough, Vt., and emigrated to Dutchess county, N. Y., when a young man, where he married Jemima Ladue, and afterwards removed' to Schaghticoke, and finally to Pittstown, where they died. Stephen Cushman was a blacksmith by trade, and spent his life in Pittstown. Robert T. was reared as a blacksmith, and later learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for about twenty years. In 1855 he purchased the farm of 100 acres where he now resides. He was a Whig in politics in early life, but has been a Republican since the organization of that party. He was postmaster at Raymertown about two years and highway commissioner three years, also overseer of the poor for two years. January 21, 1852, he married Sarah E. Beard, who was born in Pittstown, October 9, 1828, daughter of Isaac and Amy (Thompson) Beard, by whom he had two children: John B.,born September 13, 1864; and Stephen L, born in 1868 and died in 1871. John B. was reared on a farm and educated in Lansingburgh academy. He has charge of the homestead. He is a Republican in politics, and is serving his fourth term as town clerk. November 11, 1886, he married Mary E. Larrabee, daughter of George W. and Martha (Abbott) Larrabee of Pittstown, by whom he had three children: Sarah M., Ella F. and Laura. Kimmey, Jacob, was born in Albany county, N. Y., April 13, 1813. He is a son of Jacob and Jane (Winne), both born in Albany county, he a son of Jacob, a native of Holland, who came to Albany county and there died; his father was a miller by trade and also a farmer ; he died in Albany county. Mr. Kimmey was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. In 1844 he came to Schodack and bought a farm of 159 acres to which he has added eighteen acres. He also owns another farm in East Greenbush of 190 acres of land. Mr. Kimmey was also a miller. He was married in 1839 to Sarah Coonley by whom he has had four children : Ellen (de ceased), Edward (deceased), James (deceased), and Anna J., wife of Charles Van De Carr of Schodack. They have one child, Sarah E. Mrs, Kimmey died December 7, FAMILY SKETCHES. 203 1893, aged seventy-six years. Jacob Kimmey has traveled in England, France, Italy, Holland, Germany, and has twice been to California. Twogood, Charles, was born in the town of Pittstown, Rensselaer county, N. Y., in February, 1823, a son of Joseph C. and Lucy (Eddy) Twogood. His grandfather, John Twogood, was a son of one of two brothers who emigrated from England and settled in Connecticut some time before the Revolution. Soon after the Revolution he came to Pittstown where he married Mercy Cole, by whom he had two sons and five daughters. Joseph Cole Twogood was the eldest of the sons. He was brought up a farmer and followed it during his life. Both the grandfather and the father died in the same house, the old homestead now owned and occupied by the heirs of Charles Twogood. The father died in No.vember, 1860 ; the mother, November 13, 1873. They are buried in Oakwood Cemetery at Troy. They had eleven children, two of whom died in infancy. The names of those who reached adult age are : John E., Sherman, Eveline, Charles, Lucinda, Ann, Tisdale, Robert and Louisa. All are deceased except Eveline, Lucinda and Tisdale. His mother's grandfather, Devotion Eddy, was one of the earliest settlers in Pittstown, taking up 400 acres of land in the southwest part, including the lands now owned and occupied by the heirs of Charles H. Barry. The Eddy family for many years was a prominent fam ily of Pittstown. General Eddy was an Uncle. Eveline (Twogood) Brenenstuhl is still living in Pittstown ; Lucinda (Twogood) Spafford resides at Chicago, 111. , and Tisdale in Missouri. Charles Twogood was reared on the old homestead. His edu cation was received in the common school of his neighborhood. His time at home was spent in working on his father's farm. In 1860 he went to Missouri, where he engaged in the business of store-keeping with much success. Owing to the climate. which he could not endure, he returned to his native home after an absence of two years. After his return he purchased the old farm and surrounding land to the amount of 1' 0 acres and erected a flax mill on the bank of a creek running through the farm. On the 28th of September, 1869, he was married to Kate A. Brenenstuhl, daughter of Job E. and Lucy (Mills) Brenenstuhl of Oneida county. Job E. Brenen stuhl was born in Pittstown and is a son of Jacob Brenenstuhl, born in Pittstown, whose father was one of the earliest settlers of Pittstown. After the marriage of Charles Twogood to Kate A. Brenenstuhl two children were born : Alice and Edith L. Alice was educated at Lansingburgh Academy and was on June 11, 1891, mar ried to Jesse T. Durham, a lawyer of Oneida, Madison county. Edith L., who was educated at Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, is still living at home. On the 23d of November, 1873, Charles Twogood died at the old homestead, leaving a wife and two children and many friends to mourn for him ; he was very highly esteemed. In politics he was a Republican. During the year 1885 Kate A. Twogood was again married to Albert Lawton of Pittstown. They have since lived on the old Two- good homestead, working the farm and looking after its interests. Brooksby, James, was born in Scotland in 1812, and came to America with his Parents, William and Jane Brooksby, in 1824. The family consisted of seven sons and three daughters and located in Albany. James served apprenticeship in floral culture with John Wilson, in the floral business in Albany, N. Y. He then engaged as manager of a nursery for Wilson, Thornburn & Teller of East Greenbush. In 1857 he went in the nursery business on his own account, and in 1870 embarked in 204 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the floral business, which he is still carrying on. He was married to Harriet Weller of England, who came to America about 1824. They have three children : Mary, Jane and James. James was a soldier in the late war in the 10th Albany Regiment, and was in the battles of the Wilderness and Port Hudson, and was a lieutenant under Colonel McQuade of Albany. Mary is the wife of George Keller, and Jane is the widow of George M. Smith, who was killed by a railroad accident in 1866 ; he was a locomotive engineer, and left one son, Elmer G. Smith, who is manager of the floral business for Mr. Brooksby. Mr. Smith has been receiver of taxes and held other local offices. Bink, Zachariah, was born in Nassau, N. Y., July 3, 1827, and is a son of Henry and Catherine (Linck) Bink, he a native of Nassau and she of Columbia county. The grandparents, Peter and Catherine Bink, were farmers of Nassau, where they lived and died. Henry Bink came from Nassau to East Greenbush about 1831 and settled on the farm now owned by Zachariah. He died April 14, 1868, and his wife died December 28, 1883. Zachariah has always been a farmer and has 100 acres of land, which he himself farmed until 1890 when he retired, but still resides on the farm. October 22, 1849, he married Sarah M., daughter of Cornelius and Susan M. (Carner) Sliter, he a native of Sand Lake and she of East Greenbush. To Mr. and Mrs. Bink have been born two children: Henry, who married Mary Sweet and runs the home farm, and Harriet, who married G. W. Gaylord, a general mechanic. Brougham, De Witt C. , was born in Albany county, N Y. , September 19, 1852. He was a son of Aaron and Catherine Brougham, he born at Princetown, and she at Stuyvesant, N.Y. ; they came to Albany county at a very early date ; Mr. Brougham died in 1869, and his widow lived with Mr. Brougham. De Witt C. Brougham was reared and educated in Albany county. He followed farming and in 1883 came to Bath, N. Y. , and has been superintendent of the McNorton property, which he has since purchased, in all thirty-eight acres in Bath and Greenbush. He owns four residences on Third street. In 1878 he married Clara Dane of Albany county, and have had four children: Minnie and De Witt, and Kittie and Hattie, deceased. Mr. Brougham is a self-made man. He has been very successful and is now one of the wealthiest men in Bath. He is very enterprising and is ever willing to assist others in getting a start in the world. Cone, Henry, was born in Greene county, N. Y., March 31, 1834. He is a son of William and Elizabeth (Brando) Cone, both of whom were born in Greene county, he a son of William A. Cone, who came from England and settled in Greene county, where his father lived and died. The father of Henry Cone came to Rensselaer about 1850; he was a miller by trade and died in 1859, and his wife died in 1858. Henry Cone was educated in Albany county and also in Greene county. At the age of eighteen he learned the carpenter trade, and has since continued in that business. He has been a resident of Bath for about thirty-six years, and was married in 1854 to Frances Morris of Albany, by whom he has had seven children, of whom two are now living: Abram, engineer at the Weed & Parson's printing office at Albany; George B., engineer on the Boston & Albany Railroad, lives in Bath. Mrs. Cone died in 1889, and Mr. Cone married Lydia Stout, his present wife. Mr. Cone has been treasurer of the village of Bath for ten years in succession, and is the present FAMILY SKETCHES. 205 incumbent, collector cf North Greenbush for three years, chairman of the Town Cen tral Committee for ten years, and was elected supervisor of the town in 1891 ; he held that position for four years. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 41, I. O. 0. F., of Albany, and of Riverside Lodge No. 47, K. of P. in Bath, also of Rensse laer Lodge, A. O. U. W., of Greenbush. Cary, Charles, was born in Ireland in 1838, and is a son of Robert and Jane (Pels- worth) Cary. His father died in Ireland when Mr. Cary was a small boy ; he was a captain in the British army. Mrs. Cary came to America and died in the city of Washington. Charles Cary came to New York city in 1847 and commenced as farm laborer and has been successful as a farmer, and now has a good farm of 150 acres of land in East Greenbush, where he carries on general farming and dairying. He was assessor for six years and refused a renomination. January 21, 1857, Mr. Cary married Catherine Kennedy, by whom have been born the following children: Joseph, who was superintendent of Hilton Bridge, was killed, February 24, 1896, at the age of thirty five ; Francis T. , a machinist of Troy ; Mary E. , who died in 1886 at the age of twenty-nine years; May, Emma G., Charles K., Katie and Dellie, who died in 1888. Dandaraw, Roswell A., was born in Greenbush, December 7, 1859. He is a son of Anthony M. and Mary J. (Wemple) Dandaraw, he a native of St. John's, Canada, and she was born in Albany, November 12, 1831. The grandfather of Roswell A. Dandaraw was Mitchell Dandaraw, born at Bay St. Paul, Canada, and came to Albany in 1835 and in 1846 to Greenbush ; he was a farmer by occupation and kept a hotel in Greenbush, on Boston Island; he died in 1873 at the age of eighty-four, and his wife died at the same place at the age of eighty-three. The great-grandfather of Mr. Dandaraw was Mitchell Dandaraw who lived and died at Bay St. Paul, Can ada. The father of Mr. Dandaraw was born at St. John, Canada, June 13, 1821 ; he was a carpenter by trade, and was with the Hudson River Railroad for thirty-five years; he was trustee of the village of Greenbush in 1869, and also village asssessor; Mr. Dandaraw was the oldest living member of F. & M. Lodge No. 157, I. O. O F. ; he died July 8, 1896. Roswell A. Dandaraw was educated in Bath schools and Ful- som's Business College of Albany, and was graduated in 1878. He kept a boot and shoe store in Greenbush for three years, and then was firing on the Hudson River Railroad for three years; was with the B & A. Railroad freight office from 1884 to 1891, and was then travelling for the Albany Venetian Blind Company from Phila delphia to Atlanta, Ga; he was with them two years and in the mean time attended a medical college at Washington, D. C, for a short time and was afterwards gradu ated from the U. S. College of Embalming. October 10, 1892, he engaged in the undertaking business and has been very successful. He is a member of F. & M. Lodge No. 157 I. O. O. F., Greenbush Lodge No. 337 F. & A. M., Greenbush Chapter No. 274 R. A. M., and of K O. T. M. East Albany Tent No. 386. November 17, 1885, he was married to Maggie B. Purves, daughter of Thomas Purves, division master mechanic for the B. & A. Railroad. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Dan daraw, was James Wemple, who was born Pittsfield, Mass., and spent most of his days in Albany as machinist. His wife was Lydia Noble, born in Pittsfield, Mass., who died in Greenbush at the age of eighty-four, and Mr. Wemple died in Albany at the age of fifty-four. 206 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Dings, James L., born in East Greenbush, October 24, 1859, is the son of William H. and Catharine (Lansing) Dings, she a daughter of Martinus Lansing who was born in 1800 in Schodack and son of one of the early settlers of the town ; Mr. Lan sing was a member of assembly in 1842; he was a farmer and a man well known throughout the county. The father of William H. was Adam Dings who spent most of his life in Rensselaer county and died in East Greenbush. The father of James L. was a farmer until 1870 when he came to Bath and was in the grocery business until 1887 ; he was a Democrat in politics and held minor town offices. James L. Dings was reared in East Greenbush until 1870 when he came to Bath. He was with his father until the spring of 1887 ; in 1888 he started a bakery and has a very suc cessful business, employing nine hands. He is located on the corner of Wash ington street and Pollard avenue, and besides the residence where he lives he owns three houses and lots in Bath-on-the-Hudson. Mr. Dings was also engaged in the manufacture of forges and in the manufacture of harness. He was married in 1888 to Emma L. Welling, by whom he has one son, Justus H. Mr. Dings is a Dem ocrat and has been town clerk three terms and clerk of the village three terms. The wife of James L. Dings, Emma L. Welling, was educated in Albany graded schools and is a natural elocutionist and studied elocution under Samuel Wells of Albany; she traveled throughout New York State and was one year in Ann Arbor, Mich. ; her health failing she retired from the profession. Mr. Dings was educated in Bath- on-the-Hudson and graduated from Albany Business College in 1875. De Freest, Gilbert, was born in North Greenbush, April 28, 1826, and is a son of David and Marian (Hilton) De Freest, he a native of Greenbush and she of North Greenbush. The parents of David were David and Susanna De Freest, farmers of North Greenbush. The father of David, Jacob De Freest, was a Revolutionary sol dier. The father of Gilbert spent most of his life in the hotel business, and his last days were spent on the farm now owned by Gilbert, where he and his wife died. Gilbert was reared in Blooming Grove and at the age of fifteen was reared on a farm; he has been a successful man, and has a farm of 12} acres of land and does general farming. Fenton, Charles, was born in Greenbush, N. Y., March 2, 1818. He was a son of Thomas and Mary (Chandler) Fenton. She was born in New Bedford, Mass., and he was a native of Rhode Island, a cousin of Reuben E. Fenton, formerly governor of the State. His grandfather settled in Washington county and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, he died in Cambridge, N. Y. The father of Mr. Fenton came to Greenbush previous to 1800, and here lived and died about 1860. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Fenton was Jeremiah Chandler, an old captain of a whale ship; he came to Greenbush from New Bedford at a very early day, where he lived and died. Mr. Fenton was reared and educated in Greenbush and was on a farm until about twenty-one years of age. He then engaged his services to the company who took the contract of building the B. & A. Railroad, and has spent most of his life with that company. He was superintendent of the trains with Alfred Snyder across the Hudson River Bridge, for about nine years. He spent a few years in the country at farming, then returned and took service with the H. R. Railroad Co., and had charge of a signal until 1895. Mr. Fenton is now one of the oldest railroad men in New York State ; he has been trustee of the village, FAMILY SKETCHES. 207 and is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., and was formeriy a charter member of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Lodge I. O. O. F. In 1845 he mar ried Lorain Knight, daughter of Ebenezer Knight, who died in Rutland, Vt. His wife was Mary Barton, daughter of Elkanah Barton of Revolutionary fame. To Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were born four children: Charles S., an engineer for the Hud son River Bridge Co. ; Jessie R. , who is employed in Cluetts' music store of Troy ; Mary E. (deceased) ; and Frank K. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton celebrated their golden wedding in 1895. Guilfoil, James, was born in Montreal, Canada, November 18, 1865. He is a son of William and Ann (Doran) Guilfoil, both born in Ireland and came to Canada and then to Greenbush where they both reside. Mr. Guilfoil was educated in public schools and engaged as clerk for S. P. & G. T. Diamond, and was with them for about four years, when they dissolved and Mr. Guilfoil continued with S. P. until 1893, when he purchased the store and has since continued in business. At one time he was clerk of the school board. Keller, George, was born in the town of Brunswick, August 16, 1824, and is a son of John and Olive (Bolsom) Keller, he a native of Dutchess county and she of Bruns wick. The grandfather, John Keller, was a farmer of Dutchess county. John Keller, the father, was a farmer of Brunswick, whence he went to Saratoga county and from there to Washington county, and spent his last days in Troy. George was on the farm until fifteen years of age, when he went on the canal, and in 1848 went on the railroad as fireman and was promoted to engineer, and after forty years of service he retired in 1892. In :854 he married Mary, daughter of James Brooksbey. Mr. Keller has one son, George A., who is accountant for the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. He married Elouisa Hitchcock of Albany, and has two sons: George W., and Frank H. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive En gineers. Hamm, Mrs. Helen (Phillips), is a daughter of Andrew and Julia (Sliter) Phillips, he a native of Greenbush, born in 1809 ; and she of Sand Lake, born in 1815. The grandparents were James and Dorathea (Weatherwax) Phillips, he an English Yan kee and she a Hollander. The parents of Dorathea Weatherwax settled on a farm of 300 acres in the Weatherwax neighborhood. Andrew Phillips was put on the farm at the age of fourteen and given full charge at sixteen years of age. He was a successful man from the beginning, cleared the farm, paid for it, and made many other improvements. He died in 1880, and Mrs. Phillips died in 1883. In 1869 Helen married Thaddeus A., son oi Henry Hamm, of North Greenbush. To Mr. and Mrs. Hamm two sons have been born; Warden H., born March 6, 1870, and drowned in the Hudson River in 1877, and Merrill L., born March 27, 1875. He had been blind from birth and was educated at the Blind Institute, Batavia, where he took a seven years' course ; he is a professional piano player and tuner. Mr. and Mrs. Hamm were engaged in farming for three years in Poestenkill, and in 1880 took charge of the homestead farm of eighty-eight acres, where they make a specialty of small fruits, and have five acres of berries. Lansing, Jacob T., was born in Amsterdam, December 25, 1837, and is a son of Peter and Sophia (Francisco) Lansing, he a native of Albany county and she of Am- 208 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. sterdam. Mr. Lansing was a mlilwright and built all the largest mills between Albany and Buffalo, and retired at the age of sixty years; he died in 1888 and his wife died in 1881. The grandparents, Tunis and Maria (Vandenburg) Lansing, were farmers of Watervliet, Albany county. In 1850 Mr. Lansing married Mary J., daughter of Jacob T. and Jane (Mark) Lansing. The parents of Jane Mark were Isaac and Margaret (Haswell) Mark. To Mr. and Mrs. Lansing were born three children: Charles E., traveling salesman ; George H., inspector of public buildings; and Jennie L. Mr. Lansing commenced his business career in the mercantile trade in New York city at the age of seventeen, and after about six years removed his business to Albany and engaged in the dry goods business, from which he retired in 1874, and engaged in the cloth department of John L. Myers, remaining with him seven years. Mr. Lansing has a fruit farm of about five acres and cultivates all kinds of fruit. Miller, Stephen, was born in East Greenbush, March 19, 1821, and is a son of John S. and Catherine (Van Buren) Miller. Mr. Miller was a practicing physician in East Greenbush for many years, where he died April 26, 1854; his wife died many years before. Stephen was educated in East Greenbush Academy, and in 1848 married Annie M. , daughter of Michael O'Keefe, and have had six children, all of whom died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Miller reared one adopted son, William S. Miller, who married Mary A., daughter of Ruben Van Buren, a successful farmer of East Greenbush, and have four children: Elida, Frank L. R., Stephen D. W., and Floyd V. B. William S. has always been a farmer and now manages Mr. Miller's farm. Mr. Miller has 150 acres of land and makes a specialty of dairying. He has been assessor and road commissioner, and was for a number of years overseer of the poor. His son William is a member of the National Farmers' Alliance. Newkirk, Lorenzo, was born in Otsego county, September 20, 1841, and is a son of John and Edith (Steel) Newkirk, he a native of Otsego county and she of Albany county. He was a farmer by occupation, and died in November, 1893, and his wife died in September, 1894. The grandparents of Lorenzo were David and New kirk, both natives of Otsego county, where they lived and died. Lorenzo came from Otsego county to Rensselaer county when sixteen years of age and commenced work as a farm hand. He then rented a farm for seven years, and in 1873 bought fifty- five acres where he now resides, and has done dairying in connection with fruit growing, of which he makes a specialty. He was elected justice of the peace in 1896. In 1866 he married Wealthy, daughter of George and Cornelia (Moore) Brown of Otsego county. To Mr. and Mrs. Newkirk have been born seven children: Orlando, Frank, Edwin, Erwin, Dean, Grace and Nellie. O'Keefe, John, was born in Columbia county in 1820, and is a son of Michael and Sarah (Van Alstine) O'Keefe. Mr. O'Keefe was a native of Ireland and came to America in 1811 and settled in Kinderhook, whence he came to Greenbush in 1840, where he died March 23, 1881, and his wife died in 1857; he had three children: Margaret, John and Anna Maria; the latter is the wife of Stephen Miller. The maternal grandfather, Abram Van Alstine, was a farmer of Columbia county. John O'Keefe was always a farmer, at which he has been very successful. He has a fine farm of 164 acres of land. FAMILY SKETCHES. 209 Phillips, David, was born in Greenbush, October 29 1817, and is a son of David and Martha (Morehouse) Phillips, both natives of Dutchess county. Mr. Phillips was reared on the farm in what is now North Greenbush, and in 1838 married Bathsheba, daughter of Jonas S. and Mary (Wheeler) Manville, he a native of Charleston, Sara toga county, and she of Troy. Mrs. Phillips was born in Troy. Mr. Manville was a farmer of Greenbush, and his father, Adrian Manville, was a farmer of Saratoga county. To Mr. and Mrs. Phillips have been born two children: Mary L., born in North Greenbush, wife of Clark A. Phillips, of East Greenbush, and have five chil dren: Jessie L., David J., Dellie L., Eda M., and Mamie E. ; and Emma E.,.born in North Greenbush, wife of A. D. Traver, of East Greenbush, and has two daugh ters: Minnie E., wife of Frank Pockman of Schodack, and Jennie A., wife of C. W. Van Buren of Utica, N. Y. Mr. Phillips located on the farm he now owns in 1853, and carried on general farming and dairying. He has been highway commissioner for three years, assessor for three years, and supervisor of East Greenbush for four years. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are both members of the M. E. church, of which he is the treasurer and one of the trustees. Pockman, Spencer B., was born in East Greenbush, March 21, 1851, and is a son of John N. and Almira (Snook) Pockman, he a native of Kinderhook and she of Sand Lake. The grandfather, Jacob Pockman, was a farmer of Kinderhook, whence he removed to Schodack where he died. John N. Pockman was born in Kinderhook, and settled in East Greenbush in about 1840 ; he returned to the village in 1872, where he died June 10, 1896, at the age of seventy-three. Mrs. Pockman still sur vives, aged seventy three. Mr. Pockman had two farms, one of fifty-six acres and the other of ninety-six acres. Spencer B. was reared on the farm and always fol lowed farming on the homestead farm, taking charge of the home farm when his father retired in 1872. He received his education in the schools of Nassau, Albany and Sand Lake. In 1872 he married Roselthia, daughter of Eslick and Sarah (De Freest) Kimball, by whom one daughter has been born, Flora G., born October 7, 1873. Mr. Pockman has been collector and excise commissioner, and is a member of the Farmers Alliance. Snook, Jacob H., was born in Sand Lake, July 13, 1846, and is a son of William and Harriet (Pitcher) Snook, he a native of Sand Lake and she of Poestenkill. The grandfather, Cornelius Snook, was also born in Sand Lake. His father, Tunis Snook, was born in Holland and was brought to Sand Lake by his parents. He was a minister and preached under trees in Sand Lake. They took up land which was kept in the family until 1877, when the father of Jacob H. sold the homestead and removed to East Greenbush and purchased the farm now owned by Jacob H. He died in 1894. Tunis Snook was for seven years in the Revolutionary war. Jacob H. was educated at Fort Edward Academy and in 1876 married Matilda L, daughter of Stephen and Caroline Becker of Schodack. To Mr. and Mrs. Snook has been born one daughter, Jennie H. B., wife of Stephen I. Miller, of Castleton. Mr. Snook has 100 acres of land and does general farming, making a specialty of dairying. He has held the office of collector and inspector. Smith, Charlotte A., widow of Albert Smith, who was a successful farmer and busi ness man, and one of the prominent men of East Greenbush, is a daughter of Stephen 210 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and Catherine (Snook) Kimball, he a native of Rhode Island and she of Sand Lake. He commenced his business career in Saratoga county, where he married, first, Char lotte Anthony, and had one son, William H., who died at the age twenty-nine. He came to Rensselaer county about 1840, and married his second wife, Catherine Snook, who died December 15, 1865, and for his third wife Mr. Kimball married Kate E. Bullock. When Mr. Kimball came to Rensselaer county he engaged in farming in East Greenbush, and was for over twenty years secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Rensselaer & Columbia County Turnpike Co. He spent his last twenty years with Mrs. Charlotte A. Smith, taking charge of her farm after the death of Mr. Smith. Mr. Kimball died in 1887. Mrs. Smith and a sister, Sarah A. Kimball, are the only survivors of the family. Mr. Kimball was for several years deputy sheriff, and was a stirring business man and very popular in the county. Albert H. Smith was born in 1837 and died in 1866. He was a son of Nehemiah and Patience (Harris) Smith, the former born in Rhode Island in 1794. The grandpa rents of Albert Smith were Jesse and Rachel (Farnum) Smith, of Providence, where they lived and died. Nehemiah Smith came to East Greenbush and engaged in farming and speculating, in which he was very successful. He died in July, 1864, and his wife died in August, 1864. He owned about 400 acres of land in Greenbush and about 400 acres in Albany county, and nearly all of the stock of the Schenectady Turnpike Road. After the death of her father, Stephen Kimball, Mrs. Charlotte A. Smith was secretary and treasurer of the Turnpike Road, and now owns a farm of 245 acres, which she rents. Aird, Andrew, was born in Scotland, March 25, 1834. He came to this country in 1854, with his father and mother. He went into the sewing machine repair business in 1860, and continued in the same business until 1868. He was instrumental in the development of the sewing machine, making it useful in the collar and shirt business, assisting in bringing it up to its present state of perfection. He went into the jewelry business in 1875 ; since that time he has built up one of the largest trades in that line in the city. He is a prominent member of the Presbyterian church, of which he has been an elder for twenty-three years. In 1858 he married Agnes Ferguson, who came from Scotland. Harder, George W., M. D., was born in Stockport, Columbia county, N. Y., in 1855. His ancestors originally came from Holland. He is the son of Robert Har der, a wagon manufacturer of Stockport. His mother, Catherine (Shufelt) Harder, was born in Ghent, N. Y. George W. received his medical education at the New York Homoeopathic Medical College, from which he graduated April 20, 1890, and opened practice in Stockport and came to Troy, N. Y., in the fall of 1892. He be longs to the Homoeopathic Medical Association of the State of New York, and is examining physician for the Sons of St. George. April 20, 1892, he married Miss Mary A. Lee of Troy, by whom he has had one son and two daughters: Rita, de ceased; Catherine Gertrude, and George Lee, deceased. Bolton, Edward, was born in County Donnegal, Ireland, April 26, 1830. His father, James Bolton, came to this country in 1832 and settled in Troy and was a prominent contractor of that time; he died in 1890 at the age of eighty-three. His mother was Mary (Slevin) Bolton, and died in 1846. Edward was educated at FAMILY SKETCHES. 211 private schools and entered Oak Grove Academy ; after graduating from there he learned the trade of brickmason at which he worked until 1858, when he went into the coal business and he remained in the same business until he retired in the spring of 1895. He was assessor for several years and has been treasurer of St. Peter's church for thirty-seven years. He was an active member of the old militia of Troy for twelve years. In 1852 he married Bridget E. Curley of Troy ; she died. He has two sons and two daughters living and lost fourteen children. In June, 1896, he was appointed by the Board of Health as registrar of vital statistics. Demers, William H., was born in Troy, N. Y., March 25, 1864, His father is David H. Demers, a native of Troy and a printer by trade. His ancestors date back to General Schuyler of the Revolutionary family. His mother, Juliette (Broad) Demers, whose parents were of English descent, was born in New Lebanon, N. Y. William H. received his education in the public schools of Troy, entered the office of C. Edward Loth of that city and remained about seven years, and then entered tbe office of Fuller & Wheeler, architects of Albany, during which time he was married to Alice E. Whitehead of Brooklyn, N. Y., November 6, 1889; the following year he opened an office in Troy. He has designed many of the finest residences and principal buildings of Troy and vicinity. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge, F. & A. M., and Phoenix Chapter, R. A. M. Fielding, Harry P., was born December 25, 1863, in West Troy, N. Y. He is the son of John B. Fielding, who came from Leeds, England, in 1852 and settled in West Troy ; for many years he was a harnessmaker of Troy, but has retired from business. His mother is Mary (Payne) Fielding, who came from Leeds, England. Harry P. received a common school education, and the balance of his education at the business college, and private schools. He is a well known architect of Troy and has drawn the plans for many of the public buildings of that city. He is the archi tect of the new Masonic temple of Cohoes. He is a member of Mt. Zion F. & A. M. and B. P. O. of E. Graser, Charles F. , was born in 1841 in Germany where he learned the trade of a confectioner. He was left an orphan at an early age and came to this country in 1859 and went to work in a confectionery in Brooklyn, N. Y., where he remained for one year; he removed to Albany in 1860 and worked in Briare's celebrated cater ing and confectionery establishment of that city, and six years later came to Troy and opened a fancy bakery and confectionery at 63 Congress street, where he still is in business and is known throughout Troy and vicinity as a first class caterer and confectioner. He married Margaret Toolan of Albany, by whom he has two sons and two daughters; both of the sons are assisting in their father's business. Greene, Chauncey O. , was born in the village of Weedsport, town of Brutus, Cayuga county, N. Y., April 2, 1825. His father was a descendant on the paternal side of the Greenes who settled in Rhode Island about 1635, and his father's mother was a descendant from the brother of Hendrick Hudson who settled in New Eng land. His ancestors on the maternal side (the Folgers of Massachusetts) were rela tives of Benjamin Franklin. His father was William Greene who was born in Wor cester county, Mass. , in 1787, his parents having moved there from Rhode Island, and followed his trade, that of stone mason. He assisted in building the stone work 212 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. of Auburn prison at Auburn, N. Y., and subsequently moved to Peru, Clinton county, N. Y. In 1826 he moved to Danby, Vt. ; in 1837 he lived in North Bridge- water, now Brockton, Mass., where he died in 1862. The mother of Chauncey O. (Phoebe (Barker) Greene) was a member of the Society of Friends (or Quakers) until her marriage ; she was born in 1789 and died in 1866 at North Bridgewater (now city of Brockton, Mass.). Chauncey O. received his education in the free schools of New York and Vermont. In 1839 he went to reside with his uncle, Chauncey Greene, in East Dorset, Bennington county, Vt. His uncle Chauncey conducted stove manu facturing and general machine work. Chauncey O., having considerable knowledge of the stove business, came to Troy in 1844; he secured with N. Starbuck & Son em ployment at stove moulding. After six months he went to work for Choller & Jones of West Troy, N. Y. He returned to Vermont and went to school during the winter of 1844 and returned to Troy the following year and again commenced work at stove moulding. His health having partially failed he was compelled to give up moulding, and was given the position of time keeper and assistant superintendent of the works when only twenty-one years of age. When only twenty-two years of age he was made superintendent in full charge of the moulding department — two hundred men. In 1849 he went to Brockville, Ontario, but returned to Troy in 1850 and entered the employ of Wager, Pratt & Co. as superintendent of their stove foundry on Sixth street in Troy. In 1857 Chauncey O. leased the property of Smith & Sheldon (the successors of Wager, Richmond & Smith) and manufactured the work by contract. In 1858 he acquireda quarter interest in the concern, which went under the firm name of Smith, Sheldon & Co. In 1861 Sheldon and Greene purchased the interest of their senior partner, Henry Smith, and the firm name became Sheldon & Greene, continuing as such until dissolved in 1874, when he retired. During several years thereafter he conducted in Troy a wholesale and retail business as stove manufac turer. His old firm (Sheldon & Greene) was burned out of business in the great fire of 1862, but in four months the business was running again. After the Chicago fire, which occurred in 1871, the firm was forced to give up business. He traveled on the road for seven successive years, then returned to Troy and engaged in the life and accident insurance business, in which he is engaged at present. He was alderman of the Third ward for three terms and was nominated and elected without opposition. He was president of the Young Men's Association, and was the last president of the old Board of Trade. He has been a trustee of the Troy Academy for twenty-five years, and served many years as trustee and treasurer of the First Unitarian Society of Troy. He was married November 6, 1847, to Elizabeth Eggleston of Danby, Vt. He has one son, James Wager Greene, who is superintendent of the Polar Cold Storage System of Newark, N. J., and one daughter, Mrs. A. Gould Millard of Troy. Haynes, William, was born in Troy, N. Y. , in 1851. He is the son of Winslow Haynes and Catherine (Pillion) Haynes. His father died in 1854, and his mother died in 1869. William was educated in the public schools and the Christian Brothers' Academy of Troy and after clerking in a store a short time learned the carpenter's and joiner's trade and worked at that trade ten years, when with John S. Bulmer he formed the firm of Bulmer & Haynes, contractors and builders ; since that time they have erected many of the public buildings of Troy as well as a large number of the beautiful residences in Troy and vicinity. He was a member of the School Board FAMILY SKETCHES. 2L3 for six years and for nine years was trustee of St. Mary's Cemetery Association. He has been president of the Boss Carpenter's Association for three years, and a member of the E. Dolan Association twenty years. He has one daughter, Mary Philamena. Hayes, Edward J., was born in New York city in 1853. He received his education in Troy and entered the employ of the Burden Iron Works, and later with Hannibal Green, spring manufacturer, where he learned his trade. . He left Troy in 1872 and worked in New Haven, Conn., Cleveland and Coshocton, Ohio, and Chicago, 111.; he returned to Troy in 1888 and formed a partnership with P. W. Delee, in the man ufacture of carriage springs. In 1892 he bought out Mr. Delee and since that date has been sole proprietor of the concern. He was married to Lottie McCain of Coshocton, Ohio, in 1879; they have four children: Lilian, Edward, Maggie, Ethel Huntington, John H., was born in Rome, N. Y., January 1, 1830. His ancestors were all from the New England States. His father was born in Shaftsbury, Vt. , and was a farmer. He moved to Oneida county in 1826 and later came to Troy where he died in 1872. His mother, Sophronia (Henry) Huntington, was born in Bennington, Vt., and died in Rome, N. Y. , November, 1840. John H. received his education in private and select schools and afterwards helped his father on the farm. He came to Troy in 1848 and engaged with M. L. Huntington, his uncle, in the fruit and pro duce business; in 1860 he went into the belting business. He was m the city cham berlain's office until 1864 when he took a position as bookkeeper in the First National Bank where he remained for four years; when he took up the fire insurance busi ness, and in 1881 took a position with the Troy Gas Co., where he is occupied at present. He has represented the Fifth Ward in the Board of Aldermen. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. His first wife was Harriet T. Hubbard of Troy, who died in 1873. He was married in June, 1876, to Elizabeth H. Fosdick, who died in November, 1887. He has one son (John H.) and a daughter. , Hardy, William D. . was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, February 22, 1852. His father, Joseph Hardy, was born in the North of Ireland and came to Canada when a young man; he was a steamboat engineer on the St. Lawrence river and Lake Ontario, and died in 1885. His mother, Catherine (Downing) Hardy, was born in Scotland, and died in 1855. Mr. Hardy received his education in the public schools of Kingston. He came to Troy in 1871 and entered the employ of A. F. Clark in the clothing and merchant tailoring business, where he remained until Mr. Clark went out of business in 1872. He then took a position with the firm of John S. Tobey &Co., jobbers in clothing, as salesman on the road and in the store, and was with that concern until the spring of 1877 when he went into the clothing business at 267 River street, second floor. In 1878 he formed a copartnership with John L. Manny under the firm name of Manny & Hardy, in the merchant tailoring business, now located at 36 Third street. On June 9, 1875, he married Miss Ruth A. Horton, daughter of Leonard M. Horton, formerly justice of the peace, and a descendant of the Hortons, early settlers of Sand Lake. He has three daughters and one son. Boocock, John, was born in England in 1851. He is the son of Joseph and Ann (Jackson) Boocock, of Yorkshire, England. His father died in 1891, and his mother is still living. He came to the United States in 1881 and settled in Troy ; he then 214 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. worked at his trade of carpenter and builder with Charles Duncan, the contractor about three months, then entered the employ of Thom & Spencer, and was with that firm until they dissolved partnership in 1886, and he continued as foreman for Mr. Thom until his death, which occurred in 1889, and in 1895 he started in business for himself. He is an exempt fireman of the Beeman Park Hose Co. No. 9. He married Catherine Winspear in England in 1885. They have one son and a daugh ter. Bulmer, John S., was born in the county of Durham, England, in 1848. He came to this country with his parents and settled in New York city and one year later came to Troy. He received his education in the public schools and learned the car penter's trade, at which he worked sixteen years. He then with William Haynes formed the firm of Bulmer & Haynes, contractors and builders, on the corner of Hill and Jefferson streets. Some of the finest buildings of Troy and vicinity have been erected by them, among them is the Young Women's Association building, the Russell Sage Memorial building, the Rowe Memorial building, and St. Joseph's Home. Mr. Bulmer was married to Ellen Costello of Troy, who died in 1882. He has two sons, William and John, jr. Allen, Rev. Arthur H., was born in New York city, October 20, 1851. He is the son of Richard L. and Sally O. Allen, both born in Massachusetts. His father was a merchant in New York city many years, and died in 1869: his mother died in 1892. Mr. Allen prepared for college on Staten Island, entered Yale in 1869, and was grad uated in 1873; he was instructor for one year at the University of California at Oakland; he then entered Princeton Theological Seminary and graduated in 1877. He accepted a call to Islip, L. I. , in 1878, and was ordained April 15, 1879, his pastorate continuing there until January, 1885. He was installed in the Woodside Presbyterian church of Troy, February 12, 1885. He has been clerk of the Presbytery of Troy for ten years, and is corresponding secretary of the Rensselaer County Bible Society. He is a member of the Committee of Public Safety. He married, January 16, 1889, Agnes G. Crosby, daughter of Rev. Howard Crosby, D. D., of New York, who died March 18, 1891 ; they have one daughter, Agnes G. C. Allen. Abrams, Capt. Thomas D., was born in Rochester, Ulster county, N. Y. His father, Harvey Abrams, was born in Orange county, and was a farmer ; he died in 1865. His mother, Elizabeth (De Witt) Abrams, was a relative of De Witt Clinton ; she died in 1866. Thomas D. was educated in the district school; he went to school three months in the year and worked on the farm the balance of the time ; he left home when nineteen and for a time clerked in a store in Eddy ville, N. Y., and later went as a clerk in the transportation office of the D. & H. Canal Co. in New York. He then went as purser on the Thomas Cornell, running from New York to Rondout, afterwards was captain of the Thomas Powell, and five years later came to Troy and was one of the organizers of the Citizens' Line of steamboats. He is a director in the Mutual Bank. In 1880 he was married to Mrs. Marcia A. Harford of New York city. Harvey, David H., son of William and Susan (Shannon) Harvey, was born in Lansingburgh, N. Y., in 1856. His father died in 1885. After leaving school Mr. Harvey entered the employ of his uncle, Robert Harvey, in the wholesale salt fish FAMILY SKETCHES. 215 business, and after the death of his uncle in 1884 he formed a copartnership with C. G. Eddy under the firm name of Harvey & Eddy. He is a charter .member of the Y. M. C. A., and belongs to King Solomon Lodge, F. & A. M., and all the Masonic bodies of Troy. In 1882 he was married to Miss Emeline Elder of that city. Connor, William, was born in Troy, October 1, 1856. He is a son of John and Mary Connor. William was educated in the common schools, succeeded to the business of manufacturing printer's ink, paints and colors in 1877, since which date the growth of the enterprise has been steady and important; the present spacious works, 677-681 River street, first occupied January 1, 1889, comprise a large three- story building containing all the latest machinery for the manufacture of paint, and employs about fifty people in the extensive factory. Mr. Connor is a practical manufacturer with an experience in the paint trade for many years, and has estab lished branch offices at 9 Peck Slip, New York, 243 Lake street, Chicago, 409-411 North Twelfth street, St. Louis, and Toronto, Ont. Mr. Connor is held in the highest estimation for his progressive and liberal business methods, as well as his sterling personal worth. Helliwell, Thomas B., was born in Newb'urgh, N.Y., July 25, 1849. His father, Edward Helliwell, was born in England and came to the United States when a young man and settled in New York city, where he worked at his trade, that of a tanner and currier, and after came to Troy and worked for Elias Plum. Previous to the late war he started in business in Albany, and at the outbreak of the war he bought a tannery in Brunswick. He supplied the government with leather almost to the close of the war. He started in the currier's business in Troy, which he con tinued until his death, which occurred in 1891. His mother, Sarah (Booth) Helliwell, was born in England and died in Troy in 1881. Thomas B. was taken into the con cern with his father when he was twenty-one years of age, and since 1891 has been sole proprietor. He is a fur skin dresser and dyer. He is a 32° Mason. December 31, 1880, he married Romaetta Willsey of Albany county. Felton, William A., was born in Troy in 1836. Nathaniel Felton, his venerable , ancestor of Massachusetts, came to Salem, Mass., in 1683. When seventeen years of age he settled in New Salem, Mass., afterwards called Felton Hill and later called Danvers. His great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Felton, was born in Salem, Mass., in 1739, and at the age of sixteen was sent with others to Canada to repel the F'rench and Indians and did not succeed in returning for five years. He was a lieutenant at the close of the Revolutionary war, and was in the battles of Bunker Hill, White Plains, Trenton, and others, and commanded a body of cavalry in the Shay insur rection in the winters of 1786 and 1787. In 1793 he retired on his farm in Brookfield, Mass. Skelton Felton, the grandfather, was born November 13, 1784. He was a school teacher for many years and an officer in the war of 1812; he died in Lansing burgh in 1851. The father, Amory Felton, was born in Brookfield, Mass., in 1813, and came to Troy when a young man; he was a merchant for a number of years; he was a patentee for portable grain mills and a stock company was formed to man ufacture them; he later bought an interest in the Empire Foundry, where he soon became discontented and sold out to Swett, Quimby & Bennett. He married Nancy Boynton of Bennington, Vt., in January, 1849, by whom he had four children. He 216 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. died in Troy March 3, 1851. William A., is the manager of the Empire Stove and Machinery Foundry, and has remained in the concern forty years ; he always lived in Troy until 1895, when he moved to Lansingburgh ; he is a member of the Apollo Lodge F. & A. M. ; he served for seven years in the National Guard and held the position of first sergeant in Company G, at the time of his discharge; he is one of the original members of the Osgood Steamer Company; he was formerly a member of the Troy Yacht Club, and the East Side Club. In October, 1859, he married Mary A. Faxon of Hoosick Falls; they had two children Gleason, John H., was born in Schenectady, N. Y., September 22, 1841. He received a public school education and came to Troy in 1856 to live with his sister, and later learned the carriage maker's trade with Daniel Lucey and finished with Culkin & Donohue and was later in the business for himself where he remained for fifteen years. Mr. Gleason is president of the Northern New York Asphalt Paving Co. He was deputy sheriff several years and was boiler inspector for two years. He held the position of postmaster of the New York Assembly one year. He has held nu merous municipal offices, having been a member of the School Board for nine years, and assistant superintendent of the water department for the past nine years. He married in 1870 Margaret Inwood of Troy, N. Y. , by whom he had two sons, John E. and Robert I. Knibbs, James, was born in England, October 5, 1827, and is a son of Joseph and Anna (Bennett) Knibbs, who came to this country in 1840 and settled in Albany. His father was for thirty years janitor of the Albany Medical College. He died in 1874 and his wife died in 1884. James was educated in the common schools and came to Troy in 1848 and learned the machinist's trade in Starbuck Bros, shop in Troy, and worked at his trade until 1860, when he became connected with the Arba Reed Steamer Company. He took charge of the engine until 1883, when he was appointed superintendent of the Troy Fire Alarm telegraph, which position he has since held. He is a member of Mount Zion Lodge F. & A. M., of which he is a past master, of Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, and is also a member of the Masonic Veteran Association, and is the present treasurer. He has held all the of fices in Athenian Lodge of Odd Fellows and in the Encampment and is the present treasurer of both bodies. In 1850 he married Rhoda A. Harvey of Troy who died in 1876. His present wife is Emma Laws of Cohoes, whom he married in 1879. Mr. Knibbs has one son and one daughter by his first wife, viz. : William H., who is in the drug business at Stillwater, and Mrs. Frank B. Marks, of Elmira, N. Y. Vail, Samuel M., was born in Troy, N. Y., June 7, 1832, and was the eldest son of Townsend M. and Martha (Card) Vail, who were among the most esteemed residents of this city. Townsend M. Vail was practically a life-long citizen of Troy and for many years a prominent flour merchant on the southwest corner of River and Con gress streets. In 1856 Samuel M. Vail, who had received a liberal education in the schools of his native city, was admitted as a partner of his father under the firm name of Townsend M, Vail & Son, succeeding the old firm of Vail & Hayner. He carried a successful business for several years and finally retired, and died in Troy on the 24th of April, 1889. Mr. Vail was a trustee of the Troy Savings Bank in 1869, second vice-president in 1879, and first vice-president in 1886. He was for FAMILY SKETCHES. 217 many years a director in the old Troy and Boston Railroad Company, and was also interested in other railroad enterprises. He was one of the directors of the Con gress street bridge from the organization of the company until his death, and was also a director in the Troy Gaslight Company and a foundation member of the Troy Club. He was long a trustee of the Second Street Presbyterian church and one of the building committee during the erection of music hall. In 1858 Mr. Vail was married to Miss Frances Hart, daughter of the late Hon. Richard P. Hart, of Troy, who sur vives him. They had three children: Thomas Vail, of Troy; Fanny Hart, wife of Sidney G. Ashmore, of Schenectady, N. Y. ; and Martha Card Vail, of Troy. Donnelly, James W., was born in Ireland and received a good education — in fact so good that at the early age of sixteen he passed the necessary examinations, obtaining a teachers' certificate, and for about three years taught in the national schools of his native country, and in 1865 went to London, where he remained four years, being a member of the firm of Clayton, Quinn & Co. , contractors and builders. In 1869 he came to America and settled in Troy, where he first engaged in the retail stationery business on King street with James Doud, under the firm name of Doud & Donnelly. In 1870 he sold his interest to Mr. Doud and became bookkeeper and manager for Thomas H. O'Brien, wholesale wine arid liquor dealer at 458 River street. Mr. O'Brien retired in 1871 and Mr. Donnelly succeeded to the business, becoming associated with his brother, Thomas J., under the firm name of .Donnelly Brothers, which firm name has since been retained. In May, 1893, Thomas J Donnelly withhrew and since then James W. has been the sole owner of both the business and the building in which the busi ness is conducted, the latter being purchased by the firm in 1879. Mr. Donnelly makes a specialty of a French wine for altar and sacramental uses, for which he has been sole agent for the United States and Canada since 1877, having sub-agencies in Kingston, Ontario; Columbus, Ohio; and Dubuque, Iowa. This wine is made expressly for sacramental use. He is a director in the Manufacturers' National Bank, a member of the Robert Emmett Association, and has been bass singer in St. Peter's church continuously since 1869, Lee, William, was born in Ireland in 1844 and came to this country with his mother and two brothers and three sisters and settled in Washington county. His mother died in 1881. He received a common school education and in 1854 came to Troy and was employed as a driver for one summer. He then went to school for three winters, after which he entered the auction store of Ackley & Marston, where he remained for one year. He started his trucking business when sixteen years of age, and lost everything, horses, trucks, trunk, large sum of money and all his clothes in the big fire of 1862, but started in business again, increasing from time to time. He is the only teamster in business in Troy at the present time, that was in business when he started. He is a stockholder in the Wilber Shirt Company, and also in the Adams Laundry Machine Company. He is a member of Apollo Lodge F. &A. M., Apollo Chapter and Bloss Council, and the Masonic Veterans' Associa tion. In September, 1863, he married Pamelia M. Van Schaick, daughter of the late Capt. Cornelius Van Schaick. They have one daughter, Amelia Lee Richard son, of New York city ; her husband is agent for the Hoosac Tunnel Line. Mann, Herbert R., was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1860. He is the son of David and lib 218 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Mary E. (Roome) Mann. His father was a very prominent citizen of Troy, and was engaged in the forwarding business between Troy and Philadelphia for many years. He was also a director in the Mutual National Bank and died in 1890. His mother died in 1895. He graduated from the Troy High School in 1878, and entered the store of H. B. Nims & Co., where he remained until 1883, when he formed a copartnership with Mr. Burtis in the stove manufacturing business under the firm name of Burtis & Mann. He bought Mr. Burtis's interest in 1891 and sold the business in 1893 to James Van Hagen & Son. In February, 1894, he embarked with H. F. Hastings m the book and stationery business at 266 River street, they buying the old established business of Smyth & Co. He is a member of the senior company of the Troy Citizens Corps, the Laureate Boat Club, the Odd Fellows, and all the Masonic bodies of Troy. On January 29, 1884, he married Miss V. Adelaide Spicer, daughter of the la'e Theron Spicer, a former prominent lumber dealer of Troy. They have four daughters. Manning, John G., was born in Troy, N. Y., September 26, 1860. His father, Bernard Manning, was born in Ireland and came to the United States with his parents when young and settled in Troy ; he was a moulder and one of the founders of the Co-operative Stove Works and died in 1878. His mother, Mary A. Galligan, was born in Troy where she still resides. John G. received his education in the pub lie schools of Troy and graduated from the Troy High School in the class of 1878 ; he then went to work for W. A. Chapman in the saddlery hardware business, and in 1884 Mr. Chapman sold out to Manning, Patterson & Co. Mr. Patterson withdrew from the concern in 1890 and since that time the firm name has been JohnG. Manning & Co. He is a member of the Troy Citizens Corps; he served eleven years in the Sixth Separate Company and is now sergeant in the senior branch of the Troy Citi zens Corps; he is a member of the Laureate Boat Club of which he is treasurer and one of the trustees. He was married to Minnie Geer of Troy, April 11, 1888. Meredith, George L., M. D., was born in Keeseville, Essex county, N. Y., October 30, 1857. He is the son of Rev. Samuel Meredith, who came from Ireland in 1846, and died December 16, 1894. His mother, Ellen (Boomer), was born in Ireland and died in 1880. He received his education at the public and high schools and after wards entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, graduating in 1888. He then opened an office in Troy where he has since been located. He belongs to the Rensselaer County Medical Society and the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity. He is a medical examiner for the iEtna, Connecticut General, and the John Hancock Life Insurance Companies and the Royal Arcanum. He mar ried Miss Elizabeth Yetto of Troy, and has three children. In July, 1896, he was nominated for the office of coroner by the Republican party. Magee, Daniel, M. D., was born in Thurman, Warren county, N. Y. He is the son of Patrick and Ellen (McDonald) Magee. His father died in 1875 and his mother in 1850. Dr. Magee, after studying with Dr. Harcourt of Staten Island, went to the Burlington College at Burlington, Vt, and afterwards entered Dartmouth Col lege, from which he graduated in 1866. He then began practice in Chestertown, N. Y., where he remained for three years, when he came to Troy (1873), where he has since practiced. He is a member of the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity, New York State Medical Society and the Rensselaer County Medical Asso- FAMILY SKETCHES. 219 ciation. He belongs to Warrensburgh Lodge, F. & A. M., the Knights of Pythias, and the B. P. O. E. In 1875 he was married to Hattie Carey of Troy, by whom he has one daughter. Noack, Bernhardt J., was born in Zittau, Saxony, in 1850 and came to this country in 1868. He received his architectural education in Germany, where he also learned the carpenter and mason trade at which he worked for five years, and upon arriving in this country worked as mason in New York city; he then went into an architect's office for two years in New York city, and in 1871 came to Troy and entered the office of M. F. Cummings, where he remained until 1892, when he opened an office for himself at 257 Broadway. He has had charge of the construction of a number of breweries and malt houses of Troy and vicinity, and a great many of the stores and residences about that city and vicinity have been designed by him. He is a member of Apollo Lodge, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, R. A. M., Knights of Pythias, and Odd Fellows. He also belongs to the Turn Verein and Saengerbund and Maennerchor Societies. He was married to Julia Baumeister of Troy, who died in 1884. His present wife is Louise M. (Frank) Noack of Albany, to whom he was married April 22, 1896. He resides and keeps his office at 105 Fourth street, Troy. Nichols, Calvin E., M. D., was born in Elizabethtown, N. Y., April 8, 1845. His ancestors, on both paternal and maternal sides, were of old New Eng land stock. His grandfather, Ezra Nichols, was a Revolutionary soldier. His father, Edmund D. Nichols, was born in Elizabethtown and died in 1870. His mother is Mary (Gates) Nichols, who is still living. He received an academic educa tion and entered the medical department of the University of the State of Vermont, from which he was graduated in 1858, and commenced practice the 25th of June, 1868, in Port Henry, N. Y. In 1872 he entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York city, taking special courses in the study of medicine, taking another in 1873. He came to Troy in 1875, where he has been in continuous practice since, with the exception of fourteen months that he spent in traveling in Europe and this country. He served for a short time in the 1st Minnesota Regiment during the Civil war ; he served as attending physician in the Troy Hospital for ten years, and is senior consulting physician at the present time. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the New York State Medical Association, the Rensselaer County Medical Society and the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity. He is a 32° degree Mason, belonging to King Solomon Lodge No 91, Apollo Chapter No. 48, Bloss Council No. 14, Apollo Commandery, Albany Consistory, and Oriental Tem ple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In 1891 he was married to Miss Gertrude Pine of Troy. He has one son, Le Roy Eugene. Purcell, John J., was born in Ireland, March 22, 1858; his parents are John C. and Johanna (Williams) Purcell. John J. was born while his mother was on a visit to the old country. He received his education in the Christian Brothers' Academy and the High School, after which he learned the plumbing trade. He with his brother started in the plumbing business in 1882 at 411 and 413 Second street. In 1883 he was elected alderman of the Twelfth ward and served until 1891, when he was elected general assessor, and in 1893 was appointed plumbing inspector, which position he now holds. He was manager of the Y. M. C. L. A., of which for several 220 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. years he was treasurer; he is a member of the A. O. H. No. 1, and of Branch 6 Emerald Association. November 28, 1888, he was married to Miss Annie Donovan of Troy, by whom he has two sons and one daughter. Ross, Adam, was born in Scotland, May 20, 1839, and came to this country in 1855 and settled in Troy. He was a stonecutter by trade and worked at his trade in New York and Troy. In 1869 he started in business for himself, under the firm name of Cornell & Ross, for three years. Mr. Ross fitted the granite for the crematory in Oakwood Avenue Cemetery. The firm name is now Adam Ross & Son, of 2748 to 2750 Sixth avenue. He is a member of the Caledonian Club of Troy, a member of the Oakwook Avenue Presbyterian church, and is a trustee of the Samaritan Hos pital. In 1865 he married Agnes Connell of Troy, and they have ten children: Charles, a member of the firm; William, a pattern maker; Kate, George A., a drug gist at Hoosick Falls; Belle, John, Jessie, Lillian, Adam A. and Agnes. Mr. Ross is an uncle of Robert Ross, who was killed in the election disturbances of 1894. Rickerson, Seward, was born in Greene county, N.Y. , in 1855. His great grand father was in the Revolutionary war. His father, Lyman Rickerson, was a farmer of Greene county ; later he came to Troy, where he now resides with his sons, Le Roy and Seward. His mother, Laura (Bagley) Rickerson, died in 1889. Seward received his education in the public schools of Greene county and came to Troy in 1878, entered the saddlery hardware store of M. G. Curtis as clerk, and in 1885 was taken into the concern as a partner, the firm becoming Curtis & Rickerson, which continued until 1891, when with W. D. O'Brien he formed the Troy Harness Manu facturing Co., jobbers of saddlery, hardware, blankets, robes, etc. He married in 1883 Miss Lillie Collins, daughter of William Collins of Troy, by whom he has three daughters. Smith, Victor W., was born in Troy, July 25, 1862, and his father, John C. Smith, came from England in 1837 and was the son of a gentleman farmer ; he was a carver and designer by trade, and died July 29, 1887. His mother was Hannah B. (Robi- nett) Smith of Wilmington, Del., and a descendant of very prominent old French settlers. Victor W. was educated in the public schools of Troy and in the Troy Business College, and his musical education was received under the tutorship of E, J. Maschke, and was the first orchestra leader of Maschke's Cadet Band.. He has been musical director of the Griswold Opera House for eight years. He is a teacher of the violin, banjo and guitar, and has a very large class. May 9, 1886, he married Mary E. Johnson, of West Troy. Mr. Smith was the first person to introduce the mandolin into the city of Troy, which he did in 1885. Stoll, Gottlob F., was born in New York city in 1863. His father, Christian G., wns born in Stuttgart, Wiirtemburg, Germany, and came to this country in 1852, settling in New York; he was a bricklayer by trade; he came to Troy in 1865 and has been a contractor and builder in this city for many years. His mother, Mary K. (Oesterle) Stoll, died in Troy in 1893. Gottlob F. was educated in the public schools of Troy and worked in the tailoring establishment of Ametrano & Cook as office boy for two years, and then entered the office of the Clinton Foundry as stock clerk, where he remained for about two years. He afterwards worked for W. & L. E, Gurley and in the grocery store of Rudolph Beckman. He then learned architecture FAMILY SKETCHES, 221 in the office of M. F. Cummings & Son, where he remained for eight years He is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M., of Apollo Chapter No. 48, Bloss Council No. 14, and of Apollo Commandery No. 15. He was a charter member and first president of Jiinglings Verein-der German Evang. St. Paul's church. Strait, Thomas M., was born in Covington, Ky., February 1, 1856. His father, Hiram Strait, was born in Rensselaer county, and in his younger days had charge of an academy in New York city ; later he engaged in the trunk manufacturing busi ness in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother, Hannah (Malone) Strait, was born in Nash ville, Tenn. Thomas M. attended the public schools and graduated from the high school; he went to work for a florist in Cincinnati and in 1871 took a position with W. & L. E. Gurley. He was with that concern until 1885, when he went into busi ness himself, opening the Danbury hat store on Fulton street, Troy. He belongs to the B P. O. of E. Stein, Christian Adolph, was born in Troy, N. Y., December 18, 1863. Plis father, Christian Stein, and mother, Henrietta (Meyer) Stein, were born in Germany and came when young. He received his education in .the public schools of Troy; his musical education was also received in Troy. He has been a teacher of the organ and piano for fifteen years and many of the best musicians of Troy were formerly his pupils. He has been connected with the Vocal Society as accompanist for many years; also a member of the Choral Club since its organization ; and second basso of the Excelsior quartette. For the past twelve years he has been organist and choirmaster of St. Paul's church. He married Miss Grace La Rose of Albany, May 13, 1896. Vandercook, Charles E., was born in Cohoes in 1850. His father, Mathew G. Van dercook, was a prominent farmer of Saratoga county, N. Y. ; he died in 1889. His mother, Elizabeth (Hines) Vandercook, died in 1866. He received a common school and academic education and entered the Grant fanning mill and cradle factory at Melrose where he remained one year. In 1872 he started in the lumber and box manufacturing business at 6 and 8 Front street, Troy, where he has built up an ex tensive business, employing sometimes over a hundred men. He is a member of Apollo Lodge F. & A. M., Bloss Council, Apollo Chapter, and the Mystic Shrine. In 1881 he married Marie T. Rylee, daughter of George Rylee, by whom he has three children: Le Roy, Bertha and Lewis. Webster, Stephen H. , M. D. , was born in Troy, N. Y. , October 27, 1865. His father was Jasper Webster, who was a bridge builder by trade; he came to Troy in 1855; he built all the bridges on the Troy and Boston Railroad. His mother is Emily De Sylva (Cushing) Webster. Stephen Webster received a public and high school edu cation and was graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1886, afterwards en tering the Polyclinic Institute of New York city. In 1889 he went to Europe and studied medicine in Prague, Vienna and Berlin, returning to Troy in 1890 and opened an office at 811, afterwards removing t^ 817 River street. He belongs to the Rensselaer County Medical Society of which he was vice-president one year. He was married, November 12, 1895, to Miss Mabel Carpenter of East Greenwich, R- 1 He is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge, No. 91, Apollo Chapter, No. 48, Bloss Council No. 14, Apollo Commandery No. 15, and Oriental Temple, No bles of the Mystic Shrine. 222 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Wales, Edwin R., was born in Cherry Valley, N. Y., in 1849. His father, Philip Wales, came to this country about 1847 and settled in Cherry Valley; he was a cabi netmaker by trade and died in 1851. His mother, Eliza Keable. was born in Eng land, and died at Troy in 1885. Edwin R. received his education in the public schools of Cherry Valley and came to Troy in 1862 and was a clerk for Snyder & Co., grocers, later clerked in the drug stores of Dr. Fowler in Hoosick Falls and in Troy for J. W. Jones and Hawley & Co. He then learned the painter's trade and went to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1772, but returned to Troy again in 1873 and started in the painting and decorating business in 1877 under the firm name of Hollen & Wales, which continued until 1889, when he formed a partnership with W. F. Crain in the paper hanging and decorating business and in 1892 sold out and has since been engaged alone. He is a thirty-second degree Mason; he isa stockholder and director in the TrOy Steam Laundering Co., and was assistant captain of the Trojan Hooks in 1886, captain from 1887 and 1892, and treasurer in 1893. He married in 1889 Mary S. Lent of Troy, by whom he has one son and one daughter. Waldron, George E., was born in Troy, May 17, 1847. His father, Ephraim D. Waldron, was born in Half Moon, Saratoga county, in 1818, and was one of the pio neer sloop captains on the Hudson River, and started in the lumber business in Troy in 1855 under the firm name of Cottrell & Waldron, which was succeeded by E. D. Waldron in 1N57, and in 1864 his two sons, William H. and Gecrge E., were taken into the concern under the firm name of E. D. Waldron & Sons, which continued until the death of William H. in October, 1882, when the firm became E. D. Waldron & Son. E. D. Waldron died April 11, 1894; his mother, Sarah Ann (Watson) Wal dron, is still living in Troy. George E. was educated in the public schools of Troy and in the seminary at Fulton, N. Y. , and became connected with the lumber busi ness with his father in 1864, and since the death of his father has been sole proprie tor of the business, which still retains the name of E. D. Waldron & Son. He is also manager of the Globe Ventilator Company. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge iMo. 48 F. it A. M., of the Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Cammandery, and Oriental Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and is also a member of the Troy Yacht Club and the Ionic Club. In 1868 he married Minnie A. Daniels, of Troy, and has one daughter. Mabel D. Young, jr., William H., was born in Troy, N. Y., June 23, 1855. He received his education in the ward schools of that city and Scramm's boarding school at Sand Lake. He learned the marble worker's trade with his father, and in 1884 started in business for himself at the corner of Hoosick and Eighth streets, Troy, where he is still located, and does all kind of art and monument work ; he has erected many fine monuments in the cemeteries of Troy and vicinity and. the Berry vault at Raymer town, which is one of the finest in the county; also constructed the Goldstone arch at the Mount Ida Cemetery. He is a member of the Citizens Association. He mar ried June 1, 1882, Grace Eddy of Troy. Their children are Emma and Harry. Hamm, Charles Webster, M. D., was born in the town of North Greenbush, Rens selaer county, April 19, 1869. He is a son of Henry Hamm, who is a native of Sar atoga county, born in August, 1815 ; he was one of two sons and one daughter, born to John Henry ; he is a mason by trade and while a young man he spent some time FAMILY SKETCHES. 223 in Florida and other parts of the South ; the greater portion of hislife has been spent in the town of North Greenbush ; for a number of years he has devoted his attention to gardening; his wife was Mary A. Miller; to them were born thirteen children, of whom five sons and two daughters are now living. Dr. Charles Webster's early education was in the common district schools and later he attended the Troy Acad emy, from there he went to Lansingburgh Academy, and began the study of medi cine when eighteen years of age under Dr. M. A. Wheeler, then of Albia, with whom he registered. He later entered the Albany Medical College and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1893. While attending college he was the his torian of his class. His first practice of his profession for himself was in the city of Troy, the same year he was graduated. In January, 1894, he removed to the village of Poestenkill and entered the office of Dr. Hull as a partner, which partnership terminated eleven months later with the death of the latter. He then had the entire practice to attend to, which he not only retained but increased. He enjoys an ex tensive practice in his own and four other adjoining towns, and yet retains some of his Troy practice. Dr. Hamm is a member of the Medical Society of the County of Rensselaer, and the Troy City and Vicinity Society. He is a member of the order of Odd Fellows, Poestenkill Lodge No. 704; he is also a medical examiner for sev eral insurance companies. June 6, 1894, he married Miss Ella L. De Freest; she was born in Greenbush and is a daughter of Edwin aud' Louisa (Bass) De Freest; they have one child, Herbert De Freest. Buckley, Joseph, in his eventful political life has been a faithful servant of his townsmen, and in an official capacity he has won for himself an enviable record. He was elected justice of the peace in 1871 and held the office until he resigned, and for years was trustee of the Hoosick Falls Union Free School until his resignation to accept the supervisorship to which he was re-elected. He has filled the presi dential chair of the village and served as village treasurer again and again. The Democratic party may point with pride to so able a member. He was born in Ire land in 1846 of parents in humble circumstances, who came to Troy when Joseph was but six years old. At an early age he was apprenticed to O. G. Clark, a builder. When but twenty years of age he secured a contract for the building of a large cot ton mill in Vermont. He came to Hoosick Falls in 1869, where he became the most active and successful builder and contractor of his day, as the very many public buildings here and in other places will attest. Among other buildings erected by him are the St. Mary's Catholic church here, the Walter A. Wood Works after being destroyed by fire, the Catholic church at North Adams, the Congregational church at Bennington, and a Catholic church at Williamstown, Mass. In 1876 he entered in the business of grocer and coal dealer on Elm street where he still remains. He married Margaret Clifford of West Troy and has two sons: Joseph, jr., associated with his father since 1895 ; and William, a student. Benedict, Mrs. L. , is the widow of the late Lyman Benedict, whose death in 1876 was a source of universal regret. He was a man of decided character and possessed those noble and generous qualities which have served to embalm his memory in the hearts of both young and old. He was a liberal supporter of the Presbyterian church, where his memory still lingers as a benediction. He was born in 1805, son of a farmer who died when Mr. Benedict was small, leaving a large family. They 224 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. were very poor but the mother, heroine that she was, maintained a home, keeping the flock together. Mr. Benedict learned the mason trade and came to Hoosick Falls about 1830, engaging in building and contracting, and most of the factories and many brick houses were erected under his supervision. He was also an exten sive contractor on the Fitchburgh Railroad and i:s bridges. He was a member of the Wood Machine Co. from its organization, and erected in 1874 a handsome resi dence. He allied himself in 1839 to one of the first families of this place by his mar riage to Caroline E. Bishop. She is of English ancestry, a daughter of the late William Bishop, who was also born here. Her grandfather, Nathaniel Bishop, was one of the first settlers here. Crape, Crist, was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, June 20, 1848. He is a son of Joseph and Margaret (Snyder) Crape, who came to America in 1850 and settled at Glass House where Mr. Crape was employed in the glass factory. He afterward en gaged in farming which he followed until the fall of 1862, when he enlisted in Co. D, 10th N. Y. Vols. He returned to his home in August, 1863, and died about ten days after. Mrs. Crape died in 1891. February 1, 1868, Crist was married to Henrietta, daughter of Henry and Harriet Warger, who came from Germany in about 1840. Mr. Warger was a mason by trade, and lived and died in Sand Lake. Mrs. Warger died in 1883, after which Mr. Warger resided with Crist until his death, which oc curred in 1893. To Mr. and Mrs. Crape have been born four children, all of whom are at home; they are Libbie, Maggie, Charles, and Harry. Mr. Crape commenced his business career as a peddler, and then for several years was in the lumber busi ness at Sand Lake, and in 1880 bought the Central Hotel which he has greatly en larged and improved and where guests will always receive the best of accommoda tion. Mr. Crape has been assessor for four years and supervisor for one year. He takes a great interest in schools and has been for ten or twelve years trustee of the Sand Lake school. He is a member of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., Interlachen Lodge No. 541, I. O. O. F., of Rensselaer Encampment, No. 96, and also P. of I. or Wynantskill. Easton, C. W., the original member of the firm of Easton, Rising & Worden of Hoosick Falls, began business life as first clerk in a news-room at North Adams, Mass., where he was born in 1845, a son of a shoe dealer, and where his education was completed. After three years in the news-room he entered the post-office at Pittsfield, Mass., remaining one year, then returning to North Adams as clerk in a general store. In 1866 he went to South Adams and opened a confectionery store, which he conducted for three years. He then spent five years on the Hoosac tun nel, having charge of the central shaft store. He came here in 1875 and established a fire insurance business, also a coal trade which he conducted five years when in 1879 he was joined by George F. Rising, and later by L. E. Worden, the firm name now being Easton, Rising & Worden ; this firm has grown to be one of the oldest as well as the most prominent one in the place. Mr. Easton married in 1867 Mary C, daughter of H. H. Clark, a prominent cotton manufacturer of South Adams. Of the eleven children that were born to them only four daughters are now living. Mr. Easton is a director in the First National Bank of Hoosick Falls, also president of the Industrial Building and Manufacturing Company; he is a Republican, but not an aspirant for public office ; he is a leading member of the M. E. church, trustee and treasurer, also superintendent of the Sunday school. FAMILY SKETCHES. 225 Brown, Willet A., was born in the city of Brooklyn, June 13, 1847. He was a son of Thomas S. and Wilhelmina (Burtchell) Brown, he a native of Connecticut and she of Brooklyn. Mr. Brown was a blacksmith by trade and carried on the business in Albany and Greenbush, coming to Albany in about 1847. He was a member of Greenbush Lodge I. O. O. F. ; he died in 1893, and Mrs. Brown died in 1854. Willet A. was reared and educated in Greenbush. In 1869 he married Lucy, daughter of John N. and Caroline (Wheeler) White, he a native of Boston. Mr. White died in 1864 and Mrs. White died in 1859 ; he was engaged in the manufacture of shoes in New York city. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born five children : Willet L. , Edgar W., Mabel W., Virginia P., and Lena V. Mr. Brown commenced his business career as cabin boy on the Hudson River, next as a brakeman on the Hudson River Railroad, and then went to Troy as ticket inspector and in 1870 he was promoted to passenger conductor. In 1881 Mr. Brown came to Sand Lake and purchased the Crooked Lake Hotel, of which he is still proprietor. He has in connection with the house a farm of thirty-six acres. He has one of the most delightful locations in the State for summer homes. Feathers, John W., was born in Sand Lake, November 27, 1844. He is a son of George and Betsey (Peck) Feathers, he a native of Brunswick and she of Sand Lake; the parents of George Feathers were Adam and Catherine (Bonesteel) Feathers; he was born in Middletown, May 9, 1789, and she in Brunswick, January 29,1797; the father of Adam, George Feathers, was born in Sharon, May 5, 1761; his wife, Elizabeth Jacobs, was born at Little Hoosick, April 12, 1766 ; the father of John W. was born December 23, 1817. In 1838 he married Betsey Peck, and died November 27, 1893. Mrs. Feathers still survives him and is eighty-one years of age. He was a farmer and poormaster for about twelve years, and was assessor for about eighteen years; he was very active in the M. E. church and was class leader for fifty-three years. John W. has always given his attention to farming and garden ing. In 1878 Mr. Feathers married Eunice M., a daughter of Barton and Almina (Flint) Horton, both natives of Poestenkill ; the grandfather was Piatt Horton. Mr. and Mrs Feathers have two children : Charles Wesley and Sylvester B. Gillespie, Nelson, of the well-known firm of Gillespie Bros., is one of the most prominent, influential and highly respected Citizens of Hoosick Falls. He was born at Johnstown, Fulton county, N. Y., in 1843, son of Joseph and Fanny Hogeboom-Gil- lespie, natives of Greenbush, N.Y. He is of Scotch and Dutch ancestry and inherits the sterling qualities which distinguish the best of both races. His thirteenth year, which was the commencement of his successful mercantile life, was also the last opportunity given him as a pupil in school. For eighteen years he was department manager with the firm of G. V. S. Quackenbush & Co. Troy, and came to Hoosick Falls in February, 1886, having been for the three previous years a member of the firm of Gillespie Bros., dry goods, then located on John street. Now their extensive establishment occupies double stores in Cheney Block, Main street. Mr. Gillespie was always interested in historic research and is corresponding secretary of the local historical society. He is independent in politics; a communicant and vestry man in St. Mark's church, and a past master of Apollo Lodge, F. & A. M., Troy, N. Y- In 1886 he wrote and published a brief history of the lodge, and is engaged in the work of compiling an enlarged centennial edition. 226 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. McLaren, John and Robert— In 1851, in company with his brother David, John McLaren emigrated from Scotland to America and settled in West Troy, and in 1854 Robert and his parents, John and Mary, joined them. John commenced work in the West Troy Woolen Mills. Robert went to Pittsfield, Mass., where he worked in the mills, thence to North Adams where he was eleven years boss dyer. John was engaged at different places in the mills and in 1865 came to West Sand Lake and became one of the firm of Kidder, Aiken & McLaren in the manufacture of knit woolen goods. The firm was changed to Aiken & McLaren, and finally the building was burned. In 1881 Robert joined his brother and the establishment was rebuilt and has since been run under the name of J. & R. McLaren. John McLaren was born in Scotland in 1830 and died in West Sand Lake in December, 1894; his widow, Elizabeth Lester, a native of Stephentown, and three children, J. Howard, David G. and Ella M. survive him. Robert McLaren was born in Scotland in 1834 and died in West Sand Lake in September, 1889; his widow, Sarah Bickley, of Lee, Mass., and three chil- pren, John R., Ida B. and Robert L., reside at West Sand Lake. Robert was a member of Lafayette Lodge, North Adams, F. & A. M. On January 1, 1895, J. Howard and his cousin John R. took charge of the business. They manufacture a fine quality of knit underwear and overshirts and employ about seventy hands. Mullin, Andrew, when sixteen years of age learned the cigarmakers' trade, which he followed until 1873 when he started in business for himself. In 1875 he married Sarah Henrietta Allen and has one child, Florence Henrietta. In 1876 he moved to Eagle Mills and carried on a cigar manufactory. In 1884 he entered the employ of the Planter Hoe Co. Since 1886 he has lived more retired. In 1878 he was elected town clerk, which office he has held to the present time with the exception of three years. He was postmaster during Harrison's term from 1888 to June, 1893, when he was appointed deputy postmaster, which he holds at the present time. He is active in the .Church of Christ, of which he has been trustee, deacon and clerk. He is active in education and is now treasurer of the district. He is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48, and Apollo Commandery No. 15. He was made a Mason in 1873, and was formerly a member of Rensselaer Lodge, I, O. O. F. , and Crusade Lodge, K. of P., in which lodge he has held all the offices. He was active in temperance work, and has been notary public for the past seventeen years. Moses, Charles J., was born in Petersburgh, June 28, 1834. He is a son of Dr. Hiram and Abeline (Worthington) Moses. Hiram was a son of Thomas, a na tive of Norfolk, Conn. Dr. Hiram was a graduate of Yale and afterwards took a course in medicine at Castleton. Vt. In 1825 he practiced medicine with his brother at Hoosick Falls. One year later he moved to Petersbugh, where he spent the remainder of his days. He married Abeline Worthington, and their children are Dr. Hiram, Aaron, Thomas, Charles J., Albert A. and Solon. Charles J. had a common school education, and when about twenty years' of age he went West and spent five years on the lakes and in Western States. He then enlisted in the sloop of war Hartford and visited China, Japan and other foreign countries; He was mustered out in December. 1861, since which time he as followed farming and the hotel business. May 1, 1863, he married Mary Etta Hewitt, and their children are Jennie, Solon and Frank. His wife died April 30, 1891. Later he married Mary, FAMILY SKETCHES. 227 daughter of George Perdiger of Poestenkill, N. Y. Aaron Worthington married Abigail Ross, and their children are Sardinia, Sallie, Pauline, John, Abeline, Aaron F., David R., William C, Ambrose and Winfield S. Thomas Moses married Abigail (Brown) Moses, and their children are Solomon, Thomas J., Ralph, Benjamin, Hiram, Betsey, Julia, Eunice, Abigail and Ruth. Coverly, James Montford, was born in Boston, Mass. He is the son of James W. Coverly, who was born in Sanbornton, N. H., and for thirty years has been superin tendent in the large dry goods house of Jordan, Marsh & Co. J. M. Coverly was educated in the public schools of Boston and went as clerk in the office of Bradford & Anthony, where he -remained for several years, when he took a position in the office of the Standard Clothing Company, with whom he was connected for twelve years, when he came to Troy and with Mr. Wells formed the large clothing house of Wells & Coverly. Cohsalus, John, was born in West Charlton, Saratoga county, N. Y., in 1828. His great-grandfather settled in Charlton during the Revolutionary war and was killed by the Indians. His father, Emanuel Consalus, was born in West Charlton and be sides being a farmer was a dealer in real estate and died in 1884. His mother was Catherine Worden, who died in 1887 at the age of eighty-three. John was educated in the common schools and the Amsterdam Academy and when twenty-two years of age assisted his father in buying cattle, sheep, wool, etc., and in 1862 came to Troy and with his brother started the firm of J. & D. A. Consalus, wool dealers ; twelve years later he bought his brother's interest in the concern and since 1888 has done a brokerage business in wool ; his office is at 351 River street. He was town collector of Charlton and while living there represented his district for two terms in the Board of Supervisors. He belongs to the American Protective Tariff Association of New York, also a member of the Royal Arcanum. In 1865 he was married to Julia McDowell of Canada, by whom he has two sons and two daughters: John E. , D. Arthur, Charlotte F. and Edna N. Cahill, John F. , was born in Cambridge, N. Y. ,-in 1854. He is the son of John and Margaret (Flannery) Cahill, who came from Ireland in 1849, and settled in Washington county, where they remained until 1858, when the mother and children came to Troy, John Cahill having died in 1857. Mrs. Cahill died in 1895. John F. was educated at the Brothers' Academy and went as an apprentice to the Clinton foundry to learn the moulder's trade. He was a member of the Iron Moulders' Union No. 2, and represented them at their convention, and was president of the organization two terms. He worked at his trade for nine years, and took the posi tion of superintendent of the Troy Electric Light Company. In 1889 he was made superintendent and still remains in that position. He was a member of the School Board from 1876 to 1882, and from 1885 to 1891, and president of the School Board in 1891. He is alderman from the First ward, and for the past two years has been president of the Common Council. He married Miss Belle E. Maloney in 1888. Craver, Sylvester J., was born in East Greenbush, January 27, 1832 He is a son of John W. and Catherine (Cooper) Craver, a native of East Greenbush and she of Poestenkill. The grandparents, William and Elizabeth (Koon) Craver, came from Dutchess county and settled in Greenbush in pioneer days. The maternal grand- 228 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. parents, Christopher and Catherine Cooper, were farmers of Poestenkill where they lived and died. John W. Craver was a farmer of East Greenbush ; he was assessor for a number of years ; he died in 1888 and his wife died in 1878. Sylvester J. Craver was educated at the academy at Sand Lake and taught school for a while. In 1858 he married Esther, daughter of Daniel M. and Abigail (Moul) Haywood. Mr. Hay wood was a native of Dutchess county and spent his life on the farm now owned by Mr. Craver. To Mr. and Mrs. Craver have been born three children: Elmer H., coal dealer of Troy; he married Carrie M. Lawson; Abbie, wife of Edward Graham, clerk and bookkeeper for the electric works of Schenectady, and Mary E., who died at the age of two years. Mr. Craver has a farm of 135 acres in North Greenbush where he has carried on general farming since 1858. He makes a specialty of dairy and fruit growing. De Forest, George Thompson, was born in North Greenbush, December 24, 1866; he is a son of De Witt Clinton and Mary Thompson De Forest. The father died in 1891. Mrs. De Forest resides at De Freestville and is seventy-two years of age. The father of De Witt was Col. John De Forest, of the war of 1812; his parents were David and Rachael Vanderheyden of Albany; John married Ann Knickerbacker, of Schaghticoke. David settled in De Freestville in 1755, where he died in 1833 ; he built the De Freestville Hotel, was a large land owner; was largely instrumental in the organization and building of the Reformed church, giving the ground for both the church and parsonage, and was an elder in the church for a number of years ; and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The maternal grandparents of Mr. De Forest were James and Rhoda (Whalen) Thompson; he was born at Stillwater, November 20, 1775, and she was born in 1773 ; he died December 19, 1845 ; he was a lawyer by profession and judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1818 to 1833 ; he was appointed Regent of the University in 1822; he was educated at Stillwater and was graduated from the academy, now Union College, Schenectady, and was admitted to the bar in 1797. The father of James was John Thompson, born in 1748 and died in 1823 ; he married Frances McFarlane and settled in Stillwater about 1763 ; he was a farmer and soldier of the Revolutionary war, and was at the battle of Bemis Heights ; he was a member of assembly and first judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Saratoga county, and held that position until incapacitated by old age ; he was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1801, and was also a member of the sixth, tenth, and thirteenth Congresses. George T. De Forest was educated in Ballston and Union College and made a specialty of civil engineering ; he was bridge engineer on the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad, and was with the Phoenix Bridge Company of Pennsylvania. He is now at De Freestville managing the farm and business of his mother. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Drake, Charles F., was born in Troy in 1851. His grandfather, Samuel Drake, was born in Ulster county and came to Troy when young ; he was a captain in the Mexican war. His father, Francis Drake, founder of the business in which the sub ject of the sketch is engaged, was born in 1838 and died in 1876. His mother was Mary (Wheeler) Drake, of Troy, daughter of Capt. John Wheeler. After a common school education, Charles F. entered the store of his father on River street in the saddlery business. After the death of his father in 1876 the business was carried on by Winnie, Burdict & Co., which was succeeded -by Winnie & Drake and in 1890 Mr. FAMILY SKETCHES 229 Drake purchased Mr. Winnie's interest and since that time has conducted the busi ness himself, which is now one of the largest stores of the kind in the State De Freest, Isaac, was born September 12, 1840. He is the son of William and Anna Maria (Wendell) De Freest, both of Greenbush, where they lived and died; they had four boys, Samuel V. A. , Isaac W. , Charles W. and Madison V. ; the grand parents were Philip and Kezia De Freest ; the great-grandfather of Isaac De Freest came. from Holland and was a pioneer of Greenbush, settling at De Freestville. William De Freest spent his life on a farm in North Greenbush where he^died in May, 1876. Mrs. De Freest died in 1863. Isaac De Freest was reared on the farm, and farming and fruit growing has been his occupation ; he now gives his attention principally to the cultivation of small fruits. In 1868 Mr. De Freest married Kezia, daughter of Philip V. and Jane (Van Allen) Winne, farmers of Albany county; the maternal grandparents of Mrs. De Freest were John and Jane Van Allen of Albany county. He has been collector of the town for four years, and in 1896 was elected supervisor of North Greenbush, and is the present incumbent. Enos, Edgar A., D.D., is of New England colonial ancestry, being a lineal de scendant on the paternal side of John Enos of Westerly, R. I., 1680, and on the ma ternal side of Henry Stevens, of Stonington, Conn., 1666. He was prepared for college at the Whitestown Seminary, Whitesboro, N. Y.; and entered Hamilton Col lege in 1870, graduating with the class of 1874. In 1875 he was instructor in Latin and mathematics in the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute. In 1876 he entered Union Theological Seminary, New York city from which he was graduated in 1878 ; for several years thereafter he was connected with the Hasbrouck Institute, Jersey City, as instructor in. history, rhetoric and elocution. On Trinity Sunday, 1881, he was ordered deacon by Bishop Horatio Potter in St. Paul's chapel, Trinity parish, New York, and on the 12th of January, 1882, he was ordered priest by the same bishop, in the Church of the Transfiguration, New York. His first service in orders was in the. Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York under the direction of the late Rev. Dr. Robert S. Howland. After this service he was the rector successively of All Saints, Larchmont Manor, N. Y., Christ's church, Towanda, Pa., and St. John's church, Bridgeport, Conn., and in April, 1887, he entered on the rectorship of St. Paul's parish, Troy, N. Y. In 1892 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was con ferred upon him by St. Stephen's College, Annandale. He is married and has three children ; his wife is a daughter of the late General F. W. Hopkins of Rutland, Vt. Fry, Edwin A., was born in Hartwick, Otsego county, N. Y., July 14, 1833. His grandfather was a captain in the Revolutionary war and his great-grandfather served in the Revolutionary and French and Indian wars. His father, William Fry, was born in Rhode Island, and served in the war of 1812; he died in 1872. Edwin A. received his education in Sherburne Academy and Albany Normal School, and commenced teaching in West Troy. He afterwards taught in Cohoes, Green Island, and has been teaching in Troy twenty-four years. He enlisted in the Civil war and served until its close. He is a past commander of Post Griswold G. A. R. , and a member of Apollo Lodge F. & A. M. His first wife was Catherine A. Hackett of West Troy who died in 1886. His present wife was Gertrude A. Cressey also of West Troy ; they have two daughters. 230 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Ferguson, William, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1838, and came to this country with his parents the same year. He received his education in the public schools of Troy and afterwards learned the plumber's trade. He was in the ITnited States navy during the war. In 1866 he with Fergus Dodds formed the firm of Dodds & Ferguson in the plumbing business which continued until 1880 when he bought Mr. Dodds' s interest in the concern and has since carried on the business himself. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum and Post Griswold G. A. R. In 1869 he married Helen Arthur, of Cohoes, N. Y. , who died December 23, 1895. He has three daughters. Graham, Thomas H., was born in the city of Albany, October 18, 1866, and is a son of John and Margaret (Close) Graham, both native's of the North of Ireland, both born in 1840 and came to the United States and settled in Albany, where Mrs. Gra ham died in 1879, and Mr. Graham now resides with Thomas H. His grandparents were Robert and Margaret (Smith) Graham, farmers of Scotland, where they were born and reared ; they moved to the North of Ireland, where he died in 1848, and she died at Cohoes, N. Y. , in 1867. After the death of his father, John Graham was reared in Scotland by his grandparents, John and Elenor (Hogan) Graham; he was a farmer by occupation. Thomas H. was reared and educated in Albany and mar ried, April 27, 1892, to Jane Carner, daughter of Christopher and Sarah Carner of East Greenbush. To Mr. and Mrs. Graham were born two children : Martha and Walter. From the age of fifteen to twenty-one Mr. Graham was with Mr. Carner, brother of his wife, in the dairy business. In 1892 he purchased the Austin farm of seventy-five acres in East Greenbush. He runs a dairy of about forty-five cows. Hall, Richard F., was born in Troy, N. Y., September 24, 1833. He is a son of Daniel and Anjinette (Fitch) Hall. His father was born in Westminster, Vt, and was the son of Judge Lot Hall of the Supreme Court of Vermont. He graduated from Middleboro College and came to Troy in 1804, where he entered the office of Judge Amasa Paine, and afterwards became his partner and practiced law until his death, which occurred December 10, 1868. His mother died in 1884. R. F. Hall received his education in private schools in Troy until 1849 when he entered Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass., and prepared for college and entered Harvard in 1850 and was graduated in 1854. He then engaged in the lumber businessunder the firm name of Culver & Hall at West Troy, and after five years bought Mr. Culver's in terest and the firm was known as Hall, Russell & Co., and continued in business until August, 1875. In 1879 he was made superintendent of the West Troy Gas Light Company which position he occupied for nine years. He always took a great deal of interest in the fire department and became a member on July 17, 1855, of the Washington Volunteer Fire Company, and was captain of the company in 1857 and 1858, and again from 1860 to 1866, when he was made chief of the fire department of Troy, and held that office until March, 1869. He was made fire commissioner in 1872, serving two terms of six years each. He was appointed water commissioner in 1870, in which capacity he is still acting. He is a member of the American Gas Light Association, a director in the West Troy National Bank, trustee and secretary of the Troy Orphan Asylum, served twelve years in the National Guard and is a member of St. John's Episcopal church. He was married to Miss Sarah Helen Belding, February 2, 1860, who is the daughter of Wells Belding of Troy. FAMILY SKETCHES. 231 Klock, Daniel, jr., was born in Seward, N, Y., November 27, 1836; he is of Ger man descent ; his father, Daniel Klock, was born in Montgomery county, N. Y., in 1817 and died in 1876. His mother, Catherine (France) Klock, daughter of Henry France, lived to be sixty-five years old. Daniel, jr., attended the district school until sixteen years of age after which he worked on his father's farm for some time and entered the Richmondville Seminary in Schoharie county, N. Y. , where he re mained one year. He then went back with his father until he was twenty-three and came to Troy and dealt in farm produce, brrrowing the money to carry on the busi ness with. He later took an agency for a sewing machine. In December, 1865, he purchased from F. A. Plumb the rubber store at 190 River street, a small establish ment doing from ten to twelve thousand dollars business per year. He only in creased business as he increased his capital; from a small retail trade his business has increased and he is doing the largest business in the State outside of the city of New York. Mr. Klock, is the president of the National Bank of Troy and is treas urer of the Troy Methodist Conference and trustee of the' State M. E. church. He was president of the Rensselaer County Musical Association for twenty years. In 1893 he was married to Miss Minnie Vasey of Troy. In politics he is a staunch Re publican. He is a member of the Masonic order, having attained the degree of Knight Templar. Keaugh, Bryant, was born in Ireland and came to America when a young man, and commenced work on a farm. He married Mary Burk of Ireland, by whom seven children have been born, five now living: John, who runs the home farm; Mary, Ella, Eliza, Jane and Marthaj Mr. Keaugh has about eighty acres of land near Green bush, and is engaged in general farming. He is a Democrat in politics. Link, Thomas B., born in the town' of Brunswick, June 19, 1817, is the son of Helmus and Esther Link, she a daughter of Thomas Betts. Helmus followed farm ing. He was a public-spirited man and was actively interested in churches and schools. He was a self-made man and was respected by all his neighbors. Hel mus' s children were Thomas B. , Burwell B., Edward, Azubah, Rachel and Martha. Thomas B. received his early education in the common schools which he attended winters and worked summers. When eighteen years of age he started in life as a farm laborer and received 8100 for his first year's work. He is active in schools and education. June 22, 1838, he married Sarah Aseneth McChesney and his children were Maria Augusta, John Thomas, Jane Frances, Harriet Arazina, William Henry, Martha Ann, Mary Alice, Helmus Eugene, Esther Floetta and Emma Josephine, His second wife was Emaline Ives, but they had no children. On November 17, 1884, he married Sarah Jane Rodgers and their children are Lottie May, Roscoe Conklin and Mabel Elizabeth. Link, Burwell B. , born in the town of Brunswick, July 2, 1825, is a son of Helmus and Esther (Betts) Link ; Helmus had eleven children : Thomas B. , Maria, Jere miah, Catherine, Edward, Burrill B., Martha, Azubah, William, Rachel, Alonzo. Helmus started in life as a farm laborer and in the latter part of his life purchased land. He was interested in schools and churches and all affairs of his town and county; he was a soldier in the war of 1812. Burwell B. married Fannie C, daugh ter of Jacob and Jane (Finkle) Coonradt, and had five children: Burrett, Arba, 232 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Stanley, Allen and Nellie. When twenty-eight years of age he started in life as a dairy and general farmer on the homestead, which he carried on to the time of his death. He was public-spirited and interested in public enterprises such as schools and churches. Mr. Link died February 27, 1896. He was a member of the Presby terian church. Manny, John L., was born in St. John's, Quebec, Canada, November 11, 1852. His ancestors on his father's side were Norman French, and on the maternal side Scotch. His father, John B. Manny, was born in St. John's, and his occupation was that of a wood carver, and was with his brother in that business until 1870; he then moved to Lynn, Ontario, Canada, to superintend a large last manufactory in that city, and later came to Troy and retired from active business. His mother, Mary Agnes (Munro) Manny, was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, and came to Canada when but an infant with her parents. Her father was Major James Munro of the British army, who died in 1856. John L. Manny was educated in the academy at St. John's and was graduated from St. John's College in 1866. He then went to Montreal to enter the dry goods store of Henry Morgan & Co. , the largest store of the kind in Canada, and was with that concern three years. He came to Troy in 1870 and became con nected with the clothing house of W. H. Lawton at 292 River street; three years later he went to Ilion and took the management of a merchant tailoring establish ment; he returned to Troy in 1879 and formed a co-partnership with William D. Hardy and have since conducted one of the fashionable tailoring establishments in Troy under the firm name of Manny & Hardy. He is a director in the First Na tional Bank of Troy. He is a member of the Riverside Club of Lansingburgh, honorary president of the Franco Republican Club, president of the LTroquois Club, and was for six years a trustee in the St. Jean Baptist church of Troy. He is also vice-commodore and trustee of the Troy Yacht Club. He was married in August, 1873, to Louisa Jane Perreault of Troy. He has two sons; the eldest, J. Edwin, is connected with the store, and Everett M., who is now attending the Lansingburgh Academy. Meeker, C. Alonzo, was born in Northampton, Fulton county, N. Y., in 1833. His grandfather on the paternal side was a native of Connecticut and moved to Ver mont where he was engaged in farming until 1850, when he moved to Michigan. His grandfather on the maternal side was Judge Macomberof Essex county, and his mother was a first cousin to General Israel Putnam. His father was the Rev. Cyrus Meeker, who was born in Vermont, was a Methodist preacher and was for many years a member of the Troy Conference; he died at Buskirk, N. Y.] in 1893, and was ninety-three years old. His mother, Mary Macomber, was born in Keeseville, Essex county, and died at Ballston, N. Y., in 1846. C. Alonzo received his education in the public schools and academy at Shelbourn, Vt., and learned the carpenter's trade and later he worked at Glens Falls, and came to Rensselaer county where he remained until 1857 when he went to Illinois for two years. He then came to Troy, and in 1863, with a Mr. Shanahan, organized the contracting and building establishment of Shanahan & Meeker. Mr. Shanahan died in 1871 and Mr. 'Meeker has continued the business alone. Among the buildings for which he has done the carpenter work is the Troy Savings Bank, St. Paul's chapel, William H. Frear's residence, the Gris wold Opera House and the Unitarian church and many others. He has represented FAMILY SKETCHES. 233 the Second ward in the Board of Aldermen and has also' been supervisor. He be longs to King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M., Raymond Chapter of Hoosick Falls, and has taken both the Egyptian and Scottish Rites up to and including the ninety- fifth degree. He married in 1859, Mary E. Ostrander, of Hoosick Falls. He has one daughter, Mrs. William J. Herbage, of Round Lake, N. Y. Mannix, Francis P. , was born in Ireland in 1842, and is a son of Patrick Mannix, who came to America in 1852, settling in Troy. He was in the employ of the Pitts burgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, for a while, and was in the railroad office in Fort Wayne, Ind., for a while; he returned and spent his last days with Francis P., where he died in 1874. Mrs. Mannix died in Ireland in 1847. Francis P. was reared in Troy and educated at St. Joseph's Academy, and in 1865 married Mar garet, daughter of Dennis and Margaret Brennan, of Albany, by whom nine children have been born, of whom four are living; Genevieve, Catherine, John and Edward. Frank died in February, 1896, at the age of nineteen years. Mr. Mannix commenced the milk business in Greenbush in 1864, and in 1870 he bought 100 acres of land on which he erected a fine residence. He kept seventy cows for a while and now keeps about thirty-five. He is a Democrat in politics and has been highway commissioner for about nine years. Orr, Frederick W., was born July 8, 1848. His father, David Orr, was born in Belfast, Ireland, March 1, 1810, and came to this country in 1811 and settled with his father in Columbiaville, N. Y., where they engaged in the manufacture of cotton for anumberof years. David Orr then moved to Albany and learned the mason's trade, and was boss mason on the Albany Cathedral and the lower part of the State House and other large buildings. He remained in Albany until 1866, and then moved to New York. He was a director in the State Bank of Albany. He died November 23, 1892. His mother was Julia A. (Pierson) Orr, who was born in Newark, N. J., on December 12, 1821. Frederick W. attended the Albany Academy, and was fitted for college at Elizabeth, N. J., and in November, 1867, entered the freshman class of Princeton College, leaving there after two years. He then became a member of the firm of Orrs & Co., in the paper manufacturing business in Troy, and has since devoted his attention thereto. He is a trustee of the Emma Willard Seminary, and of the Park Presbyterian church, and has been president of the board for ten years. In politics he is a Republican. Peckham, William H., was born in Troy, February 15, 1852. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of the country, his grandfather having taken part in the Revolutionary war. His father, Reuben Peckham, was born in Pittstown, N. Y., and was a paper manufacturer up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1887. His mother, Mary (Mackey) Peckham, was born in Troy where she now resides. William was educated in the public schools and was graduated from the high school in 1869 and went into the employ of J. M. Warren & Co. as clerk, and later entered the paper mill of his father. In 1874 he bought an interest in the dry goods firm of Converse, Peckham & Co. , where he remained until 1885, when he entered the paper mill of Manning & Peckham, where he is at present. He was supervisor of the Fifth ward for three years and represented that ward in the Board of Aldermen two years and has been a fire commissioner since 1893. He belongs to aU the Masonic bodies dd 234 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. of Troy and is director in the Union Bank. In 1874 he was married to Miss Emma A. Peck of Troy. Parks, John W. , born in the village of Sand Lake, July 16, 1829, is the son of Jona than and Almira (Hunt), he a native of Sand Lake and she of Stephentown. The grandparents were Whiting and Hannah (Taber) Parks; they were natives of Dutchess county, came to Sand Lake about 1790 and here engaged in farming where they lived and died, she about 1836 and he in 1860. The father was reared on a farm and at the age of seventeen years commenced work at the wagon making trade and carried on a wagon factory at Sand Lake for ten years; then he engaged in farming in Sand Lake; he died in 1873 and the mother in 1843. Mr. Parks married second Mary J. Parks who died in 1885. John W. Parks was reared on a farm where he re mained till the age of twenty-five and then engaged in farming; he has made a specialty of sweet milk and small fruit and vegetables and makes a specialty of Chester White, Cheshire and Black Berkshire hogs, and fine butter for special customers. He married in Sand Lake in 1854, Lucinda, daughter of George and Lucinda Horton of Sand Lake. They have five children : Myron H. , a farmer at Johnston ; George W. , general agent of books, Brooklyn; Joseph H., at Johnston, hardware and plumber; Grace, dressmaker, wife of William Brown; Edith, at home. He has been road commissioner. Peck, Arthur Middleton, born in Sand Lake, N. Y. , February 2, 1848, is the son of Joel B. and Parmelia H. (Horton) Peck, both natives of Sand Lake. The parents of Joel B. , Marcus and Margaret (Gardner) Peck, were also natives of Sand Lake and here lived and died. The parents of Marcus, Isaac and Hannah (Munson) Peck, were among the first settlers of Sand Lake coming from Connecticut. Joel Peck was a farmer and lumberman; in politics he was a Republican, was a number of years justice of the peace and six years supervisor of Sand Lake ; during the war he took an active interest in getting recruits Mr. and Mrs. Peck were active and consistent members of the Presbyterian church of which Mr. Peck was about fifty years an elder. He died August 18, 1891; Mrs. Peck died January 11, 1887. Arthur M. Peck worked with his father in the lumber business beginning at the age of fifteen, and at twenty- one years of age engaged in the mercantile business at Sand Lake which he con tinued until 1895 when he sold out ; he now gives most of his attention to the Mutual , Insurance Co. of Poestenkill, Sand Lake, Berlin and Stephentown, which was organ- , ized in 1878 with Mr. Peck as secretary and he has held the office ever since. He , has also been for three years secretary of the Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road Co. In 1870 Mr. Peck married Lillias E., daughter of Harrison and Louisa (Dunkin) Lester, he a native of Massachusetts, and she of England. Mrs. Lester came to -' America in 1840 with her mother, her father having died in England. The parents -; of Mr Lester, Meriman and Margaret (Walker) Lester, were early settlers of Nassau. i: The father Of Mr. Lester, Guy Lester, of Chatham, Columbia county, N.Y., a native of Vermont, was all through the Revolutionary war and was with Washington when d he crossed the Delaware River in December, 1776. He died in Nassau. Mr. Lester ') has been a successful business man; he commenced in the turning business, then in 'og mercantile business at Sand Lake. He now owns a controlling interest in the '« Albany & Sand Lake Plank Road Co. , and is general superintendent of the road. -A Since 1862 Mr. Lester has resided at Sand Lake. Mr. Peck is a Republican in poli- .:! FAMILY SKETCHES. 235 tics and has held the office of supervisor two years. He is active in the Presbyterian church of which he is an elder. Potter, Stephen M. , was born in Brunswick August 29, 1870. He was a son of Charles M. and Adelia (Coons) Potter. Charles M. started in life dependent on his own resources. By occupation a farmer, which he followed throughout his life time and through his exertion has one of the finest houses in town. His children were Kate, Harry, Medore C, Eunice, Stephen M., and John Howard. He was public spirited and did all he could for the promotion of the town and county. He died November 29, 1889. Stephen M. spent his early life on his father's farm, and his early education was obtained in the district school. He graduated from Troy Busi ness College April 15, 1892. He married Jessie, daughter of James Mambert. Stephen in 1889 was employed in Springfield, Mass., and also in the Agawam Paper Co., where he remained for three years. In 1894 he was in the mercantile business in Troy, and is now a farmer. Richmond, Mrs. Z. A. — Few families bear a more familiar name, or one more strongly associated with older times in the county of Rensselaer, than that of Rich mond. Volney Richmond, late iron manufacturer, banker, county sheriff, etc., was born in this country and of lifelong prominence in its affairs. Dean Richmond, who in 1869 married Miss Zoe Armstrong, was born at Troy in 1850 during his father's incumbency of the shrievalty, and died while yet a comparatively young man, July 28, 1891, leaving two sons and one daughter: Volney, J. Edward and Lucy Townsend ; the latter died in 1896. Stone, Thomas H., was born in Troy, N. Y., October 9, 1848. His father, Jacob Stone, was born in Vermont and was a stair builder by trade and died in 1888. His mother, Elizabeth C. (Meade) Stone, was born in Vermont and is now living in Troy. Thomas H. received a public school education and went to the western part of New York State and returned to Troy in the spring of 1869 and worked for the firm of Clapp & Wilder in the gent's furnishing goods business until 1873, when he entered the laundry business as an employee of Lucius Stone, an uncle, which con tinued until spring of 1881 when the firm of Stone, Blair & Co. was formed; in 1891 he became sole owner, and in 1892 the firm of Gardner, Stone & Co. was formed; they run a manufacturers' laundry and also have a custom department employing on the average about 300 hands. He was married in 1873 to Lottie Chandler of Troy, who died in 1879. His present wife was Anna Brown, to whom he was married in 1881. His children are Irvin D., Ethel C. , an art student at Yale, and Winifred. Spenard, Charles A. , was born in Troy, in August, 1862. He is a son of Joseph M. and Julia (Jarvis) Spenard. He was educated in the public schools and at the age of eleven was at the bundle desk in Frear's store; one year later he entered the employ of Elias Corben as an apprentice where he served his apprenticeship as a tailor ; he then worked at his trade for David Bastable, Montague & Co., Julius Saul and others for a period of ten years, and in March, 1884, commenced business for him self in the Ingraham building corner of Fifth avenue and Grand street ; and after closing business there and in other locations, in 1893 he removed to his present tail oring establishment at No. 24 Third street. He belongs to the Troy Yacht Club, Riverside Club, and is president of the Iroquois French Republican Club, of Troy 236 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and vicinity. He married, April 12, 1886, Miss Mary Francis Moldone, by whom he has had two daughters, Frances and Emilie, and one son, who died at the age of four years and six months. Springer, George Martin, born on the farm where he now resides, March 17, 1833, is the son of Jacob, jr., and Mary (Smith) Springer; Jacob, sr., son of Hendrick, who was one of the early settlers, was captured by the Indians when fourteen years of age in 1755 and carried to Canada where he was held captive for four years when he escaped. Jacob, sr.'s children were Henry, Lodewick, Fannie, Jacob, jr., George, Maria, Martin and Catherine. The children of Jacob, jr., were Maria, Paul, Jacob H., George M., Charles, Daniel and John. Jacob, jr., was a public spirited man and was much interested in schools and churches of which he was a liberal supporter and was much respected by all his neighbors. George M. spent his life on the farm and was associated with his father in business until 1855 when his father died. From 1855 to 1860 George M. and Jacob H. ran the farm, since which time it has been run by George M. George M. is actively interested in education and school work and for the past thirty-five years has been school trustee; also in church and religious work. January 11, 1860, he married Lucia, daughter of Jonas and Christina McChes ney, and has two children, Lewis H., who is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy; Willard E., who married Alice L. Ives, December 14, 1887, and now resides in Troy. Snook, William A., was born in the town of Sand Lake, in December, 1839; the great-grandfather came from Dutchess county, N. Y., to Sand Lake about the time of the Revolutionary war; he reared two sons and two daughters. Tunius, the grandfather, was born in Sand Lake in about 1788, where he spent his life as a farmer ; his wife was Catherine Snyder ; to them were born six children : Cornelius, John, Catherine, Hannah, Charity and Susan ; they both lived to be ninety-two years of age. Cornelius, the father, was born in Sand Lake and spent his whole life on his father's homestead, which he came in possession of at his death. His wife was Anna Uline, who was born in Sand Lake and daughter of John and Maria Uline; their children were Rachel (deceased), William A., John U., Adaline, David, Caroline (deceased) and Harriet. He died in 1868 and his wife died in 1880. Will iam A. Snook remained with his father until twenty-two years of age, when he em barked for himself on a farm in West Sand Lake in partnership with his uncle, where he remained for four years. In 1865 he married Mary Sliter, daughter of William and Eliza (Bellinger) Sliter, and removed to his present farm of 120 acres in Poestenkill, where he has since resided. He has officiated as justice for twenty-four consecutive years, which office he now holds. He is an active member of the Patrons of Industry of West Sand Lake Lodge of about 200 members. He is of German an cestry. In politics he is a staunch Democrat. Smith, James Watson, born in the town of Brunswick, October 24, 1842, is the son of Edward and Julia Smith; Edward a son of Peter and Elizabeth Smith, and Peter son of William Smith, who came from Columbia county, N. Y., with his family and settled on the Van Rensselaer tract. William had two children, Peter and William, jr. ; they followed general and pioneer farming. Peter had three children; Edward, William P. and George. By occupation George was a carpenter. He was a veteran of the late Rebellion in the 169th Regment, Co. D. William and Edward FAMILY SKETCHES. 237 followed farming. Edward has three children: Catherine E., James W. and Carrie. James W. married Martha, daughter of Michael Earl and has one child, Julia, wife of Jacob M. Springer. Edward is public-spirited. He is actively interested in schools and churches, also town and county affairs. James Watson Smith's life has been spent on the farm, also deals in live stock. He is much interested in all affairs of the town and county and is active in school and educational interests. Springer, Paul, born in the town of Brunswick, February 2, 1826, is the son of Jacob and Mary (Smith) Springer, who had seven children, Maria, Paul, Jacob H. (died in April, 1896), George M., Charles, Daniel and John. Jacob was a native of Brunswick and a son of Jacob, sr. , who was taken captive by Indians when fourteen years of age and carried to Canada, where he remained four years before he es caped. Martin, brother of Jacob, jr., was a member of assembly in 1832. Jacob, jr., was a public-spirited man and took an active part in all affairs of his town. Paul in early life 'worked on the farm with his father. When about twenty-one years of age he taught school three terms. December 18, 1850, he married Eveline Barringer and has two children: Henry F. (married Millie Colehamer and they have one child, Frank P.), and Etta, wife of H. Wilber Hayner, who have one child, Edith. Paul is active in town affairs. He has been supervisor, justice of sessions, justice of the peace, highway commissioner and trustee of schools twenty-eight years. Sheer, Jacob, son of John and Rosina (Sperber) Sheer, was born in Sand Lake, April 7, 1845, and has always resided in the town and is now one of its most suc cessful farmers. He has a farm of 110 acres and makes a specialty of berry culture besides his farming. Mr. Sheer runs threshing machinery during the season. His first eight years' of business on his own account was at hay pressing. In 1872 Mr. Sheer married Margaret E. , daughter of Christopher and Catharine (Wattenpaugh) Welker; they have two sons, Irving C. and Elmer J. Mr. Sheer is a Democrat and has been three terms collector ; they support the M. E. church and are both mem bers of the P. of I., West Sand Lake Sheer, John, was born in Germany in 1811. He is a son of Peter and Mary (Hehn) Sheer, who lived and died in Germany. Mr. Sheer came to America in 1837 and settled in Sand Lake and purchased a farm of seventy acres which he paid for and carried until 1890, when being too advaned in age for active business, he sold and retired but still resides on the farm. In 1839 he married Rosina Sperber, who emi grated from Germany to Sand Lake in 1838. Mr. and Mrs. Sheer have eight chil dren, four of whom survive and reside in Sand Lake : Mrs. Margaret Granger, Mrs. Mahala Beaker, Mrs. Mary Hayner, and Jacob. Worden, Hon. L. E., a man of social as well as political prominence at Hoosick Falls, has devoted much of his life to the service of his country. In the battlefield or in the legislature his power and activity have been manifested. Before fifteen years old he enlisted in Company B, 16th N. Y. Heavy Artillery and saw two years' service, participating in some of the greatest battles but remaining unhurt. He has since represented the town in the Board of Supervisors twice, and twice represented the First district in the Assembly. While there he introduced a bill prohibiting the making of shirts, collars and cuffs in the penal institutions of the State, which be- 238 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. came a law. Though he was born at Grand Rapids, Mich. , in 1849, he was reared in Lloyd, Ulster county, N. Y. , son of manufacturer of agricultural implements. His early enlistment limited the period of his education, and after the war he learned the carpenter's trade. He became an able builder at Bath-on-the-Hudson, and came here in 1880. In 1883 he joined the well known firm of Easton & Rising, now Easton, Rising & Worden, leading dealers in lumber, coal and wood. They also deal in a varied line of hardware, bicycles and agricultural implements, besides the building, which is an important branch of the enterprise. Adams, Jacob V., born where he now resides, May 18, 1822, is the son of Jacob and Nancy Adams, and he a son of Elisha, who came from Connecticut with his father. Elisha married Alida Vanderheyden, and had a family of ten children: he was a farmer as well as his son, Jacob V.; his children were Hester A., Elisha, Alderman, Elizabeth, Jacob V. and Mary A. ; he was a public spirited man, interested in church work as well as town and county affairs; he was assessor, overseer of the poor, etc. ; he died May 7, 1857. Jacob V. has follQwed farming. In 1849 he married Harriet, daughter of John J. Goodell, and has- three children, Charles, Jennie and Fred. His second wife was Candace Densmore, daughter of Oliver Farbell, and has one child, Albert L. Jacob V. has been active in town and county affairs; he was assessor twelve years, highway commissioner six years, and much interested in ed ucation and school work. Abbott, Elisha P., was born in the town of Brunswick, July 25, 1828. He is a son of Jonas and Harriet (St. John) Abbott, and Jonas was a son of Judd, who came from Long Island. Judd's children were Jonas, Uriah, Ira, Debora Ann, Jerusha, Sally, Judd, Mathias, Roxy and Harry. Judd followed pioneer and general farming, and was a hard working and industrious man. His son Jonas was a farmer by oc cupation and lived near where Elisha P. Abbott now lives. His children are Ruth C, Lydia M., Melissa C, Amelia and Elisha P. Elisha's life has been spent on the farm, and when about twenty-five years old he married Juliette, daughter of John and Elizabeth (McChesney) Dater, and has two children: Julia Frances and Willard D., who married Lillie Bonesteel and resides on the home farm. Elisha P. is active in school, church, and all town and county affairs. He was highway commissioner for nine years. In politics he is a Republican and is an attendant of the Presbyterian church. Betts, Joseph B., born near where he now resides August 12, 1821, is the son of Thomas and Catherine (Wheeler) Betts. Thomas was a son of Nathan who came from Nor walk, Conn., with his family about 1785 and kept a hotel near where Rich ard Derrick now lives; they had three children, Thomas, Burwell and Nathan. Thomas followed farming; his children were Esther, Edward, Azubah, Mary A., Jane Ann, Joseph B. ; Thomas was a Quaker and took great interest in religious work, also was active in town and county affairs ; he was overseer of the poor, asses sor, etc. In early life Joseph B. attended the district school winters and farmed summers, which occupation he has followed to the present time. He has been over seer of the poor three terms. October 26, 1841, he married Sarah E. Clum and has five children, Thomas A., Maria A., Clarence E., Caroline O. and Frances O. Barber, jr., George, was born in East Poestenkill- in 1848. Israel Barber, his FAMILY SKETCHES. 239 great-grandfather, was a native of Rhode Island, born in 1761 ; his wife Permelia was born in 1767 ; they removed to Poestenkill in the early part of this century and settled where Barberville now is; here he cleared, him a farm and made a home in the wilderness; their family consisted of eight sons and four daughters: Israel, Nathan, Thomas, Benjamin, David, William, Martin, John, Rhoda, Permelia, Eliza beth, and Lucy; he died April 1, 1813, and his wife died August 7, 1818. Benjamin, his grandfather, was born in Rhode Island in 1803 and came to Poestenkill with his father ; he became a tavern keeper and merchant in Barberville, where he spent all his business life; his wife was Selisa Sayles, who was born in 1809 ; they reared two sons and two daughters; he died in July, 1864, and his wife died in April, 1857. George, the father of our subject, was born in Poestenkill in 1827, and while ayoung man followed teaching ; later he settled in East Poestenkill and engaged in the general mercantile business, which he followed a number of years and then resumed teach ing, which he followed principally the balance of his life ; he filled the office of jus tice of the peace for many years, being first elected to that office soon after he be came twenty-one years of age, and was still justice at the time of his death in 1893 ; he was also assessor for a number of years ; he was a member of the Masonic fra ternity; his wife was Alzina, a daughter of Roswell and Harriet Brunson, who was born in Poestenkill ; their children are George, jr., and Alzonzo; his wife survives him and resides in Poestenkill. George, jr. , was educated in the common schools and the Poughkeepsie Business College, from which he was graduated when twenty years of age. The following year he engaged in the general mercantile business in East Poestenkill in a store belonging to his father. With the exception of one year, which he spent in Troy as a clerk in a store, he has conducted this business ever since. For a number of years he was extensively engaged in the manufacture of shirts by contract, doing work for Troy and New York parties. After the death of his father he was appointed to fill his unexpired term of justice, and after that he was elected to that office and is now filling the same. He is a member of the Ma sonic fraternity, King Solomon Lodge of Troy. He has held the office of clerk of his district for a number of years. In 1867 Mr. Barber married Augusta R., daugh ter of Martin Niles, who was born in the town of Berlin. Their children are Mrs. Hattie Herrington of Poestenkill, and Harry. Mr. Barber has held the office of postmaster several terms and is now assistant postmaster, with office in his store. Cottrell, William C. , was born in the town of Greenfield, Saratoga county, October 23, 1858, and is a son of James who was born in Poestenkill in February, 1814. Samuel Cottrell, the great-grandfather of William C. , was a resident of Roxbury, Mass., and though not a soldier he rendered great active service to the Revolution ary army and participated in some of the skirmishes ; it is said he hauled the first load of earth used in building the embankment at Bunker Hill; a portion of his house was used as a barricade. John Cottrell, the grandfather of William C, settled in Poestenkill about 1809. He cleared the farm and made him a home, did an ex tensive lumber business and owned an interest in a saw mill; in 1810 he married Sarah Davitt; they reared five sons and four daughters; he was born December 15, 1776, and died August 10, 1842 ; his wife was born in 1788 and died September 8, 1869; their children were George, born May 6, 1812; James, born February 13, 1814; Mary J., born January 13, 1817; Sally A., born November 14, 1818; John C, born 240 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. January 26, 1821; William L., born October 26, 1823; Amasa, born June 6, 1825; Eleanor M., born July 26, 1831. The early life of James, the father of William C, was devoted to farming and lumbering ; he kept a store a short time during the late war ; he has served his town as highway commissioner, collector and held other offk es ; his wife was Betsey A. Simmons, born in Poestenkill and daughter of Jacob Sim mons; to them were born children as follows: Mary, born September 28, 1837, died January 29, 1889; John J., born July 29, 1839, died April 6, 1843; Lewis J. and Lois J. (twins), born Sept. 11, 1843; Sally A., born Sept. 1, 1848, died July 3, 1857; Will iam C. , born Oct. 23, 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Cottrell are now residing near the village of Poestenkill ; he oversees his o.wn farm and is very active. William C. Cottrell re ceived a common school education and began life for himself when twenty-two as a farmer, which business he has followed successfully to the present time. In 1880 he purchased his present farm of 100 acres and conducted a milk and dairy business for some years. In 1893 he engaged in the general mercantile business in Poestenkill village, in connection with which he superintends his farm. In March, 1895, he re ceived his appointment as postmaster of Poestenkill. In politics he is a Democrat and served his town as collector for three years. He is a member of the Odd Fel lows, Lodge No. 704, af which he has been secretary. In 1887 he married Mary E. Snow, who was born in Batchellorville, Saratoga county, and daughter of Winslow E. and Cordelia M. (Jones) Snow ; to this union were born three children : Bessie, born November 30, 1889 (died December, 1895), Raymond W., born June 14, 1891 (died March, 1892), and Erwin Judson, born August 6, 1895. Carner, Frank H. — Mr. C. was born September 13, 1856, in the town of East Greenbush, and is a" son of John G. Carner and Sarah Harvey, who were engaged in farming. Mr. C. at the age of sixteen entered "The People's Academy" at Morris- ville, Vt., from which he graduated, after which he engaged as manager of a flour ing mill business, in which he continued ten years. December 25, 1879, he married Miss Cleora V. Cross, daughter of James and Abigail Cross of Sterling, Vt. In 1885 he moved to Brunswick and has resided there since, in the eastern part of the town, where he has one of the finest dwellings in that section. Mr. C. is interested in re ligious, educational and other matters that are for the town's best interest. He has held various town offices and is now serving his third term as assessor. Mr. C. is prominently connected with the Masonic fraternity, being an active member of Mt. Vernon Lodge and Tucker Chapter of Morrisville, Mt. Zion Commandery K. T., Montpelier, and Order of Highpriesthood at Burlington, Vt, having been at the head of most of these organizations. During the year 1884 Mr. C. held the office of grand king of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Vermont. Mrs. C. is also a prominent member of the order of the Eastern 'Star, having been associate grand matron for Vermont in 1884. Clum, Sanford, born in Brunswick, December 28, 1848, is the son of Conrad and Rebecca Clum. Conrad was a pioneer and general farmer ; he was much interested in temperance work as well as churches and schools; he was charitable, social and highly respected by all his friends and neighbors. Sanford;s early education was a common school one. He afterwards graduated from Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He is a farmer and associated with his father until he died, June 12, 1876. He married Etta, a daughter of Abraham Bulson, and has three FAMILY SKETCHES. 241 children, Friend M., Cora E., and Waldo S. Conrad's children were Isaac, John H., Ira, David, Alviah, Charles M., Henrietta, Sanford, Jacob, Ella, Willie and Myron. Clum, Orlin J., born in the town of Brunswick, July 11, 1845, is the son of James D. and Christina (Brust) Blum. James M. was a blacksmith and was interested in all public enterprises, such as schools and churches, also town and county affairs; he was constable and deputy sheriff; August 5, 1865, he enlisted as a drum major under Col. Brust. Orlin J. started to learn the blacksmith trade when sixteen years of age which he has followed to the present time. He was associated with his father until he died, August 21, 1875, at fifty-seven years of age. June 30, 1868, he married Josephine, daughter of Nelson Rifenburgh, and has one child, Edna. He was formerly active in town and county affairs. He has been collector aud excise com missioner. Coltison, Francis C, was born on the farm where he now resides, April 3, 1840. He was a son of Francis C. and Betsey (Collins) Collison, he a son of Francis C. and Mary Collison, who came here and took up the homestead and followed pioneer farming. Their children are Jane Keis Orcutt, Mary McChesney, Francis C, James, John L., Eliza Chase, and Catherine Coons. He was public spirited and actively interested in all public enterprises. The children of Francis C. are Francis C. (deceased), Robert (deceased), Francis C. and Mary Elizabeth (deceased). Francis C. attended district school and Poestenkill Academy. He was associated with his father until his death, which occurred October 17, 1883. Since then he has carried on farming. January 11, 1866, he married Lottie McChesney, who died, and No vember 27, 1872, he married Harriet F. Link. He is public spirited and is interested in all worthy enterprises, such as schools, churches, and town and county affairs. Mrs. Collison is a member of the Presbyterian church. Ives, jr., Garrett, was born in the town of Wynantskill in 1860, and is the son of Garrett, sr. Lazarus Ives, the great-great-grandsire of Garrett, jr., was born in Wales in 1733 ; he was one of three brothers, Lazarus, John and Benjamin, who came to America when young men ; the former settled in the town of Sand Lake ; he reared two sons (Lazarus and Christopher) and three daughters; he died in 1812; his wife,' Lydia Gremes, died in 1824 at the age of eighty-three. Christopher was born in the town of Sand Lake in 1764 ; he was a farmer and his sons were Jacob, Abijah, Ransom, Truman and John; he also reared several daughters; he died in 1830. Jacob was born in the town of Poestenkill in 1789 ; he was a farmer and lumberman ; lie was a great wrestler when a young man ; in 1848 he removed to the western part of the State, in 1851 removed to Illinois, were he died in 1853; his wife was Olive Quackenbush; she died in 1849. Garrett, sr., was born in Poestenkill, May, 1825; in early live he was in the charcoal business ; he later engaged in the meat business and was drover for some years. About 1860 he purchased the Union Hotel in the village of Poestenkill, which he conducted as a temperance house ; in connection with this he conducted a grocery store; he was later interested extensively in the lumber ing business and for four years owned an interest in a saw mill ; he was then for eight years engaged in the dairying and milk business; in his later years he has devoted his attention to his seventy-five acre farm near the village; in 1865 he was one of the building committee who erected the present Lutheran church in the vii- 242 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. lage of Poestenkill, and was the heaviest cash contributor toward the building ; in 1846 he was married to Miss Emily Streeter, who was born in Wilmington, Vt, in June, 1825; she is a daughter of Eri and Lucy C. (Sykes) Streeter; their children are Mrs. Mary E. Colehamer, Sydney V., Mrs. Ella C. McChesney and Garrett, jr. Salem Streeter, the grandfather of Mrs. Ives, was a soldier and died on his way home from the war; his wife, Margaret Rogers, and son, Eri, survived him ; his maternal grand parents were Samuel and Lucy (Leonard) Sykes ; the mother of Lucy, who was Lucy, lived to be 100 years old. Garrett Ives, jr., remained at his father's home till twenty-one ; he received his education in the common schools and Troy Business College, from which he was graduated ; he then engaged in farming and milk busi ness for himself, selling his milk in Troy ; he owns a farm of eighty acres, and in 1891 he removed to the farm of his father-in-law, which he has since conducted ; he is a successful breeder of Jersey cattle and keeps a dairy of twenty cows, selling his cream to the Brunswick Creamery Association of which he is president. In politics Mr. Ives is a Republican, now serving his third year as assessor. He is a prominent member of the order of Odd Fellows, Poestenkill Lodge No. 704, of which he has been secretary and is now chaplain; he is. a member of the Patrons of Industry, is trustee of the Lutheran Evangelical church of Poestenkill, and treasurer of the Christian Endeavor Society of which he and his wife are members. In 1881 he mar ried Miss Alice Chckner, daughter of Jacob and Lydia A. (Ives) Clickner; they have one child, Eva C. Hunt, Eugene Mortimer, was born in Washington county, N.Y. , in 1860. He is a son of Thomas Hunt, who was born in England in 1828; he was one of seven sons born to Russell Hunt, who was a blacksmith and who lived and died in England; the sons all came to America; the mother made ladies' shoes in England and also afterwards came to America; she lived in Fort Ann, Washington county, and re sided with her son Thomas, with whom she spent her last days and died at the age of ninety-eight Thomas, the father of Mr. Hunt, came to America about 1855 and settled in Fort Ann, Washington county. He was a tailor by trade, which busi ness he followed for a number of y^ears; he then removed to Troy, where he en gaged for a short time in the liquor business, and then removed to Fort Ann and resumed his tailoring, which he followed until the time of his death in 1895; he was constable for seven years and poormaster for five years; his wife was Elizabeth Batey, who was born in Port Kent, N. Y. ; she was a daughter of George and Ann Batey; the latter lived to be eighty-eight years of age; their children were Eugene M., Jennie, Minnie, Thomas, jr., and Nelson; the mother now resides at Glens Falls, N. Y. Eugene M. Hunt began life for himself at the age of sixteen. He en tered the employ of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company as brakeman, re maining there for seven years. He then engaged in the retail liquor business in Troy, where he remained in active business until April, 1895, when he removed to the village of Poestenkill and purchased his present hotel property which he has since conducted and enjoys a good trade. While in the city of Troy he manifested an active interest in the political affairs of the city and was elected to the office of alderman of the Second ward'for one term. In 1890 he married Mrs. Lena (Moore) Furlong ; she was born in Poestenkill and was a daughter of Henry Moore ; they have one child, Martin William. FAMILY SKETCHES. 243 Sheary, Michael F., was born in Troy, N. Y., March 26, 1866. His father is Law rence Sheary of Troy, for many years connected with Rusher & Co. in the brewery. Michael F. was graduated from the Troy High School in 1884. He then entered the Manufacturer's Bank where he stayed for ten years, working his way from a clerk to head bookkeeper. He was appointed postmaster of Troy by President Cleveland, May 29, 1894. He was the first to occupy the new Government building, which had been erected at the cost of $500,000. He is a member of the Troy Citizens Corps and the Laureate Boat Club, and a director in and auditor for the Boutwell Milling and Grain Company. Mr. Sheary was also one of the organizers of the Pioneer Building and Loan Association and served as auditor thereof for three years. Bonesteel, Howard F. , M. D. , was born in Troy in 1868. He is the son of Dr. William M. Bonesteel, who was born in Brunswick, and came to Trov about 1860 and began practice in 1863. He has been county and jail physician. His mother, Frances (Fox) Bonesteel, is the danghter of the late Rev. Robert Fox, a prominent divine of the State. Dr. Bonesteel was educated at the public and high schools of Troy, was graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1889, and later spent three months in the Post-graduate School in New York city, then opened practice in Troy in 1890. He is a member of the New York State Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity. He has been city physician for the lower district four years. July, 1890, he married Miss Hattie McCormick of Indian Lake, Hamilton county, N. Y., by whom he has two sons, Elmer and Ralph. Buchanan, jr., Archibald, M. D., was born in Albany, N. Y., April 3, 1866. His father, Archibald Buchanan, sr. , was born in Scotland, came to this country and settled in Albany in 1862, afterwards removing to Troy. During the war he served as first lieutenant in the 125th N. Y. Vols. His mother, Janet (Muir) Buchanan, was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Dr. Buchanan attended the common schools, worked for a number of years, and then entered Albany Medical College from which he was graduated in 1895. He opened an office at 128 Third street where he since has been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession. He is a member of Rensse laer County Medical Society, of which he is secretary. He was married in April, 1896, to Miss Hattie E. Mack of Troy. Brown, Elias A., M. D., was born in Mannsville, Jefferson county, N. Y., January 31, 1864. He received a common school education and was graduated from the academy at Sandy Creek, afterwards entering the Medical Department of the Uni versity of the City of New York, from which he was graduated in 1892. He then came to Troy and began the practice of his profession; he is now located at 1649 Fifth avenue corner of State street, where he since has been successfully engaged. He belongs to the Rensselaer County Medical Society, and the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity. Smith, Adam R., was born in Troy, N. Y., October 20, 1826, of Massachusetts parentage and puritan descent. He is the son of Adam and Ruth (Reed) Smith, both natives of Massachusetts and residents of South Reading (now Wakefield); they became residents of Troy in 1816; here Mr. Smith became a manufacturer of mill stones, at which he prospered ; both died in Troy. Adam R. was educated in a pri vate school in Troy and for a period in New York city, and in the years 1842 and 244 landmarks of remsselaer county. 1843 in the Troy Polytechnic Institute. He became discount clerk in the Com mercial Bank in Troy, January, 1846. He was made treasurer of the Troy Savings Bank in 1851, but went back to the Commercial Bank the same year as teller. He was made teller of the Union Bank in 1858 and cashier in 1870. Of all the persons in Troy connected with banks in any official capacity since 1846, he is, since the death of William Gay, the only one who still continues in office. Prior to the Re bellion he was a Democrat, but since that time he has been identified with the Re publican party. Mr. Smith was made trustee and treasurer of the Oakwood Cem etery Association in 1868, and in 1870 was made president, which office he still holds. He has been an official of that association longer than any other person except John Hobart Warren, whose election antedates Mr. Smith's by seven years. Mr. Wrarren resigned in 1894, leaving Mr. Smith the oldest official. Myers, Charles G., D. D. S., was born in North Greenbush, November 15, 1868, and is a son of John S. and Sarah (Gordinier) Myers, both of Brunswick, Rensselaer county. His father is a farmer of North Greenbush, where he has resided since 1852. The great grandfather of Dr. Myers on the paternal side came from Holland to Rens selaer county at an early day; his son Lodewick was born, lived and died in this county; he had eleven children, five sous and six daughters. John S. was the third son, born April 5, 1624; he stayed on his father's farm until his twenty-eighth year, at which time he married and moved to North Greenbush. On the maternal side Dr. Myers can trace his ancestry back to his great-great-grandfather, Hendrick Gordinier, who came from Holland and was one of the first settlers of Rensselaer county; he was a miller and blacksmith ; he received a grant of land of 800 acres from Patroon Van Rensselaer, for whom he worked; during the Revolutionary war he raised a company (1776) of which he was captain, and served in Col. Philip Schuy ler's regiment. His son, Henry Gordinier, married a Miss Vanderheyden, one of the first families of Troy, by whom he bad five children John, the youngest, was the grandfather of our subject, and was a farmer as had been his forefathers; he married Elizabeth Bonesteel of Gra'ton in 1832, by whom he had eight children, Sarah being the eldest daughter. Dr. Myers was educated in the Troy Academy and entered the LTniversity of Maryland at Baltimore, from which he was graduated in dentistry in 1890. He came to Troy the same year and practiced dentistry with George Woolsey, under the firm name of Myers & Woolsey, and in 1892 Woolsey retired from the firm. In 1892 Dr. Myers removed from No. 44 Third street to No. 92 Fourth street, where he is now located. He is a member of the Third District Dental Society, and is also a member of Apollo Lodge F. & A. M., and is a member of the East Side Club, the Trojan Wheelmen's Club, and of the League of American Wheelmen. In June, 1895, he married Maria Myers, daughter of James H. and Harriet Peckham Myers of Troy. McCulloch, William A., has been a resident of the town since 1832. He was born February 14, 1810, and is a son of Hathorn McCulloch, who emigrated from Scot land in 1803 and died in 1859. Mr. McCulloch resides upon a portion of a tract of land situated about one mile and a half from the village of Greenbush upon which, during the war of 1812, extensive barracks were erected, making it the chief military station near the northern frontier during that contest with the mother country, and, measurably, historic ground. The tract was purchased from the United States gov- FAMILY SKETCHES. 245 ernment in the year 1831, by Hathorn McCulloch above mentioned, after whose decease the portion not disposed of during his lifetime to William A. McCulloch, was divided between his grandchildren, William H. Kirtlandand Mrs. Augusta G. Genet. Mrs. Genet is the wife of George C. Genet, a son of Edmond C. Genet, minister plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the United States in 1792, who lived for many years and until his death in this town. Mr. and Mrs. Genet make use of their portion of the tract as a summer residence, while Mr. McCulloch, since his retirement from active business pursuits, occupies his portion continuously. Mr. McCulloch was reared and educated in the city of Albany. In 1841 he married Caroline M., daughter of William Aiken, one of the founders of the village of Greenbush. To them were born three children : William H., a lawyer by profession, died in New Mexico. His surviving sons, Aiken and Walter B., are both residents of East Greenbush. Connolly, Prof. Edward J., was born in Albany, April 13, 1831. His father, John Connolly, was born in New York and was a manufacturer of carriage trimmings, and removed to Troy in 1839 and later started a saddlery hardware store on Broad way; he possessed a fine tenor voice and directed the choir of St. Mary's and after wards at St. Peter's churches; he died in 1873. His mother, Emilie Berault, was born in New York and died in 1887. Edward J. received his education in the public schools and Troy Academy, and when about ten years of age began to take lessons on the piano, and commenced his career as organist of St. Mary's church at the age of thirteen. When twenty-one years of age he went to New York and was the or ganist at St. Ann's for a number of years. Afterwards he was choirmaster and or ganist of the old Broadway Tabernacle, the Reformed church (corner Fifth avenne and Twenty-first street) the Fifth Avenue Baptist church, and organist and pianist of the Harmonic Society of New York city. In 1872 he returned to Troy and for a short time was in business with his father, but returned to New York in 1879. He was the first and only musical director of the Troy Vocal Society-; he still holds that position which he has filled for twenty consecutive years. He has been organist and choirmaster of Christ church since his return to Troy in 1891, In 1869 he was mar ried to Alice M. Harrison of New York city, where she was at that time a prominent soprano. They have three daughters and two sons. Steenberg, Col. George Taylor, was born in Middletown, Saratoga county. His father, Jonathan Steenberg, was a tailor by trade, and later a carpenter and builder ; he died in Cohoes in 1882. His mother, Jane Taylor Steenberg, was born in Sara toga county and died March 10, 1880. Col. George T. Steenberg was educated in the public schools at Waterford and Middletown, Saratoga countyr. He came to Troy Sep tember 1, 1851, and served three years as an apprentice in learning the trade of barber with Thomas Rath. In 1855 he started in business for himself in Rand's Hall, cor ner of Third and Congress streets, remaining three years. In 1858 he leased the stock and fixtures of Thomas Rath, 8 Third street, for a term of years and after wards bought the property where he carried on the barber business until 1884. He then engaged in the grocery business at the corner of Broadway and. Fifth avenue. He returned to his old business at the Troy House for two years, then took a lease for a number of years of the Mansion House barber shop and bath rooms on Broad way. He joined the old Troy Citizens Corps, February 22, 1853, as a private. Au gust 4, 1858, he was appointed and commissioned by Gov. John A. King as surgeon's 246 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. mate on the staff of Col. Henry A. Mercer, commanding the 24th Regt. N. G. S. N. Y. June 10, 1859, he was promoted to quartermaster by Gov. E. D. Morgan ; elected major of the 24th Regiment June 4, 1860; elected lieuteuant-colonel of the 24th Regiment August 2, 1867; commissioned by Gov. Reuben E. Fenton; elected colonel of the 24th Regiment Jannary6, 1869, commissioned with rank by Gov. John T. Hoffman ; resigned in 1874. April 15, 1878, he was elected a captain of the old Troy City Artillery (afterwards known as the Fourth Battery, N. G. S. N. Y.) He was connected over thirty years with the National Guard of the State of New York, and at the present time is a member of the Old Guard, Senior Company, Troy Citi zen's Corps. He served his time in the Fire Department of Troy, having belonged to the General Wool Hose and Arba Reed Steamer companies. He represented the Arba Reed Steamer Co No. 1 in the board of trustees of the Troy Fire Department in 1879. He is also active in Odd Fellowship, being past grand of Trojan Lodge No 27, I. O. O. F. He was deputy sheriff under sheriffs James McKeon, Eben C. Reynolds and C. V. Collins. February 11, 1856, he married Julia H., daughter of Harvey Mosher. His children are George C. , Walter S. and Delia G. Steenberg. Boetcher, John, was born in the province of Brandenburg, Germany, March 11, 1841, and through his father, who followed the business of gardening, he became early in life acquainted with his present vocation. In 1865 he emigrated to this country, making Cincinnati, Ohio, his first stopping place. Here he perfected his studies in landscape gardening and all branches of cemetery work, under the late Adolph Strauch, superintendent and landscape gardener of Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati. In 1871 Mr. Boetcher came to Troy and assumed the duties of superin tendent of Oakwood Cemetery. About a year after his arrival in Troy he married Miss Johanna, daughter of the late Henry Miller of Troy, and they have two sons and two daughters, of whom Anna, the eldest, is married to Otto Lehman. The surroundings of Oakwood Cemetery were by nature far from attractive, but the artistic skill of Mr. Boetcher has created beauties which make it an open temple of art. Mr. Boetcher is a member of the different Masonic bodies of Troy and belongs to several German organizations. Van Hoesen, Earnest N., was born near South Schodack, September 7, 1858. He was educated in public schools and at Claverack. Until 1887 he was interested in the farming at home. In that year he came to Castleton as a clerk in the for warding business with Rudd & Van Bleet. In 1891 he bought out Van Bleet and the firm was Budd & Van Hoesen, until the spring of 1895 when the present firm of Van Hoesen & Morey was formed. In June, 1894, Mr. Van Hoesen married Lotta Van Denburgh, a native of the town of Schodack. Mr. Van Hoesen's parents were John I. and Catherine E. (Smith) Van Hoesen. On both sides his ancestors were Holland ers. By superior business and ability Mr. Van Hoesen has advanced to the head of one of the best forwarding houses on the Hudson, and his name is respected every where. Miller, John, was born in the town of Schodack, June 5, 1831, and has been inter ested in farming all his lifetime. In 1869 he purchased the freighting business from Downer Sz Harder, which he still conducts under the firm name of John Miller & Son. In 1851 Mr. Miller married Matilda Austrander; they have one son, Stephen FAMILY SKETCHES. 247 I. Miller, and his grandfather was John Miller, and his great grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier. His mother was Christina Lasher. John Miller & Son own the barge Chicago, which has a capacity of 347 tons, and they handle about 40,000 tons of freight annually. Schermerhorn, W. M., was born in the town of Schodack, September 13, 1869. He was educated at the Albany Academy and Eastman's Commercial College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from which he has a diploma. He first began business as a clerk in the Albany Hardware and Iron Co. Upon the death of his father, January 31, 1893, he came into the business of Schermerhorn & Gardner, he and his brother Werdena J. Schermerhorn succeeding their father in that widely known establish ment. On June 25, 1895, Mr. Schermerhorn married Annie Chichester of Chatham Center. He is a Mason and a member of both the Blue Lodge and Chapter. His parents were W. H. Schermerhorn and Lauretta (Baine) Schermerhorn. His grand father, Jacob Schermerhorn was one of the early settlers in Schodack from Saratoga county. Schermerhorn, Nicholas N., was a carpenter by trade in his younger days at Scho dack Landing. He then went into the grocery business in Castleton, and after seven years started the manufacture of bricks and continued so for about four years, when he embarked in the coal business and has conducted it ever since. In 1876 he built the lower dock in Castleton which he still owns and manages. He is also agent for all the Hudson steamers, and was formerly for the Eagle, Lotta, and Favorite. Mr. Schermerhorn was director in the Castleton National Bank, and was its vice- president for two years. He in 1853 married Lucy J. Stearns; their children are J. Stearns Schermerhorn, Mrs. J. W. McKnight, Mrs. Van Vleet Smith, and Mrs. C. D. Rodgers. Mr. Schermerhorn's parents were Abraham D. and Magdaline (Kittie) Schermerhorn, both of Holland descent. Franklin, Charles, was born in England, October 20, 1858, and came to America with his parents in 1869. They settled in Schodack and have resided here ever since. Charles Franklin followed farming for a while then embarked in the meat business, and for seven years has conducted a business of his own. His residence and shop is at Schodack Landing. He is an enterprising and prosperous business man. His parents, who are both living, are William and Elizabeth Franklin. Davenport, G. J., was born in the town of Dryden, Tompkins county, October 1, 1849. He followed farming for a time there and then came to Schodack where he pursued the same occupation for s'ome time. He then went into the meat business in which he was successful and prosecuted it until the summer of 1895 when he sold out. He has since started a hardware and notion store in his old stand. He is an active and enterprising business man and worthy of all success. He is a member of the Society of Odd Fellows. His parents were Warren and Eliza (Snyder) Daven port. His grandfather, John G. Davenport, was a native of Washington county. Mr. Davenport is a Republican in politics but is liberal minded in this as on all other .questions. In 1877 he married Anna C. Fallansbee, who died in June, 1893, leaving no children. Delavan, R. H., was born in New Lebanon, October 19, 1851, and worked for a few years on a farm. At the age of fourteen he began to learn his trade at Lebanon 248 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Springs. In 1878 he embarked in business for himself at Maiden Bridge and re mained there ten years, when he established himself in Castleton, where he still con ducts the harness and horse furnishing of this part of the county. In 1873 Mr. Del avan married Alice Membert and they have five children, three sons and two daugh ters, namely: Arthur, Walter, Ralf Nellie and Edith. Mr. Delavan's parents were Jeremiah and Judy (Criggs) Delavan. Mr. Delavan is a successful and enterprising business man who has been the architect of his own fortune and who stands well with his fellow citizens. Clark, Peter C, was born in Chatham, Columbia county, N. Y., Sept. 7. 1831. He was a son of Robert B. and Catherine (Hare) Clark, he born in Chatham, and she in Schoharie county, N. Y. The grandfather of Mr. Clark was Ruloff Clark, an early settler of Chatham where he died; he was a Free Mason. The father of Mr. Clark was a Free Mason and a blacksmith. He spent his last days in Warren county, N.Y. Peter Clark was reared in Brockport, N. Y , and educated in the common schools. He is a blacksmith by trade, which trade he followed for twenty years; his health failing he went into the mercantile business in Castleton on a turnpike. He kept the Rensselaerwyick Hotel at Castleton for ten years; previous to that time he was proprietor of a hotel at East Greenbush for six years. He is at present in the mer cantile business. Mr. Clark was captain of Company C, 72d Regt. Vermont National Guards under Col. Miller and Col. J. R. Davis. Hover, Joseph L. , was born in Schodack, April 25, 1862 He was a son of Theo dore and Francis (Cryne) Hover, she born in Castleton, N. Y., and he in Greene county. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Hover was Mr. Cryne, who was an early settler of Castleton, where he died. The grandfather of Mr. Hover was Lewis Hover, who also lived in Schodack, where he died in 1882. The father of Mr. Hover was a farmer of Schodack. He died November 9, 1894, and his wife died in June, 1889. Mr. Hover was reared and educated in Schodack and attended tbe Albany Business College. He first followed threshing, and in 1889 went to Nivcr- ville, N. Y., and was baggage master for the B. & A., and in six months was given charge of the station at Schodack, which position he has held ever since. Mr. Hover has been inspector of election. He is a member of Sunnyside Lodge No. 731, F. & A. M December 10, 1884, he was married to Hattie E. Winnie, born in Albany, by whom two children have been born: Winne, born September 9, 1885; Lillian, born September 8, 1888. Mr. Hover owns the homestead of 116 acres of land. Miller, Charles L., was born in Schodack in 1852. He was a son of Henry and Jane E. (Roraback) Miller, both born in Schodack, he a son of Abram Miller, one of the early settlers of Schodack. The maternal grandfather was Simeon G. Rora back, who was also an early settler of Schodack. His father was a farmer. Mr Miller died and his widow lives in Schodack. Mr. Miller was reared and educated in Schodack. He went to South Schodack and was in the plum business and also in the packing of apples for a New York firm. He came to Schodack in March, 1889 and established a feed store. He was a buyer of hay and straw for Boston merchants. Mr. Miller was town clerk for two years. In 1880 he was married to Maggie Scher merhorn, of Schodack, by whom four children have been born: Roy S., Edna R., Leah J., and Mabel M. FAMILY SKETCHES. 249 Lansing, Jacob P., was born in Schodack, January 1, 1828. He is the son of Gar rett and Magdaline (Potts) Lansing, he born in Schodack, the son of Everest O. The grandfather of Mr. Lansing lived and died in Schodack. His father was a farmer. He was supervisor, town clerk, and a prominent man in his town. He died in 1864. His wife died in 1867. Jacob Lansing was reared and educated in his native town and East Greenbush. He follows farming, but was in Castleton for ten years in the freighting business. He owns a place known as the Simeon Ostrander farm and once known as the Bomobarick farm, meaning " Tree Hill." Mr. Lansing has been supervisor for two years, and assessor for eight years, and now holds that office. He was married September 10, 1857, to Pauline D. Ostrander, daughter of Simeon, mentioned in this work. To Mr. Lansing and wife were born four children : Anna (deceased), Lucy A., Maxwell T., and Cornelia. Lewis, Oscar J., was born in Schodack, N. Y., December 15, 1848, in the house in which he now resides. He is a son of Jacob W. and Martha A. (Cryne) Lewis. He was born in Schodack and his wife in the same town. He is a son of William Lewis, a native of Schodack. William Lewis was a native of Holland, and came to Scho dack in a very early day previous to the Revolutionary war. William Lewis made the shoes for the soldiers of the war of 1812. The father of Oscar J. Lewis was a farmer and in 1847 bought the hotel which Oscar J. Lewis now occupies and here lived and died in 1869; his widow is still living. He was justice of the peace several years and collector, and in 1835 was member of assembly. Oscar J. Lewis was reared and educated in Schodack, and was a speculator in farm produce for twelve years, shipping to New York and Cuba, and is now a farmer. He owns 130 acres of land and follows general farming. He was town clerk in 1873, and has been collector of the town, and is now town clerk. He is a member of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., and past master. He was married December 15, 1870, to Emma C. Rector, daughter of Nicholas S. Rector, son of David Rector, an early settler of Schodack. He is a life member of the State Agricultural Society, and for a number of years has been one of the executive committee, having immediate charge of the poultry department, which has more than doubled its entries during his administration. Mesick, Smith V. H., was born in Schodack -,n the farm he now owns, August 11, 1871. He is a son of Jacob I. and Dorcas A. (Roraback) Mesick, both born in Schodack, he a son of John Mesick, a son of Jacob Mesick, one of the early settlers of Schodack, where they all lived and died. The father of Mr. Mesick died in 1886, and his widow is still living. Mr. Mesick was reared on the farm he now owns and was educated in public schools and Fort Plain Institute. He is a farmer and owns 123 acres of land. Mr Mesick is inspector of election. January 1, 1896, he was married to Catherine Whitman, a native of Schodack, and daughter of Peter D. Whitman, of Schodack. Gowey, William J., was born in Rensselaer county, N. Y., February 18, 1829. He is a son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Warner), both of whom were born in Rensse laer county, N. Y. The grandfather of Mr. Gowey was William Gowey, one of the earliest settlers of the county. Mr. Gowey was reared and educated in North Green bush and came to Schodack in 1874 and settled on the farm known as the John W, ff 250 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Lewis farm. Mr. Gowey was married in 1853 to Edora E. Lewis, by whom he has had seven children: Frank, Warner, Irving, William, Laura, Jesse, and Samuel. Jesse and Samuel work on the farm. Coonley, Gerry, was born in Greene county, October 13, 1845, and is a son of John and Hamet (Wolf) Coonley, both born in New Baltimore, Greene county. He was born August 16, 1811, and she was born in 1818. The grandfather was General I. Coonley, who lived and died in New Baltimore. His wife was Hannah Miner, born in Connecticut and came to New Baltimore when a girl, married and had three sons and three daughters, who now live a retired life. He is a Democrat in politics and has been commissioner. His brother, Gerry Coonley, was a member of assembly. The mother of Mr. Coonley died March 23, 1895. Gerry Coonley was reared on a farm and educated in New Baltimore and is a farmer by trade. In 1870 he came to Schodack and bought a farm of 112 acres and has about 2,000 trees and makes a specialty of apples. In 1869 he married Ida Lampier of Greene county and they have two children: Henry and Charles. Hankie, Mrs. F. — Rhinehart Guntrum was born in Germany, February 16, 1816, and came to North Greenbush in 1846, where he worked by the day and month until 1860, when he purchased the farm of seventy-one acres where he now resides, and where he has made many improvements. In 1847 he married Anna D. Harbeck, of Germany, by whom he had seven children: Catherine, John, Rachel, Andrew, Dean, Christ, and Elizabeth, who married Frankel Hankie, of Schodack, and they have four children: Arthur, Dora, Eva, and Frank R. Mrs. Guntrum died January 29, 1892. Reynolds, Joseph, was born in Stephentown, February 8, 1848. He married Ah- geline Lathrop, daughter of Joel and Caroline (Strong) Lathrop of New Hebron, Conn. Mr. Lathrop came to Stephentown in 1826. He was a successful farmer, millman and general inspector. He died in Lansingburgh in 1873, and Mrs. Lathrop died in 1858. To Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have been born five children: Rodger J., Joel H., Millett E., Elisha L., and Charles. Rodger died March 19, 1860. Mr. Reynolds began his business career as teacher and was then in the mercantile busi ness, and then rented a farm. In 1875 he bought the farm of 130 acres, still owned by Mrs. Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds was clerk and road commissioner. Clifford Allen B., was born in Stephentown, April 31, 1839. He is a son of David and Laura (Knappin) Clifford, he a native of Stephentown, and she of Schagh ticoke. The maternal grandfather was Samuel Knappin, brother of Josiah Knappin. The paternal grandparents were Christopher and Weithy (Herring) Knappin. They were natives of Rhode Island, who came to Stephentown when young, but removed to Vienna, Oneida county, where he died at the age of ninety-five. He was a Rev olutionary soldier. The father of Mr. Clifford was a farmer of Stephentown, where he died in 1859 at the age of forty-four. Mrs. Clifford died in November, 1889. Mr. Clifford has always followed farming and speculating in Stephentown, except four years teaming Illinois. In 1860 he settled on the farm of 249 acres where he still re sides. In 1861 he enlisted in Co. H, Seventh New York Cavalry and served seven months. In 1859 he married Naomi, daughter of Stephen and Sally (Hoag) Finch, he a native of Schodack and she of Nassau. He spent his life on the farm in Steph- FAMILY SKETCHES. 251 entown, where he died in 1845, and Mrs. Finch died in 1884. To Mr. and Mrs. Clifford were born three sons and two daughters, all of whom are married ; they are Willis C. , Josephine, Oscar, Benoni and Lucy. Mr. Clifford has been poormaster for years. He is a member of Post Coleman No. 545, G. A. R., Unity Lodge No. 9, F. & A. M.. and of Mt. Whitney Lodge No. 547 I. O. O. F. Borst, George D. — Borst & Lock, proprietors of Nassau Mills, which they pur chased in the spring of 1895 and are doing a successful business. Mr. Borst was born in Middlebury, Schoharie county, N. Y. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather were millers. He spent one year in Ulster county and was also engaged by Becker & Co. of Central Bridge, N.Y. Mr. Borst was married in 1891 to Etta A. Hills of Albany, by whom one son has been born. Ray W. Lock was born in Al bany. He married Millie Hills, sister of Mrs. Borst. They have two children : Ro'y and Marion. The father of Mr. Borst was William Borst and his wife was Margaret Bouck, both born in Middlebury, N. Y. His grandfather was Peter and a very early settler of Middlebury, N. Y., and the great-grandfather, Peter, also at one time owned the Middlebury Mills. Ostrom, Henry, was born in Nassau on the farm his grandfather, Paul Ostrom, settled in 1805 and spent his last days in Saratoga county. The parents of Henry- were Cyrus and Susan (Becker) Ostrom, both born in Rhinebeck, N. Y. He was born February 12, 1803, and she was born in 1806. He was a farmer by occupation. Henry was educated in Nassau Academy. In 1870 he was married to Georgena Harder of Kinderhook, N.Y They have three children: Harry, Lillie, and Jessie. The family trace their ancestry to three brothers coming from Holland, two of whom settled on the west side of the North River, and one of the great-grand fathers of Henry settled at Rhinebeck, N. Y. Clark, Willis, was born in East Nassau, N. Y., September 10, 1845. He is a son of William and Clarrissa (Horton), he was a native of Connecticut, and she of Sand Lake, a daughter of Solomon Horton, one of the early settlers of Sand Lake, where he lived and died. The paternal grandfather was Horace Clark who lived in Connecticut, but died in Nassau with his son the father of Willis. The father of Willis came to Sand Lake and there learned the blacksmith trade. He had four brothers that were blacksmiths and all their sons were blacksmiths. Mr. Clark moved to East Nassau and worked at his trade for about thirty-five years. He finally came to Nassau and here died in 1871 from an injury caused by a rusty nail entering above his knee. His wife died in 1874. Willis was educated in the com mon schools and began work at his trade at the age of sixteen with his father and continued until the death of the latter. He then formed" a partnership with Medasc Lemire and have since continued in business. In 1871 he married Anna Valentine of Nassau, by whom five children have been born: Ira, Emmet, Elma, Allie, and Nina. Saunders, James H., was born in the county of Cornwall, England, December 28, 1823, and at eleven years of age came to New York city with a cousin, William Saunders, leaving his parents, James and Grace Saunders, who died in England. James H, was educated in New York city academy and began life copying in a law yer's office, but soon learned the shoemaker's trade and traveled in different States 252 Landmarks of renssELaer cotJNTY. and finally came to Sand Lake, then came to Nassau in 1845, where he has since lived. He was married in 1846 to Ann M. Whitbeck, daughter of Brewer and Han nah (Valentine) Whitbeck, who lived and died in Nassau. Mr. Saunders has been a farmer and speculator and at present owns over 300 acres of land and has made his own property. Miller, William A., was born at Miller Corners, N. Y., March 27, 1844. He is a son of Henry and Elizabeth Miller. The father of William A. was a farmer. He died in 1850 and his wife died at East Nassau. William A. was reared on a farm until twelve years of age, when his mother and family went to Mendola. Lasalle county, Ills., and were there four years when he came to North Nassau and lived with Phileman Deveraux for two years. He then went on the Hudson River as fireman on the towboat Austin, and then returned to Illinois and was with a railroad company for one year, and then went to jobbing for two years. He married Ellen M. Perry of Lake county, 111., by whom was born three children: Edgar D., Maud, and Chester. Edgar D. married Miss Filmore of East Nassau and has two children: Andrew and Ethel. Maud is the wife of Thomas Brown of Stephentown and has two sons: Lester and Roy. He is a member of the Mount Whitney Lodge I. O. O. F. No. 647, of which he is a charter member. His wife died January 30, 1890. Mr. Miller was engaged in the manufacture of shirts, collars, and cuffs at East Nassau for about fifteen years and also carried mail from Hoag's to Brainard Station for about three years. He owned a saw mill and a grist mill at two different places in East Nassau. Mr. Miller owns 106 acres of land known as the Coonradt farm on which he located in 1892. Kirby, Giles, was born in Nassau Valley May 18, 1827. He is a son of Henry and Mana (Becker) Kirby. He was born in Columbia county and she in Kinderhook. The father of Giles when a boy learned the blacksmith trade and came to Lyon's Pond and then to the Valley of Nassau and spent his last days on the farm Giles now owns. He died January 28, 1892, and his wife died in 1865. He was justice for about twenty-six years, when he resigned, and was justice of sessions one term. The grandfather of Giles was Thomas Kirby, who came from Connecticut to Colum bia county where he lived and died. The maternal grandfather was Hammon Becker, who lived most of his life in Columbia county, but died in Orleans county, N. V. Giles was reared a blacksmith and worked in Nassau village until 1865, when he purchased a farm of 116 acres where he has since lived. In 1850 he married Mercy C. Mullett of Hancock county, Me. They have had five children : Emma, a teacher ; Henry S. , who has a position in the capitol ; Frank is a druggist in Nassau ; Ella, a music teacher; and Ervie deceased. Mr. Kirby has been three times super visor, and was supervisor when Thomas Ealor was taken to prison and was one of the committee when Ford kept the county house. He was deputy sheriff three terms and also at one time collector. Tillson, Henry A , was born in New York city, August 10, 1868. He is a son of Henry and Annie (Scott) Tillson. He was born in England October 5, 1822, and she was a native of Scotland and daughter of John Scott. The parents of Henry were Robert and Sarah (Gibson) Tillson, who lived and died in England. Beside Henry A., Mr. and Mrs. Tillson have three children: Laura, wife of a Boston boat captain FAMILY SKETCHES. 253 on Lake George; John H., is guide and manager of W. Durant's establishment at Pine Knot Camp; and Lucy is the widow of James Roland, deceased. Mr. Tillson is a great traveler and has been in the employ of some of the best families in the United States and other countries. He went to West India and was employed on a large plantation. He then came to Halifax where he was gardener to Governor House. In 1854 he came to the States and was for seven years in the employ of the Astor family, and then gardener on Long Island for Morgan and Sanford, and has also been with Frank Leslie and Durant. In 1880 Mr. Tillson came to Averill Park and ran the Park House until 1889, when he purchased the Sand Lake Hotel of which he is still proprietor. Mr. Tillson is a member of the Reinbech Lodge No. 432 F. & A. M. In 1892 he married Mary E. Luffer of Albany. He is a member of the Scho dack U. Lodge No. 87 F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 15, Bloss Council No. 14, Apollo Commandery No. 15, and Interlachan Lodge No. 641 I. O. O. F. Strait, George W., born in East Nassau, June 21, 1851, is the son of W. and Emily (Cole), he a native of Stephentown born in 1811, and she a native of Lebanon. The grandfather was Shaderick Strait, a native of Rhode Island, and he and his brother, Meschach Strait, came from Rhode Island to Stephentown, N. Y., about 1800 and there lived and died. The father of George W. was reared in Stephentown and at the age of sixteen began teaching and afterwards studied medicine and gradu ated from Pittsfield Medical College, and practiced in Dutchess county a short time, in Philadelphia one year and New York city about five years, but most of his life in East Nassau, about forty-five years. He had a very large practice and devoted but little time to politics. He died October 21, 1889, and his wife died May 2, 1855. George W. was feared on a farm and educated in East Nassau and learned the car penter's trade which he followed a few years and bought the farm he now owns of 110 acres and follows mixed farming. He has twice been married, first to Anna Layden, by whom he has one daugher, Mary E., at home. Mrs. Strait died July, 1877, and Mr. Strait in 1885 married Rozelia A. Cook, by whom he has two children: Ethel A., and Rozelia A. Mrs. Strait died March 5, 1893. Mr. Strait is a Republi can. The family are Baptists and attend and support the church at East Nassau. Dr. Strait, father of George W. , by a previous marriage to Mary Harris had three children: Hannah E., deceased, Harry D., Mary J. Sliter, Willard F., born in Sand Lake, March 7, 1847, is the son of Silas and Fannie (Foster) Sliter, both natives of Sand Lake, he born Nov. 14, 1822, and she Nov. 28. 1822. The parents of Silas Sliter were Clement and Ruth (Wei mot) Sliter, he a native of New- Concord, N. Y., and born March 25, 1772, and she born at Waterbury, Conn., Sep tember 30, 1776. They came to Sliter's Corners, now Sand Lake, previous to 1800, and purchased a large tract of land. The parents of Clement were William and Mary (Ray) Sliter, he a native of Holland and she of Connecticut. They were also pioneers of Sand Lake. The great-grandparents of Willard F., Seth and Hannah (Merrick) Briggs, lived and died in Vermont. Silas Sliter made farming his life work. Besides Willard F. he has one daughter, Ella, wife of Walter Boker, in Iron Works, Colilmbus, Ohio. They have three children : Harriet, Annie and Charles. Mr. Sliter died May 14, 1877. He was a Republican in politics and held the office of collector and a number of years assessor. He was also constable and for a long time deputy sheriff. Mr. Sliter was educated at Seranis school and Brookside In- 254 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. stitute. He was six years in New York city, and has been overseer of the estate of James K. Averill for twenty years. ' He now has charge of the freight office at Averill Park. Mr. Sliter has been constable for years. He is a member of the Oneida Valley Lodge No. 282 F. & A. M., and Order of the United Friends of New York city. Coleman, Pierce, born in Germany, December 25, 1840, is the son of Jacob and Catherine Coleman, who were farmers of Germany where they lived and died. Pierce was reared and educated in his native country and came to America when about nineteen years of age stopping for a time in New York city. From there he removed to Nassau and in 1876 came to Sand Lake and purchased the farm of sev enty-seven acres where he has since carried on general farming. Mr. Coleman and family adhere to the religion of their parents, the Roman Catholic. In 1865 he mar ried Caroline Ruhl of Germany, and they have these children: Katie, Frank, John, Lydia, Carrie and Emma. Luell, John, was born in Prussia, April 5, 1838. He is a son of Casper and Anna (King) Luell, who lived and died in Germany. Mr. Luell was reared and educated in Prussia, and served three years in the army as cavalry man. He came to America in 1863 and settled in Poestenkill where he remained for five years. In 1879 Mr, Luell came to Sand Lake and purchased a farm of 175 acres, where he has since been engaged in farming. He married Antona Leibach, a sister of Charles Leibach. They have six sons and two daughters: Fred L., John E., Joseph H., Minnie W., Johnnie F., Anna C, Charles, and Walter. White, Frank H., one of Hoosick Falls's most esteemed and leading business men, was born at Bennington, Vt. , in 1854 of English ancestry and son of Salem White, now sixty-nine years of age. His maternal great-grandfather, Lemuel Fuller, came with the " Mayflower." He was educated at his native place, and at sixteen left the farm and began work in a meat market. This was the beginning of the vocation he has followed so successfully, and has ever since been engaged in the work. He now has a most extensive market, corner of John and Church streets, dealing in the choicest beef, mutton, pork and poultry, with game and vegetables in their season. He also opened an extensive carriage repository in 1890, being agent for the Water- town Spring Wagon Co. He is a Republican but not an aspirant for political ad vancement. Both himself and wife are worthy and efficient members of St. Mark's Episcopal church. She was Ida E., daughter of Nathaniel Gardner of this place. They were married in 1874 and had one son, Guy Herbert, who died in 1884 aged seven years, and in whose memory St. Mark's church has a memorial candlestick placed by his bereaved mother. Byars, James G., is a prominent citizen of Hoosick Falls who came to America in 1865 from Scotland where he was born in 1839 and where he was educated. He is a son of Hugh Byars, and by trade a cotton spinner, locating in Lawrence, Mass., thence to North Adams in 1876 as superintendent in a woolen mill. He came here in 1871, establishing a bottling business and conducting a general store at North Hoosick. Mr. Byars also deals in real estate and built a handsome block on Church street in 1889. He is a Republican, a member of the Masonic order and of the Epis copal church, and a man of firm convictions and shrewd business capabilities. He FAMILY SKETCHES. 255 has two sons who are associated with him in the bottling business devoted entirely to temperance drmk. Stevens, Frank L. , general superintendent of the Walloomsac Paper Co. , and elder son of S. S. Stevens, was born at North Hoosick, October 28, 1864. Carefully ed ucated at Peekskill and at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, he completed in 1884 the full course at the latter institution, graduating a practical machinist and mechanical engineer. Mr. Stevens has since 1884 been associated with the paper manufacturing industry at North Hoosick and Walloomsac and has had a general supervision since 1892. In 1889 he married Miss Fredericka Wallich of Detroit, Mich., and has one daughter, Lois. Of unbounded personal popularity Mr. Stevens is a member of all the local clubs and societies. In 1884 he became a charter member of tbe Thirty- second Separate Co., N. Y. National Guard, was during the next year promoted to the first lieutenancy, and in 1893 made captain, a position for which he is eminently fitted and which he fills with grace and efficiency. A Republican in politics, he was appointed postmaster at North Hoosick in 1890. Ross, George A., of George A. Ross & Co., leading druggists and apothecaries of Hoosick Falls, has been a resident of this place about six years, and has already taken a prominent place among up to date business men and society. He was born at Troy in 1870 and was a clerk in a drug store before reaching fifteen years of age. He came to Hoosick Falls in 1889 and became an assistant of Henry W. Stone and in March, 1895, purchased the business, Mr. Stone retiring. Mr. Ross is a graduate of the Albany College of Pharmacy and by his personal ability and industry did much to make the house a most prominent and successful one in its line. Gardner, David E., a retired farmer of Hoosick Falls, is a descendant of a Quaker family and one of four children of Daniel Gardner also a farmer. His grandfather, John Gardner, came from Rhode Island. He was born at Petersburgh and was ed ucated in the district schools there, and has only one brother living, Nelson J. of Pittstown ; the two sisters who died were Alice A. , and Hannah L. David has always followed the vocation of farming, and was in every way a successful farmer, retiring in 1875. Though a sturdy Republican he has never entered the political field or that of matrimony. Kautz, John, the River street grocer, has been a resident of Hoosick Falls fifteen years. In 1882 he established the business as a general store, handling groceries, shoes, crockery and house-furnishings. His father was a flax merchant at Grafton, N. Y., and he was born at that place in 1848. When sixteen he went into business on his own account and is in every way self made. He is a member of the M. E. church, and like the great majority of Americans whose ancestry is German, casts his vote and his political allegiance with the Republican party. In 1880 he married Miss Sarah J. Eldred, of Potter Hill. Waddell, Archibald R., merchant tailor, continues at Hoosick Falls the business established by his father, the late James Waddell, thirty years ago. James Waddell died October 16, 1895, mourned by a large circle of friends. He was of high rank as a Mason, had served for many years as village treasurer, and was in every way a valuable citizen and a man whom to know was to honor. He was born near Belfast, Ireland, and had been a resident here since 1866. Archibald Waddell was born here 256 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. October 12, 1873, and learned the business of his late father, with whom he was as sociated as a partner. He is a member of the crack military company known as the Thirty second Separate. Babcock, W. F. — Few families of this locality can boast of a more venerable genea logical tree than that of the house of Babcock, and in fact the paternal lineage of Mr. Babcock may be traced without a break to that pregnant date, 1620. W. Frank Babcock of Hoosick was born in this town in 1858. His father was the late Nelson P. Babcock, born in 1813 and died in 1893, a lifelong resident. Frank as a boy had a stong penchant for the art preservative and as an amateur printer he started a local paper called the "Centennial" in 1876, of which he was himself the editorial staff and publishing department. In 1880 he embarked in mercantile life and now operates a large and complete general store with his own name as the firm style. That he is successful and popular goes without saying. Richmond, E. A., of Richmond & James, general merchants at Hoosick, represents an old Rhode Island family who were among the first settlers of Hoosick. Born in this town in 1853, his father, P. W. Richmond of West Hoosick, was also born here, and has lived so much of a long and useful life within its borders. E. A. Richmond remained upon the homestead farm of his birth until twenty-three years old, then engaged in mercantile business at Hoosick, where we find him enjoying a large and well deserved patronage. In 1891 he married Miss Mattie, daughter of J. P. Arm strong of Hoosick, and they have four children. At about the same date Mr. R. C. James became a partner in the store business. Mr. James was also born in Hoosick in 1859, a grandson of Col. Randall James of the Rhode Island militia. Allen, James W. , has been a resident of Hoosick Falls since 1865, when he came with Rev. Nicholls, his rector and personal friend of Cherry Valley, N. Y., as organ ist of St. Mark's Episcopal church, in which capacity he officiated for twenty-five years. He had previously rendered similar service for a period of ten years at Cherry Valley, his former home, having returned there with his mother after the death of his father, William Allen, in 1850 at New York city. His father, though engaged in milk delivery at the time of his death, had been formerly a farmer in Westford, Otsego county, where James was born in 1839. The latter was educated at New York and Cherry Valley. He became an expert mechanic and musician and was known as a cabinet organ maker. He has been connected with the Wood Works as painter for thirty years, but music teaching is his more natural vocation and he taught organ playing here many years In 1868 he married Sarah, daughter of David Timmerman of Canajoharie, a farmer and cabinet maker of that place. Her mother's father, Colonel Rolf, in the war of the Revolution, was one of the ear liest settlers of Canajoharie. and he built the first hotel and the first mill at that place. Mr. Allen has one son, William D. Allen, aged twenty-four years, who is engaged with him as contracting painter. O'Neil, John J.v an energetic business man, is a native of Hoosick Falls where he in 1892 opened a drug store at No. 15 John street, establishing a good business. He is a Democrat but not a political aspirant. He is of Irish ancestry, born in 1867, son of John O'Neil, who has been a resident here more than forty years, Mr. O'Neil had been three years an assistant of Dr. Skinner previous to his graduation at the FAMILY SKETCHES. 257 Albany College of Pharmacy. He was also eight years with Henry W. Stone, who for a number of years conducted a drug store on John street. He is a member of the R. C. church. Corey, B. F., a resident of Hoosick since 1866, is a retired carpenter, avocation he followed throughout his active business life as did his father, Philip W. Corey, be fore him. The latter came from Rhode Island to Cambridge where B. F. Corey was born in 1827. Before his residence here he lived in Easton, Washington county, where he married Ruby Jane Willis, who bore him two children: Jesse, at present engaged as agent for the D. M. Osborne Company of Auburn ; and Ella. Allen, George W., a native of Buskirk's Bridge is of English ancestry, born in 1839. He has always resided here and been engaged in harness making, except two years at Eagle Bridge as clerk in the post office. His father, James J. Allen, was also a harness maker and served as justice of the peace here for many years. His grand father, Eben Allen, was expelled from the Quaker church for becoming a Revolu tionary soldier. George is an ardent Democrat, has served one year as justice of the peace, and ten years as notary public. Mr. Allen is an able writer and acts as cor respondent for various papers. He married Amy Surdam of North Hoosick, and has three children living. One daughter, Carrie, wife of William Reinhart, is de ceased. Snyder, Prof. D. Horatio, was born in West Sand Lake November 12, 1862. He attended district and select schools in West Sand Lake for many years and later at tended the Troy Academy, and took there a special course preparatory to becoming a teacher, returned to West Sand Lake, and for many years taught in the district schools at the latter place and vicinity. He went to Hoosick Falls in 1887, and was appointed principal of the Classic Street Academy, which position he filled in a highly satisfactory manner for three and a half years. He was then promoted to fill a vacancy as teacher of several branches in the high school, and to have complete su pervision of the music in all of the public schools in this place. This position he is still filling in a most satisfactory and painstaking manner. During his term of office in "the position, the 1,500 public school pupils there have taken an unprecedented interest in the study of music, and wonderful strides have been made in that im ¦ portant branch. Prof. Snyder is also a graduate of the American Institute of Normal Methods of Vocal Music, and also received a certificate from the Metropolitan Con servatory in pianoforte. He is also chairman of the committee of specialties of pub lic school music of the New York State Musical Association. He is of a genial and friendly disposition, and has a vast circle of friends in the musical world. For the past six years he has acted as director of the quartette choir of St. Luke's church in Cambridge. Pruyn, Jesse A., was born in Hoosac, N. Y. , February 11, 1858. He was a son of Daniel F. and Salotta Sharp. He was born in Hoosick, and she in Ohio. The grandfather of Jesse A. was Francis Pruyn, who spent his days in Hoosick. The father of Jesse A. was a carpenter and builder. He was a Republican, but not an aspirant for office. He resided at Hoosick Falls. Jesse A. was born and educated in Hoosick and Troy Business College and graduated in 1876. He was first employed in a wholesale grocery house at Glens Falls, N. Y., and was there two years, and 258 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. afterwards assistant bookkeeper at the same place with Finch & Pruyn He then went to New York city and was a commission merchant in fruits for eight years, and in 1894 bought of E. J. Fort his flour, feed, grain, coal, hay, straw, lime, cement, etc. , business. He then started business in Johnsonville which he has since continued. He was married in 1880 to Mettie M. Durfee of South 'Cambridge, N. Y. He was a Republican in politics. The family attended and supported the Presbyterian church. Humphrey, Olin J., was born in Pittstown, N. Y., August 8, 1865. He was a son of John C. and Elizabeth (Hoag) Humphrey, both born in Pittstown. The grand father of Mr. Humphrey was Ira P. Humphrey, a native of Pittstown and a son of one of the earliest settlers of the town. Mr. Humphrey's father was a farmer and owned ninety-six acres of land. He was a member of Victor Lodge No. 680 F. & A. M. He died in 1894 aged fifty-eight, and his widow died in 1871. Mr. Humphrey was reared on a farm and educated in common schools. He followed farming and owns sixty-four acres of land. June 28, 1895, he was married to Anna L. Lawton of Pittstown, N. Y. Hoag, Shandanette, was born in Pittstown, N. Y., August 14, 1865. He was a son of Jonathan Hoag. He was educated in common schools, Fort Edward Institute, Albany Normal and Troy Business College. He was at home until 1894, when he en gaged in the mercantile business at Tomhannock. October 22, 1889, he married Minnie F. Durfee of Cambridge, Washington county, N. Y., by whom he has one child, Gladys, born October 14, 1892. Mr. Hoag is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680 F. & A. M. Mr. Hoag has been excise commissioner of the town. Francisco, Henry, born in Pittstown, N. Y., April 16, 1827, is a son of Michill and Lavina Felkins Francisco. The grandfather of Henry was Abram Francisco, who spent most of his days in Pittstown. The father of Henry was a farmer by occupa tion and was constable several terms. He died September 25, 1855. Henry was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He follows farming and owns eighty-one acres of land. He was married first, November 30, 1853, to L. Mar garet Snyder, of Brunswick, N. Y. , and had one child, Augustus, deceased. Mrs. Francisco died June 12, 1855, and January 28, 1857, he married Lucy A. Coonradt of Brunswick, daughter of William and Sarah Coonradt of Brunswick, where she died and he died in Poestenkill, N. Y. To Mr. and Mrs. Francisco were born four sons and two daughters. The sons died young and the daughters are Ida M., wife of Isaac M. Hunt of Tomhannock ; they have a son, William Willard ; Nellie, wife of Howard Hoag of Pittstown ; they have one child, Mildred. Mr. and Mrs. Francisco are members of the Lutheran church and their daughters are Methodists as also are their husbands. Akin, Orrin, born in Pittstown, N. Y. , June 5, 1840, is a son of William, a son of Benjamin. The father of Orrin was born in Pittstown March 16, 1809. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He has followed farming and owned at one time 360 acres of land, and was one of the prominent farmers of the town. He was married in 1828, to Abigail Johnson of Troy, N. Y., and daughter of John Johnson who lived and died in Waterford. To Mr. and Mrs. Akin were born six children of whom four are living. William deceased; Eliza J., wife of Jon- Family sketches. 259' athan Hoag; David of Brunswick; Shandanette, deceased; Orrin; Analine, wife of Christopher Yates. William Akin was reared on a farm and educated in the com mon schools. He followed farming and owns 225 acres of land, on which he came with his parents when thirteen years of age. He has been excise commissioner for six years. He and family attend the M. E. church. He was married December 24, 1862, to Caroline Akin, a daughter of Humphrey Akin, a son of Plumphrey, and a brother of Benjamin. To Mr. and Mrs. Akin were born eight children: Lottie, born November 14, 1867, deceased; Arzelia, born October 25, 1869; Harry S., born November 5, 1871; Humphrey D., born June 1, 1874; Maud, born August 20, 1876; George B., born February 25, 1881; Orrin, born November 28, 1882; Nettie, born November 22, 1888. Mr. Akin is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680 F. & A. M. Myers, James, born in Ireland in 1834, came to Pittstown in 1851 and engaged in farming, and owned at his death forty-eight acres of land. His wife was Catherine Day, born in Ireland. They had seven children : Maggie, wife of Michell Fogarty of Melrose, N. Y. ; Katie at home; Patrick B. ; Ellen, wife of James Haughney, and they have two children, James and Andrew ; James A. at home ; Eliza A. at home. The family sold the homestead and bought the farm they now own in 1888 of 123 acres of land and follow general farming. Mr. Meyers died August 12, 1871. Snyder, Martin, born in Pittstown, 1820, is a son of Christopher and Elizabeth (Stoves) Snyder, natives of Pittstown. The father of Christopher, also Christopher Snyder, spent his life in Pittstown where he died The father of Martin was reared on the farm and made farming his life work, at which he was eminently successful. He represented his town as supervisor and was also justice of peace several years. Martin Snyder was reared on the farm and has always been engaged in farming, being one of the most prominent in his business in the town. He has a farm of 238 acres and real estate in Buffalo. Herrington, Merrit.was born in Pittstown May 3, 1816, and died on the farm April 3, 1886. His life occupation was farming and his widow still resides on the farm of 117 acres of land they own. Mr. Herrington carried on general farming. In 1839 Mr. Herrington married Catherine A., a sister of Martin Snyder, by whom they had four children : Elizabeth, who died aged thirty-three years; Anna T., wife of Peter D. Eychleshimer, farmer of Florida ; Harriet, widow of George C. Penoyer, who died January 14, 1895, and was a farmer of North Chatham, Columbia county. He had one daughter, Edith S. Mr. Herrington was justice for nine years and assessor for several years. Piser, Charles B. , born in Pittstown November 9, 1873, is a son of Peter and Mary A. (Cline) (Bedell), he a native of Pittstown, and she of Greene county. The grand parents were Peter and Margaret A. (Eycleshimer). The father of Peter, Christian Piser, came from Germany and he and his brother Martin engaged in the milk busi ness near Boston. They accumulated quite a property but lost it during the Revo lutionary war. They then came to Pittstown and purchased land, getting a deed from King George. The land is now owned by Mr. Piser and brother Jacob. Peter E. Piser, father of Charles, spent his life at farming in Pittstown where he died. Mrs. Piser died October 20, 1881. Mr. Piser was reared on the farm and educated in Lansingburgh Academy and Troy Business Institute, graduating March 21, 1894, '260 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. He is engaged in general farming, owning about 150 acres of land. In 1894 he mar ried Mabel, daughter of E. B. and Eva J. (Nichols) Manchester, of Petersburgh. They have one daughter, Susan M. Mr. Piser is a member of the M. E. church, and of Victor Lodge No. 680 F. & A. M. Ketcham, Lansing, born in Pittstown, March 25, 1850, is the son of Francis F. and Elizabeth (Lane) Ketcham. Mr. Ketcham was reared by an .uncle on the farm in Pittstown. When a young man he went to Iowa where his mother and family re sided, came back to Pittstown and married and returned to Iowa and was for seven years engaged in farmirg. In 1850 he returned to Pittstown, where he died in 1888. Mrs. Ketcham died in 1889. They gave support to the M. E. church. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Ketcham, Abijah and Irene (Ketcham) .Lane, were natives of Pittstown. The father of Irene Ketcham was a pioneer of South Pittstown, where he lived and died. Abijah was a Revolutionary soldier. Snyder, Isaac, was born May 14, 1811. He .was a son of Ludwig G. and Christina (File) Snyder, both natives of Brunswick. The grandfather. George Snyder, was born in Brunswick in pioneer times and there spent his days at farming. Ludwig Snyder came from Brunswick to Pittstown in 1814 and engaged in farming. He removed to Rochester where he died in 1872. Mrs. Snyder died in 1821. Mr. Sny der had been a carpenter for twenty years. In 1862 he settled on a farm of 121 acres which he now owns and carries on general farming. In 1834 Mr. Snyder married Ely a Payne, daughter of Stephen Payne of Pittstown, by whom he had three children : Rebecca J., Mary E. and Elizabeth D., wife of Charles Mosse, a farmer of Pittstown. Mr. Snyder is a Democrat in politics. Eddy, H. S. — He was a son of Avery and Mary A. (Carpenter) and a descendant of Samuel Eddy, who came to England in 1820 and settled in Rhode Island. Obe- diah Eddy was born in Rhode Island in 1645. Constant was born in Rhode Island in 1734 and came to Pittstown at a very early day. He was general at the battle of Bennington in the Revolutionary war. He owned a large tract of land in Pittstown near Raymertown. The sons of General Eddy were John and Robert Eddy. Avery, son of Robert, was born in Pittstown, February 20, 1800. He married Mary A. Car penter and spent most of his life at farming in Brunswick, where he died in 1872. Mrs. Eddy died May 0, 1872. He was an active Democrat in politics, and Lutheran in religion. Robert Eddy was a farmer of Pittstown, and died from the effect of a fall. Mr. Eddy was married October 15, 1874, to Emily, daughter of John E. and Emma J. (Eycleshimer) Hunter, who settled the farm now occupied by Mr Eddy. Mr. Hunter died in 1872. Mrs. Hunter still survives and resides with her daughter. To Mr. and Mrs. Eddy had been born one son and three daughters: Hattie F. teacher, Amy, Minnie and John B. Mr. Eddy has 224 acres of land. Sherman, Nathaniel G., was born in Pittstown, November 5, 1843, and is a son of Sanford T. and Roxania (Gifford) Sherman. He is a son of Stephen L. Sherman. The father of Nathaniel was a farmer and lived and died in Pittstown. He died November 22, 1889, and his wife died April, 1886. He was trustee of the school for twenty years. Nathaniel was educated in the common schools and was a farmer by occupation, and owns about 118 acres of land. March 15, 1871, he was married to Phebe M. Herrington, by whom three children have been born: Evaline, Emma A., FAMILY SKETCHES. 261 and Cora A. Mrs. Sherman died July 13, 1892, and December 22, 1893, he again married Mrs. S. M. Butler, of South Carolina. Morse, Miss E. E.— Samuel M. Morse was born, in Pittstown, N. Y., July 28, 1830, son of Samuel and Catherine (Thornton) Morse, natives of New Hampshire and Grafton, N. Y., respectively. Samuel Morse, sr., came to Pittstown about 1819, and here lived and died. He was a Republican in politics, and was constable and collector. Samuel Morse, jr., was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He is a farmer by occupation, owning 100 acres of land. In 1859 he mar ried Mercena Cross, who was born in Hoosick, daughter of Joseph Cross, by whom he had two children : Electa, who was educated in Lansingburgh Academy and Al bany Normal, and is at present engaged in teaching; and Elmer H., who was edu cated at Albany Normal and Albany Business College, and is also a teacher. He married Eliza J. Reed, of Pittstown, N. Y. Faulkner, Charles T., was born in Troy, N. Y., September 4, 1867. His father, Thomas Faulkner, was born in Troy, and has for many years carried on a large grocery business. His mother is Anna E. (Law) Faulkner. He received his educa tion at the public and high school. He studied law with Patterson &. Gamble, and was admitted to practice September, 1890. He was nominated by the Republican party in 1893, but declined the nomination. He was appointed school commissioner by Mayor Whelan and in 1895 he was elected as president of the board. He is a member of the Pafraets Dael Club. O'Brien, Jarvis P., was born in Fort Edward, N. Y., May 24, 1864. His father, James O'Brien, came to this country in 1840 and settled in Fort Edward. Mr. O'Brien attended the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute from which he graduated in 1887. In 1889 he entered the Columbian University at Washington, D. C, and grad uated in 1892. He came to Troy, in 1892, and took a clerkship with the law firm of Smith & Wellington for one year as required by law, and was admitted to the bar in September, 1893. Green, Hannibal, was born in Sheldon, Vt., in 1811, and came to Troy in 1825 where he secured a position as clerk in the office of Craft, Hart & Pitcher in the iron and hardware business, and in 1832 on the withdrawal of Mr. Crafl the new firm of Nazro, Thurber & Green was formed. In 1865 Mr. Green erected a steel spring fac tory and later erected an iron warehouse and store on Broadway, and he retained sole control of same until a few years before his death, when his sons, M. C. & Ed ward M. Green, were taken into the the firm. He was a Democrat, having been offered the nomination for mayor and other offices of trust. He was for many years president of the Troy City National Bank. He died March 29, 1875. McLeod, Sayre, was born in Phelps, N. Y. , in 1866. His ancestors on the paternal side came from England at the time of the Revolutionary war and settled in South hampton, L. I. His ancestors on his mother's side came from England in 1646. Joshua Sayre was a colonel in the Revolutionary war. His father was Augustus D. McLeod who lived in Ontario county. His mother was Mary Francis Sayre, of Phelps, N.Y. He graduated from St. John's School in Manlius, N. Y., in 1885. He then entered Harvard University, from which he graduated in the class of 1890, and came to Troy in August of the same year and became treasurer of the Bussy & McLeod 262 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Stove Co., where he remained until March, 1896, when he began the study of law. He belongs to the Laureate Boat Club, the Troy Club, and the Harvard Club of New York city. October 17, 1895, he was married to Martha Meade Lane, daughter of John Tibbitts Lane. Edwards, jr., Edward, son of Edward and Mary A. (Campaigne) Edwards, was born in Troy, August 14, 1870, and received his education in the public and high schools, graduating in 1888. He was then for two years a clerk in his father's store, on the corner of Congress and Thirteenth streets. In the fall of 1890 he entered Williams College and was graduated in 1894 with the degree of A. B., Phi Beta Kappa rank, and was orator of his class. In September, 1894, he was made princi pal of school No. 17 of Troy and remained there until March, 1895, when he was appointed principal of school No. 10. One year later he was transferred to the Troy High School, where he is now professor of Latin and German. Professor Edwards is a member of King Solomon's Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., the Troy Vocal Society, the Troy Choral Club and the East Side Club. Bord, jr., George S., was born in Troy, Rensselaer county, N. Y., July 15, 1861. His father, George S. Bord, was born in England and came to this country and settled. He was foreman of the teaming department of the Burden Iron Works for thirty- eight years and was alderman from the Eighth ward and died in 1886. His mother is Mrs. Sarah (McKeon) Bord, of Troy. George S. Bord received his edu cation in the public schools. He assisted his father for a time in the teaming busi ness and later entered the livery of his uncle, T. McKeon, at 176 Third street as clerk. In 1892 he with his brother purchased the business. He was married to Margaret Murray of Troy in 1888, and has one daughter. Salisbury, Frederick W. , was born in Troy, August 5, 1858. His father, Orison S, Salisbury, was a contractor and came to Troy in 1830 and died in 1833. His mother, Mary (Canfield) Salisbury, of Malone, N. Y. , died in 1887. He received his educa tion at the Troy Academy and went as manager of an art goods store, shortly after buying out the people he was working for. He is a well known dealer in these goods throughout the State. He is a brother of Assistant Chief H. C. Salisbury, of the Troy Fire Department. He belongs to all the Masonic bodies of Troy. He married Carrie A. Hurlburt, daughter of Capt. Lemuel Hurlburt, who was chief of detectives in Troy during the Civil war. Richmond, Herbert J., was born on Green Island, February 22, 1870. His father, Hiram T. Richmond, was a railroad man. His mother was Julia C. Jaquith who died when he was six months old. He was brought up by his grandparents, Isaac and Carolina A. Jaquith. His grandfather died in 1881. He still resides with his grandmother. After attending public schools and business college from which he got a diploma, he entered the employ of Gardner & Meneeley as assistant bookkeeper, where he remained for two years. He was afterwards employed by Chauncey D. Bradt, Flack & Co. , and later entered the employ of the Troy Telephone and Tele graph Co., and was made secretary and treasurer of that company in 1895, was re elected in 1896. He belongs to all the Masonic bodies of Troy. Gormley, David K. , was born in Troy, N. Y. His father, John Gormley, came from Scotland in 1842, and located in Troy. He entered the meat business in 1867, FAMILY SKETCHES. 263 and in 1869 he retired from the business. His wife was Agnes Anderson, who died in 1885. David K. was educated in the public schools and in 1869, with his brother, took charge of the market formerly run by their father. He married Emma Carey of Troy. Cleary, jr., Kyran, was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1856. His father, Kyran Cleary, was born in Ireland and came to the United States about 1840, and was a brewer. In 1853 he was elected alderman from the First ward and died in 1861. His mother is Margaret Cleary. Kyran, jr., received his education at the Christian Brothers' Academy and went to work with his brother in the brewery. He was stamp clerk during President Cleveland's first term in the Troy post-office. He was assistant corporation tax clerk in the comptroller's office in Albany, where he remained until June, 1894, when he was appointed assistant postmaster in the Troy post-office. He is a member of the Democratic General Committee and of the Young Men's Catholic Literary Club. He belongs to the Edward Murphy, Jr., Association, of which he is one of the trustees. Horan, James J., was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1865. His father, Thomas Horan, was born in Ireland and came to the United States in 1845 and settled in Troy. For many years he was in the railroad construction business and later and up to the present time has carried on a large teaming business. His mother was Mrs. Cath erine (Flattery) Horan, of Albany. James was educated at the Christian Brothers' Academy and went to work for the firm of Holland & Thompson, where he remained about five and a half years, afterwards he was with Chambers, Bottom & Co. one year and a half. He then formed a copartnership with James W. Daley and car ried on the steam fitting and plumbing business under the firm name of Daley & Horan until 1891, when Mr. Daley retired and the firm name was changed to J. J. Horan & Co. Cordes, August E. , was born in Hanover, Germany, September 6, 1840. He is a moulder by occupation. He entered the army in Germany in 1862 and served three years, serving also in the war in 1866 between Austria and Prussia. In 1867 he came to this country, and worked his way up in several cities in this country. He came to Hoosick Falls in 1869 and worked in Walter A. Wood's shop. He married in 1869 Miss Lina C. Ridder, who was born in Worden Germany, June 4, 1842. He is an expert moulder and an authority on iron in every detail in manufacturing pro cesses. He served two years as trustee of the village, representing the Second ward, but never aspired to public office ; a member of Rensselaer Lodge No. 400, F. & A. M., also of the Masonic Veteran Association, having been a Mason over twenty years. August E. Cordes, jr., born January 6, 1873, in Hoosick Falls, was educated in the public school of Hoosick Falls, and graduated in 1890, and has since resided there, with the exception of two years spent in the South. Ever since he graduated he devoted considerable time to journalistic work. While in Connecticut he corresponded for New York papers besides several Connecticut papers. In 1893 he occupied a position as mailing clerk in the post-office at Hoosick Falls. He has been correspondent of the Troy Press for the last three years, and is recognized as a brilliant and able writer. Joslin, J. O., a well-to-do and influential farmer of the town of Hoosick, was born 264 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. in this his native place in 1824. His father, Whitman Joslin, was a native of Wash ington county, and his grandfather, Patten Joslin, came from Rhode Island. The family is of English ancestry ; the name in England was Jocelyn. Mr. Joslin has been justice of the peace eight years. He is a man of broad views, and exercises the most- modern methods in his agricultural pursuits. , He has a farm of 200 acres and makes a specialty of breeding fine merino sheep. In 1850 he married Margaret E. Grove, daughter of Henry D. Grove of Hoosick, a very important man of this town who died in 1844. He was a model farmer and was the first in this section to im port Escurial Saxony sheep. He was one of the charter members and founders of the State Agricultural Society and an earnest advocate of education and all the en terprises of the day. His death was mourned by a large circle of friends. Darroch's, John G., father, William Darroch, was a long time resident of Hoosick Falls, coming here in 1836, He was a cotton manufacturer and boss spinner in the Caledonia Cottou Mills. John Darroch was born at Bennington, Vt, but has spent most of his life here, universally respected. He engaged in the tinsmith business and carried a varied line of stoves and hardware. He married Anna Eliza Joslin, daughter of the late Isaac M. Joslin of this place. She died in 1888, aged fifty-six years. In the winter succeeding her death Mr. Darroch placed a pulpit and lectern in St. Mark's church in memory of her who had been a beloved member of that denomination. In this church John G. has a record equaled by few of its members. He has been vestryman since 1860 and treasurer since 1866, and is a prime mover in its temporal and spiritual advancement. For thirty-four years he has been identified with the Masonic fraternity, and Master Lodge several years; he has also held various village offices Wiley, Robert J., was born in Ireland in 1852. He came to this country with his mother, Jane (Graham) Wiley, m 1861, and settled in Washington county, N. Y., where he attended the district school; later he moved to Rutland, where he worked in a marble-cutting establishment one year when he came to Troy and in 1875 went to work for Lee & Prendergast as a teamster and one year later purchased Mr. Prendergast's interest in the concern, and after the death of Mr. Lee in 1884 he bought out the heirs and has since carried on the business of general teaming. He belongs to Apollo Lodge F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, and Bloss Council, and is also a prominent Odd Fellow, being a member of Rensselaer Lodge No. 53, Nesbot En campment N. 110, and Canton Leon No. 8. He is a member of Premier Lodge K. of P. He married, December 20, 1882, Mary E. Patton, of Troy, N. Y. Simmons, Stephen, was born in Troy in 1834. He is the son of John and Angeline (Hull) Simmons. His father died in 1877 and his mother in 1871. Stephen received his education in the schools of Poestenkill, and worked on a farm until he was twenty-one when he entered the teaming business and came to Troy in 1869, where he was on the old Capital Police force for one year, after which he ran a meat market on the corner of Congress and Eighth streets. In 1885 he moved to Albia and since that time has carried on the ice business. He is one of the trustees of the Pawling Avenue M. E. church. In 1856 he was married to Louisa Cramer of Poestenkill, N. Y. , by whom he has one son and one daughter. Fogarty, Rev. Michael M., was born in Ireland in 1855. He came to this country FAMILY SKETCHES. 265 in 1873. He received his education in Ireland and this country and after being or dained to the priesthood was stationed at various times at Schaghticoke, Mechanic ville, Watervliet, and Hoosick Falls, and came to Troy in 1888 as assistant at St. Peter's church on Fifth avenue. He is connected with the House of the Good Shepherd. Gray, Levi H., was born in Salem, Washington county, N, Y. He is of Scotch descent, his early ancestors having settled in the country early in the seventeenth century. His grandfather was a colonel of the militia. His father, Levi Gray, was born in Salem, N. Y., and was a farmer, and also a captain in the State militia. He died in. 1867. His mother, Samantha (Taylor) Gray, was born in Benson, Vt., and died in 1878. Levi H. Gray received his education in the common schools, and at the age of eighteen enlisted in Co. H, 123d N.Y. Vols. His brother, James C. Gray, was in the same company. Their first engagement after reaching the front was the battle of Chancellorsville; they were also in the battle of Gettysburg, and were with Sherman on his march to the sea. After receiving an honorable discharge he returned to Salem, his home, and learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked until 1877, when he came to Troy and went into the piano moving and general teaming business with his brother. The firm is C. B. & L. H. Gray. He belongs to the Salem Lodge No. 391, F. & A. M. He married Mrs. Elizabeth H. Wheeler in 1878. Bunce, Ensign S., was born in Brunswick in 1841. His father, Alanson S. Bunce, was born in Grafton and later removed to Stillwater, where he died in 1855. His mother, Catherine (Link) Bunce, was born in Brunswick and died in 1863. Ensign worked at farming several years after receiving his education and in 1870 bought out the milk route of William Gary & Brothers of Troy where he has been since. He is treasurer of the Oakwood Avenue Presbyterian church and a member of Post Griswold G. A. R. In 1868 he was married to Julia F. Adams of Brunswick, N. Y. He has four children: Fred, who is a bookkeeper in the Central National Bank, and Allen, who runs a milk route, and two daughters. Stickney, Charles L. , was born in Troy, N. Y., May 11, 1837. His father, Charles Stickney, was born in New Hampshire and was for many years in the grain and feed business in Troy and died in 1872. His mother, Sarah M. (Crandall) Stickney, died in 1892. Charles received a public school education and entered the business of his father and carried on the business until some time after his father's death when he sold out to Mr. Lovejoy. He became a. member of the Trojan Hook & Ladder Co. November 6, 1856, and has been an active member of that company since. He was assistant captain one year. He is the oldest active fireman in Troy. He be longs to Apollo Lodge F. & A. M., and is a trustee of the Exempt Firemen's Association. Livingston, William, son of Charles and Catherine (Connolly) Livingston, was born in Rockcorry county, Monaghan, Ireland, October 24, 1857. He came to America in 1873, and spent several years in the dry goods business with the firm of A. T. Stewart & Co. in New York city. In 1880 he began his course of classical studies in the College of St. Francis Xavier, New York, and was graduated in 1883. In Sep tember of the same year he began a course of theology in St. Joseph's Seminary, lib 266 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Troy, and was ordained priest in December, 1887. He was assigned to St. Stephen's church, New York, and in June, 1889, he was appointed director of St. Joseph's Seminary, Troy, and professor of English. He remained in Troy for seven years, and is at present in the new St. Joseph's Seminary at Dunwoodie, Yonkers, N. Y., filling the chairs of English, Church History and Liturgy. Thiessen, William M., was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1860. His ancestors on both sides were German. His fath?>\ Martin Thiessen, was born in Holland and came to the United States and settled in Troy about 1856 and was a carpenter by trade. For a number of years he was foreman at the Troy Fire Brick Works. He died in 1895. His mother, Louisa (Tate) Thiessen, was born in Germany. William M. after receiving a public school education entered the Troy Business College and later took a position at the Central Bank as money clerk and was promoted from time to time until he became discount clerk. He left the bank in 1884 and entered the firm of Coon & Co. as bookkeeper and after the consolidation of the Cluett & Coon factories acted as paymaster for about two years when he was made superintendent of the collar and cuff stock department of the concern. He married, June, 1889, Isabel Mearns, of Troy. Stapleton, William B,, was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1836. His father, JohnStaple- ton, came to this country in 1848 and settled in Cambridge, N. Y. , and later lived in Baltimore. He died in Hoosick, N. Y. , in 1878. He received a common school ed ucation and came to Troy in New York in 1861 and worked in Springfield, Mass. He returned to Troy in 1861 and worked for Thomas Collins. He was in business for himself and was burned out in 1862. He worked for Hannibal Green & Son and then started in the grocery business, where he continued until 1883, when he em barked in the coal business, his son taking charge of the grocery. He represented the Twelfth ward in the Board of Aldermen four years. He belongs to the Robert Emmit Association. He married in 1863 Mary Gribbins of Troy, N. Y., by whom he has four sons and three daughters. Cary, Edward R., C. E., was born in Troy, December 19, 1861, and was educated in the public and high schools of Troy. He entered the institute and was graduated in 1883 with the degree of C. E. , and was appointed instructor in geodesy the follow ing September, and began giving the course in selection of timber in 1893. Mead, George H., son of John and Mary (Canfield) Mead, was born in Troy, June 12, 1852. His father, a native of Ireland, came to America in 1837 and setttled in Troy, where he followed the business of carpenter and builder, and died in New York city in 1854. Mr. Mead was educated in the Troy public schools and Christian Brothers' Academy, and for twenty years followed the trade of cigarmaker, being for ten years foreman for William A. Lent & Co. In 1887 he opened his present restaurant on the corner of River and Federal streets, in partnership with John McLoughlin, to whose interest he succeeded two and one-half years ago. In 1895 he admitted Edward A. Crough, under the firm name of Mead & Crough. Mr. Mead has long been the Democratic leader in the First ward, which he has represented in the Common Council continuously since 1882. He was four times elected president of that body. He was vice-president of the National League of Democratic Clubs of the State of New York from 1888 to 1892, has served as delegate to numerous county, FAMILY SKETCHES. 267 district and State conventions, and has been president of the Wine, Liquor and Beer Dealers' Association of Troy since 1891, was for three terms a member of the State executive board and is now vice-president of the State organization. He is promi nently connected with several local organizations, is an exempt fireman and has been president of several cigarmakers' unions in this State and elsewhere. In 1881 he married Miss Elizabeth Daignauldt of Troy. Ruoff, Jacob, son of Jacob and Lene (Messner) Ruoff, was born December 20, 1860, in Wurtemburg, Germany, where he was educated in the public schools and learned the trade of carpenter. In 1878 he came to America and settled in New York city, where he followed his trade for about a year, when he came to Troy and obtained a situation in Jacob Schlosser's restaurant, where he remained three years. He then engaged in the restaurant business for himself and still continues. Mr. Ruoff is a member of the Ancient Order of United Druids, Rhein Lodge No. 248, I. 0. O. F., the German Hall Association, the Troy Singing Club, the Camststadter Volksfest Verein, and the Exempt Firemen's Association. March 14, 1884, he married Augusta Mertens, of Westphalen, Germany, and they have four children: John, Jacob, jr., Lena and Bertha. Ruoff, George J., born in Bodelshausen, Wurtemburg, Germany, April 19, 1869, received his early education in the public schools and worked on his father's farm until September 18, 1886, when he came to America and settled in Troy, where he was given employment in his brother's restaurant at No. 844 River street. In 1887 he accepted a position with Hilke Brothers, restaurateurs, where he remained until March, 1894, when he and his brother John formed a partnership and engaged in the restaurant business at No. 351 Fulton street, where they still continue. Mr. Ruoff is a member of Guttenberg Lodge, Knights of Pythias, Troy Bicycle Club, Riverside Bowling Club, Camststadter Volksfest Verein and the Germania Hall Association. He married Mary Amelia Helser, of Saxony, Germany, June 3, 1896. Helser, August, was born in Lancha, Thiiringen, Germany, August 81, 1863, re ceived his education in the Fatherland, and came to America in 1881, settling in Troy, where he was first employed in the confectionery establishment of Otto Kleer- mann for two years. He was in the Clinton foundry for one year and followed the business of butcher for a time and on May 1, 1886, he became a restaurateur on Fourth avenue; since 1891 he has been the proprietor of the Eldorado Hotel on the same street. He is president of the German Singing Society of Troy, a member of the Troy Turn Verein, and a charter member of the German Bowling Club. Lovelock, Edward A., born in Sheffield, Berkshire county, Mass., August 19, 1862 came to Troy with his parents in 1865 and was educated in the public schools, and in 1874 commenced to learn the cigarmaker's trade with Herman Carl. He re mained with Mr. Carl until 1879, when he was employed by George Rork, then pro prietor of the restaurant at the corner of Church and State streets. In 1886 he suc ceeded Mr. Rork and is now the proprietor of Hotel Lovelock. Mr. Lovelock is very active in the William S. Earl Boat Club and has been its captain for two years. He has been for many years a member of the board of managers of the Young Men's Catholic Literary Association. Landrigan, Patrick J., born in Ireland in 1862, came to America with his parents 268 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. in April. 1865, settling in New York city. In 1866 they moved to Troy, where he received a common school education. He entered the employ of the Troy Steel and Iron Company when ten years of age and remained there seventeen years. In August, 1888, he purchased and has since conducted an oyster and chop house at No. 90 Third street. Mr. Landrigan is a member of the Emerald Beneficial Asso ciation and has been its president since 1892; he is also a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. He married Mary E. Graney, of Hoosick Falls, N. Y., in June, 1893, and they have two chil dren: Raymond G. and Alfred W. Keeler, George, was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, March 13, 1868. He is a son of Conradt and Elizabeth (Cook) Keeler, who emigrated from Germany to Wynantskill, N. Y. , in 1872. He then removed to Snyder's Corners. He has a farm of ninety-three acres and produces milk for the Troy market. The grand parents of Mr. Keeler were John and Margaret (Anders) Keeler, who lived and died in Germany. Mr. Keeler has always been with his father on the farm, and in 1895 took charge of the farm. In 1895 he married Hattie, daughter of William and Catherine Gowey of West Sand Lake Schuman, John George W., born in Hesse Cassel, Germany, April 25, 1850, is the son of Peter and Catherine Schuman, both of Germany, where he died in 1858, aged thirty-three years. Mrs. Schuman came to America in 1881 and now resides with her daughter at Sand Lake. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Schuman, Henry and Maggie Klaus, lived and died in Germany. Peter Schuman, a stonecutter, owned a quarry in Germany. Mr Schuman commenced business for himself at the age of eight years; at the age of ten years was in the drug store at Waldeck. He next was engaged in brick yards summers and on a railroad winters. At the age of fourteen years he was overseer over forty men on railroad building, etc. He came to America in 1866 and was in the charcoal business on Berlin Mountain. He then worked on a farm by the month in North Greenbush. In 1883 Mr. Schuman bought seventy-one acres and in 1893 added sixty-six acres. He keeps a dairy of thirty cows and grows small fruits. In 1870 Mr. Schuman married Maggie, daughter of Philip and Christina Wend, who came to America from Germany about 1852 and now resides in Sand Lake. To Mr. and Mrs. Schuman have been born two daugh ters: Louisa K. and Cornelia C. Wiltse, G. L., was born in Greenbush, August 20, 1849. He was a son of John J, and Malinda (Wallace) Wiltse, both natives of Greenbush. He was a son of John Wiltse, a native of Dutchess county, a son of Henry Wiltse a native of Holland. He settled in Dutchess county and came to Greenbush at a very early day, where he died. The wife of John Wiltse was Rosrada Upham, daughter of Thomas Upham, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and finally settled in Sand Lake where he lived and died. Henry Wiltse, the great-grandfather of Mr. Wiltse, was twice married. His second wife was Mrs. Underhill and died in Albany county. The father of Mr. Wiltse was a carpenter in early life and track boss on the B. & A. R R. , and finally a teamster, and later was in the livery business. He was justice of the peace. He died March 20, 1884, and his wife died December 17, 1884. Mr. Wiltse was reared and educated in Greenbush, and was clerk in the Union store of Greenbush, and took FAMILY SKETCHES. 261) up the livery and teaming business at his father's old stand. Mr. Wiltse is loan commissioner and is a member of the Greenbush Lodge No. 337 F. & A. M. April 16, 1871, he married Mary E. Feara of Greenbush. To Mr. and Mrs. Wiltse have been born seven children, four of whom are living: James L. was educated in Green bush and the Albany Business College and is now bookkeeper for Welch & Gray; John J. was educated in the same schools as his brother and is now with his father; Cora M., at home; and Mattie, at home. Myers, John S., was born in the town of Brunswick, Rensselaer county, N. Y. He is the son of Ludwick and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Myers, both natives of Rensse laer county. The grandfather, John Myers, was an early settler of Brunswick. He was a farmer and spent his last days in Schaghticoke. Ludwick Myers was also a farmer in Brunswick where he died in 1876. Mrs. Myers died in 1830. John Myers married for his second wife Jane Duston, who died in 1854. He graduated at Mill- ville and came to Greenbush in 1852. In 1849 he married Catharine, the daughter of Cornelius Debois, by whom he has had four children : John L., mentioned else where; Henry L., delivery clerk for C. Wicks, Lansingburgh; Charles G., dentist, Troy; Harvy, clerk, Troy. Mr. Myers bought the farm in North Greenbush where he now lives in 1858, and is engaged in the milk business. Hegeman, William H., was born in West Sand Lake, February 20, 1828. He was a son of Jacob and Caroline (Carmicle) Hegeman, she of Sand Lake and he of Rhine beck, Dutchess county. The grandfather, John Hegeman of Holland descent, came from Dutchess county to Sand Lake where he followed farming. Jacob Hege man was reared on the farm and at the age of twenty-three he married and engaged in the hotel business at East Sand Lake for about ten years. He then followed farming, but in old age retired to West Sand Lake. He spent the last days of his life with Mr. Hegeman and daughter in Brunswick. Mrs. Hegeman died at West Sand Lake in 1874. He was supervisor and justice and was a candidate for member of assembly. Mr. Hegeman was educated in West Sand Lake and Rutland, Vt. He was graduated from the Broadway Medical College of New York city, and prac ticed four years in Troy, being physician at the jail. He was then appointed under sheriff and clerk at the jail six years. In the mean time he studied law with Nelson Davenport and was admitted to the bar. He was next appointed coroner by Gov ernor Seymour for two terms. He was engaged for two years in farming in Saratoga county, and sold out and came to North Greenbush, and bought 110 acres of land which he now owns. Pie has always done quite a business as auctioneer. In 1859 he married Esther, daughter of Joseph H. Byron, a merchant tailor of Troy, by whom he has seven children ; Carrie, Harry, Susie, Vedder, Byron, Albert, and William. Mr. Hegeman organized the first base ball team in Troy. He was cap tain and manager and played in all positions when necessary. He has been justice of the peace for a number of years. He is the oldest living member of Zion Lodge No. 311 F. & A. M. Ham, Henry V., was born in Saratoga, August 25, 1815. He was the son of John and Hanna (Johnson) Ham, he a native of Brunswick, and she of Greenbush. He went to Saratoga and engaged in farming, but removed to Greenbush and took a contract to clean off Green Island, and was drowned in 1835. Conrad Ham, the 270 LANDMARKS OF 'RENSSELAER COUNTY. grandfather of Henry Ham, came from Dutchess county, N. Y., and was one of the pioneer settlersof the town of Brunswick; he died with his son in Troy. Henry Ham was educated in Troy and was married November 7, 1845, to Mary Miller, daughter of Timothy Miller of Oxford, England. To Mr. and Mrs. Ham have been born ten children: John H., Mary A., Thaddeus A., Wallace W. (born 1848 and died 1881), Freeman J., Alice M., Nathan, Sylvia W. (died August, 1860), Lincoln G. (died May 9, 1864), and Charles W. Mr. Ham was a bricklayer for six years, he then bought a farm near Troy in North Greenbush and has been for fifty-eight years en gaged in market gardening, general farming, and poultry business. Foust, Peter, was born in Prussia in 1827. He is a son of Matis Foust, who came to Greenbush in 1840 and here lived and died. Mr. Foust came to Greenbush with his father and has followed teaming and now owns ten and one half acres of land iii Greenbush. His wife was Frances Olenheiser, by whom three children have been born, one living: Mary, wife of Fred Mich. They have five children. Mr. Foust owns eight lots and a three-story building on Portstown street and also a good resi dence on Sixth street. Mrs. Foust died in Greenbush, N. Y. Murray, James H., was born in Greenbush, Februarys, 1860. He was a son of John and Margeret (Vaughn) Murray, both natives of Ireland and came to Green bush at a very early day, where they lived and died. Mr. Murray was reared and educated in Greenbush and engaged with the B. & A. R. R. He was with them for fifteen years, and was baggagemaster at the time of his death, he being killed in the Chester disaster, August 30, 1893. He was well known and was respected by all who knew him. December 28, 1888, he was married to Annie Mathews, born in East Greenbush and daughter of Richard and Mary (Golden) Mathews, both born in Ireland and came to East Greenbush early in life. He was killed on the B. & A., for whom he worked for thirty years. His death occurred March 7, 1884, and his widow lives with Mrs. Murray. To Mr. and Mrs. Murray was born one son : James H., born October 5, 1893. Barrett, Patrick, was born in Ireland, February 15, 1825. He was a son of Rich ard and Elizabeth Barrett, both natives of Ireland, and came to Albany about 1827, where they lived and died. Mr. Barrett was reared in Albany and educated in pub lic schools. He was a brush maker and followed it for some years with Mr. Armour of Albany. He was also in the grocery business and was one of the timekeepers in Clinton prison for several years. He came to Greenbush in 1860 and was engaged in the liquor business for some years. He was twice married. He was first mar ried to Annie E. Allen, daughter of John and Mary Allen of Albany. They were natives of Ireland, and came to Albany while young and there married. He died in 1867, at the age of sixty-nine, and his wife died in 1888, at the age of ninety-nine. To Mr. and Mrs. Barrett was born one daughter: Mary E., wife of Dr. Francis E. Hale of Troy. She died October 30, 1863. Mrs. Barrett died in 1861, and Mr. Bar rett married a sister of his first wife, Mary J. Allen, by whom was born three chil dren: George Allen, deceased; Richard, deceased; and Anna E. , educated in Greenbush public schools, from which she graduated, and also was graduated from the Albany High School and resides at home. Mr. Barrett died August 30, 1879. Murphy, Edward J. , was born in New York city, December 4, 1851. He was a son FAMILY SKETCHES 271 of Edward and Margaret Murphy, both born in Ireland, and about 1845 came to New York city, and then came to Albany about 1855, and from there came to Greenbush and spent his last days. Mr. Murphy was reared and educated in Greenbush. He learned the plumber's trade in New York city and has followed that business in New York, Albany and Troy. Mr. Murphy's business is in Troy at present. Hidley, Jacob, was born in North Greenbush, August 21, 1842. He was a son of John G. and Hannah (Boise) Hidley, he of North Greenbush and she of Dutchess county. The grandfather, John Hidley, was a farmer of North Greenbush, where he died in 1886. Mrs. Hidley died in 1882. Mr. Hidley has always followed farm ing. He was married in 1871 to Mary C. Finkle of North Greenbush, by whom he has had two children : Mary and George. Hidley, Peter W., was born on the old Hidley homestead in North Greenbush, September 27, 1849, where he still resides. He is a brother of Jacob Hidley. In 1880 he married Lucy, daughter of John Bisdorph of Brunswick. He is a wagon- maker by trade. To Mr. and Mrs. Hidley were born two children : Berton and Charley. Mr. Hidley has seventy acres of farming land. De Graff, George, was born in Herkimer county, March 26, 1819. He was a son of Peter V. and Julein (Thomas), both of Glennville, Schenectady county, N. Y., where they married. He was a tailor by trade and carried on the business for twenty-two years in the toll gate house at West Canada Creek, on old Mohawk turn pike, and attended the gate. He died in 1854. Mrs. De Graff died in 1821. The grandfather, John De Graff, was a farmer of Glennville. His parents came from Holland. Mr. De Graff was in Herkimer county when twelve years of age and lived with his sister. He commenced for himself as a farm hand and has always followed farming. He has been in the milk business for forty years, and has a farm of 110 acres in North Greenbush. In 1838 he married Lydia, daughter of John Hover of Schoharie county, by whom he has four children: Hester, born December 19, 1838, and died in 1893 ; she was the wife of Stephen Van Allen ; Henry is employed at the New Hartford and New Haven depot; William is in the milk depot at Yonkers, N.Y. ; and Jessie died in 1892 at the age of forty-five. Mr. De Graff was revenue collector during the war, receiving the appointment unasked for. Kipp, John, was born in Germany, November 10, 1829. He is a son of Charley and Lydia Kipp, both natives of Germany, where they lived and died. John came to America in 1857. He commenced as farm hand, and by industry and careful management has secured him a fine home in North Greenbush and carried on gen eral farming. In 1856 Mr. Kipp married Lydia Braker of Germany, who died in 1888. She left one son, Frederick Kipp, born December 8, 1855. In 1882 he married Rita, daughter of Henry Leiberenz of North Greenbush. They have one daughter, Ella. Frederick has always been with his father and now- has charge of the business on the home' farm. Wilson, Frank, was born in Greenbush, August 25, 1860. He was a son of John W. and Elizabeth Clark, both natives of England, who came to Greenbush about 1840 and here he resided until his death which occurred in December, 1891. He was foreman in the freight house of B. & A. R. R. They had four children : Alfred W. , of Greenbush ; Sarah, wife of Captain Atherton of Greenbush ; Nellie, deceased ; 272 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and Frank. Mr. Wilson was reared and educated in Greenbush and has been en gaged with the B. & A. R. R. for about fifteen years, and at present is in the bot tling business. Mr. Wilson is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., and an active member of the Hill Hook and Ladder Company, and also a member of the A. O. U. W. His brother Alfred is also a member of the Masonic order, a mem ber of the Greenbush Chapter No. 274. R. A. M., and a member of the I. O. O. F. McGinniss, J. W., was born in Schodack N. Y., August 15, 1844. He was a son of James and Morthy Hummeston a native of Connecticut. Mr. McGinniss came to the United States when a young man and settled in Schodack on the farm where J. W. McGinniss was born. He then came to Greenbush where he died in 1889. Mr. McGinniss was reared on a farm and educated in East Greenbush. He followed farming, and enlisted in the New York Volunteer Infantry and served nine months. He was taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry. Mr. McGinniss went on the river for a short time and afterwards was with the B. & A. R. R. for one year and a half, and then followed farming until 1888. He then came to Greenbush and has since been a coach driver in Albany. Mr. McGinniss erected three brick buildings and one frame building. He was married in Schodack to Bridgett Stackpole, a native of Ire land. To Mr. and Mrs. McGinniss were born five sons: James W., Joseph H., Charles F., Welter and Edgar W. Mrs. McGinniss died May 29, 1890. Weatherwax, William J., was.sborn in Schenectady county, N. Y. , September 15, 1845. He is a son of Philip and Margaret (Van Paten), he born on Weatherwax street, Valatie, N. Y. , and she in Albany county. The Weatherwax family came to the United States about 1690 and settled in New York, and the Van Patens came to New York at about the same time. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Weatherwax was born in New York city, then known as New Amsterdam. His wife was a De Voo. The grandfather of Mr. Weatherwax spent most of his days in Kinderhook and finally went to Schenectady county and died at a place once known as Brook's Tav ern. The father of Mr. Weatherwax now lives in Schenectady. Pie is a truck maker but is now retired. Mr. Weatherwax was reared and educated in Schenec tady. He worked in a foundry as a moulder for Clut Bros, and that has been his business. In 1876 he came to Greenbush and -cras'since lived on Riverside avenue. He is now working in Townsend's foundry of Albany. He was at one time a mem ber of the I. O. O. F. , and is now a member of the Iron Moulders' Union. His wife was Aloma Lape of Rensselaer county, and daughter of William Lape, a contractor of Greenbush. To Mr. and Mrs. Weatherwax were born three children: John, Jessie, and William. John was educated in Greenbush and is now in the grocery- business in East Greenbush. He is in partnership with Harry J. Robinson, the firm known as Weatherwax & Robinson. Crannell, Stephen, was born in Greenbush, February 10, 1818.' He was a son of Robert, born in 1793, and Catherine Miller, born in 1799. He was born in Albany and she in Sand Lake. He was a son of Nicholas, born April 12, 1760. He was a shoemaker by trade and lived and died in Albany. She was a daughter of Stephen Miller, one of the early settlers of Sand Lake, where he lived and died The father of Mr. Crannell was one of the first settlers of Greenbush, and here died April 9, 1831. Plis wife died February 16, 1896, at the age of ninety-seven years. Mr. FAMILY SKETCHES. 273 Crannell was reared and educated in Greenbush, N. Y. He learned the carpenter's trade and followed it until 1845. Since that time he has worked for the B. & A. R. R. In 1840 Mr. Crannell married Mary A. Jackson, by whom no children were born. She died in about 1863. In 1864 he married Matilda Pohlman of Albany, daughter of John S. Graves of Albany, a retired baker. To Mr. and Mrs. Crannell were born three children ; Kate, at home ; Tillie, wife of Frederick C. Bullent, son of Anthony C. Bullent. Mr. Fred Bullent is employed by the B. & A. R. R. ; Stephen G., em ployed in Stevens's fruit store of Albany. Mr. Crannell was treasurer of the Working Men's Relief Association of East Albany for nineteen years. Allen, George P., was born in Berlin, Rensselaer county, July 28, 1852. He is a son of Rufus R. and Eliza (Moul) Allen, he born in Berlin and she in Poestenkill. The grandfather of George S. was a native of Rhode Island and settled in Berlin when a young man, and died on the farm he settled at the age of seventy-five. The maternal grandfather was Peter Moul, a native of Dutchess county. His wife, Eva Figenheim, was born in New York city and when about twenty-one years old came to Dutchess county. Mr. Moul and wife both died on the farm settled in Poesten kill, he at the age of fifty-one and she at the age of ninety-eight. The wife of George S. Allen was A. McKares. She died in Berlin, N. Y. The father of Mr. Allen was a farmer and merchant in Illinois, and also in the banking business in Joliet, 111. He came to Greenbush in 1879 and died in 1883 at 'he age of sixty-four. He was justice in Berlin for twelve years. His widow lives in Troy. Mr. Allen was reared and educated in Joliet, 111. He followed farming for several years and in"aboutl874 returned to New York and settled in Schodack for three years, two years near Troy, and for seventeen years near East Greenbush, N. Y. He has been in the mercantile business for about four years and at present lives retired. Mr. Allen was river in spector in 1893. He has been tax receiver for one year, assistant four years, excise commissioner, and has been supervisor for four years. February 6, 1878, he married Helen Alendorph of Schodack, by whom he has one child: Earl R. Mr. Allen -is a member of the A. O. U. W. He has been delegate to the State Convention, and was then elected supervisor. Simmons, Thomas B., was born in Stephentown, May 2, 1815, and is a son of George S. and (Babcock) Simmons, he a native of Stephentown and she of Berlin. The grandfather, John Simmons, came from Dutchess county to Stephen- town, and died in Cortland county. George S. Simmons was a farmer of Stephen- town and was a soldier in the war of 1812. In 1812 he removed to Cortland, where he died in 1885 at the age of ninety-two years, and Mrs. Simmons died about 1860. He was a farmer and spent his last days in the village of Cortland. Thomas B. was reared in Stephentown, and in 1842 he married Caroline, daughter of Benjamin Dennison of Greenbush, by whom six children have been born: Edgar, who died at the age of thirty years ; Marion, wife of John Resenburg, a farmer of Greenbush, deceased; Addie, at home; William, in the insurance business on Staten Island; John T., a dealer in stock ; and Oscar D. is in the medicine business with Dr. Harvy of Saratoga, and is now located in Chicago. Mr. Simmons was about thirty years in 'he grocery business and was deputy assessor and then deputy collector of revenue. He settled on the farm in 1854 and has been engaged in farming and stock dealing. He was supervisor for two years and was elected to the Assembly in 1876 and 1878, 274 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. and is at present justice of the peace, and has also been justice of sessions for about three years. Carner, John, was born in East Greenbush, June 8, 1852, and is a son of Christo pher and Sarah S. (Lape) Carner, he a native of East Greenbush and she of Sand Lake. The grandparents, John and Jane (Goewey) Carner, spent their lives on the farm in East Greenbush. The great-grandfather, John Carner, came from Germany, and he and his son Philip fought in the Revolutionary war. He afterward settled in East Greenbush and engaged in general farming. Christopher Carner spent his days on the farm in East Greenbush, where he and Mrs. Carner died. John was reared on a farm, has always followed farming, and now has three farms of 100, 106, and 112 acres of land, respectively, all of which he is carrying on. He em ploys about ten men and keeps about 135 cows and sixteen horses. He has been collector and highway commissioner. In 1880 he married Ametia G., daughter of Henry and Sarah Crehan, by whom three children have been born : Grace, Harry and Mildred. De Forest, Edmund, was born in North Greenbush, July 9, 1831, and is a son of Walter and Rachael (Sharp) De Forest, both natives of North Greenbush, where they followed general farming, and where Mrs. De Forest died, and Mr. De Forest spent his last days in Brunswick, and was deacon and elder of the Dutch Reform church. The grandparents, Derrick and Mary (Fondy) De Forest, spent their lives on a farm in North Greenbush. Edmund was a farmer in North Greenbush, where he now owns a fine farm, now occupied by his son. In 1895 he bought a farm in East Greenbush, where he now resides. In 1853 he married Kassah, daughter of J. V. A. and Caroline (De Forest) De Forest of Poestenkill, by whom three chil dren have been born: Minerva, Alonzo E. , of Albany county; and Fremont R., a farmer of North Greenbush. Scharch, Anthony, was born in Bethlehem, Albany county, April 24, 1846, and is a son of John Y., a native of Germany, and who emigrated to America about 1835. He spent his life at farm work and was with Colonel De Forest as overseer for a great many years. He also rented a farm of Mr. De Forest in Albany county. He died in 1882 and his wife died in 1865. Anthony was also engaged with Mr. De Forest for a while, and then bought land in East Greenbush, where he carried on general farming and kept a dairy of about twenty cows. In 1868 he married Cath erine Pasolt, by whom two children have been born: Edmond T., who died at the age of seventeen years ; and John A. is in the meat business at Greenbush. Mrs. Scharch died in 1872, and Mr. Scharch married Minnie Sinander, of North Green bush, by whom he has one daughter, Annie. Van Ness, Jesse P., was born in the town of Stuyvesant, Columbia county, N. Y., September 15, 1837, and is a son of Philip and Elizabeth Ann (Bassett) Van Ness. He was anative of Stuyvesant and she of Schodack, and is the grandson of Jesse and Mariah (Van Alstine) Van Ness, and a great-grandson of Jesse V. Van Ness, who was a farmer near Schodack, where he lived and died. Philip Van Ness is a farmer near Kinderhook. Jesse P. Van Ness was educated at Kinderhook and Schodack Academy and the Albany Normal School, and taught for three years. In 1864 he married Ella A., daughter of Levi and Anna Mariah (Wagner) Milham, a farmer of FAMILY SKETCHES. 275 Stuyvesant. He had been in the grocery and manufacturing business. He has owned and run a farm in Stuyvesant, Saratoga and Blooming Grove. In 1877 he located on the farm he now owns near East Greenbush, where he is engaged in the culture of fruit. Dunn, George, was born in Ireland, October 20, 1837, and is a son of John Dunn and a brother of Patrick Dunn. George Dunn was reared on a farm and educated in Ireland and emigrated to America in 1854, and in 1869 married Honora, daughter of John and Catherine (Coffee) Grady, both natives of Ireland, where Mr. Grady died, and Mrs. Grady spent her last days in Albany. Mr. Dunn has always followed farming, and has been engaged in the manufacture of brick. He furnished the brick and sand for the new State Capitol at Albany. He has a fine farm and runs a dairy of about twenty-five cows. He has the finest apple orchard in the vicinity. Mr. Dunn has three children: Stanley, a farmer and milkman of East Greenbush; John H., on the home farm; and Ella, wife of Thomas P. Galliger, a railroad man of Greenbush. Morner, Conradt, was born in Germany, April 18, 1850, and is a son of John and Elizabeth Morner, natives of Germany, who emigrated to West Sand Lake in 1853, where he engaged m the tailoring business. He afterwards engaged in farming. He died in 1885, and his wife died in 1883. Conradt was educated at West Sand Lake, and in 1875 married Mary Ann, daughter of Philip and Barbary Oust, farmers of West Sand Lake. To Mr. and Mrs. Morner have been born four children : Jesse, Arthur, Edith and Blanche. In 1881 Mr. Morner purchased ninety-two acres of land in East Greenbush, on which he has a fine residence. He makes a specialty of dairy farming and keeps about twenty-six cows. Craver, Albus, was born in East Greenbush, February 6, 1830, and is a son of John W. and Catherine Craver. A. Craver was reared on the old homestead where he always resided. He has been a successful farmer and owns 114 acres of land, mak ing a. specialty of fine cream for the Albany market. In 1855 he married Elizabeth C, daughter of William H. and Mariah Tesory, of Albany county. To Mr. and Mrs. Craver have been born five children: Carrie, widow of Jesse De Graff; Erwin, a farmer on the homestead farm ; Allen, who died at the age of twenty-six; Clarence, underwriter at Sand Lake, and Edith, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Craver are rearing a grandchild, Erwin De Graff, son of Jesse and Carrie De Graff. Traver, Albert P., was born in East Greenbush, October 8, 1834, and is a son of Alvaro R. and Phebe (Thomas) Traver, he a native of Dutchess county and she of Sand Lake. The grandparents, Henry I. and Sarah (Nies) Traver, both natives of Dutchess county, came to East Greenbush in 1800, where they lived and died. Al varo spent his life at farming and died in 1890. Mrs. Traver died in 1849. Albert P. married Mariah Hidley, of North Greenbush, by whom three children have been born: Kittie, wife of Willis T. Younghams, of Sand Lake, deceased; Adelia P., at home; and Adelmer H., a carpenter. Mr. Traver has always followed farming and owns 130 acres of land. He retired in 1894. He has been supervisor of East Green bush for two years and has been deputy sheriff for a number of years. He is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13 and Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., and is also a member of the Chapter, R. A. M., and of K. of P. of Sand Lake and Bath-on- the-Hudson. 276 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Doran, Thomas A., born in Valley Falls, December 18, 1861, is a son of James and Mary A. Burk, both born in Ireland; he came to Valley Falls in 1854 and she about 1856 and were here married. He first worked in a grist-mill until 1869, when he en gaged in mercantile business and continued in business until his death, March 30, 1894, and his widow lives in the village. Thomas A. was educated in Valley Falls and Villanova College of Delaware county, Pa. He remained with his father until his death and at present represents the business. Mr. Doran was married Novem ber 18, 1882, to Isabella Thompson, daughter of James Thompson. To Mr. and Mrs. Doran were born these children: Arthur J., Edward, Leo, Isabella. Mr. Doran was appointed postmaster April 14, 1894. Robbins, Jason, born in Pittstown, N. Y., September 18, 1843, is a son of Avery M. and Harriet (Ketchem) Robbins, he born in Grafton and she in Pittstown, she a daughter of John Ketchem, one of the early settlers The father of Jason was a farmer and came from Grafton, N.Y. , about 1818, and died here in 1883, and his wife died in 1882. Jason was reared on a farm and educated in common schools. He followed farming until he enlisted 1862 in Company K, 125th N.Y. Vols., and served two years and eleven months ; was at Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, Bristoe Station, Va. , and there wounded and taken prisoner and was a prisoner about thirteen months. Mr. Robbins was married in 1867 to Caroline L. Wilkes, whose maiden name was Finch, daughter of Lemuel S. Finch. To Mr. Robbins and wife were born three children: Hattie Walter, and Harold, all deceased. He is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. After returning from the army Mr. Robbins came to Valley Falls and has been employed at various occupations. Mr. Robbins is a member of G. A. R. at Hart's Falls, and also Rensselaer Veteran Association. O'Neil, Edward, born in Easton, Washington county, N. Y., April 22, 1861, isa son of Patrick and Margaret (Miskell) O'Neil, both natives of Ireland, who in 1850 settled in Easton, N. Y., on a farm and there now reside. He owns a farm of about 200 acres of land. Edward was reared on a farm and educated in common schools. He engaged at twenty-one years of age in hay and straw business and continued in business about four years and was proprietor of the Grove Hotel at Easton for two years, and in 1888 came to Valley Falls and bought the Valley Falls House of which he has. since been proprietor. He was married November 25, 1885, to Katie A. Cox, a native of Saratoga county, N. Y. , born May 13, 1867, a daughter of William and Sarah (Kelley) Cox, both born in Ireland, came to Mechanicsville, Saratoga county, about 1856 and removed to Easton, where Mrs. Cox died in June, 1887, and he resides in Easton, a farmer and owns 125 acres of land. To Mr. and Mrs. O'Neil were born three daughters: Eveline, deceased, Sarah I., Stella M. Atkin, M. L., was born August 27, 1844. He is a son of Col. Justice Atkin, a son of Benjamin Atkin, a native of Ireland, who came to Pittstown by marked trees at a very early date and settled about one mile from Johnsonville on the banks of the Hoosick River, the homestead being owned by E. Atkin, his grandson, and father of M. L. Atkin, who was a farmer and merchant at Lansingburgh and Johnsonville, and also hotelkeeper at the homestead. His wife was Margaret Eycleshimer of Pittstown, by whom was born nine sons and six daughters, twelve of whom are living. He died in 1867 and she died in 1894. Mr. Atkin was reared on a farm and FAMILY SKETCHES. 277 educated in common schools and Fort Edward Institute. He followed farming until 1877, and since that time he has lived a retired life. He went to the oil regions in Pennsylvania where he remained for sixteen years. He now owns thirty acres of land, also village property. He has been constable and deputy sheriff for twelve years, and isa member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. April 14, 1891, he married Helen Cass, of Pittstown, daughter of Lansing Van Woert and widow of Smith Cass. Miller, C, A., born in Millertown, November 9, 1862, is a grandson of Reuben Miller, by whom he was reared, his parents having died when he was young. He was educated in Johnsonville, N. Y. He began life in mercantile business in John sonville in 1884 and continued in business about ten years, and was very successful. He also in 1890 bought the Johnsonville Bobbin Works of which he has since been proprietor, employing about six men. He is a member of Johnsonville Lodge No. 411, I. O. O. F. Powers, John W. , was born in Schaghticoke, N. Y., May 16, 1857. He is a son of Edward and Mary (Phalen) Powers, both natives of Ireland, who came to Schaght icoke about 1843. Here Mrs. Powers died and Mr. Powers still resides as a farmer. John W. was reared on a farm and educated in common schools. He started in the hotel and saloon business at Valley Falls and continued in business for six years, and came to Johnsonville about 1888 and built the Powers Hotel, of which he has since been proprietor. In 1880 he married Bridget Cronin, a native of Pittstown, by whom he had seven children: Mary, Thomas, William, Christopher, John, Anna and James. Davis, Arnold, of Berlin, N. Y. , was the son of Arnold Davis, who was born at Charleston, R. I., December 12, 1780. He was the son of Joseph Davis, who was the son of John Davis, who was the son of Samuel Davis, who was a direct descendant of William Davis, who emigrated from Scotland to Wales in 1639, where his son Wrilliam was born in 1663, who emigrated to America in 1685, and settled first in Rhode Island and then in Virginia. Arnold, the father of Arnold, came to Petersburgh, now Berlin, with his father and settled in 1792. On the side of Arnold's mother, she was a daughter of Dea. John Greene, who was a son of Joseph Greene, who was a direct descendant of Joseph Greene, one of the early settlers of Newport, R. I. John Greene, the grandfather, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and settled at Little Hoosick, now Berlin, in 1778. Arnold Davis was born February 10, 1824. The father, being a poor farmer, he never had the advantage of an education more than he obtained in the common schools. He has read much and has been a close observer of passing events. It may be said he belongs to the class known as the self-educated, or in other words the uneducated. In early life he de signed to study for a profession, but circumstances were such that he was obliged to forego that pleasure. From 1850 to 1851 he served the town in the capacity of assessor, and was one of the men that were called to Troy in 1851 when the matter of equalization between the county, town and the city of Troy first came before the Board of Supervisors. In 1857 he ran for justice and was defeated by three votes by William J. Sheldon. In 1869 he made the enumeration for the United States census of Berlin and Stephentown, under Simeon B. Jewette of Clarkson, Monroe 278 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. county. That fall he had command of 160 men of Douglass Guards. In 1875 he again made the enrollment of the Berlin State census. In September, 1852, he was in the State convention at Tundale Hall, Albany, which nominated Horatio Seymour for governor. In 1867 he became identified with the I. O. G. T., receiving the first lodge deputies' commission of Lodge No. 646. In 1868 he received a State deputies' commission under the grand worthy chief templar, Rev. Silas Ball, and again under R. E. Sutton, M. D., and again under the Hon. A. S. Draper. He was in the Grand Lodge at Rochester, Albany, Binghamton and Syracuse. When the first county lodge of Rensselaer county was organized in 1875, he was the first county chief and held that position two years. This lodge went down and was again organized in 1879. At Harmony Hall, Troy, he was again elected chief and held that position two years. At Cleveland's first election he was in command of a Cleveland Club, which numbered 140. He has traveled and lectured on temperance to quite an extent. He has talked to the people politically, and has written to quite an extent for publication. The articles were published in the Rensselaer Courier in the winter of 1874 and 1875, the early history of Eastern Rensselaer county being his last production. Holton, Mrs. Sarah F., is the widow of the late John Holton, by whom she has one daughter, Fanny A., born in 1882. Mr. Holton died in 1887, aged sixty four. He was at the time of his death retired from active business, but was honored and esteemed by his fellowmen, enjoying wide popularity. He was an organsmith by trade, and an expert rifle shooter. He had traveled much over the country and won many prizes. In 1849 while in California he made considerable money mining. He was born in 1822 in Connecticut and came here in 1868. He was twice married, in 1880 to Mrs. Sarah Kelley, his widow and the faithful companion of his later years. She was born at Saratoga, N. Y., and her maiden name was Sarah Frances Beach. Pine, W. J., a merchant of West Hoosick, has a general store containing a varied line of dry goods, boots and shoes, groceries, etc. The business was purchased in 1889 of George Russell, and is the only one of its kind in the place. Mr. Pine was born in Pittstown; his father, James Pine, was an early pioneer of the town and a successful farmer there. Mr. Pine married in 1874 Mattie Herrington, daughter of Ephraim Herrington of this place. She died in 1893, leaving one son, Frank E., aged sixteen. Mr. Pine possesses the spirit of enterprise, is honorable in his intercourse, and much respected by his townsmen. Fleming, Luke, is of Irish nativity, and came to Liverpool, England, when two years old. From there he emigrated to America when eighteen years of age, in 1863, and settled in Troy, N. Y. There he spent fourteen years in a planing mill, then he came to Hoosick Falls in 1877 and engaged as machinist in the Wood Ma chine Works. He was born in 1844, son of Luke Fleming, a farmer, and married in 1878 Catherine Guldun of Troy. Both are members of the R. C. church. The chil dren of this family are as follows: Willard, aged sixteen; Thomas, aged thirteen; Joseph, aged ten ; Celia, aged eight. Politically Mr. Fleming is an ardent Demo crat. Carr, Ambrose, the well known and much respected grocer of Water street, Hoosick Falls, is a native of this place, born in 1863 and was reared and educated here. After FAMILY SKETCHES. 279 a course at Troy Business College he engaged as a painter in the Walter Wood shops. Later he was an employee of Joseph Buckley as salesman and bookkeeper. His seven years' experience here was no doubt an important factor in the development of his rare business ability, which makes him one of the most successful merchants of the day. He purchased the business of Francis Riley in 1893. In politics he is a Democrat. His first public office was that of school trustee, and he has now been a member of the Board of Education several years. He was town clerk in 1893 and proved a very efficient official. He is vice-president of the Rensselaer Club, also a member of the R. C. church. He now resides at the ancestral home where his father, Stephen Carr, settled forty years ago. The latter, a well preserved man of seventy years, is of Irish birth. For thirty-three years he was employed by the Wood Company as a wood worker. Surdam, Kellion, a resident of Walloomsac, is of Holland Dutch ancestry. His great-grandfather, Anthony Surdam, came from Amsterdam, N. Y. , and settled in the town of Hoosick before the Revolution. His father was David Surdam, a resi dent of Hoosick, where Kellion Surdam was born in 1823. Mr. Surdam in 1895 was called upon to mourn the loss of the faithful partner of his youth, born Hannah S. Taber of Hoosick, whom he married in 1843 and by whom he had three sons and three daughters. He has always followed agricultural pursuits and owns a farm of 205 acres near the site where raged the historic battle of Bennington. He has in his possession a cannon ball which was plowed up on the farm. Phillips, M. W., is the son of an old landmark, Hart Phillips, the oldest resident in Hoosick Falls. He was born in Massachusetts in 1800, of Scotch ancestry, and has resided in Hoosick Falls for seventy-five years. He was a carpenter and manu facturer of sash, doors and blinds, and built the Presbyterian Church over sixty years ago. Our subject was born at Newark, Wayne county, in 1855, but has spent most of his life here. He has clerked since 1874; bookkeeper seven years for Edgar A. Welch & Co. and eleven years for another market here. Mr. Phillips has been a member of the M. E. church since 1876 and secretary of the Sunday school fifteen years. He has the remarkable record of having attended every Sabbath for eleven consecutive years. In 1886 he married Mattie A. Hatch of Waterford, N. Y. They have three children. Gardner, L. N. , is a descendant of an old Rhode Island family and son of Thomas A. Gardner, a farmer and lifelong resident of Petersburgh, where L. N. Gardner was born in 1838. The latter was educated here and followed the pursuit of farm ing. His wife was Orinda, daughter of Christopher Lawton. Three children have been born to them: J. B. Gardner, Mary and Leroy. Mr. Gardner is a Republican but not an active politician. He is also a member of the Advent church. Byars, jr., J. G., is a young man held in high repute in both business and social circles of the town of Hoosick. He came to America in 1864 with his parents from Glasgow, Scotland, where he was born in 1863. He has been a resident of Hoosick twenty-six years, and the position he now occupies has been due to his own ability and industry, for Mr. Byars was a working boy who paved his own way to success. His bottling works, devoted to the making of soda water, mineral waters and ginger ale, are extensive. He is a Republican and has been commissioner of excise. He is 280 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. past master of the Masonic Lodge and exalted ruler of the B. P. O. Elks. Recently he purchased a large property of Hiland Carpenter at North Hoosick. Johnson, William A., is the last representative of the Johnson family of Johnson Hill. Hither his grandfather, Captain Rufus Johnson, of the Revolution, came from Rhode Island and settled more than a century and a half ago. There his father, Augustus Johnson, was born in 1800, and his mother, Martha (Keach) Johnson, was born on an adjoining farm in the same year. His father was an active politician of his day, and was closely identified with the local affairs of the town. William A. Johnson was also born at the ancestral home in 1830, where a new residence was erected for the reception of his bride in 1852. She was Melissa, daughter of Jacob Chase, an old resident of this locality. Mr. Johnson is the father of four children: Anna, wife of H. Wrelch, son of Josiah Welch, an early settler of Hoosick; Hattie, died aged eighteen years; Mary, died in infancy; and William A. Johnson, jr., of North Adams, superintendent of a shoe shop; also dealer in coal and wood. Perry, Nathan S., has been a resident of Hoosick Falls half a century. He learned the spinner's trade at Adams, Mass., where he was born in 1824, at which he worked ten years. After eight years as a carpenter, he went into the employ of the Walter Wood Co., where he remained nine years. In 1872 he established a grocery on Church street where he has since remained. He is a son of Lyman Perry, and mar ried in 1847 Emeline Davis of Petersburgh. Two children were born to them: Rich mond L. Perry, a painter; and Imogene, who resides at home. The family are members of the M. E. church. Politically Mr. Perry is a Republican. Smith, jr., William R., was one of the first mail carriers in Hoosick Falls upon the establishment of free delivery in 1891. He is the only son of William R. Smith, a fifty-two year resident in Hoosick Falls. The latter was born at Jackson, N. Y., where he labored as a carpenter, also a farmer. For a number of years he traveled on the road taking views and pictures. He is a Democrat, and served in the ca pacity of village trustee, also one of the organizers of the fire department. William, jr., was employed as a machinist in the Wood Machine Co. ten years before entering upon his present engagement. In 1886 he married Lelia Bennett of Cambridge, who bore him two children: Edith May, and Frank Adelbert. He is a valued member of the order of Odd Fellows. Boyd, Mrs. Douglas. — In 1895 at Sacandaga Park, Fulton county, N. Y., death came to one of Hoosick F'alls most respected citizens, Douglas Boyd. A pulmonary difficulty compelled him to retire from his position as superintendent of the shirt fac tory here in 1893. Thinking to improve his health he traveled much in California and elsewhere but to no avail. So passed away a man, as a Christian, sincere, consist ent, being a valued member of the Presbyterian church, as an employer none more considerate and beloved. He left a widow, born Abbie Barringer, and one son, Roy, nine years of age. Douglas Boyd was born at Hudson, N. Y., in 1853 of Scotch parentage, inheriting the sturdy characteristics of that people. At an early age he received employment in the Miller, Hall & Hartwell large shirt factory, Troy, N. Y. During his six years there his employers discovered his rare ability. As their ap preciation of his work they sent Lim to Hoosick Falls in 1883 to manage the branch of the factory there, where he earned the esteem and gratitude of his employers and love of employees, of whom there were about 200. FAMILY SKETCHES. 281 Calhoun, David, was born in Troy, November 5, 1857. His parents moved to the town of Brunswick when he was one year old. He was educated in the district school, and is a farmer by occupation. He is now general foreman of the Troy City Railroad Company, promoted to that position in 1891. He has been in their employ sixteen years, with the exception of a short time at Albia, introducing the bell punch and other improvements. He occupied positions with the present company when they used horses, and began by hooking the horses to the cars, after a while he was promoted to conductor, which position he held for seven years, and then became a starter, etc. March 14, 1892, he married Harriet Timmins of Lansingburgh, by whom two children have been born: Violet M. and Helen E. The father of Mr. Calhoun was William, born in the North of Ireland in 1821, and came to the United States when seventeen years of age and located near Troy. He married Mary Draffin of Troy, by whom five children have been born: William, Sarah, Caroline, David, and Robert. Mr. Calhoun died in 1882, and his wife died in August, 1891. He was elected trustee of the Third ward for two years. He is a member of the Jerusalem Lodge No. 355 F. & A. M. , of Lansingburgh. Sharp, Alonzo, was born in North Greenbush, March 5, 1848, and is a son of George J. and Charlotte (Vanderkarr) Sharp, a native of North Greenbush and she of Sand Lake. The grandparents were Jeremiah and Catherine Goewey, she a na tive of East Greenbush and he of North Greenbush. They followed farming in North Greenbush, where he died. The great-grandfather of Mr. Sharp was Barney Sharp, a Revolutionary soldier, and was a pioneer of North Greenbush. The grandparents, Samuel and Rebecca (Philips) Vanderkarr were natives, she of Scho dack and he of Sand Lake. The great-grandfather, Roswell Philips, was a pioneer of Schodack, and married Lena Simmons of East Greenbush. The parents of Sam uel Aaron and Christina (Snyder) Vanderkarr, were pioneers of Sand Lake. George J. Sharp was reared in North Greenbush, where he followed farming until 1875, when he removed to East Greenbush and died, December 13, 1894, at the age of eighty-six. Mrs. Sharp still resides on the homestead at the age of eighty-two. Alonzo was reared on the farm and has always followed farming. In 1882 he mar ried Edna P. , daughter of Elisha P. and Delia (Thornton) McKean of East Green bush. To Mr. and Mrs. Sharp were born two children : Edna C. and Stanley M. He is a member of the Schodack Union Lodge No. 337 F. & A. M. Romp, Frederick, was born in the Province of Hanover, Germany, July 28, 1850, son of Frederick and Rebecca (Gluessen) Romp. He received a collegiate education and came to the United States in 1870, locating in Troy N. Y., and in 1879 came to Lansingburgh, N. Y. He is a cattle dealer by occupation, also conducts a bottling business. In March, 1879, he married Carrie Flagler, of this place, by whom he had four children : Jessie, Frederick, Henry, and William.' Mr. Romp is a member of Hudson River Lodge, No. 607, F. &. A. M., of Newburg, also a member of Hyland Chapter, No. 52, R. A. M. The ancestry of the family is German on both sides. Winkelman, Christian, was born in Germany in 1834. He was educated in their schools, and was a locksmith by trade. September 23, 1862, he married Alvira A. B. Lolk of his native place, by whom he had three children : D. Christian, Elizabeth M., who died in her sixth year, and Katherine. The family came to the United ii 282 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. States in September, 1865, where he works as a machinist. The ancestry of the family is German on both sides. Beig, John, was born in Germany September 19, 1853. He was a son of Barnard and Rosa Beig, also of Germany. John came to this country April 16, 1871. He worked as a laborer in Brunswick for about five years, and then he purchased the farm where he now lives. September 7, 1873, he married Mary E. Cweig. He is interested in education and is at present the librarian of school. He has one daugh ter named Anna Bertha Clara. John has one brother, Joseph, who is a resident of California, and two sisters, Mina and Josephine, who reside in Troy. Anna Bertha Clara Beig married Henry Lansing, and has one child named John. Howe, Arthur V., born in the town of Brunswick, February 28, 1860, is the son of Arthur H. and Mary Adalada (Virgil) Howe. He is a native of England and settled in Brunswick about 1850. By occupation he was a tailor and was located in Troy until 1873, since which time he has been located in Chicago and New York. Mary Adalada is a daughter of Captain Ebenezer H. and Laura Virgil. Arthur V. re ceived his early education near Troy. He spent four years at the Vermont Episco pal Institute at Burlington, Vt, also spent four years in New York studying paint ing. In 1887 he married Elizabeth T., daughter of Francis Everett. His children were James, William, Eben, Chester, and Clark. He now follows general farming. He is public spirited and interested in all worthy enterprises. Shaver, John E., was born on the farm where he now resides, February 10, 1846. He is a son of David and Eveline Shaver, who had two children living, John and Augusta. Five children are deceased: Emma, Emerson, James Harry, Amelia France, and Mary M. David was a son of Peter and Elizabeth, who were of the early set tlers of the town. Their children were Magdelan, Eva, Eliza, Frederick, Jona than, David H., Peter James, Christina, and Catherine. David H. followed farming, and was active in school, church, town, and county affairs. John E. in his early life attended school and helped his father on the farm. December 17, 1873, he married Addie P., daughter of Theron P. King, by whom he had two children, Belva May, and Chester J., deceased. John E. is public spirited, and is interested in all worthy enterprises, such as schools, churches, etc. also in town and county affairs. Buckley, William H.. was born in the town of Schaghticoke, N. Y., January 26, 1832. He was educated in the common schools, Greenwich Academy, and Poult ney Seminary, Vt. March 15, 1859, he married Frances Talmage of his native town. They have five children, four sons and one daughter: Mary, Myron E., Theodore T., George M. and William J. Mary married Edward E. Nutting; they had one son, Minot G. Myron E. married Lydia Brundridge; they have three children: Leslie, Lura, and Marion. Theodore T. married Elizabeth Shaler of Schaghticoke; they have two children: Harold and Amelia. Mr. Buckley's father, Ezra, was born in Schaghticoke in the year 1802. He was educated in the schools of that early day, and was a farmer by occupation. He married Mary Burch of his native town; they had five children: William H., Anna E., Amelia M., Sarah E., and Phebe A. Mr. Buckley died June 11, 1874. His father, Jabez, was born in Connecticut in 1758, and came to Schaghticoke in 1785. Mrs. Buckley's father, James Talmage, was born in this town in the year 1811. He married Mary E. Gifford; they had six children: FAMILY SKETCHES. < 283 Frances, Cornelia, Elizabeth, Mary, Henry, Isaac, and a boy who died in infancy. Mr. Talmage died in 1853, and his wife survives. He has served his townspeople as supervisor and collector, and has been assessor for seventeen years. Mrs. Buckley's grandfather, Isaac Talmage, lived on this street until he was eighty years old. The ancestry of the family is English and Welsh. Hull, Adelbert C, was born in the town of Berlin, Rensselaer county, N. Y. , Sep tember 7, 1850; his education was obtained in the common schools. His parents moved to the town of Schaghticoke when he was ten years old ; he finished his edu cation in Mechanicsville Academy ; his early years were devoted to farming and he is now conducting a livery business at Valley Falls, N. Y. On December 3, 1873, he married Alida A. Van Veghton, a member of one of the old families of the town ; they have one son , George B. , who is well educated ; he has a variety of occupations ; he resides at home with his parents now. Mr. Hull's father, Schuyler L., was born at the old home in Berlin in the year 1817. He was educated in the schools of that day, and was a farmer by occupation ; he married Lucinda Green of his native town ; they had five children: Frances, George B. , Adelbert C, Sarah and Eugene E. Mr. Hull died June 5, 1894; his widow survives at this date, 1896. Mr. Hull and wife were members of the M. E. church of Valley Falls. The ancestry of this family is Dutch on both sides. Aikin, Elizabeth. — Daniel S. Aikin was born in the town of Pittstown in the year 1837. His preliminary education was obtained in the common schools, and after wards in Fort Edward Institute. He taught school several years, was a farmer, and later in life he studied law. November 5, 1862, he married Elizabeth Buckley, of Schaghticoke ; they had two children, Henry B. and Albert D. Henry B. was educated in the public schools, and is a farmer at home, and is also a good judge of horses. He married Anna M. Danforth of Cambridge, Washington county, N. Y. ; they have one daughter, Leah B. Albert D. is a minister in the M. E. church, and is now located in Carlson, Florida. He married Mary Wardlaw of East Point, Ga, ; they have two children, Albert D., jr., and the baby not named. Mrs. Aikin's father, Henry Buckley, was born in the town of Easton, Washington county, N. Y., February 12, 1817. He married twice, first to Elizabeth Sanford; they had one daughter, Elizabech. Mrs. Buckley died December 19, 1842. For his second wife, he married Caroline Sanford. Mr. Buckley died January 28, 1870, and his wife died April 30, 1895. Mr. Aikin died in 1877. The ancestry of the family is French and Irish. Cassey, John L., was born in the town of Easton, Washington county, N.Y., May 12, 1861. He was educated in the district schools, and was a farmer by occupation until the spring of 1895, when he leased the Schaghticoke House for a term of five years, since which time he has conducted a hotel with success ; he also carried on the livery business in connection therewith. February 17, 1892, he married Mary A. Miskell of his native town; they have two children, both daughters: Dora A. and Cecelia. Mr. Cassey's father, Timothy, was born in Ireland in 1814, and came to the United States when a young man and located in the town of Schaghticoke. He married Lena Attridge, formerly of his native county; they had seven children, four sons and three daughters: Mary, John L. , James, Daniel, Joseph M., Agnes and 284 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Celia. Mary married Thomas Hogan ; they have five children: Mary, Catherine, Lena, Joseph, and Edward. Agnes died at the age of eleven years. Timothy Cassey died February 20, 1892, and his widow survives at this date, 1896. Mrs. Cassey's father, Edward Miskell, was born in Waterford county, Ireland, in 1841, and came to the United1 States when a young man and located in Easton. He married Mary Flaherty; they have one daughter, Mary A. Both father and mother are living now in 1896. The ancestry of the family is Irish on both sides. Fish, Capt. Milton, was born in Galvestown, in the State of Louisiana, about eighty miles from Baton Rouge. On May, 25, 1819, his father left that State when Captain Milton was nine years old and located in the town of North East, Dutchess county, N. Y., where he attended school; his early life was spent on the farm. In 1832 the family moved to the town of Moreau, Saratoga county, N. Y., where he finished what education he had time to acquire. He taught school at the age of twenty. In his twenty-second year he went to sea, and a right thorough " sea dog was he,'' for he followed the salt water all told twenty years. He entered the em ploy of John F. Trumbull as a sailor before the mast on the United States Bank ; he was in his employ eight years. Mr. Trumbull took much interest in the country boy and this was the turning point in his career. He made three voyages around Cape Horn, and was promoted by degrees. First he held the position of boat steerer. They went to the Crosette Island in the South Indian Ocean ; his next position was second mate and then the position of master of ship in the employ of another con cern. This ship was in the passenger and general traffic to Honolulu and Narvian Islands, also in connection with the gold excitement in California in 1849 and 1850. In 1851-52 he fitted out a trading vessel at Stonington on his own account; here his good friend Trumbull was his right hand man again. His first trip was to the Azores Islands. He took up a land claim in Oregon and became land sick and went to sea again to Honolulu and Victoria; he also did a fine trade with the Esquimaux. He came to San Francisco, returning to this town and said good-bye to the sea for ever. He had made a competency. He purchased this farm on the banks of the historic Hudson River, where he is enjoying life in sight of water, in peace with all men. His mother died when he was seven years old. Brewster, George W., was born in Schoharie county, N. Y. , July 12, 1844. He was educated in the common schools of that county. He has always been a farmer by occupation, and came with his people to Schaghticoke in 1864. He married Christina Kinkern of his native county; they have five children: Lottie, George K, Annie F. , John G. and Estella. Annie F. married Romine Kniskern; they have one son. Mr. Brewster's father, Gilbert, was born in Albany county, N. Y., in 1807. He was educated in the common schools and was a farmer. He married Julia A. Button, formerly of the town of Schaghticoke; they had five children: Courtland, George W., John H., Almira and Eveline. Mr. Brewster died February 11, 1881, and his wife died December 1, 1880. Mr. Brewster's grandfather, William Brewster, came to the United States on the ship Mayflower. The ancestry of the family is Dutch, English, German, and of New England extraction. Keyes, James, was born in County Limerick, Ireland, November 10, 1843. He was educated in his native country. He came to the United States in 1866 and FAMILY SKETCHES. 285 located in Schaghticoke, and is one of the intelligent farmers of the town. Febru ary 8, 1869, he married Mary O'Neil, formerly of his native place. They have four children, one son and three daughters, Michael B., Sarah B., Mary E., and Julia M. , all residing at home at this date (1896). Mr. Keyes's father, Michael, was born at the old home in Ireland about the year 1808. He married Bridget Doyle of his na tive place. They had five living children: Mary, Bridget, Michael, James, and Mar tin. They came (his parents) to this country on a visit in 1867, and returned the fol lowing year. He died February 17, 1892, and his wife March 25, 1895. The family are members of St. John's Roman Catholic church of Schaghticoke, N. Y. Thompson, Samuel, was born in Schaghticoke, N.Y., August 27, 1827. His educa tion was obtained in the common schools. He followed the liquor business for twenty years, and was also a carpenter and contractor for twenty years, and is now leading a retired life. December 5, 1868, he married Rose Buffitt of this village. They had four children: one daughter and two infant boys are dead, and Clara, who is a school teacher in the Union Free school. Mr. Thompson's father, Alexander, was born in the north of Ireland and came to the United States when a young man, and located in the village. He married Nancy McCann ; she was formerly of the north of Ireland; they had nine children, four sons and five daughters: Samuel, Jane, Margaret, Harry, Nancy, Matilda, John, Robert, and Anna. Alexander Thompson is dead, and his wife died in Los Angeles, Cal., in 1891. The ancestry of the family is Scotch on both sides. Strope, David M., was born in the town of Sand Lake, January 31, 1834. He was educated in the district schools. He was a butcher for eighteen years, and is now a farmer and gardener. In 1857 he married Elizabeth A. Norton of Tomhannock. They have two children: Myron David and Caroline E. She, on March 29, 1883, married Richard Jones, then of Melrose but now of Schaghticoke Hill. They have had three children : Elizabeth, Carrie, and Robert, who died in infancy. Mr. Strope's father, David T., was born in the town of Sand Lake in the year 1804. He was edu cated in the schools of that day, and was a carpenter and farmer. He married twice, first, to Catherine Goewy; they had fourteen children: Sarah, Rebecca, David M., Caroline, Mary, Louise, William, Frederick, John, Emeline, Alfred, Ezra, Hattie, and Mahala. Mrs. David T. Strope died about the year 1865. For his second wife he married Mrs. Caroline Whittuck, born Fonda. They had four children : Martin I., Jesse, Cynthia, and Almira. Mrs. Strope is living at this date. The an cestors on both sides were in the Revolutionary war. The ancestry of this family is Dutch on both sides. Van Alstyne, E. M., was born in Bath, N. Y., May 28, 1858. He was a son of Ed ward M., a son of Martin Van Alstyne, a native of Holland, and came to Rensselaer county with his brother, Peter Van Alstyne. The grandfather and great-grand father of Mr. Van Alstyne died in Rensselaer county. The father of Mr. Van Al styne lived and died in Bath. His death occurred October 11, 1880. His wife was Elizabeth (Hilton), who was born in Rensselaer county, and was a daughter of Ed ward Hilton, an early settler. She died in 1895. Mr. Van Alstyne was reared in Bath, and educated in Albany Academy. He is a printer by trade and has worked for Weed, Parsons & Co. for fourteen years. In 1890 he engaged in the mercantile 286 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. business in Bath and has two stores. In 1881 Mr. Van Alstyne married Carrie Melius by whom one son has been born: Howard M. Mr. Van Alstyne keeps sub station No. 3 of Albany and has also been postmaster. Leffler, A. M. , was born in Germany, March 7, 1847. He is a son of Jacob and Mary (Shaw), both born in Germany and cams to Berlin, N. Y., in 1852, and there both lived and died. Mr. Leffler was reared in Berlin and educated m the common schools. At nineteen years he started at teaming and finally went to Sand Lake and purchased a farm; in 1884 he came to Albany, had a coal yard for one year, then came to Bath-on-the Hudson, and was proprietor of the Wolcott House for three years; he also dealt in ice, and in 1889 built the Leffler House on Washington avenue, and is also engaged in hay, straw, feed, and flour trade. Mr. Leffler also built a very fine residence on Washington avenue containing all the modern im provements. Mr. Leffler has made his own way in the world, starting a poor boy. He was married March 28, 1869, to Eavan Keeler, by whom he has had ten children: Mary, Fannie, Emma, Charles, Carrie, Jacob (deceased), Alice, William, Bertha (de ceased), and Eva. Wood, W. F. , M. D., was born November 13, 1851, in Chittenden county, Vt. He is the son of Benjamin F. and Lena M. Alexander of Chittenden, where they both were born and died. He was a lumber dealer; his father was' also a lumber dealer until the Mexican war, to which he went and there met his death. The maternal grandfather was Clark Alexander, a native of Chittenden county, Vt ; he was in the Mexican war and spent his last days in his native county where he now lies in Green Mountain Cemetery near Col. Ethan Allen. W. F. Wood was educated in the Willeston Academy of East Greenbush. He studied medicine with the late Anthony Teneyck of Bloomingrove, N. Y. , and Prof. John M. Bigelow of Albany. He grad uated from the Albany Medical College in 1874 and has practiced in Greenbush since 1876. Dr. Wood was married in November, 1884, to Louise Miles, daughter of the late Minard Miles, born in Greenbush and son of Samuel Miles, a native of Scotland ; he was one of the early settlers of Greenbush, where he lived and died. He was the father of seven sons and one daughter; the oldest, Frank, was president of the vil lage for some years ; his son William was also president of the village and chairman of the Board of Supervisors, also member of assembly, and now holds a prominent position in the custom house, New York ; Samuel Miles was a contractor and builder for years; Minard Miles was a builder and contractor, and also a bridge builder for the Albany and Boston R. R. ; he died in 1871 ; his widow now lives in Greenbush. To Dr. W. F. Wood and wife was born one daughter, Gertrude. Dr. Wood was health commissioner for four years; he is a member of Greenbush Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M. and of Greenbush Chapter, R. A. M., and A. O. U. W. and Select Knights. McKenna Bros. — This firm is composed of William and James H., sons of Charles^ H. McKenna. C. H. McKenna was born in Troy, N. Y. ; his father came to Troy from Ireland and there lived and died. Charles H. McKenna came to Greenbush soon after and engaged in the grocery business; he continued in that business until his death in 1891. His wife was Elizabeth Callary, by whom he has had six sons and four daughters. Mr. McKenna and wife both lived in Greenbush. William was FAMILY SKETCHES 287 born in Greenbush in 1875, and James H. in 1871. Both were educated in the com mon schools, and in 1889 engaged in the grocery business, first dealing in groceries and now they have also ice and coal. Hawks, Albert Henry, was born at Hoosick, N. Y. , May 1, 1843. Mary Phillips was born at Hoosick, N. Y. , October 19, 1843. They were united in marriage at Hoosick, N. Y., October 24, 1867. Their children were Kathryn Belle, and Henry Noble, born at Hoosick, N. Y. , November 1, 1871, and December 29, 1873, respect ively. Herran, Mathew A., born in Nassau, January 5, 1861, is the son of John and Francis (Herran) Herran, both born in Ireland and in 1860 came to Nassau and for thirty years have lived in Greenbush. Mathew A. came to Greenbush when a mere child and was educated in Greenbush, N. Y., and St. John's, Albany, and also Mr. New man's selec.t school. He was a collector on old South Ferry from 1875 to 1880 and then went to the lumber district four years and peddled oil, and for eleven years was baggageman for the B. & A. R. R. Mr. Herran has always been an ardent Repub lican and has been trustee seven years in succession and then came to the Third ward and here was elected trustee November, 1894, which office he now holds, and has been ward inspector one year, in 1884, and in 1896 was elected supervisor of Greenbush; he is the first Republican supervisor in twenty-two years. Mr. Herran was a member of the K. of L. in 1885 when the party was successful. He was mar ried in December, 1886, to Josephine M. Gill of Kingston, N. Y. , by whom he has five children : Mathew, deceased; Merie F., Josephine M., Frances, deceased; and Honora. Mr. Herran is a member of C. R. B. A., Council Greenbush, and also president two terms. Jones, Baalam, was born in Albany, January 13, 1820. He was a son of Josiah Jones, born June 10, 1796, and Rachael (Petner) Jones, who lived and died in West- erlotown, Albany county, N. Y. He was a farmer by occupation. Mr. Jones was reared in Westerlo and educated in common schools. He followed farming and was a carpenter by trade. April 1, 1872, he came to Bath, N. Y., and now owns two houses and lots. In 1841 Mr. Jones was married to Lois S. Baker of Westerlo, daughter of John and Susan Baker, who lived and died in Westerlo. He died May 29, 1886. To Mr. and Mrs. Jones were born four children: Josiah B., Lucy, Mary, and George. Mrs. Jones died in 1881. In 1881 he married Elizabeth Janim of Bath, widow of Charles A. Janim. who died in East Albany. The grandfather of Mr. Jones spent most of his days in Vermont. Murphy, Peter S., was born in Ireland, April 3, 1848. He was a son of Peter and Mary Murphy, both of whom lived and died in Ireland. Mr. Murphy was reared and educated in Ireland, and came to Greenbush in 1865 of which place he has since been a resident. He was employed by the Hudson River Railroad for about four years, and worked on the new Capitol eight months. In 1870 he was employed by the B. & A. R. R., and remained there for about two years; since 1872 he has been on the police force in Greenbush. He was married in 1874 to Mary A. Sherwood, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Sherwood, natives of Ireland, who came to Green bush in the forties and here lived and died. To Mr. and Mrs. Murphy were born two sons and one daughter; Richard, Peter and Elizabeth. 288 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Bord, James, was born in Troy, N. Y., July 27, 1852. He received his education in the public schools and later went to work at the Burden Iron Works. In 1871 he was appointed turnkey at the county jail. He was the first in Troy to receive a post-office appointment during President Cleveland's first administration. He was appointed to a clerkship in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Works, Albany, and in 1893 with his brother, George S. Bord, entered the livery business at 176 Third street, Troy. He is a member of the A. O. U. W. He was married in 1879 to Mellissa Zetto of Troy. They have one daughter. Willson, W. Vander Heyden, was born April 19, 1859. He is a descendant in a direct line of Dirk Vander Heyden, who was the original patroon and owner of the land upon which the city of Troy now stands. His father, Mordecai M. Willson, a well known and respected citizen, was a wholesale druggist of Troy, but now resides near Waterford, N. Y. His mother, Alida L. (Vander Heyden) Willson was a prize graduate of the famous Willard Seminary. She died August 21, 1870. Vander Hey den Willson received his education at the Vermont Episcopal Institute and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and upon leaving school he entered an architect's office. In 1882 he became connected with the firm of J. M. Jones's Sons, street rail way car builders, of West Troy, N. Y. , as draughtsman, designer and superintend ent of construction, where he is located at the present time. January 12, 1892, he married Susie, daughter of James Irving of Troy, N. Y. , and they have two sons. Mr. and Mrs. Willson resides on the Brunswick Road, Troy, N. Y. Houghtaling, De Witt D., was born in Hudson, N. Y., June 19, 1848. His father, Conrad J., was born in Greene county, and was a carpenter and builder by trade. He was alderman in Hudson for eight years, and died December 28, 1878. His mother, Mellissa B. (Gifford) Houghtaling, was born in Kinderhook, and is adescend- ant of one of the oldest families and is now living in Troy. De Witt D. was edu cated in the public schools of Hudson, and learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for a number of years, and in 1874 came to Troy and entered the firm of Van Dusen & Co., paper box manufacturers, and two years later was made superintend ent of that concern, and was with them for sixteen years, when he took charge of the paper box department of the United Shirt and Collar Company, where he is still located. He is a member of King Solomon Primitive Lodge F. & A. M. , past high priest of Apollo Chapter, P. F. I. M. of Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, Drill Corps, and of the Mystic Shrine, and is also a member of the Beeman Park Hose Company. He comes from a family of fourteen, seven brothers and six sisters, of which he is the only surviving member. Davry, George H., was born in Lansingburgh, N. Y., November 17, 1860. His education was obtained in the public schools, and by occupation is a linotype opera tor in the Troy Times office. June 17, 1885, he married Corhsta E. Ritchie, of this village, and they have one daughter, Corlista R. Mr. Davry's father, John, was born in Dysart, Scotland, September 25, 1832; he was educated there and came to the United States in 1856 and located in Lansingburgh, N. Y. In February, 1858, he married Barbara Hepburn of Troy (formerly of Scotland) and had eight children : William G. , George H. (as above), John L., Helen B., Alexander (who died at the age of five years), Edward R., Robert U., and Barbara P. John Davry is a member FAMILY SKETCHES. 289 of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., and of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M. George H. is a life member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., and one of its past masters; he is a member of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., and one of its past high priests, and at present represents Phoenix Lodge in the Masonic Board of Trustees;, he is also a member of Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M. Mr. and Mrs. George H. Davry are members of Olivet Presbyterian church ; he is one of ruling elders of Olivet church and he has been its collector eleven years The an cestry of this family is Scotch on both sides. Weatherwax, Aaron L., was born in Schenectady county, March 13, 1817. His mother came to Troy when he was two years of age, and to Lansingburgh when he was four years of age. He was educated in the public schools and learned the trade of shoemaking with his grandfather, Aaron Learned, and has followed it all his life time. In 1841 he married Phebe Alexander, of Oneida county, by whom five chil dren have been born: Sarah H., who died in infancy; Alexander, Francis C, Mary A. and Ida. Francis C died at the age of twenty-one. Alexander married Ida Crandall, of Brooklyn, by whom two children have been born: Mary and Georgiana. Mary A. and Ida, at this date, reside at home Mrs. Weatherwax died in August, 1889. His grandfather, Aaron Learned, was born April 12, 1770. The father of Mr. Weatherwax, John, married Sally Learned, who bore him three children, one of whom is living, Aaron L. Mr. Weatherwax died in 1819, and his wife died in 1874. The family are related to Judge Learned. The ancestry of the Weatherwax family is Dutch. Jessup, Edward M., was born in Troy, N.Y.. in 1865. His father, Samuel Jessup, was born in England, came to the United States and settled on Long Island, and in 1850 came to Troy and entered the Burden Iron Works. His mother is Mary E. (Gledhill) Jessup. He received his education in the public schools and went to work for Starkweather & Allen, where he remained until 1887, when he with Henderson formed the firm of Jessup & Henderson, dealers in imported and domestic crockery, importing goods direct from England, France and Germany. They continued in business until they were burned out, February 17, 1896. His present business is located at 274 River street, where he is an importer and dealer in china, glass, kerosene fixtures, silverware, etc., making a specialty of cut glass and fine china and lamps. He is a member of King Solomon's Lodge, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, Apollo Commandery and Oriental Shrine. His wife, Lottie Harris, to whom he was married in 1886, was born in Oregon. She is the daughter of Horace Harris, who was the first to start a blast furnace west of the Mississippi River. Mr. and Mrs. Jessup have one daughter, Helen. Strobel, Charles A., was born in Grafton Center, near Troy, May 24, 1857, and was educated in public schools and Lansingburgh Academy, and is a business man and farmer. September 27, 1887, he married Sophia A. Epting, of Troy, by whom three daughters have been born: Ida A., Edna H. and Zetta S., who died when one year old. Frederick Epting, the father of Mrs. Strobel, was born in Germany and came to the United States when a young man, and enlisted in the Second Infantry, New York State Volunteers. He captured a Confederate spy with his horse near Newport News, and served in the Seven Days' battles, at Malvern Hill, and at kfc 290 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Bristoe Station, where he was wounded, and was honorably discharged on surgeon's certificate in 1863. He married Elizabeth Schweiker, formerly of his native place, by whom five children have been born: Sophia A., Frederick J., Edward C. 0., Amelia A., and Edna E. Mr. and Mrs. Epting are living at this date, 1896. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Evans, Warren, was born at Schaghticoke Hill, October 12, 1852, and was educated in the common schools there, with a term at the Troy Academy under Prof. Wilson. He then finished learning his trade of miller with his father, in what is known as the Knickerbocker Mills, on the Tomhannock Creek at Schaghticoke Hill. Before he attained the age of twenty-one he graduated from Troy Business College and worked for his father under salary; his brother James was taken in as partner by his father and he worked for them under salary. Soon after his father's death he became, of age and sold his share of the property to his brother James. Soon after he became of age he was made a member of Victor Lodge, No. 680 F. & A. M. at Schaghticoke. He then went to the National Cemetery at Yorktown, Virginia, and disinterred the remains of his brother George W. , who was a'soldier in the 44th N. Y. Vols, popularly known as "Ellsworth Avengers,'' and died in Virginia of brain fever ; he secured the remains, brought them home where they are buried in the family plot in Schaghti coke Elmwood Cemetery. For three years he visited with horse and buggy nearly every town in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, introducing the new "Spring Roller Shade," he being the owner by purchase of the patent of the original inven tion. He then became a member of Montgomery Chapter No. 257, R. A. M., of Stillwater, N. Y. , and is also a member of the Knights of Honor in San Francisco. In February, 1876, he went to California and located in San Francisco, making a trip to China in the employ of the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. , in a minor official capacity. He has visited nearly all the Pacific Islands and has traveled all over the Pacific Slope, from Alaska to Chili, with San Francisco as his home. He has had a variety of occupations, but always positions of responsibility. In 1878 he entered the employ of the Cutting Packing Co. and was sent by that company to Fresno, Cal., to operate and conduct a canning factory, also a dried fruit packing house. While there he became interested in the raisin industry and purchased a fruit ranch, which he now owns and some day expects to make it his future home. In 1888 he severed his con nection with the Cutting Packing Co. and entered the employ of the Pacific Can Co., a concern which has large and varied interests in the metal line, and has absorbed many smaller concerns and is now known as the Pacific Sheet Metal Works, with branch factories in Los Angeles, Cal., Astoria, Ore., and at Vancouver, B. C. The San Francisco plant alone employs 500 hands, its capacity per day is 350,000 cans and boxes. Our subject is mechanical foremanv he also has the responsibility of in stalling new plants as they are established. He is also part owner of the Dutch Milling and Mining Co., Quartz Hill, Tuolumne county, Cal., a gold mine which is a dividend payer. In 1878 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Bulson, then of Schaghticoke Hill, formerly of the town of Brunswick, where his wife was born. They have one son, George Warren, born April 1, 1890. Mr. Evans's father, George, was born in Schodack, Rensselaer county, N. Y. in 1810 and moved to Saratoga county with his parents when a boy and was educated in the district schools. One item of interest in his boy life he loved to dwell upon in particular, is, he helped to FAMILY SKETCHES. 291 haul logs from his father's farm in Saratoga county, N. Y., to build the State dam across the Hudson River at Troy. He married Jerusha Smith and had four sons as follows, Emor, George W., James and Warren as above. Mr. Evans died April 1, 1872, and his wife October 23, 1893. He was a prominent member of the I. O. 0. F., also an active Mason and took mnch interest in the order until his death. Mr. Evans's paternal grandfather was a soldier in the Mexican war. The ancestry is Welsh on the paternal side and Dutch on the maternal side. Mr. Evans's father purchased the " Knickerbocker Mills," property from Judge Knickerbocker, so that by association and environment as well as descent, he is a " Knickerbocker of New York. Swartwout, Henry, only son of Henry and Sally (Merrill) Swartwout, was born in Troy, N, Y. . January 27, 1809. His ancestry begins with William Swartwout, a citizen of Groningen, Holland, residing there in 1459. His first American ancestors were Thomas Swartwout and Hendrickjon Barents, who were married in Amsterdam, Holland, June 3, 1631, and who about 1651 became colonists of New Netherland (now New York). Being one of the original settlers of Midwout, now Flatbush, L. I., Thomas was granted by letters-patent 116 acres of land there by Petrus Stuyvesant, director-general of the Dutch West India Company, who, on April 18, 1655, appointed him a magistrate of the court of Midwout. As many as thirty of Henry's immediate ancestors served with distinction in the Revolutionary war, holding positions from private to brigadier-general. November 7, 1833, Henry Swartwout was married in New York city to Maria Amelia, daughter of David and Amelia Lester Kettlehuyn. She was descended from Lieut. Daniel Kettlehuyn, who served in the expedition against Canada in 1709 under Lieut. -Gen. Francis Nicholson, and whose wife was carried a captive to Montreal by a body of French and Indians, after the massacre at Schaghticoke on October 20, 1711, when two of his children were killed by the in vaders. In 1834 Henry Swartwout became a grocer in Troy. In 1839 he removed to West Troy and engaged in both the grocery and lumber business. From 1847 to 1882 he was a member of the firm of Loveland & Swartwout, millers and flour mer chants, at No. 347 River street, Troy; from 1852 to 1866 he was engaged in manu facturing shirts, collars and cuffs, one of Troy's noted industries. In politics he up held the principles of the old-line Whigs, and in later years was an unswerving Re publican. He was one of the committee of one hundred citizens in charge of the centennial celebration of the naming of Troy, during the week ending January 5, 1889, and was for many years a member of the Second Presbyterian church of Troy. From 1862 until his death, August 11, 1892, he resided at No. 63 Fourth street. He is survived by his widow, two daughters, Mrs. Isaac N. Phelps of New York city and Mrs. W. Jerome Green of Utica, N. Y., and an only son, Brevet-Maj. William Merrill Swartwout of Troy, who while serving in the Army of the Potomac, was wounded, on June 1, 1864, at Cold Harbor, Va., and lost his left arm, on August 13, 1864, at Dutch Gap, on the James River, Va. Shaw, D. C, a native and lifelong resident of Hoosick, is a grandson of Darling Shaw, a Revolutionary soldier who for many years kept the famous old " Goat Tavern" on the Stone Road to Troy. (This road was built in 1841). His father, Collister Shaw, died at the premature age of thirty-two years. His mother was Chloe Bruce of an old Vermont family, and his wife was Julia M. Coon, daughter of 292 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Gilbert Coon of Cambridge, whom he married in 1847. Farming and carpenter work receive his attention. His chief business for many years was the moving of buildings. He is a member of the All Saints Episcopal church of Hoosick. Mr. Shaw was born in 1831, and has always been a Republican. His brother, William H. (deceased) was born in Hoosick in May, 1829. He there grew to manhood, and in 1848 married Mehitable R. Hathaway of Bennington, Vt. After living near home for several years he removed to Troy where he was connected with the city collector's office. In 1856 he removed to Mayfield and settled upon a farm. When the Rebellion broke out he began enlisting a company for the Black Horse Cavalry ; that regiment was soon disbanded, when he joined the 115th N. Y. Vols, as captain of Co. E. He was wounded at Olustee, taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry, in due time exchanged and was at the capture of Fort Fisher, where he was seriously in jured at the explosion of that fort. After the war closed he returned to his farm. Possessing a versatile mind he naturally inclined toward literary pursuits, which led to his engagement with Beers & Co. of Philadelphia in writing county histories, which employment he followed for nearly twenty years. About 1888 he engaged as bookkeeper for Wilkins & Close, glove manufacturers, where he remained until the Daily Republican was started, when he was placed upon the editorial staff of that paper, where he was engaged at the time of his death. He was a Republican and a member of the M. E. church. He left no children, his wife alone surviving. Vandenbergh, James A., born in North Greenbush, April 24, 1856, is the son of Winant G. and Penelope D. (Demarest) Vandenbergh, he a native of North Green bush and she of New York. The grandparents were Garret and Harriet Vanden bergh; the great-grandfather, Rutger, alsq of Greenbush, born August 28, 1726; the great-great-grandfather of James H., Matthys Vandenbergh, leased a large tract of land near Troy from Killian Van Rensselaer 2d, patroon of Rensselaerwyck, which is still in the Vandenbergh family ; a part of it is now occupied by James A. The father of Matthys was Cornelis Gysbertse Vandenbergh of the manor of Rens selaerwyck. In 1667 Gysbert Cornelise Vandenbergh, great-great-great-great-grand father of James A., located near Bethlehem, Albany county, and probably emigrated from Holland. He was one of the first settlers in Albany county. Winant Van denbergh was reared on the farm now occupied by James A. and there spent his life ; he died March 7, 1890. Mrs. Vandenbergh died April 2, 1894. James A. was educated at the Troy Business College. He married in 1883 Mary, daughter of Moses Jay Eames of Constableville, Lewis county, N. Y. James A. Vandenbergh and his brother Charles now carry on the home farm of 120 acres and make a specialty of the milk business keeping thirty cows. Caird, Rev. James, was born in the parish of Fordoun, Kincardinshire, Scotland. His father's name was David and his mother's Jean Morton. He belongs to a family whose name in Scotland is quite prominent in literature and the church. His early education was begun in his native land. In Wilkes-barre, Pa., he prepared for col lege. The degrees of of A. B. and A. M. were given him by Kenyon College, Gam- bier, Ohio ; while that of B. D. was the gift of the Divinity School, Philadelphia, Pa., at which institution he graduated in 1870. He was ordained to the diaconate by the Rt. Rev. Wm. Bacon Stevens, D.D., LL.D., June 24, 1870, in St. Luke's church, Philadelphia, Pa., and to the priesthood by the same prelate October 12, 1870, in FAMILY SKETCHES. 293 Christ church, Williamsport, Pa. He began his ministry in Troy, N. Y., immediately after his ordination. His work has been in one parish, the Church of the Ascension, Troy, N. Y. He has filled many places of trust during his twenty five years residence in our city and in our diocese. For a number of years past he has been a member of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Albany. He is member of the Local Co mmittee of the State Board of Charities of the State of New York. He is the author of " The History of the Free Church of the Ascension" ; besides this he has contributed articles for ecclesiastical reviews and newspapers. Caroline L. B. Phelps became his wife on May 26, 1874. The marriage ceremony was performed by Rt. Rev. Wm. Bacon Stevens; D.D., LL.D,, of Pennsylvania, assisted by Rt. Rev. Wm- Crowell Doane, D.D., LL.D., of the Diocese of Albany. Miss Phelps was the niece of F. W. Farnam, the founder of the Church of the Ascension and of the Farnam Institute. She is a member of the Phelps family which is prominent in the annals of the State of Connecticut. Their surviving children are Farnam Phelps Caird, born September 10, 1875, and James Morton Caird, born May 21, 1878. Lottridge, A. Clifford, is a native of Hoosick Falls as was also his father, Alvin D. Lottridge. The family was originally from Holland and is an old family here and in every way a landmark of the town. Clifford was born in 1862, and educated at the High School at Hoosick Falls and at Troy Business College, graduating in 1879 ; then he became bookkeeper for his uncle, S. S. Lottridge, who conducts a very ex tensive business in lumber and all materials used in building, and personally con trolling the works for forty eight years out of the sixty-five that they have been located here. Clifford is an ardent Democrat, member of the village Board of Trust ees, of the Board of Trade, one of the Board of Directors of the Hoosac Club, and manager since its organization, member of the Odd Fellows, and member of Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1. Hyatt, Louis E., was born in Lansingburgh, N. Y. , January 17, 1862. He was educated in the public schools, Troy High School and Cornell University, and now conducts a life and fire insurance business. September 21, 1889, he married Anna Van Kirk, of Ithaca, N. Y. , and they have one daughter, Thelma V. K. Mr. Hyatt's father, Eugene, was born in Stratford, Fulton county, N. Y. , May 18, 1829. He was educated in the public schools and Fairfield Academy, and became a lawyer. He came to Lansingburgh, N. Y. , in 1854, and in 1869 formed a copartnership with A. C. Comstock, under the firm name of Hyatt & Comstock. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1869, and was village attorney and justice of the peace for many years. He was vestryman and treasurer of the Episcopal church, was a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., and a 32d degree Mason. October 25, 1859, Mr. Hyatt married Esther A. F'erris, then of Auburn, N. Y., by whom he had three sons: Louis E., N. Irving, who is professor of music in the Syracuse University; and JohnS., who is with the Walter A. Wood Co., of Hoosick Falls. John S. married Grace Bowman, of Lansingburgh, and they have two children: Sherwood and Elise. Mr. Hyatt died September 28, 1895. Louis E. is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M. and has been senior deacon of the lodge. The family is of English and Scotch descent. Carr, Ambrose, born on the farm where he now resides January 30, 1825, is the 294 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. son of Barnet and Eva Carr, whose children were David, Jonas, Mary, and four de ceased, Catherine, William, John, jr., and Jacob. Barnet came here from Canada when a young man. He was well educated and was noted for his retentive memory. He was a church member interested in church work, and respected by all his neigh bors. Ambrose's life was spent on the farm and he attended school winters. When sixteen years of age he started for himself as a farm laborer. When thirty three years of age (1858) he located on the homestead where he has since lived. He mar ried Martha, daughter of John Pitcher. His living children are John, Charles, Delia, and Eli, and five deceased, David, Catherine, William, John, jr. , and Jacob. Ambrose is interested in all public enterprises, church, school, town and county affairs. Doty, Orman, was born on the old homestead near Melrose, March 13, 1851. He was educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Seminary, and has always fol lowed the honorable occupation of farming. September 4, 1883, he married Jessie F. Eaton of Troy, formerly of Albany. They have two sons, Oliver F. and O. Leon ard. Mrs. Doty's father, Daniel O. Eaton, was born near Boston, Mass., in the year 1813. He was well educated and was a merchant by occupation. He married Almira F. Snyder of Melrose; they had two children, one daughter and one son, Jessie F. , and Oliver L. Eaton (Fisher). Mr. Eaton died in 1895, and his wife died in 1870. The ancestry of the family is Dutch, English and German. Bullent, Theophilus C, was born in the town of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk county, England, September 18, 1844. He was a son of Robert and Matilda (Cole) Bullent, natives of England. In 1850 they came to the United States and settled in Green bush. He died January 17, 1890, at the age of eighty-four years, and his wife died May 17, 1877, at the age of sixty-four. Mr. Bullent was in the employ of Mr. Ring for some years in the milling business. Theophilus C. was reared in Greenbush and Bethlehem where his parents lived for a short time. He learned the barber's trade. In 1865 he established a shop, and has since carried on a successful business. In 1868 he married Deziah Aldrich, who died February 15, 1885. September 26, 1893, he married Ida L. Miles, daughter of Stephen Miles. She was a teacher for twenty years. De Witt, Emil F. , was born in Amsterdam, Holland, February 1, 1847. His parents moved to Germany when he was a small boy, where he was educated in the academic courses. March 1, 1869, he came to the United States, locating in Lans- burgh, N. Y. He has had a variety of occupations and is now a successful inventor. Among his inventions is a sand box for electric, cable, and other cars, and he is shipping them to all parts of the world. August 22, 1870, he married Anna B. Zahn, of Lansingburgh, formerly of Germany. They have three children: Katie A., Sarah M., and George E. Mr. De Witt's father, A. Dederich, was born in Germany in 1800, and married Sophia F. Denoo, of Amsterdam, Holland. They had eight children: Marie, Sophia, Emma, Godfrey, Carl, Emil F., Gerhardt, and Anna. Mr. De Witt died in 1860. Emil F. De Witt is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 335, F. & A. M., and of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., of Lansingburgh. The family is of Dutch, French and German descent. Dater, Almira J. — The late John Dater was born in the town of Brunswick, Rens selaer county, May 11, 1836. He was educated in the common schools and grad- FAMILY SKETCHES. 295 uated from the Middletown Academy. He had a variety of occupations. He manu factured brick with his brother, H. C. Dater, and was for seven years in the livery business here. He was a buttonhole manufacturer on Sixth avenue, Troy, N. Y., for about ten years ; he had partners for a short time but principally carried on the business alone. It was said of him that he was honest and upright in all his busi ness dealings, and was very generous to those in need. October 26, 1876, he mar ried Almira J. Wetsel, of the town of Schaghticoke, near Melrose. Mr. Dater died in 1893, mourned by a bereaved wife, and regretted by many friends. Mrs. Dater's father, Peter Wetsel, was born at the old home near Melrose, February 11, 1803. He was educated in the schools of his day, and was always a farmer by occupation. November 13, 1828, he married Elizabeth Sipperly of his native town, by whom he had four children: Mary A., Sarah L. , Elizabeth and Almira J, Mr. Wetsel died October 10, 1885, and his wife in 1838, thus depriving the children of a mother's love. The ancestry of the family is Dutch on both sides. Foster, John F. , was born in Sand Lake, September 11, 1857, and is the son of Seth B. and Harriet J. (Feathers) Foster, he a native of Brattleboro, Vt. , born De cember 22, 1809, and she of Sand Lake, born August 14, 1819. Both taught school in early life. In early life Mr. Foster learned the trade of millwright and built a great many mills in and around Sand Lake, many of which are now in ruins. He spent his last days on the farm now owned by John F. Foster. Mr. Foster was a Whig and then a Republican, and was for many years district steward of the M. E. church. He died in 1880 and Mrs. Foster died in 1895. The grandparents, Willard and Hannah (Briggs) Foster, came from Vermont to Sand Lake about 1S24, where they lived and died. Their occupation was farming. Willard Foster died July 16, 1868, and Mrs. Foster April 21, 1863. The father of Willard, Skelton Foster, lived at Oakham, Mass., and had four sons; Samuel, John, Bernard and Willard. Henry Feathers, the maternal grandfather of John F. , was born in Livingston Manor, March 27, 1786, was a Mason and prominent in public affairs. J. F. Foster taught school, then engaged in running threshing machinery, and in 1887 engaged in the sale of musical instruments; among other makes, he handled the Foster pianos, manufactured at Rochester by his brother, George G. Foster. Mr. Foster has the homestead farm of 125 acres, where he carries on general farming and dairying. In 1887 he married Myrtie May, daughter of Martin and Lavina Sedgwick of Stephentown. Mrs. Sedgwick died October 7, 1893. To Mr. and Mrs. Foster have have been born three children: Mary C, Florence and Myrtle L. Mr. Foster is a member of Interlachan Lodge No. 641, I. O. O. F., P. of I. at West Sand Lake, and Rensselaer County Agricultural Society. He is an active worker in the M. E. church. Kane, Pierce D., a native of Ireland, born in February, 1840, is the son of Nich olas and Mary (Fitzgerald) Kane, who emigrated to America and settled at West Troy in 1848, where they both died, she in 1884 and he in 1885, Pierce D. was reared in Troy and in 1868 married Mary A., daughter of James and Mary (McGuire) Ryan, who emigrated from Ireland to Cohoes about 1832. Mr. and Mrs. Kane have five children • James H., Nicholas T., Pierce D., jr., Franklin P., and Elizabeth P. Mr. Kane commenced work in a knitting mill in Troy when a boy and has been in the business at various places. In 1871 he went into the manufacture of knit under- 296 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. wear in Rhode Island, but succumbed to the crisis of 1873, his brother Nicholas then being his helper. They returned to New York and after running a factory about one year on the Hudson they came to Sand Lake and his brother hired the mill and bought it in 1880, and for three years they also run the Troy Knitting Mill, Pierce D. being the manager. He still has charge of the plant, his brother having died in 1887, September 14. Mr. Kane's brother Nicholas was a soldier in the Civil war, and served till its close. In the fall of 1886 he was elected member of the United States Congress from his district, but death prevented his taking his seat. Snell, Prof. H. H., the superintendent of schools of Hoosick Falls, is a man fully competent for his position not only by his rare intellectual ability, but also by his wide experience, great discrimination and tact. Possessed of broad and liberal views, with a character above reproach, he is a man appreciated outside of his pro fessional radius. His boyhood was spent on a farm in Genesee county, thence his father moved in 1849 from Ashford, Conn., where Prof. Snell was born in 1845. The family, a history of which was written by his father, originated with three brothers, who came from Germany. The mother was English. Prof. Snell began his chosen vocation early in life, and taught school at seventeen years of age. He received a preparatory education at the Rural Seminary, Genesee county, and with private tutors, and in 1885, after a four years' course, graduated from Alfred 'University. He has since given two years to post-graduate work, chiefly in Latin, also mathe matics and sciences. He entered upon his work here in 1895; is a member of the Baptist church, also of the Masonic fraternity, not a politician. He is married, has a son in business in Genesee county, and a daughter, married and residing in Han cock, N. Y. Gifford, Abbott, was born in Pittstown on the farm where he resides, August 3, 1870, son of Charles W. and Annathrasa (Abbott) Gifford, he a native of Pittstown, and she born in Pittstown. He was a son of Nathaniel, and Nathaniel was a son of Jabez Gifford, who settled in Pittstown at a very early date. The wife of Nathaniel was Elizabeth Francisco. The father of Abbott Gifford is a farmer and owns 235 acres of land. Charles Gifford's wife died January 17, 1880. Abbott Gifford was reared on a farm and educated in common schools, and Lansingburgh Academy. He was married March 23, 1893, to Nellie S. Case, born in Pittstown, and daughter of William and Sarah H. (Culver) Case. He was born in Pittstown and she in Cam bridge, N. Y. The grandfather of Mrs. Gifford was David Case, also a native of Pittstown and son of one of the earliest settlers of the town. To Mr. and Mrs. Abbott Gifford was born one son, Clayton E., November 19, 1895. Arnold, Everett D., was born at River Point, R. I., June 29, 1858, and is a son of Gilbert D. and Nancy Arnold, and received his education in the schools of his native town. He had a natural gift for mechanics, and has been a machinist, a fireman of a locomotive, and an engineer for the American Steamboat Company at Rocky Point. He finally came into the service of the Standard Oil Company, and for a time was chief engineer of the Pratt Oil Works in Brooklyn, and has never since left the em ploy of the Standard Oil Company. He was sent by that comany, about nine years ago, to Troy as general master mechanic of the Troy Steel and Iron Works, and six years ago he was made assistant general superintendent, and as such had charge of FAMILY SKETCHES. 297 the practical part of the manufactures of the concern. Mr. Arnold was consulting engineer for the Troy City Railroad Company, and built the power house at Lan singburgh and Division street. He was also consulting engineer for the Grand Rapids Street Railway Company, and the power house of that station was built after his design. The Troy Steel and Iron Company was succeeded by the Tioy Steel Company, of which company Mr. Arnold is the chief engineer and general superin tendent. The new basic Bessemer steel works of the company, being the first of its kind in America, was designed and built in its entirety by Mr. Arnold. Much of the machinery used in the new works was made for special work from original ideas and designs of Mr. Arnold. Stannard, Henry D., was born in Lansingburgh in 1826. His grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and his father, David B. , was born in Connecticut and was in the war of 1812; he died in 1865, and his wife, Betsey Ann (Waters) Stannard, died in 1877. Henry D. was educated in the district schools and was graduated from the Ball Seminary at Hoosick Falls. He taught for some time and then entered the trucking business with his brother, under the firm name of D. W. & H. D. Stannard. Three years later he sold out, and for three years lived on a farm in Schaghticoke, when he returned to Troy and has since been in the trucking business. He is a member of Apollo Lodge F. & A. M. In 1853 he married Sally A. Snyder, of Schaghticoke, by whom one son has been born, Eldridge G., of Den ver, Col. Crabbe, George Henry, born at Lansingburgh, N. Y., April 23, 1825. His early life was devoted to the acquirement of such knowledge as the common schools of that period could afford. Later he was persuaded to join the family of William Van Vleck on the old Rawson farm in the town of Brunswick, on account of the strong resemblance to their son, who had recently died. Here he resided until nearly attaining his majority, when he came to Troy. In 1862 he enlisted m Company K, 93d Regiment, N. Y. Vols., resigning his membership in the Troy City Artillery, 24th Regiment, N. Y. S. M. Immediately following his arrival at camp he was ap pointed corporal as a mark of esteem, and on January 23, 1863, received his warrant as such. Was mortally wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, May, 1864, and died at the field hospital May 9, 1864. Crabbe, Charles Henry, born at Troy, N. Y., April 16, 1847. Was educated in the public schools and began his business career as clerk in the Commercial Bank of Troy, in 1863. Is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13. F. & A. M. ; Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M. ; Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M. ; Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T. ; Oriental Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. ; Trojan Council No. 86; Royal Arcanum at Troy, N. Y. ; also of Arcanum Lodge No. 41, I. O. O, F., Bridgeport, Conn. Gailbraith, William J., was born in Troy in 1870, and was educated in the public schools, and afterwards became assistant shipper in the JEtna Mills, where he re mained for four years, when he accepted a position with the Boutwell Milling and Grain Co., at their warehouse on Green Island. He is a member of the Apollo Lodge F. & A. M., Laureate Boat Club, of the Bussey Fire Co., and at one time was president of that company. He is also second lieutenant of the 21st Separate Com- 11 298 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. pany, N. G. N. Y. October 16, 1895, he married Helen A. Sipperley, of Lansing burgh. Waterbury, Horatio Lewis, was born in Lansingburgh, December 23, 1861, and is a son of Truman H. and Catherine A. (Dutcher) Waterbury. His father was born at Burnt Hills, Saratoga county, in 1825, and died at Troy in 1881. His mother was born at Sand Lake in 1831, and died in 1888 at Troy. He received his education in the district schools of Wayne county, and came to Troy at the age of nine and at tended the public and high schools. In 1878 he went to work in the wholesale drug store of J. L. Thompson, Sons & Co. as errand boy, has been in their employ to date, and now holds one of the most responsible positions with that house. He is a mem ber of the Laureate Boat Club and the Trojan Wheelmen. Howe, Henry N., was born in Denmark, October 13, 1851, and was educated in their schools, and came to the United States in 1872. He located in Lansingburgh and had a variety of occupations. In 1882 he engaged in the bakery business which he has carried on with success. He was married twice, first, in 1875, to Josephine Seport, of Cohoes, formerly of Germany and has two children, both of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Howe died in 1881, and for his second wife, in 1883, he married Louise P. Yaiser, of Troy. Mr. Howe's father, Neilson, was born on the old homestead in Denmark in about 1817. He married and had these children: Maria J., Henry N. , John A., Anna C, Margurite, Johana, and Johanes. Mr. Howe died in 1894 and his wife died in 1884. Henry N. is a member of the Jerusalem Lodge No. 355 F. & A. M. Lally, George Abbot, was born in the city of New York, May 20, 1818. In early life he had but few advantages but he has ever been a close observer and student, and was a self-educated man. His mother died when he was an infant, and his father when he was scarcely in his "teens," leaving him to the care of an only brother, James Lally, who reared him. Upon the death of his brother, which oc curred in 1839, he became his successor in business and carried on extensive shoe manufactories at New Orleans and at Norwalk, Conn., under the name of Lally & McCracken. In 1847, while returning from New Orleans, he visited Chicago, which was slowly rising to the dignity of a town, and railroads were beginning to connect it with the outer world. He sailed up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to the small town of Peru, 111., and on the 15th of June arrived in Chicago. He at once saw the natural advantages of this point, and the future he foresaw for it induced him to de cide upon locating here. Returning east he closed his interest in the shoe business and returned the following year to Chicago. He at once established himself in the real estate business and had an office at 56 Clark street, where now stands the Sher man House. He was remarkably successful and invested in several tracts of land in various parts of the city. He likewise put up some fine buildings. He took a very active part in all enterprising projects of the growing city, and was always among the foremost in all public spirited projects. He was one of the promoters of, and one of the largest stockholders of the Western Plank Road Co. and was a prom inent stockholder in the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, the first steam road run ning out from Chicago. At the age of forty he was enabled to retire from active business. In 1855 he removed east and settled in Lansingburgh, N. Y. He never, however, lost his interest in Chicago, retaining much of his real estate. He was FAMILY SKETCHES, , 299 one of the promoters of and originators of the Troy & Lansingburgh Horse Rail road, and was one of the directors of the first board. From that day to the end of his life he was deeply interested in the .welfare and progress of this road and from time to time he advanced his private means in the undertaking and lived to see his expectations more than realized and the road put upon a paying basis. He was also a director in the Troy and Cohoes road from the organization covering a period of twenty years. He was a director and for some years vice-president of the old Bank of Lansingburgh, vestryman of Trinity church and trustee of the Lansingburgh Academy. Pie was also interested in the sugar industry in Louisiana and owned one of the largest plantations in the State, the Belair plantation. This tract extends along the Mississippi River for three miles and back into the interior for a mile and three-quarters, and is situated about twenty miles below New Orleans. His first wife was Francis B. St. John, daughter of Buckingham St. John, of Norwalk, Conn. ; she died in 1844, leaving one son, James Lally, who was a graduate of the Rensse laer Polytechnic Institute of the class of 1861. He died at the Riverdale on-the- Hudson, July 15, 1878. Mr. Lally's second wife was Harriet Hanford, daughter of Captain Richard Hanford of Lansingburgh, N. Y. ; two sons and a daughter were born of this union: George Hanford of Chicago, manager of the Chicago property, and also manager of the Belair plantation ; Frederick Lally, who resides at Lansing burgh, N. Y. , and manages his father's estate; Frances St. John, who died in in fancy. George A. Lally died June 27, 1881, in his sixty-third year. He had been suffering for years from an incurable malady which was endured by him with the utmost patience and even with cheerfulness. Morrison, James A., was born in Schoharie county, August 17, 1823, and has al ways been a horse dealer and trainer by occupation. November 6, 1856, he married Almira Salisbury of Troy. The father of Mrs Morrison, George S. Salisbury, was born in Troy, June 10, 1805, and was educated in the schools of that early day and was a rope manufacturer by occupation. He married Belinda Wager of Troy, and had two living children ; Almira and Amos M. Mr. Salisbury died March 31, 1839, and his wife died in 1885. The grandfather of Mrs. Morrison, Amos Salisbury, was born in Warren, April 14, 1774, and her great-grandfather, William Salisbury, was born February 1, 1757, at Swansea, Mass. Groesbeck, Charles H. — His father, William S. Groesbeck, was born in the town of Schaghticoke, February 24, 1826. He was educated in the schools of that early day and has always been a farmer. October 13, 1853, he married Frances M. Cun ningham of his native town; they have had four children: Eve M , Ida E., Charles H., and Carrie C. Eve M. married Thomas Herbert; they have two children, Will iam S. and Frederick. Ida S. married Silas Turner; they have four children, Charles, Mildred, Frankie and Lloyd. Charles H. married Emma Wells of Ohio; they have one daughter, Vena. Carrie C. married Myron Groesbeck; they have one daughter, Edna. Mrs. W. Groesbeck died September 5, 1886. Mr. Groesbeck's father, John F., was born in this town February 17, 1792. He was educated in the schools of that day, married Maria Groesbeck, and had four children, all living: Caro line, William S., Nicholas and Sarah. Mr. Groesbeck was a member of the Legisla ture in 1826. He died January 7, 1859, and his wife August 7, 1858. This family dates back in this town to 1764 as per family record. The ancestry of this family is Dutch on both sides. 300 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Wild, John, was born in Manchester, England, December 29, 1843. He is a son cf John and Marinah (Brady) Wild, he a native of England and she of Ireland. They emigrated to New York city about 1844 where they engaged in the crockery busi ness. He enlisted in the late war and has never been heard of. Mr. Wild was edu cated in New York city and was married to Madlle. Bertha, a danseuse, in 1861 and had one daughter, Bertha, now living, and in 1873 married Ada, daughter of the famous actress, Louise W. Ray, of London, England. To Mr. and Mrs. Wild have been born nine children, four of whom survive: Ada, Louise, Mable, and John, jr. At the age of sixteen Mr. Wild went on the stage and has always followed the pro fession of an actor. He represents black comedy and has performed for about thirty- six years in New York city. In 1876 Mr. Wild purchased a farm near Burden Lake in the town of Sand Lake which he has named " Idle Wild," and where he has since made his home. His family carry on the farming. He is a member of the Masonic Order in New York city, also of the A. O. U. W., and the Royal Arcanum, and is a member of the New York Lodge No. 1, B. P. O. Elks. Schmander, Jacob, born in Wurtemburg, Germany, November 25, 1841, is the son of Martin and Regina (Reinhardt) both of Germany, he born December 2, 1808, and she March 2, 1811, came to America in 1867 and settled in Greenbush, thence re moved to Sand Lake where they died, he in 1891 and she in 1879. He learned the cabinet maker's trade and followed it about twenty-five or thirty years. The mater nal grandfather, Jacob H. Reinhardt of Germany, and the paternal grandfather, John Schmander, a cabinet maker, lived and died in Germany. Jacob was reared and educated in the schools of Germany and when he came to America commenced as a farm hand and has always followed farming. In 1870 he bought forty-five acres and has cleared and made many improvements. He makes a specialty of extra grade of butter for city customers. He married in 1866 Catherine Shaver of Ger many. They have five children : Regina E., Minnie C, William J., Mary B. . and Carrie M. He enlisted in Co. A, 91st N. Y. Vols., December 2, 1863. He was hon orably discharged December 9, 1865. He was at Port Hudson, Red River expedition with Banks, and in many skirmishes; was wounded at the siege of Port Hudson. He was a member of the Evangelical Association at West Sand, Lake, member of Post McConihe, G. A. R., Sand Lake. Russell, J. P., was born November 14, 1828. He is the son of Prince and Catha rine (Williams) Russell. Prince Russell was born in Pittstown, a son of Jethru Russell and a native of New Bedford, Mass. ; his wife was Rebecca Howland of New Bedford. The grandfather of Mr. Russell was a Quaker and came to Pittstown in 1775. Mr. Russell's father was a farmer and lived and died in Pittstown. He died August 4, 1874, and his wife died June 16, 1874. The maternal grandfather was Stephen Williams ; he was a native of Holland and spent his last days in Pittstown. Mr. Russell was reared on a farm and educated in a common school and at Poultney Academy. He taught school eleven terms, and is now a farmer and has eighty-two acres of land. He has lived on the farm he now occupies sixty-five years. Novem ber 14, 1859, he was married to Ellen Rockefeller, a daughter of Peter F. and Cath arine (Parsons) Rockefeller of Columbia county, who there lived and died. Peter F. and John D. Rockefeller's fathers were cousins. To Mr. and Mrs. Russell were born three sons, Edward L., Charles D. and Burton J. Edward L. was born April 2 FAMILY SKETCHES. 301 1865, and was educated in a common school in Pittstown and Lansingburgh Acad emy, and followed teaching three years ; is now a farmer. His wife was Minnie Wyatt of Cambridge, N. Y. He has two sons, Raymond and Homer. Mr. Russell's second son, Charles D., was born March 8, 1867, and died at the age of thirteen years. Burton J. was born in 1875, and died in 1880 at the age of five years. Mr. Russell has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church fifty years, and a member of the official board of the church some forty-six years. In politics he is a Prohibition ist. Prince Russell, the father of J. P. Russell, was first cousin to Sylvia H. How land, the mother of Hettie Green, the noted millionaire. Blackhall, John J., was born February 12, 1842. He is the son of Michael and Catherine (Carmody) Blackhall. In 1849 his father was wounded in the Winooski River while repairing bridges. His mother died in Troy in 1890. He was educated in the public schools of Rensselaer county, and in 1863 entered the livery business with the late John Wood and has since carried on business in livery, sale and ex change stables and repository on Sixth avenue. He was honorary deputy sheriff under the late Sheriff Reynolds, was supervisor for three terms and was elected coroner of Rensselaer county. He is an exempt fireman. On May 20, 1866, he was married to Catherine Martin of Troy. They have four sons and two daughters. Emery, John W., was born in Kennebunk, Me., October 29, 1856. In 1876 he en tered the employ of the celebrated shoe firm of S. B. Thing & Co. as a salesman in the New York house, and was in their stores at Syracuse and Auburn ; from there he was sent as manager of the Binghamton store and was also manager of the Elmira store for five years. In 1883 he came to Troy, where he became a partner of the firm of S. B. Thing & Co., having general oversight of the fifteen retail stores located at Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Hudson, Albany, Troy, Saratoga, Glens Falls, Schenectady, Amsterdam, Little Falls, Rochester, Buffalo, Fort Wayne, Ind. In 1895 he was elected a member of the School Board of Lansingburgh. August 1, 1898, he withdrew from the firm of S. B. Thing & Co., purchasing the Albany and Schenectady stores, continuing the business in those cities on his own account. July 20, 1881, he married Bessie Linaberry of Binghamton, N. Y. , by whom he has had two sons and one danghter. White, William H., is a well known resident of Hoosick for many years, following agricultural pursuits. He was born in Guilderland, N. Y., in 1854, son of Hiram White, a farmer in the town of Bennington. His great-grandfather was Grant White, and grandfather, Salem White. His wife, born Betsy Ann Rudd, by whom he has five children, has in her possession a letter dated 1777, written by Joseph Rudd, her great-grandfather, from Bennington, Vt., just after the battle of Benning ton. He was a participant in the fight, and described the battle in detail. Mr. White is identified with the Democratic pasty. Travis, Mary Ett. — The late Orville Travis was born in Greene county, April 6, 1854, and was educated in the public schools. He taught school and was a farmer by occupation. September 23, 1874, he married Mary Ett Green of his native county, formerly of Albany county. They have three children: Grace B., Lovenia and Helen G. Mr. Travis died January 29, 1885. Mrs. Travis moved to Troy in 1889, and two years later came to Lansingburgh. Her father, Erastus Green, 302 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. born in Greene county, September 22, 1816, and was educated in the schools of that early day, and was a farmer by occupation. He married Mary Ann Radliff of Albany county, by whom six children have been born: Oscar Permelia, Mary Ett, Alvy, Elmira and Lovenia. Mrs. Green died in 1886, and Mr. Green survives at this datei 1896. The ancestry of the family is English, German, and Dntch. Behan, Joseph C, was born in Troy, N. Y. , December 18, 1863. His father, Christopher Behan, was born in Ireland and came to this country in the early fifties. He served three and one-half years in the Civil war, and was alderman from 1874 to 1880, representing the Eleventh ward, and also a school commissioner under the ward system. His mother was Bridget (Clarke) Behan, born in Ireland. He re ceived his early education at the Christian Brothers' Institute, until its dissolution in 1874, and finished at public schools. He entered the office of J. H Peck in 1879, and was admitted to the bar in 1885. He was appointed school commissioner in March, 1895, which position he still holds. He was married in 1893 to Miss Helen C. Peters of Troy, N. Y. He has three children. Cheney, David N., was born in West Farnham, P. Q., May 10, 1861, and is French descent. His father, Gilbert Cheney, died in 1865. David came to Troy in 1866 and when young went to work for J. S. Toby and learned his trade with Manny & Hardy where he remained for ten years. He started in the merchant tailoring busi ness April 6, 1889, with Mr. Chase under the firm name of Cheney & Chase, and No vember 12, 1889, bought out Chase and has since been in business for himself on the corner of Broadway and Fourth street. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum and the Arba Reed Steamer Co , of which he is treasurer. He married Elizabeth Dodge May 10, 1883. They have two sons and one daughter. Hunt, Richard M., was born in Troy, N.Y., in 1870. He is a son of Martin Hunt, who came from Ireland when very young. He worked at his trade as stonecutter in Troy, and for thirty-five years and until his death owned and conducted an exten sive stone cutting plant at the present location. He died in 1894. His mother is Ellen (Ryan) Hunt of Troy. He "received his education at the Brothers' School, from which he graduated in the class of '90, and at the St. Laurent College, near Montreal, P. Q., afterwards going into business with his father in Troy, and since his father's death has had charge of the business. He is a member of the Alumni Society of the La Salle Institute and belongs to the Young Men's Catholic Club of St. Mary's church. Jacobs, Jacob Vanstone, son of Samuel T. and Mary (Vanstone) Jacobs, was born in Troy, December 21, 1854. In 1857 he moved with his parents to Canada, where he was educated in the public schools. In 1875 he returned to Troy and engaged m the real estate and insurance business until 1895, when he was appointed deputy superin tendent of public buildings at Albany, N. Y , which position he now -holds. Mr. Jacobs has been a member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church of Troy for a number of years and is now secretary of the official board. He was president of the Republican Club of Troy for one year, alderman of the Fourth ward one term, and in 1893 and 1894 was chairman of the Republican County Committee of Rensselaer county. He is a member of the Public Safety Committee, the Troy Citizens' Association, the Pafraets Dael Club, King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. FAMILY SKETCHES 303 91, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., Bloss Council No. 14 R. & S. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., and Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. March 2, 1885, he married Annette D., daughter of J. W. Smith of Troy, and they have one son, J. Smith. Searls, J. F., Valley Falls, N. Y., son of John H. and Mary (Miller) Searls, grand son of Christopher Miller, was born September 19, 1859, at Schaghticoke, N.Y'. He was educated in the public schools of Schaghticoke and Troy Business College. He was in partnership with his brother, William H. Searls, one year in Schaghticoke in the meat business and came to Valley Falls in 1879, where he engaged in business and has been very successful, and is at present one of the largest wholesale meat dealers in Northern New York. He was married September 22, 1878, to Florence M. Starke of Valley Falls. Mr. Searls is a Republican, but has never aspired to office. He has always been a strictly temperate man. He and his wife attend and support the Methodist church. Mr. Searl owns a farm of seventy-five acres, one of the finest farms in Pittstown. Clark, Charles D., was born in Lisbon, N. H , June 12, 1834, and came to Troy with his parents in 1839. He was educated in the public schools and the Wesleyan Seminary at Gouverneur, N. Y. He learned the painting trade and is now a con tractor, doing all kinds of painting and interior decorations. April 15, 1861, he en listed in Co. C, 12th New York State Militia, and on the 19th they were accepted as New York State Volunteers. Mr. Clark was the seventh man that crossed the Long Bridge into Virginia. He was wounded in a skirmish near Alexandria. He was honorably discharged September 6, 1861. He has married twice, first on November 21, 1861, to Mary Visscher of Clifton Park, Saratoga county, and had five children: David B., Hattie M., Naming V., George A., and Lewella A. Mrs. Clark died May 5, 1873, and he was again married to Annette Deyoe of Saratoga Springs; they have one son, Walter D., who is shipping clerk in the United Shirt and Collar Factory of Lansingburgh. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., past high priest of Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M. , member of Bloss Council No, 14 R. & S. M., and of Tibbits Post No. 141, G. A. R., department of New York. The ancestry of the family is of New England stock. They were represented by their great-grandfather, Charles Clark, in the Revolutionary war, and by the maternal grandfather, Sylvanus Currier, in the war of 1812. Bulkley, Walter, was born in Fairfield, Conn., in 1828. His parents were Edwin Bulkley, who was born at the old Fairfield homestead, and Mary Williams, born at Colbrook, Conn. In early life Mr. Bulkley was a farmer. In 1850 he came to Lans ingburgh with David Judson, coal dealer, and was in his employ as teamster for two years. He was then taken into the office as bookkeeper and made himself generally useful in the various changes in the retail and wholesale trade, both here and in Troy. It is now an incorporated company, and Mr. Bulkley has been at the head of the bookkeeping department for many years. He has married twice. On October 2, 1851, he married Eliza J. Schuyler of this place; five children were the result of this union: Charles, Louis, Walter, jr., Susan and Kate. Charles married Frances Randall of New Yrork, and has three children: Arthur E., Mary A., and Helen L. Louis married Sara V. Talbot, of Lansingburgh, and has three daughters, Louis R., 304 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Edith E., and Marion U. Susan married Joseph B. Gale of Baltimore, and has two sons, Charles B. and Howard N. Mr. Gale died in November, 1893. Mrs. Eliza J. Bulkley died June 20, 1871, and for his second wife, on April 10, 1872, he married Susan Butler of Albany, and has two daughters, Bertha V. and Mabel L. Mr. Bulkley has been the leader of the Olivet Presbyterian church choir since 1860. Davitt, Albert W., was born in Poestenkill in 1848, and is the son of George W. Davitt, who was also a native of Poestenkill, born 1817, one of three sons and three daughters born to George Davitt, a native of the North of Ireland who came to America when a young man, settled in the town of Poestenkill (then Sand Lake) and here spent his remaining days as a farmer. George W., the father of Albert W., began in life a poor man but became a successful farmer and lumberman, own ing a large amount of farm and timber land and doing a large business. He later in addition to this engaged in the meat business. He was elected supervisor of his town in 1860-61 and 63-64, also filled the office of commissioner of highways and other town offices. His wife was Catherine Stowel; their children are Albert W.. Alfred H. of Troy, Mrs. Emma J. Snyder, Adelbert E. (deceased), Mrs. Etta F. Herrington, Mrs. Anna E. Ives, Egbert E. , who is a merchant in Troy. George W. died September 10, 1888. Mr. A. W. Davitt received his education in the common schools, Fort Edward Institute and Mechanicville Academy. He remained with his father assisting him in his business, and during his father's decline and ten years before his death took full control of their extensive business. Since then he has conducted the business for a number of years, dealing extensively in wood and round timber, and still follows the wholesale meat business, buying and slaughtering his own cattle for a number of years. He has supplied by contract meat for the county poor-house. In April, 1895, he interested himself in the manufacture of knit goods with a factory located in Cohoes, N. Y., the firm name being Akin & Davitt. In politics he is an active and influential Democrat and has served his town on the Board of Supervisors for four years. In May, 1874, he married Ida Akin, a native of West Sand Lake and daughter of John and Almira Akin. Their children are John W. and Harry A. Mrs. Davitt is a member of the Emma Willard Association of Troy. Herrington, Hammon, was born in the town of Berlin, April 4, 1841. He is a son of George Herrington who was also a native of Berlin, where he followed the voca tion of farming. In 1849 he removed to the town of Poestenkill where he kept a hotel for many years. He also conducted a large farm and lumber business, owning and managing his own saw mill. His wife was Rebecca Green, a daughter of Jon athan Green of Berlin. They had seven sons and four daughters; those who grew to maturity are Robert, Nicholas, George F., Henry T. , Hemon E. of New York, and Hammon; the two latter are the only surviving members of the family. Mr. Her rington's early life was devoted to lumbering with his father and when eighteen years of age he began to care for himself. When he was twenty-one he engaged in the lumbering business on his own account in which he has been very successful ; he has been interested in it and has done a large and extensive business in this line. He now owns a large tract of timber and farm land in the towns of Berlin, Grafton, and Poestenkill. Since 1880 in connection with his other business affairs he has carried on the wholesale butchering and meat business, and is now also interested in the FAMILY SKETCHES. 305 draught horse business in Troy. In 1893 he moved to the town of Brunswick near Troy. He served the town of Poestenkill as commissioner of highways and was elected and served in the board of supervisors five years. In 1892 he was elected sheriff of Rensselaer county. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, King Solomon Lodge No. 91 of Troy, and the Order of Elks of Troy. In 1861 he married Miss Sarah Myers of Poestenkill and daughter of David Myers. Their children are Porter, Cora, Fred, Hammon, jr., Harry E., Marcia, and Phoena. Bolton, Crumbey, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Dugdale) Bolton, was born in Clitherow, Lancashire, England, May 11, 1843, came to America with his parents in 1849 and settled in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer county, where he received a com mon school education. He had just begun to learn the carriage trade, when, on September 7, 1863, he enlisted in Co. I, 21st N. Y. Cavalry, soon becoming first sergeant, and served until 1866. He then secured employment in the John Ames brush factory for three years, and later sold crackers for Richard M. De Freest for twenty years. In 1886 he formed a partnership with George E. Skillman for the manufacture of crackers in Lansingburgh, and they are now doing a prosperous business. Mr. Bolton is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355, F. & A. M., of Lansingburgh and Bolton Post No. 471, G. A. R., of which he is commander. April 25, 1867, he married Mattie A. , daughter of Lyman Fenn of Lansingburgh and they have four children: Edwin A., Milton, Richard and Crumbey, jr. Stiles, Robert B., son of John M. and Julia A. (Gowdy) Stiles, and grandson of Hon. Eli Gowdy, for many years a member of the Connecticut Legislature, was born at Melrose, Conn., August 8, 1848. He was educated at Williston Seminary, East hampton, Mass., and at Union College, Schenectady, graduating in 1870. In 1873 he received the degree of A. M. from Union College. He was graduated from the Albany Law School and was admitted to the bar at Albany in May, 1871. In Sep tember, 1871, at Hartford, he was admitted to practice in the courts of Connecticut; tbe same year he moved to Troy and was for some time with the law firm of Banker, Rising & Boice. In 1872 he moved.to Lansingburgh, where he has since practiced law. He served as village attorney from 1883 to 1885 inclusive. In March, 1879, he was elected justice of the peace and held that office continuously ever since, with the exception of one year. He was elected a member of the Board of Education upon its organization in September 1884, re elected in 1887 and in 1890, completing his third term August 2, 1893. Mr. Stiles is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58 F. & A. M., Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., and Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T. He is a member of all the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite bodies of Masonry, including Albany Sovereign Consistory at Albany and received the thirty-third and last degree at Buffalo, September 17, 1895. He has served two years as master of Phoenix Lodge, two years as master of Bloss Council, and two years as eminent commander of Apollo Commandery. Mr. Stiles is also a member of the Riverside and Sans Souci Clubs of Lansingburgh and the Acacia Club of Albany. December 4, 1877, he married Ida E. , daughter of William Law rence, for many years a resident of Troy, and they liave two children: Frank Law rence and Charles Gowdy. Dennin, J. Thomas, was born in Lansingburgh in 1859. He is a son of Owen and 306 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Bridget Dennin. Owen Dennin was the founder of the present brush business of Owen Dennin & Sons, in 1875. This business was started in Lansingburgh by Mr. Dennin at the time when the brush business of this place had begun to go to other parts of the country, but this firm continued to grow until to-day it is at the head of brush manufacturing of Lansingburgh, and their factory is the largest of the place. This business was built by sheer energy, hard work and close attention to business, and the requirements of the market at the time when the brush business required the most intelligent management to make it successful. This firm manufactures everything in the line of brushes that the market calls for. J. Thomas Dennin is a prominent man in the politics of the village, having served as trustee, and also as president of the village, in addition to attending to the requirements of his large business. The estimation in which Mr. Dennin is held in Lansingburgh can be best shown by the fact that although the village gives ordinarily a large Republican ma jority, he was elected on the Democratic ticket. He was the only Democratic presi dent of the village that had been elected in twenty-eight years. Eddy, Mary J. — The late Walton M. Eddy was born in Weathersfield, Windsor county, Vt. , October 13, 1818, and came to this State with his parents when seven years old. He was educated in the public schools and the Waterford Academy. He was a lampblack manufacturer. He was married twice, first to Mary C. Ryn- ders, of Waterford, N. Y., September 9, 1841, by whom he had one son James I. ; second, to Miss Mary J. Pendleton, of Lansingburgh, on October 15, 1846, by whom he had four children: George W., Henry P. (who died in infancy), Mary E. and Nellie G. James I. was married twice, first to Caroline A. McKelsey, of Lansing burgh, N. Y., June 21, 1867; second, to Mary M. Holmes, of Maryville, Mo., May 18, 1882. George W. married Chauncey Farnham's daughter, Helen A. , by whom he had four children: Florence A., Chauncey W., Marion H., and Harry W. Nellie G. married J Edgar Sipperly of Lansingburgh; they had one daughter, Helen. Mr. Eddy died January 20, 1896. The first known of the Eddys was one Rev. William Eddy, Vicar of Dunstan church, Cranbrook, Kent county, England. Samuel and John landed at Plymouth, Mass., in 1630. Mrs. Eddy's father, Charles Pendleton, married Mary J. White, by whom he had four children: Elizabeth, Mary J., Henry, and Catherine P. He died in 1837, and his wife in 1888. Farnham, Chauncey Wadsworth, was born in Troy, July 28, 1818. He was the son of the late Dr. Ebenezer Farnham, of Jackson, Mich., and a grandson of the Hon. Joseph Wadsworth of Pittstown, N. Y. Mr. Farnham was married May 22, 1844, to Nancy McMurray, daughter of the late William McMurray, of Lansingburgh, N. Y. Two children were born: Horace W., deceased, and Helen A., wife of George Walton Eddy. Mr. Farnham filled various public trusts, among which was that of under sheriff of Rensselaer county for two terms, with Gerothman W. Cornell as sheriff, and that of assistant postmaster at Lansingburgh. His earlier years were spent in professional and mercantile pursuits. He died December 15, 1878. Schermerhorn, Frank, was born at Schodack Landing, and was educated in the public schools and Greenwich Academy, and learned the profession of dentistry with Dr. Crosby of Greenwich. In 1864 he in company with his brother began the prac tice in Cohoes, under the firm name of Schermerhorn Bros. His father, Barent, was FAMILY SKETCHES. 307 born at-Schodack landing, January 28, 1804, and was a farmer by occupation. Jan uary 8, 1827, he married Catherine Witbeck, by whom six children were born: Eliz abeth, Antoinette, Charles, Louis, Frank, and Van Dyke. He died March 12, 1872. His wife was born in 1810 and survives at this date, 1896. The grandfather of Mr. Schermerhorn, Cornelius I., was born August 15, 1764, and married Elizabeth Mun- don. He was the son of Jacob C, who was born May 25, 1743, and he was the son of Cornelius I., who was born in 1719, who was the son of Jacob I., who was born in 1685, and he was a son of Jacob Jacobse, who was born in 1662, in Albany, and all the others were born in Schodack Landing. Jacob Jacobse was a son of Jacob Janse, who was born in Waterland, Holland, in 1620. The doctor is a member of the Third District Dental State Society, and was its president for one term, and is also a mem ber of Athenian Lodge No. 96, I. O. O. F. , of Troy. Jacob C. was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and their father, Barent, was a colonel in the State militia. The ancestry of the family is Dutch on both sides. Greene, Mrs. Margaret A. — Nathan Henry Noyes, Mrs. Greene's father, was one of Lansingburgh's most prominent residents for more than half a century. He was born in Greenbush, N. Y., June 16, 1815, but in 1825 he removed with his parents to this village, where the family has since resided. He was educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy. In early life he was a carpenter, and afterwards was engaged in river navigation. He owned a line of boats on the Hudson River, with which he carried on a general freight transportation and towing business between Troy and New York. He was sole owner and commander of the steamer G. C Davidson, which was sold to the government during the late war. In the later years of his life he was associated with his brother, Stephen Van Rensselaer Noyes, in the coal business, in which he continued until a year prior to his death. May 20, 1835 he married Margaret Loucke, of Rome, N. Y. She was of old Dutch stock, and granddaughter of one of the pioneers of the Mohawk valley. They had nine chil dren: Mary E., Frances A., Charles H., Margaret A., Lucinda V. S., Harriet I., Katherine M., Bernice C, and Grace E. Mr. Noyes died September 7, 1889. Mrs. Greene's late husband, Zina Eggleston Greene, was born in Troy, September 8, 1841. He was educated in private schools and graduated at a French College at Three Rivers, Canada. He was an expert accountant. December 9, 1869, he married Margaret A. Noyes; they had two sons, Zina Paul and Plarry Noyes, both gradu ates of Lansingburgh Academy, while the latter is a graduate of Williams College and also of Albany Law School. The elder is a bookkeeper in the People's Bank of Lansingburgh, and the younger is an attorney in Troy, also a police justice in the village of Lansingburgh. Mr._ Greene was a member of the Masonic order. He (lied September 2, 1879. The Noyes family is of English and Dutch descent. Their ancestral residence is Newburyport, Mass. The house was built in 1632 with bricks imported from Holland, and has never been occupied by other than a Noyes. Schermerhorn, Van Dyke, was born in the town of Greenwich, Washington county, N. Y. , and was educated in the public schools and Greenwich Academy. He studied dentistry with Dr. Crosby, and is now in company with his brother Frank under the firm name of Schermerhorn Bros., in Cohoes, N. Y. May 31, 1864, he married Adeline L. Potter of Troy, N. Y. , by whom he had tour children : Cath erine E., Antoinette B., Louis Y. and Frank L., who died at five years of age. :?08 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER C'OtJNTY. Catherine E. married Irving C. Dater of Troy, and they have three children : Clin ton, Rufh and Margaret. Antoinette B. married Dr. Robert H. McNair of New Orleans, now a practicing physician in New Haven, Conn., and they have two chil dren: Dorothy and Robert S. Mrs. Schermerhorn's father, John T. Potter, was born in the town of Pittstown in 1800. He was educated in private schools of that day, and came to Troy when a young man. He married Eliza J. Stedwell of Glens Falls, N. Y. , by whom he had six children : Harriet N. , who died March 30, 1891; William H., Edward P., George L., Adaline L. as above, and Sarah E. Mr. Potter died in 1862 and his widow April 21, 1892. Mr. Schermerhorn is a member of Athenian Lodge No. 96, I. O. O. F. Kennedy, John J., was born in Troy, N. Y., June 13, 1863. He attended the Albany Law School, from which he graduated in 1886, and was admitted to the bar the same year. Mr. Kennedy was elected city justice in 1889, which position he held for six consecutive years. Finder, Anthony P., was born in Troy, September 24, 1865, and is a son of Will iam and Martha E. (Bachmann) Finder, who came to this country from Germany in 1852 and settled in Troy. He received his early education in the public schools and was graduated from the Troy High School in 1885, and was the first in Troy to receive from the regents a preliminary academic diploma giving him entrance to any college in New York State. He then took a special course in mathematics and chemistry in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and began the study of architec ture at Cornell University, but two years later he was obliged to abandon his course because of poor eyesight. In 1887 he entered the law office of Smith & Wellington. In the fall of 1889 he entered the Albany Law School, from which he was graduated in June, 1890, and was admitted to the bar at the same time. He was appointed by Robert P. - Porter, superintendent of the eleventh census, chief special agent for Rensselaer county, to gather statistics of manufactures. After completing the work in Rensselaer county, he was placed in charge of the same work in Albany county. During this time he was also managing clerk in the office of Smith & Wellington. In 1891 he formed a co-partnership with James Farrell and commenced the practice of law, under the firm name of Farrell & Finder. He was nominated by the Republican party for justice of the Justice's Court of Troy in 1892, and in 1895, but each time was defeated. He is a very active Republican, and is attorney and representative for the American Surety Company of New York at Troy, and is a member of the East Side Club. In January, 1895, he married Mary L. Mearns, who was a resident of Troy and who had taught in the public schools for several years. De Groot, Benjamin E., was born in Albany, N.Y., June 1, 1857. He has lived in Troy since 1860. He isa descendant of the famous family "Grotier" of Holland. He received a common school education in the public schools of Troy, N. Y. , and academy at Albany, N. Y., and graduated in 1872. He continued his studies with Smith, Wellington & Black, and was admitted to the bar in 1879. He was asso ciated with the firm of Merritt and Ryan until 1893, when he formed a copartnership with George H. Morrison, under the firm name of Morrison & De Groot. November 15, 1882, he married Miss Ernestene Blume, daughter of Rabbi Blume, who had charge of the Third street Synagogue for (19) nineteen years. FAMILY SKETCHES. 309 MacArthur, Col. Charles La Fayette, was born at Claremont, N. H., January 7, 1824. After a partial education in the district and select schools he was graduated from the Black River Institute at Watertown, N. Y. He was editor and proprietor of the Carthaginian at Carthage, N. Y. , and then went west and became a local reporter for the Detroit Free Press, and from there he went to Milwaukee, Wis. , about 1843, and joined a government party as secretary of the expedition to make a treaty with the Sioux Indians, on the upper region of the Platte River. He was the first editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel, which was the first daily paper published in Wisconsin. He remained in Milwaukee until 1846, when he moved to New York city and became the city editor of the New York Sun. • In September, 1847, he joined John M. Francis in the purchase of the " Troy Daily Budget." In 1851 he went to Europe and in 1856 he visited Cuba, under a secret government commission, to look into certain matters connected with the island consulates. He continued with the "Budget" until January 1, 1859, and on October 18, 1859, established the "Troy Daily Arena," but sold out in the spring of 1861 to go to the war as quartermaster of the 2d N. Y. Vols He was in the battle of Great Bethel and went with his regi ment, after the capture of Norfolk, to Portsmouth and participated in its experiences until appointed by President Lincoln as captain and assistant quartermaster in the regular army. He served as brigade and division quartermaster, and was at the battle of Frederickburg, through a.11 the battles from Fair Oaks and McClellan's seven days' fights, in the change of base to- the James River. On leaving the army he re ceived two brevet promotions from Governor Fenton for faithful service in the late war. In thefall of 1864 he established the " Troy News," the first Sunday newspaper outside of New York city. He sold the "News" in 1866, having become one of the proprietors and editors of the " Troy Daily Whig." March 24, 1867, here-established the "Troy Northern Budget," as a Sunday journal. In the publication of the " Budget" he has associated with him his son, under the firm name of C. L. MacArthur & Son. Mr. MacArthur has been an active and influential politician. He was a Free Soiler in 1848 and a Democrat up to the time of Lincoln. He was for several years a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, and a delegate to the na tional convention of 1856 and a frequent delegate to the State conventions. He was alderman of the Second ward in 1852 and in 1853, and twice for a number of years collector of the port of Troy. Since Lincoln's first election he has been a Republican. He was a member of the State Senate in 1881 and 1883, rep resenting the 19th district, and declined a renomination. Col. MacArthur has been a prominent officer in the organization and doings of the G. A. R. , and-was president of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Association. In the later years of his life he has devoted much of his time to travel in foreign countries, and to the publication of his journeyings, which have been widely read, and have given him a high reputation as a traveler and writer. In 1896 he was appointed one of the park commissioners of Troy by Mayor Molloy, and was also one of the founders of the Citizens' Steam boat Line, of which he is director and one of the large stockholders. Archambeault, Louis J., M. D., was born in North Adams, Mass., in 1846. He is the son of Joseph J. and Genevieve (Shorke) Archambeault. His father died in 1847 and mother in 1892. He was graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1881 and opened practice in Troy, where he has since been located. He graduated 310 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COjUNTY. from the New YTork Polyclinic in 1888. He married Margaret Smith of Massachu setts, by whom he has four daughters and one son, who is now a pracl icing physician. Bridgeman, John F.. was born in- Troy, N. Y., November 11, 1849. His father, Peter Bridgeman, was born in Ireland and came to this country in 1847. He was in the freight department of the D. & H. C. Co. for forty years, and died in 1889. His mother, Mary (Fitzgerald) Bridgeman, was also born in Ireland. She was married to Mr. Bridgeman in Troy and died in October, 1877. John F. received his education at the Brother's Academy and public schools. He left school when thirteen years of age. In 1865 he entered the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad office at Green Isl and and in 1866 entered the employ of Silliman, Mathews & Co., where he remained until 1871. In 1872 he went with Graves, Page & Co., where he stayed until 1878, when he formed a copartnership with Robert M. Taylor under the firm name of Taylor & Bridgeman in the coffee and spice business. He sold out one year later and entered the employ of Burkhalter, Masten & Co., of New York city, where he remained until he became chamberlain of the city of Troy, December 5, 1885, under appointment made by ex-Mayor Fitzgerald, and he was twice reappointed by Mayor Whelan. He is a member of the Robert Emmet Association and has been its presi dent and treasurer. His present wife is Nora L. (O'Hearn) Bridgeman, to whom he was married in 1896. He has one son, Peter T. Bridgeman, by a former marriage. Wheeler, Henry, was born in Glennville, Conn., February 21, 1850. He came to Troy when eleven years of age and attended school until December, 1864, when he entered the Union Bank as clerk. He filled the various positions and in December, 1875, was appointed teller, which position he still holds. He is one of the trustees of the East Side Club, In January, 1894, he married Rebecca Robinson, daughter of the late John Robinson, of Troy. His father, James Wheelock Wheeler, was born in Hanover, N. H., and his mother, Mary (Sargeant) Wheeler, was born in Parsip- pany, N. Y. Godini, Madame Marie, the daughter of Enoch and Hannah (Hickok) Wadsworth, who died October 25, 1894, was born at Potter Hill, Rensselaer county, N. Y. She received her education in Troy. She possessed a remarkable voice and marked mu sical ability, which was developed by the musical masters in Troy and Albany until the emigration of her family to California, where she received the benefit of more extended training and prepared for a professional career. She afterwards learned the Italian, French and Spanish languages, speaking and writing them as fluently as a native; at the same time she studied painting and took the first prize at the California State Fair two consecutive years for best drawing and painting. Mad ame Goiini made her debut in Italian Opera in the Metropolitan Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of her teacher, Giusippe Mancusi. She met with suc cess and was engaged for a tour of the State. Later she spent a few months in New York in the study of music and returned to California under an engagement for eight months. She married the Hon. Jesse O. Goodwin, who was thrice judge and one of the hold-over senators under the new constitution of California. He died soon after his marriage. Madame Godini after her husband's death made her debut in English Opera in Kansas City in the winter of 1881. The season was successful, FAMILY SKETCHES. 311 and to enlarge her musical knowledge went to Milan, Italy, to study with the great master Lamperti, sr. ; after studying in Italy and with Marchesi in France, she re turned to her native country and with Signor. P. Brignoli formed an Italian opera company and visited all the southern cities and Mexico with Signor D. De Vivo as manager. The Godini Company, after an eighteen months' absence under the man agement of Signor De Vivo, returned to New York. The following year Madame established a school of music, languages and art in New York city with the eminent pianist Chevalier Aurelio Ceruelos as director. After the death of her father she removed the school to Troy where it is now located, and it is in a flourishing con dition. Barrett, Rev. John, was born at Cohoes, N. Y., May 31, 1862. He is a son of Edward and Mary (Collins) Barrett, both born in Ireland. John received his educa tion at St. Bernard's School and in the Business College of Cohoes and the Cohoes grammar. schools and was graduated from Egbert's High School in 1880, when he entered St. Michael's College of Toronto, Ont, from which he was graduated in June, 1883. He then entered St. Joseph's Seminary of Troy in 1883, where he was ordained to the priesthood, October 2, 1887, by Bishop McNierney and was assigned to duty at once in St. Mary's church in Troy, where he is at present. O'Mahoney, Rev. W. H., was born in New York city in 1852. He was a graduate of the Assumption and Free Academies of Utica in 1870, and was also graduated from Niagara University in 1874. He was ordained at St. Joseph's Seminary, Troy, in 1879. He was -first sent to Watertown and from there to Albany, and in 1881 and 1882 had charge of the Warrensburgh mission, which corriprised the towns of Chester- town, Johnsburgh and Lucerne. In 1884 that mission was divided and Lake George, which had been in charge of the Paulist Fathers, was added to the mission of which Father O'Mahoney had charge. In 1890 he was appointed pastor of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle of Troy, which he built. The church was completed in 1893, and has about 1,000 souls in the parish. He is one of the board of examiners of the parochial schools of Troy. Caldwell, James H., was born in Mobile, Ala., March 21, 1865. He is of English and Scotch descent, his ancestors having settled iu Virginia in the early times, some of them being in the Revolutionary war. His father was for many years a capitalist in Mobile and was at onetime an alderman in that city; he died in 1872. His mother, Caroline (Shields) Caldwell, was born in Mobile, Ala., where she at present resides. He received his education at the Columbia Grammar School, New York city, and in September, 1882. entered the R. P. I. of Troy and graduated in June, 1886, and has been treasurer of the Alumni Association since June, 1888. He en tered the Ludlow Valve Manufacturing Co. in November, 1888, as shipping clerk, and at the reorganizing of the company was made a director in the concern. He is vice-president of the Mobile Gas Light and Coke Co. and is president of the Electric Lighting Co. of Mobile, Ala. He was elected a vestryman of St. Paul's church in 1890 and still retains that office, and is one of the incorporators and a director and treasurer of the New Samaritan Hospital. He is one of the managers of the Troy Club, a member of the Laureate Boat Club, an incorporator and member of the City Club of Troy, also a member of the Committee of Public Safety. He married, 312 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. May 3, 1887, Margery J. Christie, daughter of John T. Christie, by whom he has one daughter and a son. In national politics he is a Democrat. Baynes, Joseph Taylor, son of Joseph and Alice Elizabeth (Taylor) Baynes, was born in Aldborough, Yorkshire, England, January 6, 1838, and came to America with his parents in 1848, settling on Diamond Rock farm in Lansingburgh, Rensse laer county, where they remained two years, when they came to Troy. He was educated in the State Street Academy and studied music under Dr. William Hop kins. He learned the trade of pattern maker and was first employed by Edgar B. Sherwood. August 14, 1857, he became a pattern make in the Watervliet Arsenal, where he rapidly rose to the position of foreman of the carriage department, which he holds at the present time. Mr. Baynes is a member of the Veteran Boys in Blue, and Evening Star Lodge No. 75, F. & A. M. of West Troy, of which he has been the organist for the past twenty-five years. He is also a member of Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T , the Scottish Rite bodies and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a deacon in the Park Presbyterian church and has been its organist for twenty-eight years. In 1857 he married Carrie Elizabeth Wood, who died in 1871. They had three children: Carrie E., Anna F. and Dr. Joseph E. In 1886 he married Emma Covert of Trenton, N. J. Filley Family, the. — Edwin Filley was born in Bloomfield, Conn., May, 1799, came to Lansingburgh, Rensselaer county, in 1813 and associated himself with a relative, Augustus Filley, and soon became foreman of the latter's large tin shop. In 1823 he succeeded to the business and for many years the tinware establishment of E. Filley & Son was the largest in this part of the country. Mr. Filley was su pervisor of the town in 1844, a trustee of the village of Lansingburgh for several years, and a director in the Bank of Lansingburgh. His life. was pure and blame less, and he was widely known, highly respected and esteemed, and noted for his strict honor and integrity. With one exception he was the oldest member of the M. E. church of Lansingburgh, wherein he suddenly died after morning service on Sun day, June 12, 1870. He had been its leader and a trustee from its organization in 1827, and was one of its chief supporters. His principal characteristics were his benevolence and public usefulness. He married Elizabeth White, who died in March, 1883, and they had two children: Milford Edwin (who died September 22, 1853), and George B. (who died March 24, 1879). George B. Filley became his father's partner and in 1870, succeeded to the business, which he continued until his death in March, 1879, when his widow assumed charge and finally closed it out. He was one of the original Board of Police Commissioners of Lansingburgh, served two terms as village trustee and was a member of the Sans Souci Club. October 22, 1856 he married Julia F. , daughter of Alfred Seaman of Lansingburgh, who survives him, as do also their four children: Elizabeth M. (Mrs. William B. Smith of Troy), Milford E., Antoinette F. and Mary S. Faye, Catherine M. — Morris Van Buskirk was born at Buskirk's Bridge in the town of Hoosick, January 25, 1802. He was well educated and was a produce dealer by occupation. He came to Lansingburgh at the age of twenty years. September 22, 1831, he married Catherine Knickerbacker of the town of Schaghticoke; she was a daughter of Judge Herman Knickerbacker of Schaghticoke; she bore him four chil- FAMILY SKETCHES. 313 dren: Herman K. , John Morris, Luretia Clay and Catherine M. Herman K. is in the official postal department at Washington, D. C. and has been for the past thirty years. John Morris married Amelia Kellogg of Lansingburgh ; he was a prominent man in the county and was treasurer and busines manager of the Columbia Bank Note Co. at Washington, D. C. ; he had been engaged more or less in the banking business from the age of seventeen and was in the post-office department at Wash ington from 1861 to 1873, when he resigned and afterwards became associated with the Columbia Bank Note Co.; he died January 29, 1878, aged forty-four years ; he left on adopted daughter, Jessie Y. , who married Howard Shields of Troy, and died at the age of twenty-one years. Lucretia Clay, born August 17, 1839. died at the age of twenty months ; she was named by Henry Clay, after his wife, he being a guest at her father's house at the time of her birth. Catherine M. married Edward C.-Faye, of New York city, who was a merchant there; he was a well educated man and a member of one of the oldest families in the city. Mr. Faye was born, October 12, 1839, and died August 26, 1881. Mrs. Van Buskirk's father was Herman Knicker backer, born July 27, 1779. He was a member of the Eleventh Congress and was county judge for many years. He died January 30, 1855. The first settler of the town of Schaghticoke was Johannes Knickerbacker, who was born in Holland in 1679, and died at Schaghticoke in 1748, at the age of seventy years; his wife Hanna died in 1732 aged fifty seven years. The ancestry of the family is Dutch. Birrell, James N., was born in Cohoes, Albany county, N. Y. , December 18, 1858. He was educated in the public schools and De Garmo's Institute at Rhinebeck, N. Y. He has been a salesman for seventeen years, and is now a wholesale and retail dealer in oils and drugs. April 30, 1891, he married Mary N. Harris of Whitehall, Washington county, then of Troy. The father of Mr. Birrell was Thomas, born in Alva, Stirlingshire, Scotland, about 1829, and in the year 1848 came to the United States and located at Troy. Hemarried Elizabeth Sharp of Troy, formerly of his native country. They had five children, two of whom died in infancy, and the others are James N , Thomas N., and Helena E. Mr. Birrell died in 1878, and his widow died August 20, 1886. The father of Mrs. Birrell, Daniel R. Harris, was born in Washington county in 1814. He married Naomi Ellsworth, by whom two children were born : Daniel and Mary N. Mr. Harris died in 1856. The great-grandfather of Mrs. Birrel, Harris, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The ancestry of the family is Scotch and English. Maxwell, Thomas F., was born in Troy, N. Y., November 13, 1861. His father was Thomas Maxwell, a native of Troy. He served three years in the civil war as captain of Co. A, Griswold Light Cavalry. He died in 1889. His mother is Mary (McMahon) Maxwell, of Troy. He attended the public and high schools of Troy. In 1879 he entered the office of John H. Colby, a former district attorney, for the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1883. He had charge of the business until the death of Mr. Colby, which occurred January 1, 1886. He then formed a copart nership with Jeremiah K. Long, under the firm name of Long & Maxwell. He is a member of the Sons of Veterans and the Troy Citizens Corps. Thomas, Frank W., was born in Troy, October 11, 1859. He is the son of Francis and Caroline Frances (Connell) Thomas of Troy, at which place his father has re- 314 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. sided since 1850 and who is a well known merchant and manufacturer of Troy. Frank -was educated at the Troy Academy and the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute from which he was graduated in 1880. He began the study of law in the office of McClellan & Lansing, was admitted to the bar in 1881 and since that time has been in active practice in Troy. July 15, 1885, he married Carrie M., daughter of Samuel S. Green of Chicago, 111. They have two children, John Francis and Howard Standish. He is a member of the State Bar Association, the Troy Citizens Corps, the Sons of the Revolution in the right of ten ancestors, the Society of Colonial Wars, and an honorary member of many Massachusetts Historical Societies. Hoag, John E., was born in Poestenkill, Rensselaer county, N. Y. , May 7, 1839. His father, Lawton Robinson Hoag, was born in Quakerhill, Dutchess county, N.Y., and moved when a young man to a place called Kucheltown, Rensselaer county, (now Eagle Mills). He was a millwright by trade. . His death, which occurred in 1890, was caused by an accident ; he was eighty-seven vears old. His mother, Han nah Moul, was born in 1810, and died in 1854. He received a common school educa tion, then entered Union Academy at Poestenkill; after graduating he came to Troy and entered Troy University. He taught in Troy Academy two years, during which time he was continuing the study of law. He then entered the law office of Eleazer Wooster, who was located at the time in Poestenkill, and was admitted to practice in 1866. He was in practice in New York city until 1872, then came back- to Rensselaer county and associated, in business with E. Wooster & Son in 1875. Mr. Hoag has been in practice alone since the death of his partners. He belongs to Apollo Chapter R. A. M., and Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., and of the latter he is a life member. He was married in 1876 to Ophelia Reno of Troy, N. Y. He has one child, a son twelve years of age. Ball, John C, was born in Hoosick, N. Y. , in 1846. His ancestors originally came from England and settled in Connecticut early in the eighteenth century. His father, Erastus Ball, was born in Wilmington, Vt, in 1802, and died in Hoosick Falls in 1855. Erastus Ball was long a resident of Hoosick Falls, and was one of the original projectors of the Troy and Boston railroad; he was also one of the early directors of the Troy City Bank. His mother, Rebecca (Hill) Ball, was born in Lansingburgh, N. Y., in 1819, and died in Utica, N. Y., in 1873. John C. Ball received his education in the public schools of Utica, and in 1870 came to Troy and started in the shirt manufacturing business under his own name ; his brother, Clinton M., subsequently joined him in business, since which the firm name has been Ball Bros., although his brother retired from the business in 1877. He manufactures a high grade special order shirts, and the name and goods of Ball Baos. are widely known throughout the Eastern and Middle States. Mr. Ball is a member of all the Masonic bodies. He married Anna B. Murdock of Utica, in 1867, and they had two sons and four daughters (one dying in infancy.) Mrs. Ball died in Watervliet, N,Y., in 1886. His present wife was Julia E. Sibley of Westfield, Mass. , by whom he has one daughter. Mr. Ball's eldest son James M., is foreman of his business, and is also a member of the Board of School Commissioners of the city of Watervliet. Curtis, Fred W., was born in Troy, in September, 1865. His father, Horace Curtis, was born in Troy in 1816, and was employed by the Rensselater Iron Co. for FAMILY SKETCHES. 315 fifty years, and has since retired. His mother, Ann (Hopkins) Curtis, was born in Wales, and came to this country about 1837 with her parents, who settled in Troy. She died July 9, 1889. Fred W. was educated in the public schools of Troy. He entered the drug store of F. M. Brower as clerk, and in 1892 he was made a partner, under the firm name of F. M. Brower & Co. He is a member of Mt. Zion Lodge No. 311, F. & A. M., and of the Troy Republican Club. June 29, 1893, he married Mary L. Vincent of Troy; he has two children, Stephen H. and Ralph T. McChesney, Calvin S., was born in Pittstown, Rensselaer county, N. Y., De cember 15, 1857. His grandfather was Hugh McChesney, who came to Pittstown in .1840. His father, Nelson McChesney, was born in Brunswick in September, 1827. His mother, Sarah S. (Barry) McChesney, was born in Pittstown and died in July, 1890. He received a district school education and entered the Military Acad emy at Peekskill, N. Y., in January, 1875, graduating in 1877, then entered Yale and graduated with the class of '81. He entered Yale Law School m September, 1882, and graduated in June 1884. He came to Troy and entered the office of Warren, Patterson & Gambell, remained there until 1889, and then opened an office for the general practice of law at 15 First street, where he continued until January, 1893. In 1893 he formed a copartnership with Clarence E. Betts under the firm name of McChesney •& Betts, 70 Second street. Mr. Betts retired from the firm January 1, 1896. He is a member of the Pafraets Dael Club, of which he is president, and a member and quartermaster of the Citizens Corps. McConihe, Alonzo, of the firm of Bayer & McConihe, was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1865. His father, Alonzo McConihe, founded the wholesale business at No. 207 River street,' in 1835, which is at present the firm of McConihe & Co.. He died in 1875. His mother, Mary Thompson McConihe, is a daughter of the late C. W. Thompson, who was for many years in the lumber business in Troy. Mr. McConihe was edu cated in private schools and then entered Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., from which he was graduated in 1888. Previous to this time he had become a member of the lumber firm of Bayer & McConihe and at the expiration of his collegiate course took an active part in the business. He is one of the board of managers of the Troy Club, and is a member of the Laureate Boat Club. He is a director in the New York Savings and Loan Association. Hoyt, Marshall E., was born in Lansingburgh, N. Y., December 31, 1859. He was educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy, and he spent a year and a half on a farm from July, 1877, to April 1, 1879. He afterward learned the trade of brushmaker, and in 1888 entered into copartnership with his brother, Fred erick M. , under the firm name of F. M. Hoyt & Bro. , manufacturers of brushes, which had been continued with other partners since 1833. April 23, 1884, he married Jose phine Bateson of Cohoes, N. Y. Mrs. Hoyt's father, John Bateson, was born in England and came to the United States when a young man. He married Harriet Westfall of this State, by whom he had thirteen children. Mr. Bateson died in 1864. The ancestry of the family is Dutch and English. Hoyt, Frederick M., was born in Lansingburgh, March 28, 1837. He was edu cated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy. In 1858 he succeeded his father and a Mr. Cross, who failed in business, on account of Buchanan's free trade 316 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. administration, and continued it since; in 1888 his brother, • Marshall E., became a partner, under the firm name of F. M. Hoyt & Bro. In April, 1866, he married Charlotte Tallman of this place. The father of Mr. Hoyt, Joseph, was born in Ver- shire, Vt., June 13, 1812, and came to Lansingburgh about 1826 and started in the brush business, which his sons now continue, and was founded by a Mr. Moss and a Mr. Cross, under the firm name of Cross, Moss & Hoyt. Mr. Moss died and Mr. Cross and Mr. Hoyt continued the business. Joseph was married on September 13, 1835, to Eliza Lockrow of Lansingburgh, by whom seven children were born ; the sons and two daughters survive at this date, 1896: Frederick M., Allen S., Marshall E., Mary F., Mrs. F. Geer and Mina E., now Mrs. Elisha F. Davis. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt died in 1892. The ancestry of the family is English and Dutch. Ranken, David M., was born in Troy, May 16, 1843, and his education was ob tained in the public schools, Troy Business College, and F'ort Edward Institute. In 1861 he enlisted in Company B, 2d N. Y. Vols., and was honorably discharged in 1862, and immediately re-enlisted in the United States navy, serving on board the North Carolina, the Montgomery, and the Oneida, and was under Admiral Farragut on the Mississippi River, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. Upon his return to Troy he became a wool dealer for twelve years, and has been connected with the knit goods business in Cohoes ever since, and at the present time is manager of the Star Knitting Co. He was a member of the Common Council for fourteen years, and was in the School and Water Boards for eight years, when he resigned both of these positions and moved to Lansingburgh in 1890. In 1867 he married Mary F. Morrison of Troy, and has one son, Fred M., who is in New Y'ork city as selling agent for the Star Knitting Co. Mr. Ranken's father, John, was born . in 1810 and was educated in the schools of that early day. He was a manufacturer at Albia for many years, and afterwards was a merchant in Troy. He married Nancy McNally of Hope, Canada. They had ten children : Hugh F. was lost at sea in 1854; Cordelia H., Henry S., William J., Robert B., David M., Elizabeth J., Peter B., Sarah J. and Mary. Mr. Ranken died in 1864 and his wife died in 1892. David M. is a charter member of Griswold Post No. 338, G. A. R. of Troy, and is past commander. He is a member of Mount Zion Lodge No. 311, F. & A. M., of Troy, of Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., of Bloss Council No. 14, of Apollo Com mandery No. 15, R. & S. M.,of Delta Lodge of Perfection, of Delta Council P. of J., of Delta Chapter Rose Croix, of Albany Sovereign Consistory A. A. R. , of Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and Diamond Rock Lodge No. 564, I. O. O. F. The family went from Scotland to the north of Ireland, and the ancestry of the family is Scotch. King, Phebe J. — Joseph, the father, is said to be the oldst man in the State. He was born May 5, 1791, on Hoover Island, and was educated in the schools of that very early day. He was married twice, first, in 1821, to Phebe Bennett, by whom three children were born: Charles, John O., and C. Henry. Mrs. King died in 1828, and for his second wife he married Belinda Wager of Schenectady, by whom twelve children were born: Joseph, jr., William G., Belinda A., Phebe J., Betsey M., Walter A., Augustus, Stephen F., George A., Christina A., Marshall N., and M. Edward. His second wife is also dead. Joseph, jr., married Mary A. Nicholas of Brooklyn, by whom three children were born: Joseph E., Mary B., and Charlotte, FAMILY SKETCHES. 317 who died in infancy. Joseph E., son of Joseph, jr., married Mary Fordell, by whom one son has been born : Francis. Joseph King was a drummer in the war of 1812, He is in fairly good health and has made a good start in his 106th year. His daughter Phebe keeps house for him. Smith, John F., was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and came with his parents to the United States when he was five years of age. He was educated in the public schools here, and has been a traveling salesman for fifteen years. In March, 1896, he was elected overseer of the poor. December 19, 1869, he married Ximena Barrett, by whom four children were born, of which two are living: Herbert A. and Jessie A. The father of Mr. Smith was a merchant; was born at the old home in Scotland about 1806, and he came to this country in 1851. He married Isabella Watson of his native place, by whom five children were born : James, a soldier in the late war, was killed in North Carolina; John F., Anna B., Jennie, who died at the age of twenty-two; and Alexander. Mr. Smith died in 1857, and his widow survives him at this date, 1896. John F. is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355, F. & A. M., of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., of this place, and is also a member of Bloss Council No. 14, R. &S. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., and Oriental Temple. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Troy, N. Y. He has served as master of Jerusalem Lodge for- three years, as high priest of Phoenix Chapter four years, and is now recorder of Apollo Commandery, and a member of the famous Drill Corps that attained such distinction in Boston in 1895. The ancestry of the family is Scotch and New England stock. Baxter, Dennis T., was born in Lansingburgh, N. Y., May 6, 1838. He was edu cated in the public schools and the Lansingburgh Academy. For many years he was a brick manufacturer, afterwards a farmer ; he is now retired and is residing in Lansingburgh. March 27, 1861 he married Louisa M. Van Arnum of the town of Brunswick, by whom he has had two daughters; Mary S., who married Douglass Barry formerly of Easton, Washington county, now of this place; and Ida C. , who at present resides at home. Mr. Baxter's father, Dennis S., was born in Lansing burgh, January 28, 1805. He was educated in the schools of that day, and was a brick manufacturer, as was his father before him. February 20, 1827, he married Mary A. Millis, by whom he had seven children, four daughters and three sons: Charles C, Mary F., Angelia R., Marietta, Dennis T. (the subject of this sketch), Adalaide V. and George W. Mr. Baxter died February 6, 1887, and his wife Janu ary 6, 1886. Mrs. Baxter's father, Henry J. Van Arnum, was born in the town of Brunswick, November 21, 1812. He was educated in the schools of that day and always followed the honorable occupation of farming. He married Mary C. Holmes of Lansingburgh, N. Y., formerly of Randolph, Vt., by whom he had five children: Levi, Louise M., Romeo, Emily S. and Marcus H. Pie died October 13, 1894, and his wife May 19, 1856. The family have owned the same farm in Brunswick for 115 years. A considerable part of the residence of Mrs. Baxter's great-grandfather is still standing, some additions having been made. During the Revolutionary war before he lived there, an incident of the war occurred; a British tory came to visit a young lady residing there, and was discovered in hiding and shot by one of the Whig soldiers. Thompson, Prof. Dwinel French, was born in Bangor, Me., January 1, 1846. He 318 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. was educated in the public schools, the " Little Blue School" at Farmington, Me., and Lewiston Falls Academy, and is a graduate of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, class of '69. He was a tutor in that college for three years. In 1872 he came to Troy and accepted the position of professor of descriptive geometry, stere- otomy and of drawing in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. This position he has filled since 1872. January 1, 1880, he married Lena, daughter of S. Burt Saxton of Troy. They have four children: Alice Quimby, G. Saxton, Nathaniel French, and Dwinel Burt The father, Joel D. Thompson, was born in Lisbon, Me., in 1810, and was educated in the schools of his day. He was a merchant in Bangor for many years. He married Harriet Newell French, of Bangor, Me., formerly of New Hamp shire, by whom two children were born: Dwinel French and Alice, who died in her fifth year. Mr. Joel D. Thompson died February 21, 1853, and his wife died Novem ber 13, 1893. This family trace their origin to Kittery, Me., to one James Thomp son, in 1696, and on the maternal side to Edward French of Salisbury, Mass., in 1640. The grandfather of the professor's mother, Nathaniel French, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The ancestry of the maternal side is English, and of the paternal side Scotch-Irish. Smith, Charles T. R., who has been principal of Lansingburgh Academy since 1872, was born in Pittsford, Vt., December 5, 1846, and came to Plattsbufgh, N. Y., with his parents when six years old, where he was educated in the common schools and Plattsburgh Academy. He graduated from Williams College in 1868, and then began his lifework, first as principal of Leavenworth Institute at Wolcott, Wayne county, N. Y. His next field was Port Byron, Cayuga county, where he was prin cipal of the High School; afterwards he became principal of the High School of Fayetteville, Onondaga county. He then came to Lansingburgh as principal of the Lansingburgh Academy, and is still holding that position with success. For several terms he was president of the Rensselaer County Teachers' Association, and presi dent during 1888-89, of the Asspciation of Academic Principals of New York State. In 1870 he married Cornelia A. Hibbard of South Butler, Wayne county, N. Y. They have two daughters: Cora A. and Bertha M. Cora A. graduated from Smith Col lege, Northampton, Mass. His father, Levi Smith, was born at Acworth, N. H., in 1812. He was educated in the schools of that day and the New Hampton Theologi cal Seminary. His wife, Amelia B, Morse, was born in Hebron, N. H., May 20, 1821. They had three children: Charles T. R., Oscar E., and Julia A., now the wife of Dr. Cyrenius Vaughn of Morrisonville, Clinton county, N. Y. Oscar married Julia Wil son of Penacook, N. H. Mr. Smith was a Baptist minister for forty years. He died in March, 1879; his widow still survives. The ancestry of this family on both sides is of New Engiand extraction. Hannah, jr., David, was born in Lansingburgh, October 22, 1854. His education was obtained in the public schools, and he first began business as a newspaper boy. He was clerk in the employ of W. R. Barton in the grocery business for twenty-two years, and then began business in that line on his own account, in which he has been very successful for the past seven years. The father of Mr. Hannah was David, born in the North of Ireland in the year 1820, where he was educated. He has been married twice; first, to Mary Leadlie of his native place, and came to the United States about 1847 and located here. They had two children : Margaret and John. FAMILY SKETCHES. 319 Mrs. Hannah died in 1848. In 1851 he married Jane Wright of this place for his second wife, formerly of his native country. They have had seven children: Ed ward B., David, jr., Mary J., Sarah, Ellen L., Deborah W. and Joseph. Edward B. married Sarah Neil. Mary J. married John Hughes of Waterford, Saratoga county, by whom two children have been born : Edward B. and Jennie. David is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355, F. & A. M. He was chairman of the town committee for three years, police commissioner for six years, and tax collector for three years. He was captain of the Eake Hook and Ladder Company. The ancestry of the family is Scotch and Irish. Henry, Horace H., was born in Albany, January 7, 1840. His parents moved to the town of Watervliet when he was a boy. He was educated in the Moravian Acad emy in Pennsylvania and was graduated from there when about eighteen years old. He spent three years in Kansas and returned to Albany, owing to ill health, and manufactured fire bricks until 1872. He then came to Troy where he manufactured bricks and stove linings, doing business under the firm name of Bacon & Henry, until 1887. A joint stock company was organized known as the McLeod & Henry Co., Harvey S. McLeod, president and treasurer, and Horace H. Henry, vice presi dent, and Augustus McLeod as secretary. He was married twice; first, in 1862, to Mary E. Henderson of Albany, by whom two children were born, Horace H., jr., and Etta A. Horace H., jr., is now on the police force of Lansingburgh. Mrs. Henry died about 1875, and for his second wife he married Elizabeth C. Buckley of Troy, by whom one sen has been born : William J. , who is a student at school. The father of Mr. Henry was born in Germany, and worked at his trade of making stone ware. He came to the United States when he was eighteen years old and located in Albany, where he followed his trade. He made the first stove lining made in the United States for coal stoves. In 1825 he married Mary A. Henderson, by whom twelve children were born, eight of whom grew to maturity; Darwin D. , Mary A., Charles V., Horace H., Henrietta V., Jacob, Lemuel C. and William E. Mr. Henry died in 1865, and his wife died in 1875 Mr. Henry is a member of Ancient City Lodge of Albany No. 455, F. & A. M., of Hudson River Chapter of West Troy No. 262, R. A. M., of Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., and of Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Henry is one of the solid busi ness men of Troy and Lansingburgh. Smith, Edwin R., was born in Lansingburgh, September 25, 1824, and was edu cated in the public schools and was a general merchant here for a number of years. In 1844 he married Mary L. Sterry of this place, and has three^ living children : Harriet, Emma and Clara September 25, 1862, he enlisted in Co. K, 169th N. Y. Vols. This regiment participated in thirty-two engagements and took part in both expeditions for the reduction of Fort Fisher in North Carolina; he enlisted as a private and was rapidly promoted, for gallant service in the field, first to second lieutenant and then to first lieutenant, and again to the position of captain of Co. F, and in the battle of Cold Harbor he was shot in the neck, which disabled him for a short time, and with that exception he took part in every engagement with his com pany and regiment. He was honorably discharged July 18, 1865. Upon his arrival home the State Legislature brevetted him major for gallant service in the field. Major Smith is a charter member of Bolton Post No. 471, G. A. R. of Lansingburgh, 320 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. N.Y. He has held the office of senior vice-commander for several years. He is now president of the 169th Veteran Association and has filled the office for the past ten years; the surviving members met on September 25, 1896, and presented him with an elegant silver tea service. He has served his town as police justice for sixteen years and justice of the peace for fifteen years, and is a member of the Board of Health for eighteen years. He was also notary public for twelve years. The an cestry of the family is English. Munn, Elizabeth A. — The late Rufus S. Munn was born in Trenton, N. Y., July 15, 1829, and came to Troy with his parents when a child. He was educated in the public schools and began life's work as a clerk, and afterwards was a dealer at wholesale in millinery goods. ' December 28, 1857, he married Elizabeth A. Clements of Troy, and has one daughter, Ida J., who is a skillful painter and has traveled extensively in Europe, putting herself in touch with the old masters of the art. Mr. Munn was a member of the King Solomon Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M., of Troy. He died July 12, 1883. Mrs. Munn's father, Stephen Clements, was born in Saratoga county, June 10, 1802. He was educated in the public schools and came to Troy when a young man and became one of the prominent business men as a retail and wholesale dealer in groceries. He married Harriet N. Severance, formerly of Mass achusetts, by whom four children were born: Elizabeth A., Harriet F. , George W. , and Emma A., of whom all are dead, with the exception of Mrs. Munn. Mr. Clements died May 30, 1885. Mr. Clements retired from business ten years before his death. Mrs. and Miss Munn are members of the Westminster Presbyterian church of Lansingburgh. The family trace their origin through New England of English and German extraction. Winkelmann, David F., was born in Treves (Trier), Rhine, Prussia, Germany, March 28, 1828. He was educated in their schools and was a cabinet maker by trade, serving two years in the Prussian army. He married Mary Morgan of his native place. He came to New Y'ork city August 18, 1854, and thence to Lansingburgh, N. Y. ; his wife followed one year later, with their son David F., jr., after which five more children were born : Mary, Johanna, Mary No. 2, Clara, and Albert. His wife died September 8, 1877. David F. , jr. , married Mareia Wager, and has one daughter, Alydia; his wife died in 1895; he married again in 1896, taking for his wife Alice Dunham, of Grafton N. Y. Mary No. 2 married James B. Hoyt of Troy, N. Y. , and has two children : Grace Agnes and Hazel May. Clara married Dr. Thomas J. Southwick, of Lansingburgh, N. Y., by whom she has one son, Jesse Albert; her second husband was George E. Denniker, of Troy, N. Y., now deceased; Mary, Johanna and Albert, deceased. Mr. Winkelmann carried on the cigar box manufac turing for several years, and is the owner of six residences in Lansingburgh. In politics he has always been a Republican, and is a member of the Lutheran church. Whyland, Jacob, was born in the town of Poestenkill, August 5, 1830. His ed ucation was obtained in the common schools, and he had a variety of occupations. He was a farmer, store-keeper and hotel keeper for many years. He held the posi tion of town clerk in his native town for several years, and supervisor for two years. He became a citizen of Lansingburgh in 1887, when he retired from active business. He was treasurer of the village of Lansingburgh from 18f-3 to 1895. In 1854 he FAMILY SKETCHES. 321 married Jennie Van Waggoner, of the town of Brunswick, by whom he had one daughter, Perley J. , who died in her third year. They have an adopted daughter, Addie. Mr. Whyland's father, Jacob, was born in the tpwn of Sand Lake the early part of the present century; he was educated in the schools of his day, and was a farmer by occupation ; he married Elizabeth Filkins; they had ten children: Maria, John, Susan, Catharine, Deborah, Lenard, Agnes, Joseph, Jane, and Jacob H. Mr. Whyland died in 1856, and his wife in 1844. The Whyland family settled in Poesten kill before the Revolutionary war. The ancestry of the family is Dutch on both sides. Wood, George F., was born in Lansingburgh, N. Y., November 22, 1861. He was educated in the public schools and the Lansingburgh Academy, and has always been a coal dealer by occupation ; his present place of business is on Second avenue cor ner of Sixth street, Lansingburgh. His father, Artemas Wood, was also born in Lansingburgh about the year 1834. He was educated in the public schools and was a brushmaker by .occupation. He married Miss Mary E. Bradshaw of his native place, by whom he had two children: George F., and Kittie, who died at the age of seven. During the war Mr. Wood enlisted twice, the second time in Co. L, 21st N.Y. Cavalry. He was shot and killed at Rood's Hill, Shenandoah Valley, November 22, 1864, and his remains were brought home for interment. Mrs. A. Wood is still living and resides with her son. George F. is a member of the efficient fire brigade of Lansingburgh. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., also of Sam uel King Camp, Sons of Veterans. This family is of New England stock, and Eng lish ancestry. Witbeck, Mary. — The late Martin V. B. Witbeck was born in Watervliet, Albany county, N.Y. , May 16, 1834, and was educated in the public schools and was a moulder by trade. January 3, 1861, he married Mary Button, of Glenville, N. Y., and in about 1872 the family came to Lansingburgh to reside. They had five children, Ella, Howard M., Margaret P., Maude J., and Anna C. Howard M. married Ger trude Thompson of Lockport, Niagara county, and have one son, Lyman T. Mar garet P. married Henry H. Bennit of Lansingburgh. Mr. Witbeck died May 3, 1893. The father of Mrs. Witbeck, Henry Button, was born in England about 1802, where he was educated. He married Mary Stiles of his native place and came to the United States about 1831 and located in Schenectady county. They had five chil dren: Sarah, Caroline, Mary, Harriet, and Cordelia. Mr. Button died in 1886 and his wife died in 1849. The ancestry of the family is Dutch and English. Smith, Lampson, was born in the city of Troy, September 12, 1844, was educated in the public schools and was a grocery merchant by occupation. September 6, 1862, he enlisted in Co. B, 169th N. Y. Vols., and was honorably discharged July 9, 1865. April 3, 1878, he married Mary Yahn of Troy, formerly of Pittstown. The father of Mr. Smith Lampson, was born in Danbury, Vt., June 22, 1801, and died September 1, 1892; was educated in the schools of that early day and was a tanner and harnessmaker by trade ; he worked for two years at his trade at Kinderhook, and then purchased the business and carried it on for six years, when he was burned out. He then came to Troy and formed a partnership with Elias Ross in the leather and hardware business ; Mr. Ross died in 1873, and Philander Pollock, who had 00 322 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. been clerk for two years, bought the Ross interest which was carried on for twenty years under the firm name of Smith & Pollock. He had married twice; by his first wife he had one son, and two daughters: John B., Laura and Sarah. By his second wife, Lucinda Lansing, born Price, he had three children: Lampson, Lansing, and Charles S. Lansing was a clerk in the county clerk's office, and was also captain of the first steam fire engine in Troy. He enlisted in the 2d N. Y. Vols., was honora bly discharged in 1863, and died, December 21, 1875. Charles S. was also a clerk in the county clerk's office and was a soldier in the 62d Anderson Zouaves and was honorably discharged. Mr. Smith is a member of Griswold Post No. 338, G. A. R. The ancestry of the family is Scotch, German and Dutch extraction. Buckingham, Jonas C, was born in Troy, January 4, 1819, and was educated in the private schools of Troy and the Troy High school. He has been bookkeeper for the Troy Steamboat Company for many years. He followed the river for two years as purser on the Swallow, and was aboard when she was wrecked, and so many lives were lost. He has been in the hat, cap and fur trade on two different occasions in Troy. In 1852 he went to New York city and had charge of the Bald Mountain Lime Works until 1860. He was accountant in their Wall street office for two years, and then was appointed inspector of customs, under Lincoln's administration, until 1869, when he removed to Lansingburgh. He was then engaged in the Troy post-office as money order clerk for eighteen months, and was then appointed assistant post master by General Alden until 1874. In 1881 he began the fire insurance business in Lansingburgh for the leading insurance companies, which he continues with success until this day. December 10, 1844, he married Frances E. Sheldon of Troy, by whom seven children have been born, three sons and four daughters, of whom only two survive : Martha S. married Theodore B. Walsh of Lansingburgh, and Henry J. married Catherine Gilmore and has one son, William C. Mr. Buckingham is a member of the Y. M. C. A. His father, Gideon, was born in East Haddam, Connect icut, in 1787. He married Maria J. Crowley of Troy, by whom five children were born: Edward M., Richard G., Jonas C, Elizabeth and Howard, of whom all are now dead with the exception of Jonas C. and Elizabeth, widow of Anson Gray, of Brooklyn. Gideon died in 1868 and his wife died in 1876. Mrs. Buckingham's father, Mr. Crowley, was a captain in the Revolutionary war ; he was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. The ancestry of the family is English, Swiss, and Irish.. Van De Bogart, Mrs. Nellie. — The late Daniel Van De Bogart was born in Sche nectady in 1810, aud was educated in the schools of that day, and was a mason con tractor by trade. In 1838 he married Nellie Smith of his native place, by whom eight children have been born: Lydia, Daniel W., William H., Harvey, Magdaline, Benjamin F. , Sarah E., and Estella. Daniel W. was a soldier in the late war, and was killed by a rebel sharpshooter, June 19, 1864. William H. enlisted in Co. E, 11th Infantry, and was captured and sent to Libby, Andersonville, and Saulisbnry Prisons, and was honorably discharged December 21, 1865. Lydia married Andrew Dilmore, of Philadelphia, Pa. , who died in 1880. Harvey died at the age of fifteen months. Magdaline died young, and Estella died at the age of fifteen months. Benjamin F. married Jennie Constance of Wisconsin, by whom four children have been born: Fannie E. , Hattie, Frank, and George. Mr. Van De Bogart FAMILY SKETCHES. 323 died December 20, 1876. The father of Mrs. Van De Bogart was a soldier in the war of 1812, and her grandfather, Smith, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The ancestry of the family is Dutch, French, German, Scotch and English. Barker, Calvin J. , was born in New York city, March 16, 1839, and came to Lansing burgh with his parents when a child. He was educated in the public schools and Balston Spring Academy, and was a druggist with Hageman & Co. of New York city for twenty years. June 3, 1863, he married Celia F., daughter of Thomas Curran of Lansingburgh, by whom three children hava been born: Irene H., Ed ward G. , and Clara B. The son is a bookkeeper for the Standard Oil Co. in New York city The father of Mr. Barker, James N. , was born in Lansingburgh, Jan uary 15, 1814, and was educated in the schools of that early day, andwas a druggist by occupation. He married Eliza Dougrey, by whom three children have been born : Calvin J., Irene H., and Agnes B. Mr. Barker died May 3, 1883, and his wife died about 1878. Mr. Barker is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58 F. & A. M., and is one of the past masters; a member of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M. and is its high priest in his second term; of Bloss Council No. 14; of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T. , and of Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The ancestry of the family is Scotch and English. McMurray, Josephine A. — The late William McMurray was born in 1798, and was educated in the private schools of that early day. He was a brush manufacturer on a large scale, employing a large force. When Henry Clay visited Lansingburgh he was entertained as a guest by Mr. McMurray and family; he died in 1851 and was the first one buried in Oakwood Cemetery of Troy. He married H. Alida Baker of this place by whom ten children have been born: Hester A., Nancy, now Mrs. Chauncy W. Farnham; Mary F. , now Mrs. G. W. Cornell; Edgar A., Josephine A., William, and Charles, who died at maturity, and three died in infancy. Hester A. married William Allen, formeriy of England, who came to Lansingburgh with his parents when ten years of age and became a brush manufacturer. They had one son, Frederick, who died in his seventh year. Mr. Allen was president of the village for one term. He died March 1, 1869, and his widow survives at this date, 1896. William McMurray died September 7, 1851, and his wife died September 7, 1882. The ancestry of the family is Scotch and English. Bradt, John A., was born in the town-of Poestenkill, Rensselaer county, in 1830, and was educated in the public schools. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. C, 9th N. Y\ Vols., and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. In 1863 he married Kate McChesney of Brunswick. They have one adopted daughter, Carrie. The father of Mr. Bradt, Volkeart, was born in Albany about 1798, and was educated in the schools of that early day. He was a shoemaker and farmer by occupation. He married Phebe Lynd of Poestenkill, and has eight children, five sons and three daughters: John A., Elizabeth, Rosetta, Ellen, Tunis, George, William and Charles. Mr. Bradt died about 1882 and his wife about 1885. The father of Mrs. Bradt, Peter McChesney, was born in Brunswick, December 15, 1808, and was educated in the schools of that early day. He was a carpenter and builder by trade. He mar ried Lydia Rifinburg of Pittstown, and had six children: George, Mary J., Julia A., Kate, Caroline and Alexander. Mr. McChesney died in 1847 and his wife died in 1871. The ancestry of the family is German. 324 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hawkins, John E., was born in Lansingburgh, January 29, 1841, and was edu cated in the public schools. He learned the tinsmith trade and has been a manufac turer of tinware for the past eighteen years. His son, Frederick J., has been in company with him for ten years, under the firm name of John E. Hawkins & Son. In September, 1861, he enlisted in Co. F, 2d N. Y. Vols., and was" honorably dis charged by surgeon's certificate of disability the same year. In 1859 he married Catherine Ann Younglove, and has had two children; Josephine and Frederick. The father of Mr. Hawkins, Jabez, wasborn July 25, 1806, and educated in the schools of that early day. He married Jane A. Smith and had twelve children, eight of whom lived to their majority: Frederick, John E., Samuel K. , Alfred T., Marcus E., Mary J., Eliza J., and Frank F. Mr. Jabez Hawkins died in October, 1877, and his wife died August 28, 1872. The grandfather of Mr. Hawkins was born in Rhode Island in 1768, and was a son of Joseph, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. John E. is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355, F. & A. M., and is also a member of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M. The ancestry of the family is New England stock of English origin. Homer, Samuel, was born in England, October 16, 1843, and was educated in their schools. He came to the United States in 1864 and located in Trenton, N. J., and came to Troy in 1865. He was a chain maker by trade. November 1, 1866, he married Elizabeth Boycott of Troy, formerly of England, and have three children : William Kemp, Ensign Stover, and Hannah E., who resides at home. William Kemp married Mary C. Snyder of Lansingburgh, and has two children : William K., jr., and Phebe E. Ensign Stover married Ida Hartwell of Troy. Both sons are mem- . bers of the Masonic order. The ancestry of the family is English on both sides. Fowler, Stephen, was born in the town of Brunswick, February 19, 1830, and was educated in the district schools, and was a farmer by occupation. In 1861 he mar ried Susan L. Myers of Greenbush. They had two children: Ammon and Lorretta. Mrs. Fowler died December 1, 1892. The father of Mr. Fowler, Ammon, was born on the old homestead in Brunswick, April 3, 1809, and was educated in the schools of that early day, and was a farmer by occupation. June 10, 1828, he married Eliza Winnie of his native town. They have had seven children : Stephen, Mary, Emily, John R., Elizabeth D., and two are dead. Mr. Fowler died February 20, 1890, and his wife died June 4, 1891. Stephen Fowler has been a wholesale confectioner for the past seven years, with his daughter as general manager. The ancestry of the family is of New England stock. Golden, Justin C, was born in Dutchess county, July 16, 1853, and moved with his mother to Vermont at the age of ten. He was educated in the public schools and in 1872 came to Lansingburgh. He is serving his second term as superintendent of the waterworks. August 20, 1878, he married Libbie Campbell of Troy, formerly of Lansingburgh, by whom six children were born: Linda R. , Jennie M., Thomas W., Justin C; jr., John H., and Helen E. The father of Mr. Golden, John Y., wasborn in New York city in 1809, was educated in the district schools, and went to Vermont when a young man. He married Mary Wright of that State and had four children: Ida, Justin C, Kate W., and Henry W. Mr. Golden died in 1863 and his widow died August 23, 1865. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., and is also a member of the Royal Arcanum No. 1,005. FAMILY SKETCHES. 325 Morrissey, Thomas F., was born in England in 1857, and came to the United States with his parents when two years of age. They located in Lansingburgh, N. Y., where he was educated in the public schools. He began to manufacture brick in 1883; also is a dealer in coal, building material, fertilizers, etc., under the firm name of Spall, Morrissey & Abbott. He manufactures brick on his own responsibility ; the capacity of the plant is 25,000 daily, and at this time of writing he is manufac turing 2,000,000 annually. In 1892 Mr. Morrissey married Anna Lewis of Lansing burgh, and they have two children: Thomas and Catherine. Mr. Morrissey's father, Thomas, was born in the old country and married Mary Lawless of his native place, by whom he had six children : John, Michael, Catherine, Thomas (deceased), Thomas F., and Lawrence. O'Brien, William J., was born in Ireland in 1844, and came to the United States with his parents when a young child ' They located in Lansingburgh, N. Y., where he was educated in the public schools and when a young-boy he learned the brush trade with George Scott, since which time he has been in the brush factory. In 1868 he was made its superintendent, which position he has ably filled since ; he also has an interest in the business; the firm's name has never changed, namely, The George Scott Co. In 1879 he married Anna Hannon, of this place, and they have seven children: Mary, Anna, William J., jr., James M., Catherine M., Adalaide and Mar garet. Mr. O'Brien is a protection Democrat. Spall, John, was born in Germany, May 17, 1847, and came to the United States with his parents when a young boy, and first located in Utica and afterwards in Herkimer county, and was educated in the district schools. He was a general mer chant and lumber dealer. The family came to Lansingburgh in 1887 and conducted a general store of fruit and produce. He is also a partner dealing in coal, building material and phosphate, etc., under the firm name of Spall, Morrissey & Abbott. He was married twice, first, to Catherine Roberts, and had two children: Charles H. and Mary J. Charles H. married Bertha E. Stowe of Lansingburgh, and has one son, Raymond A. Mary resides at home. Mrs. Spall died in 1882, and for his sec ond wife he married Sarah M. Hughes of Oneida county. She was the daughter of William H. Hughes of England. Mr. Spall was the son of George Spall, who was born on the old homestead in Germany. Mr. Spall is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., of Phoenix Chapter No. 155, R. A. M., of Bloss Council R. & S. M., of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., of Diamond Lodge No. 568, I. O. O. F., and of Poland Lodge No. 183, A. O. U. W., of Herkimer county. The ancestry of the family is German and Welsh. Smith, Hans, was born in Schleswig Holstein, Germany, May 11, 1839, and was educated in their schools. He has been married twice, first in 1863 to Engerberg Lind of his native place, by whom he had one daughter, Elizabeth. Mrs. Smith died in 1865, and in 1870 he married Mary Jensen, formerly of his native place, by whom he had six children : Jens J., Peter, Christian J., Charles, Anna and Hans, who died at four years of age. Elizabeth married Peter H. Lauretsen of Lansing burgh and they have one daughter, Dorothy. Jens J. married Mary Peterson of Lansingburgh, N. Y., by whom he had one daughter, Ethel. Mr. Smith's father, Jens C, was born at the old home in Germany. He married Elizabeth Jessen of his 326 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. native place, by whom he had six children. Both father and mother are dead. The family are members of the Lutheran church, of which Mr. Smith is one af the elders, and he is also president of the Board of Trustees. The ancestry of the family is Danish and German. Wager, T. Blatchford, was born in West Troy, N. Y., November 4, 1848. He was educated in the public schools and Trinity Academy. He was clerk in the post-office of West Troy, N. Y., and afterward assistant postmaster in Lansingburgh, N. Y. , and at same time was telegraph operator and station agent of Troy & Boston Rail- -road. He was made director and secretary of the Andrew M. Church Co. of Troy, N. Y. , on organization of the company some ten years ago and is still in same posi tion. In December, 1875, he married Harriet J. Noyes of Lansingburgh, daughter of Nathan Henry Noyes, and they have one son, Stephen Noyes Wager. Mr. Wager's father, Ariel, was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1814, and was educated there; he was for many years in painting and paper hanging business on Congress street, Troy, N. Y. He married Harriet Ballou of Troy, formerly of Washington county, N. Yr. Mr. and Mrs. Ariel Wager are now residing in West Troy, N. Y. T. Blatch ford Wager and family are members of the Methodist church, he being recording steward and a class leader. The family is of Dutch and French descent. Boland, John H., was born in Ireland, December 24, 1851, and his father, James Boland, came to this country in 1852 and settled in Troy and was a mason by trade. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Co. G, First New York Mounted Rifles, and October 24, 1864, he was honorably discharged. He was wounded in Virginia. He died Dec. 8, 1881. His mother, Sarah Houlihan Boland, died April 11, 1896. John H. received his education in the public schools of Troy, and learned the trade of patternmaker, and later went on the road for the Olympus Mills, selling coffee and spices, in which position he remained for eleven years. For the following ten and a half years he traveled for W. A. Lent & Co. He bought an interest in the firm of Little & Co., manufacturers of cigars, where he has charge of sales. December 5, 1895, he was appointed port warden of the port of New York by Governor Morton, which ap pointment was confirmed by the Senate, January 15, 1896. January 21, 1873, he married Delia Duffy of Albany, by whom four children have been born : Constance, a teacher in public schools; Walter J., now attending the High school; John H., jr., and Richard. Politically he is a staunch Republican. He is a member of St. Peter's church. Squires, Norman B. , was born in Bennington, Vt. , December 22, 1816. His grand father, Saxton Squires, was a native of Connecticut and was in the Revolutionary war. His father, Buckley Squires, was born in Vermont and was a manufacturer and died in 1860 aged sixty-nine.- His mother, Lucretia (Norton) Squires, of Ben nington, Vt., died in 1885 aged ninety-one. Norman B. was educated at the Ben nington Academy and went as clerk in the store of J. & G. B. Norton of Bennington, Vt. , and came to Troy in 1835 entered the dry goods store of George Wells as clerk, where he remained until 1844, when the firm of Armstrong & Squires, wholesale groceries, was formed, which continued until 1852, and then he went in business with Jared S. Hakes, and in 1858 formed a partnership with Peter McDoual and John Sherry, the firm name being McDoual, Squires & Sherry. Mr. McDoual died in FAMILY SKETCHES 327 1860 and Henry Galusha was taken into the business, the firm taking the name of Squires, Sherry & Galusha, which is the name of the concern at present time ; it is one of the most prosperous wholesale grocery houses in Troy, also being the oldest. Mr. Squires has been a member of the School Board, is president of the Episcopal Church Home, and is a director in the Troy Savings Bank and the United National Bank. Mann, William H., wasborn in Warnerville, N. Y., in 1859. His father was Alex ander Mann, born in the town of Richmondville, N. Y., and was a farmer; he died in 1892. His mother was Anna Maria Klock, sister of Daniel Klock, jr., of Troy; she died in 1863. William H. received a public school education and came to Troy in 1872, and for a short time attended the schools of Troy ; in 1876 he entered the rubber store of Daniel Klock, jr., and in 1888 was taken in as a partner, the firm name becom ing Daniel Klock, jr., & Co., one of the largest wholesale and retail rubber establish ments in the country. He is a member of the official board of the State Street M. E. church, member of the Choral Club, and has taken a deep interest in the musical matters of the city ; and a member of the City Club, the Eastside Club, and of the Ionic Club, of which he has been president. He was married in February, 1886, to Ellen S. Avery. Her father, Lyman R. Avery, was a school commissioner, an alderman and was vice-president of the State Bank; he died August, 1890. Benedict, T. Lee, was born in Galway, Saratoga county, N. Y., in 1857. His father, Daniel C. Benedict, was born in Galway, N. Y. , and at the time of his death was a resident of Little Falls, N. Y. , having moved there a short time previous for the benefit of his health. He was of the firm of Velsey & Benedict, Benedict & Brown, Benedict, Brown & Co., and later Benedict & Walker. His mother, Eleanor C. (McMillan) Benedict, was born in Galway, and died when T. Lee was but a child, being the oldest of five children. T. Lee after receiving a public school and aca demic education in Troy went to work for the Northern News Co., of which S. F. Hoyt was manager. At the end of one year he resigned and became clerk for his uncle in the retail grocery trade, remaining with him about two years. At the expi ration of this time he engaged with H. H. Darling & Bro. as salesman, and in 1S86 was made a partner in the concern, the firm being H. H. Darling, Bro. & Co., wholesale grocers. He is a member of the Laureate Boat Club, the Pafraets Dael Club, Post D Commercial Travelers, and the Royal Arcanum. He was alderman one term from the Fourth ward, and belongs to the Trojan H. & L. Co. He married in 1884 Jennie Ranken, daughter of the late Hugh Ranken, who was a very promi nent man of Troy and the founder of the Ranken Steamer Co. Brennan, George J., was born in Ireland, June 8, 1831 ; was educated in Dublin and London and left the latter city for Troy in 1845. His father, John Brennan, who was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, had preceded him to this country sev eral years, coming directly to Troy, where he taught school for several years and died in 1852; his wife, Margaret (Taylor) Brennan, was born in Ireland and died in 1832. George J. Brennan learned the paper hanging, decorating and painting trades in New York city, and returned to Troy in 1852 and worked with John S. Perry about seven years. The business in which he is now engaged was established in 1860 in the same building he now occupies. The firm was then Myers & Brennan, which 328 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. continued about two years when Mr. Myers retired, and the firm of Perry & Brennan was formed in January, 1866, and continued until May 10, 1872, when Mr. Perry retired and Mr. Brennan has conducted the business since; it has rapidly increased and about forty skilled men are given steady employment throughout the year. He was county coroner from January, 1865, to January, 1872; school commissioner from March, 1877, to March, 1885, four years of which period he was president of the board; and park commissioner from March, 1894, to July, 1896, when he resigned, being president of the board. He was the first president of the Master Painters' As sociation of New York State; is a trustee of the Catholic Male Orphan Asylum, a member of the Royal Arcanum, and of the Robert Emmet Association, of which he has been president. He married Elizabeth M. Neugent in 1852. His children are William H., who has been supervisor of the Second ward ; James B., at present clerk of the Board of Health ; Mrs. George H. Zinke, of Brooklyn, and Mary C. Freiot, Dr. Alfred K., was born in Troy, N. Y., April 21, 1861. His great-grand father was Judge Henry Koon, who was born in 1779 at Greenbush and for many years was associate judge of the county. He died September 6, 1843. His father, Charles Freiot, was born in Brunswick, Rensselaer county, and was a practicing physician in Troy for thirty years and was the attending physician at the Troy Or phan Asylum and St. Mary's Hospital. He died July 7, 1879. His mother is Cor nelia (Koon) Freiot, who was born in Greenbush, N. Y. Alfred K. Freiot received his education at the Troy Academy and Union College at Schenectady, N. Y., and graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1886, and is now practicing physician in Troy. He is a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society and the Medi cal Association of Troy and vicinity. Galusha, -Henry, was born in Troy. His father, Elijah Galusha, was born in Ver mont and came to Troy in about 1830. He followed the cabinetmaker's trade and died in 1871. His mother, Charlotte M. (Howlet) Galusha, was born in Vermont, and died in New York city in 1888. Henry was educated in the private schools of Troy, and when quite young went to work in the wholesale grocery house of Battershall & McDoual, and was with that firm and their successors until 18,60, when the firm of Squires, Sherry & Galusha was established, and is now the oldest wholesale grocery house in Troy. He is a member of Mt. Zion Lodge F. & A. M. , and is also a mem ber of the Troy Club. He is an exempt and honorary member of the Arba Read Steamer Company, also an exempt and honorary member of the Troy Citizens Corps, being a member of the Senior Company. He married Elizabeth, daughter of the late Hon. J. C. Osgood. Both he and wife are members of the First Presby terian church, of which he has been an elder several years, and was formerly chair man of the board of trustees and superintendent of the Sunday school. As a busi ness man he takes rank among the oldest and best business men of Troy. Tappin, Samuel Charters, was born in Troy, N Y., November 30, 1844. His father, Samuel Tappin, was born in England, July, 1816, and came to this country when about six years old with his elder brother and joined their father in New York. About 1840 he came to Troy and for several years was engaged in the manufacturing of umbrellas. He was married to Samantha. Smith in 1843. He kept the grocery known as the old Hay Scales, after which he went to work for Leonard McChesney, FAMILY SKETCHES. 329 later with Charles R. Mallery ; they bought out McChesney and the firm of Mallery & Tappin was estabished as wholesale liquor dealers. Mr. Tappin died September 6. 1885. His wife, Samantha Tappin, still resides in Troy and is now in her seventy- third year. Samuel C. Tappin received his education in the common and Dr. Tucker's schools. He entered the jewelry store of Emanuel Marks when he was between thirteen and fourteen years of age, where he remained for nineteen years. He went into business for himself in 1877 at 286 River street, and in 1891 removed to his pres - ent quarters, No. 1 Keenan Building, where he has one of the finest stores in North ern New York — the well known and popular Tappin's Diamond Palace. He imports largely in diamonds and precious stones, bric-a-brac, fine French chinas, clocks, bronzes, etc. ; other departments of the store contain elegant assortments of cut glass, sterling silver ware, jewelry, and novelties of every description ; the manu facturing and resetting of diamond jewelry being a special feature of the business. He was married in 1863 to Mary Louise Toole of Sandy Hill, N. Y. ; they have two daughters: Mrs. Joseph McQuide of Troy, and Mrs. Charles E. Birch of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Mt. Zion Lodge No. 311, Apollo Chapter No. 45 Bloss Council No. 14, Apollo Commandery No. 15, and Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; also a member of the Ionic Club of Troy; is an Episcopalian, being a member and junior warden of Christ church. Wing, Daniel A. , was born in Pittstown, N. Y. , September 30, 1845, and is a son of Jonas and Phoebe (Osborne) Wing of Pittstown. His mother died in 1859 and his father is now living in Bath on-the-Hudson. After leaving school Mr. Wing clerked for two years in a drug store, in Lansingburgh, and then came to Troy and entered the store of J. H. Winslow as clerk, and was later with George Boardman. He traveled for Bell & Morey for two years, and for Austin, Nichols & Co. for twelve years, when he formed a partnership with Mr. Large and entered the wholesale grocery business in 1886, under the firm name of Wing & Large. Mr. Wing assumed full control of the business in 1891 and is now sole proprietor. The trade of the house extends through Northern New York, Vermont, and Western Massachusetts. He is a member of the Apollo Lodge F. & A. M., and of the Riverside Club, of which he is a director, and is one of the directors of the Troy Vocal Society. He now re sides in Lansingburgh. He married, February 25, 1873, Elizabeth Bogardus, of Troy. They have one son, Harry V., who assists in the store. The family are members of the Trinity Episcopal church of Lansingburgh. In politics he is a Re publican. Fitzgerald, Thomas B., was born in Ireland and settled in Troy where he has since resided. He was first a bookkeeper for a wholesale liquor house, and later became a traveling salesman, an occupation he has successfully followed for over thirty years, becoming widely acquainted with the wholesale liquor trade. In 1873 he suc ceeded to the wholesale liquor business of Michael Fitzgerald, deceased, in Fifth avenue, which he has since conducted. He is a member of the Robert Emmet Club and an honorary member of the old Earl Boat Club. Holmes, Dr. Henry P., son of John W. and Esther M. (Perry) Holmes, was born in Greenfield, Saratoga county, December 8, 1854. His mother, who died while he was an infant, was a daughter of John S. Perry of Troy, who for eighteen years was i'P 330 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. treasurer of the Grand Commandery of the Masonic order of the State of New York. His father, John W. Holmes, was a prominent civil engineer, being connected with the Hudson River division of the New York Central, the old Albany and Northern, and other railroads, and is now a merchant in Lansingburgh ; about 1870 he settled in Lansingburgh where he still resides. Dr. Holmes was educated in the public and high schools of Troy, spent about a year in the architectural office of George M. Beaudoin of that city, read medicine with Dr. Charles H. Carpenter of Troy and was graduated from the Albany Medical College December 23, 1875. In the fall of 1876 he entered the New York Homeopathic Medical College, and graduated therefrom in March, 1877, and immediately began the practice of his profession in Troy. In 1879 he moved to Lansingburgh where he has since resided. He is a member of the Rensselaer County Homeopathic Medical Society, the American In stitute of Homeopathy, the A. O. U.W., the Royal Arcanum, and the National Union, and is past regent of Lansingburgh Council No. 1142 and Premier Council No. 1617, R. A. He has been -the representative to the Grand Lodge of the Royal Arcanum from 1890 to 1893 and since 1895. June 1, 1881, he married Emma J., daughter of Capt. Henry Willard an officer in the war of the Rebellion, who was wounded at the battle of Pittsburg Landing and died soon afterward. They have two daughters: Marie Esther and Martha Louise. Tompkins, Fred J., M. D., son of William B. and Hannah M. (Weaver) Tompkins, was born in South Berne, Albany county, August 28, 1864, and after his father's death in 1872 he moved with his family to Central Bridge, Schoharie county, where he received a common school education. He read medicine there with Dr. Charles McCullock, and in Albany with Dr. William Hails, and was graduated from the Albany Medical College with the degree of M. D. in 1885. He then took a post graduate course in the medical department of the McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and began the practice of his profession in 1886 at Knox, Albany county, whence he moved in 1888 to Lansingburgh, where he has since resided. Dr. Tompkins is a member Of the Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity, the New York State Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., Diamond Rock Lodge No. 564, I. O. O. F., and the Troy Yacht Club, all of Troy. In 1885 he married Emma, daughter of Eden Up Degrove, of Albany, and they have one son, Clifford E. Jessen, John F., son of Jacob F. and Mary (Skov) Jessen, was born in the kingdom of Denmark, September 4, 1857, and received his education in his native land. His father was a cabinet maker and undertaker. In 1873 Mr. Jessen came to America and on June 29 of that year found himself a stranger in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer county, where he has since resided. He was first employed on a farm and later as gardener by Joseph Fox, then a well known cracker manufacturer of that village. He gradually worked into the business of that factory, learning the trade and becom ing successively bookkeeper and traveling salesman. In 1880 Mr. Fox sold out to De Freest & Clark, and Mr. Jessen continued with them as salesman until 1882, when, owing to ill health, he visited his native country. Returning to Lansingburgh he formed a partnership with William McCollum and John H. Franklin, and under the firm name of Jessen, McCollum & Co., purchased the establishment of De Freest & Clark. Mr. Franklin died in 1893 and since then the other two partners have sue- FAMILY SKETCHES. 331 cessfully conducted the business under their original firm name. They manufacture crackers and biscuits of all kinds on an extensive scale and have a large trade throughout the Eastern and New England States, Mr. Jessen is a trustee of the First Presbyterian church, one of the village school commissioners, a local director of the New York Mutual Savings and Loan Association, and formerly a director of the Lansingburgh Y. M. C. A. In 1888 he married Sarah M., daughter of David Robertson, of Lansingburgh, and they have had two children: Mina E., who died aged two years and five months, and Earl R. , born December 26, 1893. Demers, Eugene L. , was born August 19, 1842, in Troy. He was the son of David and Jane A. Demers. His father was a merchant in Troy for a number of years, then retired and removed to Lansingburgh where he died. Eugene was educated in the public schools of Troy. He was first employed on the Troy Times, then as a clerk for the late Peter Bontecou. When the late civil war broke out he enlisted in the 125th Regiment (Col. Willard' s) N. Y. Vols., with which regiment he went to the front. The regiment went first to Centerville and from there to Harper's Ferry. Mr. Demers was on picket duty when it was ordered to the latter point, and was captured by the enemy before he could return to the regiment. The captured pickets were taken to Martinsburgh, Va. , and from there to Winchester, where each man was given his individual parole. They then went to Zanesville, Ohio, and then re ported to Dr. Hubbell, the provost marshal at Troy. Mr. Demers was then sent to Baltimore by Provost Marshal Hubbell, in command of troops to report to Gen. Wool, who asked to see his parole and upon his providing the same tore it up. He then sent him under guard to Georgetown, and from there he went to Alexandria where he reported to Parole Camp, and from there he went to Washington and reported his case to Clinton Meneeley, who was then an officer at general headquarters, and who had the case properly adjudicated, and then gave Mr. Demers a pass which entitled him to the freedom of the city of Washington for a few days, after which he was given a pass and transportation to his home in Troy. Later Gen. Wool apologized to Mr. Demers for the way he treated him. Mr. Demers then went to Chicago and reported to the regiment and from there went with the regiment to the battle of Gettysburg, where he was wounded in the engagement of July 3, and had his leg amputated on the field July 4. This amputation has been the cause of much suffer ing; and later another amputation had to be performed. Mr. Demers has never been able to wear an artificial limb. Mr. Demers is a merchant in Lansingburgh. He was the first commander of Bolton Post, G. A. R. He is prominent in all Grand Army matters and is a public spirited citizen. He has been village trustee for four teen years, a member of assembly two years, supervisor for two terms and held over a part of the third, pending a decision of the court. Mr. Demers has also held the office of Police Court judge for two years; and is also a member of the court house commission. He married Miss Margaret Cowley of Keeseville, Essex Co., N. Y., daughter of Thomas Cowley. They have had two daughters: Lena, married to Lewis D. Hunt, of Troy; and Ella, living at home. Mr. Demers is filling the posi tion of supervisor of Lansingburgh, having been elected in March, 1896, to serve two years. McMurray, Alfred W. — David McMurray was the first to introduce the manufac ture of brushes in Lansingburgh. David had four sons who took a prominent part 332 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. in the business. These gentlemen learned the business from their father. William McMurray always remained in Lansingburgh, were he was interested in the man ufacture of brushes, until the time of his death. Robert and David went to Troy, where they conducted the business all their lifetime. John G. McMurray first started in Boston and later operated the business in Lansingburgh'until his death. He was the first who introduced all of the machinery adapted to the manufacture of brushes. Associated with him was his son Alfred, and his son-in law, Jacob H. Dater. The business afterwards was conducted by the sons of John G. until 1889, whey they re tired from business. The business of brush making was first started by David Mc Murray in Lansingburgh in the beginning of the century. This business gradually increased until Lansingburgh was acknowledged to be the headquarters of the brush manufacturing business in the United States. Among the principal firms was that of John G. McMurray & Co., descendants of the pioneer in the brush manufacturing business in Lansingburgh. The firm gave employment to about 1,000 people. All the firms are out of business with the exception of one at the present time. Many of the firms in the business to-day learned the trade in the employ of John G. Mc Murray & Co. Mr. Alfred W. McMurray conducted the active management of the business of John G. McMurray & Co. for ten years before the death of his father, and until the dissolution of the firm in 1889, a period of nearly twenty-five years. It was during this period that the brush business was at its height. This is the history of the principal and only considerable industry Lansingburgh ever had. Cornell, Gerothman W., was born in Cambridge, Washington county, N. Y., Jan uary 4, 1817. He was the oldest of a family of six children of Govit and Phebe (Almy) Cornell; his ancestors were from New England. He received a common school education, but at the age of thirteen, because of the straitened circumstances of his parents, he left school and went into the world to care for himself. He be came a clerk for his uncle in New York city, where he remained for two years, and subsequently was employed as a clerk in a general merchandise store at Buskirks Bridge, at which place he remained for four years. In 1836 he came to Lansingburgh, Rensselaer county, N. Y., and served as clerk for Alexander Walsh, but soon after established himself in business as a general merchant and dealer in grain, &c, which business he carried on with varying success for many years. May 29. 1844, Mr. Cornell united in marriage with Mary F., daughter of the late William McMurray, of Lansingburgh, Three children were born to them: William M., Sarah M. and Mary F. Mr. Cornell was an interested party in all matters of local interest and a very active member of the Republican party. He was honored with positions of trust and responsibility by the citizens of his town and county, and always endeav ored to discharge the duties incumbent upon him with justice to others and with credit to himself. He was trustee of the village of Lansingburgh and represented the town in the Board of Supervisors for four years in succession. In 1858 he was elected sheriff of Rensselaer county, and re-elected to that office in the fall of 1864. He was appointed postmaster of Lansingburgh in 1874 during the presidency of U. S. Grant, and reappointed to that office in 1878. Mr. Cornell died in April, 1885. Snyder, A. C, was born in Pittstown, N. Y., in 1834. He was a son of Christo pher and Elizabeth (Stover) Snyder. Christopher Snyder was a farmer in the township of Pittstown up to the time of his death. A. C. Snyder received a com- FAMILY SKETCHES. 333 mon school education in Pittstown, then attended the academy in Lansingburgh for two years. Mr. Snyder was in business in Lansingburgh as a member of the firm of Harrison & Snyder in 1852, where they conducted a general drug business until the time of the dissolution of the firm in 1868. Since that time Mr. Snyder has con ducted the business alone. During the period of forty-three years that Mr. Snyder has been a merchant of Lansingburgh he has held many public offices of trust in the village. He was a member of the fire department of Lansingburgh (being one of the reorganizing members of the Hook and Ladder Company of Lansingburgh) and was elected secretary and treasurer of the company, which position he held for four years. He was then foreman of the company for eight years, chief of the de partment two years, and was also treasurer until its organization under the present system in 1874. He was appointed fire commissioner in 1876, which office he held till March, 1895, when he was legislated out of office by the new charter. Mr. Sny der has been connected with the fire department for more years than any other per son in Lansingburgh, and has been a strong and efficient worker during that time. He was elected receiver of taxes in 1885, which office he held four years. Mr. Sny der's long and efficient service in the fire department has been one of the features of the history of Lansingburgh, as his connection with that department extended over a period of forty years and during the time that Lansingburgh was the acknowledged leader of the mauufacturing industry of the county. Mr. Snyder married Miss Julia A. Fields, by whom he has two childten: Lizzie M. and Carrie L. Banker, E. Warren, was born in the town of Half Moon, Saratoga county, No vember 30, 1843. He was educated in the public schools and came to Troy in 1863; he was a clerk until 1869; he made Lansingburgh his permanent home in 1871, and began in business on his own account, with a general stock of hardware, which he still continues with success. May 9, 1877, he married Mary E. Whitaker of this place, by whom two children have been born : Edward W. and Carrie E. The father of Mr. Banker was William S. , born in this State February 8, 1809. He married Catherine E. Brown of Saratoga county, by whom eight children have been born : E. Warren, Chauncy B . James C, Phebe A., Emma, and Carrie E., and two died in infancy. Mrs. Catherine E. Banker died July 18, 1890. The grandfather of E. Warren was James Banker. He was a soldier and drummer boy under General Washington in the Revolutionary war. He lived until he was 105 years of age, and his great-grandfather lived until 108 years of age, and his great-great-grandfather until 112 years of age. Mr. Banker is a member of Clinton Lodge No. 140 F. & A. M., of Waterford, N. Y., of the Waterford Chapter No. 169, R. A. M. He has served his town as clerk, and for the second year is village treasurer. The ancestry of the family is Dutch and English. Groesbeck, William Chichester, was born in Lansingburgh, July 19, 1838. He was educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy. He began as clerk in the Farmers' Bank of Lansingburgh in 1854, and was teller 1857-1860. In 1865 he entered the employ of the Bank of Lansingburgh, which was in 1877 merged into the private bank of D. Powers & Sons. Mr. Groesbeck was retained in their employ and took the position of cashier January 1, 1896. September 6, 1860, he married Anna G. Swetland of Jonesville, Saratoga county, by whom one child, a son, has been born: George S., born m 1868. He married Edna V. Piercy, of New York 334 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. city; they have one daughter: Mildred P. George S. is a civil engineer by profes sion, a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is chief engineer and treasurer of the Springfield Construction Co. of Springfield, Mass. The father of William C. Groesbeck was Anson Groesbeck, born in the town of Schaghticoke in 1809. He was educated in the schools of his day and came to Lansingburgh when a boy and was clerk in Alexander Walsh's general store. He married Lousia Chiches ter of Lansingburgh, by whom six children were born: William C. , Jennie L., Edward A., Leonard H., John H. and Helen M. Anson Groesbeck was cashier of the Rensselaer County Bank and afterwards of the Farmers' Bank (both of Lansing burgh) for about twelve years. He died January 1, 1863, andjiis wife died in Octo ber, 1867. William C. succeeded his father as a member of the board of trustees of the First Methodist church and is secretary of the board. He is also secretary of the Police Department, secretary of the Sans Souci Club, and president of the Half- moon Bridge Company. He represented the First ward for two years in the Board of Village Trustees, and is a member of the Board of Managers of Leonard Hospital, Lansingburgh. The Groesbeck ancestry is from Claase Jacobse Groesbeck of Rot terdam, Holland, who settled in Albany, N. Y. , prior to 1662. His son, William Claase, married Gertrury daughter of David Pieterse Schuyler, who was uncle of Col. Pieter Schuyler, the first mayor of Albany. On the Chichester (his mother's) side the ancestry is English. Her grandfather was a practicing physician in England. Members of the Chichester family were among the first settlers on Long Island, and have many descendants now living there. Mr. Groesbeck is a member of the Holland Society of New York, which requires its members to date from male ancestors who settled in this country as early as 1675. He has been a vice-president of this society for several years, representing Lansingbnrgh, which was an original Dutch settle ment. Edward A. Groesbeck, brother of William C. , is cashier of the National Com mercial Bank of Albany, and Leonard H., another brother, is cashier of the Third National Bank of Syracuse N. Y. Brooker, George, was born in the town of Mansfield, Orleans county, N. Y., Feb ruary 4, 1826. He came to Pittstown with his parents when seven years of age. He was educated in the public schools, and was a dealer in live stock with his brother James for over forty years. In 1852 he married Caroline, daughter of Nicholas Weaver of Lansingburgh, by whom six children were born : George, who died in his fifth year; Emma, Clara A., Albert L., Arthur S. , deceased; and Harriet A. Clara A. married George B. Fonda of this town ; Arthur S. married Mary E. Laith of Waterford; he died March 20, 1896. Mr. Brooker's father, Riley, was born in Con necticut in 1787 and came to this State when a single man. He married Mary Cor nell of Ballston Spa, by whom seven children were born : Adelia, George, James, Eliza, Lucy, Samuel and Leonard. Riley Brooker died in about 1874, and his wife died in 1879. Brooks, Samuel, was born in the town of Townsend, Middlesex county, Mass., September 20, 1820. He was educated in the public schools. His early days were spent on his grandfather's farm. He afterwards learned to be a cooper, came to Lansingburgh in 1840, and carried on the cooper business for two years ; he was then engaged in the manufacture of scales for about six years; he then manufactured paper boxes on a large scale until 1876, when he retired. He has been trustee of the FAMILY SKETCHES. 335 First ward for eight years, trustee of the public schools for twelve years, and assessor for twenty-one years. In 1843 he married Sarah Snyder of Lansingburgh, by whom he has had six children; Alfred W., Henry F., Emily P., Laura V., Nellie P. and Carrie A. (twins) ; all of whom are dead except Henry F. , who is now a resident of Honeoye Falls, Monroe county, N. Yr. They had three sons: Edward G., William N-. and Samuel G. Mrs. Samuel Brooks died March 25, 1885, mourned by her be reaved husband and family. Mr. Brooks is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355, F. & A. M. The ancestry of the family is of New England stock, and on the mater nal side Dutch. In his political faith he is an ardent Republican, and cast his first vote for William Henry Harrison in 1840. Derrick, Adam, was born in Stillwater, Saratoga county, N. Y., August 28, 1843. His parents moved here when he was a boy. He received his education in the com mon schools and had a variety of occupations. He operated in real estate ; he has also been a merchant, and is now a farmer and market gardener. March 5, 1874, he married Marion Smith of Herkimer county, N. Y. , by whom he has had two chil dren: Andrew D. and Margaret Jane. Mr. Derrick's father, Andrew, was born in the town of Brunswick about the year 1815. He was educated in the schools of his day, and was a farmer by occupation and afterwards a merchant. He married Jane Mansfield of Orange county, N. Y. , by whom he has had five children: Thomas, Adalaide, Margaret, Adam, the subject of our sketch, and William. Mr. Derrick died May 10, 1883, and his widow October 18, 1890. His grandfather, Adam Derrick, was born at the old home in the town of Brunswick, and his great-grandfather Derrick wasborn in Germany and, came to this country in the seventeenth centurv. The ancestry of the family, as now composed, is German and Scotch. Chambers, John M., was born in Ireland, July 21, 1845, and came to the United States with his parents when he was five years of age, first located in Delaware county and settled in Lansingburgh in 1851. He was educated in the public schools. He was clerk for Charles J. Lansing for two years, and the next two years was clerk in the grocery store for William Humphrey. He was afterwards with A. B. Elliott in the sale of sewing machines for two years. He was bookkeeper in the Burton saw mills in Cohoes for two years and then came to Lansingburgh and engaged in business on his own account, in fine groceries, which he continued for eight years. In 1875 he went in partnership with Ira E. Davenport under the firm name of Dav enport & Chambers, which has continued since. He has been village clerk for two years, collector for two years and was supervisor for five successive terms. He has been school trustee for six years, village trustee for four years, and was elected to the assembly in 1892 and served in an able manner for three years. Mr. Chambers was married twice, first, April 28, 1873, to Anna E. Densmore, who died in 1878. August 26, 1882, he married for his second wife Olive A. Howes of Dennis, Cape Cod, Mass., by whom three children were born: Margaret H., who died in her fourth year; Anna M., and Mary C. He is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355, F. & A. M., and is also a member of Phoenix Chapter, R. A. M. He has been master in the Jerusalem Lodge for six years, and was high priest in the Chapter for five years, and is also a member of the Royal Arcanum. Clarkson, Sarah A.— The late William C. Clarkson was born in New York city, 336 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. September 9, 1839. He was educated in Columbia College, and was cashier for Dickerson, Van Dusen & Co. of New York city for about twenty-two years. Sep tember 5, 1866, he married Sarah A. Greene of the town of Brunswick; they have two daughters; Ella M. and Carrie E. ; the latter married John Consaul, jr., of this town. Ella married Curtis W. Dormandy of Lansingburgh. Mr. Clarkson died December 24, 1887. Mrs. Clarkson's father, Daniel S. Greene, was born in the town of Berlin, Rensselaer county, in 1802. He was educated in the district schools, and was a farmer by occupation. He married Elizabeth Maxon of Petersburgh, by whom eight children were born: Edgar, Caroline E., Maria L., Charles H., Thomas, Sarah A., Helen A. and David M. Mr. Greene died in 1868, and his wife died in 1876. Mrs. Clarkson and daughter are related, through her father, to General Nathnniel Greene, of Revolutionary fame. The late Mr. Clarkson was a soldier in the late war, with the rank of lieutenant in the 12th Regiment Cavalry, N. Y. Volunteers, serving from June 19, 1863, until the beginning of 1865, when he was honorably discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability. Mr. Clarkson descended from William Floyd, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Gardner, Wright J , was born in Troy, August 31, 1850. He was educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy, and began business with his brother, Anson G., when he was eighteen years of age, in the laundry business. When he was twenty-two years of age he went West and established a large laundry for a gent's furnishing goods industry, which is now located in Chicago, and which was organized and put in running order for the Wilson Bros. He then returned to Troy and conducted a collar laundry business, and is now in company with Thomas S. Stone and his brother's son, William L. Gardner, under the firm name of Gardner, Stone & Co. June 24, 1884, he married Catherine A. Keefe, of West Troy, by whom three children have been born: Marion S.. who died in her tenth year; Helen, and Edgar Betts. The father of Mr. Gardner was Jefferson, born in Dutchess county in 1802, and came to Troy when a young man. He was one of the pioneers in the collar business and was the first to adopt and apply the Wheeler & Wilson sewing machine in the collar industry. He married Mary A. Wright, who was born in Troy in 1806, by whom twelve children were born, eight of whom grew to maturity: Hannah M., who married William S. Earl, of Troy; Mary J., who married James H. Nichols; Richard H., now conducting a laundry business in Brooklyn ; Emma F., who mar ried Le Grand Benedict, now of Brooklyn; Elizabeth H., who married John L. Bene dict, now of New York; Anson G., who died at the age of thirty -three ; Harriet L. , who married E. K. Betts; and J. Wright. Jefferson Gardner died in 1889 and his wife in 1892. Mr. Gardner is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A.'M., of Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., of Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., and Oriental Temple A. A. O. U. M. S., and is a life member in all the above branches of the Masonic order. He is past high priest of Apollo Chapter, and is now senior warden of the Commandery. He is of English descent, and the family name of Gardner is found to-day on the Plymouth rock stone, the rock where the Pilgrim fathers landed. Locke, Sylvanus Dyer, was a descendant of John Locke, who landed on American shores with the tide of Puritans, and settled in Dover. N. H. , about 1644. But Mr. Locke may well put lineage in the background, for it was upon his own efforts that FAMILY SKETCHES. 337 he succeeded in the battle of life, and by his own genius that he rose from the com parative obscurity of his birth to the place among men he occupied. He was born at Richfield, N. Y., September 11, 1833. At the common school he mastered sur veying and geometry and by a continued personal research acquired a good knowl edge of more abstruse sciences. When seventeen he began teaching, four years later becoming principal of a Union school at Herkimer, N. Y. In 1860 he was a law student at Janesville, Wis., and during the next year was formally admitted to the bar. During his residence in Wisconsin he also practiced his profession of civil engineering, and was county surveyor and city engineer at Janesville. August 13, 1861, he married Ellen Josephine Parker, of an old and prominent New Y^ork family. Mr. Locke is best known as the inventor of the automatic binding harvester, and indeed it is very largely to his genius and indefatigable efforts, that the world is in debted for that wonderful machine which has revolutionized the world of labor. It was at Hoosick Falls in 1870 that he was finally crowned with success and of the de tails of that achievement, and of the co-operation of the late Walter A. Wood, an other portion of this volume will treat. Of Mr. Locke personally we cannot do better than to quote from another biographer. "Generous and public spirited, he is one of the representative and ideal Americans to whom wealth, coming as the reward of real genius, only widens the sphere of personal usefulness." Mr. Locke died sud denly September 27, 1876. Mr. Locke's inventions extended over a wide field, over 200 patents in all having been granted him. His last invention, at which he had been at work for the past four or five years, recently perfected, is a machine for mak ing a detachable steel link belting for sprocket wheels, the machine stamping a con tinuous chain out of a continuous strip of steel. The machine is perfected and Mr. Locke had about completed arrangements for establishing a plant for its manufac ture. In politics Mr. Locke had always been a strong Republican, having united with the party at its inception. In 1884 he served as a member of Assembly from his district in this county. He was about to become a member of the Sons of Revo lution, the necessary papers having been filled out. Mr. Locke was a sincere Chris tian, and during his entire residence at Hoosick Falls had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of that place. For twenty years he had been a trustee of the church. He is survived by a wife and three children : Lilla J. and John P. Locke, who reside at the homestead, and Sylvanus D. Locke, jr. Another son, the eldest, Norman W. Locke, died in 1890. Mr. Locke was generous, open hearted, public spirited — a typical American citizen — and as such his name will be handed down in love and honor to posterity, Greene, George E., the most prominent lawyer of Hoosick Falls, was born at Cam bridge, N. Y., in 1860. His father was John Greene, an active, industrious man, who devoted his life to farming; hence George was reared on a farm, and his edu cation was obtained at the Cambridge Washington Academy. He entered the law office of D. M. Westfall at Cambridge in 1880, where he remained over three years, teaching school winters. He came here in 1884, and besides his general practice he is attorney for various societies. He has a younger brother, Herbert J. Greene, asso ciated with him. Mr. Greene is identified with the Republican party, and takes an active interest in the political affairs of the day, and is a zealous promoter of all en terprises pertaining to the advancement of his town. He has never sought office. qq 338 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. He married in 1884, Mary E. Foster, of a prominent Salem family. They have four children. Nicholls, jr., George H., has been for many years identified with the Walter Wood Co., going into their employ at the western office in Chicago in 1869. After a year he returned and became associated with the home office, and had charge of the pur chasing department in 1872. In 1884 he went into business with the late Senator H. Barnum, manufacturing track bolts for railroad use, the first concern to make rolled thread screws. He returned here in 1888. He is a director of the Hoosac Club, but no office holder. Mr. Nicholls is largely engaged in the coal business, having ex tensive sheds, offices and teams at North Adams, at Williamstown and in Hoosick Falls, using principally the Pittston coal. He was born at Salisbury, Conn., in 1847, son of Rev. George H. Nicholls, a native of Bridgeport, Conn., the rector emeritus of St. Mark's church and author of the history of that church. His mother was Julia Louisa Phelps of an old Hartford family. He began business life at fifteen as clerk for J. M. Warren & Co., hardware store, the leading member of the firm a maternal uncle of his. Here he remained for four years, during which time he was a member of the old Washington Volunteer Fire Company. In 1878 he united in marriage with Emma M. Smith of Greenwich, Washington county, daugh ter of a prominent merchant there. Nicholls, George Huntington, S. T. D., rector emeritus of St. Mark's Episcopal church at Hoosick Falls, is a man personally entitled to current consideration in this work, aside from his lineage and his position in the church. He was born at Bridgeport, Conn., in 1818. His father was Charles T. Nicholls, a merchant of that city, and his grandfather, Philip Nicholls, was the first lay-delegate sent from the Diocese of Connecticut to the General Convention of the Episcopal church. Doctor Nicholls was a pupil of the Diocesan School at Cheshire, Conn., and entered Wash ington, now Trinity College in 1835. It was in 1865 that he became so potent a factor in the social and clerical life of this place, at that date making Hoosick Falls his resi dence as rector of St. Mark's church. The various improvements and enlargements, memorial and otherwise, previous to 1881, have been under his charge, and to the succinct and masterly historical pamphlet published by him in 1891 the author of this work acknowledges deep indebtedness. In 1842 Dr. Nicholls married Miss Julia Louisa Phelps, daughter of Walter Phelps, of Hartford, Conn. The ceremony was performed in St. John's church, Hartford, Conn., by Rt. Rev. Thomas C. Brownell, D.D., who also ordained him both deacon and priest. Three sons and three daughters were born to them: Charles Philip, deceased; Elizabeth Warren, wife of Hon. Walter A. Wood, both deceased ; William Shelton, the well-known vice- president of the Walter A. Wood Company; George Huntington, jr., also associated with the same company; Julia Phelps, who died in infancy; Mary, the wife of Charles W. Barnum, of Lime Rock, Salisbury, Conn. ; Mrs. Julia Louisa Phelps Nicholls deceased, March 1892. Lasell, Samuel H., was born in North Bennington, Vt., February 9, 1819. His grandfather on the maternal side was Nathaniel Hall, who was born in Roxbury, Mass., March 4, 1763, and died in North Bennington, Vt. His grandmother was a Miss Hubbard, who was born in Middletown, Conn., October 17, 1707, and died FAMILY SKETCHES. 339 March 24, 1846. His father, James Lasell, wasborn in Providence, R. I., April 11, 1788, and died at Wallingford, Vt, December 4, 1869. His mother, Phoebe (Hall) Lasell, was born in North Bennington, Vt., March 24, 1797, and died May 22, 1860. Samuel H. Lasell was educated in the common schools and at the academy at Ben nington. In 1839 he came to Troy and entered the employ of G. V. S. Quackenbush in the dry goods business, and in 1845 went to Albany where he remained until 1849; he was then in business in New York city until 1855, when he returned to Troy and again took a position in the Quackenbush store, and later became a partner in the establishment. This is one of the oldest and most extensive mercantile establish ments in the city of Troy and was founded in 1824 by G. V. S. Quackenbush. Jan uary 14, 1863, he was married to Emma Quackenbush, daughter of G. V. S. Quack enbush; she died March 9, 1894. He has one son, Edwin Q. Lasell, who assists in the store. In politics Mr. Lasell has always been a Whig or a Republican, and voted for Harrison in 1840. He is an attendant of the First Presbyterian church. As a business man he is held in the highest esteem. Sampson, Albert Augustus, was born in the town of Brunswick, May 4, 1843. His father, John Sampson, was born in Middleboro, Mass., April 23, 1798, and for many years was a prominent business man in New York city of the firm of Tisdale & Sampson, hardware dealers. In 1836 he retired from active business and came to Troy and bought the old Gardner farm on the Brunswick road, which was one of the handsomest residences in the vicinity. His first wife was Margaret Janette (Williams) Sampson of New York, sister of the wife of the late Dr. Wotkyns, who was mayor of Troy in 1857 and 1858, and died December 23, 1876. His second wife, the mother of Albert A., was Stella Maria Holton, married December 7, 1837; she was the daughter of Henry and Susan Holton of White Creek, N. Y. He was suc cessful in his business and accumulated a comfortable property, leaving a good es tate for those days at his death. He died in the city of New Yrork, March 2, 1844 ; his widow survived him until November, 1868. The subject of this sketch has mostly resided at the old homestead on the Brunswick road, which has been mod ernized. He has also been interested in the improvement and development of Pawling avenue, where he owns large real estate interests. He is one of the gov ernors of the Marshall Infirmary and is a director of the Central National Bank. September 7, 1869, he married Sarah E. Albertson, daughter of John P. Albertson, who was city comptroller of Troy for many years and was the first president of the Mutual Bank. He organized the Savings Association to purchase the Mutual Bank building. Their son. John Albertson Sampson, is a graduate of Williams College and is now attending the Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, being a student in the medical department. He has also one daughter, Lucy Edith, who is a graduate of the Emma Willard Seminary, still at home with her parents. The family are members of the First Presbyterian church of Troy. In politics Mr. Sampson is a Republican. The Wiles Laundering Company, Limited. — Richard H. Roberts, president ; Jacob H. Ten Eyck, vice president; M. Edgar Wendell, treasurer; Charles F. Wiles, sec retary; Thomas S. Wiles, manager. The business of laundering linen goods for manufacturers, which is carried on by this company, was founded in 1864 by Mr. Thomas S. Wiles. In 1873 Mr. Alonzo P. Adams became associated with Mr. Wiles 340 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. i-j the business, the name of the firm being T. S. Wiles & Co. This partnership continued until 1877, during which period, besides prosecuting the laundering busi ness, the firm engaged in the manufacture of laundry machinery. When the part nership was dissolvedin 1877, Mr. Wilescontinuedthelaunderingbusiness, andheand Mr. Adams, together with Mr. Henry Kelly, continued the manufacture of laundry machinery under the firm name of Wiles, Adams & Co., which firm, upon Mr.Wiles's withdrawal therefrom in 1878, was succeeded by the firm of Adams, Kelly & Angus, which in turn was succeeded in 1882 by The Troy Laundry Machinery Company, Limited, which is now carrying on the business, its officers being Mr. Thomas S. Wiles, president; Mr. M. Edgar Wendell, vice-president; Mr. Allen Conkling, treasurer and Mr. Jacob H. Ten Eyck, secretary; Mr. Wiles continued alone in the laundering business from 1877 to 1879, when The Wiles Laundering Company, Lim ited, was incorporated and bought the business' which has since been carried on by the company under the management of Mr. Wiles and Mr. Wendell. Cluett, Fred H., was born in Wolverhampton, England, May 2, 1842. He is a son of William and Ann (Bywater) Cluett, and came to this country with his parents in 1850. He received his education in Troy, N. Y., and in May, 1863, on attaining his majority, along with his brother Edmund, he was taken into partnership by his father, William Cluett, who founded the business in 1854. The firm name was then changed to Cluett & Sons, and since that time branch stores have been established in Albany, Amsterdam and Gloversville, New York ; North Adams, Mass. , and Rut land, Vt. With constant application and able management on the part of the several members of the firm, their business has steadily increased, so that now they have one of the largest and most successful piano and organ establishments north of New York city, and their reputation extends throughout the United States. Fred. H. Cluett, the subject of this sketch, is a charter member and a director of the Central Young Men's Christian Association of Troy, a trustees of the State Street Methodist Episcopal church, and enjoys the unique distinction of being organist of that church for thirty-six consecutive years. In 1866 he married Frances Amelia Bishop, daughter of Charles B. Bishop, of Troy, and they have two sons and two daughters : Charles Frederick, who is connected with the piano house as manager of the ac counts, also organist and choir-master of the First Presbyterian church of Troy; Clarence Wentworth, who also holds an important position in the sales department; Frances, a graduate of the Troy Female Seminary ; Mary Elizabeth, who was edu cated at the High School and Troy Female Seminary, and finished her education at Helmuth College, Canada. Politically Mr. Cluett is a Republican. The following is an extract from the Troy Daily Times of June 8, 1895, regarding Mr. Cluett: To-morrow will mark the close of thirty-five years of service of Fred H. Cluett, the talented organist of the State Street Methodist church of Troy. Mr. Cluett's first musical engagement, at sixteen years of age, was as organist of Rev. Dr. Magoon's church in Albany. Dr. Magoon, elo quent, eccentric and popular, drew large congregations. He was a Baptist minister. A little later Mr. Cluett studied with George William Warren, who was then organist of St. Paul's Epis copal church in Albany, and who made Mr. Cluett assistant organist and gave him the valuable privilege of practicing on the beautiful organ then in old St. Paul's. Dr. George William Warren, who is well known in this city, has been for many years organist of St. Thomas's Episcopal church in New York city. In 1860 Mr. Cluett was engaged as organist of State Street Methodist church, Troy, and he has retained his position uninterruptedly. This period of thirty-five years includes fourteen pastoral changes and the terms of thirteen Sunday school superintendents. The last FAMILY SKETCHES. 341 service in the old church was Sunday evening, February 26, 1871. Tho new church was dedicated by Bishop Simpson, March 30, 1871. The large, new organ, one of the finest in the city, was opened and exhibited by Dr. T. J. Guy and Mr. Cluett May 11, 1871. Mr. Cluett was a pupil of Dr. Guy, whose faithful instructions were of great value and highly prized. Mr. Cluett made repeated visits to Europe and gained the advantage of hearing some of the greatest organists of the old world. His eldest son, Charles Fred Cluett, is organist of the First Presbyterian church in this city. Mr. Cluett has been a member of the State Street church from boyhood and a trustee of the church for seventeen years. He is prominent and respected in social and business relations as well as in the work of the church. Cluett, Edmund, was born near Birmingham, England, October 1, 1840 He is the son of the late William Cluett, for many years a very prominent man in Troy. He died September 18, 1890. Hiswife, mother of the subject, was Ann (By water) Cluett, who died in 1876. Eumund Cluett received his education in Troy and was taken into the music store of his father, William Cluett, as a partner, May 1, 1863, and the firm of Cluett & Sons is one of the largest of the kind in the country, and one of the oldest. He is a member of the Watervliet Arsenal Golf Club, the Troy Club, and the Troy Yacht Club. He is a charter member of the Troy Vocal Society. In 1871 he married Mary Alice Stone, daughter of George A. Stone, president of the Troy City National Bank, by whom he has two sons: Albert Edmund, who was graduated from Williams Col lege in the class of '93, and in June, 1896, graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston ; and Sandford Lockwood, who is a student in the Rens selaer Polytechnic Institute. In politics Mr. Cluett is a Republican. He and his family are members of St. Paul's Episcopal church. Martin, Edward W. , was born in Colbrook, N. H., in 1833. His father, Thomas Martin, a millwright, was born in London, England, in 1783 and came to this country about 1809, settling in Lennoxville, Can., where he remained until he came to Troy in 1872. He died in 1879 at the age of ninety-seven. His mother was Sarah Cummings of Littleton, Mass., who died in 1861. Edward W. learned the trade of carpenter and builder and later worked in the West. When twenty years of age he was considered an expert in business. He came to Troy in 1860 and worked at his trade, then opened a shop on Fulton street; later, needing more room, he erected the building which he now occupies on Front street. He is the oldest builder in Troy. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the I. O. O. F., and resides in Lansingburgh. He married Elizabeth Fair of Toronto, Can., who died in 1868; he afterwards was married to Esther Lysterof Canada. He has seven children and lost two. Byron, Patrick, was born in Ireland, April 21, 1841. He came to this country with his parents in 1845 and settled in Cohoes, N. Y. In 1857 he came to Troy and be came connected with Hope Engine Company No. 6 as fireman ; afterwards he was made assistant captain of the J. S. Osgood No. 3. In 1880 he was elected assistant chief, which position he held until 1891, when he was elected chief of the Troy Fire Department and is still holding that office. Boltwood, Frederick A. , was born in Troy, October 13, 1844. He can trace his ancestors back to 1636, who settled in Amherst, Mass. The Amherst College prop erty was donated by the Boltwood family to that institution. His father. Frederick P. Boltwood, was born in Windsor, Vt. , in 1816. He came to Troy in 1835 and died in August, 1888. His mother was Mabel Washburn of Greenwich, Washington county, 342 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. N. Y., who died in 1868. Frederick A. when a youth went to Havre as cabin boy on a steamship and one year later returned to Troy and learned the confectioner's trade. When the war broke out he enlisted in the 2d N. Y. Vols, and re-enlisted in the 5th United States Cavalry. He returned to Troy after the war, and in 1865 became a member of the Troy City Artillery, serving five years. He was a member of the 12th Separate Company, known as the Tibbits Veteran Corps. He belongs to Tibbets Post, G. A. R. In 1868 he married Sarah E. Potter of Troy, daughter of John T. and Eliza Jennings Potter. She is a descendant of William Jennings of Virginia. The common ancestor was Humphrey Jennings, of Birmingham, England, who was born August 23, 1629, and died in 1690. She had six children, four of whom are living. Cipperly, John H., M. D., was born in Troy, August 10, 1856. He is the son of Levi Cipperly of Brunswick, N. Y., who was in the clothing business many years and died at the age of eighty-three. His mother was Elizabeth (Fonda) Cipperly, born in New Scotland, N.Y. , and came to Troy when four years of age. She is still living. John H. Cipperly attended the ward schools of Troy and graduated from the High School in 1875. He commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Thomas H. Burch- ard of New York city and in 1878 was graduated from the University of the City of New York (medical department) and was then appointed assistant resident physician at the Marshall Infirmary in Troy, where he remained for six years. He is a mem ber of the Medical Society of the County of Rensselaer, member of the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity, and permanent member of the Medical Society of the State of New York. He has been health officer of the city of Troy since 1H86, and a member of the Robert Emmet Association. He was married in 1884 to Emma B. Messenkope of New York, who died in 1889. He was again married in January, 1895, to Margaret Van Derheyden of Troy. Cooper, William C, M.D., was born in Troy, N. Y., October 1, 1858. His father, Dr. William S. Cooper, was born in Scotland and settled in Troy in 1840, and was a prominent physician of this place. He died May 26, 1890. His mother is Sarah M. (Ives) Cooper, born in Rensselaer county. She still resides in Troy. William C. Cooper received a common school and academic education and entered Albany Med. ical College, from which he graduated in 1881, and after graduating from the Col lege of Physicians and Surgeons of New York city in 1884, he came to Troy and opened an office at 81 Third street and has continued in the practice of medi- icine since. He belongs to the State Medical Association and is a member of the Medical Association of Troy and vicinity, also a member of the Troy Scientific As sociation. He was city physician for two years and- has been on the staff of Troy Hospital two years. In 1893 he was married to Miss Jeannie Lyman of Troy. He has one son, William Ferguson. Dominic, Brother, was born at Port Jervis, N. Y., in 1855. He is the son of James Dunn, who came from Ireland in 1840 and settled in Orange county, N. Y. , and was many years a railroad man and died in 1878. His mother, Bridget Conolly, was also born in Ireland. She died in 1862. He received his education in the Westchester Institute, came to Troy in 1877 and taught in the school of the Troy Catholic Male Orphan Asylum and has been principal of the school since 1884. FAMILY SKETCHES 343 Troy Catholic Male Orphan Asylum. — This institution was founded in the city of Troy as St. Mary's Orphan Asylum, December 8, 1850. It was under the charge of laymen, and boys and girls were admitted. Some time after its establishment it was taken out of the hands of laymen, and the boys were given in charge of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and the girls were sent to St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum, in charge of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. In 1863 the institution was named St. Vincent's Male Orphan Asylum and placed under the control of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. In 1864 the institution was incor porated under its present title (Troy C. M. O. Asy.) and a board of trustees ap pointed. The asylum was destroyed by fire in 1865. It was determined to erect a large and complete brick building, the corner-stone of which was laid June 24, 1866, by Bishop Conroy and the building completed in 1869. During the interval the Brothers bought the soldiers' barracks located at Lansingburgh and had it removed to Troy, where it was erected as a temporary asylum. There are now in the insti tution above 270 children. The school attached to the establishment is under the school board, and the rules and regulations governing the education of children in the public schools are followed. The object of the institution is the care and sup port of orphan and half-orphan boys under sixteen years of age. They are not only given a good common school education, but some of them are taught useful trades. Most of the children are a public charge. The institution is governed by a board of trustees, consisting of four brothers and three laymen. The present director is Rev. Bro. Agapus. Freeman, Henry Raymond, was born and educated in the city of New York, and entered the General Theological Seminary to pursue a special theological course in 1885; during the three years of this course acting as assistant minister in the church of the Holy Spirit, New York city; ordained to the priesthood by Bishop H. C. Potter, in June, 1889. He became rector of St. Mark's church. Islip, Long Island, N Y., November, 1889, and became rector of St. John's church, Troy, N. Y. . No vember, 1892, succeeding the Rev. T. A. Sniverly. Hurley, Timothy J., was born in Tipperary, Ireland, in 1846, and came to the United States with his parents, Andrew and Winnifred (Ryan) Hurley, in 1849. They settled in Troy and his father was for some time in the employ of F. A. & A. B. Fales in their wholesale produce house. He died March 6, 1857, and his widow in January, 1882. The brother of Mr. Hurley, the late Thomas Hurley, who was born in Ireland, learned the printing business in the office of the Troy Budget, then conducted by MacArthur & Whitman at No. 196 River street, and was subsequently employed in the Daily Whig office ; after working at the case for some years he ac cepted a position on the Troy Times. A vacancy occurring in the city editorship of the Whig, he was invited to accept the position, which he did and filled the same creditably for several years. He was appointed city editor of the Troy Press when that paper was established, and continued in that position until he went into the job printing business with his brother, Timothy J. Hurley. Thomas was for several years a school commissioner of the Eighth ward, and for three years was coroner of Rensselaer county; he died November 27, 1871. Timothy J. Hurley with his brother Thomas started the printing establishment of Hurley Bros, in 1870, and also pub lished the Sunday Telegram, which was discontinued in 1871. In 1875 Mr. Hurley 344 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. moved to his present quarters in the Harmony Hall building and conducts a general job printing business in a successful manner. He was president of the Young Men's Catholic Literary Association for two terms, also president of the Robert Emmet Association and treasurer of the same society for six years. He served as a member of the School Board for a term and has held other positions of honor and trust. Phelan, Michael F., M. D., was born in Troy in 1867. His father, Michael Phelan, was born in Ireland and came to this country in 1867. He manufactures the Boiler Cleaning Compound. His mother, Ellen (Crewe) Phelan, died in 1873. Dr. Phelan was educated at the La Salle Institute and after graduating taught one year, when he entered the Albany Medical College, during which time he was also professor of physiology in the Albany Brothers' Academy ; after graduating from the Medical College he began practice in Troy He is attending physician of the out-door patient department of the Troy Hospital. He was secretary of the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity and is a. member of the New York State Medical Association, the Rensselaer County Medical Society and the B. P. O. E. He was appointed by the Board of Health as inspector during the cholera scare. Ricketts, Palmer Chamberlaine: Born '56, Elkton, Md. ; was graduated at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1875; assistant in mathematics R. P. I. '75; assistant professor, '82; professor of Rational and Technical Mechanics since '84; director since '92. Consulting bridge engineer T. & B. R. R., '86-87 and for the R. W. & O. R. R., '87-91 ; engineer Public Improvements Commission, city of Troy, '91-93; also engineer in charge of design and construction of various hydraulic works, bridges, etc. Societies: M. Am. Soc. C. E. ; M. A. S. M. E. ; Fellow A. A. A. S. ; and others. Publications: "History of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:" contributor to Rep. U. S. Comm. Ed., Rep. N. Y. State R. R. Comm., Trans. Am. Soc. C. E., Proc. Soc. Prom. Eng: Ed., Engineering News, Railroad Gazette, Rail way Review, Trans. Eng. Club of Philadelphia, etc. Rousseau, Zotique, M. D., was born in Three Rivers, Canada, August 26, 1840. He is of French descent on both paternal and maternal sides. He was educated and graduated at St. Joseph's College in Three Rivers; and in 1864 entered the medical department of Laval University, Quebec, from which he graduated in 1869 with the degree of M. D., and practiced medicine for one and a half years in Three Rivers. He came to Troy, N. Y. , and began practice in 1872. He is and has been medical at tendant at the Troy Hospital since 1874 with the exception of six years. Upon the organization of the Home of the Aged Poor in 1873 he became medical attendant which position he still holds, and was physician at the house of the Good Shepherd from 1886 to 1894. He is one of the founders and a member of the New York State Medical Association, and is a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society and the Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity. He is a member of the Troy Club. He was married in 1877 to Serena Connolly of Troy. Sanford, Samuel Brown, son of Gay R. and Hannah Brown Sanford, was born in Bennington Centre, Vt., April 26, 1833, and received a common school education in his native town. In 1847 he came to Troy to enter business life as a clerk in Mather's dry goods store. Later he accepted a clerkship with Harris & Wilcox, jewelers, and remained with them until he went to New York, where he entered the firm of Carter, FAMILY SKETCHES. 345 Hale & Co., manufacturing jewelers. In 1864 he returned to Troy and, with George S. Robinson, organized the firm of Sanford & Robinson, to manufacture collars and cuffs. In 1890, this firm, and those of J. K. P. Pine, S. A. House's Sons, Marshall & Briggs, and Beiermeister & Spicer were incorporated as the United Shirt and Collar Co. Mr. Sanford was elected president of this company, and held that office until his death. Mr. Sanford's tireless energy and business ability were given not only to the manufacturing interests of Troy but he was prominently connected with many financial and benevolent institutions of the city. He was a trustee of the Troy Sav ings Bank, a director of the Troy City National Bank, and had served as trustee or director in the Emma Willard Seminary, the Marshall Infirmary, and the Troy Or phan Asylum. He was president of the trustees of the Second Street Presbyterian church and treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the Young Women's Association, an enterprise in which he was deeply interested from its inception. During his long and active life in Troy, he was universally honored, as a useful and benevolent cit izen, whose uprightness was unquestioned. Mr. Sanford's death occurred at his summer residence in Bennington Centre, Vermont, August 4, 1896. Sawin, Rev. Theophilus Parsons, D.D., was born at Lynn, Mass., January 14, 1841. His ancestors came to this country in 1632 and settled in Boston. His grandfather, Robert Mason, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was a. participant in the battle of Saratoga when Burgoyne surrendered to Gen. Gates. His father, the Rev. T. P. Sawin, was a prominent Congregational minister of New England, who died in January, 1886. His mother, Martha Mclntyre Mason, was born in Andover, Mass. , and died in 1895. Rev. Theophilus graduated from the high school at Manchester, N. H., and prepared for college at the Kimball Union Academy and entered Yale in the class of 1864. He left college in the sophomore year on account of poor health. He subsequently went to New York city where he taught in the Mount Washington Collegiate Institute two years, later he engaged in newspaper work and still later went to Milwaukee, Wis., where he was a professor of Latin and mathematics in the Milwaukee Academy, during the time pursuing his theological studies, and was ordained to the gospel ministry at Racine, Wis. , where he preached for four years. He was then called to the Congregational church in Janesville, Wis., where he served for six years. During this period his well known interest in educational work led to a State appointment as lecturer before the Teacher's Institute. He was also made a member of the Board of Examiners at the Whitewater Normal School. From Janes ville he received a unanimous call to the Mystic Congregational church in Medford, Mass. After serving here for nearly five years he was called to the First Presbyte rian church of Troy, the oldest church in the city, and was installed June 17, 1886. This church celebrated its centennial anniversary in 1891, and Dr. Sawin prepared the historical records of the same, which were published in a volume of 140 pages. During his ministry here he has been in demand as a lecturer on literary and historical sub jects. He has been invited to deliver the Baccalaureate sermon befere the R. P. I. five times, and every year since his coming here he has delivered the Memorial Ad dress before the Grand Army Posts on the Sunday evening preceding Memorial Day. He is an associate member of Post Griswold, G. A. R. He is also a trustee of the Troy Academy. He received the degree of D.D. from Williams College. Many of his sermons and addresses have been published in pamphlet form, but his most 346 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. extensive work is a volume entitled The Transfiguring of the Cross. He was married in 1864 to Emeline T. Farel, and has had two children, the younger of which died in 1887. The elder, Cara Angenette, was graduated at the Lasell Sem inary, Auburndale, Mass., in 1896. Sage, James H., wasborn in Fredonia, N. Y., in 1840. His father, William C. Sage, was born in 1814 in Brunswick, N. Y., and was a produce buyer. He was a brother of Russell Sage, the celebrated financier of New York city. He died in 1887. His mother, Lucritia (Jones) Sage, born in Jonesville, N. Y., in 1811, died July 2, 1885. James H. was educated at the public schools and entered the fruit and pro duce business and has been in that business since. He married Helen E. Young of Montpelier, Vt., in 1885, a step-daughter of the Hon. William Lord, speaker of the House of Representatives of the Vermont Legislature. Shields, William H., was born in Troy in 1853. He is the son of Hamilton L Shields, who graduated from West Point in 1847 and served in the Mexican war, and on General Wool's staff, but resigned in 1854. He died in 1889. His mother is Caroline (Hart) Shields, a daughter of Richard P. Hart. William H., after leaving the Troy Academy, took a position with the Troy Steel and Iron Co., where he remained nine years and then accepted a position at the J. Wool Griswold Wire Works of Troy as manager, and still occupies that position. In 1885 he married Miss Anna Thalimer, a daughter of the late Peter Thalimer; she died in December, 1888. They had two children, William and Anna. His present wife was Sarah Johnston of Cohoes, N. Y. He is a member of the Troy Club, was for seventeen years a member of the Citizens' Corps, and is now a member of the Old Guard. Simons, William, was born in Rochester, N. Y., where he received his education and went into the office of Garson, Kerngood & Co. Seven years later he came to Troy and with Leo August, of Denver, Colo., formed the firm of August & Simons, better known as the Model Clothing, which is the double store located on the corner of River and Fulton streets. On September 19, 1894, they opened their store, since which time they have been doing a very successful business. On July 15, 1896, they admitted as partner S. I. Hirshberg of Rochester, who was connected with the wholesale manufacturing business. They are live advertisers and liberal in all their dealings. They manufacture most of their clothing and also do a large business in gents' furnishing goods and hats. The store is lit by arc and incandescent lights and gas, and is one of the best equipped stores for the clothing business in the State. Leo August is a member of the B. P. O. E. Tompkins, Albert, wasborn in Rhode Island in 1829. His father, Clark Tompkins, came to Cohoes in 1840 and was employed to do the repair work for the Harmony Mills, where he remained until 1846, when he came to Troy and started a machine shop. In 1870 he went to California on account of ill health where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1876. His mother, Eliza A. (Cook) Tompkins, came from Rhode Island. She is now living in California and is eighty-nine years of age. He received his education in district schools and when fourteen years of age entered the machine shop and learned the trade, and with his brother Ira, manufactures knitting machinery ou Ida Hill. He is a commander of Post Griswold, G. A. R., and a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge, F. & A. M. He belongs to the FAMILY SKETCHES. 347 Exempt Firemen's Association, and was for twelve years school commissioner of Troy, and fire commissioner for nine years. He was married to Miss Julia Skeels of Albia in . 1870. His present wife was Mrs. Sarah E. Sprung, to whom he was married in 1873. He has one son and four daughters. Van Santvoord, Seymour, was born December 17, 1858. His ancestors on his father's side were Holland Dutch. The progenitor of the family in this country was the Rev. Cornelius Van Santvoord, a graduate of the University of Leyden and preached in Dutch, French and English on Staten Island. His father, George Van Santvoord, was at one time a member of the Troy bar practicing in partnership with the late David Seymour. He also published several legal books, a life of Algernon Sydney and Lives of the Chief Justices of the United States. His great grandfather on the maternal side was Dr. Peter Van Schaack, a graduate of King's College, and a celebrated lawyer. His grandfather was a lawyer and the founder and for many years the editor of the Kinderbrook Rough Notes, one of the oldest papers in the State. Seymour received his education at the Kinderbrook Academy, after which he entered the printing office of his grandfather, where he remained six months. He later entered Willist.m Seminary at East Hampton, Mass., and after six months entered the sophomore class of Union College and graduated in 1878. In the fall of 1878 he entered the law office of Warren & Patterson as a student and graduated from the Albany Law School in 1880 and opened an office where he prac ticed alone until January 1, 1894, when he formed a copartnership with George B. Wellington, the firm now being Van Santvoord & Wellington. He is a member of the Holland Society of New York, a director of the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society, a trustee in the Second Street Presbyterian church, and president of the Troy Good Government Club. At present he is one of the receivers of the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Co. He is a trustee of the Albany Law School and the Samaritan Hospital. He married a daughter of the late Capt. N. L. Shields of the United States Army. He has five children. He is a Democrat in politics. Vanderbogart, John H. , was born in Columbia county in 1835. His father, John M. Vanderbogart, was a farmer of Columbia county and belonged to the Relief Corps in the Civil war, assigned to fort duty, and died in August, 1882. His mother, Sophia M. (McAlpin) Vanderbogart, died in 1871. John H. when nine years of age went to work in the cotton mills at Valatie, N. Y. , until nineteen years old, when in 1854 he came to Troy and entered the employ of B. F. Thompson, who was in the fruit business, and later was a messenger for the National Express Co. until 1863, when he went to work in the Starbuck Iron Works on Center Island, and was later with A. W. Orr & Co. , and started in business for himself in 1870 in the manufacture of boilers and also does all kinds of boiler and tank work. His factory is in the city of Watervliet, N.Y. He belongs to Trojan Lodge No. 27, I. O. O. F., and also the John W. Nesbot Encampment No. 110; also a member of Canton Leo, and a mem ber of Rebecca Eclipse Lodge No. 154. In 1857 he married Miss Susan Craver of Troy. He has one son, the Rev. A. J. Vanderbogart, who is now the pastor of an Episcopal church in Salisbury, Md. ; a daughter, who was the wife of Joseph H. Martin, died April 26, 1886, Willets, John H., was born in Enfield, Tompkins county, N. Y., September 15, 348 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. 1845. His father, Henry Willets, was born in White Plains, N. Y., and was a farmer. His mother, Jane (Hooper) Willets, was born in Enfield. He prepared for college at the Ithaca Academy and entered Cornell in 1869, but did not graduate. He began teaching in 1869. He came to Troy in 1875 and taught until March, 1895, when he was elected superintendent of schools. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum. In 1870 he was married to Mary H. Jennings of Tompkins county, by whom he has one daughter. Williamson, Rev. Robert D., was born in Millersburgh, Ohio, February 23, 1833. He is of Scotch-Irish descent. His early ancestors settled in Lancaster, Pa., about 1780. His father, David Williamson, was born in Pennsylvania and died in Ohio in 1860. His mother was Catherine Duncan, who died in 1882. Rev. Williamson grad uated from Franklin College, New Athens, Ohio, in 1853, and entered the Theologi cal Seminary at Xenia, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1857, and was licensed to preach in the spring of the same year. He has been pastor of the Lansingville, N. Y., Florida, N. Y., and Paterson, N. J., United Presbyterian churches, and of the United Presbyterian church of Troy since December, 1871. He has been stated clerk of the Albany Presbytery for twenty-two years, and superintendent of mis sions ten years. May, 1857, he married Phebe L. Cruikshank, of Troy. He has three'sons, Isaac Hasbrouck, who is connected with the firm of Tom S. Wotkyns & Co. ,*E. B., who is a member of the firm of Alexander & Williamson, successors to J. W. Cusack and William T. , a bookkeeper at the Ludlow Valve Works. Stout, Edward L. , was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1840. His paternal ances tors came originally from the North of Ireland, and his ancestors on his grand mother's side are descendants of the famous "Sands" family of England. His mother was a lineal descendant of Roger Sherman. His father, the Rev. Edward S. Stout, was a Methodist clergyman, prominent in New York East Conference, and died at Troy in 1859. His mother, Julia R. Foote, was born in Alford, Mass., and died at Troy in 1861. Edward L. Stout received his education in the common schools and the Montgomery Academy, and entered the Mount Vernon College in Iowa, where he remained for one year. On coming to Troy in 1859, he entered the employ of Corning & Winslow, and was with them and H. Burden & Sons until 1864. He was paymaster for Winslow & Griswold when they were building the Monitor and Galena. Later he entered the insurance business, the firm being Allen, Rogers & Stout. In 1872 he entered the oyster business with J. H. Goodsell, the firm being J. H. Goodsell & Co. Mr. Goodsell retired in 1874, and Mr. Stout has since carried on the business. In 1894 the firm became Stout & Metcalf, and besides their large oyster business they carry on a very extensive fruit and produce trade. He is a 32d degree Mason. He is also director in the R. R. Y. M. C. A. , and clerk of Joint Board State Street Methodist Episcopal church, recording secretary Rensselaer County Bible Society, vice-president of Union Mission. He married Miss Mary Goodsell of New Haven, Conn., by whom he has two children: Dr. E. G. Stout, a physician of Troy ; and Mary J. Stout. Schneider, Henry, was born March 27, 1856, at Troy, N. Y. He is a son of Louis and Margaret (Cook) Schneider, who came to this country in 1854. He died in 1863 and his wife died in 1870. Henry was educated in the schools of Troy and in 1869 FAMILY SKETCHES. 349 went to Germany where he attended school one year. He then returned to Troy and entered the store of L. Burton & Co. as clerk, where he remained until 1875, when he again went to Europe and returned in 1876 and went to Colorado, and was for several years in the drug business. In 1883 he returned to Troy and opened a drug store, where he is still in business. He is a member of the Masonic bodies of Troy. May 16, 1880, he was married to Eleanor Golightly, of Leadville, Col., by whom he has had one son and two daughters: the son Louis, died in infancy; Jo- hanetta (who also died in infancy), and Gretchen, now living, is a bright little girl of ten years. Magill, David F. , wasborn in Belfast, Ireland, January 24, 1841, and came to this country with his parents, Andrew and Mary Magill, in 1846. His mother died in 1867. Mr. Magill received his education in the common schools, and later went to work in the paper store of Tonsley & Teal. He later went to work in a drug store, that of Dr. Taylor, on Broadway, where he learned the business, and was in the business with J. Walter Jones for eight years. In 1870 he started in the business for himself on King street, where he carries on an extensive drug business, also making a specialty of laundry supplies. He belongs to the Masonic bodies of Troy, being a 32d degree Mason. He has been an active fireman since 1859, belonging to Trojan Hook and Ladder Co. since 1860, of which he has held the office of assistant captain four years, and captain one and a half years. He married Esther Mont gomery of Lansingburgh. January 6, 1864. Her father, John Montgomery, has been with D. Powers & Son over fifty years. Their children are Samuel B., a drug gist of Lansingburgh, Walter, James, and Ida. His brother James was killed at Southside Railroad, March 31, 1865, while in the service of his country, having en listed in the 169th Regt. N. Y. Vols. Another brother, Thomas H., was formerly a dry goods merchant of Troy, now retired ; his elder brother Frederick, has charge of the crematory at Oakwood Cemetery. Hislop, Thomas W., was born in Troy, N. Y., November 3, 1861. His father, James Hislop, was born in Scotland and came to Troy in 1854, and for many years ran a grocery store on the corner of Second and Madison streets. He died April 30, 1882. His mother, Elizabeth (Glass) Hislop, now lives in Troy. Thomas W. Hislop received a common school and business college education, and entered the drug store of his father, where he remained until his death in 1882, and since that time has had charge of the estate. In 1895 he bought an interest in the firm of Foot & Thorne of New York city, wholesale dealears and jobbers in all kinds of glass. He is president of the concern, and belongs to Mount Zion Lodge No. 311, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, of which he is captain gen eral and generalissimo in the Drill Corps, and the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Laureate Boat and Troy Yacht Clubs, and is a general trustee in the Third Street M. E. church. He is first lieutenant in the Troy Citizens Corps, and has been captain for a number of years in the City Central Staff, a Republican campaign club. He married Miss Nellie Bitley of West Troy, March 9, 1888, by whom he has two children': Thomas W., jr., and Mabel F:iizabeth. He is a half owner in the Troy and West Troy Ferry. Goldthwaite, Abel G., was born in Sandgate, Vt., and comes from old New Eng- 350 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. land stock, many of his ancestors having taken part in the Revolutionary war. He is the son of Elias and Angelina (Squier) Goldthwaite of Vermont. His mother died in 1894. Abel G. Goldthwaite was educated in the common schools of Ver mont, and went as a millwright's apprentice. He came to Troy in 1862 and entered Tolhurst's machine shop, where he has held all positions from working at the bench to his present position as designer and draughtsman for that concern. He belongs to Apollo Lodge, F. & A. M., of which he is past master; of Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, of which he is past commander, being a 32d degree Mason. He married Kate H. O'Brien of Bennington, Vt., in 1847. He has two sons: Bert L. , a physician of Williamstown, N. Y. , and Fred A., a machinist. Faulkner, Thomas, was born at Whitehall, Washington county, in 1842. He is a son of Charles and Mary Faulkner, who died when he was quite young. He lived on a farm in Easton until he was eighteen years of age, and during the time he at tended the district school. He came to Troy and was employed in the store of C. H. Garrison as clerk, and after a few years formed a partnership with Stephen W. Holton. He entered the grocery business under the firm name of Holton & Faulk ner. The. firm afterwards became Faulkner & Hamlin, and two years later he bought Mr. Hamlin's interest in the' concern, and in 1869 took possession of the store on King street, where he has since carried on the business. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge, F. & A. M. In 1863 he married Anna E. Law of Troy. He has one son, a lawyer of Troy, and one daughter, Lidie M. English, Lawrence A., was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1863. Ho is the son of John and Hannah (Lyons) English. His father came to this country from Ireland in 1855 and settled in Troy, and in 1860 opened the bakery at 349 Second street. In 1865, in connection with other business, he opened a coal yard. Mr. English re ceived his education in the common schools, and entered the coal office of his father and in 1886 became a partner, the firm being John English & Son, which continued until 1895, when he became proprietor, still retaining the name of John English & Son. Besides this large wholesale and retail business, he is a large real estate owner. In September, 1888, he married Mary C. Fitzgerald, daughter of the late John Fitzgerald of Troy. He has three sons: John, Lawrence and Joseph. Dougrey, Howard M., was born in Lansingburgh, September 1, 1839. His great grandfather came from Ireland and settled in Lansingburgh. His grandfather, James Dougrey, was born in Ireland, and for many years was a maltster and brewer in Lansingburgh. His father, James Dougrey, was also in the brewing business, and was later secretary of the Rensselaer County Insurance Company and also gen eral agent for same. He was justice of the peace, assessor, and was supervisor for two terms. He died in 1863. His mother, Frances E. (Moulton) Dougrey, was born in Troy, where she died Feb. 18, 1887. Howard M. Dougrey was educated in the com mon schools and the Lansingburgh and Kinderbrook Academies, and went to work in the wholesale grocery business of Haight & Gillespie, where he remained forabouteight years, when he went to work for John Warr; after a short time he took a position as messenger for Chapin's Troy & New York Steamboat Express. Later he went in the employ of the National Express Co., and after filling nearly all the positions in the office, was made an agent of the American National Express Co. for Troy. He is a 32d degree Mason, and was for many years a member of Osgood Steamer Co. FAMILY SKETCHES. 351 Chase, Theodore T., was born in Mechanicville, N. Y., in 1866. He is the son of E. Corning and Gertrude (Lewis) Chase. Mr. Chase was educated in the common schools and the Mechanicville Academy. He then entered the music store of Cluett & Sons as clerk, where he remained for three years. He then engaged with Gilbert Geer, jr., & Co., in the insurance business, where he remained for seven years. January 1, 1892, he formed a partnership with Charles McCarthy, the firm name being McCarthy & Chase, and opened the insurance and real estate office at No. 315 River street. He is a member of Trojan H. & L. Co., Trojan Wheelmen, Laureate Boat Club, Riverside Club, and King Solomon Lodge, F. & A. M. He married Mabel Farley of Troy, December 25, 1889. She died July 9, 1896. Carl, Herman, born in Prussia, Germany, February 17, 1831, was educated in the common schools and learned the knitting trade, which he followed until 1854, when he came to America. In 1856 he settled on Green Island, Albany county, and secured employment in the Gilbert Car shops, where he remained until 1864. In 1865 he opened a cigar and tobacco store in Troy, but the poor tobacco crop of 1870 forced him to give up the business and he started a restaurant. He moved in 1876 to No. 1 Fulton street, where he remained until he opened a wholesale wine and liquor store at No. 351| River street. In May, 1884, he moved to No. 139 Fourth street, where he is still doing business. Mr. Carl is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M , Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., Oriental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Mistletoe Grove No. 11, U. A. O. D., Rhein Lodge No. 248, I. O. O. F., Guttenberg Lodge No. 112, K. P., Troy Maenner- chor and Saengerbund; he is a charter member of the Germania Hall Association and its only treasurer since its organization; he was for three years president of the Troy Turn Verein. He joined Doring's Band in 1860, but resigned in 1878 because of pressure of business. In 1857 he married Walburga Teschan of Rastadt, Baden, Germany; she died November 3, 1880, and in 1882 he married Katrina Baker of Kirdorf Hessen, Germany. Mr. Carl has eight children living: Carrie, Amelia, Annie, Marie A., Edward, George, Fred and Louis B. Coutie, George S. , was born in Troy, N. Y. , in 1861. He is the son of William and Christina (Stewart) Coutie, who came from Scotland and settled in the United States in 1848. William Coutie was the first to manufacture compound engines in the United States. George S. Coutie has charge of the business established by his father in 1850. The firm is now William Coutie & Son. They manufacture stove foundry machines, tools, and compound engines. He was supervisor from 1890 to 1896 and is now clerk of the board. Mr. Coutie was married March 19, 1891, to Henrietta Bennett, daughter of H. O. and Mary E. (Seward) Bennett of Troy. Bayer, William F., was born in Troy, N. Y., May 28, 1858. His parents, Thomas and Regina Bayer, were born in Germany and are of the oldest and most respected German residents of this city. His father, Thomas Bayer, died in 1873, his mother is still alive and has been a resident of this city for over fifty years. Mr. Bayer re ceived his education in the public schools and left the Troy High School lo accept a position in the Troy City Bank, where he remained several years; the practical busi ness and financial education he received there has been of great value to him. Owing to ill health he left the bank, and went to Colorado, where he remained on a ranch 352 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. until finding his health restored he returned to Troy and entered the lumber office of Howes & Weaver which was soon succeeded by Weaver & Thompson. He soon acquired a knowledge of the business and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his employers. When the firm of Weaver & Thompson was dissolved in 1887 Mr. Bayer negotiated for the purchase of the business, and having associated with him as part ner Mr. Alonzo McConihe, succeeded to the business. The firm of Bayer & McCon ihe was thus formed and by enterprise and maintaining a reputation for fair dealing, it has steadily increased its business, so that it is now the largest and best known wholesale and retail lumber firm in this vicinity. Their office is located at 53 River street, Troy, N. Y. Mr. Bayer was married in 1893 to Wilhelmina, a daugh ter of Werner Strecker of the firm of Macdonald & Co. Berry, Rev. George T., the eldest son of the Rev Charles T. Berry of Brooklyn, was born at Valatie, N. Y. , where his father spent the first five years of his ministry as pastor of the First Presbyterian church, afterwards serving for a quarter of a century as the pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Caldwell, N. J. Rev. George T. received his early education at the Caldwell high school and prepared for college at the Newark Academy. In 1883 he entered Princeton college and was grad uated with the class of 1887. After teaching two years in Ohio he returned to Prince ton and entered the Theological Seminary, graduating in 1892. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Newark one year previous to his graduation, and he sup plied the First Presbyterian church of Boston the summer following. In June, 1892, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Newark and came to Troy as a supply for the Second Presbyterian church during the absence of the Rev. Dr. Hall in Europe. In the fall of the same year he returned to Princeton for a post-graduate course, at the conclusion of which he devoted a year and more to foreign travel, completing the journey around the world. He returned to Troy in September, 1894, and since that time has supplied the pulpit of the Second Street Presbyterian church, of which he was installed pastor in November, 1895. He was married in 1893 to Carrie E. Packer, daughter of George A. Packer of Troy, N. Y. Allendorph, John H., was born in Ogdensburgh, N. Y. , in March, in 1866. He is of German descent and the son of H. E. Allendorph, who was born in Moreau, N. Y., and came to Troy in 1840, and for a short time was in the employ of John O. Mariom in the manufacture of pocket-books. He afterwards went with the auctioneer, A. M. Priest. In 1842 Mr. Priest and himself started a store at No. 318 River street, under the firm name of Priest & Allendorph, and sold toys, notions, etc. Two years later they opened a branch store in Albany. The Albany store was taken five years later by Mr. Priest, and Mr. Allendorph continued in the Troy store with his brother William. They opened a branch in Ogdensburgh in 1854, which was discontinued in 1870. Mr, H. E. Allendorph died in 1891. His mother. Isabell (Salisbury) Allen dorph, is still living in Troy. In 1890 John H. Allendorph in connection with George I. Johnson reorganized the business of his father under the firm name of J. H. Allen dorph & Co., and doa large business. in notions, toys, fire works, etc. He was elected alderman from the Third ward in 1890, and re-elected in 1892. He belongs to Apollo Lodge F. & A. M., and is a member of the Trojan Hooks and was secre tary of the same for five years. He married Susie J. Ostrom of Rochester, N. Y., in 1892. FAMILY SKETCHES. 353 Boughton, William H., was born in Troy, N. Y., December 4, 1843, and was edu cated in the public schools of Troy. April 17, 1861, he enlisted in Co. H, 2d N.Y. Vols. , serving in the Army of the Potomac, Hooker's Division, 3d Army Corps, and was honorably discharged May 26, 1863. He graduated from Troy Business College, and has been a merchant tailor in Troy for the past twenty years. April 30, 1874, he married Wilhelmina A. Knower of West Troy, Albany county, and have had two childred: Maud and Edith; the last named died at the age of six. Mr. Boughton's father, Samuel, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., in 1791. He married Pamelia Hayner, and had one son, as above. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and his father, John, was captain of a Connecticut troop in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Boughton's father died in 1851, and his mother in 1884. In his political choice he is a thorough Republican, and is a member of William B. Tibbits Post, No. 141, G. A. R., Troy, and is past commander. This family on the paternal side are of French Huguenot stock, having descended from Count Nicholas Bouton; their later an cestry is French, English and Dutch. Dauchy, Charles H., was born in Troy, N. Y., August 14, 1843. He was educated in private schools and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, and was graduated from the Albany Business College in 1861. He was engaged in the grocery business on River street for about seven years, then became a dealer in paints and oils and in 1888 glass was added to his stock. December 15, 1869, he married Esther A., a daughter of Albert E. and Frances (Hanford) Powers of Lansingburgh, N. Y. They have two children living: William Powers and Frances Hanford, now students in Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., and Howard Seminary, West Bridgewater, Mass., respectively. Mr. Dauchy's father, Charles, was born in Troy in 1804. He was well educated and was a dry goods merchant, afterwards becoming a lumber merchant. He married Hannah Waterbury, of Darien, Conn., by whom he had seven children: Nathan, Jessie M. , Frances L., Georgiana, Charles H., Henrietta E., and John B. The ancestry of the family is French. Hagen, Joseph H., son of William and Jane S. (Jones) Hagen, was born July 16, 1839, in Troy, was educated in the public schools, the Troy Academy, and the Lan singburgh Academy, and in 1855 became a member of an engineering corps on the Erie Canal, where he worked two years. He was employed by William Barton and Charles L. Fuller, engineers, until the war broke out, when he enlisted in Co. E, 2d N. Y. Vols., as first sergeant. June 20, 1861, he was commissioned second lieuten ant, July 27, first lieutenant and November 23, as captain. He returned to Troy after the war and was for three years with the Rensselaer Works and later with Bus- well, Durant & Co. as bookkeeper. In 1873-74 he was in Philadelphia as agent for the Domestic Sewing Machine Company. In the spring of 1876 Mr. Hagen entered the employ of the Troy and Lansingburgh and Troy City Railways and is now sec retary and treasurer of the latter company and also of its leased lines. He is a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and of Post Griswold and the Royal Arcanum. April 19, 1869, he married Sara, daughter of Or- ville Reed of Lansingburgh and they have two children living: Charles and Orville. Ives, Truman, was born at Poestenkill, September 24, 1816. He was educated in a private school in Fourth street and one year in the Lancaster school in Troy, N. Y. 354 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. He was a clerk in a grocery store for one year; since that time he has devoted his whole life to the growing of and dealing in vegetables, growing them on his farm in Lansingburgh, and selling them to the trade in Lansingburgh and Troy, chiefly the last named place. He was the greatest worker in the county, which work was intelligently directed by his strong brain and will-power. Mr. Ives was one of the originators and promoters of the Fulton Market in Troy, and one of the first to occupy it, which has been continually used since by some member of the Ives family, He has four sons in the business on their own account. He was married twice, first on June 25, 1838, to Martha A. Cushing, of Poultney, Vt. They have had seven children: Catharine, Sarah, Charles, Lionel C, Myron C, Walter T. and one who died in infancy. They are all dead at this date except Lionel. Mrs. Ives died Janu ary 16, 1861. For his second wife he married Mary A. Bates of the town of Bruns wick, by whom he has had seven children: Truman C, Lillian B., George H., Reuben G., Mary F., Charles C. and Gracie. Mr. Ives is a self-made man in every sense. The Iveses are of Puritan stock of Scotch extraction. Kirkland, Ralph Thornton, was born in Rome, Oneida county, in 1843. He was educated in the public schools and the Rome Academy. He was with Dr. S. F. Tremain for three years, and afterwards attended the Philadelphia Dental College and was graduated in the spring of 1872. He practiced at AdamS, Jefferson county, and in October, 1889, he came to Lansingburgh where he has since been successfully engaged. He has married twice, first, to Antoinette V. Daw, and had one son, Ralph A. D. Mrs. Kirkland died June 29, 1878, and for his second wife he married, April 28, 1884, Mrs. Elizabeth Shapley, born Horth. Upon the completion of his education, September 1, 1862, he enlisted in Co. G, 146th Infantry N. Y. Vols., and was honorably discharged, August 14, 1865. He is a member of Bolton Post No. 471, G. A. R., of Lansingburgh. The father of Mr. Kirkland, Ralph W. , was born in Clinton, Oneida county, February 5, 1814. He married Eliza W. Weightman of his native town; they had three children: Silas H., Amy J., and Ralph T. Mrs. Kirk land died June 8, 1885, and he survives at this date, 1896. The ancestry of the family is Scotch and English. Lewis, Dr. Nathaniel B., was born near Binghamton, Broome county, N. Y., Feb ruary 21, 1840, son of George W. and Lovina (Bishop) Lewis. He was educated in the public schools and the old Binghamton Academy, and began to study medicine at the age of eighteen in Kane county, 111. He immediately put his knowledge into practice, making a specialty of electro-therapeutics, in which he was very successful. He belonged to an independent military Co. there, and when the Rebellion broke out they were mustered into the United States service for three months at Springfield, Ills., and were honorably discharged at the end of that time. He then enlisted in Co. G, 52d Infy. 111. Vols., and they were mustered into service September 25, 1861, He was wounded in the face with a gun shot in the battle of Pittsburg Landing. He was promoted first sergeant for gallant conduct, and was honorably discharged No vember 16, 1864. After being discharged he went through to the sea with Sherman as a citizen employee of the government. He returned to Illinois in January, 1865; about two years after he went to Iowa where he was freight conductor for the Chi cago & Northwestern Railway Company, and afterwards fence contractor for the FAMILY SKETCHES. 355 Illinois Central Railroad Company. In 1875 he came to Troy, N. Y. , and perfected himself in his chosen profession with Dr. Benton, where he remained as partner for two years. May 2, 1880, he married Susan (Gray) King, of Waterford, Saratoga county, N. Y. She died September 30, 1896. In 1881 he came to Lansingburgh, where he has since practiced with success. He kept his office in Troy until May, 1896, when he removed it to his residence. He is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M., Troy, of which he is past master. The ancestry of the family is French and English. Magee, John, M. D., son of James P. and Mary (Bradley) Magee, wasborn August 10, 1855, in Athol, Warren county, N. Y., where he attended the common schools. In 1877 he entered the University of Vermont where he remained for one term, and in 1878 entered the medical department of the same university and took one course there in 1879, began the study of medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Md., graduating with the degree of M. D., in 1881. He then commenced active practice in Lansingburgh. Dr. Magee was graduated from the New York Post-Graduate Medical School in 1887. He was elected president of the village of Lansingburgh in March, 1895, and still holds that office. He was, up to 1894, health officer of the village for eight consecutive years, resigning to go abroad. He was school trustee from 1893 to 1896, when he declined re-election because of the pressure of professional business. Dr. Magee has a large stock farm at Chestertown, N. Y., where he keeps a number of fine horses of the Wilkes and Electioneer blood. No vember 12, 1882, he married Addie S., daughter of Abram and Maria Wilcox of Chestertown, and they have two sons; Clarence Ashley and John Abram. Stanley, Rev. Charles F. , was born in the village of Victory Mills, Saratoga county, and was educated in the public schools at home and Saratoga Springs. He was in the employ of the Delaware and Hudson Railway Company for eleven years in various positions. He was locomotive engineer the last five of the eleven years, and for some time was engineer of the Saratoga special passenger train. He de cided to change from an engineer and set about educating himself for the gospel ministry. He took a partial course in the Colgate Academy, and was graduated from the Theological Seminary at Hamilton in 1884. In 1881, when yet a student, he began to preach at the First Baptist church at Lansingburgh, was ordained in 1882, and has been its pastor ever since with success. In 1884 he married L. Estella Holloway of Lansingburgh, by whom four children have been born: Ruby May, Flossie Millis, Myrtle Estella, and Lila. He is an honorary member of Division 87 of B. of L. E. The father of Mr. Stanley, Frederick A., was born at the old home stead, and married Delila Dickinson, by whom five children were born: Ethelbert A., Charles F., Frank D., Fred A., and Hattie M. Mr. Stanley died about 1874 and his widow survives at this date, 1896. The ancestry of the family is English and Dutch. Winslow, Joseph H., was born in Argyle, Washington county, N. Y., January 11, 1836. He was educated in the common schools and Argyle Academy, coming to Troy at the age of sixteen, where he was clerk in a grocery store for six years, then became proprietor of the concern with a capital of $50. In 1868-63 he did a business of $62,000 a year, and continued in this line for thirteen years. He then embarked in 356 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. the real estate business, which he has since followed, having handled $20,000,000 worth of real estate in twenty-seven years. Mr. Winslow has been married twice ; first in 1856 to Lany A. Hayner of the town of Brunswick, by whom he had two children : Edgar W. and Henrietta. Edgar W. is in partnership with his father iu the real estate, loan and insurance busines at 13 State street, the firm name being J. H. Winslow & Co. Mrs. Winslow died in 1868 and November 17, 1870, he mar ried Maria H. Dusenburgh of Brunswick, by whom he had one daughter, Jessie E. Edgar W. married Emma Chism, formerly of Schenectady, by whom he had one daughter, Viola M. Henrietta married Calvin H. Roberts of Troy, and they have one son, Leroy. Jessie E. married Fred L. Wheeler of Lansingburgh, assistant draughtsman in the employ of the Ludlow Valve Works. Mr. Winslow is a member of Trojan Lodge No. 27, I. O. O. F., and trustee of the Ninth Presbyterian church of Troy. The ancestry of the family is English, German and Scotch. Strecker, Werner, was born in Alsfeld, duchy of Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, February 26, 1837, being one of six children of a woolen manufacturer, five of whom have made this their adopted country. Werner Strecker attended the public schools until his fifteenth year, when he began the study of law in his native town with a prominent lawyer named Koch. Not feeling inclined to spend his best years in the German army, he took advantage of the law allowing young men under eighteen to leave their country and came to America in the vessel Merrimac, arriving in New York October 28, and in Troy, November 3, 1854. He learned the barber's trade, which he followed for several years. In 1860 he became a citizen of the United States, cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln for president, and has ever since been a staunch Republican, In 1861 he married a daughter of Lorenz Kirch- ner, who for marry years conducted a custom boot and shoe business in Troy. His health failing he bought a farm near Egg Harbor, N. J., and left Troy on the mem orable night of Lincoln's assassination, April 14, 1865. Two years later he removed to Boston, Mass., where he resumed his traf'e and joined the Turn Verein, of which he was president two years. In 1872 he removed to Greenfield, Mass., and engaged in the grocery business and in 1874 returned to Troy, where he opened a German school in Apollo Hall, which, with the assistance of his eldest daughter, he con tinued for several years, having at times as'many as eighty scholars. Meantime he became interested in fire and life insurance, finally relinquished his school and is now a member of the insurance firm of MacDonald & Co. He has often presided at German meetings, is a leader among his countrymen, assisted in organizing the German Hall Association and is its secretary, is president of the German Repub lican Club and is secretary of the Troy Turn Verein and German Club ; he is past master of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M., whose members on February 24, 1885, presented him with a gold watch and chain, in appreciation of his labors among them. He was also the successful candidate in the Freie Deutsche Presse voting contest as the most popular German of Troy. He is a favorite orator, an enterpris ing citizen, and a successful business man. His children are Lorenzo, a druggist of Gloversville, N. Y. ; Edward, receiving teller of the Union National Bank of Troy; Minnie, wife of William Bayer of the firm of Bayer & McConihe, and Bertha L. and Pauline E., at home. FAMILY SKETCHES. 357 In tracing the history of the Masters family, one of the- oldest and most prominent in the county, we find that in 1716 Nicholas Masters, navigator and landed proprie tor, came to this country from the Isle of Guernsey, crossing the Atlantic in a small vessel of which he was owner and commander. He landed at Stratford, L. I., and remained there several years, engaged in trade with the West Indies. He married Elizabeth Shelton and removed to Woodbridge, Conn., where he purchased a large tract of land, known then, as now, as Grassy Hill. He left a large family of sons and daughters. One of the sons, James Masters, removed to Schaghticoke in 1783, bringing his family and household goods in three covered wagons. He also brought several slaves. The last night of the journey was passed at the Van der Heyden tavern in Troy, which at that time was a small settlement of a few log houses. He purchased of Daniel Toll, of Schenectady, who married Maria Van Rensselaer, daughter and heir of the first patroon, a tract of ldnd two miles square, on the north bank of the Hoosick River four miles east of the present village of Schaghticoke, and built the first frame house in that section, and moved into it from his tent in six weeks. He also built a saw mill, grist mill, and a mill for carding and dressing- wool. He married three times and left three sons, Nicholas, James Shelton, and Josiah, and two daughters. Nicholas married Sally Phelps of Rupert, Vt. They had two sons, Nicholas Merrit and Albert Phelps, who were the pioneers of the pow der manufacture in Schaghticoke, and were esteemed for intelligence and integrity of character. James Shelton, a farmer and merchant, was twice married, and had five sons and three daughters. Two of the sons died young. Robert was a mer chant in Saratoga county ; James E. A. was a. major in the U. S. navy and served in the war of 1812, and Phineas, a midshipman in the U. S. navy. The daughters were Mrs. Munson Smith and Mrs. Daniel Curtis of Schaghticoke and Mrs. Claudius Harrold of Cambridge, N.Y. Josiah was a prominent politician and statesman. He represented the county of Rensselaer in the Legislature four years, his district in Congress from 1806 to 1810; was for twenty five years first judge of the county, and forthe last twelve judge of the Common Pleas. He held correspondence with the most distinguished men of his times, De Witt Clinton, John Randolph and many others. He married three times and was the father of four sons and five daughters. Of the sons Josiah was an officer in the U. S. army; Samuel, a sea captain and con sul to British Guiana under President Pierce; Augustus, who with Captain Nye, built the first elevators at the Atlantic docks, Brooklyn, was for many years engaged in the warehousing business. Justus was a merchant in Western New York. The married daughters were Mrs. Charles Stebbins, of Cazenovia; Mrs. A. B. Johnson, of of Utica, and Mrs. King, of New Haven, Conn. Nicholas Merrit, son of Nicholas, was a graduate of Union College, studied law at Sandy Hill, was admitted to the bar in 1814, when he formed a partnership with Samuel Cheever of Troy, and prac. ticed for several years, until his health failing him he returned to the homestead in Schaghticoke. He was largely interested in the manufacture of gun powder, and was 'active and influential in all matters of public interest. He was for many years an elder in the Presbyterian church, held many offices in his town and county, was twice a member of the Legislature, and presidential elector when the vote of the State was cast for James K. Polk. In politics he was a. Democrat until 1848, when his party refused to endorse the Wilmot proviso, he cast his vote for Martin Van Buren and was one of the first and most active and influential supporters of the Re- 358 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. publican party. He married Miss Ann Thomas of Sandy Hill in 1815 and was the father of John T. Masters, who was engaged with him in the powder business and also held the office of revenue collector for many years. Mr. Masters was an ardent Republican from the formation of the party, and from his personal popularity and influence occupied a prominent position in his locality, both politically and socially. He married Miss Mary Mowry of Greenwich; they had four children, all'of whom died in youth and early manhood; a granddaughter, Mrs. Walter Cottrell of Green wich, is the only descendant. Albert Phelps married Sally Rising of Rupert, Vt., in 1817. He died in 1854, leaving three sons, Josiah Rising, Edward Nicholas and Marshall, and one daughter, Mrs. George G. Arnold of Washington, D.C. Josiah R. was unmarried. Marshall married Lucy M. Benjamin of Pittstown; they had three children, Frank A. and E. Shelton, who are engaged in the grocery trade in Troy, and Mrs. Calvin Lockwood of Brooklyn. Edward N. was born at Rupert, Vt., edu cated at Burr Seminary, Poultney, Vt. , studied law and was admitted to the bar in Utica, N. Y., in 1846, when he formed a partnership with Judge Isaac McConihe of Troy, but soon abandoned his profession and returned to Schaghticoke, where he was engaged in farming for many years. In 1850 he married Alice A., daughter of John R. and Clarissa (Goodrich) Le Barnes, of Sheffield, Mass. They had eight children: William B., Alice A., Mary E., Ellen, Annie, Edward B., John A. and Marshall A. ; of these, three died in childhood. In 1889 he removed with his re maining family to Montrose, Col., where a daughter and two sons had preceded him, and where he recently died in January, 1896. Mary E. in 1882 married Sterling S. Sherman, a prominent attorney of Montrose, formerly of Salem, N.Y. Edward B., a farmer, married in 1886 Martha M. Ritter, of Williamsport, Pa. Marshall A., proprietor of Montrose Wood and Metal Works, married Virginia F. Wright of North Branch. Va., m'1895. John A. removed to Jamestown, N D., in 1894, where he is owner and manager of an electric light plant. In his political choice Mr. Mas ters was a thorough Republican from the formation of the party, always a prominent leader in local politics and contributed largely to the success of the cause he sup ported. The farm to which reference has been made and upon whose soil the most of the family whose history is here recorded were born, was a part of the original purchase of 1,600 acres by James Masters. It lies upon the broad and beautiful highway running north and nearly parallel with the Hoosick River, on the bluff overlooking it, and is one of the most sightly and beautiful places in the county. This highway has been known as Masters street for nearly a century, and for. a long distance is shaded by huge maples, which were saplings during the Revolutionary war. Until it passed out of the possession of the Masters family it had only been owned by the Dutch government and the Van Rensselaer family, and there had been but two sales of it since the discovery of the country by Columbus. Sambrook, George T. , was born in London, England, in 1839, married Susan Dignam in 1857 and later came to America and settled in Albany. Four and a half years afterward he removed to West Troy, now Watervliet. At the breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted in the 93d Regiment, N. Y. Vols., and was wounded in the arm in the battle of the Wilderness. He is a member of Griswold post, G. A. R. In 1865 Mr. Sambrook started in business as a florist at 712 to 728 Fifth avenue, for merly called Groton street, with one greenhouse 70 by 16 feet in dimensions. He FAMILY SKETCHES. 359 continued to extend the same until June, 1892, when he formed a copartnership with his son, George T., jr., at which time they demolished the old plant and built an entirely new plant in the newest style. The property comprises five greenhouses, each 100 by 20 feet, in which are grown all varieties of flowers, such as roses, car nations, violets, smilax, lilies, ferns, chrysanthemums, palms and orchids. They employ three expert florists and the plant is valued at §10,000. In August, 1887, the firm started a store at 413 Fulton street, Troy, which was enlarged and improved in 1892. George T. Sambrook, jr., entered the employ of Louis Menand in 1876 and remained there until 1892, when he formed a copartnership with his father under the firm name of George T. Sambrook & Son. Anthony, J. Erwin, was born in Troy, N. Y. , July 5, 1864, and is a son of Aaron C. and Lydia B. (Robinson) Anthony. He was given a common school education, and at the age of seventeen entered the employ of H. B. Nims &Co. , later he became the assistant bookkeeper of the Wheeler & Wilson Machine Co., with whom he re mained until July 1, 1884, when he entered the Troy Savings Bank as junior clerk and since has served as assistant receiving teller, and on April 7, 1893, was elected secretary and treasurer, succeeding Mr. Charles E. Hanaman who had been elected to the presidency of that institution. When the City Club was organized Mr. An thony was elected its secretary. He married Mina A., daughter of Mr. Charles Moore of Troy. Roberts, John Wesley, was born in Valatie, Columbia county, N. Y., July 28, 1870, and with his parents moved to Troy, N. Y., in 1882. His father is John H. Roberts, who was born in Chatham, N. Y., and his mother was Sarah Helen Gilbert. He received his education in the public schools of his birth-place and his adopted city and also by private instruction. He began the study of law in 1888 and was admitted to practice from the office of Rufus M. Townsend of Troy, in 1892. He began prac tice alone in 1893, having then opened his office, and has built up a profitable and extensive law business. Harper, William J., was born in Troy in 1859. His father, Peter J., was born in Irelandand came to this country in 1840. He was for a number of years in the drug business in Cohoes. He died June 28, 1892. His mother, Mary E. (Rogerson) Har per, was born in England and is at present living in Troy. William J. received a common school education ; he entered the Quackenbush dry goods store as clerk, and later was in the same business with William Wilkinson, N. C. Winne & Co., and later with Church & Phalen, and when the firm was made a stock company, he be came one of the stockholders, and now Mr. Harper has charge of the ribbons, laces, etc. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge F. & A. M., and is a trustee of the M. E. church of Lansingburgh. In 1889 he was married to Anna L. Blumer of Syra cuse, N. Y. His children are Edward and Viola. Tompkins, Clark J., was born in Dutchess county, November 12, 1838. He is a son of Jesse H. and Anna Tompkins. The grandfather of Mr. Tompkins was Nathan iel Tompkins of Dutchess county where he lived most of his life. The maternal grandfather was Aaron Tompkins, a native of Dutchess county,' N. Y., who came to Nassau at a very early date. He spent his last days in Columbia county, N. Y. The father of Mr. Tompkins was a clothier by trade and also followed farming. He 360 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. spent his last days in Westchester county, N. Y., and died October 11, 1894, and his wife died March 11, 1888. Mr. Tompkins was reared at North Chatham and educated at that place. He has followed farming and lived in Columbiacounty until twenty-three years of age. He then moved to Saratoga county and then returned to Nassau; after a time he went to Columbia county and then to Westchester and remained there for thirteen years. In 1893 he bought the farm he now owns of 117 acres. In 1861 he married Mary E. Bogert, a native of Albany county and daughter of Jacob and Polly (Lester) Bogert; he spent his last days in Kansas, where his wife still lives. To Mr. and Mrs. Tompkins were born seven children: Edwin J., deceased; Enoch J , Ella L., Frank B., Jennie H., all four of Westchester county, Jessie A. and Kittie M. at home. Haussler, Mrs. Marie, born Marie E. Healy, daughter of M. C. Healy of Benning ton, Vt. Her late husband, Joseph H. Haussler of Hoosick Falls, died November 29, 1895, and his death was felt as a personal loss by the whole community. His father, Joseph Haussler, came to Hoosick Falls in 1859, carrying on an extensive furniture and undertaking business on Classic street. Joseph H. Haussler was pos sessed of many noble and generous qualities, aud his personal popularity was re markable. In 1888 he was appointed postmaster under Cleveland and his admini stration of that office was thoroughly efficient and praiseworthy. He was a fine musician and always prominent in local musical circles, being musical director and organist of the Roman Catholic church for many years. Alwaj'S actively instru mental in advancing local business and social interests, his untimely death was a source of universal regret. Copeland, William H., first became associated with the Walter A. Wood Company in 1875, having prior to 1873 led a somewhat itinerant life. He was born at Holly, N. Y. , sou of the late Jonathan Copeland, who was for fifty years a clergyman of the Presbyterian church and whose chosen field of labor of necessity precluded fixed residence. Mr. Copeland is very highly esteemed in the village of his adoption for his many sterling qualities. Since 1892 he has been paymaster of the Walter A. Wood Company. In 1881 he married Miss Julia Burchard of this place, daughter of an early settler here and an old family of much note. Sands, George E., was born in Troy, N. Y. , March 10, 1861. His father, Daniel Sands, belonged to the 169th Regiment N. Y. Vols., and was killed in the battle of the Wilderness in 1864. His mother, Ellen (Maddigan) Sands, who died in 1885, came to this country from the county of Limerick, Ireland, when but achild. After receiving a public school education he entered the Troy high school from which he graduated in 1879. He was for a number of years engaged in newspaper work. He has written at different times for the Standard, Telegram, and Troy Press and was at one time local managing correspondent of the Troy edition of the Albany Sunday Telegram. He was accountant in the city controller's office in 1889 and 1890, during which time he pursued his study of law. He was court clerk for two years, and in 1894 resigned to give his attention to his law practice, which had be come very extensive. He has been county committeeman of the Democratic party for several years. Rising, Charles H., was born in Westport, N. Y., October 19, 1825. His early FAMILY SKETCHES. 369 Walter Cyrus, Emily J., and Edna Sidelia. One infant son died in 1871 aged six months. Ennis, George H., was born in Albany, N. Y., October 14, 1844. He is the son of William Ennis, who was born in Troy and for many years was an inventor in New York city, and died in 1880. His mother's name was Elizabeth Roderick of Albany, now dead many years. His grandmother's name was Esther Orr, a sister of Alex ander, William and David Orr, of Albany and Troy, who died a few years ago at an advanced age. George H. received his education in public schools and entered the College of the City of New York, and was afterwards a bookkeeper for Rufus Hatch on Wall street. He later came to Troy and entered the employ of Orrs & Co. where lie remained until 1883, when he entered the firm of McLeod, Reardon & Co. , after wards Reardon & Ennis, and the concern was incorporated and name changed to the Troy Sheet Metal Co. He was president of the Crown Horse Nail Co., which closed business in 1893, and he is an inventor among other things of a hat felting machine, paper engine, ventilator and power ventilation system, high tension dynamic electro-motors; several inventions for household uses, as round dustpan, ventilated dinner pail, iGe cream freezers, gas engines, &c. He is an associate mem ber of the Rensselaer Society of Engineers and one of the managers of the Troy Scientific Association, and served in the N. Y. National Guard, 22d Regt, and was in the Gettysburg Campaign. He is P. C. of Post Griswold G. A. R., and belongs to Apollo Lodge, F. & A. M. Was secretary of Electric Manufacturing Co., manufac turers of electric instruments ; also secretary of Rollason Gas Engine Co. ; was also president of Master Builders' Exchange of Troy. He was married to Jessie Ferguson in 1872. She was a graduate of the Willard Seminary. ' They have one son and a daughter. Averill, James Knox, was born in Sand Lake, Rensselaer county, N. Y. , October 12, 1846, and is the son of James Gill Averill and Clarissa Sluyter. He is lineally descended in the fifth generation from Isaac Averill, the original Puritan emigrant, who settled in Topsfield, Mass. Mr. Averill married Rebecca Jane, daughter of John F. Davis, of Warren, Pa., February 4, 1886. He entered Yale College in 1865, but temporary illness and straitened finances interrupted his studies and induced him to teach school at Berlin, N. Y. In 1867 he entered Columbia Law School, graduating two years later, and was admitted to the bar in Troy. From 1869 to 1873 he prac ticed in New York in connection with his brother, Horatio F. Averill, and Hon. Thomas Allison ; from 1873 to 1877 he practiced alone ; while from 1877 to 1883 he practiced in Troy in partnership with the late Hon. Albert E. Wooster, then district attorney of Rensselaer county. Since 1884 he has practiced alone in New York city, where he has been the attorney in many cases of great importance. In recent years Mr. Averill has spent much time and money in the development of that part of his native town now known as Averill Park. In May, 1895, he organized a syn dicate of Troy capitalists and built so much of the Troy and New England Railroad as is located between Troy and Averill Park. He has since conveyed more than 300 acres of his holdings there to the Averill Park Land Improvement Company. From 1877 to 1880 Mr. Averill was somewhat active in local politics, and as a delegate to the Democratic State Convention in 1879 the resolutions adopted by the conven- n u 370 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. tion were, in the main, prepared by him. He has never been a candidate for public office. Finder, jr., William, M. D., was born October 11, 1855, second of eleven children born to William and Martha Finder, who came from Germany in 1853. Dr. Finder was educated in the common schools and Troy Academy, and began the study of medicine with Dr. William S. Cooper; in 1879 entered the medical department of Columbia College, andwas graduated in 1882 with the degree of M. D. June 15, 1882, he was graduated from the Long Island College Hospital with the degree of M. D. In the latter institution he was instructor in histology and pathology. He began the practice of his profession in Troy in 1883, and has been successful. He is a member of the New York State Medical Association, of which he was one of the organizers, a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, and was one of the organizers and has been president of the Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity: is a member of the Troy Scientific Association, the Troy Micfoscopical Society, and of the Medical Board of the Troy Hospital, of which he is pathologist and bacteriologist, and is instructor in physiology and hygiene in Troy Academy. He is a 32° Mason, a member of all the Masonic bodies of Troy, the Albany Consistory, and Nobles of the Mystic Shrine ; also the Laureate Boat, Ionic, and Pafraets Dael Clubs. He is medical examiner for several insurance companies. In 1882 he married Elva A. De Freest of Troy, who bore him two children, Elva and Martha (twins), who died young. Mrs. Finder was principal of the Third Ward Intermediate School before her marriage. Dr. Finder is a Republican ; he attends the First Presbyterian church, and his wife is a member of the State Street M. E. church. Van Schoonhoven, William H., son of Jacob Lansing and Mary Jane (Haight) Van Schoonhoven, was born in Troy, N.Y., August 25, 1849, and descends from an old and honored Holland family. His father, Jacob L., married, first, Harriet M. Yvonnet, of French descent, who died August 1, 1842; second, Mary Jane Haight, who died February 19, 1858; and third, Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. John Chester, one of the early presidents of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His children were Harriet M., James, Jane, Elizabeth (deceased), Francis Y., Mary, William H., Elizabeth L. (deceased), Alida L. , and Lansing. William H. Van Schoonhoven was born in Troy, August 25, 1849, was educated at the Troy Academy and at private schools in Westchester, N. Y. , and was graduated from Yale College in 1870. He read law with Gale & Alden of Troy, was admitted to the bar in January, 1874, and since practiced his profession in his native city. He is a director of the Central National Bank and the Samaritan Hospital, a trustee of the Second Street Presby terian church, and a member of the board of managers and house committee of the Troy Club. Abbott, Joseph J. , was born in Amsterdam in 1834. He learned the business of wagon and carriage building in Pittstown, and started in business in 1860. He came to Lansingburgh in 1871, where he started in business for himself, engaging in the manufacture of carriages. Mr. Abbott employs power in his business and does all parts of the work, not employing any of the common machine parts in his business at all. His work has a reputation all through the vicinity. He married Helen Ives, by whom six children have been born; Josephine, Jennie L., F. Van Celia, William J., Charles H., and Bertha, FAMILY SKETCHES. 371 Angeleum, Timothy F., was born in Albany county, December 20, 1859. He is a son of Timothy and Catherine (Cron) Angeleum, who came from Ireland to this country in 1837. He died in 1888 and his wife is living in Albany bounty, and is a sister of Terrence Cron, a prominent man in Ireland and a great friend of Daniel O'Connell. Timothy F. was graduated from the Albany High School in 1874 and went as fireman of a locomotive on the New York Central railroad for about five years, when he went to clerk in a dry goods store and later sold goods for the mills in Cohoes, and also took the entire product of the G. A. Hubbard factory of ladies' underwear and sold on commission for twelve years, and during that time never lost an account. In 1892 he formed a partnership with C. R. Ralston who have since manufactured ladies' waists, wrappers, etc., under the firm name of T. F. Angeleum & Co. They have a factory in Voorheesville, where they employ eighty people. In 1885 he married Kitty Noonan, of Troy. Allendorph, William P.. was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1850. He is of Holland Dutch descent. William Allendorph, sr., was born in Troy, and died in 1886. His mother was Mary E. (Simmons) Allendorph. He received his education in the pub lic schools, took a course in the R. P. I., and became connected with the National Bank of Troy in 1883 as bookkeeper; five years later he was made teller, and in April, 1896, was elected cashier, which position he now holds. He married, in 1873, Miss Anna Lape of Troy, N.Y. Frezon, jr., William H., was born in Schodack, July 7, 1867. He was a son of William H. and Catherine (Litch) Frezon, he born in Schodack in 1836. The father of Mr. Frezon was a carpenter and stonemason by trade. He has also followed farming, but now lives a retired life. He has been commissioner and tax collector. Mrs. Frezon died November 5, 1886. Mr. Frezon was reared and educated in Scho dack, and is an engineer and machine tender for Engles & Co., who manufacture heavy building boards in Castleton, N. Y. January 17, 1869, he married Annie Lenhard of Schodack, by whom have been born three children: Jennie, Minnie and Edward. Mr. Frezon is a member of Shadyside Lodge No. 721, 1. O. O. F. He has been inspector and trustee of the Union Free School of Schodack, N. Y. He now owns twenty-eight acres of land, which was once owned by Tobias J. Woodbeck, who is now buried in the place, and was also owned by the grandfather and father of Mr. Frezon. The grandparents of Mr. Frezon were Barent Frezon and Elida (Hawes) Frezon, both born in Schodack. The father of Barent was John, a. son of Peter Frezon, who came from France to Ghent, Columbia county, N. Y. Brenner, Fred G. , born in Germany, October 18, 1860, came to America with his parents, who settled in Elmira, where he was educated in the public schools. He entered the office of the Husbandman and learned the printer's trade and afterward was placed in charge of the mechanical department of the Elmira Free Press, which was consolidated with the Elmira Gazette, after a two years' existence. In 1882 he left newspaper work, having received an appointment from Lieutenant-Governor Hill (he was the latter's first appointee). He remained at the capitol in Albany three years, acting as Mr. Hill's private messenger, and then engaged in the hotel business. He was at the Brunswick Hotel in Albany three years, when he aocepted a clerkship at the Mansion House, Troy. He was subsequently with the Troy 372 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. House until 1893, when he opened his present restaurant. He is a member of the German Hall Association, the Maennerchor Singing Society, the Turn Verein, King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48, R A. M., Clinton Lodge No. 7, I. O. O. F., and New York Encampment No. 1, I. O. O. F. In the fall of 1895 Mr. Brenner was elected alderman of the Second ward on the Dem ocratic ticket. He was married at Albany, April 25, 1888, to Mary E. McDonald, and they have one son : Louis H. Himes, George H.. son of Joseph and Margaret (Betts) Himes, was born in Troy August 1, 1866, received his education in the public schools and learned the trade of stove mounter. He worked for Fuller, Warren & Co. nine years, leaving them in 1890 to accept a position in the Watervliet gun foundry. While there he worked for the Morgan Engineering Company, erecting a crane, of which he has been given full charge. Mr. Himes is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter No. 48, R, A. M., Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., and the Watervliet Mutual Aid Association, and was at one time captain of Hope Steamer Company. Livingston, William, son of John and Christina (Alexander) Livingston, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, January 21, 1854, and was graduated from the Polytechnic In stitute of Glasgow in 1872. He then engaged in the sewed muslin business with Gibson Brothers, where he remained until he came to America in 1878. His first employment here was with Daniel & Sonsof New York city.' He met during that year James B. Hall, who offered him a position in Troy, which he accepted, but he remained with Mr. Hall only nine months, when he accepted a position with William H. Frear, with whom he still continues. In 1895 he also interested himself in the Star dry goods store of Troy. Mr. Livingston is a member of Diamond Rock Council, I. O. O. F. , of Lansingburgh and Trojan Council No. 86, R. A. He was the organizer of Troy Council National Union, and is a member of the Republican Club and Troy Yacht Club. In 1877 he married Jane V., daughter of Matthew Thompson, of Glasgow, Scotland, and they have three children : John, Edwin Frear, and Dorothy S. Skillman, E. A. — The late William J. Skillman was born in Kingston, N. J., Feb ruary 9, 1802, and was educated in the schools of that early day and came to Lans ingburgh about 1823. In 1825 he married Catherine Wickware, by whom have been born nine children; Sarah C, William H., Ellen C, Frances A., Edward A., John J. , Charles E. , Albert W. , and George E. Edward A. is foreman in a brush factory. William H., on account of ill health, has retired from business. Edward A. is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., and was also master of the lodge for two years, and is a member of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., and held the office of high priest for four years. He is also a member of Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M., of Troy, of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., and of the Masonic Vet eran Association, and was its grand marshal. Van Pelt, E. A. and F. R. — Eugene Van Pelt, born in Lansingburgh, January 22, 1845, is the son of Daniel N. and Malissa (Gardner) Van Pelt, and Daniel N. , a son of Christopher and Hannah Van Pelt, and he a son of Daniel who came from Trenton, N. J., 'and was one of the first overseers of highways of the town of Brunswick. His children were Christopher, Sally Ann, Rachael, Rebecca, Lydia. Christopher's chil- FAMILY SKETCHES. 373 dren were Daniel N. , Judd A., George H. He was the first man in Brunswick to raise potatoes for market ; he planted ten acres, which was considered a poor ven ture by his neighbors. Daniel N. 'spent his early life on the farm where he married and moved to Lansingburgh where he was interested in navigation between Lan singburgh and New York city, also owned several boats. He has been president of Lansingburgh, highway commissioner, also supervisor of the town of Brunswick and justice of peace. His children were Warren C, Eugene A., Sarah E., Franklin N., and Stephen H. Eugene A. spent his early life on a farm. He was associated with his father in business until his death August 4, 1884, since which time he has con tinued the business of farming, also deals in agricultural implements and wagons. September 24, 1868, he married Maria, daughter of Henry J. Abbott, and has one child, Daniel Henry. His second wife was Emma Abbott. Eugene A. is actively interested in the town and county affairs. He has been highway commissioner and member of the Board of Health. He is active in school, church, religion, and Sun day school work. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 58, F. & A. M. , and Phoe nix Chapter No. 133, Apollo Commandery No. 15, and Oriental Shrine of Troy. Judd A. spent his early life on the farm. His early education was received in the district school but through his own exertions he qualified himself as a surveyor and civil engineer, also worked as a carpenter, cider manufacturing and blacksmith and has surveyed most of the town of Brunswick. March 18, 1851, he married Catherine, daughter of Peter and Catherine Roraback, and has one child, Franklin R. He was active in town and county affairs, also the church. He was justice of the peace six teen years and member of the Board of Health many years and has acted in a legal capacity for estates, etc. Franklin R. spent his early life on the old homestead with his father in his business until his death November 29, 1893, since which time he has had entire charge of it. He is public spirited and is interested in all affairs of his town and county. Weaver, James H. , was born in Lansingburgh, N. Y., November 9, 1831. He was educated' in the common schools and in the Lansingburgh Academy. He followed boating on the Hudson and James rivers for twenty-three years. On the James river he was employed by the government transporting soldiers and munitions of war. He has been a grocery merchant for twenty years. In the year 1855 he mar ried Mary C. Noyes of this place. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M. of Lansingburgh, and is treasurer of the lodge. He is a member of Phoenix Chapter No. 133, R. A. M., and has been master of Phoenix Lodge. His family is one of the oldest here. The Noyes family are also identified with early settlers of the county. The ancestry of the family is Dutch. (See full account of Weaver family in another article.) Yates, William B., born in Oneida county, N. Y., July 18, 1860, is a son of Mont gomery and Caroline L. (Brown) Yates, both born in Pittstown, N. Y., he in 1819 and she in 1818. The grandfather of William was Jacob P. , a native of England and early came to Pittstown and here lived and died. The father of William was a farmer by occupation. His father was a teacher and large real estate owner. He was a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M. He died in 1881 and his wife died in 1888. They had a family of six sons and two daughters, of whom six are living; J. P., of Pittstown; Mary N., at home; H, Adell, at home; Montgomery, of 374 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Pellston; William B., and Gilbert. William was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools and Wilson's Academy of Troy, N. Y. He is a farmer and also a contractor and builder. He is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680, F. & A M., and Phoenix Chapter No. 133 R. A. M., Bloss Council No. 14 of Troy, and Apollo Commandery No. 15 of Troy. He is also a member of the Reymertown Lodge No. 672, I. O. O. F., a charter member. William was married June 8, 1892, to Altha C. Eddy, of Brunswick, N. Y., daughter of Willard and Elizabeth (Smith) of Brunswick. The family attend the Presbyterian church. Sharp, Alfred, was born in Bedfordshire, England, April 29, 1849. He was edu cated in their schools and by occupation is a blacksmith, and now owns a livery. In 1871 he came to the United States, and located in Lansingburgh, N. Y. , February 11, 1874. He married Esther Patton of Troy^ by whom he had three children: Jes sie M., Joseph W., and Alice E. Mrs. Sharp's father, Joseph Patton, was born in the north of Ireland in the year 1806, he was educated there and came to the United States when a young man and located in Troy. He was a gunsmith by occupation, and afterwards a paper manufacturer. He married Eliza Irwin of Lansingburgh by whom he had six children: William N., David O. , Mary E., Phebe J,, Esther as above, and Josiah. Mr. Patton died in 1892, William N. in 1893, and Mrs. Patton in 1880. The ancestry of the family is English and Scotch. Shortsleeves, Isaiah, was born in Troy, January 31, 1831. His father, Ezra Short- sleeves, was born in Northern Maine about the year 1800. He came to Troy and en tered the Iron Works. He made all the steel for the Monitor which was famous in the Civil war. He is now over ninety years of age. His mother, Mary Como Short- sleeves, was born in Berkshire county, Mass. Isaiah received a common school edu cation and when young went west where he remained until 1873. He wrote the his tory of the Cardiff Giant from which he realized a small fortune. In 1876 he went into the painting and decorating business and is now in the same business. Sep tember 5, 1877, he married Ellen Costello of Troy, by whom he has four daughters. He has one brother and four sisters. Phelan, Michael Francis, M. D., was born in Troy in 1867. His father, Michael Phelan, was born in Ireland and came to this country in 1867. He manufactures the Boiler Cleaning Compound. His mother, Ellen (Crewe) Phelan, a native of England, died in 1873. Dr. Phelan was educated at the La Salle Institute and after graduat ing taught one year, when he entered the Albany Medical College, during which time he was also professor of physiology in the Albany Brothers' Academy; after gradu ating from the Medical College he began practice in Troy. He is attending physi cian of the out-door patient department of the Troy Hospital and attending physi cian to St. Joseph's Seminary, now occupied as a novitiate by the Christian Brothers- He was secretary of the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity and is a member of the New York State Medical Association, the Rensselaer County Medical Society and B. P. O. E. He was appointed by the Board of Health as inspector during the cholera scare. Magill, David F., wasborn in Belfast, Ireland, January 24, 1841, and came to this country with his parents, Andrew and Mary Magill, in 1546. His mother died in 1867. Mr. Magill received his education in the common schools, and later went to FAMILY SKETCHES. 375 work in the paper store of Tousley & Teal. He later went to work in a drug store, that of Dr. Taylor, on Broadway, where he learned the business, and was in the business with J. Walter Jones for eight years. In 1879 he started in the business for himself on King street, where he carries on an extensive drug business, also making, a specialty of laundry supplies. He belongs to the Masonic bodies of Troy, being a 32d degree Mason. He has been an active fireman since 1859, belonging to Trojan Hook and Ladder Co. since 1860, of which he has held the office of assistant captain four years, and captain one and a half years. He married Esther Mont gomery of Lansingburgh, January 6, 1864. Her father, John Montgomery, has been with D. Powers & Son over fifty years. Their children are Lemuel B., a drug gist of Lausingburgh, Walter, James, and Ida. His brother James was killed at Southside Railroad, March 31, 1865. while in the service of his country, having en listed in the 169th Regt. N. Y. Vols. Another brother, Thomas H., was formerly a dry goods merchant of Troy, now retired. Rhoda, William H., was born in Schodack, N. Y., June 12, 1826. He is a son of Charles and Christina (Hulsapple) Rhoda, she born in Schodack, N. Y., and he in Columbia county, she a daughter of William Hulsapple, a native of Dutchess county, who when a young man came to Schodack, and there lived and died. The father of Mr. Rhoda was a carpenter by trade and served as orderly sergeant in the war of 1812; he died June 1, 1877, and his wife died November 24, 1885. William H. Rhoda was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He is now a farmer and has forty-two acres of land, his father's homestead, he being the only son. He had two sisters of whom one is living. He was married September 11, 1853, to Elizabeth Link, a native of East Greenbush and a daughter of William Link. To Mr. and Mrs. Rhoda were borniour daughters: Hattie, Mary, Annie, and Alice. The wife of William Hulsapple was Susannah Link who died November 7, 1839. They were married March 1, 1795. Galbraith William J., was born in Troy in 1870, and was educated in the public schools, and afterwards became assistant shipper in the iEtna Mills, where he re mained for four years, when he accepted a position with the Boutwell Milling and Grain Co., at their warehouse on Green Island. He is a member of the Apollo Lodge F. & A. M., Laureate Boat Club, of the Bussey Fire Co., and at one time was president of that company. He is also second lieutenant of the 21st Separate Company, N. G. N. Y, October 16, 1895, he married Helen A. Sipperley, of Lans ingburgh. Steenberg, Col. George Taylor, was born in Middletown, Saratoga county. His father, Jonathan Steenberg, was a tailor by trade, and later a carpenter and builder ; he died in Cohoes in 1882. His mother, Jane Tayler Steenberg, was born in Sara toga county and died March 10, 1880. Col. George T. Steenberg was educated in the public schools at Waterford and Middletown, Saratoga county. He came to Troy September 1, 1851, and served three years as an apprentice in learning the trade of barber with Thomas Rath. In 1855 he started in business for himself in Rand's Hall, corner of Third and Congress streets, remaining three years. In 1858 he leased the stock and fixtures of Thomas Rath, 8 Third street, for a term of years and after wards bought the property where he carried on the barber business untjl 1884. He then engaged in the grocery business at the corner of Broadway and Fifth avenue. 376 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. He returned to his old business at the Troy House for two years, then took a lease for a number of years of the Mansion House barber shop and bath rooms on Broad way. He joined the old Troy Citizens Corps, February 22, 1853, as a private. Au gust 4, 1858, he was appointed and commissioned by Gov. John A. King as surgeon's mate on the staff of Col. Henry A. Mercer, commanding the 24th Regt. N. G. S. N. Y. June 10, 1859, he was promoted to quartermaster by Gov. E. D. Morgan ; elected major of the 24th Regiment June 4, 1860; elected lieutenant-colonel of the 24th Regiment August 2, 1867; commissioned by Gov. Reuben E. Fenton; elected colonel of the 24th Regiment January 6, 1869, commissioned with rank by Gov. John T. Hoffman; resigned in 1874. April 15, 1878, he was elected a captain of the old Troy City Artillery (afterwards known as the Fourth Battery, N. G. S. N. Y.) He was connected over thirty years with the National Guard of the State of New York, and at the present time is a member of the Old Guard, Senior Company, Troy Citi zen's Corps. He served his time in the Fire Department of Troy, having belonged to the General Wool Hose and Arba Reed Steamer Companies. He represented the Arba Reed Steamer Co. No. 1 in the board of trustees of the Troy Fire Department in 1879. He is also active in Odd Fellowship, being past grand of Trojan Lodge No. 27, I. O. O. F. He was deputy sheriff under sheriffs James McKeon, Eben C. Reynolds and C. V. Collins. February 11, 1856, he married Julia H., daughter of Harvey Mosher. His children are George C, Walter S. and Della G. Steenberg. Ross, Adam, was born in Scotland, May 29, 1839, and came to this country in 1855 and settled in Troy. He was a stonecutter by trade and worked at his trade in New York and Troy. In 1869 he started in business for himself, under the firm name of Connell & Ross, for three ye-srs. Mr. Ross fitted the granite for the crematory in Oakwood Avenue Cemetery. The firm name is now Adam Ross & Son, of 2748 to 2750 Sixth avenue. He is a member of the Caledonian Club of Troy, a member of the Oakwood Avenue Presbyterian church, and is a trustee of the Samaritan Hos pital. In 1865 he married Agnes Connell of Troy, and they have ten children: Charles, a member of the firm ; William, a pattern maker; Kate, George A., a drug gist at Hoosick F'alls; Belle, John, Jessie, Lillia, Adam A. and Agnes. Mr. Ross is an uncle of Robert Ross, who was killed in the election disturbances in 1894. Hartigan, John J., was born in Troy, N. Y., October 31, 1853. His father, Maurice Hartigan, came from Ireland in 1849 and settled in Troy; he was alderman and supervisor of the Eighth ward for many years. His mother, Ellen (Hogan) Hartigan was born in Ireland, and died in 1889. John. J. was educated at the Christian Brothers' Academy and entered the store of George Bristol & Co. as cash boy in 1867 and was with Bristol and his successors until 1888, when he started in the dry goods business on King street where he still remains. In 1895 he formed a copart nership with his cousin and started a branch store at 79 and 81 Congress street. He was president of the Robert Emmet Association in 1888, 1890 and 1891 ; also presi dent of the La Salle Alumni Association in 1890 and 1891. November 26, 1883, he married Elizabeth Clogan of Chicago, 111. , by whom he has one daughter. Schermerhorn, Frank, wasborn at Schodack Landing, Rensselaer county, where his ancestors had resided since 1682. He was educated at the Greenwich Academy. He studied the profession of dentistry under Dr. Crosly of Greenwich, N. Y., and in 1864 associated with his brother, began the practice of his profession in Cohoes FAMILY SKETCHES. 377 under the firm name of Schermerhorn Brothers. His father, Barent C, was born January 28, 1804, and on January 8, 1827, married Catherine Witbeck, who was a lineal descendant of Jan Thomase Van Witbeck and Herr Hendrick Van Dyck. Barent C. died March 12, 1872; his wife was born May 15, 1810, and survives him at this date, 1896. He was a large land owner and a colonel in the State militia. The grandfather of Dr. Frank Schermerhorn was Cornelius I., born August 15, 1764, and married in 1785 to Elizabeth Mundon. He was a member of the Assembly in 1809 and 1810 and and a colonel in the war of 1812. His father, Col. Jacob C. , was born May 25, 1743, was an officer in the Revolutionary army in 1776 and 1777, and was present at the surrender of Gen. Burgoyne at Saratoga. He was a member of the Assembly in 1795. He was the son of Cornelius J., born 1719; who was the son of Jacob, jr., born 1685, who was the son of Jacob Jacobse, born in Albany in 1662 and went to reside at Schodack Landing in 1682, who was the son of Jacob Janse Schermerhorn born in Waterland, Holland, in 1620, emigrated to Beverwycke (Al bany) in 1634 where he died in 1688. All the Schermerhorns in the United States are descended from this emigrant. Dr. Frank Schermerhorn is a member of the Third District Dental State Society and was its president for one term. He is also a member of Athenian Lodge No. 96 I. O. O. F. of Troy and a Son of the Rev olution through his great-grandfather, Col. Jacob C. Schermerhorn. Richmond, Theodore C, born in Pittstown, N. Y., October 20, 1815, is a son of Josiah and Phoebe (Warren) Richmond, he born iu Taunton, Mass., in 1786, and she at Fall River, Mass., in 1788. Edward Richmond, the grandfather of Theodore C, came to Hoosick in 1792 and lived and died there; he was a lieutenant in the Revo lutionary war. The father of Theodore C. was a wagonmaker by trade; he was afterwards a farmer and hotel keeper at Potter Hill in the town of Hoosick, and died there September 12, 1835, and his wife in July, 1843; he was commissioner of high ways and held other minor town offices, and, also, served in the war of 1812. Theo dore C. was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools and at Benning ton, Vt. He has been a farmer and was in early life a dealer in wool and produce. Most of his life has been spent in Pittstown, where he has bought and sold land and in 1863 settled on the farm of 125 acres he now owns; he also owns in Pittstown and elsewhere 243 acres and 200 acres in Grafton. He has been justice twenty-four years and supervisor two terms. He was active in his town during the late war, and Mrs. Richmond was president of a ladies' association during the war for the pur pose of raising money and supplies for the suffering. The family attend the M. E. church. He was married first in 1838 to Emily C. Geer. She died in 1853, and in 1854 he married Caroline Baucus, daughter of William I. Baucus. They have had five children; the eldest, Charles T. . graduated in 1876 from Yale, soon after became president of the Thompson-Houston Company at Fremont, O. ; now he resides at Cleveland as superintendent and stockholder of the National Carbon Company; Emily C, who is at home; Phoebe, wife of William S. Gunnison of Lansingburgh; Mary R., at home; William I. graduated at Greylock Institute, is now in the estab lishment of W. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, N. Y. The daughters were educated at Pittsfield, Mass. Westervelt, E., was born in Grafton, Rensselaer county, in 1850. He is of Hol land Dutch ancestry on both his father's and mother's side. His great-grandfather 378 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. was a Dutch Reform minister ; his grandfather a physician ; his father the village blacksmith at Quackenkill and also justice of the peace and postmaster for thirty years; he died in 1890; his mother, Judith M. Ives Westervelt, lives in Long Island City. Mr. Westervelt received his education at the Poestenkill Academy, then came to Troy, where he was salesman in the carpet department of G. V. S. Quack enbush & Co. for eleven years. He then started in the steam carpet cleaning busi ness on Spring avenue, removing from there to 102 Ferry street, where he has a fine plant for cleaning carpets by machinery and renovating by steam, and has built up a large and profitable business. He was married to Sarah E. Simpson of Jersey City in 1874 and has four sons: Vincent R., Clarence B., Eugene S. and Nelson H. The eldest, Vincent R., is now in the College of Dentistry in Philadelphia, Pa. Reichard, Elmer E., M. D., born in Nassau, March 12, 1866, is the son of, Calvin T. and Almedia (Bartle) Reichard, both natives of Rensselaer county. Calvin T. Reichard was the son of John Reichard, whose father, John Reichard, sr. , came from Germany and settled in Rensselaer county, where he lived and died. The father of Dr. Reichard was a farmer ; he died June 12, 1887, iand his mother lives with Dr. Reichard. Dr. Reichard was reared on a farm and educated in the com mon schools and Averill Park Seminary. He then taught school one year, and be gan the study of medicine with Dr. Arlington Boyce of East Schodack. He grad uated from Albany Medical College in 1892, and practiced his profession in East Schodack for a short time, then located at Poughkeepsie, and after six months left on account of health and located at Hoag's Corners, where he has since had a suc cessful practice. He is at present health physician for the town of Nassau. He was married February 27, 1895, to Charlotte M. Hitchcock of Guthrie, Oklahoma, but formerly of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. , a daughter of Mark H. and Maria (Dewey) Hitch cock. Dr. Reichard is a Republican in politics. He is a member of Schodack Union Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., and Tsatsawassa Lodge No. 356, I. O. O. F. Putnam, William B., M. I)., one of the leading physicians of Hoosick Falls, was born in Putnam, Middlesex county, Ontario, in 1855, a place named in honor of his father, Thomas Putnam, who was a magistrate of that county. His family is of English and German ancestry ; his grandfather served as lieutenant in a New Hamp shire regiment at Bunker Hill; his mother was Nancy Harris and grandniece of General Herkimer. He left his native place at sixteen, and having decided on the medical profession as his life work, entered in 1872 the class of '76 at Woodstock Col lege, but entered Brantford Institute for two years before completing his course at the former school. In 1876 he went to Cleveland, O., and entered the homoeopathic college there, graduating in 1879 and at once began practice here, where he has re sided for seventeen years. He has enjoyed a successful practice from the first. Dr. Putnam, determined to profit by an opportunity presented to acquire such knowledge as he desired, went to Europe in 1885 and there pursued his investigations, making a specialty of pulmonary affections. Ingalls, Henry Harlow Gross, was born in the town of Milton, Saratoga county, N.Y., May, 1850, and is a son of Daniel T. and Sally M. (Dake) Ingalls, he born at Bellows Falls, Vt., and she in Greenfield, Saratoga county. Daniel T. was a jour neyman papermaker from the time he was fourteen years of age until 1860, when he began leasing and operating mills on his own account and superintending for others FAMILY SKETCHES. 379 until 1873, when he and H. H. G. Ingalls (his son) bought a mill in South Manches ter, Conn., and were in business until 1888; Daniel T. then sold out his interest and lived retired in Castleton, where he died in 1892, and where his widow still resides. H. H. G. Ingalls entered a paper mill at the age of twelve years and continued as a journeyman papermaker and superintendent for others up to 1873, when he formed a partnership with his father, as above stated. Upon the retirement of his father from the firm, H. H. G. formed a partnership with his successors, and afterwards formed a stock company in Castleton and built the Oak Grove Paper Mills, of which company Mr. Ingalls is secretary, treasurer and general manager. In 1872 Mr. Ingalls was married to Jane E. Reese of Fonda, N. Y., who died August 30, 1881. April 16, 1885, he was married to Hattie Rosalia Tracy of South Manchester, Conn., who has borne him four children : Luella Estelle, Maud Huntington, Florence Lillian, and Edmund Harvey. Forthe past twenty years he has been a member of the Meth odist church and has been superintendent of the Methodist Sunday school of Cas tleton for two years, and for fifteen years has occupied an official capacity in the church. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Castleton for two years, and in politics is a staunch Republican. Halstead, De Witt C, was born in the town of Pittstown, November 19, 1824. He obtaiied his education in the public schools, taught twelve winters, and has always been one of the county's thrifty farmers. He married twice, first, on March 14, 1849, to Eliza McChesney of the town of Brunswick ; they had one daughter, Eliza M. , who married Arthur Cady of North Adams, Mass., and had one daughter, Marion. Mrs. Cady died January 29, 1883. Mrs. Halstead d. ed December 16, 1855, and for his second wife, on September 9, 1857, he married Harriet Stover of the town of Pitts town ; the}' had three children: Harriet J., F. Eugene, who died in infancy, and Francis De Witt. Harriet J. married Leonard Morrison now of Lansingburgh, N. Y. , of the firm of Morrison & Westfall Co., of Troy, agricultural implements and seed store. Mr. Halstead's father, Jonas, was born at the old home in Pittstown, April 24, 1783, and educated in the schools of that early day. He married Anna McCoon, who was born January 20, 1784, they had nine children : Alexander G. , Charlotte C. , Lydia M., Anna C, Joseph J., Charles M., Emily E., De Witt C, and Ambrose L. Mr. Halstead died July 16, 1861, and his wife August 13, 1860. Mr. Halstead's grandfather, Joseph Halstead, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y. His great grandfather, was Samuel Halstead, a Baptist minister. Mrs. Halstead's father, Jacob M. Stover, was born in Pittstown November 9, 1784, and educated in the schools of his day; he was a farmer; November 14, 1805, he married Christine Wet sel of the town of Schaghticoke; they had ten children, Martin J., Maria, George, Elizabeth, John, Harriet, who died in 1821; Jacob, Margaret A., Jane C, and Har riet A. Mr. Stover died September 5, 1849, and his wife August 28, 1858; both were descendants of early Dutch settlers. De Witt C. Halstead began life withont capi tal, and through indtstry, integrity, and sobriety has secured a fine competency. He has been an elder of the Presbyterian church for many years. The ancestry of his family is English. Burton, Charles W., was born in Nassau, August 22, 1837. He is a son of Isaac and Roby (Tabor) Burton, he born in Chatham and she in Nassau. Isaac was a son of -Ruben Burton, who lived in Columbia county and finally went to Sand Lake where 380 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. he died in 1810. The maternal grandfather was William Tabor, who lived and died in Nassau. The father of Mr. Burton was a blacksmith by trade, but died a farmer; he came from Nassau to Schodack in 1839 and died September 20, 1884, and his wife died in 1852, Mr. Burton was reared and educated in Schodack. He is a farmer and owns ninety-two acres of land. In October, 1860, he was married to Maggie Palmateer, of Greenbush, by whom one son has been born: Peter P., born in Scho dack April 1, 1862. He was educated in Claverack College and followed farming at home. His wife was Alvina Kate Pockman, by whom one son has been born : Charles R. , born April 25, 1895. The Burton family is of English descent. Webster, Stephen H., M.D., was born in Troy, N. Y., October 27, 1865. His father is Jasper Webster who was abridge builder by trade; he came to Troy in 1855; he built all the wooden bridges on the Troy and Boston Railroad. His mother is Emily De Sylva (Cushing) Webster. Stephen Webster received a public and high school education and was graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1886, after wards entering the Polyclinic Institute of New York city. In 1889 he went to Europe and studied medicine in Prague, Vienna and Berlin, returning to Troy in 1890 and opened an office at 811, afterwards removing to 817 River street. He belongs to the Rensselaer County Medical Society of which he was vice-president one year. He was married, November 12, 1895, to Miss Mabel Carpenter of Troy, N. Y. He is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge, No. 91, Apollo Chapter, No. 48, Bloss Council No. 14, Apollo Commandery No. 15, and Oriental Temple, Nobles of thS Mystic Shrine. Heermance, Emily. — Ryer Heermance was born in Nassau, November 16, 1799. He was a son of Garret Heermance, a native of Dutchess county, and one of the early settlers of Nassau, where he died. From church records it has been ascer tained his father, Garret, was baptized in the Reformed church of Rhinebeck, having a religious ancestry as far back as family history has been traced. Ryer Heer mance was descended from a Duke and Duchess Heermance, natives of Holland. The name itself (Heermance) means Lord 'o Man. Ryer was a farmer and wool dealer. He represented his district in the Assembly and was a man of good judg ement and high integrity, and was an enthusiastic worker in all charitable enter prises. He was an office bearer in the Reformed church for many years and one of its most liberal supporters, and as long as able physically, with earnest helpful prayer and exhortation lent aid to its spiritual interests. He died April 16, 1876. His wife, to whom he was married December 20, 1820, was Elizabeth Miller, who spent her life in Nassau, dying April 23, 1877. She was the mother of seven chil dren; Garret, an infant unnamed (aged but a week), Mary A., Peter Miller, Sarah E., Cornelia and Emily. The two last mentioned and youngest, Cornelia and Emily, are the only surviving members of the household. Emily now owns the old homestead, where she resides, Cox, Edward Bowdoin, was born in Greenwich, Conn., February 27, 1837. He is the son of Robert Cox who came from Dowlais, Wales, in 1812 and died in 1839. His mother is Sarah Rogers Husted, who is now living at Newark, N. Y. After attend ing the academy at Stamford, Conn., he accepted a position in a dry goods store at Newark, N. Y., and in 1854 he was engaged by Messrs. Mills & Parker, merchants at Clinton, N. Y.. remaining there for eight years as salesman and bookkeeper. He FAMILY SKETCHES. 381 then came to Troy and entered the Rensselaer Iron Works store as bookkeeper. In 1867 he formed a partnership with Mr. Henry Snyder, the proprietor of the store and remained there in business until 1877 when he sold his interest in the store to his partner and established a retail grocery business at 140 Second street, Troy, N. Y., where he is now conducting an extensive grocery business with bakery annexed. In 1872 Mr. Cox married Miss Emily Dickinson, the daughter of the late Capt. Daniel Dickinson of Stillwater, N. Y. Mr. Cox has given Masonry considerable attention in his younger days. He has served the order in various offices in each of the fol lowing bodies: King Solomon's Primitive Lodge, Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, Delta Lodge of Perfection, and the Mystic Shrine. For twenty- one consecutive years he was secretary of Apollo Chapter No. 48, and has been for the past six years a trustee and the treasurer of the Troy Masonic Hall Association. Reynolds, William Van Veghton, was born on the homestead which he now owns; it is situated near Reynolds Station, named in his honor; the residence and out buildings are elegant and commodious, while the farm surrounding it, consisting of 350 acres, is one of the finest in Rensselaer county. He was educated in the public schools of Troy and other places, and graduated from the law department of the University of New York City in 1872. In early life he was a farmer. When the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western Railroad was constructed he became one of the directors and secretary, and afterwards general manager of the same. He resigned from his position and accepted the responsible one of receiver of tbe Lebanon Springs Railroad, which position he still holds. He has been engaged in the promotion and development of various business enterprises. In his political choice he is a thorough Democrat. He has served his townsmen as justice of the peace two terms, and has represented his party as delegate to State conventions on fourteen different occasions. He has been a director of the old bank in Lansingburgh, also a director of the First National Bank of Mechanicsville, and is a promoter, director and secretary of Ham ilton Shell and Iron Co. in the province of Ontario, Canada, which is the largest of the kind in the Dominion of Canada. February 9, 1895, he married Estella Garbur of Albany, N. Y. Mr. Reynolds's father, Noyes H. W., was born in Petersburgh, this county, in 1822, and was educated in the public schools, subsequently studying law and politics. He married Derica Van Veghton of the the town of Schaghticoke, N. Y. They had one son, William Van Veghton. Mr. Reynolds died in 1874, and his wife died in 1888. Mr. Reynolds is a member of Victor Lodge No. 680 F. & A. M., Montgomery Chapter No. 257, R. A. M., Apollo Commandery No. 15, Troy, K. T, and Bloss Council No. 13, R. & S. M. The ancestry of the family is Dutch. Hudson, Dr. F. R., after an academic education at Rockford, 111., where he was born in 1858, began at eighteen years of age medical research at Cleveland Hospital College, now Cleveland University, and graduated in 1882 after a four years' course. Later he took a special course at Chicago in surgery and began practice at North Bennington, Vt., in 1881 where he remained but a short time, then proceeded to Newton, N. J. Dr. Hudson located in Hoosick Falls eight years at the same office on Church street he now occupies ; he has been eminently successful as a practi tioner; he has been health officer for five terms and was successful during the epi demic of diphtheria in 1890 by prompt and energetic measures in checking its rav ages; he has also been surgeon of the Fitchburg Railroad since 1888. Dr. Hudson is 382 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. a Republican and first lieutenant in the Thirty-second. Separate Co. of National Guard of the State of New York. He was one of the originators of the " Hoosac Club" and has since been a member of the house committee. He was manager of the kirmess held here in 1892 under the auspices of the Knights of Pythias. Other orders of which he is a worthy member are the Masonic fraternity. Odd Fellows, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 178, of which he was ex alted ruler for three years, and grand exalted ruler for the State of New York in 1894. Campion, Thomas H., secretary of the International Shirt and Collar Co., was born at Troy, N. Y. , in August, 1860. His father, Edward Campion, was born in Ireland and came to Troy and for many years was a wholesale liquor dealer on the corner of Congress and Third streets. He was supervisor of the Eighth ward two terms, and represented the Eighth ward in the Board of Aldermen in 1858. He died in :860. His mother, Ellen McLaughlin, was born in Ireland and is still living in Troy. Thomas H. received his education in the public schools and the Brothers' Academy and went to work in the insurance office of Jared L. Bacon & Son, and afterwards was employed as bookkeeper in the dry goods store of George W. Wilber.. In 1880 he went to Richmond, Va. , as bookkeeper for the Alleghany Coal and Ir.on Co. , and in 1883 he returned to Troy and entered the shirt and collar factory of Beir- meister & Spicer as bookkeeper, and held that position after the consolidation with the LTnited Shirt and Collar Co., and later when the International Shirt and Collar Co. was formed he became a stockholder and was elected secretary of that company, which position he now holds. He is a member of Pafraets Dael and Laureate Boat Clubs, also a member of the B. P. O. of Elks and the Knights of Columbus. He is now serving as one of the park commissioners of Troy, having been appointed in 1S96, succeeding George J. Brennan, who resigned. He married Mary T. Winslow of Troy, in April, 1879, daughter of the late Samuel 15. Winslow. Plis children are Edward W. and T. Nina. Coon, William IL, was born in Sand Lake, Rensselaer county, N. Y., in 1872. Plis father was George Coon, came to Troy in 1880, and was in the grocery business for several years. His mother, Arville (Johnston) Coon, was born in Albany, N. Y., and died in 1884. William received his education in the high school and business college of Troy and was with the Wiles Laundry Co. two years, and later with Cor liss Brothers & Co.. and in February, 1895, with his brother, D. B^ Coon, started the shirt and collar business under the firm name of Coon Brothers. He is a member of the East Side Club. Donnelly, Dr. James Moore, was born in Harpersfield, Delaware county, N. Y., October 17, 1850, and was educated in the public schools and Stamford Seminary, N. Y. He studied medicine in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, and was graduated in March, 1876. He practiced medicine one year at Stam ford, N. Y. , and for eleven years at Davenport, N. Y. In 1888 he removed to Troy, where he remained two years, and in 1890 came to Lansingburgh, where he has a successful practice. He is a member of the Delaware County Medical Society, also of Rensselaer County and Vicinity Association. In 1878 he married Frances M. Clark, of his native place, by whom he has two children : Bessie Edith and Harry Clark. Dr. Donnelly's father, Thomas Donnelly, was born in the north of Ireland FAMILY SKETCHES. 383 in 1818, and came to the LTnited States when a young man and located in Delaware county. He married Catherine Moore, of that county, by whom he had six children who grew to maturity: Thomas A., Elizabeth A., James M., as above, Henry H., Sarah J., and Mary C. Mr. Donnelly died October 4, 1884, and his widow, April 20, 1892. The doctor is a member of Diamond Rock Lodge, No. 568, I. O. O. F., of Lan singburgh, N. Y., and is proprietor of a drug store at 384 River street. Bristol, David N. , was born in the city of Troy, N. Y. , October 7, 1837. He was educated in the public schools. When he attained his majority he entered the em ploy of Gunnison & Stewart, manufacturers of collars and cuffs, as apprentice. He has devoted thirty-eight years of his life to the shirt and collar industry with different firms in the capacity of cutter to superintendent. He says one would hardly believe that those who commenced this great industry began with purchasing twenty-five yards of linen, making a few dozen collars and going out to find a purchaser for their goods. Undoubtedly they met with difficulties for want of experience, but the end in view was success, they hardly realizing then that it would reach such a. growth as it presents to-day. Perfection has been the aim of all who engaged in this indus try from that time forward, in workmanship and finish. In the year 1890 he, in com pany with his eldest son, George PL, fitted up a building at 7 Second street, Lans ingburgh, and engaged in the manufacture of custom shirts and collars, under the firm name of D. N. Bristol & Son, which business is increasing successfully. In 1860 Mr. Bristol married Miss Maria Smith, of Lansingburgh, by whom he had one son, George H. Mrs. Bristol died in' 1870, and in 1871 he married for his second wife Miss Anna E. Davis, formerly of Saratoga Springs, by whom he has five children: Anna L. , Julia E., David N.\ jr., Charles R. and Grace S. His son George H., was married to Miss Kate Holt of Troy in 1889; they have one son, Frank R. Mr. Bristol's father, David Bristol, has been a resident of Troy for many years, he now being the only person living whose name appeared in the first directory of that city. Pie was born in Edinburg, Saratoga county, N. Y., November 23, 1798. He is now ninety- eight years of age and, with the exception of the loss of sight is hale and hearty. He# was married at Sand Lake. N. Y. , to Mrs. Aseneth Fox Nichols, by whom he had three children: Julia M., Sarah M. and David N. She died May 18, 1848. He afterward married Miss Grace Winnie, by whom he had one daughter, Mary. Mrs. Bristol died November 11, 1888. Fox, Joseph, was born in Lansingburgh, N. Y., August 10, 1816. He was edu cated in the district schools and the Lansingburgh Academy, of which he has been a trustee for many years. He was a cracker manufacturer until he retired some years ago. He first began to make crackers in the cellar of the house in which he was born, but it grew to such dimensions that he was obliged to erect a factory on the corner of Second avenue and Sixteenth street. June 10, 1841, he married Martha W. Corbett, by whom he has had two children : Mary, who died in infancy, and Hamilton, who was a college graduate and died when in the full bloom of his young manhood, at the age of twenty-two. Mr. Fox has been trustee and president of the village of Lansingburgh ; he was also a director in the Farmers' Bank of Lansing burgh. His father, Joseph, was born in England and came to this country when a young man with his youngest sister. He married Sarah Gitcomb, by whom he has had eight children. Martha W. Fox died October 8, 1892, mourned by a devoted 384 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. husband. Mr. Fox has led an upright life, which we and the rising generation would do well to emulate. Galbraith, Robert, came to Troy, N. Y., in 1868, and entered the pattern making establishment of N. S. Vedder and later was engaged as draughtsman forthe concern and in 1870 entered the business as a partner, the firm being the N. S. Vedder Pat tern Works, Bascom, Galbraith & Co. ; later he retired from the firm as a member, but remained as mechanical expert and general superintendent of the works. Mr. Galbraith as an inventor is known throughout the country and his patents on heat ing and cooking devices are innumerable. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1861 and remained until the close of the war. He belonged to the South Atlantic Squadron, participating in all the engagements around Charleston, S. C, and was at the first battle of Bull Run. He has been chaplain of Post John A. Gris wold, G. A. R., for two years. He married in 1872 Rachel A. Plinchman of Water vliet, Albany county. His children are Ella G., Robert, John P. and William H. Galvin, Thomas F., was born in Troy, N.Y., in 1866. His father, Thomas Galvin, who was born in Ireland came to this country and settled in Troy, N. Y. , in 1850. He was supervisor from 1863 to 1866, and alderman from the First ward in 1867 and 1868. He was in the grocery business on Fourth street for thirty years, and was ap pointed special deputy county clerk in 1878, which position he now holds. In 1861 he married Hanna (Conlon) Galvin, of Albany, N. Y. Thomas F. received his edu cation in the public schools of Troy, N. Y., afterwards entering the Albany Law School, and studied in the office of Smith & Fursman for three years. He was ad mitted to the bar in 1892, and from that time carried on an extensive law practice. In 1896 a partnership was formed with John T. Norton, under the firm name of Norton & Galvin. He was married April 14, 1896, to Miss Mary McLoughlin of Lansingburgh. Kellogg, Justin, was born in Troy, N. Y. , April 18, 1845, son of Giles B. and Ad eline K. Kellogg ; the former was a prominent lawyer of Troy many years, now retired and living at ninety years of age. He has always resided in Troy with the excep tion of summers, when he goes to Bennington, Vermont. He was graduated* at Williams College in 1865 with the degree of B. A. , and in 1868 received the degree of M. A. from the same college and is now a trustee thereof. He was graduated from the Albany Law School in 1866 with the degree of LL. B. and admitted to practice at Troy the same year, and practiced with his father until 1883, who then retired from prac tice, since which time he has practiced alone. He is corresponding secretary of the N. Y Bar Association, a member of Sons of the Revolution, president and trustee of the Troy Young Men's Association, president of the Board of Trustees of the First Presbyterian church, president of the Board of Trustees of the Troy Acadejny and is the secretary of the Troy Club. In 1871 he married Mary, daughter of Frederick Leake, an old citizen of Troy. Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg have two children, daughter and son. In politics Mr. Kellogg is a Republican. As a lawyer, he is engaged in a general civil practice and is recognized as of the highest character and standing among the members of the bar of Troy. Norris, Fred H., was born at Glens Falls, N. Y., in 1864, and is a son of George E. Norris, who came from Glens Falls to Troy in 1879, and has been superintendent of FAMILY SKETCHES. 385 several collar and cuff factories. In 1895 he bought an interest in the business of his son, under the firm name of F. H. & G. E. Norris. His mother was Ann M. Haviland, daughter of Roger Haviland, at one time one of the largest land owners of Glens Falls. Fred H. was educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy, and afterwards worked in the collar and cuff factory of J. K. Pine, and was later with the firms of Miller, Hall & Hartwell, and Holmes & Ide. In 1892 he bought the interest of J. A. Leggett in the manufacturing company, and the firm was changed to Wooster & Norris, which continued until 1895, when Mr. Wooster sold his interest and the firm became F. H. & G. E. Norris. This firm invented a patent turning machine, by which great economy is secured in the manufacture and greater uniformity in the goods. July 7, 1896, a stock company was formed, called the Norris Company. The officers are George E. Norris, president; A. H. Chad- wick, vice-president; and F. H. Norris, secretary, treasurer and general manager. F. H. Norris is a member of King Solomon Lodge F. & A. M. In 1889 he married Laura P. Jacobs of Troy, a niece of the late Jacob Jacobs, a prominent Mason of Troy. They have one son George H. Draper, William H., was born in Rochdale, Worcester county, Mass. , June 24, 1841, and came to Troy with his parents when about five years of age. He obtained his education in the public schools. In 1856 he became a clerk and teller in the Farmer's Bank at Lansingburgh, until August 1, 1861. He then entered the employ of a firm in Schenectady until 1869, since which time he has been manufacturing braided sash cords, fish lines and wire picture cords. His son, Andrew L., was taken in as a partner under the firm name of S. Draper & Son, which has continued successfully. Mr. Draper is a trustee and treasurer of the Westminster Presbyterian church of Troy ; he is also director and the treasurer of the Boutwell Milling and Grain Co., of Troy. November 15, 1864, he married Magdalene Livingston, by whom three children have been born, Andrew L., Edward E. , and Bessie M. Andrew L. married Mary R. Thompson of Lockport, N. Y. The first of the family of Drapers was one James Draper, who came from England in the year 1620. The ancestry of the family is English and Scotch. Piatt, Frederic T., was born in West Stockbridge, Mass., in 1864. He is the son of Charles S. Piatt who was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature from West Stockbridge, Mass., in 1861, and died at Great Barrington, Mass., in March, 1896. His mother, Mary M. (Tobey) Piatt, is the daughter of Captain Tobey of West Stock- bridge, Mass. He received his education at Williston Seminary at Easthampton, Mass. , entered the employ of Pratt & Whitney and served an apprenticeship as a machinist and draughtsman. He came to Troy in 1889 and was employed by the Richardson Estate as draughtsman, and two years later took a position with the Ludlow Valve Co. as clerk and was afterwards traveling salesman for- that concern. In 1894 he joined C. F. Crosby in the shirt manufacturing business under the firm name of C. F. Crosby & Co., of which he is treasurer. This firm has six branch manufacturing establishments at Mechanicville Port Henry; Plattsburgh, and Keysville, all of New York State, Fair Haven, Vt, and Orange, Mass. He was married to Annie Sher man, daughter of William Sherman, in 1894, and they have one son. Townsend, Rufus Martin, was born in Troy, N. Y., October 27, 1858. He is a son 386 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. of Rufus Marsh Townsend, who was born in Hancock, Berkshire county, Mass., in 1806, and practiced law in Troy all his life. At the time of his death, which occurred in 1887, he was the oldest lawyer in practice in the county.. He was a brother of the well knoyvn lawyer, Martin I. Townsend. His wife, mother of our subject, was Cornelia (Roessle) Townsend, who was born in Albany, N. Y., and died in 1884. Rufus M. received his early education at a private school, afterwards having a tutor four years. He studied law with Townsends & Browne of Troy, N. Y. , and was admitted to the bar November 21, 1878. In 1888 he formed a copartnership with his father, which continued until the death of the latter. He was appointed United States Circuit Court commissioner April 2, 1890. Since 1887 he has been attorney for the Police and Excise Boards of the city of Troy. He is prominently connected with the National Guard of the State. At present he is first lieutenant of the Twelfth Separate Co., N. G. S. N. Y. He is also a member of the Troy and East Side Clubs of the city and the United Service Club of New York city. He is a member of the Sons of the Revolution, and secretary and treasurer of the Troy Chapter thereof ; also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, and of the Society of the Colonial Wars, and the New York and Philadelphia Societies of the war oi 1812. He was married to Harriet Goodspeed of Troy, N. Y. , December 24, 1889. In poli tics he is a staunch Republican. Since his admission to the bar he has carried on a general practice in the courts of the State and is recognized an an able all around .awyer. King, Harvey J., now one of the senior members of the bar of Rensselaer county, was born in Jonesville, Saratoga county, July 16, 1824, and was the youngest son of Roger and Christina King. The family came originally from Ugborough, Devon shire, England, from which place his ancestor, William King, came about the year 1650 with his two sons, James and William, to New England, and settled first in Ipswich, Mass. Later, and in 1678, his ancestor, James King, removed to Suffield, Conn. , of which town he was one of the original proprietors and settlers. His father. Roger King, was born there in 1771 and resided there until 1795, when he removed to this State. Harvey J. King was graduated at Union College in 1848 with two college honors, ranking among the first in a class of ninety-eight in number, one of whom was Chester A. Arthur. In 1851 he received the degree of A. M. Immedi ately upon leaving college he came to Troy to complete his law studies, in which he had already made considerable progress, and henceforth to make that city his home. For over two years he was a student in the office of the late Judge Gould ar.d Hon. Job S. Olin, and having been admitted to the bar, he commenced the practice of law in 1850. Mr. King formed a partnership with the late John A. Millard, which continued until the death of that gentleman in 1869. During all those years the business of his firm was very extensive and important. In 1854 Mr. King was ap pointed city attorney, which office he filled for a full term in a manner alike credit able to himself and satisfactory to the public. In 1867, the United States bankruptcy law having been enacted, he was by Chief-Justice Chase appointed register in bank ruptcy for the Congressional district embracing Rensselaer and Washington coun ties, and held that responsible position for the ensuing twelve years, and until the repeal of the law. In 1871 he was elected trustee of Union College, and at the expi ration of his first term was re-elected, and served for a second term of four years. FAMILY SKETCHES 387 He had previously for several years been president of the Union College Alumni Association of Troy and vicinity, and always an active friend of the college. In 1865 he was elected a trustee of the Troy Orphan Asylum which office he still holds. He has also for a still longer period been a member of the board of trustees of the Troy Academy. At the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861 he was among the foremost in the matter of procuring enlistments and filling the local regiments, and until the close of the war in every way manifested his earnest desire for the triumph of the cause of freedom and his deep sympathy for its noble defenders in the field. As a consequence of his undeviating courses, when the "Draft Riots" occurred in 1863, his house was one of those designated in advance for destruction by the mob which sacked the office of the Troy Daily Times, and destroyed the furniture and nearly demolished the residence of Hon. Martin I. Townsend, who was his near neighbor. Notice of their design had been given to Mr. King several hours previ ously, a kindly warning from others who knew and desired to thwart their plans, and his family was consequently sent out of the city for safety; but Mr. King, with large numbers of other loyal citizens, remained on the ground. The arrival of a military force on the scene caused the mob to scatter before their designs could be accomplished. During the last two years of the war he spent much of his time and labored devotedly as chairman of the Troy branch of the United States Christian Commission, an organization embracing large numbers of the best and most liberal citizens of Troy and its vicinity, as well as the best and most patriotic citizens of the United States, who not only gave freely in money and supplies, but also their per sonal service in camps and hospitals, for the relief and comfort of sick and wounded soldiers. Though not born in Troy, Mr. King is very closely identified with the city, his father having resided in it for twenty-five years, having become a citizen here in 1795. He married, in 1851, Ellen B. L. Bayeux, a granddaughter of Jacob D. Van derheyden, the "patroon," of Troy, and once the owner of its present site. He has two living children: a son, Edwin A. King, and a daughter, Mrs. William S. Ken nedy. Mr. King is now senior member of the law firm of King & King, his partner being his son Edwin A. Since the organization of the Republican party he has been one of its staunchest supporters. Wotkyns, Tom S., was born in Troy in 1852. His father, George Dana Wotkyns, was born in Walpole, N. H. , and came to Troy in 1845 ; he formed a copartnership with Joseph Stackpole, and entered the wholesale and retail coal business under the firm name of Stackpole & Wotkyns. He was vice-president of the State Bank and supervisor of Troy, and died in 1881. His wife, Sabra A. (Stevens) Wotkyns, was born in Plainfield, N. H., and died in 1891. Mr. Wotkyns, subject of this sketch, received a common school and academic education, afterwards attending the R. P. I., subsequently going into the coal business with O. E. Van Zile as partner in 1875, and in 1883 he bought Mr. Van Zile's interest in the business and was alone until 1893, when he took a partner,' I. H. Williamson, the firm being known as Tom S. Wotkyns & Co. In 1894 John M. House also became a partner. He is a director in the State Bank. In 1893 he married Blanche J. Bruce, born in Troy. Mr. Wotkyns is a Mason, being a member of Mt. Zion Lodge, Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, the Mystic Shrine, and has attained the 32d degree in Masonry. Socially, he is a mem ber of the Troy Club, Pafraets Dael Club, and the Manhattan Club of New York 388 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. city. In politics he has always been independent, voting for the best man in his opinion. Morrill, William W., was born in Gilmanton, N. H., August 31 1851. His father, Josiah R. Morrill, is living. His mother, whose maiden name, was Filinda Week, died in March, 1895. Mr. Morrill can trace back his English and New England, ancestry to an unusual extent. He is of the eighth degree of descent from Abraham Morrill, who came from England about 1632, and settled in either Maine or New Hampshire; and of the seventh degree from Leonard Weeks, who came from Suffolk county, England, as early as 1655. A curious circumstance in the his tory of this family is that Captain Samuel Weeks, a son of Leonard, erected about 1710, at Greenland, near Portsmouth, N. H., a residence known as the "Brick House," which has been handed down continuously from father to son and so occu pied, at least until 1889, at which time it was owned and occupied by Robert B. Weeks, of the fifth generation from the builder. Mr. Morrill was prepared for col lege at the New Hampton (N. H.) Literary Institution, entered Dartmouth College in 1870, and was graduated in 1874. After teaching awhile elsewhere, he came to Troy in 1877, having accepted a position as instructor in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which he retained until 1882. Meantime he had entered upon and com pleted a law clerkship, and was' admitted to the bar in September, 1880, since which time he has been in the continuous practice of his profession in Troy. He has no specialty in law practice. During the incumbency of Shepard Tappen as sheriff of Rensselaer county, Mr. Morrill was retained as his legal adviser in matters pertain ing to that office. He is general counsel for several estates and corporations, many of which latter he assisted in organizing. His services are quite frequently sought as referee, and he has acted as such in several important litigations. He has never taken any active part in politics; though quite often retained professionally in what may be styled political litigation. During the earlier years of his practice he pub lished two law textbooks, "Competency and Privilege of Witnesses," and "City Negligence." He has recently supervised the preparation of the series of law re ports known as "American Electrical Cases." Mr. Morrill was married in 1876 to Nina M. L. , daughter of Col. William E. Lewis, of Norwich, Vt. Keenan, James, was born in Keeseville, Essex county, N. Y., December 29, 1831. His father, John Keenan, came to this country from Ireland in 1812 and settled in the northern part of the State and came to Troy about 1839, where he died in 1887. His mother, Ann (Martin) Keenan, died shortly after the removal of the family to Troy. James left home at the age of eleven and at the age of eighteen learned the bricklayer's trade with Jesse Van Zile and worked at the trade until 1856, when, with John Magill, he formed the firm of Magill & Keenan, contractors and builders, and continued in that business until 1878, when he retired. He was constable of the old First ward from 1855 to 1865, was city commissioner in 1868, was county clerk from January, 1878, to 1884, was sheriff three years and was delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1892. He was foreman of the old Hand Engine Company No. 7. He married Sarah A. Nelligan of Troy, in 1853. There are two children, William M., a lawyer, and Mrs. Mary F. Dowling. Mr. Keenan died suddenly, Sep tember 24, 1886. Christensen, John B. , was born in Denmark, August 10, 1867, was educated in FAMILY SKETCHES 389 their schools, and learned the blacksmith's trade. He came to the United States May 27, 1889, and located in Lansingburgh, N. Y., and began business on his own account in 1893 on First street, doing a successful business. He was married twice, first on May 2, 1889, to Marie K. Krog, who was a German lady, and died April 5, 1891. For his second wife, August 11, 1893, he married Anna M. B. Larsen of this place, formerly of Denmark; they have had two children: Saren, and a daughter, Nielsena K., who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Christensen are members of the Lutheran church, and are of Danish origin. Betts, Edgar K. , was born in Norwalk, Conn., June 22, 1842. He was educated in the common schools, and came to Troy, N. Y., in 1856. He was first employed as errand boy and clerk; he was afterwards in the dry goods business in company with James S. Keeler, under the firm name of Keeler & Betts; afterwards the firm was known as Betts & Medbury. In 1876 he became associated with Earl & Wilson in the collar business, which association has continued until the present time with success. He married Harriet L. , daughter of Jefferson Gardner of Lansingburgh, in 1875, by whom he has had four children: Anson Gardner, Edgar Hayes, Ethel Keeler and Arthur Wilson. Mr. Betts's father, Henry, wasborn in Norwalk, Conn., November 26, 1714, and married Nancy Ketchum of Westport, Conn., by whom he had one son, Edgar K. Henry Betts died in 1881 and his wife died in 1866. The grandfather of Edgar K., Capt. Hezekiah Betts, was born July 31, 1760; he was a captain in the Revolutionary army under Major Wyllys and General Webb in the Yorktown campaign, leading one division (October 21, 1781) of the forlorn hope that attacked and captured the British position, being wounded during the battle. He died May 31, 1837. The founder of the family in America was Thomas Betts, born in Smithfield, England, in 1618, came to America in 1639 — being one of the original settlers of Guilford, Conn. — moved to Norwalk, Conn., and assisted in the founding of that place in 1660. Jefferson Gardner was the pioneer in the application of the sewing machine to the collar business in Troy. Edgar K. Betts is treasurer of the Leonard Hospital of Lansingburgh, and of Lansingburgh Academy, vice-president of the Board of Education, and one of the directors of the Union Bank of Troy, a member of the New England Society of New York city, Troy Club and Sans Souci Club of Lansingburgh. McClellan, Charles H., was born Colrain, Mass., February 15, 1845. His early ancestors were Scotch-Irish and came from Ireland in 1749 and settled iu Colrain, but on account of the Indians, moved to Pelham ; after the close of the Indian war the family moved back to Colrain. Col. Hugh McClellan was a prominent man in Massachusetts; he was in the Revolutionary army and commanded at various times three companies of minute men, and later was for thirty years a member of the Massa • chusetts Legislature ; he died in 1816. Michael McClellan, the grandfather of Charles H. , was also a member of the Massachusetts Legislature ; he died July 29, 1858. His father, Hugh, was born in Colrain and died in February, 1869. His mother, Mar garet T. Washburn, was born in Colrain in November, 1816. Charles H. received a common school education and later in life took a course in the Troy Business Col lege. He remained on the farm until he was twenty-one years old, and for many years was in the dry goods business in Greenfield, Mass., and in November, 1886, came to Troy and purchased an interest in the collar and shirt business, the firm being 390 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. McClellan, Miller & Co. This firm was established in 1864 under the firm name of Gallup & Tucker. Their successors were S. D. Tucker & Co., in 1867 S. D. Tucker, in 1868 Tucker & Flack, in 1876 Flack & Dennison, in 1879 Flack & Wales, in 1886 McClellan, Miller & Co. Since January 1, 1889, Mr. McClellan has been sole proprietor. He has always been interested in his native town, and in 1891 wrote a partial history of it. He is a member of Republican Lodge F. & A. M. of Green field, Mass., and is also a member of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. October 8, 1N73, he married Mary A. Smart of Troy, who has borne him two sons: Hugh H., of Cornell University, ' 97, and Joseph W. Stowell, Henry, was born at Vergennes, Vt., in May, 1839. His father, Ratio L. Stowell, was born in Connecticut; when a child he removed to Vergennes with his parents; he was in the war of 1812 and was later a captain in the Vermont State militia; he died at the age of eighty-nine. His mother, Julia A. (Deming) Stowell, was a native of Vermont, and died in 1895, aged eighty-nine. Henry Stowell re ceived his education in the common schools and entered the office of the Vergennes Vermonter to learn the printer's trade, where he remained three years and came to Troy in 1857 and completed the trade with A. W. Scribner, with whom he remained until 1861, when he enlisted in Co. B, 7th Vermont Vols. He served as private, corporal, sergeant, second and first lieutenant, and captain in 1864. He was mus tered out of service at Brownsville, Texas, in March, 1866, when he returned to Troy and again entered the printing office of Mr. Scribner. In 1871 he started in business for himself in the Harmony Hall building, and in May, 1894, moved into the Masonic building, 15 Third street, where he has the most extensive printing plant in the city. Pie is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 71, F. & A. M., Apollo Chapter, Bloss Council, Apollo Commandery, Delta Lodge of Perfection, Albany Sovereign Consistory, Oriental Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and Apollo Drill Corps. He also is a member of the Masonic Veterans Association, Post Willard No. 38, G. A. R., and Tibbets Veteran Corps, of which he is treasurer. He married, October 2 1866, Jennie M. Van Ness of Troy. He has a son, William Van Ness Stowell, one of the printing firm of Plenry Stowell & Son, and a daughter, Julia W. , a graduate of the Troy Female Seminary. Collins, Cornelius V., was born in Greenwich, Washington county, N.Y. , June 20, 1856. His father, Thomas Collins, came from Ireland in 1848 and settled in Green wich. He was a builder. He moved to Troy in 1866. His mother, Elizabeth (Vall- ance) Collins, was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Cornelius received a public school education and went to work for W. P. Kellogg in the curry comb business as a clerk in the office. In 1877 he went with Converse, Peckham & Vilas in the wholesale dry goods business on River street, as commercial traveler, and in 1884 entered the con cern as a partner under the firm name of Converse, Collins, Merrell & Co. He was elected police commissioner in 1888, which office he held for three years. He was elected sheriff of Rensselaer county in November, 1894, commenced duties in Janu ary, 1895. He belongs to King Solomon Lodge F. & A. M., and is a member of the Pafraets Dael Club. He married Ida S. Salmson in 1879. She is a daughter of P. H. Salmson, the jeweler. Mr. and Mrs. Collins have two daughters, Bessie and May. In politics Mr. Collins has always been a Republican, being very influential in the ranks of his party, not only in Rensselaer county but also this portion of the State. FAMILY SKETCHES. 391 At the State Convention at Saratoga in 1895, he was made a member of the Re publican State Committee and re elected in 1896. In the fall of 1896 he was made a member of the executive committee. He is recognized as one of the strongest work ers in the interest of the party in this section. Waters, M. B., wasborn in Duxbury, Mass., in 1831. His ancestors came from old New England stock. His father, B. S. G. Waters, was born in Marblehead, Mass., and came to Troy in 1842 and died in 1847. His mother, Margaret (Winsor) Waters, wasborn in Duxbury, Mass., and died in 1839. Mr. Waters when eleven years of age went as cabin boy on board a ship. He began railroading in 1851 on Hudson River Railroad and from there he went with the Troy & Boston Railroad, now the Fitchburg, where he filled the various positions of baggage master, ticket agent, freight and passenger conductor, and was the first traveling passenger agent ofthe line. He then returned to the Hudson River Railroad Co. and remained with them eleven years. He later went with the People's Line of Steamers and he has ably filled the position of general passenger agent of the line for the past seventeen years. He has published several pamphlets discriptive of the Hudson River and the People's Line and is known for his unique and novel way of advertising which has tended largely to popularize the famous People's Line. Mr. Waters is known as a ver}' in teresting correspondent of the Troy Budget. He has been a large contributor to magazines and papers. He is a member of the various Masonic bodies from the Blue Lodge to the Mystic Shrine and is a life member of all. His motto has been " Pluck, patience and perseverance," combined with the golden rule, and has always main tained that " Honesty is the best policy," and his word has proven as good as a gov ernment bond. In 1866 he married Lucia M. Allen, of North Dorset, Vt. Morey, David, wasborn in New Ashford, Berkshire county, Mass., in February, 1850. His education was received at the Taconic Institute at Lanesboro, Mass., and in 1868 he removed to Troy, which has since been his home. Twenty years ago he embarked in the grocery business in the southern part of the city, and he still con tinues in that line. He early espoused the cause of Democracy, and by reason of his prominence in that party, was chosen school commissioner, which position he held for three years. In 1891 the Democratic convention named him its candidate for county treasurer, his oppenent being Shepard Tappen. Mr. Morey was elected by a majority of 2,694 votes, and the number of votes received by him exceeded those re ceived by any other candidate on his ticket. His administration of that important office was entirely successful. He was nominated for the same office in 1894, but was defeated. In June, 1896, he was appointed by Mayor Molloy to the important office of city chamberlain, which position he now holds. Willard, William Wallace, was born in Troy, N. Y., July 30, 1843, and received his education in the ward schools of the city and the Troy Academy. He is the son of Levi Willard, one of Troy's oldest residents, having commenced his business career in the year 1840, and had until the time of his death been engaged in the book, stationery and newspaper business; he died in the year 1892; his mother was Mary E. Plumb, born in Stockbridge, Mass., and died in Troy, in February, 1895. Mr. Willard has always been a resident of the city and was connected with his father in business ; from a young man he was active in politics and has always been a 392 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. prominent Democrat ; was elected school commissioner in November, 1868, by the board of commissioners to fill a vacancy in the board, L. E. Gurley retiring. He was appointed police commissioner by the Hon. Edward Murphy, jr., mayor, in 1876, which office he held until 1880; he was also at one time clerk of the Board of Excise, and in the reorganization of the present police force in the year 1885, he was ap pointed superintendent of police, and has held that position until the present time. In his younger days he always took an active part in the elections of the Troy Young Men's Association, and held office therein. He is a member of the Elks Lodge of this city and an exempt fireman of the Arba Read Steamer Co. He was married to Miss Kittie S. Dorlon, daughter of Philip S. Dorlon, in June, 1869. His wife died in December, 1894. He has one daughter living, Mary E. Willard. Large, William E., was born in the town of Watervliet, Albany county, N. Y. , October 4, 1847. He was reared and worked on his father's farm until he was four teen years of age, when he became a clerk in a country store, and at nineteen years of age he went to California, where he was engaged in the supply department of the Central Pacific Railway Company until 1870. He then returned to Mechanicsville, where he engaged in general merchandise until 1883, and in 1884 came to Troy and associated himself with Daniel Wing in the wholesale grocery business, under the firm name of Wing & Large, until 1891, when the copartnership was dissolved and Mr. Large conducted the business alone until May, 1896. He was married twice ; first in May, 1874, to Nellie, daughter of Thomas and Betsey Badgley of the town of Half Moon, Saratoga county, N. Y. , by whom he had three children: Bessie B., George and Daisy L. Mrs. Large died in December, 1884, and in 1887 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Lewis and Phoebe Smith, of Mechanicsville, N.Y. Mr. Large is a member of Montgomery Lodge No. 506, F. & A. M. ; of Stillwater Chapter, R. A. M. ; and of Washington Commandery, No. 33, K T., of Saratoga Springs. The ancestry of the family is English and Scotch. Flack, Clarence N., was born in Lansingburgh, and educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy. He completed his education in 1871, and was connected with his father in the wholesale flour and commission business; in 1894 he sold his interest in that business. He is president of the Troy Waste Manufacturing Co., and is director of the Manufacturers' National Bank of Troy, of the Troy City Rail way, of the Albany Railway, and is also director of the People's Bank of Lansing burgh. February 28, 1894, he was appointed single-head police commissioner of Lansingburgh by the Board of Trustees; took the oath of office March 4, 1884, and was re-elected a year later. The office is without salary. He is a member and trus tee of the M. E. church. Mr. Flack's father, David H., was born in Washington county, September 19, 1818. He came to Lansingburgh in 1841, and in 1845 he married Sarah, daughter of Doctor Simon Newcomb of Pittstown. Of this marriage seven children were born, four of whom survive: Clarence N., Mrs. N. E. Russell, Mrs. Henry Graham, and Mrs. William M. Brundage. Mr. Flack died December 23, 1892, and his widow survives at this date, 1896. Kennedy, Howard S., was born in Troy in 1858. His father, Peter H. Kennedy, came to Troy in 1845 and worked at his trade of cabinet making. His mother was Elizabeth Van Volkinburgh of Columbia county. He attended common schools and took a short course at Troy Business College. When thirteen years old he went to FAMILY SKETCHES. 393 work for Coon & Van Volkinburgh in the shirt and collar business which was con solidated with the Cluett factory in 1889, and became superintendent of that concern. He is a member of Trinity M. E. church, and is president of the Troy Conference Epworth League. He married Josie A. Sharp of Troy in 1879. Parks, Charles Wellman, son of Granville and Elizabeth Parks, was born at Wo- burn, Middlesex county, Mass., March 22, 1863. He graduated from Woburn High School and entered the Polytechnic Institute of Troy, from which he was graduated. In September, 1881, he was assistant on the Missouri River survey at Omaha, Neb., ten weeks, on the Arkansas Narrow Guage Railroad fifteen weeks, and in April, 1884, was engineer in charge of surveys for the Denver, Memphis and Atlantic Rail road seventeen weeks ; in September, 1884, he was topographer on the Burlington and Missouri Railroad in Nebraska ; in 1885 he was assistant in geodesy at the R. P. I.; in 1886 he was professor pro tern, in physics in that institution until 1892. In 1889 he was superintendent of the Liberal Arts Group at the Paris Exposition, and was a member of the International Jury, class six. He had charge of the United States Bureau of Education at the Columbian Exhibition and compiled the catalogue for the library of 5,000 volumes. He belongs to the Troy Scientific Association for the Advancement of Science and the Cosmos Club of Washington county. His wife is M. B. (Frear) Parks, to whom he was married April 15, 1887. She was a daughter of the late Will Frear. Mann, jr., Hon. Francis N., was born in Troy, N. Y. , August 2, 1849. On the paternal side he is a descendant of Richard Mann, who came from Europe previous to the year 1644 and lived in Scituate, Mass. Thomas Hooker, on the maternal side, was the founder of the city of Hartford, Conn., and a very prominent man in New England. His father, Francis N. Mann, was born in Milton', Saratoga county, N. Y., June 19, 1802. Pie was a lawyer and moved to Troy in 1828. He was judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and had held the offices of alderman, supervisor, and mayor of Troy in 1847, 1848 and 1849. He was a director in the Mutual Bank, a trustee of the Troy Orphan Asylum, and a senior warden of St. John's Episcopal church; he died February 8, 1880. His mother, Jane (Hooker) Mann, was born in Hampton, Washington county, N. Y., and died July 28, 1875. The subject of this sketch was educated at the Troy Academy and entered Mr. Harrington's Prepara tory School in Westchester county to prepare for college. He entered Yale in 1866, and was graduated in 1870. He was graduated from the Albany Law School in 1872, and admitted to the bar. He is a real estate dealer. He was elected alderman and served from March 2, 1873, to 1877 inclusive ; was elected to the Assembly of the State of New York in 1879 as the candidate of the Republican party ; was on the staff of Governor Cornell from 1880 to 1883, as aid-de-camp. In 1890 he was a can didate for mayor, but was defeated. He was appointed quartermaster with rank of lieutenant-colonel, November 1, 1873, and was later promoted to judge advocate with rank of colonel and served until 1880. He is one of the original members of the Troy Citizens Corps, and has been its president from the beginning. He was appointed in 1895 one of the managers of the State Hospital at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He is vice-president of the Mutual Bank, trustee of the Troy Savings Bank, vice- president of Troy City Railroad, trustee of Troy Academy, Emma Willard School, Troy Orphan Asylum, Marshall Infirmary and Bible and Prayer Book Society of the 394 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. diocese of Albany, and is also provisional deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, and vestryman of St. John's Episcopal church. He married Jessie M. Patchin of Troy, January 9, 1878, who is the daughter of Thadden W. Patchin, who was an old resident of Troy. They have six children. Her grand father was Judge George R. Davis, who was speaker of the House of Representa tives of New York State two years. Murray, James T. , was born in Ireland in 1859. His father, Martin Murray, came to this country in May, 1862, and settled in Troy, N. Y. , and was for many years in the National Express Company's office. His mother, Ellen (McLoughlin) Murray, was born in Ireland. James T. received his education in the public schools and La Salle Institute and High School of Troy and afterwards taught in the Ninth Ward School four years, during which time he studied law in the office of Smith, Fursman & Cowen and was local editor of the Observer; later he attended lectures at the Al bany Law School and was admitted to the bar in Saratoga in 1882, whereupon he resigned and commenced the practice of law and has been in very active practice since. He was counsel for the Board of Supervisors from 1884 to 1886 inclusive, and was appointed extra assistant district attorney under District Attorney Rhodes. He was elected justice of the City Court in the fall of 1895 for a term of two years. He was president of the Young Men's Association a number of years and has been prominently connected with the Y. M. C. A., and is a member of the Robert Emmet Association, and has been a trustee for a number of years of the Osgood Steamer Co. He is also a member of the State Bar Association, also of the Elks, and of the La Salle Alumni Association. November 11, 1896, Mr. Murray was married to Miss Catherine Frances Barrett of Troy and now resides at 2426 Fifth avenue. Schenck, Martin, was born in Palatine Bridge, N. Y., January 24, 1847. His an cestors originally came from Holland in 1631 and settled on Long Island. His great grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His father was Benjamin Schenck, who was born in Johnstown, Fulton county, in 1804, and later removed to Palatine Bridge, where he was for many years a farmer and, lumber dealer; he died in 1873. His mother was Susan (Martin) Schenck, born in Florida, Montgomery county; she died in 1892. Martin graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y , in the class of 1869, as a civil engineer and has worked at his profession for twenty- eight years. From 1887 to 1891 inclusive he was chief engineer of the Hudson River Improvement. In 1892 and 1893 he was State engineer and surveyor, and con sulting engineer to the State Board of Health in 1894 and 1895. In 1894 he was appointed chief of engineers with rank of brigadier-general on the staff of Governor Flower. He was a member of the Legislature in 1875 from Montgomery county, N. Y. He has been employed on various railroads as constructing engineer. He is at present city engineer of Troy. Mr. S. is the author of various reports and papers on civil engineering. He is a member of the B. P. O. Elks, and the Royal Arcanum. In 1879 he married Miss Adele Van Evra of Sprakers, by whom he has two children. Edmunds, Frank W. , was born in Boston, Mass., September 5, 1858. He is the son of Benjamin F. Edmunds, a native of New Hampshire, who was one of the organizers of the first Masonic lodge in that State; he died in 1880. His mother, Lucy (Bald win) Edmunds, is now living in Brooklyn, N. Y. Frank W. when ten years of age became an office boy in the office of John A. Griswold & Co. in New York, and work- FAMILY SKETCHES, 395 ing his way up was given charge of the sales in the vicinity of New York. He re mained with that concern until the formation of the Albany and Rensselaer Iron and Steel Co., when he remained with the New York department of that com pany until 1882, at which time he came to .Troy, where he has since had his head quarters. He became the general sales agent for that company and later occupied a similar position for the Troy Steel and Iron Co. In 1890 Mr. Edmunds was placed in charge of the Madison street office where he conducted his department from the general office and continued as general sales agent for the rest of its existence. Mr. Edmunds has charge of the sales department of the Troy Steel Co. on Breaker Isl and. He belongs to Post D, Commercial Travelers Association, of which he is president and also president of the Troy branch of the Commercial Travelers' Home Association of America. He has been president of the Pafraets Dael Club, and is a member of Phoenix Lodge, F. & A. M., of Lansingburgh. He married Frances M. Perine of Paterson, N. J., in 1879. Beiermeister, jr., Frederick, wasborn in New York city, February 1, 1854. His father was born in Germany in 1830, came to Troy in 1863, and' in 1874 engaged m the manufacture of collars and cuffs; later the firm went into the combination of the shirt and collar industry. His wife, mother of the subject, was Barbara (Slosser) Beiermeister; she died in 1894. Frederick, jr., received a public and high school education in New York city and Troy, afterwards entering the shirt and collar busi ness, at which he is engaged at present. Their manufacturing plant is one of the largest in Troy, known as the International Shirt and Collar Co., of which Mr. Beiermeister is president and one of the largest stockholders ; the general office is in Troy and the company maintains salesrooms in New York, Chicago and Boston, and do a large and successful business. Frederick, jr., is also president of the Pioneer Building and Loan Association, and vice-president of the First National Bank. He is a member of Trinity M. E. church, and president of its board of trustees. In 1881 he married Miss Charlotte McPherson of Troy and has four children. In poli tics he is a Republican, and is a member of the Masonic order, having attained the degree of Knight Templar ; he is also a member of the Mystic Shrine, the Troy Club and other social organizations. Pine, Charles L., son of J. K. P. Pine and Clara (Adams) Pine, was born July 18, 1866, in Lansingburgh and was educated in the Troy Academy and Colgate Acad emy at Hamilton, N. Y. He entered Williams College in the fall of 1885 and re mained there until the spring of 1886, when he entered the shirt and collar factory of his father, with whom he continued until 1890. The United Shirt and Collar Company was organized with his father as treasurer; Charles L. was in 1892 elected a member of the Board of Directors and assistant treasurer of the organization, and in August, 1896, was elected treasurer. Mr. Pine is a member of the Sigma Phi fra ternity, the Troy Club, and the Troy Yacht Club, and was one of the organizers of the Riverside Club of Lansingburgh, of which he is now a director. November 20, 1890, he married Grace E., daughter of Warren T. Kellogg of Lansingburgh and they have two children : Ruth K. and Warren Knox. Cluett, Coon & Co. — This firm owns and carries on what is probably the largest shirt, collar and cuff manufactory in the world, and its practical founder may be considered in the person of George B. Cluett, who was born in Wolverhampton, 396 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. England, November 21, 1838, and who arrived in America and settled in Troy with his parents, William and Ann Cluett, on July 19, 1850. Receiving a liberal education he became, when sixteen (1854), a clerk for Joseph Maullin and E. D. Blanchard, collar manufacturers under the firm name of Maullin & Blanchard, who had estab lished themselves in business in 1851, and in whose employ his brother, J. W. A. Cluett, had been since 1852. In 1856 the firm became Maullin & Bigelow by the retirement of Mr. Blanchard and the admission of Charles H. Bigelow, and in 1861 the style was changed to Maullin, Bigelow & Co. In 1858 J. W. A. Cluett joined his father in the book and music business under the firm name of William Cluett ci Son. George B. Cluett continued as clerk for Maullin & Bigelow until 1861, when he became a partner with Mr. Maullin, Mr. Bigelow having withdrawn. Mr. Cluett had charge of the manufacturing department from 1858 to 1863. In the latter year Mr. Maullin died and a new firm was organized under the style of George B. Cluett, Brother & Co., consisting of George B. and J. W. A. Cluett and Charles J. Saxe. At this time the partnership existing between J. W. A. Cluett and his father was dis solved. Another brother, Robert Cluett, 'became a clerk for Maullin & Cluett in 1862, and in 1866, on the withdrawal of Mr. Saxe, he was admitted to the firm of George B. Cluett, Brother & Co. In 1873 the company opened a retail men's fur nishing store in Troy, and soon began the manufacture of shirts to order. Their success in this line induced them to add shirts to their large and growing collar and cuff manufacturing business, and for several years these branches have been profitably carried on. The 'establishment has steadily increased in capacity until it has reached its present extensive proportions. From -the first attention has been given mainly to the manufacture of fine goods, which have a national reputation. The celebrated "Monarch" shirts and the various brands of collars and cuffs are known all over the United States as well as in many foreign countries. From 1862 to 1874 the factory was located at No. 390 River street, and from 1875 to 1880 at Nos. 74 and 76 Federal street, where they were burned out on March 20 of the latter year. In 1878 a five-story building was erected for laundry purposes on North Fourth street, and in 1880 the manufacturing business was moved to No. 556 Fulton street. In 1881 the first of the five immense factory buildings on River street was erected, and covered an area of 100 by 100 feet. On November 1, 1889, the firms of George B. Cluett, Brother & Co. and Coon & Co. were consolidated under the name of Cluett, Coon & Co. , which still continues. The firm of Coon & Co. was originally started in 1856 by John H. Coon and H. W. Cole, as Cole & Coon, for the manufacture of collars. It was located on the northwest corner of Grand Division and North Third streets until 1859, when quarters were obtained and occupied in the Manufacturers. Bank building. In 1859 J. M. Van Volkenburgh was admitted under the name of Cole, Coon & Co., and in 1861 the business was removed to No. 7 Union street, where it was burned out in 1862. Mr. Cole withdrew in 1861 and the name was changed to Coon & Van Volken burgh. Mr. Van Volkenburgh withdrew in 1868, and J. H. and Daniel W. Coon and W. H. Reynolds formed the firm of Coon, Reynolds & Co. Mr. Reynolds died in 1879, and the firm of Coon & Co. was organized by J. H. and D. W. Coon, H. C. Statzell, and F. F. Peabody. This company continued business until the consolida tion of the two firms in 1889. George B. Cluett is a trustee of the Troy Orphan Asy lum, has been a director in the Mutual National Bank since 1890, and is an active member of Christ church, Troy, a public spirited, liberal and influential citizen, and FAMILY SKETCHES 397 a representative business man. He was married, first, in 1863, to Miss Sarah B., daughter of G. D. Golden, of Troy, who died in 1864. In 1867 he was married to Miss Amanda R. Fisher, niece of Judge N. J. Rockwell, of Illinois. Mr. J. W. A. Cluett was born in Wolverhampton, England. Was married to Miss Elizabeth B. Bontecou of Troy, N. Y., in June, 1863. They have two daughters now living, Jessie A., wife of C. Vanderbilt Barton, residents of Colorado Springs, Col.; Louise B., at home. Mr. Cluett and family are members of Christ Episcopal church. Mr. Cluett with his brother George B., during the year 1896, erected the stone spire of the State Street M. E. church in memory of their parents, who were members of that church. J. W. A. Cluett, as well as his brothers, are all staunch Republicans. Mr. Cluett has devoted much of his leisure to literary and scientific pursuits, and for many years has been a member of the Troy Scientific Association, making a specialty of the study of Microscopy. Roche, Hon. William J., was born in Troy, N. Y. His father, William Roche, was born in Ireland and came to the United States in 1841 ; three years later he set tled in Troy and was for many years with the Burden Iron Works and as salesman in Francis S. Thayer's mill in Troy and died in 1891. His mother, Margaret (Guiry) Roche, was born in Ireland, came to United States in 1845, and died in 1886. Will iam J. received his education at St. Mary's Academy in Troy and studied law in the office of Townsends & Browne, was admitted to the bar in 1874. In 1878 he succeeded Mr. Browne in the firm and the firm name was Townsends & Roche until 1891 when Mr. Henry T. Nason was taken in and the firm name was changed to Townsend. Roche & Nason, and so continued until January 1, 1897, when Mr. Nason became county judge. In 1883 he was appointed city attorney and held that office until 1886. In December, 1886, he was appointed by Mayor Whelan to the office of city comp troller to fill an unexpired term, afterwards was appointed for a full term and held that office until October, 1890, when he was appointed corporation counsel, which position he now holds. In 1894 he represented the Eighteenth Senatorial District in the Constitutional Convention, being member of committee on powers and duties of the Legislature and on corporations. He is a member of the Alumni Asso ciation of the De La Salle Institute and was president of same two terms; has been president of the Robert Emmet Association and is still a member. In 1880 he married Mary L. Campion of New York city, by whom he has five sons. In politics he has long been recognized as among the leading Democrats in this part of the State. Sherman, William H., was born in Arlington, Vt., October 26, 1828. His ances tors came of old New England stock. His grandfather, Caleb Sherman, of Conway, Mass., was a Revolutionary soldier. His father, Caleb Sherman, jr., was born in Con way, Mass. , and was for many years a resident of Cambridge, N. Y. , until his death in 1871. His mother, Lucy (Holden) Sherman, was born in Sunderland, Vt. , and died in 1875. He received his education in the common school and in Washington County Academy in Cambridge, N. Y. He then entered a store in Cambridge and remained there until he was eighteen. He came to Lansingburgh in 1848, and was there a salesman in the dry goods store of S. C. Bull. In 1848 he came as clerk for Mr. G. V. S. Quackenbush, and became a partner in the concern in 1865, having charge of its financial affairs. He is a member of the Second Street Presbyterian church and 398 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. has been an elder of that church since 1859. In 1860 he married Annie E. Sheldon, daughter of Cyrus D. Sheldon, who was a prominent lawyer in Troy. She died in 1801. He hastwosons and two daughters: Henry, who is connected with the H. C. Curtis Collar Manufacturing Co., in which he has charge of a certain department; William P., who is connected with his father in their large dry goods store; Mrs. F. T. Piatt, and Miss Lucy Sherman. He has also two grandchildren. In politics he is a Re publican. Alden, Joseph J.; was born in Newton, Mass., in 1815. In 1836 he came to Troy and with Jared Brewster formed the firm of Alden & Wight, doing a dry goods business in what is known as the " Granite Store." For five years he was in the manufacturing business at Sand Lake, the product being satinet warp, and returned to Troy in 1855. In 1856 with Stephen P. Hunt he started a grocery business in Plarmony Hall building under the firm name of Alden & Hunt. In 1865 Mr. Hunt retired and Mr. Alden became sole proprietor. Harry M., his son, was taken in as a partner in 1870 and in 1895 Edward was admitted, the firm name being J. J. Alden 6i Sons. Thus it will be seen that Joseph J. Alden had been a citizen of Troy sixty- one years, and that for more than forty years his business life was confined to one place. The deceased was a member of the First Presbyterian church. He is sur vived by his wife, who was Miss Sarah Marshall, daughter of Capt. Benjamin Mar shall of this city, two sons, Water Commissioner Harry M. Alden and Edward M. Alden ; a daughter, Mrs. Jonathan Alden of Brooklyn ; a sister, Mrs. George Prescott of Albany; and two brothers, Gen. Alonzo Alden and Charles L. Alden. Joseph J. Alden's life was confined mostly to business pursuits. His business career was characterized by industry, integrity, well directed effort and conscientious practice. He achieved well deserved success and leaves behind him a record worthy of emula tion Many sympathizing friends mourn with the bereaved relatives. Mr. Alden was of the seventh generation, in direct descent from John and Priscilla Alden, of Puritan fame. Mr. Alden died March 11, 1896. Harrington, jr., Arvin W. , was born in West Troy, Albany county, N. Y. Arvin YV. Harrington, his father, was born in Stephentown, Rensselaer county, May 1, 1 825. About fifty years ago he entered the concern of Whipple, Thompson & Co. of West Troy in the lumber business ; he was also the founder of the firm of Harring ton & Co. The mother of our subject is Caroline S. (Rousseau) Harrington, daugh ter of Louis Rousseau. He received a public school education, entered the Troy Academy and was graduated in 1875. He then entered the office of G. Parish Ogden & Co., in the insurance business. In March, 1887, he formed a partnership in the firm name of Ogden, Calder, Van Alstyne & Co., which was continued until 1S87, when Ogden and Calder retired and Mr. Harrington and Mr. Van Alstyne took the business, which is carried on under the firm name of Van Alstyne & Har rington. Mr. Harrington is president of the Laureate Boat Club. He was one of the founders and is now vice-president of the Troy Choral Club. He was married in 1884 to Harriet Sheldon, daughter of Henry Sheldon, who was for many years a druggist on River street. He has one daughter. Holmes, John B., was born in West Davenport, N. Y., August 13, 1852. He is the son of Elkanah Holmes of West Davenport, N.Y., and Betsey (Burdick) Holmes, who died in 1S57. He attended the public schools and Stamford Seminary, Stam- FAMILY SKETCHES. 399 ford, N. Y. , then taught school for several terms and subsequently entered the, law office of A. Raymond Gibbs of Oneonta, N. Y., for tbe study of law and graduated from the Albany Law School in 1878, and was admitted to the bar soon thereafter. Pie commenced the practice of the law in the village of East Worcester, N. Y in 1878, where he remained until April, 1883, when he removed to the village of Wor cester and formed a copartnership with Frank L. Smith under the firm name of Holmes & Smith and continued the practice of the law in that village until April, 1893, when he removed to Troy, N. Y., and formed a copartnership with Hon. James Lansing of that city, under the firm name of Lansing & Holmes and is still a mem ber of the said firm. He was supervisor of the town of Worcester from 1884 to 1888, inclusive, and was for two years during that titae chairman of the Board of Super visors of Otsego couuty. He ran for district attorney of Otsego county in 1889 against Burr Mattice, who is now a justice of the Supreme Court for that district, and al though he ran ahead of his ticket, the county being largely Republican, he was de feated by a small majority. He was the nominal cashier of the Worcester Bank from 1885 to 1888 and a member of the Board of Education of the Worcester Acad emy for several years. He belongs to the Cobleskill, N. Y. Lodge No. 304, F. & A. M. He married Mary E. Tobey of West Davenport, N. Y. . in 1878, by whom he has one son, Northrup R. Holmes. In politics he has always been a Democrat and for a number of years was a member of the Democratic County Committee of Otsego county and attended several State conventions as a delegate from said county, among which was what is known as the "mid winter convention" held at Albany in 1892. Harrison, George, B., was born in Troy, N. Y. , December 14, 1865. His father, George Harrison, was born in London, England, in 1823 and came to this coun try in 1844 and resided in New York cit)' for two years. He came to Troy in 1.846 and in 1850 went into the manufacture of malleable iron castings with William Knight, under the firm name of Knight & Harrison. In 1865 the firm was suc ceeded by that of Harrison & Kellogg, and in 1884 became the Troy Malleable Iron Company, Mr. Harrison retiring from the business in 1882. He died January 10, 1888. George Harrison married Susannah Taylor of Troy. They had one son, William, who lived to the age of twenty one ; he was married and left a daughter. On the death of his first wife George Harrison subsequently married Miss Margaret A. Van Woert of Athens, N. Y. ; of that union three children are living, of whom George B. is the eldest and manager of the estate. Mrs. Harrison is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison were members of the First Baptist church of Troy. In politics he was a Republican. George B. Harrison, the subject of this sketch, attended the public schools, after which he entered the Troy Academy, graduating in 1882, and Williams College, graduating in 1886. He took a two year course in the Albany Law School, graduating in 1892. He studied law with William Shaw and was admitted to the bar in May, 1892. He now devotes his time to the management of the estate of George Harrison. He is'a member of the Pafraets Dael Club, of which he is the treasurer, also a member of the East Side and Laureate Boat Clubs and Troy Citi zens' Corps. Coffey, James W., was born in Troy, N. Y., June 19, 1853. His father, Michael Coffey, came from Ii eland in 1850, and died February 3, 1888. His mother, Sarah 400 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. (Welch) Coffey, is still living. He received a common school education and entered St. Mary's Academy. In 1865 he went into the law office of Runkle & Flagg, after wards going in with Neher & Calder as bookkeeper. He then entered the office of Flagg & Neary and continued with them until the death of Mr. Flagg, which occurred in 1874, remaining with Mr. Neary until his death, which occurred February, 1886, since which time he has practiced alone. He was admitted to the bar in 1875 previous. He was the mayor's private secretary from 1882 to 1889. He was appointed assistant police magistrate in June, 1889. In 1890 he was made comptroller and re appointed in 1893 and is the present incumbent. He belongs to the Alumni of La Salle Institute. He is a member of the Contracting Board, Board of Local Assessors, Board of- Health, Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and one of the commission ers of the funded debts of the city. He is a member of the Robert Emmet Associa tion and of the Knights of Columbus. He married Nora A. Hartigan June 22, 1875, who died February 13, 1896. She was the daughter of Maurice Hartigan, who was alderman and supervisor of the Eighth ward. He has two children living, James Vincent and Sarah Louise, and has lost two by death, Michael Joseph and Helen Gertrude Coffey. Lloyd, James H., was born in Albany, N. Y. , July 25, 1853. He received his edu cation in the public schools and went as apprentice in a photograph studio in Albany. After he learned his trade he worked in several galleries and in 1874 bought out a gallery in Waterford, N. Y. , where he remained eight years. He then came to Troy and opened a gallery on Third street where he is at present. In 1875 he joined Knickerbocker Steamer Company of Waterford, N. Y., and at various times held the office of president, vice-president, and captain of the company; also chief engineer. As captain he got the company so that they were invincible in competing drills, always winning the first prize. On coming to Troy in 1882 he joined the Arba Read Steamer Co., and shortly afterward was elected captain and held that position four years; he was also. president of the company, and is still an active member. In De cember, 1882, he enlisted in the 6th Separate Co., N. G. S. N.Y. , serving five years; he received a full and honorable discharge, and immediately re-enlisted. On March 15, 1888, he was elected captain of the 21st Separate Co., which office he still holds, and has brought the company to the highest state of efficiency, ranking among the very best in the Guard ; he is also a member of the Third Brigade, N. G. N. Y. ex amining board. He joined Clinton Lodge F. & A. M., in 1877, and Waterford Chap ter, R. A. M., in 1889, located at Waterford, N. Y. ; he held several offices in the lodge and was high priest of Waterford Chapter in 1882 and '83; in 1891 he affili ated with Apollo Lodge No. 13, F. & A. M., and Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., of this city : he is at present Master of Apollo Lodge. He joined Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T. , of this city in 1879, and is a pasts commander of that body. He is at present commander of Apollo Commandery drill corps, which office he has held thirteen years ; they have been very successful ; it was due to him that they received tbe most commendation at the Triennial Conclave at Boston in 1895. He is also a member of Bloss Council No. 14, R. & S. M. , and Albany Sovereign Consistory. He is a 33d degree Mason, a member of the Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdic tion of the United States; also a member of Oriental Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of this city. He held the office of town clerk of Waterford three years. On July 25, 1883, he married Miss Clara Hendrickson of Albany, by whom he has one daughter-. FAMILY SKETCHES. 401 Corliss, John Moore, was born in Orford, N. H., June 7, 1813, and was a lineal descendant in the sixth generation from George Corliss, the founder of the family in America, who was born in County Devonshire, England, about 1617, came to this country in 1639, and settled in Newbury, Mass., where he died in 1686. The farm purchased by him in 1640 has been in the family ever since and is now owned by George Corliss of the sixth generation. The descendants of this pioneer have been prominent in civil, military, and commercial affairs, many of them being minutemen, volunteers and officers oPrank in the wars of 1757, 1776, 1812 and 1861. John M. Corliss was the second son of four children of John Moore and Rosamond Corliss, natives respectively of Alexandria and Deerfield, N. H. His minority was spent on the parental farm, in attendance at the district school, and as a student at the Brad ford and Haverhill Academies, and as a teacher for five terms. In 1836 he settled permanently in Troy, where in the spring of 1837he engaged in the grocery business. In 1838 he formed a copartnership with Arnold H. Holdridge, under the firm name of Holdridge & Corliss, and began the manufacture of linen collars and shirt fronts on the corner of Sixth and State streets. In 1839 he became sole owner and man ager of the establishment. The following year John M. White became his partner under the style of Corliss & White, and from 1842 to 1846 he was again alone. From 1846 to 1868 Hiram House was associated with him, the firm being Corliss & House except between 1854 and 1857, when it was Corliss, House & Co., Samuel N. Ide being the third partner. In 1868 his son, Wilbur F. Corliss, became his partner in the place of Mr. House under the firm name of J. M. Corliss & Son. Mr. Corliss re tired from business in 1882, and on November 1 of that year the firm of Corliss Brothers & Co., was formed, consisting of Wilbur F., Charles H. and John A. Corliss and Elmer H. Garrett. On November 1, 1890, Charles H. retired, and on July 1, 1895, Mr. Garrett withdrew. The present firm of Corliss, Coon & Co. was then or ganized by Wilbur F. and John A. Corliss and John H. Coon, jr., Albert E. Coon, the latter being sons of John H. Coon, sr., the senior member of the old firm of Coon „ & Co. and now one of the firm of Cluett, Coon & Co. In 1878 the concern occupied its present quarters on the corner of Broadway and Fifth avenue. At the time of his retirement in 1882 John M. Corliss was the oldest manufacturer of collars and cuffs in Troy and had been connected with the business longer than any other man. He was one of the pioneers engaged in that industry and many manufacturers ac quired their first experience in his establishment. He was continuously in the busi ness for forty-three years, and as early as 1860 started a branch in New York city. He has been a director of what is now the Union National Bank of Troy since 1853 and vice-president since November, 1870. On May 5, 1881, he was elected a trustee of the Troy Savings Bank. In politics he was originally a Democrat, but since the election of Lincoln he has been a staunch Republican. He married, first, in 1839, Mary H., daughter of Benjamin R. Hoyt, of Newbury, Vt., who died in 1842. In 1848 he married, second, Antoinette H., daughter of Alfred Masher, of Lenox, O., who died in 1887. Mr. John M. Corliss died June 7, 1892. Earl & Wilson.— Probably no firm engaged in the manufacture of collars and cuffs has a wider reputation than Earl & Wilson, whose celebrated " E. & W" trade mark is not only well known throughout America, but in many foreign countries. The " E. & W." brand carries a guarantee for fineness and durability wherever it goes. yy 402 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. William S. Earl had his first experience as a manufacturer of collars and cuffs as an employee in the factory of his father-in law, Jefferson Gardner, in King street, in 1848. Two years later he began business for himself at No. 51 North Third street, and from 1856 to 1858 he was associated with Edwin D. Blanchard, in the manufac ture of linen in the Manufacturers Bank building. On January 1, 1867, he and Washington Wilson formed the present firm of Earl & Wilson and began the man ufacture of collars and cuffs at No. 5 Union street. In 1873 his only son, Gardner Earl, was admitted as a partner and continued until his death March 3, 1887. Arthur R. Wilson, a brother of Washington, was admitted in 1881 and Edgar K. Betts in December, 1887. In 1876 the new building on the corner of Seventh street and Broadway was occupied by the firm, and is the first structure in Troy specially de signed architecturally for the purpose. Mr. Earl is a prominent citizen and a rep resentative business man, and was fire commissioner from 1880 to 1887 and has been a director of the Manufacturers National Bank since March 29, 1887. Rodgers, Spencer C, was born in Lyons, N. Y. , December 12, 1844. After receiv ing a common school education he learned the printers' trade in the Lyons Republi can office, at the same time devoting himself to acquiring a knowledge of stenogra phy. He afterwards followed the printing business in New York and Brooklyn, where he also pursued stenography, his first actual practice being the reporting of Henry Ward Beecher's sermons, and subsequently acting as stenographer in the secret service of the government and in the United States Courts of the Northern District of New York for two years. In 1868 he was induced by the late Hon. Wm. A. Beach to locate at Troy, and was at once appointed an official stenographer of the Supreme Court of the Third Judicial District, embracing -seven counties; for many years he has also been the official stenographer of the county courts of Rens selaer, Albany, Schoharie and Ulster. From 1872 until 1880 he also acted officially as stenographer for the courts of Bennington, Rutland and Franklin counties, Vt. In 1875 and 1883 he was elected official stenographer of the New York Assembly. He is one of the charter members of the State Stenographers' Association, serving as . president in 1880 and 1892, and in 1883 was preidentof the International Congress of Stenographers of the United States and Canada. In 1883 he formed a partnership with James M. Ruso, of Albany, under the firm name of Rodgers & Ruso, and in 1893, by the addition of John E. Kelly, of Troy, the firm became Rodgers, Ruso & Kelly, which partnership still continues, and also conducts the largest typewriting and lawyer's supply house in this section of the State. During about thirty years of official court service he has reported seventy-five capital cases, and nearly every noted trial in eastern New York. He has been official stenographer of the National Asso ciation of Stove Manufacturers for twenty years. Tunnard, Robert H., was born in England in 1839, and is a son of John and Ann Tunnard, who came from England and settled in Waterford, N. Y., in May, 1854.' His father died in September of the same year, and his mother in 1880. Mr. Tun nard received a district school education and started in as an apprentice to learn the machinist trade with J. M. King & Co., of Waterford, N. Y. Later he came to Troy, N. Y. , and learned the pipe fitting trade with Louis Southwick, with whom he remained nine years, and in 1871 entered the services of the Rensselaer Iron Works (which is now the Troy Steel Co.), and has been in their employ continuously since. FAMILY SKETCHES. 403 He has charge of the pipe fitting for that concern. He was elected school commis sioner in 1883 and re-elected in 1886 to the same office ; appointed November 17, 1892, to fill vacancy, and afterwards appointed for a term of three years. He has always been a Republican and was a leader in the Ninth ward for years. He has held all of the offices in I. O. O. F. and the A. O. U. W. , and has been a trustee of the Troy Co-operative Society since its organization, and was president of same for two years. In 1866 he married Martha Rock of Pownal, Vt. , and his children are William H., Flattie A. and Bessie M. Smith, Arthur T. , was born in Troy in 1855. His father, George D. Smith, was born in England and came to Troy, where he was engaged in the meat business for many years. He held the office of supervisor for six years, and died in 1891. Arthur T. Smith, after graduating from the Troy Business College, entered the market of his father and since his death in 1891 has carried on the business alone. He was elected alderman from the Third ward in 1887, and has since held that office. He is chairman of the Republican Central Committee, and has been county committeman six years. He is a director in the National Bank of Troy, and belongs to all the Ma sonic bodies of Troy. In 1877 he married Hattie A. Kendrick of Troy, by whom he had one daughter. Fiske, Edwin Jay, M. D., was born in Rome, N. Y., December 26, 1848. His father, Squire Gilbert Fiske, born in Connecticut, was a descendant of Symond Fiske (lord of the manor of Stadhaugh, Suffolk county, England), and removed with his father to Rome, N. Y. , in early life, and in 1850 went to Oswego, N. Y. , where he engaged in general teaming, and later marine coihmission business, which he con tinued until time of his death in 1880. The doctor's mother was Christiana M. Borst, born in Johnstown, N. Y., of German parents, her father being John Borst, a very well known business man in Mohawk Valley. The doctor began school life in Oswego, leaving the High School in 1866, and soon after was a student two years at Falley Seminary, Oswego county. The doctor was a clerk in the Oswego post-office in 1864 and part of 1865, and at the time of President Lincoln's assassination. On February 22, 1868, he came to Albany and began the study of medicine ; he at once entered the office of the late Dr. Alden March, founder of the Albany Medical Col lege, and remained with him until the time of his death in 1869. May 10, 1870, he came to Troy as medical assistant at the Marshall Infirmary, where he remained four years, attending during the time in 1871 his last year of lectures at the Albany Medical College, graduating in the class of 1871, and on the anniversary of his birth day, May 10, 1874, the doctor was appointed by William Kemp, then mayor, and without application or knowledge of such an office, city physician, which office he accepted, and removed soon after from the Infirmary to his first office No. 72 Second street. Four years later he resigned this office to accept a position on the Medical Brief. He was after made editor of this publication, which position he held until in 1880, his health failed. He soon recovered and returned to Troy, where he has since enjoyed a very large practice. The doctor was one of the original members of the Citizens Corps, and amember of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, the Medical Society of Troy and Vicinity, and honorary member of the Albany County Medical Society. He was married, in September, 1894, to Miss Harriet A. Newton, of Al bany, N. Y, 404 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Bell, John, was born in Bath-on-the-Hudson, N. Y., November 21, 1843. He was the son of Adam and Margaret Bell, natives of Berwickshire, Scotland, who came to Bath-on-the-Hudson about 1838. His father died July 29, 1882; his widow is now- living, ninety-three years old. They had a family of six children of whom four were born in Scotland: Mrs. James Cown of Bath: Adam of Washington, spent thirty years in Wisconsin ; Thomas, deceased; Elizabeth, John, the subject of the sketch; and Sarah, who had taught school in Bath for twenty-five years. The father of Mr. Bell was a gardener and was in the employ of the Van Rensselaers for a number of years. He was also in the employ of the Forbeg family ; he bought the place which John Bell now owns, on Walton, Ferry and First streets, of the Forbes estate and built his residence. John Bell was reared and educated in Bath ; he spent two years at the carpenter trade, then engaged with Marshall & Travers in the manufacture of pianos; he then set up a business for himself in Bath which he finally abandoned, and was employed in the stove pattern works of Fuller & Warren ; he also spent one year with H. Clay Bascomb of Troy in the pattern works. He was school treasurer for about eleven years. He has been a member of the Royal Arcanum, Fort Orange Council, Albany. Mrs. Bell's brother was John Brodie, who came to Bath-on-the Hudson and settled ifl Baltimore. He had a brother, Alexander, who was here in Bath about 1836; he went to Baltimore. Another brother, Thomas, spent most of his life in Ohio. He was active in church matters as were the other brothers. Mr, Bell was married in 1877 to Sarah L. Cornelius, sister of John Cornelius, by whom he has had five children: Sarah (a graduate of the Albany Normal School), Jean Elizabeth, Walter, John, and Ella L., deceased. Mrs. Bell died in March, 1894. She was principal of No. 22 School in Albany. Ludden, William J., was born in Ireland in 1849 and came with his parents to America in 1861. He received a full university course in St. John's College in New York and graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1870. In the fall of that year he entered the Albany Law School and finished with a class of ninety-one students. Immediately after his admission to the bar he commenced the practice of his profession in Rome, N. Y. , as partner with the late Milton D. Barnett, at that time district attorney of Oneida county. After remaining with him a short time he removed to Binghamton where he opened an office for the practice of his profession associating himself with Edmund O'Connor, the late State senator from that district. While in Binghamton he held the office of corporation counsel in that city for two successive terms. In 1881 he moved to Troy where he opened an office in the Times building which he has ever since occupied. He was elected justice of the City Court of the city of Troy in 1889 and held that office until January 1, 1896. He married in 1877 a daughter of James Prendergast, a merchant of Binghamton, N. Y., and they have a family of five sons and two daughters. Among his immediate relatives are the Rev. Dean A. P. Ludden of Little Falls and the Rev. James M. Ludden of Albany, his brothers, and the Rt. Rev. P. A. Ludden, D. D., bishop of Syracuse, his first cousin. Among the many important cases he has had in his practice are the Dennin will case and the People vs. James Horace Jones whom he defended for homicide. While Mr. Ludden was in Binghamton he was president of the Irish Land League and has always taken a deep interest in Irish National affairs. He enjoys a large and lucrative practice and is considered among the first lawyers in Rensselaer county. He has always FAMILY SKETCHES. 405 been a Democrat in politics and has always taken an active part in every presidential election in furthering Democratic principles. His voice has been heard in almost every town of any importance in this State and the northern part of Pennsylvania previous to every presidential election since he has become a voter in the interests of the Democratic cause. While a party man in the strict sense of the word in local matters he has been ever ready to help a friend and espouse the cause of good local government irrespective of party affiliation. Solomon, Clarence B., established in 1890 a first-class steam laundry on Church street, Hoosick Falls, a business which under his able personal management has grown to very satisfactory proportions. Mr. Solomon lived at Williamstown, Mass., where he was born, until 1887, and was then at Fort Edward two years, meantime fitting himself for business life by a course at Albany Business College. He recently married Miss Bertha May Welch of Hoosick Falls. He is a Republican, a member of the Hoosac Club, and in short one of the energetic and popular young men who will help make the future of their town. Parsons, William H., foreman of the repair shops at the Walter A. Wood Mower and Reaper Works, is an expert machinist and mechanical engineer. He has made that class of work a life study, and for twenty-five years in the town of Hoosick. He was born in New York city in 1840 and lived there until 1871, when he came to Walloomsac to superintend the construction of the cotton factory, now occupied by Stevens & Thompson as a paper mill, and continued in the employ of that company for fifteen years, coming to Hoosick Falls in 1887. His elder son, William H. Par sons, jr., is also a foreman in the iron works, and where he learned his trade, rising from the rank and file by personal ability. Mr. Parsons's wife, to whom he was married in New York in 1863, died soon after coming to Hoosick Falls, leaving three children. Mr. Parsons is a member of the Masonic brotherhood, of the Hoosick Club, has served as town assessor, and has for six years been chief of the Fire De partment, proving a most competent and popular official. Ross, Ogden E„ was born in Troy, February 3, 1856. He is the son of Elias and Mary E. (White) Ross. His father was a Scotchman, the American branch of the family settling in Elizabeth, N. J., in 1616. He died in Troy, January 2, 1874. His mother died in 1882. Ogden was educated at the Troy Academy and the Rensse laer Polytechnic Institute and entered the city comptroller's office June 2, 1875, as a clerk. In August, 1866, he was made chief clerk and secretary to the contracting board, which position he has held since. In September, 1888, he was admitted to practice as counselor at law, having studied with Hon. R. A. Parmenter. He en listed as a private in the Sixth Separate Company, Troy Citizens Corps, and a month later did duty at the labor riots in West Albany. He is a member of the East Side Club and the Laureate Boat Club. He is a trustee of the Second Street Presbyterian church and for five years was secretary and treasurer. November 14, 1888, he mar ried Jeannie M. Nely, of New York city, by whom he has two sons. McNutt, Col. J. G., was born in Amsterdam, N. Y., April 4, 1833. His progen itors in this country came from the North of Ireland not far from 1750. Colonel McNutt attended the common schools, and the knowledge there secured was sup plemented by an academic course. When eighteen years of age he became engaged as 406 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. an agent for fire insurance, which engagement continued for several years, during which period he found time to pursue the study of law at Warrensburgh, N.Y., with the Hon. D. B. Stockholm. In 1858 he was appointed the general agent for his in surance company for the State of Iowa. On his way to Iowa he stopped at Troy, N. Y., to visit a brother, who was a teacher in that city, and while there his brother died; Colonel McNutt assumed his deceased brother's place in the school and com pleted the term. His short service as teacher gave such satisfaction to the School Board that he was asked to remain as principal of the school. He settled on Green Island as principal of School No. 1, where he was engaged at the breaking out of the Civil war. He resigned his principalship and recruited a company of men, of which he was elected captain, and which formed a part of the 2d Regiment, N. Y. Vols. He served in the Department of the Gulf, and was promoted to major and was recommended for colonel and for governor of Florida with the rank of brigadier- general. At the close of the war he re-entered the insurance business, which he followed for twenty-two years, when he took up the prosecution of claims against the government, and has been successful therein. Colonel McNutt has established more than a local reputation as a lecturer upon literary and scientific subjects and in every way merits the high esteem in which he is held. Doring, Charles, was born in Germany, October 29, 1826. He received his musical education in Germany and when a young man came to America and enlisted as cor- netist in the United States Army Band stationed at the Watervliet (N. Y.) Arsenal. The Mexican war was then being fought and the band was sent to the front and spent four years in Mexico. When they returned the old regimental band was reor ganized, with E. P. Jones leader, and Mr. Doring solo cornetist. In 1857 Mr. Dor ing was chosen leader and has maintained the position with great credit to himself and the band ever since, nearly forty years. In 1850 the name was changed to the Troy Cornet Band, and they became known every where as one of the best in the country, and when the Civil war broke out they were sent to the front, October 17, 1861, and for ten months led the old 2d Regt. N. Y. Vols, during the Peninsular campaign. An order from headquarters which disbanded all but brigade bands, sent the musicians back to Troy, where they were discharged in June, 1862. De cember 18, 1869, the band was incorporated as Troy Military and Orchestra Band, consisting of twenty-two members and with W. T. Crary as president. In 1891 the name of the band was changed to Doring's Military and Orchestral Band, and although the name was not changed until this late date, the organization was known for a long time previous as Doring's Band of Troy, so completely was the personal ity of the leader felt. The band has had remarkable success, but one that is de served in every sense. E. S. Thornton is now president, Edward Martin vice-presi dent, and George F. Doring has been acting leader since 1894. The band, consist ing at present of eighteen members, has achieved an almost national reputation and has made a number of noted trips. It accompanied the Albany Burgesses Corps to both of Grant's inaugurations, and in 1881, to Cleveland, St. Louis and other west ern cities. Beiermeister, John M., superintendent of the International Shirt and Collar Co., was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., received a public and high school education in Troy, N. Y., and has been in the collar business since with the concerns of Beiermeister & FAMILY SKETCHES. 407 Spicer, the United Shirt & Collar Co., and when the International Shirt & Collar Co. was formed he was made superintendent of that industry. He married Carrie Lutz of Elizabeth, N. J., daughter of the Rev. John Lutz, a Methodist clergyman of Elizabeth, N. J. He has one son, John, and a daughter, Edna. Beiermeister, Charles F., vice-president of the International Shirt & Collar Co., was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1862, and was educated in the public and high schools of Troy, N. Y. He entered the factory of Beiermeister & Spicer and was superin tendent of same until the formation of the United Shirt & Collar Co., when he be came manager of the Anchor factory where he remained until the International Shirt & Collar Co. was formed, of which he was elected vice-president and also acts as general manager. He belongs to the Pafraets Dael and Laureate Boat Clubs. He married, in 1886, Carrie Vaughn of Troy, N. Y., by whom he has two children: Vaughn and Ellen. Parks, Charles Wellman, son of Granville and Elizabeth Augusta Parks, was born at Woburn, Middlesex county, Mass., March 22, 1863. In 1879 he was graduated from the Woburn High School and entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, from which he was graduated in 1884. At the end of the second year at the R. P. I. he spent one year engaged in engineering work in the West, a part of the time as as sistant on the United States survey of the Missouri River in the neighborhood of Omaha, Neb., and the rest of the time as assistant on the survey of the Arkansas Narrow Guage Railroad between Van Buren, Arkansas, and Joplin, Mo. Returning to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in September, 1882, he remained there until April, 1884, when he left to take charge of surveys for the Denver, Memphis and Atlantic Railroad between Baxter Springs and Larned, Kan. After completing the survey of this road he was employed by the Burlington and Missouri Railroad in Nebraska to make surveys in Colorado for a line across the mountain range to join Bowlder Park and Middle Park. In 1885 Mr. Parks became assistant to the director of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and in 1886 was made professor pro tern, in physics in that institution, which position he held until 1892. During the early years of this period he acted as electrical engineer for the Electric Manufacturing Com pany of Troy. In 1888 he was appointed United States superintendent of the Liberal Arts Group at the Paris Exposition of 1889. The Educational Exhibit was collected and installed by him. He served as a member of the International Jury of Awards and was assigned to duty in one of the classes of Education. At the close of this exposition he received the decoration of Officier de 1' Instruction Publique. Dur ing the years 1892-93 he had charge of the preparation and exhibition of the display made by the United States Bureau of Education at the Columbian Exposition. The principal features of this exhibit was a model public library of 5,000 volumes. This exhibit, which was prepared with the co-operation of the American Library Asso ciation formed, the nucleus of the Carnegie Library at Allegany, Pa., and several of the smaller towns in the country have since that time received presents of public libraries which are duplicates of this collection. Since the close of the Columbian Exposition Mr. Parks has visited expositions held in Antwerp, Lyons, and Milan, and the Forestry Schools of France, Germany, and Switzerland, and has prepared reports for the United States Bureau of Education upon the edncational features of these exhibitions and schools. In 1896 he received an appointment to the examin- 408 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. ing division of the United States Patent Office in Washington. Mr. Parks is a mem ber of the Troy Scientific Association and the Rensselaer Society of Engineers of Troy, N. Y. ; of the Anthropological Society and the Cosmos Club of Washington, D. C. , and of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Mr. Parks's wife, to whom he was married April 15, 1887, is Martha Bessac Parks nee Frear, daughter of the late Will iam and Deborah A. Frear. INDEX. PART I. Abbott, Dr., 171 Frank, 547 I. W., 190 Joel, 419 Leonard J., 389 Peter P., 472 Abele, G., Rev., 333 Abercrombie, James, Gen., 30 Ackart, Matie, Miss, 446 Adams, George D., Rev., 324 James, 388 Nathaniel, 241, 310 Parker, Rev., 138 Adancourt, Clinton L., 203 Adincourt, Francis, 88 Adsit, John B., 544 Agricultural Society, Rensselaer County, 137, 250 Aken, James, 515 Nelson P., 515 Akin, John H., 516 Mary E., 252 William, 406 Akhurst, James, 452 Albany county, division of, 67 Albertsen, Hendrick, 403 Albertson, John P., 272, 33S, 391 Albridge, Conrad 515 Alden, Alonzo, 114, 116, 117, 119, 121, 125, 131, 300, 301 Charles L., 314, 355 Harry M., 131, 301 John, 550 & Son, J. J., 320 Algonquins, the, 10, 12 Allen, Albert, 449 Amos, Dr., 351, 564, 505 Arthur H., Rev., 324 Caleb, 388 Charles S., Dr , 407 Ethan, 44 Allen, Daniel, 494 Fred P., 355 George, 247 Isaac A., 192 James, 550 James W., 192 John, 480 Joseph C, 119 Joseph H., 121, 123, 525 Allendorph, Lewis W., 514 Almshouse, the first, 133 Alps, 551 American Laundry Journal, the, Troy 351 Amidon, John, 558 Anderson, Daniel G, Rev., 329 jr., Elbert, 244 George B., 350 Kerr C. Rev., 320 Andrew M. Church company, the, 318 Andrews, E. W., Rev., 323 Norman D., 191 Andros, Frank A., 187, 18s Anson, Dr., 169 William, Rev., 553 Anthony, Charles H., 189 Jesse B., 188, 189, 193, 196, 198, 199 Anti-rent troubles, 91-94 Appleman, William, Rev., 488 Armitage, John W., 95-97 Armory, the, 216 Armstrong, Asher, Dr., 422, 430 Jesse B., 448 J. P., 430 Lebbeus, Rev., 477 P. A., Dr., 170 Arnold, Anson, 256 David, 516 E. D., 310 Isaac, 301 Oliver A., 189, 445 410 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Arnold, S. V. , 398 Arts, John, 96, 100 Ashley, Edwin E., 340 Stephen, 225, 226 Ashton, Lurie, Dr., 170, 215 Askins, Henry A., 444 John W., 445 Assemblymen, list of, 143-140 Atwood, Anson, 312 Noel, 397 Aufsesser, F. M., 314 Auringer, O. C, Rev., 323 Austin, Charles M., 188 James M., 190 Averill, Franklin, 513 Horatio, 134 James K., 512, 514, 517 Park, 517 Ayers, Daniel H., 196 Babcock, Edward W., Rev., 329 George, 196, 198 Le Grand, 194 Reuben, 90 Samuel, 497 U. P. , 506 Varnum, 549 Bachman, John, Rev., 527 Backus, C. F., 310 Bacon, Jesse, 185 John, 448 Baert, Andreas, 511 Bailey, Amaziah, 544 Baker, Alderman, Elder, 550, 559 Benjamin, 423 Clark, 423 D. Bryan, 442 Ezekiel. Dr., 172, 440, 494 Lorenzo, 446 Remember. 44 William, 209 Balch, E. A., 475 Baldwin, George C, Rev. Dr., 132, 209 295, 330 Balentine, Ebenezer, Dr., 170 Ball, Albert, Dr , 513 Bros., 309 Chandler, 425 David, 191, 197, 424 Dr., 168 George H., 353 James H., Dr., 546, 548, 551 John C, 309 L. Burke, 42:! Marcus, 189, 196 seminary, Hoosick Falls, 425 Bancker, Flores, 226, 522, 523 Bank, Central National, of Troy, 339 Bank, Farmers', Lansingburgh, 236 location of, settled by lot, 237 Manufacturers' National, of Troy, 338 Market, Troy, 272 Merchants' and Mechanics', Troy, 256 Mutual National, of Troy, 33* National State, of Troy, 338 of Castleton, National, 400 of Hoosick Falls, First National, 430 of Lansingburgh, 388 of Lansingburgh, People's, 393 of Troy, 241 of Troy, National, 339, 570 Rensselaer County, Lansingburgh, 390 Troy City National, 337 Troy Savings, 252, 337 Union National, of Troy, 338 United National, of Troy, 339 Banker, Ezra, 450 Baptist churches of Troy, 330, 331 Barber, John, 377 Luther H., Dr., 557, 559 Barhuydt, Wouter, 458 Barker, Calvin, 388 C. J., 190,197 Stephen W., 357, 447 William, 308 Barkman, Dr., 171 Barnes, Frank Coe, Prof., 345 Gilbert, 423 Joseph, Rev., 487, 499 Barnet, Benjamin, 432 Gates, 314 Jonas M., 314 William, 314 Barnett, J. N., Rev., 527 Barnhart, John, 566 Barnum, Theodore F., 314 Barr, J. P., 191 Barringer, George E. , 461 George and Philip, 535 H. V, 189 Jacob, 533 Barron, Henry D., 484 Barrows, Delia, Miss, 440 Barsett, Ebenezer D., Dr., 16H Bartlett, Philip G.,310 Barton, Richard C, 203 William, 279 Bascom, Henry Clay, 295 Bassett, Ebenezer, Dr., 546 Ebenezer D., Dr., 550 Bateman, Rensselaer, 549 Reuben, 544. 545 Battershall, Joseph F. , 284 INDEX. 411 Battershall, Ludlow A , 319 Battle of Bennington, account of by Lieut. Glick, 59-01 advance of Lieut. -Col. Breyman, 53 anxiety of the colonists preced ing the. 51 arrival of Gen. Stark's brigade at Bennington, 54 Baum's advance to Cambridge, 55 Baum's expedition to Benning ton, 49 Baum's report of the engagement at Van Schaick's Mills, "55 Burgoyne'sinstructionsto Baum, 50 Burgoyne's proclamations, 51 capture of Ethan Allen and de feat of Seth Warner, 53 distraction of the people upon Burgoyne's approach, 52 effects of the victory at the, 62 events preceding- the, 47 force of Gen. Stark at the, 56 Gen. Stark's assumption of com mand and its effects, 54 Gen. Stark's plan of battle at the. 57 Gen. Stark's report of, 58 impropriety in the appellation of, 46 increase of terror caused by mur der of Jane McCrea, 52 orders of the Council, 54 positions of the contending troops at, 62 preparations for defense, 53 recognition by Congress of Gen. Stark's services at, 63 Schuyler's counter proclamation and its effects, 51 Schuyler's stand at Haver isl and, 48 second engagement at the, 61 superseding of Gen. Schuyler by Gen. Gates, 48 trophies of the, 61 Baucus, John A., 193, 445 J. Bryan, 446 Baum, Frederick, Col., 49, 61, 62 Bayard, Stephen N. . 406 Beach, Miles, 278, 279 William A., sketch of the life and services of, 157; 352 Beale, E. Newton, 19:; Beals, John, 559 Niles, 500 Beam, Adam, 224 Beattie, David, 296, 340 Beaudry, Louis N., Rev., 535 Becher, Otto, Rev., 296 Beck, Lewis C, 254 T. Romeyn, 254 Beckett, James A., 192 Beckwith, Dr., 168 Bedell, Caleb C, Rev., 194 Beekman, Hendrick, 458 Beeman, Nathan S. S., Rev., 269 32il 432, 433 Beiderbecke, H., Rev., 335 Beiermeister, Charles F., 317 jr., Frederick, 317, 399 Belcher, Franklin, 187 Belden, Charles A., 191 Edwin E., 318 Belding, W. A., Elder, 335 Bell, David, 89, 194 George A., 310 William, 392 Bellinger, Henry, Rev., 559 Bench and bar, extract from address touching upon the, 154 Benedict, H. S., 189 Joseph, 89 T. Lee, 319 W. F., Rev., 535 Beneway, John, 442 Bennett, Francis, 419 Lyman, 276 Bentley, Caleb and sons, 483 Rensselaer, 484 Richard C, 109 Zadoc T. , 484 Berkowitch, Isaac, Rev., 336 Berlin Chess club, 486 Berlin, town of, 482-489 churches of, 487, 488 early physicians and lawyers of, 484 early tavern keepers in, 484 in the Rebellion, 485 in the Revolution, 484 list of early settlers of, 483 list of justices of the peace of, 489 list of supervisors of the town of, 488 list of town clerks of, 489 settlement and settlers of, 482-484 topography of, 482 villages in, 485 village, 485-487 manufactures of, 485 secret societies of, 480 Sheldon's Cornet band of, 487 Berry, E. Payson, Rev., 43:! George T. , Rev. , 32:! Berwick, Joseph, 564 412 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Betts, Edgar K., 306 Nathan, 523 Beveridge, A. M., Rev., 433 Beverwyck, separation of, from Rensse laerwyck, 24 Bible society, Rensselaer County, 138 Bicycle Dealer, the, Troy, 351 Bickford, Thomas, Rev., 330 Biddle, Daniel B., 566 Bigelow, Charles H., 305 Thaddeus, 352 Thaddeus B., 134, 351 Bingham, E. W., 307 Samuel S., 189, 190, 196 Birch, George H., 194, 195 Bird, John, sketch of, 159; 185, 233, 238, 239 Birdsall, Daniel, 566 William S., 118 Birge, John T., 355 Bishop, Dr., 170 Nathaniel, 419, 421 Bissels, Adam, 18 Black, Frank S., 369, 370 Blackall, Robert C, 191 Blair, George T., 189, 300 Blanchard, A. E., Rev., 500 Dr., 170 Edwin D., 203, 305, 306 Joseph, 376 Blatchford, Samuel, Rev., 138, 253, 254, 392 Thomas W., Dr., 181 Bleecker, Barent, 78 Bliss, William M., 247 William P., 445, 448 Block, Adrian, 1 Bloemaert, Samuel, 18 Bloss, Richard, 187, 196 Richard D., 97, 99, 100, 203 Boage, Aaron Jordan, Rev., 499 Boardman, Derick L. , 337 William, 499 Boese, F. W., Rev., 333 Bogart, Isaac, 377 Bolmer, William B., Rev., 32!) Bolster, Cyrus, Rev., 392 Bolton, Joseph, 357, 399 jr. Samuel, 399 Bolton's Sons, S., 399 Bonesteel, Charles W., 453 Reuben, 483 Bontecou, George, 189 Reed B., Dr., 97, 189 Boone, Harvey H., 514 Booth, Burton S. , Dr. , 207 David, 195 Robert R., Rev., 320 Bork, Christian, Rev., 552 Bosworth, Foster, 273, 300 Nathaniel, 423, 472 Boughton, E. W., 320 Smith A., Dr., 547 Boutwell, Charles A., 316 Oliver, 187 & Son, O., 316 Bowen, James, 203 Bowles, John, 505 Ralph H., Rev., 414 Bowman, CassiusM., 317 jr., Joseph. 317 & Sons, Joseph, 308, 317 Boyce, A., Dr., 169, 171 J. W., 463 Bradley, Arthur W. , 301 William, 236, 251, 252, 392 Bradt, Daniel B., 70 Brainard, 551 David 544 Joseph, 551, 552 Braman, E. A., Rev., 500 Bratt, Barnardus, 418, 507 Braun, Anthony T. , Rev., 520 Breaky, Isaac, Dr., 407 Breese, Henry, 419 Breslin, John H., 301 Thomas C., 301, 357 Breweries of Troy, 316 Brewster, P. A., 190 Breyman, Col., 61 Bridges, William R. , 369 Briere, John, 137 Bries, Anthony, 538 Briggs, Amos, 270, 446, 447 David C, 399 Brigham, Erastus F., 201, 203 Brimmer, Daniel, 507 Godfrey, 490 Godfrey, and sons, 482 John George, 482, 504 Brinsmade, Thomas Clark, Dr., 169, 177 Brintnall, Charles E., 109, 203 Bristol, Abram, 511 Flavia, Miss, 318 George, 318 Henry R., 203 Joel, 89 Brock, Jonathan, 566 Brockeway, Nathaniel, 78 Brockway, Justus, 497 Brokaw Manufacturing company, 308 Brookins, Wooster, 137, 442 Brothers' Academy of St. Mary, the, 346 Brouwer, William, 403 Brown, Alexander, and sons, 491 Andrew, 194 INDEX. 413 Brown, Charles A., 314 Daniel, 497 David, 70 Ebenezer, Rev., originator of the collar industry, 276 Erastus, 494 George J., Rev., 334 George W. , Rev. Dr. , 295 Henry, Dr. , 484 Jonathan, 70, 71, 392 Joseph, 452 Roswell J., 452 Thomas, 419 William, 194 Browne, Irving, sketch of, 163 Browning, Thomas, Dr., 513 Bruce, Charles E., 307 Brunswick, town of, 521-530 churches of, 526-528 Eagle Mills in, manufactures of, 524, 525 early physicians of, 523 early tavern keepers of, 523 first officers of, 523 in the Revolution, War of 1812 and the Rebellion, 524 list of early settlers and residents of, 522 list of justices of the peace of, 529 list of supervisors of the town of, 528 list of town clerks of, 529 schools of, 523 settlement and settlers of, 521, 522 topography of, 521 villages and hamlets in, 524-520 Bryan, David, 442 RichardS., 187 Buchanan, Edward, 193 Buchman, Edwin, 474 Buck, C. W., 197 Buckley, Joseph, 425, 427, 430 Lawrence E., 427 P. H., 351 Bucklin, Aubrey C, Dr., 169 Daniel D., Dr., 169, 524 Buel. Clarence, 96, 115, 116 David, 236, 239, 247, 300, 314, 357 jr., David, 138, 251-253, 269, 351 Elam, 421 James, 339 Bulkley, Dr., 171 George W., 459 Bull, Abner, 494 Archibald, 187, 196 jr., David sketch of life and services of, 158 George H., 187 Isaac, 419, 42! Bull, Norris, 392 Bullions, Peter, Rev., 325 Bullis, John, 550 Bumstead, James, 525 Burden, Henry, 309, 310 Iron company, the, 310 I. Townsend, 311, 324 James A., 311, 324, 357 William, 298, 447 William F., 311 Burdett, Edward. 313 Smith & Co., 313 Burdick, A. B., Rev., 568 Benjamin, 566 Matthew, 566 Burgoyne, John, Gen., 47-52, 61, 63, 64 discouraged, 63 surrender of, 64 Burke, William ]., Rev., 334 Burlingame, Edward, 190, 193, 440 Burns, Cornelius F., 131, 297 Burr, Jonathan, 242, 388 Burrage, Edwin W., 209 Burritt, Ely, Dr., 138 Burroughs, Robert, 516 Robert J. W., 548 Burrows, Amos, Rev., 476 Burt, Asa, 388, 397 Burtis, jr., John, 256 Lewis, 256 Burton, C. V. W., Dr., 169, 175, 190 George B., 193 John, 194, 195 Matthew Henry, Dr., 131, 179, 301 Nathan, 194, 195 Piatt, Dr., 513 Bush, Abijah, 495, 544, 545, 548 Stephen, Rev., 413 Walter R., 311 jr., Walter R., 311 Buskirk (Buskirk's Bridge), 431 Bussey, Esek, 313 jr., Esek, 313 & McLeod Stove company, 313 Butler, David, Rev., 239, 255, 327, 395 Button, David, 448 Ira?. 451 Ira A., 524 Isaac B., 523 J. Warren, 448 Levi H., 198 Simeon, 71, 472 Butts, Julius E., 445 Butz, William, 512 Byers, Charles, 191, 192 jr., James G., 192 Cahill, Dr , 170 414 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Caird, James, Rev. , 302, 329 Caldwell, James, 228 James H., 357 Thomas, 187 Callender, Thomas S., 197 William N., 541 Campbell, Alan D., Rev., 465 Henrv, 448, 449 John H., 390 Robert, Rev., 194 Campion, Thomas H., 317 Candee. Joel G., 195, 190 Canfield, Daniel, 241 Cannon, Le Grand, 134, 258 Capron, E. W., Dr., 169 Cardall, W. S., 198 Carey, Joseph, Rev., 302 Carhart, J. W., Rev., 19!) Carmichael, Eber W., Dr , 169, 178, 514 John, 511 William, 89, 137 Carpenter, Benjamin, 494 Daniel, 226 F. A., Dr., 495 James M., 192 John, 420 jr., John, 137 Philip, 511 William, 511 Carr, Ambrose, 425 Andrew, 194 Caleb, 90, 494, 497 Edward and Caleb, 491 Frederick, 197 Joseph B,, 97, 102-106, 131, 132, 205- 207, 297 ; death and funeral ser vices of. 301, 302 W. G., 131 Carriage Dealers' Journal, the, Troy, 351 Carter, A. 1! , Rev., 32s Edward, 295 Case, Jacob, 42:! Jonathan, 433 Joseph, 137 Casey, Philip, 204 Cass, David, 419 Job, 423 Catholic churches of Troy, 333-335 Weekly, the, Troy, 350 Centre Brunswick, 52ii Chadwick, Eli, 194 Chamberlain, Edwin, 397 Lee, 131, 190, 301, 320 Chambers, John M., 160, 197 Thomas, 30, 31 Chapman, P. R., 190 Chapin, Edward, 187 Francis L. R., Dr., 109 Chapman, Stephen, 42:! William, 472 Charette, Joseph, Rev., 334 Charlotte county, 07 Chase, Daniel, 453 Ezra, 498 E. P., 480 John, 419 Tallman,423 Waldo K., 131, 311 Cheeseman, J, K., Rev. ,478 Cheever, Samuel S., 407 Cheney, Benjamin, 187 Charles A., 430 Chesbrough, D. P., 190 Choat, Jonathan, 18!) Christie, John S., 338 John T., 315, 357 Church, Andrew M., 318 F. C, 475 Walter S., 93, 94 of Christ of Troy, 335, 336 Churches of Berlin, 487 of Brunswick, 520-528 of East Greenbush, 542 of Greenbush, 412-414 of Hoosick, 431-435 of Lansingburgh, :!82, 388, 389, 394 396 of North Greenbush, 534 of Petersburgh, 507 of Pittstown, 476-480 of Sand Lake, 517-519 of Schaghticoke, 450-454 of Schodack, 464-466 of Troy. 229, 233, 238, 240, 255, 250, 208, 290, 320-337 Cipperly, Lieutenant, 123 Circuit judge, 142 Citizens Corps, the Old, 200-204 Troy (Sixth Separate Co.), 204- 207 Steamboat company of Troy, 292 Civil list, 141-147 Clapper, Frank, 461 William H., 193 Clark, Aseph, Dr., 170, 171, 513, 532, 534 Frederick G , Rev. . 323 George W., 429 Gideon, 505 Henry, 420 Jeremiah, 533 OtisG., 359 Peter G., 193 Robert, 429 Classon, John M., 215 Clatworthy, John, 369 Clement, Arthur G., 420 INDEX. 415 Cleminshaw, Charles, 198 309 Charles G., 131 Cleveland, William, 241 Clexton, T. H., 315 Clinton, De Witt, 353, ;;r,4 George, Gov., 41 H. Meneely Bell company, the, 315 Stove works, the, 312 Clowes, Thomas, 137; sketch of, 103- 253, 300 Close, John T. , 242 Cluett, Coon oi Co., changes in and growth of the firm of, 3O4-306 Edmund, 294 F. H., 307 George B., 304, 305, 331, 337, 356, 357 J. W. Alfred, 295, 304, 305 331 Robert, 304, 305, 337 & Sons, 320 Cluever, H., Mgr.. 334 Clum's Corners, 520 Coates, Michael, Rev., 241 Coe, Jonas, Rev., .38, 229, 383, 392 450 477^ 552 Coit, Thomas W., Rev , 327 William, 220 Colby, John H., sketch of, 164, 391 Cold winter of 1646-47, 23 Colden, Cadwallader, Lieut.-Gov., 42 Cole, Edmund, 318 Edmund L., 210, 211 Frederick S., 453 H. W., 305 Jacob, 449 Colegrove, John B., 187, 189 Coleman, A. N., Rev., 296 Joshua, 551 Thomas, 339, 352, 355 Collar, cuff and shirt industry, history of the beginning of, 275-277 Collins, Cornelius V., 318 Edward, 221 Michael F., 350 Robert, Dr., 17!), 523 William H., 191 Colony, collision between the provincial government and the, 2:! the, organized by Killiaen Van Rens selaer, 17 Colvin, James A., Ill, 117, 122, 123 Colwell, Thomas, 302 Commercial Knitting Mills company, the, 314 Comstock, James C, Prof., 392 John, 419, 421, 432 Conant, Charles C, 351 Conde, John H., 448 Congdon, Sidney S., 445 Conkey, John, 187 Converse, Collins, Merrell Ac Co. 318 John, 310 Perrin W. , 318 Conway, Daniel E. , 350 Cone, Timothy, Dr., 169 Cook, Alanson, 189 Charles R., Dr., 174 George H., 341 John L.. Rev., 332 Cookson, John, Rev., 330 Coon, Albert E., 307 Brothers, 310 C. A., 317 D. B., 316 Daniel W., 304-306 Henry, 89 Hezekiah, 503, 506 John H., 304-306 L., 194 William, 423, 505 W. H., 316 Coons, David, 566 Henry, 532 Cooper, John G., 191, 535 William, 535 William C, 558 Coorn, Nicolaus, 2!l Copeland, I. W., 131 Corbin, Edwin, 191 Pliny M., 338 Cordell, James G., Rev., 413 Corliss, Charles H., 307 Coon & Co., 306 John A., 307 John M., 307 Wilbur F., 307 CorneHssen, Cornelis, 403 Cornell, A. B., 301 James, 528 Corning, Erastus, 309 jr., Erastus, 309 Gurdon, 247, 251-253, 208, :j:!7 Corpe, Benajah, Elder, 499 Corry, John, Rev., 414 Corstiamsen, Hendrick, 1 Cost, R. J., Rev., 334 Cottrell, Benjamin, 558 John, and sons, 556 Counties, division of the colony of New York into, 66 County buildings, the first, 76, 77 clerks, list of, 142 effort to divide the, 139 judges, list of, 141 superintendent of schools, list of, 142 treasurers, list of, 142 Court house, the second, 80 416 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Covell, Benjamin, 225, 226, 229, 357 , Silas, 233, 238, 247 Coventry, Dr., 168 Cox, Richard, Rev., 328 Cozier, William C, 350 Cozzens, Gorton P., 198 Crabb, John, 442 Craig, Sewall W.. 191 Cram, De Witt C, 189 Cramer, John, 242, 254, 258 Le- GrandC, 204, 207 Crandall, Alfred D., 191, 197 Levin, 131 Louis S., 369 Nathan R., 515 Thomas, 488 Crandell, Irvin, 203 Cranston, John, 497 William M., 191, 192 Crawford, E., 194 F. W., 302 Cridge, E. J., 302 Crippen, Lieutenant, 121 Crissey, Isaac W., 359 Croat, John, 516 Crocker, E. C. 191, 197 Croffut, Isaac, 494 Cromn, John H., 427 Cropseyville, 526 Crosbee, J. L., 191, 192 Samuel, 191 Crosby, John Schuyler, 203 Cross, Ebenezer, 423 James A., 99, 101 Robert B., Rev., 327 Robert W.-, 109 Crossen, Asa, 226 Crum, John H., Rev., 488 Cummings, M. F., 291, 295 Cunningham, John F., 475 William O. , 314 -Young company, 320 Cure, Burrows, 189 Curry, John, Rev., 333 Curtis, Comfort, 419 jr., Daniel, 234 Dr., 170 Simeon, 421 &Co., H. C, 309 Cusack, Edward, 203 James W., 131, 196, 199, 203-207. 297, 320 Cushman, John Paine, 132; sketch of life of, 157 ; 253, 258 Robert T., 476 Cusick, David, account of the origin of the Six Nations by, 8 Cuyler, Henry, 403 Cuyler, Jacob C, 301 John C, 78 Dailee, Waterman and Field, 421 Dailev, E. A., Rev., 434 j: B., Rev., 434 Dalaby, John, 247 Daley, Thomas, Rev., 33:! Dana, Stephen W., 134 Daniels, Hosea, 433 Dano, E., 506 Darby, H. S., 319, 337 Dargen, Frank, 109, 390 Darling, Brother & Co., Henry H , 319 Ebenezer, 71 Edwin E., 319 John, 78 Darragh, J A., Rev., 434 Darroch, John G., 192, 435 Dascam, jr., Samuel, 189 Dater, John H., 559 Philip, 524 Dauchy, Henry B., 295 Jeremiah, 80, 81, 251, 208 & Co., Charles H., 320 Davenport, Nelson, 355, 366 Thomas C, 392, 397 Davey, G. H., 190 Davidson, Gilbert C, 309 R. A., Rev., 413 Davies, Arthur, Rev., 507 Richard, Rev., 331 Davis, Charles M., 484 D. P., 195 E. H., Dr., 169 George R, 137, 187, 300, 337, 420, 423 jr., Richard, 242 Robert, 488 Thomas, 90, 239, 241 Walter L., 209 Davison, Daniel H., 565 J. Reed, Dr., 171 Paul K., 565 Davitt, George, 557 Davry, George H., 197 Day, Horace W., 389 Deane, D. S., Rev., 477 Dearstyne, Cornelius, 534 John, 531, 533 Henry, 533 De Camp, Henry and John, 22!) De Freest, Charles R., 355 David M., 203 Jacob, 532 James, 89 John, 533 Peter, 532 Philip, 224, 533 INDEX. 417 De Freestville, 534 de Hooges, Anthony, 20 Deininger, J. C, Rev., 333 De Laet, Johannes, 220 John, 18 Delamater, Samuel, 514, 557 Delavan, Henry, 310 De La Vergne Isaac, 442 Delo, I. J., Rev., 527 Demers, George W., 96 Denison, George T. , 484 Griswold, 191 Denman, Mark A., Rev., 454 Dennin, Owen, 398 Dennison, James, 388 Depredations of the New Hampshire raiders, 43^15 De Reue, Gerrit Tunnis, 29, 30, 217 402 de Reus, Gerrit, 20 Dermott, S. C, 189 Derrick,- Charles E., 190 Charles W., 190 R. A., 190 W. H., 190 Development after the Revolution, 68 Devery, William P., 301 Dewey, Jared, Rev., 413 Julia M., Mrs., 425 De Witt, Abner. Rev., 323, 324, 425 Samuel, 254 Dexter, J., Rev., 508 Diamond, George T., 191 Thomas S., 377 Dickerman, C. D., 203 L. H., 351 Dickinson, George H. and George F., Drs., 495 John, 406 John B., 423 John D., 71, 236, 237, 247, 253-255, 268, 383, 392 Melville Day, 209 Dietrich, C. W., 337 Dill, Herbert H., 448, 449 Dinger, F. W., Rev., 333 Dingman, Joel B., 559 Dings, Albert J., 197 District attorneys, list of, 141 Doane, William C, Rt. Rev., 302, 329 Dobson, Robert, 447 Dolan, Edward, 300 Dole, James, 233, 383 Sidney, 89, 244 Don, John, 131, 198, 301, 357 Donehue, Francis, Rev,, 333 Doran, James F., 197 Doremus, Thomas L., 445, 446, 448 Dorian, Elias G., 302 Dorr, Charles M., 420 Francis O., 295 Joseph, 99, 419, 421, 422 Seneca, 191 Doughty, William H., 337, 35.5-, 357 Douglas, Alanson, 242, 252, 256 Asa, and family, 491 Beriah, Dr., 495 William B., 497 Douglass, Samuel, 472 William, 71, 491, 495-497 Dougrev, James, 388 Douw, Peter, 403, 538 Volkert Janse, 217 Downer, Frank H., 461 James R.,461 Russell, 460 Downs, Henry, Dr., 171, 532 Dox, H. L., Rev., 466 Drolshagan, Father, 334 Drum, jr., Nicholas, 194 Drumm, W. A., Rev., 334 Dumbleton, Alpheus, 566 Nathaniel, 564 Dunbar, John, 191 Dunham, Harvey C, 319 Hollow, 551 Isaac, 551 Dunlap, John, Rev., 465 Dunn, C. W., 446 - James H., 123 John, 311 Dunspaugh, Merrill M., 210 Durand, Hamilton H., 310 Durfee, C. S., 324 Durry, Nathan, 89 Duryea, J. T., Rev., 98. 322 Dusenberry, Charles E. , 453 Dutch control, extinction of, 37 occupation, 1 settlers, condition of, in 1630, 27 trade with the Indians, 27-29 traders, three years' license granted to, 6 West India company, grant to the, 2 West India company's charter of "Freedom and Exemptions," 15 Duvster, Dierck CorneHssen, 16 Dyer, John L., 191 Eagle Bridge, 431 Earing, Osborn, 193 Earl, Gardner, 306 Hannah M., 297 William S., 297, 306, 355, 357 & Wilson, 306 Eldridge, Aaron, 566 Early, M. J., 192, 425 418 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Early, Thomas, 463 East Brunswick, 526 Grafton, 566 East Greenbush. town of, 537-543 an anti-rent incident in, 540 churches of, 542 early physicians of, 538 early tavern keepers in, 538 first town officers of, 540 in the Rebellion, 541 in the Revolution and the War of 1812, 539 list of justices of the peace of, 543 list of supervisors of the town of, 542 list of town clerks of, 542 , railroads and turnpikes in, 541 settlement and settlers of, 537 Van Rensselaer mansion in, the old, 540, 541 village, 542 East Nassau, 550 Poestenkill, 559 Schodack, 464 Side club, Troy, 369 Easton, C. W., 430 Eastman, George B., Rev., 452 Eaton, Amos, 254, 341 A. H., Rev., 488 Edward O., 271 J. J., Rev., 478 Orsamus, 271 Ebbingh, Johanna, 220, 221 ; Eberson, Bernard, Rev., 336 Edams, George D., 192 Eddy, A. C, 425 Charles W., 215 Gilbert, 90, 338, 471 Jonathan, 420 Luther D., 523 Rose, Mrs., 476 Tisdale, 90 Winslow, 472 Edge, Louis M. , Rev. , 452 Edmunds, jr., Charles C. , Rev., 435 Frank W., 310 Edson, O. W., 276 Edwards, Charles, Rev., 333 Jonathan, 272 Efnor, John, 185 Egolf, Joseph, 207, 209 Eighmy, George L., 195 Eirich, Peter, Rev., 335 Eldredge, Charles J., 430 Charles Q., 430 Eldridge, Stephen, 256 Elking, Jacob Jacoby, 2 Elliot, David, Dr., 169, 538 Ellis, George S., 475 Ellis, Lyman, 185, 194 Marvel, 185 Ells, W. N, 337 Elmendorf, Conrad J., 228 Peter E., 71 Elmer, Mary J., 475 Elmore, Joseph H., Dr., 513, 514 William C, 551 Emerson, Oliver, Rev., 332 Emma Willard Female seminary, 250 Empire Stove works, the, 312 Engle, John R., 190 English government of New York; 38 Evans, George H., 301 Enos, Edgar A., Rev., 295, 302, 327 Episcopal churches of Troy, 325-330 Equalized valuation corrected by State assessors, 139 Ericsson, John, 101, 280-282 Esmond, F. W., 190 Estabrook, Ezra R., 426, 430 James E., 192 Job A., 191 Evangelical Lutheran churches of Troy, 335 Evans, Benjamin, 197 C. P., Rev., 323 E. J., 190 Joseph D., 190 Evening Standard, the, Troy, 350 Ewart, David, 448 Expeditions against Canada, 34 Faden, A., 398 Fagan, Thomas E., 303 Fairbairn, James, 194 R. B., Rev., 302, 328 Fairchild, Frederick S., 191 Fales, Andrew B,, 204, 313 Francis A.. 339 Frank M., 198 Fancher, Milford L., 398 Farnam, Franklin W., 329 Farr, A. A., Rev., 535 Farwell, E. C, Rev., 528 Faxon, Reuben, 198 Feathers, Bugbee, 558 Feldt, Justin, 197 Fellows, Jacob, Nicholas and Zachariah, 511 & Co., 308 Felton, Amory, 189, 313 William A., 312 Fenton, I. C, Rev., 535 Ferguson, Daniel, 123, 190, 390 E. D., Dr., 357 Fenner, 546 Samuel D., Rev., 331, 394 INDEX. 419 Ferrin, George E., Rev., 395 Ferry, first, 22 Feudal system of land tenure, attempt to establish a, 1 tenure abolished, 39 Field, Mary IL, 252 Thomas P. , Rev. , 322 Filer, Henry P., 189, 353 Filkins, Cornelius, 478 Finch, George W., 193 L. S., 197 Finckel, Samuel G., Rev., 390 Finne, Jesse, 472 First Presbyterian church of Troy (illus tration), 321 Firth, Frank, 449 Seth E., 449 Fischer, Christian, 469 Fish, Hamilton, 301 Joseph, 194 Fisher, A., 189 George, 193 Samuel, Rev., 413 Fitch, John, 420 Fitzgerald, Edmund, 316 Fitzpatrick, Cornelius, Rev., 414 Five Nations, the, 7 Flack, L. G., 191 & Co., 319 Flagg, John, 317 John L., sketch of, 164; 198 Fletcher, Thomas, Rev., 450 Flood, James, Rev., 335 Roger A., 319 Fogarty, Rev. Father, 302 Follett, Andrew, 478 Fonda, David, 78, 224, 300, 418, 521, 538 Fonerden, William H., Rev., 553 Foote, E. B., 392 Forbes, John, Dr., 484 Ford, Alpheus, 566 E. Henry, 191 J. W., Rev., 330 S. V. R., 307 Forsyth, James, sketch of, 161 ; 327 Frederick, 397 Fort, Jacob A., 90, 138, 418 Nassau, 2 Orange, contention over the juris diction of, 24 settlement at, 1 William H., 451 Foster, Ellis, 90 Samuel, 210, 211 Fouler Jeremiah, 191 Fountain, Felix, 190, 197 Fourth Battery, 215 Fowler, Dr., 169 Fowler, Thomas and Samuel, 431 Fox, Dr., 170 Isaac B., 515 Foyle, John C, 197 Francis, Charles S., 131, 301 F., Rev., 334 John M., 301 & Son, John M., 348 Franklin, John H., 191 Frats, Casper, 226 Frazee, Henry, 532 Frear, Charles W., 317 Edwin A., 131, 317 W. H., 337 & Co., William H., 317 " Freedom and Exemptions" charter, 15 Freeman, Henry R., Rev., 328 J. W., 300 Freie Deutsche Presse, the, Troy, 349 Freiot, John, 478 S., 196 Frelinghuysen, Theodore, Rev., 451 French and Indian war, beginning of the last, 35 causes which led to the, 33 Benjamin, 377 George W., 192 Samuel B., 204 Frere, Adam, 511 Freshet of 1647, 23 Frisbie, L. C, Dr., 407 Frisby, Edward, 109 Frost, Nathan, 464 Frothingham, Thomas, 515, 516 Fryenmoet, Johannes Casparus, Rev., 464 Fulcher, Rev. Canon, 302 Fuller, Amos, 507 Jonathan, 419 Joseph W., 312, 325,355 & Warren company, the, 312 Funda, Nicholas, 71 Furbeck, Peter R., 392 Fursman, Edgar L., 296, 301 Gaffney, Peter, 430 Galbraith William J., 210 Gale, E. Courtland, 357 E. Thompson, 293, 339, 355 John B., 269 Joseph, Dr., 546 jr., Samuel, Dr., 168, 173, 185, 226, 229, 252, 300 Gallagher, Father, Rev., 479 Gallup, William H., 309 Galusha, Henry, 319 Gardinier (or Gordinier), Henry H., 214 Gardner, Asa, 137 420 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Gardner, Benjamin, 491 George, 229 George and Asa, 506 James, 194 Jefferson, 277 Joseph, 494 Joshua, 419 Laban, 318 Philip, 511 T. B., Rev., 528 Warren S., 296 Garlick, George L., 189 Garnett, Henry H., Rev., 323 Garnsey, J. Spencer, 355 Garrett, Elmer H., 307 Gary, John, 252, 268 Gates, Horatio, Gen., 48, 64 Gaul, Edward L., 131 Gay, Willard, 338, 428 Geddis, David, 449 William, 449 Geer, Danforth, 427, 429 jr., Gilbert, 188, 312 W. C, 337 Genet, Edward Charles, 137, 201, 539 Geography of the county, 72 Geology of the county, 73-75 Gerichten, William V., Rev., 335 Germond, Smith, 137 Gerritson, Wolfert, 17 Getty, Addison, 430 Andrew C, Dr., 407, 538 Gibbs, L. H., 447 Gifford, Aaron, 195 E. W., 194, 506 Gideon, 423 Horace C, 484 Gilbert, Angelica, 251 jr., Ashael, 351 Car company, the, 311 Edward G., 311, 354 Elisha, 78 Liberty, 362 Uri, 272, 277, 279, 311 William E., 297, 311, 355 Giles, John, 190 Gillespie, James, 190 Gillespy, Jason J., 320 Gilligan, Bernard, 109 Gillis, George H., 131 Gilman, Charles H., 197 Gilmore, John, 190 William, 191, 197 Glass House, 517 James, Rev. , 432 Gleason, David, 256 Thomas, 427 Globe Arentilator company, 320 Gnadendorff, Herman Heinrich Julius, Dr., 184 Godyn, Samuel, 18 Goessling, Fr., Rev., 335 Goldthwaite, A. G., 196, 302 Goodermote', A., 506 Goodman, John R., Rev., 527 Titus, 406 Goodrich, Henry, 550 Silas, 442 Stephen V. R., 191, 407 William, 198, 431 Gordinier, H. C, Dr., 357 Gordon, Thomas, 425 William B., 133 Gorham, Shubael, 388 Stephen, 70, 382 Gorsline, William, 514 Gorton, Benjamin, 185, 229 Goss, Ephraim, 189, 190 Gould, David, 497 George, 98, 101 ; sketch of the life and services of, 158 ; 273, 278 Grafton, town of, 561-570 anti-rent murder in, 565 churches of, 567, 568 early merchants of, 564 early physicians' of, 564 early tavernkeepers of, 564 first town officers of, 564 in the Rebellion, 567 in the War of 1812, 566 industries of, 565, 566 list of early settlers of, 563 list of justices of the peace of, 569 list of town clerks of, 568 list of supervisors of the town of, 568 Revolutionary pioneers of, list of, 566 schools of, 564 settlement and settlers of, 562, 563 topography of, 562 villages of, 567 Centre, 567 Granger, Austin, 276 Grant, Eleazur, 78 Gurdon, 268, 351 Grant's Hollow, 450 Gratz, F. G., Rev., 333 Graves, Aaron H., 324 Dr., 168 John, Rev., 333 Page & Co., 320 Gray, Charles Osborne, 203 Daniel, 71, 78 Greenbush, town of, 402-416 acts erecting town of, 404, 405 churches of, 412-414 INDEX. 421 Greenbush, duel fought in, 410 early merchants of, 407 early taverns in, 406 execution of a deserter in, 408-410 in the War of the Rebellion, 412 industries of, 412 list of justices of the peace of, 415 list of town clerks of, 415 list of supervisors of, 414 newspapers of, 411 physicians of, 407 post-office, 411 resolutions relating to, 404 settlement and settlers of, 402-404 territory comprising the town of, 402 transportation facilities of, 412 village, East Albany Banking and Trust company in, 412 founding of, 406 incorporation of, 411 list of clerks of, 416 list of early residents of, 406 list of presidents of, 415 Cantonment, 407, 408 Green, Amos, 488 Arba R., Dr., 370 Edward Murray, 131, 301 Elbridge D., 448,449 George F. , 369 Hannibal, 338 James M.. 203 John, 484, 488 J. Crawford, 188 Moses C, 203 Philetus, Rev., 465 R. H., Dr., 170 & Waterman, 320 Green's Son & Co., Hannibal, 320 Greene, B. Franklin, 341 D. M., 131, 301 John and Mansur, 505 Greenman, E. W., 337 Gregg, Isaac P. , 301 Gregory, Charles H. , Dr., 513 Daniel S., Rev., 322 Ebenezer, 514 Stephen, Daniel M., Justus and Eben, 512 Uriah M., 512-514, 510 Greuzebach, J., Rev.. 518 Griffin, T. A., Rev., 191, 478 Thomas W., 453 William A., 311 Griffith, Edwin H., 460 Griffith P., 351 J H., Rev., 330 Lewis E., 299 Griffith, Smith, 548, 550 Griggs, Joshua, Dr., 494 Willard, murder of, 94 Griswold Cavalry, the, 128-130 list of officers of the, 128 Chester, 309, 310, 550 George, 258 John A., 96, 124, 129, 279, 280-282, 285, 309, 338, 370, 447, 546 John Wool, 357 Russell, 484 Simeon, 548 Groesbeck, Daniel F., 442 Harmon I., 442 Peter W. , 442 Stephen, 221 William C, 389 Grover, Charles, 191, 192 Guest, Lorenzo, 448 William, 397 Guile, Joseph, 419 Gulick, N. J., Rev., 413 Gunner, R. C, 193 Gunnison, Albert C, 272 & Marvin, 309 Gurley, Ephraim, 268, 312 Lewis E., 284-296, 310, 337, 342 343 480 Lewis E., Mrs., 344 Walter, 316 William, 342, 355, 359 W. F., 337 W. &L. E., 316 Guy, Thomas, Dr., 334 Hagan, William E. , account of the cholera in Troy by, 257 ; 294, 295, 297 326 Hagen, J. J., 301 William, 353 Haight, Jacob, 423 Leonard, 189 Haines, Charles D., 299 Hakes, Jeremiah S., 272 Justus, 507 Hale, Charles, Dr., 407 Moses, Dr., 173, 247 Hall, Benjamin H., 133, 156-158, 295 296, 344, 355 Hector, Rev., 322 Rowland, 71, 494 William L., 307 Hallenbeck, Gerrit, 423 John, 423 Halley, Ebenezer, Rev., 323 Halstead, William C, 203, 454 Ham, Casper, 458 Coonradt, 566 422 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hamilton, R. G., Rev., 329, 452 Hamlin, A. P., 307 John S., 191 Teunis S., Rev., 324 Hammond, Alonzo G., 483, 484 Burton, Dr., 137, 483-485 Hammonds, William, 472 Hampshire Grants struggle, the, 40-45 Hanaman, Charles E., 337 Hand, Nathan, 78 S. H., 194 Handy, Isaac F., 131 Hanks, Alpheus and Truman, 312 Benjamin, 71 Julius, 315, 316 Hanners, H. D. C, Dr., 170 Hannon* J. C, Dr., 170 T. C, Dr., 170 Hanson, L. O., 311 Harden, George H., 191 Hardendorf, C. W. Rev., 413 Harder, Andrew, 460 Franklin P., 193, 461 Horton, 462 Harison, Francis, Rev., 327 Harmon, G. I., 194 Harris, John R., 353 Morgan, 549 Nicholas B., Dr., 168, 172, 494, 513 Harrington, jr., A. W., 296, 369 Harrison, Dr., 171 George, 311 Harrower, P. P., Rev., 535 Hart, Jacob, 319 jr., Philip, 247 Richard P., 240, 242, 251, 252, 258, 261, 268, 337, 351 William Howard, 355 William Howard, Mrs., 352, 355, 350 Hartshorn, E. A., 447 Hartwell, Charles E., 307 Frank C, 188 Thomas, Dr., 420 Harvey, Henry B., 196 Harwood, Abel, 472 Hasbrouck, Robert, 449 Haskell, Dr., 171 Robert C, 393 Haslehurst, Theodore E., 196 Hastings, Frank H. , 460 Seth, 550, 553 Hathaway, B. G., 190 Haverly, Sylvanus, 317 Havermans, Peter, Rev., 131, 285-287, 295, 333, 334, 434 Hawley, Alvan, 189 James C, 369 Lemuel, 239, 247 Hawley, Ralph, 352 Hayfield, Thomas H., 430 Hayner, Adam M., 453 Henry Z., 260 Irving, 369 William, 478 Haynerville, 526 Haynes, Aaron, 422 Edmund, 421 John H., Dr., 168, 170, 423 L. M. S., Rev. Dr., 295, 302, 330, 352 Philip, 419 Haywood, Charles, 452 Heartt, Albert Pawling, 247 Jonas C, 134, 203, 313, 359 Philip, 137 Heath, W. J., Rev., 478 Hegeman, James, 196 Heimstreet, T. B., Dr., 353 Heinck, Perry J., 189 Heller, H. M., 189, 199 Helling, William, 419 Hemingway, Erastus, 549 Hemstreet, H. A., 451 Henderson & Co., J. C, 313 Hendricks, A. M., Rev., 480 James, 197 Henry, H. Ashton, Rev., 327 Jacob, 313 John V., 71 Michael, Dr., 169, 392 Herbert/Oliver, 191 Herbertsen, Anderies, 404 Herfkens, Henry, Rev., 334 Heriihy, Timothy, 448 Herman, Max, 308 Hermance, Edgar L., Rev., 465 R., 548 William B., 550 William P., 549 Herrick, Castle W., 460 John, 194. 195 Herring, E. C, 506 Herrington, Benjamin F., 430 Philip, Rev., 436 Willard, 425 Heven, Jacob, 220 Hewett, Dr., 170 Hewitt, Sterry, 505 Ziba, 137 Heywood, Mary, 251 Hicks, Benjamin, 70, 71 Charles R., 189 John A., Rev., 256, 327, 328 M. W., 276 Thomas, 544, 545 Hickock, James, 236 INDEX. 423 Hickok, James, 388 Higbie, Benjamin, 243 Hill, Alonzo W., 209 Benjamin M., Rev., 330 Clark C, 446 Frederick, 193 Hillebrand, Aug., 349 Hillhouse, Thomas, 239 Hinds, Herbert C, Rev., 325 Hines, Arthur W., 197 jr., John, 448, 449 Hinsdale, R. E., Rev., 323 Hiscox, H. S., Rev., 330 Hislop, Thomas W., 207 Hitchcock, George A., 95 James H., 315 Hitt, Galen R., 303 Hoag, Jonathan, 78, 545, 546, 550 Samuel W. , 550 William, 551 William B., 551 William L., 559 Hoag's Corners, 551 Hodges, Samuel, 419 Hogeboom, James, Dr., 168, 169, 171, 459, 460 James L., 138, 171 Hogan, W. P., Rev., 395, 453 Hogle, Pitt, 418 Holbrook, G. A., Rev., 302, 330 Holdridge, Arnold H., 307 Hollenbeck, Edwin F., Rev., 413 Holley, Alexander T. , 309 O. L., 256 Holliday, Harrison, 109 Hollister, William H., 350 jr., William H., 294, 337 Holmes, Abraham, 544 Charles S., 190, 390 Epenetus, 442 G. F., 196 Henry, 308 H. G., 196 J. L., 278 & Ide, 308 Holsapple, William, 542 Holt, John L., 195 Holton, Henry W., 187 Hooker, Herman, Rev., 328 Hooley, James P., 299 Hoosac tunnel, the, 270 Hosick district, 420 Hosick Falls, 423^30 B. P. O. of Elks at, 430 first bridge at, 420 First National Bank of, 430 first physicians in, 420 incorporation of, 424 Hosick Falls, list of clerks of, 437 list of presidents of, 437 Miller, Hall & Hartwell shirt manu factory at, 429 newspapers of, 425 Noble & Johnston machine works at, 430 police department, 427 post-office, 424 public buildings of, 427 schools of, 425 sewerage system of, 426 Superior Knitting company of, 429 Walter A. Wood Mowing Machine company at, 427-429 water works, 426 William Howland Paper Box factory at, 430 Hoosick patent, the, 416 Hoosick, town of, 416-437 battle of Bennington, so called, fought in, 422 churches of, 431-435 early lawyers in, 420 early settlers of, 418-420 early tavern keepers of, 420 first town officers of, 421 in the War of the Rebellion,' 423 in the War of 1812, 422, 423 list of justices of the peace of, 436 list of supervisors of town of, 435 list of town clerks of, 435 Schneider patent in, 417 schools of, 421 territory comprised in town of, 416, 417 topography of, 417 village or Hoosick Corners, 430 Walloomsac patent in, 416 valley devastated in 1746, 418 Hoossett, Gillis, 16, 17 Hopkins, Edward J., Dr., 329 Erastus, Rev., 322 Horner, James, 309 Horr, Benjamin W., 189, 190 Horton, George, 558 John, 497 Hostilities, renewal of, in 1745, 34 Houghstine, August, 460 Houghton, C. S., 196 S. S., 196 House, Abel, 229 Edward O. , 399 Hiram, 307 John, 242 John C, 189 of the Good Shepherd, Troy, 357 of Industry, 81 424 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Houston, David Walker, 210, 212 Howard, John, 566 Jonathan, 491 Leland, Rev., 252, 330 Nathan, 497 Howland, Clarence, 429 Gardner, 314 Peleg, 314 Howe, A. H., 203 Hoyle, Henry, 137 Hoysradt, Albert, 301 A. W., 131 Hoyt, Alden S., 475 Frederick M. , 398 Hubbard, George H., Dr., 182 Ruggles, 215, 300 Hubbell, Charles B., 204 Charles L., Dr., 182 Huberdeaullt, Gedeon, Rev., 334 Hudson, Frederick R., Dr., 215, 430 Henry, account of his explorations and discovery of Hudson river, 2-5 river visited by early navigators, 5 Huested, Titus, 544 Hull, Alexander H., Dr., 169, 178, 513 A. D. Dr., 169 A. D. and A. E., Drs., 172 Daniel, 483, 484 D. H., 506 Emerson, Dr., 172, 484 E. C. W., 197 Hezekiah, 71, 484 Justus, Rev., 138, 487 N. L., 189 Thompson, 566 Humane society, Mohawk and Hudson River, 138 Hun, Abram, 71 Thomas, 78 Hunt, Jonathan, 226 Leigh R., 369 Lewis, 448, 449 Seth B., 447 Hunter, A., 475 John, 320 Huntington, Elizabeth P., 251 Joseph. 516 Samuel G., sketch of, 160; 187 Plutton, Christopher, 228, 236, 237, 392 Timothy, 228, 245 Hyatt, Eugene, 190, 197 Hyde, Samuel, 472 William R., 187 Hyland, William, 425 Ide, Alba N, 307 George P., 307, 308, 365 James M., 307 Ide, John C, 308 Samuel N., 307 & Co., George P., 307 Incorporated companies liable to taxa tion, list of, 148-153 Indian occupancy, early, 6 wars, 10-14 Ingalls, Charles R., 296, 297, 337 Sarah W., 251 Ingersoll, Edward, Rev., 328 Ingram, Henry, 338 International Shirt and Collar company, the, 317 Iroquois, the, 7, 9-12 form of government of the, 9 war policy of the, 9 Irwin, William, Rev., 322 W. P., 412 Ives, Chauncey, 189, 196 Edward A. , 203 Lazarus, 556 Jacobs, Nathaniel, 71 Jacobsen, Rutger, 404 Jacques, Edward, 548 Jail, the second, 81 Janes, Elijah, 236, 388, 392 Janssen, Dirck, 20 Jansz, Andries, 20 Jauss, Henry L. , 191 Jenks, Dr., 171 G. P., 459 Jewell, F. S., Rev., 413 Jewish churches of Troy, 336 Johnson, Elias. 312 - Herrick, Rev., 320 Isaiah Y., Rev., 465 Leonard, Rev., 413 Moses, 267 Noble S., 233 William, 473 William, Sir, 35, 36, 67 Johnsonville, 472, 473 Johnston, A. L., 430 Jones Bell Foundry company, the, 315 Ebenezer, 233, 242, 357 Eber, 315 E. B., 392 H. G., 194 J. M. Warren, 203 N. P., 190 Octavus, 315 P. L., 189, 203, 204 Varnum, 566 Joris, Adriaen, 2 Journal of Arendt Van Corlaer, 20 Joy, Benjamin, 447 Charles, 441, 445, 447 INDEX. 425 Judah, Henry R., Rev., 328 Judson, Benjamin, Dr., 513 Justices of the Supreme Court, list of, 142 Kane, James, 515 John H., 195 Nicholas P., 515 P. D., 313 Keach, Abram, 423 Israel, Rev., 433 Keating, John, 383 Keefe, Michael O., 448 Keeler, James S., 189 Keeling, Adam, 233 Kelleher, Cornelius, 390 Kellogg, Day O., 270, 351 Giles B., sketch of, 102; 352 James H., 311 Josiah, 228 Justin, 294, 296, 355 L. S., 461 Stephen, 419 Warren, 268 Kelsey, H. L. , Rev., 535 Kelyer, William, 430 Kemp, William, 98, 188, 301, 302, 310, 366 Kennedy, Duncan, Rev., 323 H. S., 337 William, 316 • & Murphy, 316 Kent, Moss, 70, 71 Kenyon, George S., 189 John, 449, 475 R. Wells 97, 100, 189, 190 Stephen L., 442 Kerr, John, 338 Keveny, James, Rev., 333 Keves, John, Rev., 518, 527 Kidder, Jephtha, 515 Killeen, William M., 197 Kimball, Isaac, Rev., 479 Kimberly, George H., 315 Howard, 241 Kindler, J., Rev., 333 King, Alexander, 190 Alexander B , 188 Alexander C, 198 Charles C, 191 Daniel, 190, 196 Edwin A., 295 Eliphalet, 241 Harvey J., 296 Henry A., 369 H. J., 315 James, 430 J. E., Rev., 434 bl)b King, Moses, 78 Philip's war, 14 Reuben, 388 Samuel, 109, 190, 390 Kingman, James, 461 JamesH., 461 Kinney, Ezra D., Rev., 552 Henry S. , 533 Roswell, Dr., 171 Walter, 407 Kinnicut, John, 194 Kip, Isaac L. , Rev. , 465 Kipp, Walter L., 189 Kirkpatrick, A., 197 Kisselburgh, William E., 114, 116, 203, 205 Kittle, Nicholas, 458 Peleg, 497 Kline, David, Rev., 527 Klock, jr., D., 337 jr., & Co.. Daniel, 320 Knapp, Israel, 228 Lena, 475 Knibbs, James, 189 Knickerbacker, H., 196 , John, 258, 357, 387 jr., John, 441 Thomas A. , 387 Knickerbocker, Harmon, 137, 440, 441, 449 John, 71 jr., John, 70 Knight, Charles B., 357 Joseph, 355, 369 William, 311 Knowlson, Andrew B., 516 Boynton W. , 203 Richard J., 515 Knowlton, Manasseh, 463 Knox, Frank H., 337, 350 John H., 294 Mary Alice, Miss, 343 Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 48 Krol, Bastiaen Jansen, 16 Kurth, William H., Rev., 33:! Laeke, Robert, 418 La Fayette, visit of, to Troy, 253 Lafeura, Joseph, 203 Lafite, Philip, 516 Lamb, A., 89 Milton H., Dr., 169 Lambert, J. Leavitt, 192, 197 Lamphere, Elmer, 194 Lamport, John T., 203 Landon, Gardner, 351 John M., 203, 204 Lane, Aaron, 71 426 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Lane, Derick, 138, 238, 240, 252, 253, 337, 366, 388 Ebenezer, 516 J. Lansing, 297 Lansing, Abraham, 194, 195 Abraham C, 388 Abraham H., 90 A. L., 190 Cornelius, 77, 392, 397 Jacob A., 70, 77 Jacob C, 137 Jacob D., 351 John E. and Obadiah, 458 Levins, 70 Obadiah E., 171, 513, 532 Sanders, 71, 78 Lansingh, Abraham Jacob, 375-378, 382 Levinus, 377 Lansingburgh academy, 384, 392 library, list of incorporators and first trustees of, 383 Lansingburgh, town of, 374-402 addition made to, 389 changes in the bounds of, 389 churches of, 382, 388, 389, 394-396 in the war of the Rebellion, 390 'in the war of 1812, 388 land patents in, 375 list of justices of the peace of, 400 list of Revolutionary patriots in, 378, 379 list of soldiers who died in the Re bellion from, 390 list of supervisors of, 399 list of town clerks of, 400 patriotism of the people of, in the Revolution, 377 schools of, 391 territory comprising the town of, 374-376 Lansingburgh village, Bank of D. Powers & Son at, 392 Bank of Lansingburgh at, 388 changes in charter of, 384-386 early industries of, 397 early prospects of, 379 fire department of, 393 first charter of, 380 first government of, 376 first lots laid out in, 376 first Masonic lodge in, 379 first newspaper in, 379 first post-office in, 382 first serious fire in, 390 first water works in, 384 Gazeette, and other newspapers, 385 Leonard hospital at, 393 Lansingburgh village, list of business men in, between 1787 and 1789, 380 list of clerks of, 401 list of presidents of, 401 list of treasurers of, 402 newspapers of, 396 paving streets of, 383 People's Bank of, 393 Phoenix lodge in, 389 Powers Home for Old Ladies at, 391 Powers oilcloth factory in, 393 Rensselaer County bank in, 390 seal of, 384 slander case in, 385 stage line franchises granted be tween, and other towns, 385 transfer of Exchange bank from, to Troy, 391 Union bridge between, and Waterford, 387 Union Shirt and Collar company, 398 visit of Commodore Macdonough to, 388 Lape, Frederick A., 454 Thomas, 447, 475 Thomas J., 193 Lapham, Charles, 190, 197 La Salle institute, 346 Lasell, Elias, 351 Luther R., 203 Samuel, 318 Lasser, Frederick P., 453 Launt, George, 549 Lavender, Stephen, 190 Lawrence, John D. , Rev., 518 Lawton, George P., 131, 301 W. H., 131 Lawyer, J. D., Rev., 560 Layton, Nathaniel P., 191 Leach, James A., 204 Lease granted to Van Corlear, copy of the, 25 to Chambers in 1646, 30 -hold tenure of lands 25 Leavens, J. P., 450 Lee, Chauncev, 392 Elias, Elder, 233 William, 318 Leeds, Frederick A., 319 Leggett, Joseph A., 188, 337 Leke, John B., 190 Lemon, George F. , 203 Leonard, Edmund, 433 Elmer F., 447 E. H., 389 Frederick, Dr., 169 tNDEX. 427 Leonard, Frederick Baldwin, Dr., 174 Joseph F., 334 Samuel, Dr., 170 Samuel M., Dr., 459 Timothy, 388 Lester, Guy, 508 Nicholas, 464 Letcher, Cornelius, 503 Leving, Noah, Rev., 478 Levins, Joseph, 442 Levy, Alex. A., 430 Edward, 430 Lewis, Benjamin, 422 Edwin F., 191 H. J. S., Rev., 568 Jabez Y., 507 Jacob W., 463 John W., 199 Nathan, Rev., 507, 567 William H., 191 Zebulon, Rev., 507 Lincoln, J. O., Rev., 329 Lipowski, Henry C, Rev., 334 Little Sisters of the Poor, Troy, 357 Litz, Daniel, 544 Livingston, George, 525 Henry, 90 James H., 425 Richard M., 215 Lloyd, James H., 195, 196, 210-212 Lockrow, Anthony, 478 Lockwood, Joshua, 511 Lodewick, C. C, 412 Peter, 458 Lohnes, G. W., 475 Henry, 524 Lomax, Joseph D., Dr., 267, 303 Long, Jeremiah K., 299 Lord, Archelaus, and sons, 556 Robert, 191 "Lord of the manor of Rensselaer wyck," the first, 24 Loring, Tobias, 397 Lottridge, Robert A., 484 Thomas, 420 Loudon, John, Dr., 173, 247 Lounsberry, Edward, Rev., 328 Lovell, John, 392 Lorenzo O., Rev., 330 Lovett, John, 71, 392 Lowndes, Frederick, Rev., 528 Lowrie, George M., 191 Matthew B., Rev., 324 Lowry, Robert, Rev., 414 Loysance, Joseph, Rev., 334 Luce, David, 558 Ludden, A. T., Rev., 527 F. A., Rev., 333 Ludlow, Henry, 546 Henry G., 315 Henry S., 337, 350 jr., Peter, Rev., 330 Samuel B., 546, 550 Valve Manufacturing company, the, 315, 398 Lusk, Frank, 197 Lutz, sr., J G., Rev., 333 Lyman, Aretus, 515 Jeannie, Miss, 295 Lewis, 251, 252 Phineas, Gen., 36 Solomon, Rev., 477 Lynd, Archelaus, 558 Lynsen, David B., 185 Lyon, John, 433 Oliver, 241, 243 Zachariah, Dr., 440 Lyons, Lewis, 201 Zachariah, 452 Maas, Theodore, Rev., 335 MacArthur, Arthur, 131, 189, 196, 301 Charles L., 97, 102, 130-133, 203, 301 Charles L., Mrs., 343, 344 & Son, C. L., 349 McAdam, H. P., Rev., 325 McAlpine, William J., 362 McCagg, John, 544 McCall, Alexander, 190, 302, 392 McCarthy, Peter, 313 William, Rev., 527 McChesney, James, 525 James J., 523 sr., John, 229 Joseph, 566 L., 187 S., 564 Samuel J., 137 William, 139 McClellan, Hugh W., 546 Robert, 226 Robert Henry, sketch of, 161 ; 315, 546 Samuel, Dr., 168, 182, 550 Samuel, Dr., the younger, 169 Samuel P., 369 & Co., C. H., 309 McClintock, John, Rev. Dr., 285 McClung, James, 194 McConihe, Isaac, 269, 279, 300, 391, 515 jr., Isaac, 96 , John, 114, 116, 117, 118, 203 William, 96, 101, 106 McCoun, John T., 203, 351 Samuel, 268 Townsend, 80, 237, 240, 247, 252, 258, 337 428 Landmarks of REnsseLaeR county. McCrea, Jane, murder of, 52 McDermott, John, Rev., 434 McDonald, J. A., 131, 301 McDonough, Commodore, 244 McFarland, George H., 318 McGilligan, Father, 333 McGilton, A., Rev., 478 McGrath, Michael, 446 McGregor, Donald, Rev., 323 John, 449 McKearin, P., 192 McKnight, John W., 193 McKown, James, 70, 78 McLaren, John, 516 McLaughlin, Dr., 171 John, Rev., 508 McLean, George E. , 324 H, K., Dr., 169 LeRoy, Dr., 97, 301 McLeod, Charles A., 313, 314 Harvey S., 313 Sayre, 313 & Henry, 313 McManaway, Thomas, 427 McManus, William, 216, 247 McMillan, Thomas, 448, 449 McMurray, David, and sons, 397 William, 196 McNair, D. C, Rev., 413 McNamara, Timothy, 431 McNutt, Joseph G., 96 McPartlin, John, 427 McQuaid, J., Rev., 302, 334 McQuide, James, 398 Joseph, 398 McSorley, Charles S. , 296 Madison, Job W., 507 Maessen, Cornelis, 403 Van Buren, and family, 403 Magoffin, J. Hooker, 392 Mahar, George S. , Rev. , 453 Main, James, 484 John'E., 78 Maine, Isaac B., 198 Lyman, 505 Male, Emma, 475 Maley, John, 78 Mallary, Joel, 338 Mallory, Henry, 247, 252 James, 192, 251, 253 Maltbie, Ebenezer B. , 392 Manchester, A., 194 Edwin, 194 Mandeville, Assistant Surgeon, 121 Yalles, 226 Mann, Asa, 533 Daniel J., 392 Elias P. , 207 Mann, Francis N.. sketch of, 161; 294, 296, 298, 301, 343, 355 jr., Francis N., 131, 204, 300 Herbert R., 313 Timothy, 189 Manning, John A., 315 William H., 314, 315 Marcy, William L., sketch of life of , 150; 201, 247, 352, 370 Margquardt, J. G., Rev., 518 Markham, E. P., 430 Markstone, Louis, 430 Marselus, Nicholas J., Rev., 535 Marsh, James P., Dr., 357 Marshall, Benjamin, 133 Infirmary, the, 133 Martin, John E., 519 Jonah, 70 J. W., Rev., 331 Robert, 551 Swift, 302 William D., 330 Martyn, J. H., Rev., 413 Marvin, Dwight E., Rev., 413 Ebenezer, 377 E. W. , 309 Selden E., 302, 309 Mary Warren Free Institute, the, 267 Mason, Cyrus, 546 Masonic temple, the, 198, 199 Masonry, 185-199 Apollo Commandery No. 15, 195 Apollo lodge No. (49) 13, 185-187 Gratitude lodge No. 674, 195 Greenbush Chapter No. 274, 197 Greenbush lodge No. 337, 191 Hiram lodge No. 35, 189 Hiram lodge, Lansingburgh, 379 Homer lodge No. 76, 192 Hoosick Mark lodge, 198 Jerusalem lodge No. 355 190 King Solomon's Primitive lodge, 187-189 Mt. Zion lodge No. 311, 189 Patriot lodge No. 39, 195 Phoenix Chapter No. 133, 196 Phoenix lodge No. 58, 190 Phoenix lodge, Lansingburgh, 389 Raymond Chapter No. 248, 197 Schodack Union lodge No. 87, 195 Star lodge No. 670. 193 Star lodge No. 941, 198 Sunnyside lodge No. 731, 193 Van Rensselaer lodge No. 400, 191 Victor lodge, Schaghticoke, 192 Yates lodge, Schodack, 194 in Troy, 233 Mastin's Corners, 464 INDEX. 429 Masters, Edward N., 449 James S., 192 Josiah, 70, 138, 192, 392, 442 Nicholas, 442 Mather, Bethel, 137, 441 Thomas R., 191 Matteson, L. J., Rev., 330 Matthews, John, 432 Maullin, Joseph, 305 Maxcy, Carroll L., 207, 337, 345 Eaton W. Rev. , 302 jr., Eaton W., Rev., 328 Maxon, Dr., 503 E. B., 506 George, 488 G. W. , 485 jr., Paul, 505 Potter, 566 May, Theedore E., Dr., 470 Theodore E. and John, Drs., 171 Mayberry, Dr., 170 Maver, G., Rev., 333 Mays, A. S., Rev., 295 Mead, George H., 297 Mearns, John, 210, 211 Medical society, Rensselaer, 107 list of presidents of, 168 Meeker, William A., 318 W. H., 486 Megapolensis, Johannes, 22 Me'ithew, Byron, 194 Meittinger, Gustave, Rev., 334 Melius, Charles, 191, 197 Mellen, Dr., 168 Melrose, 449 Members of conventions to revise the Constitution, 143 Meneely, Clinton H., 315 Merchant, Abel 548 Reuben, 550 Meredith, Samuel, Rev., 535 Merriam, John O., 313 William A., 124 Merrill, Alphonso, 445 Carlton H., 318 Merritt, Charles PI. , 425 Daniel, 237, 238, 240, 357 Jacob, 242, 351 Merwin, Eugene and John W., 510 Metcalf, John E., Rev., 535 Methodist Episcopal churches of Troy, 331-333 Mey, Cornelis Jacobsen, 1, 2 Miles, James I., 191, 197 William T., 197 Militia, complimentary order concerning the early, 89 early, 81-90 Militia, Eighty-sixth Regiment, officers of the, 84 Fifth Regiment, officers of the, 85 First Battalion Artillery, officers of, 88 Forty-first Regiment, officers of the, 83 Forty-third Regiment, officers of the, 86 One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Regi ment, officers of the, 82 reorganization of, 88 Seventy-eighth Regiment, officers of the, 87 Third Regiment Cavalry, officers of the, 87 Milks, Benjamin, 71, 77 Miller, A. H., Rev., 499 Franklin, 453 Frederick, 194 JacobS., Dr., 407 James A., 317 James H., 191, 197 John, Rev., 323 John I. and Stephen, 511 John J., 194 John M., 514 John S., Dr., 168, 171, 194, 538 Justus, 307, 357 Martin, 191 N. S., 463 Pliny, 551 S. V. R., 442 William A., Rev., 413 William C, 318 Hall & Hartwell, 307 Milliman, N. B., 353 Thomas, 432 Mills, Daniel, 565 George H., Rev., 465 Miner, Samuel, 185, 233 Mingael, Jan Tomase, 217 Mitchell, A. G., 190 George B., 195, 197 Mitton, Robert, 197 Moe, R. I., 189 Moelling, P. A., Rev., 333 Moffit, Hosea, 70, 80, 138, 497 Mohawk and Hudson River Humane society, 356 Mohawks and Mohicans, the, 10, 11 threatened attack by, 23 Mohegans, the, 11 Mohican Indians, the, 6 Mohicans and Narragansetts, the, 12, 13 Molloy, Francis J., 319 Ac Co., James E., 319 Molther, John, Rev., 527 430 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Monitor and Merrimac battle, the, 101 the story of its building, 280-282 Montague, Orlando, 276 Montgomery, Robert, 70, 71 Monro, Thomas, Rev., 528 Moody, Mathew, Dr., 179, 557 Moore, A. B., 189 Clement Clarke, author of " A Visit from St. Nicholas," 253 Moran, John, 285 Morey, Charles E., 197 Nathan, 189 & Lee, 320 Morgan, Ephraim, 70, 80, 81, 220, 22!), 236, 238, 251, 253 Jonas, 383 Junius S., 310 Morris, James A., 191 J. N., Rev., 527 Sheldon, 484 Morrison, George H., 339 Thomas, 558 Morton, Eleazer and Ichabod, 497 Moseley, H. S., 430 Moses, sr. , H., 194 Hiram, Dr., 171, 197, 503 Salmon, Dr., 169, 172, 420 Mosher, George A., 369 Isaac, 432 Wilson, Elder, 479 Mostyn, John, Rev., 330 Moulton, Howard, 185, 251 Moussart, Touissaint 18 Muitzes Kill, 464 Mulcahy, James, Rev., 328 Mulford, Joseph N., Rev., 328 Samuel H., 189 Mulhall, Henry, 122 Mull, Isaac, 539 Muller, Isaac, 458 Munn, Eugene, 448, 449 William H., 297 Munsell. Hezekiah, 430 jr., Hezekiah, 191, 420, 422 Murphy, jr., Edward, 291, 299, 316, 366 Father, Rev., 479 Murray, Edward F., 294, 297 John F.,427 Myers, David, 446 Frost, 517 Nairn, J. B., Rev., 331 Nalle, Charles, fugitive slave. 277 Nassau academy, 550 town of, 543-555 churches of, 551-553 early physicians and lawyers of, 546 early tavern keepers of , 545 Nassau, first town officers of, 546 floods in, 546 in the Revolution, 548 in the Rebellion, 549 in the War of 1812, 549 list of early settlers of, 545 list of justices of the peace of, 554 list of supervisors of the town of, 554 list of town clerks of, 554 mills in, 549, 550 Rensselaer County Agricultural so ciety organized at, 548 Schodack and Chatham Mutual In surance association, 548 settlement and settlers of, 544, 545 the centre of the anti-rent troubles, 547, 548 topography of, 543 villages and hamlets in, 550, 551 village, 550 first tavern in, 544 National Guard, the, 200 Nazro, Henry, 319 Neal, John G., 190, 391 Neher, Dr. ,169 Newcomb, Simon, Dr., 137, 171, 470 Newcome, D., Dr., 169 Newman, William J., 190, 190 Newspapers of Bath, 534 of Greenbush, 411 of Lansingburgh, 396 of Troy, 346-351 Newton, Abner, 70 Nichols, William, 418 Nicholls, W. S., 430 Nicolls, Richard, 37, 38, 219 Niles, A. C, 486, 487 G. D., 487 Jonathan, 70, 497 N. H., 506 Robert, Elder, 499 Nims& Co., H. B., 320 Nixon, John, Rev., 507 Noble, J. H., Rev., 323, 433 Sylvester, 421 Norman, George H., 426 North Greenbush, town of, 530-537 Bath village in, 533, 534 churches of, 534, 535 early merchants of, 531 early physicians and lawyers of, 532 early tavern keepers of, 581 first town officers of 532 in the Rebellion, 533 in the Revolution and the War of 1812, 532 list of clerks of Bath in, 537 INDEX. 431 North Greenbush, list of justices of the peace of, 536 list of presidents of Bath in, 536 list of supervisors of the town of, 536 list of town clerks of, 536 schools of, 532 settlement and settlers of, 530, 531 villages and hamlets in 534 North Hoosick, 431 Nassau, 551 Petersburgh, 506 Stephentown, 498 Northern Budget, the, 235 Centinel and Lansingburgh Adver tiser, 226 Northrop, James G., Rev., 413 Northrup, Henry, 419 • J. M., 422 Norton, Frank L., Rev., 328 John T., 303, 309 R. S., 305 Noyes, George and Nathan, 460 Nye, James W., 420 Oathout, John, 207, 209 Ober, M., 308 O'Bryan, John G., 398 O'Connell, P. J., Rev., 434 O'Connor, Rev. Father, 302 Odell, Jonas, 71, 77,484, 506 O'Donnell, Michael, Rev., 333 Ogilvie, James G., Rev., 477 Ojers, R. J.. 190 Old Schaghticoke, 450 Olds, C. J., 475 Peter T., Dr., 484 Olin, Abraham, 352 JobS., 189 Oliver, John, 189 Robert Shaw, 301 Olmstead, Stephen, Rev., 465, 553 William A., 96, 97, 100, 102, 105, 106, 203 Onge, J. B., Rev., 334 Oothoudt, Volkert, 224 Oothout, Henderick, 221 Henry, 228 Jan, 418 Jan Janse, 404 Orcutt, Wilson A., 191 O'Reilly, Philip, Rev., 333 Ormsbie, E. F., 131 Orr, Alexander M., 314 A. & W., 314,431 Frederick W., 314 S. Alexander, 314 Orsons, Robert and Volkert, 533 Orvis, Joseph U., 272, 338 Osborn, Jeremiah, 236 Thomas, 419, 422 Osgood, Jason C, 359 O'Sullivan, J., 308 Ostrander, Peter, 419 Ostrom, Thomas L. , 351 Otis, Charles G., 129 George H., 96, 97, 100, 104, 203, 204, 207, 210 Ottenhues, Joseph, Rev., 334 Ouderkirk, Jacob, 420 Overocker, Michael L. , 454 Owen, Abel, 562, 566 Paddock, Stephen, 435 Page, W. W., Rev., 323 Paine, Amasa, 251 E. Warren, 311, 315 John, 252, 258, 268, 269, 352 John W., 311 Palmer, Fenner, 137, 549 John, 131, 132, 419, 422 William, 423, 425 Paper mill, the first, in Northern New York, 229 mills, 314 Pardee, Calvin, Dr., 494, 550 Park, Sidney A., 96 Sidney W., 105,106,301 Parker, J. W., 475 William S., 89, 239, 241, 247 Parkman, F. T., 196 Parks, Stephen, 308 Parmele, Francis B., Dr., 184, 407 Parmelee, Elias, 253, 388 Parmenter, Franklin J., 296 Jerome B., Ill, 114 Roswell A., 157, 158, 290 Parsons, A. C, 191, 192 Hial, 425 Jacob R., 197 J. Russell, 425, 430 Seth, 422, 424, 425 sr., William H., 215 Patchin, A. D., Dr., 172, 419 Patroon, the, and his powers, 15 Patten, Alonzo, Rev., 327 Eliphalet Nott, Rev., 327 Jacob H., 210, 211 John, 419 Patterson, Charles E., 296, 356 Elias, 268 Harvey, 425 Pattison, Elias, 351 Pawling, Albert, 71, 228, 238, 242, 246, 247, 253 Payne, Nathan, 89 Peabody, Frederick F. , 304, 306 432 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Pease, C. G. , 392 John and Jacob, 419 Peasley, Dr., 171 Peck, Arthur M., 514 Daniel, 516, 558 Isaac, Rev., 327 Joel, 558 Joel B., 514 John Hudson, 337, 34:!, 344 Peckham, Reuben, 315, 560 William M., 196, 315 Peebles, Hugh, 137, 237, 239, 245, 247 Peelen, Brant, 20 Peirce, Alfred H., 201, 203 Pennie, William, 472 Penniman, Sylvanus J., 388 Penney, Thomas, 191 Peoble, Charles W., 188 Perkins, William, 187 Perry, jr., John D., 453 John S., 187, 189, 192, 196 Oliver H., 453 Richard L., 215 Peters, M. V. B., 192 Smith, 463 Warren F., 192, 197 Petersburgh, town of, 501-509 acts establishing bounds of, 502 capture of the Brimmers by the In dians in, 504 churches of, 507 e^rly physicians and lawyers of, 503 early tavern keepers in, 503 first town officers of, 503 in the Rebellion, 505 in the Revolution, 504 list of early settlers of, 503 list of justices of the peace of, 509 list of soldiers from, in the War of 1812, 505 list of supervisors of the town of, 508 list of town clerks of, 508 schools of, 505 settlement and settlers of, 502, 503 territory comprised in, 501 villages of, 505 village, 505, 506 industries of, 506 Pettis, Julius R., 189, 196 Pfister, Francis, Col, 55 Phalen, Patrick, 318 Phelps, Albert, 197 Jonas H., 316 Phibbs, Thomas, 197 William A. , 460 Phillips, E. D., Rev., 331 Hiram, 525 Phisterer, Frederick, 131 Phoebus, William, Rev., 241 Physicians, early, in the county, 168-171 Pickett, Charles A., 193 Pierce, A. H.,269 Henry A., 392 Jeremiah, 185, 239 William, 300 Pierpont, John, Rev., 269, 336 Pierson, John, 442 John B., 338 Piersons, H. G., 337 Pieterse (or Coeymans), Lucas, 220 Pine, James K. P., 350, 357, 393, 39!) Pinkham, Edward E., 448, 449 Pittstown, town of, 468-481 boundaries of, 471 churches of, 476-480 early physicians of, 470 early tavernkeepers in, 470 first town officers of, 471 hamlets in, 476 in the Rebellion, 472 in the Revolution and War of 1812, 471 Johnsonville in, 472, 473 Johnsonville axe factory in, 473 list of justices of the peace of, 481 list of town clerks of, 480 list of supervisors of the town of, 480 schools of, 472 settlement and settlers of, 469-470 territory comprised in, 470 topography of, 468 Valley Falls in, 473 Columbian Lodge, I. O. O. F., at, 475 industries of, 473, 474 manufactory of JamesThompson & Co. in, 474 schools of, 474 Water Power Co. , 474 villages in, 472 Planck, Jacob Albertsen, 20 Piatt, Ananias, 228, 382, 383, 392 Henry, 137, 495, 496 Israel 497 Plum, Francis M., 203 Fred A., 189 Poel, Anthony, 458 Poestenkill, town of, 555-501 churches of, 559, 560 early merchants in, 557 early physicians and lawyers of, 557 early tavern keepers in, 557 first town officers of, 558 hamlets in, 558, 559 in the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Rebellion, 558 INDEX. 433 Poestenkill, list of early settlers of, 556, 557 list of justices of the peace- of, 561 list of supervisors of the town of, 560 list of town clerks of, 560 schools of, 558 settlement and settlers of, 556, 557 topography of, 555 Polock, Barent, 558 Poor, Joshua, Rev., 413 Population of county, 140 Porter, Chauncey, ,550 George, 193 Robert W., 189 Post, Henry, 544 Potter, E. N., Rev., 329 Henry C, Rt. Rev., 302, 328, 329 Hill, 431 John C. , 565 Thomas W., 565 William E. , 189 W. E., Rev., 536 Powell, jr., William, 430 Powers, Albert E., 393, 450 Auer, 427 Deborah, Mrs., 391, 393 Home for Old Ladies, 391 M. L., 194, 197 Nathaniel B. , 393 Roger, 229 William, 393 Pratt, T. Choate, Rev., 568 Presbyterian churches of Troy, 320-325 Prescott, Ebenezer, 187 Preston, Nathaniel O. , 435 Price, John, 189 Primmer, Joseph, 544 Proclamation, Gov. Colden's, 42 Gov. Wentworth's, 41, 43 Proseus, Joseph, 460 Prosser, Ichabod, 505 Proudfit, A., Rev., 323 Ebenezer, 318 Margaret E., Mrs., 324 Pruyn, Dr., 171 Robert C, 301 Public officials furnished by the legal profession, 154 Puissant, Peter A., Rev., 334 Purves, jr., Thomas B., 191, 197 Quackenbush, Benjamin V. Gerrit, 318 Gerrit V. S., Mrs., 343 John, 419 John A., 301 &Co., G. V. S.,318 Quackenkill, 566 43!) Quigley, Hugh, Rev., 434 Quimby, Ephraim, 511 Quinn, Timothy, 97, 207, 209 Quintan, John, 452 Railroad, Castleton & West Stockbridge, 135 s Greenwich & Johnsonville, 135 Mohawk & Hudson, 258 New York & Albany, 134 New York Central & Hudson River 134 New York Central, Hudson River & Fort Orange, 136 Rensselaer & Saratoga, 136, 258, 259 Schenectady & Troy, 263 Southern Vermont, 135 Troy & Bennington, 135 Troy & Boston, 134, 269 Troy & New England, 136 Railway, Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western, 135 Randall, Benjamin, 71, 419 Elias, 194 Ichabod, 505 P. D., 351 Ranken, Hugh, 359 Robert B., 198 Rankin, David M., 189 Rathbun, David, Rev., 421, 432 Rawson, Keating, 397 Ray, Evans, 472 William, 471 Raymertown, 476 Raymond, Ebenezer S. , Rev. , 330 Read, Arba, 203, 316, 338 Reading, David, 189 Reagan, D. D., Rev., 434 Recorder, The, the first newspaper in Troy, 229 Reed, Benjamin, 472 Charles H. , 300 Hugh, 427 James, 398 William, Rev., 324 Reeve, John, 484, 485 Regents of the University, list of, 143 Regiment of volunteers, the first that served in the war, from Rensselaer county, 95 One Hundred and Sixty-ninth, rec- of the, 111-125 roster of officers of the, 112, 113 One Hundred and Twenty-fifth, record of the, 125-128 roster of officers of, 127-128 434 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Regiment, Second, organization and ca reer of the, 96-108 list of first line officers of, 97, 98 Thirtieth, organization and career of the, 109-111 roster of line officers of, 110 Reichard, Michael, 511 Reid, Alexander B., 453 James, 388 Reilay, Gilbert, 251, 268 Reilly, Charles A., 334 J. T. O., Rev., 453 Remick, N. B., Rev., 295, 325 Renshaw, Alfred H., 357 Rensselaer county brigade of militia, field and staff officers of the, 82 description of in Revised Stat utes, 72 erection of, 69 first court held in, 71 first public buildings of, 76, 77 geography of, 72 geology of, 73-75 Homoeopathic Medical society, 369 House of Industry, 81 in the French and Indian War, 32 in the War of the Rebellion, 95- 130 Indian occupation of the terri tory of, 10 list of first officers of, 70 population of, 140 public buildings, 80, 81 topography of, 66 Medical society, 167, 168 Polytechnic Institute, 253, 340 list of officers of, 342 Rensselaerwyck, classes of population composing the colony of, 24 colonists of, overjoyed at Burgoyne's surrender, 65 , division of the grant of, 18 during the French and Indian Wars, 39 erected a district, 67 Renwick, John, 425 Representatives in Congress, list of, 142 Reynolds, Almond E. , 505 Charles N. , Dr. , 495 Eben C, 506 Frank, 506 Gideon, 419, 548 H. M., Dr., 173,350 John S., Dr., 171 Thomas, 90 W. H., 305, 306 Reynolds, William W., 505 Rhodes, La Mott W. , 355 Rice, Obed, 247 Philip, 109 Richards, Alpheus, 204 Richardson, James, 463 Richmond, William, 515 Rider, Dr., 170 J. B., 548 Rightmyer, P. M., Rev., 527 Riley, Francis, 427, 429 Ripley, Thomas C. , 440 Rix, Thomas, 198 Road improvements, early, 77. 78 Robbery and terrorism in early years of the Revolution, 45 Robbins, Amatus, Dr., 174, 247 Roberts, Adolph, 191 R. W., 196 Robertson, jr., Gilbert, 164, 165, 273, 296, 300 G. D., 204 Gilbert H., Rev., 323 William, 353 Robinson, Charles E., Rev., 323 Charles S., Rev., 323 Ebenezer, Dr., 485, 503, 505 Jabez, 460 & Co., John A., 320 Rob Roy Hosiery Company, the, 314 Roche, William J., 299 Rockefeller, Peter G., 191 Rockstroh, Johannes, Rev., 325 Rodgers, Benjamin, 452 J, D., Rev., 507 Rogers, Daniel, 421 H. H., 310 Isaac, 228 Joseph, 491 Joseph D., Rev., 567 Reuben, 549 Samuel, Rev., 432 William, 375 Rollo, Eber M., Rev., 413, 497 Romeyn, James, Rev., 464 James V. C, Rev., 542 Root, William and Jared, 551 Winthrop, 549 Rose, A. M., 197 Hugh L., Mrs., 394 Nathaniel, 491 Rosebrooks, J. M., 425 Ross, Adam, 357 Elias, 189 George, 315 Leonard, 497 Robert, murder of, 302, 303 Stephen, 137, 247, 256 INDEX. 435 Ross Valve company, the, 315 Roth, James C, 204 Rouse, Jonathan, 472, 476 Rousseau, A. C, 190 A. J., 187 Lewis A. , 196, 204 W. W., 301 Rowe, Dr., 168 E. L., 398 J. P. W., 314 M. C, 313 William H., 313, 337, 356, 357 jr., William H., 313, 337 Rowley, C. W., Rev., 434 Roy, John C, 191 Rulison, Dr., 171 Russ, Charles E., 109 Russell, Andrew, 425 Charles B., 337 George H., 191, 197 Horace, 197 Joseph, 247, 251-253 Marcus D., 131, 320 Zephaniah, 441 Ruyter, William, 197 Ryan, John, 422 Lieutenant, 123 Rysedorph, Lawrence, 197 Safford, Lieutenant-Colonel, 61 O. F., Rev. Dr., 295 Sage, Russell, 189, 273, 343 Russell, Mrs., 343 William F., 362 St. Ann's convent, 345 St. Augustine's Free institute, 389 St. Clair, General, 47, 48 St. John, Daniel, 89 David, 549 Wallace, 89 St. Joseph's convent, 345 Provincial seminary, 345 St. Mary's convent, 345 St. Paul's church, interior of (illustration), 326 St. Peter's convent, 345 St. Vincent's Female Orphan asylum, 286 Salisbury, Amos, 241, 247 Salsbergh, Tobias, 538 Samaritan hospital, Troy, 357 Sanborn, Joseph, 506 Sandford, Brownell, 553 Sand Lake, town of, 510-520 Averill Park Land Improvement company in, 514 churches of, 517-519_ _ early merchants of, 513 early physicians of, 513 Sand Lake, early tavern keepers of, 512 first town officers of, 514 in the Rebellion, 516 in the Revolution, 516 in the War of 1812, 516 list of justices of the peace of, 520 list of pioneers of, 512 list of supervisors of the town of, 519 list of town clerks of, 519 manufacturers of, fjlS Mutual Insurance company of, and other towns, 514 schools of, 514 settlement and settlers of, 511, 512 topography of, 510 turnpikes in, 513 water privileges of, 515 village, 516 villages and hamlets in, 516, 517 Sanford, Samuel B., 399 Sands, T., 197 Saul, Julius, 320 Saunders, Charles, 488 Leonard R. , 484 Robert, 220, 375 Savage, Simeon, 197 Sawin, Theophilus P., Rev., 199, 295, 299, 320, 343 Saxe, Charles J., 305 Saxton, Charles T. , 301 Schaffer, Dr., 171 Schaghticoke Indians, the, 11, 13 Hill, 449 Lodge, I. O. O. F., 449 Powder company, 548 Schaghticoke, town of, 438-456 boundaries of, 442 bridge across the Hoosick in, State ownership of, 441 Cable Flax Mills in, 447 churches of, 450-454 early merchants of, 440 early physicians and lawyers of, 440 early tavern keepers of, 440 Empire Milling and Coal company in, 447 first town officers of, 440 Hart's Falls in, 444 in the War of the Rebellion, 444 in the Revolution, 444 Kittle family in, massacre of the, 442, 443 list of justices of the peace of, 455 list of supervisors of town of, 454 list of town clerks of, 454 murders by Indians in, 443 muster roll of officers of the 14th reg iment from Hoosick and, 444 4 30 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Schaghticoke, Post Hartshorn, G. A. R., in, charter members and officers of, 448, 449 road improvements in, 441 schools of, 442 settlement and settlers of, 439, 440 sufferings of early settlers of, from Indians, 442 territory comprised in, 438 topography of, 439 villages and hamlets in, 449, 450 village, 444-449 Empire club of, 449 fire and police department of, 445 incorporation of, 445 industries of, 446-448 list of clerks of, 455 list of presidents of, 455 list of treasurers of, 456 schools of, 445, 446 Woolen company, 446 Schemerhorn, L., Rev., 480 Schermerhorn, Cornelius and Barney, 539 Cornelius, 137 Cornelius J., 89, 90 Jacob Cornelius, 71, 78; and family, 458 John, 548 John C, 462 John W., 70, 71, 78, 495, 496, 544- 546, 549 N. A., 461 Philip, 463 Schevers, Hendrick, 458 Schneider, John W., 544 Schodack Centre, 463 Depot, 463 Landing, 462 Schodack, town of, 456-468 chief village of Mohicans located in, 456 churches of, 464-466 early physicians and lawyers of, 459 early roads in, 458 erection of, 456 first town officers of, 459 Henry Hudson, the first white man, at, 457 in the Rebellion, 459 in the Revolution, 459 in the War of 1812, 459 list of justices of the peace of, 467 list of supervisors of the town of, 466 list of town clerks of, 467 settlement and settlers of, 457, 458 villages and hamlets in, 462-464 Schodack, Castleton village in, 459-462 early merchants of, 460 fire department of, 461, 462 incorporation of, 460 Ingalls & Co., paper makers at, 462 list of clerks of, 468 list of presidents of, 467 National Bank of, 460 paper mills in, 462 schools of, 461 Shadyside Lodge, I. O. O. F., in, 462 water works of, 460 Woolworth & Graham, U. S. postal card contractors at, 462 School commissioners, list of, 142 Schoonmaker, C. C, 453 J. E., 294 Schoppe, Bernard, Rev., 334 Schouler, Andrew, 447 Schriver, Edmund, 267 Schutt, William H., 211 Schuyler, Abraham, 78 Clarkson C, Dr., 207 Myndert, 221 John, Capt, 34 Nicholas, 71, 239, 383, 392 Philip, 221 Philip, Gen., 48 Peter, Major, 34 Peter Philip, 34 Stephen J., 222, 224,316 Stephen V. R., 137 Schwerdfeger, Samuel, Rev., 526 Scoby, Samuel, 241 Scofield, H. C, 337 Scott, George, 398 I. Seymour, 209 Moses, 242 William K, Dr., 540 Scougal, W. H., 449 Scram, William H., 514 Scriven, Caleb W., 565 James, Zebulon and John, 566 Thomas, 564 Searing, Willian M., 109 Searles, William, 452 Seaton, William, 191, 197 Seidel, J. F., Rev., 333 Selden, Charles, 391, 392 George M., 353 Joseph D. , 242 Seldon, Charles, 236 Senderling, J. Z., Rev., 527 Seraphin, Frederic, Marquis de la Tour du Pin Gouvernet, 231 INDEX. 437 Servat, Nicholas M., 185 Settlement at Fort Orange, 1 Settler, first, in Rensselaer county, 29 Seymour, David L., review of life and services of, 155; 352 Ebenezer, Rev., 323 Walter J., 189 William P. , 189 William Pierce, Dr., 183 William Wotkyns, Dr. , 207, 357 Shackburg, Dr., author of' Yankee Doodle, 36 Shafer, Charles L., 506 JohnF., 196 Shanahan, John, Rev., 333, 434 Shannon, W H., 475 Shans, Henry, 458 Sharp, John E., 210 Sharpe, George, 535 Shaver, L. E., 314 Shea, Bartholomew, 302, 303 Sheary, Michael F. , 300 Shedd, Isaac, 435 Sheldon, C. P., Rev., 330 Daniel, 524 M. Blanche, 475 W. H., 487 William J., 487, 499 Shepard, Hazael, 472 William, 469 William A., 339 Shepherd, Silas E. , Elder, 528 Sheriff sent from Holland and his in structions, 22 Sheriffs, list of, 141 Sherman, Charles, Rev., 331 Henry P. , 207 R. W., 254 William H., 318 Sherrerd, John M. , 207 Sherrill, Elizabeth, 251 Sherry, Arthur G., 319, 337 James H., 319 John, 292, 319 Sherwood, A. H., 430 Lemuel, 423 Lyman and Lorenzo, 420 Shields, Hamilton L., 202, 203 William H., 207 Shinn, Gregory W. , Rev. , 329 Shipman, Nathaniel, original of Cooper's "Leatherstocking," 421 Shirts, Joseph, Dr.' 170 Shull, John E.,426 Shumway, Alfred, 190 George E., 190 William H., 190, 197 Sickles, Daniel E., 131, 132, 301 Sickles, Jacob, Rev., 552 Thomas, 71, 77, 419 Sidney, J. C, 269 Silvester, Francis, 71 Silliman, Robert D., 250 Sim, Frederick W., 196 Simmons, Daniel, 523 George H., 197, 392 Henry, 566 J. C., Rev., 453 Peter, 483 Reuben, 525 Simons, Ezra D., Rev., :130 John W., 197 Simpson, Dr., 168 Sims, George F., 196, 198 203 John A., 203 Sinsabaugh, George W., 453 Sippell, D. C, 190 Sipperly, George, 516 John J. , 453, 454 Peter, 516 Sixth Separate Company, N. G., 204- 207 Skelding, Thomas, 251 Skelton, Julius A., Dr., 109 Skillman. E. A., 190, 197 Avery Judd, Dr., 180 Skinner, Adonijah, 385 Roger, 242 S. A., Dr., 169, 197 Slade, Joseph, 421 Luke, 191, 197 Sleicher, jr., William, 311 Sliter, Clement, 513 Edwin A., 197 William H., 197 Sliter's Corners, 517 Slocum, Chauncey B., 193 445 Henry W., 131 Sluyter, William, 558 Smalley, Elam, Rev., 322 Smart, Andrew J., 314 Joseph W., 314 Robert T., 314 Smith, Albert, 296 Benjamin, 229, 242, 253 Bernard N., Ill Charles H., 193 C. T. R., 392 Edwin, 318, 445, 452 E. R., 390 George, 251 George D., 207 George E. , Rev. , 295 George B., 188, 196 Gerrit, 403 Harvey, 362 438 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Smith, Henry W., 369 Horace K., 187 Jesse, 549 Joel D., 460 John, Rev., 392 John D., 193 John F., 190, 197 Jonas, 534 J. Brinton, Rev., 328 J. N., Rev., 331 Leonard, 523 Levi, sketch of, 164 Lizzie, Miss, 446 Munson, 442 Paul, 525 Philip, 392 Rufus, Rev., 452 Samuel, Rev., 432 Samuel E., Rev., 329 Sidney, 191 S. D., 196 William, 252 William A., 301 W. Stone, 313 Smyth, William M., 191 Snell, H. H., 420 Snively, Thaddeus A., Rev., 328, 356 Snodgrass, William D. , Rev., 323 Snyder, Cornelius, 533 James M., 131, 190 Philip, 516 Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, 130-133 Somers, Charles G, Rev., 330 Sommer, Peter Nicholas, Rev., 520 South Sand Lake, 517 Schodack, 464 Stephentown, 498 Southwick, Daniel, 208 Edward, 239 P., 398 Spear, Samuel P., Rev., 395 Spencer, Allen, 433 Charles C, 427 Daniel E., 197 Joseph, 70 Richard, 494 Spicer, George A., 317 Tobias, 138 Spoor, John, Elder, 478, 488, 499 Sprague, John W., 202, 203 Springer, Martin, 137 Springsteen, Casparus, 450 Squire, David, 185 Squires, John, Dr., 169, 459,463 Norman B., 295, 319 Sherry & Galusha, 319 Staats, Barent G. , 78 Joachim, 403 Staats, Joachim and Gerrit, 458 Nicholas, 10 Stancill, R. W., Rev., 336 Stanley, C. F., Rev., 480 Staples, Abraham, 239 Starbuck, Charles and Nathaniel, 312 George H., 301 Stark, John, Gen., 54-63 Starkey, Thomas A. , Rev. , 32« Starks, Independence, 276 Ralph, 338 R. E., 447 State officers from Rensselaer county. .143 senators, list of, 146, 147 Statzell, Henry C, 304, 306 Staunton, Benjamin. Rev., 413 Lodewick, 523 Stearns, B. B., 189 Steele, W. H., 192 Steinberger, Henry, 460 Stephentown Center, 498 Flats, or Kinderhook Creek, 498 Stephentown, town of, 490-501 boundaries of, 495 churches of, 498-500 early physicians of, 494 early tavern keepers of, 494 in the Rebellion, 497 in the Revolution, 497 in the War of 1812, 497 list of early settlers of, 491 list of justices of the peace of, 500 list of the supervisors of the town of, 500 list of town clerks of, 500 old records of the survey of, 492-494 schools of, 496 settlement and settlers of, 490-492 topography of, 490 Turnpike corporation, 495 village, 497, 498 villages in, 497 water privileges of, 495 Stettheimer, jr., & Co., J., 308 Stevens, Albertus, 566 FitzH., 353, 354 Frank L., 215 S. S., 430 Stevenson, George H., 447, 449 Stewart, Lemuel, 563 Stewart, Dr., 170 John, 242, 388 John J., 449 M. F., 194 Samuel, 236 S. W., 197 Stiles, Robert B., 190, 196 INDEX. 439 Still, Josiah, Rev., 323 Stillman, Asa, 505 PI. N., 486 Paul, 506 Wait H., 207 . Stillwell, Samuel, 419 Stilson, John, 397 Stimpson, Charles P., Dr., 369 Stimson, Edward P., Rev., 405 Stitt, James, 472 Stockwell, Henry, 186 Stoddard, Henry, 551 Stoll, Jacob Janse, 217 Stoller, Norbert, Rev., 334 Stone, Edward L., 203 George A. , 338 Storm of August, 27, 1891, 138 Story, Helen, Miss, 446 Stott, Charles H. , 301 jr., C. H., 131 Stove industry in Troy, 312 Stowell, Henry, 196 Samuel, 566 Strait, B. C, 546 Ebenezer Smith, sketch of, 162; 546 George W., Dr., 168 Strasser, Solomon, 189 Stratton, A.M., 313 Charles, 445 Edward, Rev., 413 Streeter, Alonzo, Dr., 171 Lorenzo D. , 513 Stroble, P. A., Rev., 527 Strong, Charles K., 194, 195 Stroud, C. E., 430 Stryker, Barent W. , 460, 461 Sturtevant, S. V., 196 Stuyvesant, interference of, with the rights of the colonists, 24 Sullivan, Michael, 210 Sunday News, the, Troy, 350 School Union, Rensselaer County, 137 Surdam, Henderso l S., 215 Peter, 419 Surrogates, list of, 141 Swahlen, J., Rev., 333 Swan, Warren, 497 Swart, Gerrit, 22 Sweeney, Daniel, 190 Sweet, Benjamin G., 423 Elnathan, 491 George W. , 447 Samuel N., 484 Simeon, 432 Swett, Frederick W., 369 & Co., George W., 312 Swift, John J., Rev., 335 Sybrandt, William II., Rev., 324 Symonds, Thomas, 279, 362 Tackaberry, John, Rev , 331 Tallmadge, John, 209 Tamarack, 526 Tanner, Abel, 497 Cuyler, Dr. , 495 Tappan, Dr., 171 Samuel, 423 Tappen, Juriaen Teunise, 221 Tappin, John H., 189 Tarbell, Daniel H., 448, 449 Tatlock, John, Rev., 324 Taylor, John, Dr., 169 Mahlon, 229 Nathan, 187 Nicholas, 559 Solomon, 511 Stephen, 191 Tracy, 339 William F.,484, 488 Teller, William, 197 Temple, Richard, Rev., 328, 414 Ten Broeck, Dirck, 71 Ten Eyck, Abraham, 228, 238, 240 Anthony, 70, 71, 458 Anthony, Dr., 171, 532 . James, 188 Terry, Elijah, 564 Thatcher, C. O., Rev., 323 Thayer, Adin, 425 Thebaud, August, Rev., 334 Thomas, Eugene E., Rev., 405 Henry B., 196, 369 Jeffrey P., 19 John, 252, 351 Philander H., Dr., 109, 495, 513 Porter, Rev., 477 Thompson, Charles W. , 338 Clara, Miss, 446 E. R., 131 George L., 350 H. W., 131 Isaac Grant, sketch of, 163 Israel, 70, 472 James, 474, 475, 480 James L., 207 John, 197, 392 John I., 302, 357 John L., 134 John L., Mrs., 327 J. L., 131 J. W., Rev., 131, 132, 352 Rebecca, 472 Sons& Co., John L., 320 Thomas, 516, 547 Thomas and Calvin, 511 513, 515 440 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Thompson, William A., 355 Thorn, James, Dr , 182 Thurber, Benjamin, 225 O. D., 194 Thurman, Richardson H., 339 Thurston, Joshua, 2417 Tibbits, C. E. Dudley, 294 Dudley, 355 Elisha, 258 George, 137, 238, 253, 208, 357, 392, 452 George M., 269,291, 353 J. B., 353 Le Grand C, 131, 139, 211 William B., 96, 105, 128, 129, 205, 428 Tibbitts, Benjamin, 236, 383, 392 Briggs, 452 Tifft, Jeremiah, 549 Simeon, 549 Tilley, Thomas, 110 Tillinghast, Charles W., 205, 302, 312, 319, 337, 352, 357 2d, C. Whitney, 297, 319 Joseph J., 294, 319 Thomas A., 319 Tim, Louis, 308 Solomon, 308 & Co., 308 Tincker, Henry, 224 Titus, Piatt, 240, 252 Tobias, Thomas, 549 Todd, Charles M., 476 Tolhurst, Charles H., 316 William H., 316 & Son, W. H., 316 Toll gates, abolishment of, 139 Tomhannock, 475 Tomlinson, W. A., 189 Tompkins, Albert, 297 D. D., 314 John B. and Peter C. , 549 J. D., 549 Staats D. , 516 Topping, John, 398 Torrance, J. R., 189 Town, Benjamin F., 203 Towns of the county, organization of, 78-80 Townsend, John B., 203 Martin I., 83, 96, 154, 155, 278, 296, 320, 352 Rufus March, sketch of, 160; 209 William, 191 Tracey, Henry, 90 Tracy, Edward, 398 Gardiner, 388 Jedediah, 89, 254, 268 Tracy, Solomon, Rev., 323 Traver, Albert P., 191, 197 Charles M., 191 Travis, John, 441 Treanor, John P., 209 Treaty with the Iroquois in 1684, 39 with the Mohawks, 2 Trenor Thomas, 242 Tripp, Job, Dr., 484 Stephen, 89 Trojan Car Coupler company, 320 Greens, the, 241 Troy academy, 344 Board of Trade, 268 boundaries of the town of, 238 Century association, 269 Choral club, 369 Citizens' Gas Light company, 365 Troy, city of, 246-304 added to from Lansingburgh, 262 annullment of Vanderheyden ferry rights in, 272 Arba Read Steam Fire Engine com pany of, 360 assistant police magistrates of, list of, 373 banks of, 337-339 banks started in, in 1853 and 1854, 272 beginning of the Troy & Boston rail road at, 269 Beman park in, 292 Beman Park Hose company of, 362 board of fire commissioners of, 359 board of trade organized in, 268 breweries of, 316 celebration of the anniversary of the inauguration of President Wash ington at, 297 centennial celebration of, 294-297 list of committee of arrange ments for, 294 chamberlains of, list of, 371 change in wards in, 262 Charles Eddy Steam Fire Engine company of, 361 cholera in, in 1832, 257 churches of, 255, 268, 290, 320-337 city attorneys of, list of, 371 city clerks of, list of, 372 - city hall of, 291 city superintendents of, list of, 372 city surveyors and engineers of, list of, 372 collar, cuff and shirt industry, the, in, 275-277, 304-309 Columbian Liberty bell cast in, 298 comptrollers of, list of, 371 INDEX. 441 Troy, city of, Congress street bridge in opening of, 290 construction of first railroad to, 258 corporation counsel of, 372 Day Home for children in, 293 development of transportation facili ties with, 264 draft riot of 1862 in, 284 Edmond Stanton Steam Fire Engine company of, 361 educational institutions of, 340-346 Episcopal institute in, 263 Esek Bussey Fire company of, 362 establishment of Emma Willard Fe male seminary in, 250 extract from " Historical Collections of the State of New York " in rela tion to, 265 extract from the Buffalo Gazette in relation to, 266 fire department of, 357-362 fire of June 6, 1841, in, 266 fire of May 1, 1848, in, 268 fire of October 28, 1852, in, 271 fire of August 25, 1854, in, 274 fire of May 10, 1862, in, 282-284 fire of September 21, 1890, in, 298 fire of February 17, 1896, in, 303 fires of December 14 and 15, 1893, in, 298, 299 first disastrous fire in, 250 first officers of, 247 first savings bank in, 252 first steam ferry boat at, 255 first street railway in, 279 first Sunday schools in, 247 flood of February 8, 1857, at, 277 fractional currency issued by, 284 fugitive slave, rescue of, at, 277 funeral ceremonies of Gen. George H. Thomas at, 287 funeral services of Gen. Joseph B. Carr at, 301, 302 F. W. Farnam Steam Fire Engine company of 361 Gardner Earl Memorial chapel and crematory in, 297 gas, introduction of, in, 267 government building in, 299 Grand Central theatre in, 293 gubernatorial candidates from, 370 Hope Steam Fire Engine company of, 360 hospital of, 287 Hugh Ranken Steam Fire Engine company of, 360 increase in number of wards in, 287 india rubber manufacture in, 260 dad Troy, city of, insurance companies in, 260 in the panic of 1837, 262 Jason C. Osgood Steam Fire Engine company of, 361 justices of the justice's court of, list of, 373 landslide in, 261, 277, 297 males of militia age in, 374 manufacture of railroad cars in, 270 manufacturing and mercantile estab lishments of, 304-320 market buildings in, 262 mayors of, list of, 370 mob in, on St. Patrick's day, 1837, 261 mobbing of Theodore D. Weld in, 260 Mount Ida cemetery in, 257 munitions of war manufactured at, 280 nativity of foreign born population of, 374 new court house in, 351 newspapers of, 346-351 new wards in, 271 number of persons of school age in, 374 Oakwood cemetery in, 269 opening of the Erie canal, celebra tion of the, in, 252 opening of Troy Union railroad and station in, 274 organizations, miscellaneous, of, 368 organization of "The Troy Steam boat company '' at, 254 original charter of, 246 paper mills in, 314 parks of, 292 part of, in creating the "Monitor" 280-282 pianos first manufactured in the State at, 247 poem, " A Visit from St. Nicholas," first published in, 253 police magistrates of, list of, 373 population of, 373 post-office of, 300 President Lincoln at, 279 progress of, up to 1825, 254 protest against removal of tariff on shirt, collar and cuff manufactures at, 299 public schools of, 339, 340 railroad rivalry between Albany and, 258, 263 reception to La Fayette at, 253 recorders of, list of, 371 442 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Troy, city of, removal of mayor, by Gov. Clinton, 247 indignant article concerning, 248 Rensselaer Polytechnic institute in, 253 St. Vincent Female Orphan asylum in, 286 sale of railroad interests by, 273 sale of the old Schuyler mansion in, 298 Savings bank building in, completion of, 290 secret societies of, 366-368 steamer Empire from, 264 steamer Troy from, 263 steamers of the Citizens' Steamboat company of, 292 street railroad extensions in, 286 street railways in, equipped with electricity, 293 street railway system of, 365 stove industry in, 312 telegraph, introduction of the, in, 267 theatre, the, in, 288-290 " The Mary Warren Free Institute " in, 267 trial of the supposed Henrietta Rob inson in, 27l Trojan Hook and Ladder company of, 360 Union Railroad company in, 272 voters in, 374 Washington Volunteer Fire Engine company of, 359 water department of, 362-365 water works of, 259 Troy club, the, 293 Daily Sentinel, 256 Daily Press, the, 349 Daily Times, the, 348 Episcopal institute, 163 erection of town of, 228 Female seminary, 342-344 Fusileers, the, 241 Gaslight company, 268 Grenadiers, the, 241 hospital, the, 287 India Rubber company, 260 Invincibles, the, 241 Library, 236, 352-356 Lyceum of Natural History, 247 Malleable Iron company, 311 Northern Budget, the, 349 Observer, the, 350 Orphan asylum, 351 Record, the, 350 Savings company, 272 Troy Steamboat company, the, 254 Steel company, the, 309 Telephone Dispatch company, 365 Turnpike & Railroad company, 250 Union Railroad company, 272 University, the, 285 Troy, village of, 217-245 amendments to charter of, 235 boundaries of, 238 business concerns of, in 1792, 230 business in, in 1787, 226 changes in boundary of, 238 churches of, 233, 238, 240, 256 distinguished residents of, 231 divided into wards, 240 donation of land to, by Jacob D. Van derheyden, 233 establishment of cemetery at, 244 establishment of post-office at, 233 establishment of public library in, 236 events of 1797 in, 234 first bank in, 236 first church in, 229 first county clerk's office 'erected in, 242 first daily newspaper in, 256 first fire protection provided for, 234 first Masonic Lodge in, 233 first military company in, 224, 241 first newspape* in, 229 first paper mill in, 229 first public water supply of, 240 first settler on the site of, 218 first steamboat from, 24 importance of, over Lansingburgh, 235 in the Revolution, 223 in the War of 1812, 243 in 1792, a visitor's description of, 230 incorporation of, 230 known as Vanderheyden, 226 land purchases and transfers on the site of, 218-223 militia of, sent to New York in 1814, 244 name of Troy adopted, 227 new comers to, in 1787, 226; in 1789, 228 panic of 1814 at, 245 population and prosperity of, in 1815, 245 presidents of, list of, 370 prosperity of, in 1827 and 1828, 255 reception given to Commodore Mac- Donough at 244 recruiting in, in 1813, 243 INDEX. 443 Troy, village of, reminiscences of, by John Woodworth, 232 removal of county clerk's office to, 235 second bank in, 241 settlement of, 217 statistics of, in 1812, 242 term " Uncle Sam" originated in, 244 Vanderheyden family, its impor tance in, 224 Troy Vocal society, 369 Waste Manufacturing company, 320 Water Works company, 259 Young Men's association, 352-356 Young Men's Catholic Literary asso ciation, 346 Young Women's association, 356 & Cohoes Railroad company, 279 & Lansingburgh Street Railway company, 279 Truesdell, Chester, 185 Trumansville, 431 Tryon county, 67 John, 78 Tucker, Francis C, 191 Henry, 553 Henry O'R., 349 John Ireland, Rev., 267, 295; death and funeral of, 302 ; 328 Mark, Rev.. 255, 322, 477 Sidney D., 309 Tupper, John H., 207, 337 Turcotte, Father, 334 Turner, Alexander I., 385 Charles, 448 Gershom, 550, 551 Isaac, 419 James, 549 Thomas, 137, 201, 203, 248, 397 Turnpike companies, 78 - Troy & Schenectady, 238 Twelfth Separate Company, N. G. , 207- 214 Twenty-second Separate Company, N. G., 214,215 Twining, Frank B., 307, 308 Tylee, Edward, 233 Tyner, W. J., 350 Uline, Barnhardt, 512, 513, 517 Uncas and Miantonomoh, 13 " Uncle Sam," origin of, 244 Unitarian church of Troy, 336 United States district attorney, 143 officials from Rensselaer county, 143 senator, 142 Universalist church of Troy, 336 Upham, John, 512 Morgan S., 278 William, 514 Upson, Anson J., Rev., 394 Vail, D. Thomas, 269, 273, 280, 318 446 447 Ezra R., 204, 207 George, 232, 256, 258, 318, 351 Henry, 233, 318 Moses, 70, 71, 232, 357 Thomas, 357 Valley Falls, 473^75 Van Alen, James, 195 Van Allen, John E., 70, 71, 78 Van Alstyne, Jacob, 70, 224 John S., 538 Martin, 89, 533 Rinier, 89, 531 William L., 108, 285 Van Arnam, Abraham, 226 Van Arnum, Isaac, 377 Van Avery, Michael W. and Tames, 503 Van Benschoten, Elias, Rev., 451 Van Brackle, James, 268 van Breuckelen, Cornelis Teunissen, 20 Van Brugh, Peter, 221 Van Buren, Catherine (Mrs. Hannibal Finck), 461 Charles, 193 Cornelis Maas, 537 Hendrick Maase, 457 Jan, 221 John, Dr., 171, 459 Peter, 549 Teunis, 538 Van Burgan, G. A., 189 Van Campen Jacobus, Rev., 534 Van Corlaer, Arendt, 20-22, 418 Van Denberg, John, 418 Vandenbergh, Cornelius, 71 Vandenburgh, Gerrit C. and William G., 538 Henry, 193 Jacob, 423 James, 251 John IL, 463 Lyman, 550 Volkert V., 533 Vandercook, Michael, 469 Michael S., 88, 90, 137, 472 van der Donk, Adriaen, 20 Vanderheyden, Derick Y. , 240 Dirck, 222 Jacob, 224 jr., Jacob, 71 Jacob D., 77, 223 444 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Vanderheyden, Jacob D. , refusal of, to sell lands, 225 ; 227, 229, 233, 237 Jacob I., 223, 225 John D., 185 John G., 251, 272 lands, survey of, into lots, 226 Matthias, 225 Mattvs, 223 Philip F., 204 Van der Poel, Meldert, 538 Wynant Gerritse, 220 Van Deurs, George, Rev., 324 Van Deusen, Michael, 194 Van Dyck, Peter, 421 Peter D., 71 Van Dyke, Cornelius, Dr. ,459 Henry P., Dr., 459 Henry P. and Cornelius, Drs., 170 Van Evera, Yates, 215 Van Everen, Anthony and Cornelius, 538 Van Heusen, John, 516 Van Hise, George W., 197 Van Kleeck, Robert B., 327 Robert V., Rev., 269 van Munickendam, Pieter CorneHssen, 20 Van Name, James, 472 Van Namee, John, Dr., 172 Van Ness, Cornelius, 432 Cornelis Hendrickse, and family, 404 Gerrit Cornelis, 418 Van O'Linda, Garrett M., 191 Van Pelt, D. M., 190 Eugene A., 190, 196, 197 Van Rensselaer, David, 418 Hendrick, 538, 539 Henry K., 224 Jean Baptist, 24 Jeremiah, Dr., 181. 414, 538 Jeremias, 24 Johannes, 23 John, 70 Killiaen, 14-19, 21, 25 Killiaen, first purchases of land by, 10 Killiaen, son of Jeremias, 24 Killiaen, (grandson of the patroon), 537 Nicolaas, 538, 539 Stephen, Gen.. 91, 92 Stephen, [jr.,] 92, 93 Stephen, 240, 253, 375, 406, 418, 515, 552, 558, 567 William P., 92, 93 Van Rensselaer's additional purchases, 19 colony, court and court officers of, 20 colony, government of, 19 grant, confirmation of, 18 Van Santvoord, Seymour, 357, 429 Van Schaick, Gerrit W., 78 Van Schaick, John S., 203 Van Schoonhoven, Edward, 393 Guert, 71, 236, 254 James, 252, 268 James L., 318,339 William H.,357 Van Slechtenhorst, Brant Arent, 23, 24 Van Steltyn, Evert Pels, 217, 403 Van Tuyl, Abraham, 256 Van Twiller, Wouter, 23 Van Tyne, Robert, 194 Van Valkenburg, Peter, 545 Van Valkenburgh, Hanse, 458 Jeronimus, 458 Lawrence, 189, 276, 494 Van Vechten, Teunis Cornelise, 217 Teunis CorneHssen, 403 Teunis Dirkse\ 217 Teunis Dircksen, 403 Teunis T.. 78 Van Veghten, Gerrit Teunis, 418 Harmon, 71, 194 John, 442 John A., 451 Van Velsen, Sweer Teunise, 21!), 220 Van Volkenburgh, J. M., 305 Van Vranka, Maus R., 377 Van Wely, Johannes, 23 Van Wert, Myron L., 449 Van Wesepe, Gysbert CorneHssen, 403 Van Wie, C. H., Rev., 454 Van Woert, Isaac, 471 John, 471 Van Woggelum, Peter, 375 Pieter Pieterse, 220 Van Zandt, Jacobs & Co., 308 Varnum, Forest D., 430 Vars, Benjamin, 488 Vaughn, Augustus D., 121 Veazie, Charles, 271 Vedder, John N., 548 Verheyden, Peter, Rev. ,334 Viall, Daniel H., 449, 450, 453 Viele, Lewis, 439 Ludovicus, 469 Stephen L., 472 Vincent, James, 190 Marvin R., Rev., 320 Virgil, Ebenezer H., 189, 203 Vo.sburgh, Geertruyt Pieterse, 220 John, 514 Vyselaer, (or Gow) Jan Cornelise, 220 Waddell, James, 192, 197 Wadsworth, Charles, Rev., 322 Waite, Rufus S., Dr., 564 William, 419 Walden, George L., 215 INDEX. 445 Walden, J. H., Rev., 330 Waldron, J. D., Rev., 434 Wales, Henry L.. 440 Henry N., 442 Walker, James, Rev., 413 William B., Rev., 452 William F., Rev., 328 Wallace, A. D., 190 Elijah, 420 Thomas, 391 Truman J., 430 William H., 191 Wallerstein, E., 308 Walloomsac, 431 Walloons, the, 2 Walsh, Alexander, 389 George PL, Rev., 328, 329 John, Rev., 132, 295, 299, 302, 33:1 Walter, William H., Rev., 328 Walworth, Benjamin, 419, 422 Clarence A., Rev., 333 John, 423 J. C, 422 Reuben H., 420, 423 Walz, A. F., Rev., 296, 335 War meetings, the first, 95, 96 of the Revolution, 46-65 Warden, W. S. S., Rev., 331 Warner, Seth, 44, 61 Warrant of Duke of York, authorizing the patent of Rensselaerwyck, 06 Warren, Alonzo, 566 Eliakim, 239, 242, 245, 249 sr., George B., 338 jr., George B., 353, 359 George H., 267, 328 John, Dr., 170 J. G., Rev., 330 John Hobart, 312, 435 Joseph M., 319, 355, 362 Martha C, Mrs., 325 Mary, 267 M6ses, 137, 419 Nathan, 240, 251, 252, 256, 258, 208 Nathan B., 267, 328, 329 Phoebe, 267 Stephen, 89, 241, 253, 258, 337, 351 Stephen E., 267, 269, 328 Walter P., 204, 207, 294, 295, 297, 319, 354, 357 Walter P., Mrs., 327 & Co., J. M., 319 Washburne, Reuben, Rev., 434 Wasson, James B., Rev., 329 Waterbury, Adoniram, Rev., 414 David, 544 Sylvester, 548 Wattenpaugh, Paul, 516 Wayland, sr., Francis, Rev., 138, 320 Wayside Knitting company, the, 313 Weatherwax, Andrew, 511 Weaver, Charles, 190, 197 G. Norman, 426 James, 505 J. H., Rev., 190, 527 Nicholas, 190, 196 Webb, Isaac, Rev., 233, 330, 419, 470 Webber, George N., Rev., 320 Webster, James, 451 W. E., Rev., 433 Weed, Alsop, 134, 256, 268 Jared S., 337 Weeks, George E., Rev., 331 Silas, 71, 441 Weest, Philip, 197 Weibel, John W. H., Rev., 329 Welch, Samuel, 453 Weld, Theodore D., mobbing of, 260 Weller, John, 1'85 Wellman, Jedediah, 565 Wellington, George B., 290 Wells, Ira M., Dr., 247 Thomas T., 195, 196 Wemp (or Wamp), Jan Barentsen, 218, 219 WTendall, Gerrit, 71 Wendell, Joannes, 375 Robert, 375,377 Wentworth, Benning, Gov., 41, 42 West, Hoosick, 431 Sand Lake, 517 Stephentown, 498 Thomas, 565 Westcott, Joseph, 494 Westervelt, Peter F., Dr., 557 Ralph, Rev., 138 Wetby, Henry, 516 Wetherbee, Abel, 196 Wetsel, Peter, 442 Whales in Hudson river, 23 Wheeler, C. S., 191 Isaac, 549 J. W., 308 Nathaniel, 276 Seth, 460 Wheelock, Joseph, 307 Whelan, Dennis J., 299 Whipple, A., 190, 196 A. B., Rev., 392, 394 Jonathan E., 393, 397 William W., 351 White, Charles A., 369 H., 392 Jacob, 551 John, 307, 425 John R., 353 446 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. White, Joseph D., 503 Leander, 448 Marshall F„ 191. 192 Robert J., 191 William, 185 Whitford, Edward, 488 Whiting, Elizabeth, 252 Ruggles, 310 Whitlock, John H., 203 Whitman, W. W., 300 Whitney, Franklin H., 319 William W., Rev., 518 Whiton, Henry B., Dr.. 179 Whittaker, Ephraim, 515 William, Rev., 413 Whyland, Jacob and Sons, 556 W. H., 485, 486 Wickes, Asa W., 203 Merritt M., 442,445 Thomas S., Rev., 413 Wicks, John H., 197 Wichtermann, George J., Rev, 451, 526 Widdemer, E. S.. Rev., 329 Wilbur, Charles J., 440 & Co., 309 Wilcox, Emily T., Miss, 342, 343 Wilder, Lyman, 425 Lyman C, 427 Wiley, Frederick, 440 W. E., 448 Wilkerson, Russell, 198 Willard, Emma, Mrs., 250, 251, 342-344 George Lamb, 97, 125, 126 John D., Dr., 169, 342 John V., sketch of, 160; 186 John H., 342 Sarah L., 342, 343 William T., 300 W. W.,301 Willets, John H., 340 Williams, Calvin, Rev., 315, 518 E. W., 429 Moses, 258 Nathan, 233, 300, 497 Pelham, Rev., 330 Stephen, 191, 533 Williamson, R. D., Rev., 295 325 Willis, Byron, 427 C. P., 460 Dr., 171 Lemuel, Rev., 336 Willson, Samuel and Ebenezer, 227 Wilson, Arthur, 306 Charles E., 189 Ebenezer and Samuel, 244 George.W., 96, 97, 103-105, 203 Hugh, 544, 550 James, 194 , Wilson, Joseph, Rev., 413 Solomon, 423 T. Newton, 453, 454 Washington, 306 William B., Mrs., 295 Wincopp, Cornelis, 403 Winne, Gerrit, 70 Winslow, Gordon, Rev., 328 John F., 280-282, 309 Winthrop, Fitz-John, Gen., 34 Winton, Wesley, 449 Witbeck, Abraham, John and Hansic, 538 anti-rent case, the, 93, 94 George W., 548 John, 403, 463 Jonathan, 458 J. V. D., 460, 409 William, 532 Witherbee, Frank S., 310 Witmer, W. W., Rev., 296 Witmoudt, Jan, 403 Witsen, Gerrit Jacob, 1 Wolf, Charles H., 448 Edward W., 191 Wood, E. W., 189 H. F., 319 Ira J., 430 Joseph A., 187 Melvin, 560 Samuel M., Rev., 527 Walter A., 312, 425, 427-430 jr., Walter A., 430 Wood burn, John, 503 Woodbury, G. F., Rev., 331 Woodcock, D. C, 337 Woodford, Stewart L., 131, 133 Woodhouse, Charles, Rev., 395 Woodruff, Charles H., 95 Henlock, 392 Nathaniel T., 187 Woods, John, 533 Woodworth, John, 71; sketch of, 159; 185, 232, 233, 236, 300 Robert, 70, 71, 77 Wool, John E., 80, 100, 201, 243, 270, 282, 287, 546, 549 Woolsey, James T., 203 Wooster, Eleazer and Albert E., 557 Worden, Arnold, 505 Worth, J. D., 197 Worthington, Aaron, 500 Wotkyns, Alfred, Dr., 170 Tom S., 357 Wright, Caleb, 187 John, Dr,, 174' Sylvester W., 210 Wyckoff, Cornelius C, Rev.; 465 INDEX. 447 Wylie, Jacob, 77, 499 Wynantskill, 534 Yankee Doodle, origin of, 36 Yates, jr., Abraham. 71 Christopher C, 194 Christopher J., 538 Dr., 171 John Waters, 71 Obadiah, 194, 195 Youlen, P. F., Rev., 528 Young, Fred S., 311 Young, Jacob, 189 J. R., Rev., 413 Men's Christian Association of Troy, 337 William H., 294, 302, 320, 355 Younghams, Henry, and sons, 511 Younglove, jr., John, Rev., 138, 527, 55:; Yourt, William R., 353 Zabriskie, John L., Rev., 542 Zander, James A., 262 Zweifel, Joseph, Rev., 542 PART II. Alden, Charles L., 717 Anderson, George B., 674 Ayres, Daniel H., 635 Barnes, Elmer E., 580 Baucus, Martin, 615 Benson, jr., Russell F. , Dr., 593 Black, Franks., 726 Boardman, Derrick L. , 705 Bond, George F., 616 Bontecou, Reed B., 601 Brintnall, Charles E., Col, 640 Brintnall, Lemuel, 640 Buckley, Peter H., 658 Burns, John W., 649 Carpenter, Beecher E., 692 Carr, Joseph B. , Gen., 708 Chapman, P. Romer, 636 Child, James J., 683 Christie, John T., 622 Church, Andrew M., 614 Cipperly, John A., 665 Clark, Calvin H., 684 Clark, OtisG., 657 Cleminshaw, Charles, 642 Clough, Moses T. , 638 Comstock, Albert C, 654 Cowee, James F., 666 Crandall, Edward L. , Dr., 022 Curtis, Henry C, 591 Davenport, Nelson, 684 Daw, George W., 724 De Freest, Herbert E., Dr., 692 Denison, Jonathan, 619 Donohue, William, 693 Dorlon, Elias G., 589 Doughty, William H-, 696 Emerson, George S., 656 Farrell, John J., 691 , Fellows, A. Clarke, 704 Fellows, J. Franklin, '703 Ferguson, E. D., Dr., 629 Fitzgerald, Edmund, 620 Fitzgerald, P. J., 620 Francis, John M., 720 Frear, William Henry, 679 Fursman, Edgar Luyster, 644 Gabeler, Charles H., Dr., 648 Gaitley, John E., 627 Gale, E. Thompson, C. E., 710 Gardenier, Ransen, 637 Geer, jr., Gilbert, 653 Gleason, Samuel O., 729 Gordinier, Hermon C, Dr., 027 Green,. Arba R., Dr., 645 Greene, William F., 647 Griffin,. Thomas A., Rev., 634 Griffith, Lewis E., 608 Griswold, John Augustus, 706 Gurley, Lewis A., 718 Guy, Thomas J., Dr., 606 Hagan, William E., 676 Hall, William L., 668 Hancox, Eli, 636 Hanaman, Charles E., 645 Hannan, Cornelius, 623 Harder, Frank P. , 694 Hartwell, Charles E., 609 Hasbrouck, David S. , 673 Havermans, Peter, Rev., 585 Hayner, Irving, 683 Hicks, Charles E., 665 Hicks, Philip H., 635 448 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hinds, Herbert C, Rev., 596 Hollister, jr., William H., 678 House, Edward O., 715 Howard, Wesley O., 682 Ingalls, Charles Russell, 642 Ingalls, Harry O., 735 Johnson, John, 073 Johnston, Alonzo L., 657 Keenan, Michael, Dr., 618 Kellyer, David H., 628 Kemp, William, 630 Kimball, Stephen, 707 Knox, John Hugh, 666 Lansing, James, 722 Link, David, 627 Lisk, Edward H., 624 Lomax, Joseph D., Dr., 623 Ludlow, Henry Gilbert, 599 Lynd, Edgar, 652 Lyons, Edward L., Dr., (i!ll Lyons, James Henry, Dr , 693 MacArthur, Charles L., 728 McDonough, William L., 629 McKnight, John W., 679 Mahoney, Jeremiah, 647 Manning, John A., 586 Masters Family, The, 662 Miller, Justus, 655 Molloy, Francis J., 694 Morris, John W., Dr., 021 Mosher, George A., 690 Murphy, jr., Edward, 697 Nichols, George F., 618 Nason, Henry Townsend, 665 Norton, John T., 691 O'Connor, Jeremiah, Dr., 660 O'Neil, George, 629 Orr, William, 590 Osterhout, Joseph H., 727 Paine, John, 677 Parks, Stephen, 625 Parmenter, Franklin J., 731 Parmenter, Jerome B., 730 Parmenter, Roswell A., 598 Patterson, Charles Edward, 604 Peck, John Hudson, 583 Phillips, James G. , Rev. , 639 Pine, James K. P., 702 Plum, Fred A., 617 Potter, Charles M., 612 Ouackenbush, Gerrit Van Schaick, 587 Ouackenbush, John A., 709 Rand, Gardner, 675 Reynolds, Charles W., 612 Reynolds, Gideon, 675 Robertson, jr., Gilbert, 581 Ross, George A., 689 Rowe, William H., 650 Rowe, jr., William H., Col., 051 Sawin, Theophilus P., Rev., 716 Scott, George, 695 Scott, S. Walter, Dr., 594 Seymour, David L. , 668 Shaw, William, 706 Shyne, William T., 725 Smith, Albert, 699 Smith, Henry W., 701 Stevens, S. S., 667 Stoll, Jacob F., 610 Stone, George A. , 059 Stryker, Barent W., 664 Taylor, W. F., 615 Thompson, James, 598 Tillinghast, Charles W., 604 Tillinghast 2d, Charles Whitney, 603 Tillinghast, Joseph Joslin, 592 Tillinghast, Thomas Allen, 602 Townsend, Martin I., 573 Travell, Ira R., 610 Tucker, Henry O'R., 674 Van Alstyne, Richard H., 715 Wait, Josiah A., 648 Walsh, John J., Rev., 595 Ward, R. Halstead, Dr., 685 Warr, John, 658 Warren, jr., George B., 630 Warren, Joseph M., 632 Warren, Moses, 585 Wheeler, M. Arthur, Dr., 634 Willard, Emma Hart, Mrs. , 580 Wolf, Edward W., 649 Wood, Walter A., 660 Woodcock, jr., Don C, 624 Wright, Albert M., Dr., 617 INDEX. 449 PART III. Abbott, Elisha P., 238 Henry J,, 119 Joseph J., 370 Abele, Luke G., 202 Abrams, Thomas D., Capt., 214 Ackart, Edwin, 34 Ackert, William S., Dr., 102 Adams, Jacob V. , 238 Myron J. , 363 Adt, L. F., Dr., 137 Agan, William J., 115 Aikin, Elizabeth, 283 Aird, Andrew, 210 Akin, Byron S., 11 John, 12 Oliver, 129 Orrin, 258 Washington, Dr., 151 Alden, loseph J., 398 Allen, Amos, Dr., 9 Arthur H., Rev., 214 Charles Sanford, Dr., 102 Frederick P., 101 George P., 273 George W. , 257 Isaac A. , 182 James W. , 256 Allendorph, John H., 352 William P. , 371 Anderson, George, 110 William, 173 Angeleum, Timothy F., 371 Anthony, J. Irwin, 359 Archambeault, Louis J., Dr., 309 Armsby, Clark L., 81 Arnold, Everett D., 296 Atkin, M. L.,276 Averill, James Knox, 369 Babcock, W. F., 256 Baily, Edmund, 187 Bainbridge, Edgar R., 00 Baker, Lorenzo, 31 William V, 103 Ball, John C, 314 L. Burke, 38 Bame, William H., Ill Banker, Christopher A., 70 E. Warren, 333 Barber, jr., George, 238 Barker, Calvin J., 323 Barnes, Horace H., 78 W. D., 50 Barrett, John, Rev., 311 Patrick, 270 Baucus, Elisha S. , 33 J. Bryan, 200 J. Irving, 34 Baxter, Dennis T., 317 Bayer, William F., 351 Baynes, Joseph Taylor, 312 Becker, Christian H., 197 Beckett, James A., 115 Bedell, Alcandar, 112 Behan, Joseph C, 302 Beig, John, 282 Beiermeister, Charles F. , 407 jr., Frederick, 395 John M., 406 Belding, Rufus Elisha, Dr., 16 Bell, John, 404 Benedict, L., Mrs., 223 T. Lee, 327 Berry, George T. , Rev., 352 Betts, Clarence E., 104 Edgar K., 389 Joseph B., 238 Bink, Zachariah, 204 Birrell, James N., 313 Bissell, James Harvey, Dr., 15 Blackhall, John J., 301 Bloss, Jabez P., Dr., 138 Richard D., Dr., 40 Boetcher, John, 246 Boland, Charles P., 116 John H., 326 Bolton, Crumbey, 305 Edward, 210 Boltwood, Frederick A. , 341 Bonacker, Adam, 51 Bonesteel, Howard F., Dr., 243 Bontecou, R. Brinsmade, Dr., 154 Boocock, John, 213 Bord, jr. , George S. , 262 James, 288 Borst, George D. , 251 Boughton, William H., 353 Bovie, Hewitt, 18 Israel, 147 Jane, Mrs., 29 William H., 72 Bowman, sr. , Joseph, 156 jr., Joseph, 154 Boyce, Charles A. 164 Elias B., 180 Frank M., Dr., Ill Josiah W., Ill Boyd, Douglas, Mrs., 280 Bradley, John C, 78 Bradt, John A., 323 450 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Bratt, Seneca, 148 Breese, William H., 305 Brennan, George J., 327 Brenner, Fred G., 371 Brewer, Alonzo, 161 Brewster, George W. , 284 Bridgeman, John F., 310 Bristol, David N., 383 Brockett, Samuel S., 41 Broderick, Edmund, 16 Brooker, George, 334 Brooks, Samuel, 334 Brooksby, James, 203 Brougham, De Witt C, 204 Broughton, Amos, 178 Brown, Adelbert, 8 Amos W., 364 Elias A., Dr., 243 Henry F., 71 Spencer C, 50 Stephen J., 187 Thomas G.. 105 Willet A., 225 Buchanan, jr., Archibald, Dr., 213 Buckingham, Jonas C, 322 Buckley, Joseph, 223 William H., 282 Bulkley, Walter, 303 Bullent, Theophilus C, 294 Bulmer, John S., 214 Bunce, Ensign S. , 265 Burdick, W. R., 114 Burton, Charles W., 37!) Henry B., Dr., 138 Lebbeus, 150 Matthew H., Dr., 138 Bussey, jr., Esek, 135 Butler, George T., 138 Butterworth, Charles F. , 135 Button, Elihu L., 86 Theodore, 32 Byars, James G., 254 jr., J. G, 279 Byron, Patrick, 341 Cahill, John F., 227 William A., 23 Caird, James, Rev., 292 Caldwell, James B., 102 James H., 311 Calhoun, David, 281 Callanan, Stephen, 111 Campbell, William G. P., 300 Campion, Thomas H., 382 Canfield, Thomas, 128 Cargon, Silas, 64 Carl, Herman, 351 Carner, Frank H., 240 Carner, John, 274 Carpenter, J. M., 18 Carr, Ambrose, 278 Ambrose, 293 Fred, & Son, 44 Carter, Edward, 157 Cary, Charles, 205 Edward R., 260 Case, H. D. , 39 Nathan, 10 Cassey, John L. 283 Chambers, John M., 335 Chase, Alanson P., 305 Lorenzo D., 47 Philander, 139 Theodore T, 351 Cheney, David N. , 302 Edward D., 162 Christensen, John B., 388 Cipperley, John H., Dr., 342 Clapp & Hines, 104 Clark, Charles D., 303 Peter C, 248 Willis, 251 Clarkson, Sarah A., 335 Cleary, jr., Kyran, 263 Clifford, Allen B., 250 Cluett, Coon & Co. , 395 Edmund, 341 FredH., 340 Clum, Martillus, 181 Orlin J., 241 Sanford, 240 Coffey, James W. , 399 Colby, John D., 175 Cole, John P. , 45 Coleman, Pierce, 254 Colgan, Arthur, 178 Collins, Cornelius V., 390 Michael F., 361 Collison, Francis C. , 241 Comeskey, James, 197 Cone, Henry, 204 Connolly, Edward J., 245 Connor, William, 215 Consalus, John, 227 Converse, P. W., 190 Coon, William H., 382 Coonley, Gerry, 250 Cooper, William C, Dr,, 342 Copeland, William H., 360 Corcilius, Louis D., 86 Cordes, August E. , 263 Corey, B. F., 257 Corliss, John Moore, 101 Cornell, Gerothman W., 332 Cottrell, Charles C. , 27 George N. , 183 INDEX. 451 Cottrell, Jay C, 10 jr., Jonathan, 145 Sherman, Mrs., 9 William C. , 239 Coutie, George S. , 351 Coutts, Peter, 79 Coverly, James Montford, 227 Cowan, Andrew J., 79 Cox, Edward Bowdoin, 380 Crabbe, Charles Henry, 297 George Henry, 297 Crandall, Louis S., 158 Crannell, Stephen, 272 Crape, Crist, 224 Craver, Albus, 275 P. H., 185 Sylvester J., 227 Crehan, Henry A., 120 Crosby, Clement S., Dr., 89 Cross, George E. , 193 Cullen, John, 45 Curtis, Fred W., 314 Montgomery G. , 40 Cushman, Robert T., 202 Dandaraw, Roswell A., 205 Darling, David, 8 Darroch, John G., 264 Dater, Almira J., 294 Jacob, 92 Dauchy, Charles H., 353 Davenport, G. J., 247 Davis, Arnold, 277 Davitt, Albert W., 304 Alfred H.. 139 Davry, George H., 288 Dean, Peter, 46 De Forest, Edmund, 274 George Thompson, 228 De Freest, Frank, 129 Gilbert, 206 Isaac, 229 De Graff, George, 271 De Groot, Benjamin E., 308 Delavan, R. H., 247 Demers, Eugene L. , 331 William H., 211 Denison, D. Oscar, 129 Henry E. , 93 Dennin, J. Thomas, 305 Derrick, Adam, 335 Charles E., 363 Lewis W. , 184 Devoy, James H., 67 De Witt, EmilF., 294 Diamond, George T., 120 Dickinson, Melville Day, Dr., 140 Dickson, Thomas G, Dr., 139 Dings, James L., 206 Dodds, Archibald, 105 Doig, John S., 201 Dominic, Brother, 342 Don, John, 118 Donnelly, Annie, 104 James Moore, Dr., 382 James W., 217 Michael W., 176 Donovan, jr., Daniel D., Dr.,' 157 Doran, Thomas A., 276 Doremus, Thomas L., 33 Doring, Charles, 406 Dorrance, James A., 161 Doty, Job, 37 Orman, 294 Dougrey, Howard M., 350 Dowling, Thomas P., 104 Downer, James R., 112 Downey, William, 183 Drake, Charles F., 228 Draper, Frederick E., 105 William H., 385 Duncan, Charles, 161 Dunham, W. V., 165 Dunn, George, 275 Patrick, 125 Dunvar, -Tohn, 122 Dutcher, "T. Henry, 139 Dwyer, Thomas H., 150 Dykeman, Garrett, 180 Eagle, Herman J., 114 Earl & Wilson, 401 Easton, C. W., 224 Eddy, H. S., 260 Mary J., 306 Edmans, George D., 82 Edmunds, Frank W., 394 Edward, Brother, 124 Edwards, jr., Edward, 262 Eldred, P. L., Mrs., 29 Eldredge, J. William, 85 Eldridge, Nathaniel A., 48 Ely, William H., 76 Emery, John W., 301 EnglisH, Lawrence A., 350 Ennis, George H., 369 Enos, Edgar A., Rev., 229 Estabrook, Ezra Robinson, 177 Evans, John N., 119 Warren, 290 Fagan & Craig, 194 Fairweather, Alexander, 183 Farnham, Chauncey Wadsworth, 306 Faulkner, Charles T., 201 Thomas, 350 452 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Faulkner, T. H., 117 Faye, Catherine M., 312 Feathers, John W. , 225 Fellows, John T., 89 Lorenzo D., 47 Felter, Mahlon, Dr., 39 Felton, William A., 215 Fenton, Charles, 206 Ferguson, William, 230 Fielding, Harry P., 211 Fike, Enos, 123 File, Hiram, 12 Filley Family, The, 312 Finch, George W., 121 Finder, Anthony P., 308 jr., William, Dr., 370 Finkle, Harrison, 179 Fish, Milton, Capt., 284 Fiske, Edwin Jay, Dr., 403 Fitch, Benjamin F., 188 Fitzgerald, Thomas B., 329 Fitzpatrick, Philip, 160 Flack, Clarence N., 392 Frank M., 131 Fleming, Luke, 278 Flynn, John, 134 Fogarty, Michael M. , Rev. , 264 Fortier, John F. , 73 Foster, John F., 295 Foust, Peter, 270 Fowler, Stephen, 324 Fox, Joseph, 383 William E., Dr., 30 Francisco, Henry, 258 Franklin, Charles, 247 Frazer, Ira G., Dr., 364 Frazier, James A., 29 Freeman, Henry Raymond, 343 Freiot, Alfred K. , Dr. , 328 Frezon, jr., William H., 371 Fry, Edwin A., 229 John W., 117; Fuller, Charles L., 120 W. K., 113 Gaffney, Peter, 200 Gage, William H., 35 Galbraith, Hugh, 156 Robert, 384 William J., 375 Gallagher, Andrew, 36 Galusha, Henry, 328 Galvin, Thomas F., Gardner, David E., James J., 145 L. N., 279 Wright J., 336 Garrison, Henry, 17 384 5>r,r, Geer, Danforth, 22 William Clarke, 140 Gerhaensser Charles, 07 Germond, John T., 165 Getty, Addison, 22 Gibbs, Luman H., 126 Gibson, George H., 114 John, 85 Gifford, Abbott, 296 David, 36 Hiram, 17 Gillespie, Nelson, 225 Gleason, John H.,216 Glenn Bros., 105 Godini, Marie, Madame, 310 Golden, Justin C, 324 Goldstone, Michael, 362 Goldthwait, B. L., Dr., 144 Goldthwaite, Abel G., 349 Goodell, George W. E. , Dr. , 50 Gooding, Charlotte S., Mrs., 368 Seymour, Mrs., 26 Walter C, 8 Gormley, David K., 262 Gottschalk, Charles, 124 Gowey, William J., 249 Graham, James, 121 Thomas H., 230 Grant, Peter, 63 Richard Edward, 9fi Graser, Charles F., 211 Gravatt, Edwin J., Dr., 63 Gray, James, 41 Levi H., 265 Green, Hannibal, 261 Greene, Chauncey O., 211 Dascom, 81 Edgar R., 94 George E., 337 Margaret A., Mrs., 307 Greenman, Charles Edgar, Dr., 156 George N., 95 Griffin & Rockfeller, 186 Groesbeck, Charles H. , 299 William Chichester. 333 Guilfoil, James, 207 Gunner, Richard C. , 37 Guy, Thomas H., 114 Hagen, Joseph H., 353 Hakes, Albert C, 20 Hall, Richard F., 230 Halla, Julius F., 106 Halstead, De Witt C, 379 Ham, C. G., 165 Henry V., 269 Hamilton, Roswell, 135 Hamm, Charles Webster, Dr., 222 INDEX. 453 Hamm, Helen (Phillips), Mrs., 207 Hammann, Conrad, 125 Hankie, F., Mrs., 250 Hannah, jr., David, 318 Hannon, Edward, 141 T. H., Dr., 24 Hansen, Nicholas, 181 Harder, George W., Dr., 210 Hardy, William D., 213 Harper, William J., 359 Harrington, jr., Arvin W., 398 Harrison, George B., 399 Hart, William Howard, 367 Hartigan, John J., 376 Morris H., 362 Hartwell, Frank C, 65 Harvey, David H., 214 Hastings, jr., Nathan Main, 190 Haussler, Louis, 38 Marie, Mrs., 360 Hawkins, John E., 324 Hawks, Albert Henry, 287 Hawthorn, Harris S. , 78 Hayner, Henry C, 84 Haynes, William, 28 William, 212 Hayes, Edward J., 213 Heermance, Emily, 380 Hegeman, William H., 269 Heimstreet, Thomas B., Dr., 150 Heinzer, Peter, 73 Helliwell, Thomas B., 215 Helser, August, 267 Henderson, Joseph C, 14!) Henry, Horace H., 319 Herran, Mathew A., 287 Herrick, jr., G. M., 134 John A. , 135 Herrington, Hammon, 304 Merrit, 259 Merritt C, 12 Sylvia A., Mrs., 147 & Co., 13 Hewitt, Clifford, Dr., 18 Rensselaer W., 118 Hidley, Jacob, 271 Peter W., 271 Himes, George H., 372 Hines, John, 30 Hislop, James W., 136 Thomas W,. 349 Hitchcock, William C, 113 Hoag, Alvin T., 15 John E., 314 Jonathan, 14 Shandanette, 258 Hoffman, Heman F., 136 Hogeboorn, John V., 166 Holmes, Henry P., Dr., 329 John B. , 398 Watson M., 147 Holser, Charles, 199 Holton, Sarah F., Mrs., 278 Homer, Samuel, 324 Horan, James J., 263 Horsley, Benjamin, 76 Plorton, George W., Capt., 64 Mahlon F., 141 Hotaling, F. W., 179 Houghtaling, De Witt D., 288 Hover, Joseph L., 248 Howe, Arthur V., 282 Henry N., 298 Howell, Ophelia F. B., Mrs., 123 Howes, W. J., 141 Hoyt, Alden S., 70 Frederick M., 315 Marshall E., 315 Thomas S., 105 Pludson, F. R., Dr., 381 Hull, Adelbert C, 283 Alson J., 95 Daniel J., 127 Humphrey, Olin J., 258 Hunt, Eugene Mortimer, 242 Lewis, 34 Richard M., 302 Hunter, Albert, 13 Huntington, John PL, 21 :! Hurd, A. J., 9 Plurley, Timothy J., 343 Hutchins, Charles P , 130 Hutchison, James C, Dr., 140 Hutton, M. B., Dr., 13 Samuel E., 176 jr., William, 118 Hyatt, Louis E., 293 Hydorn, Frank, 160 Ingalls, Henry Harlow Gross, 378 Ingraham, Nehemiah, 84 Ives, jr., Garrett, 241 Truman, 353 Jacobs, Jacob Vanstone, 302 James, Thomas D., 100 Jessen, John F., 320 Jessup, Edward M., 289 Johnson, Henry A., 77 Seymour, 117 William A., 280 Johnston, C. A., 115 De Witt C, 192 Jones, Baalam, 287 E. C, 81 Eugene M., Dr., 7 454 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Jones, E. M., 67 Halbert H., 97 Jordan, Abraham, 185 Jordon, William, 182 Joslin, E. A., 77 J. 0..263 Kane, Pierce D., 295 Kapen, John J., 48 Kautz, John, 255 Keaugh, Bryant, 231 Keeler, George, 208 Keenan, James, 388 Keller, George, 207 Kelley, James, 05 Kellogg, Justin, 384 Kelly, John P., 367 Kelyer, William, 24 Kennedy, Howard S., 392 John H., 142 John J., 308 Kenyon, Elizabeth J., 69 John H., 200 Kerigan, Elizabeth, 179 Ketcham, Lansing, 200 Ketchum, Sanford B., 122 Keyes, James, 284 Kimball, James E., 06 Kimmey, Jacob, 202 Kincaid, George H., 7!) King, Harvey' J., 386 Phebe J., 316 Kinloch, Everett S., Dr., 188 Osman F., Dr., 157 Kipp, John, 271 Kirby," Giles, 252 Kirkland, Ralph Thornton, 35- Klock, jr., Daniel, 231 Knibbs, James, 210 Knickerbocker, Milton I., 52 Knowlson, Alexander M., 100 Knowlton, F. M., 53 Koon, Alfred, 130 Krauss, George, 100 Kunz, John B., 175 Laibach, Charles, 199 Lally, George Abbot, 298 Lamb, George M., Dr., 38 Landrigan, Patrick J., 207 Lansing, Jacob P., 249 Jacob T. , 207 Lape, John E., 107 John F., 106 Large, William E., 392 Larkin, Egbert, 53 Lasell, Samuel H., 338 Lawrence, P. E., 76 Laydon, D. E. L., 167 Lee, William, 217 Leffler, A. M., 286 Leggett, Joseph A., 51 Lennon, Samuel J., 107 Leonard, Edgar, 144 Joseph F., Rev., 63 Lewis, Frank M., 119 Nathaniel B., Dr., 354 Oscar J., 249 William H., 98 Link, Calvin E., 123 Burwell B., 231 Thomas B., 231 William H., 193 Livingston, William, 372 William, 265 Lloyd, James H., 400 Lobdell, Archie S., 160 Locke, Sylvanus Dyer, 330 Lodewick, Charles C. , 43 Loewenstein, Louis, 175 Lohnes, George W., 15 Lottridge, A. Clifford, 293 Lovelock, Edward A., 207 Ludden, William J., 404 Luell, John, 254 Lynam, H. D., 87 Mabb, Isaac, 37 Macardle, George W. E., Rev., 91 MacArthur, Charles La Fayette, 309 MacKenzie, John. 162 McCaffrey, Cornelius, 120 McCarthy, Charles A., 144 McChesney, Calvin S., 315 McClellan, Charles H., 389 McConihe, Alonzo, 315 McCormick, John J., 68 McCrea, Fred A., 73 McCrossen, Caroline, 00 McCulloch, William A., 244 McDonnell, George J., 131 McEachron, J. PL, 184 McGinniss, J. W., 272 Mcintosh, Francis T., Fir., 02 McKearin, Patrick, 83 McKenna Bros., 286 James T.. Dr., 123 McLaren, John and Robert, 226 McLeod, Sayre, 261 McMurray, Alfred W., 331 Josephine A., 323 McNutt, J. G., Col., 405 McWayne, L. D., Dr., 24 McWhinnie, Henry, Dr., 132 Magee, Daniel, Dr., 218 Col INDEX. 455 Magee, John, Dr., 355 Magill, David F., 374 Mallet, Ovila, Dr., 62 Manchester, Edward B., 1!) Mann, jr., Francis N., 393 Herbert R., 217 William H., 327 Manning, John G., 218 Mannix, Francis P., 233 Manny, John L., 232 Manss, Frederick P , 133 Markham, E. P., 74 Marsh, Peletiah J., 308 Marshall, Philo P., 186 Martin, Edward W., 341 Masten, W. J. & C. P., 53 Masters Family, The, 357 Mathisen, John, 365 Mattison, Albert O., 98 Edwin D., 97 Job O., 98 Mattocks, James E., Dr., 142 Maxwell, Thomas F., 313 Mead, George H., 200 Meeker, C. Alonzo, 232 Meekin, Alexander, 174 Melius, Harry E., 101 & Hemstreet, 44 Merchant, Abel, 167 Meredith, George L., Dr , 218 Mesick, Smith V. H., 249 Miller, Abraham, 107 Andrew J., 83 C. A., 277 Charles L., 248 George C, 199 George R. , Capt., 54 H. C, Dr., 122 John, 246 Stephen, 208 William A. , 252 Millius, Melvin R., 91 Mills, Thomas, 126 Moffit, Henry, 49 Moffiitt, John Jay, 48 Moore, Edward, 122 Morey, David, 391 F. R., 54 Morner, Conradt, 275 Morrill, William W. , 388 Morris, James A., 43 Morrisey, Thomas F., 325 Morrison, Andrew J., 196 James A. , 299 William, 193 Morse, E. E., Miss, 261 Philip A., 163 Moses, Charles J., 226 Moses, Elizabeth, Miss, 74 , Mosher, F. D., 8 Mullin, Andrew, 220 Munn, Elizabeth, 320 Murphy, Edward J., 270 Peter S., 287 Murray, James H., 270 James T, 394 John A. , 142 Myers, A. Y., Dr., 38 Charles G, Dr., 244 James, 259 John L. , 73 John S., 269 Mynders, Archibald D., 168 Nelson, Horace G., Dr., 86 Newkirk, Lorenzo, 208 Nichols, Calvin E., Dr., 219 Nicholls, George Huntington, Rev., jr., George H., 338 Niles, George D , 99 Noack, Bernhardt J., 219 Norris, Fred H., 384 Norton, Frank E., 107 O'Brien, Jarvis P., 261 Michael H., 159 William J., 325 O'Keefe, John, 208 O'Mahoney, W. H., Rev., 311 O'Neil, Edward, 276 John J. , 256 Orr, Frederick W. , 233 Osborn, Amos, 39 M. L., 174 Ostrander, John, 82 Louis F. , 74 Ostrom. Henry, 251 Otis, George H., Major, 132 Packard, Chauncey D., 101 Palmer, Eliza D. , Mrs. , 108 Parker, Joseph W. , 26 Parks, Alonzo H. , 54 Charles Wellman, 407 John W., 234 Parmenter, Franklin J. , 196 Parsons, J. Russell, 21 Warren G. , 23 William H., 405 Patton, Alexander G., 190 Payne, Martin, Capt., 87 Peaslee, J. S. , Dr. , 55 Peck, Arthur Middleton, 234 Peckham, Silas C, 149 William H., 233 Penney, Thomas, 169 338 456 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Peoble, Charles W., 132 Percey, Elon, 11 Percy, G. N., 115 Perry, Clarence A., 189 Nathan S. , 280 Peters, J. Fred, 80 S. S., Mrs., 75 Petersen, Peter, 192 Peterson, S. A., 159 Pfeiffer, Henry J., 109 Phelan, John, 198 Michael Francis, Dr. , 374 Phibbs, William H., 55 Phillips, David, 108 David, 209 M. W., 279 Pinckney, James E.,-198 Pine, Charles L. , 395 P. S., 39 W. J., 278 Pinkham, James E., 27 Piser, Charles B., 259 Pitts, Alvah, 169 Andrew F., Dr., 164 Piatt, Frederic T., 385 Theodore D. , 49 Pockman, Spencer B. , 20!) Pollock, Philander, 159 Pomeroy, Harmon, 46 Potter, Darius E., 188 E. R, 49 L. E., 6 Stephen M. , 235 Powell, George E. , 1 9 Powers, John W. , 277 Prendergast, Felix R., 143 Pruyn, Jesse A., 257 Purcell, John, 109 John J., 219 Purdy, Forrest A. , 35 Putnam, William B., Dr., 378 Quackenbush, Dyke, 147 John B. V., 25 Ouigley, John H., 133 Thomas F., 187 Quinn, James T., 125 Randel, Charles D., 360 Randerson, John, 55 Raney, B., Mrs, 169 Ranken, David M., 316 Rapp, Christian W. , 163 Raymond, William Gait, 174 Reardon, John J., Dr., 148 Reed, Leonard V., 195 Reichard, Elmer E., Dr., 378 Reynolds, A. E., 25 Reynolds, A. Olin, 25 F. A., 109 Joseph, 250 Rollin C, 60 Thomas J., 68 William T., 20 William Van Veghton, 381 Rhoda, William H., 375 Richmond, E. A., 256 Herbert J., 262 P. W., 10 Theodore C. , 377 Z. A., Mrs., 235 Rickerson, Le Roy, 157 Seward, 220 Ricketts, Palmer Chamberlaine, 344 Rigney, Thomas, 181 Riley, C. W., 60 Francis, 11 Rising, Charles H., 360 George A., 194 G. Frank, 18 Harold C, 199 Robbins, Jason, 276 Roberts, Abram E., 59 Addison O., Dr., 109 John Wesley, 359 Roche. William J., 397 Rodgers, Spencer C, 402 Rogers, Edwin D., 94 William Franklin, 93 Romp, Frederick, 281 Ross, Adam, 376 George A. , 255 Ogden E. , 405 Rourk, Margaret, 18!) Rousseau, Zotique, Dr., 344 Rudd, Sanford H. , 148 Ruoff, George J., 267 Jacob, 267 Russell, George H., 42 J. P., 300 William F., 46 Ryan, Cornelius A., 45 Sage, James H., 346 Salisbury, Frederick W., 262 Salmon, Thomas H., Dr., 189 Sambrook, George T. , 358 Sampson, Albert Augustus, 339 Sands, George E., 360 Sanford, Samuel Brown, 344 Satterlee, John H., 71 Russell Hawley, 100 Saunders, James H., 251 Sawin, Theophilus Parsons, Rev., 345 Sayles, John P., 137 Scharch, Anthony, 274 INDEX. 457 Schenck, Martin, 394 Schermerhorn, Frank, 370 Nicholas N., 247 Van Dyke, 307 W. M., 247 Schlemmer, George, 57 Schlosser, August, 177 Schmander, Jacob, 300 Schmidt, Neil, 363 Schneider, Henry, 348 Schuman, John George W., 208 Scott, Walter, 146 Scriven, Clinton W. , 145 William H., 60 Seaburgh, Joseph M. , 57 Seaman, Jacob, 56 Searls, J. F., 303 Seaton, William G., 159 Sharkey, Andrew J., 170 Sharp, Alfred, 374 Alonzo, 281 Sharpe, Buddington, 01 Shaver, John E., 282 Shaw, D. C, 291 Shea, Jeremiah, 185 Sheary, Michael F., 243 Sheer, Jacob, 237 John, 237 Sheridan, William, 77 Sherman, Levi, 80 Nathaniel G., 260 Wesley E. , 144 William H., 397 Shields, William H., 340 Shortsleeves, Isaiah, 374 Shroder, James D., 73 Sibley, Warren A., 192 Simmons, Stephen, 264 Thomas B., 273 Simons, William, 340 Skillman, E. A., 372 Skinner, Smith Austin, Dr., 23 Sliter, Edgar and John W. , 58 Willard F., 253 Smith, Adam R., 243 Arthur T., 403 Charles H., 83 Charles H., 154 C. J., 41 Charles T. R., 318 Charlotte A., 209 Edwin R., 319 Hans, 325 Isaac N.,57 James Watson, 230 Joel D., 56 John F., 317 Lampson, 321 ffl- Smith, Robert (4., 88 Victor W. , 220 William P., 56 jr., William R., 280 Zacariah Z., 57 Snell, H. H., Prof., 296 Snook, Jacob H., 209 William A., 230 Snyder, A. C, 332 Charles W., 3 D. Horatio, Prof., 257 Isaac, 260 Jacob H., 4 James M., 367 Martin, 259 William J., 61 Solomon, Clarence B., 105 Spall, John, 325 Speck, Henry J., 131 Speirs, James, 3 Spenard, Alexander, 198 Charley A., 235 Spencer, Charles G. , 190 Springer, George Martin, 230 Paul, 237 Srjroat, Charles A., 3 William H., 68 Squires, Norman B., 326 Stanley, Charles F. , Rev. , 355 Stannard, Henry L., 29? Stapleton, Timothy, Mrs., 180 William B., 266 Steenberg, George Taylor, 375 Stein, Christain Adolph, 221 Stevens, Frank L., 255 William N , 82 Stevenson, George H., 84 Stewart, Hiram E., 6 Stickney, Charles L , 205 Stiles, Franklin O., 87 Robert B. , 305 Still, Charles, 72 Stillman, Harry N., 99 Wait J., 137 Stockwell, Adelia S., Mrs., 40 Stoll, Gottlob F., 220 Stone, Thomas H., 235 Story, C. B., 178 Stout, Edward L. , 348 Stowell, Henry, 390 Strait, George W., 253 Thomas M., 221 Strauss, Moses J., 162 Strecker, Werner, 356 Strobel, Charles A., 289 Stroble, August, 35 Strope, David M., 285 Stroud, Harriet L., Mrs., 25 458 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Stuart, Francis N., Rev., 176 Surdam, Burke, 75 Kellion, 279 Sullivan, John J., 191 Swartwout, Henry, 291 Sweet, Rufus, 155 Swift, Wyatt R., 33 Tappin, Samuel Charters, 328 Teson, Charles, 181 Thiessen, William M., 200 Thomas, Frank W. , 31"> Henry B., 88 Jeffrey P., 152 Thompson, Dwinel French, Prof., 317 Oeorge S., 18 John, 171 Samuel, 285 Thomson, Lester B., 90 James, 90 Thorpe Brothers, 140 Tierney, Michael A., 61 Tifft, Willard D., 171 Tillson, Henry A., 252 Tompkins, Albert, 340 Clark J., 359 Fred J., Dr., 320 Tooley, Hiel J., 47 Townsend, Rufus Martin, 385 Traver, Albert P. , 275 Travis, Mary Ett, 301 Treanor, John P., 133 Troy Catholic Male Orphan Asylum, 343 Tunnard, Robert A., 402 Tupper, John H., 158 Twining, Francis B. , 170 Twogood, Charles, 203 Tyler, Amos H., 110 Tyndall, James J., 171 Unger, John C. , 42 Vail, Samuel M., 216 Van Alstyne, E. M. , 285 Van Buren, Abram W. , 58 Charles, 58 Van De Bogart, Nellie, Mrs., 322 Vandenbergh, James A., 292 Vandenburg, Cornelius N. , 130 Vanderbogart, John H., 347 Vandercook, Charles E. , 221 Van Hagen, James, 151 Van Hoesen, Earnest N. , 246 Van Ness, Jesse P., 274 Van Pelt, E. A. and F. R., 372 Van Santvoord, Seymour, 347 Van Schaack, Alice A., Mrs., 69 Van Schoonhoven, William H., 370 Van Valkenburg, Garret, 191 Smith, 172 ' Van Wie, Charles H., Rev., 91 Van Wirt. J. D., Dr., 4 Vaughn, Michael, 62 Verbeck, W. Wallace, 195 Viets, M. H., 85 Waddell, Archibald R., 255 Wadsworth, G. H., 5 Wager, T. Blatchford, 320 Waite, Reuben S. F., 9 Waldo, Howard L., Dr., 10 Waldron, George E., 222 Peter 33 Wales, Edwin R., 222 Walz, Adolph F., Rev., 143 Waterbury, Horatio Lewis, 298 Waters, M. B., 391 Waugh, John, 173 Weatherby, George W. , 46 Weatherwax, Aaron L. , 289 John, 201 William J., 272 Weaver, Edwin C. , 197 JamesH. 373 Webster, A. H., 30 Nelson, 90 Stephen H., Dr., 380 Welch, C. D., Dr., 5!) Edgar A., 128 West, Daniel M., 145 Westervelt, E., 377 Wheeler. Henry, 310 White, Frank H., 254 John B., 24 Salem H., 80 William H., 301 Whitman, Peter D., 60 William W., 143 Whyland, Jacob, 320 Willis W. , 96 Wight, Arthur M., 88 Wilcox, Charles G. , 75 George E., 113 Wild, John, 390 Wilder, L. C, 21 Wiles Laundering Company, The, 339 Wiley, Frederick, 31 Robert J. , 264 Wilkinson, jr., Joseph B. , 52 Willard, William Wallace, 391 Willets, John H. , 347 Williamson, Isaac Hasbrouck, 198 Robert D. , Rev. , 348 Stephen H., 164 Willis, Wilbur F., 68 Willson, W. Vander Heyden, 288 INDEX. 459 Wilson, Frank, 271 Lorenzo, 148 Wiltse, G. L., 268 Wing, Daniel A. , 329 Winkelman, Christian, 281 Winkelmann, David F., 320 Winkler, Emil F., 305 Winnie, Daniel R. , 155 Winslow Bros., 69 Joseph H., 355 Witbeck, C. William, 194 Mary, 321 Wolf, jr., John F.. 177 Wood, George C, 364 George F. , 321 Wood, John B., 172 W. F., Dr., 286 W. W., 59 Woodford, O. D., 185 Woolley, Marsden, 20 Worden, L. E., 237 Worthington, Albert, 130 Wotkyns, Tom S. , 387 Wright, E. L., 5 Yadeau, George PL, 173 Yates, William B.. 373 Youlen, P. M., 110 Young, jr., William H., 222 PORTRAITS. Alden, Charles L facing 717 Anderson, George B facing 674 Ayers, Daniel H _facing 635 Barnes, Elmer E. - - - facing 424 Baucus, Martin facing 468 Benson, jr., Russell F., Dr. __. facing 593 -Black, Frank S . - - facing 370 Boardman, Derick L facing 152 Bond, George F facing 61 6 Bontecou, Reed B facing 601 Brintnall, Charles E., Col facing 640 Buckley, Peter H facing 658 Burns, John W facing 264 Carpenter, Beecher E facing 692 Carr, Joseph B., Gen facing 301 Chapman, P. Romer.-- facing 388 Child, James I. facing 384 Christie, John T. facing 315 Church, Andrew M facing 614 Cipperly, John A facing 144 Clark, Calvin H. facing 684 Clark, Otis G facing 284 Clemin shaw, Charles facing 642 Clough, Moses T facing 240 Comstock, Albert C facing 654 Cowee, James F facing 666 Curtis, Henry C... ...facing 591 Davenport, Nelson facing 355 Daw, George W facing 724 De Freest, Herbert E., Dr. ...facing 378 Denison, Jonathan facing 486 Donohue, William facing 693 Dorlon, Elias G. _ facing 589 Doughty, William H. facing 096 Emerson, George S facing 656 Farrell, John J facing 360 Fellows, A. Clarke facing 704 Fellows, J. Franklin facing- 703 Ferguson, E. D., Dr. facing 029 Fitzgerald, Edmund ..facing 620 Fitzgerald, P. J facing; G2G Francis, John M facing 348 Frear, William Henry facing 679 Fursman, Edgar Luyster facing,128 Gabeler, Charles H., Dr facing 648 Gaitley, John E ....facing 312 Gale, E.Thompson, C. E facing 710 Gardenier, Ransen facing 463 Geer, jr., Gilbert facing 053 Gleason, Samuel O facing 729 Gordinier, Hermon C, Dr facing 027 Green, Arba R., Dr facing 645 Greene, William F facing 304 Griffin, Thomas A., Rev .facing 331 Gurley, Lewis E . . facing 342 Guy, Thomas J., Dr facing 600 Hagan, William E facing 257 Hall, William L facing 668 Hancox, Eli facing 636 Hanaman, Charies E. .. facing 337 Harder, Frank P facing 461 Hartwell, Charles E facing 609 Havermans, Peter, Rev facing 585 Hayner, Irving facing 683 460 LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY. Hicks, Philip H facing 296 Hinds, Herbert C, Rev facing 325 Hollister, jr., "William H facing 678 House, Edward O facing 715 Howard, Wesley O - .facing 682 Ingalls, Charles Russell facing 48 Ingalls, Harry O .facing 735 Johnston, Alonzo L facing 430 Keenan, Michael, Dr .facing 618 Kellyer, David H facing 136 Kemp, William facing 36 Kimball, Stephen facing 707 Knox,t John Hugh facing 276 Lansing, James facing 722 Link, David facing 400 Lomax, Joseph D. , Dr facing 623 Ludlow, Henry Gilbert ... ..facing 00 Lynd, Edgar facing 652 Lyons, Edward L., Dr. facing 691 Lyons, James Henry, Dr. facing 382 MacArthur, Charles L... facing 346 McDonough, William L. facing 364 McKnight, John W facing 462 Mahoney, Jeremiah facing 647 Manning, John A facing 586 Masters, E. Shelton, between 662 and 663 Masters, Frank A., between 662 and 663 Miller, Justus ' facing 96 Molloy, Francis J facing 371 Morris, John W., Dr. facing 621 Mosher, George, A. facing 690 Murphy, jr., Edward facing 290 Nason, Henry Townsend facing 665 Nichols, George F facing 374 Norton, John T facing 252 O'Connor, Jeremiah, Dr facing 660 O'Neil, George ......facing 308 Orr, William facing 590 Osterhout, Joseph H. facing 727 Paine, John .facing 24 Parks, Stephen facing 396 Parmenter, Frankin Jay facing 731 Parmenter, Roswell A... facing 598 Patterson, Charles Edward. ..facing 104 Peck, John Hudson facing 583 Phillips, James G., Rev facing 496 Pine, James K. P facing 39:! Plum, Fred A ...facing 368 Potter, Charles M facing 524 Quackenbush, Gerrit Van S. ..facing 88 Rand, Gardner facing 675 Reynolds, Charles W facing 508 Robertson, jr., Gilbert facing 164 Ross, George A facing 689 Rowe, William H facing 356 Rowe, jr., William H facing 651 Sawin, Theophilus P., Rev., .facing 321 Scott, George facing 695 Scott, S. Walter, Dr... facing 594 Seymour, David L facing 155 Shaw, William facing 700 Shyne, William T facing 725 Smith, Albert facing 699 Smith, Henry W facing 701 Stevens, S. S _ ..facing 416 Stoll, Jacob F ...facing 610 Stone, George A facing 338 Stryker, Barent W facing 460 Taylor, W. F.... facing 488 Thompson, James.. facing 474 Tillinghast, Benjamin Allen. bet. 120-121 Tillinghast, Charles W facing 004 Tillinghast 2d, C. Whitney. .bet. 602-603 Tillinghast, Joseph Joslin... bet. 120-121 Tillinghast, Thomas Allen.. bet. 602-603 Townsend, Martin I... facing 573 Travell, Ira R facing 472 Tucker, Henry O'R facing 349 Van Alstyne, Richard H facing 260 Wait, Josiah A facing 268 Walsh, John J., Rev facing 333 Ward, R. Halstead, Dr facing 685 Warr, John _ . .facing 288 Warren, jr., George B .facing 630 Warren, Joseph M facing 72 Warren, Moses ...facing 80 Wheeler, M. Arthur, Dr facing 634 Willard, Emma Hart, Mrs facing 580 Wolf, Edward W facing 649 Wood, Walter A facing 427 Woodcock, jr., Don C... facing 624 Wright, Albert M., Dr.. facing 617 YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 01373 0073