THE BELKNAP FAMILY—Abraham Belknap, from whom the Belknap family in this country trace their descent, emigrated from England and settled in Lynn, Mass., in 1637. Samuel Belknap, the immediate ancestor of the family in Orange County, was born in 1707, came to Newburgh in 1749, and died in 1771. His son Isaac, during the struggle for independence, was appointed a captain of a company of rangers, and later in the regular service as assistant deputy quartermaster-general. Another son, Abel, was chairman of the committee of safety for the Newburgh precinct during the Revolution. At the close of the war he engaged in the manufacture of soap. This became an important industry, and has extended from father to son for four generations as follows: Abel Belknap, 1783 to 1804; his sons, Abel and Moses Higby Belknap, 1804 to 1855; Moses Cook Belknap and Belknap & McCann, 1855 to 1892, and William Cook Belknap, 1892 to the present.
Moses Higby Belknap was born in Newburgh, N. Y., September 23, 1787, and died January 4, 1855. He was president of the village of Newburgh in 1832-33-34-38-39-41-43-44. He was one of the founders of the Newburgh High School.
Moses Cook Belknap was born in Newburgh, February 2, 1832, a son of Moses H. and Ruth P. (Cook) Belknap. In 1867 he was appointed cashier of the Highland National Bank and January 9, 1883, was elected its president, continuing in this office until he retired on account of ill health in 1892. He died at Newburgh, October 3, 1892. Upon the death of his father in 1855, Mr. Belknap formed a co-partnership with Thomas M. McCann to continue the soap manufacturing business of A. & M. H. Belknap, Mr. Belknap managing the finances of the concern. He served as clerk and treasurer of the board of trustees of the First Presbyterian Church from 1855 to the time of his death. He was one of the founders of the local Y. M. C. A. and was connected therewith after its reorganization. In 1877 he served as alderman from the Third Ward and in 1884 was elected a member of the Board of Education and re-elected in 1888. In 1887 he was chosen its president.
In 1857 Mr. Belknap married Mary H., daughter of William K. Mailler, who died May 31, 1858. In 1862 he married Marietta, daughter of David McCamly, of Warwick, N. Y. She died in 1873, leaving three sons and one daughter. In 1875 he married Evelina, daughter of Dr. Nathaniel Deyo, by whom he had a son and a daughter, now living.
WILLIAM COOK BELKNAP, son of Moses Cook and Marietta (McCamly) Belknap, was born at Newburgh, N. Y., July 15, 1864. He was educated in the private and public schools of that city and at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Mass. He married Helen, daughter of the late George W. and Margaret (Brown) Kerr, December 15, 1890. Two children have been born to them, William Kerr, born December 10, 1897, and Helen Kerr, born April 8, 1899.
Mr. Belknap is engaged in the manufacture of soap under the firm name of Belknap & McCann, carrying on the business established by Abel Belknap about 1783. He is also engaged in other enterprises in Newburgh. Mr. Belknap has served as a member of the board of park commissioners of Newburgh since 1897. He is a member of the board of trustees of Washington's Headquarters (under appointment by Governor Higgins), corresponding secretary of the Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands, member of the board of trustees of St. Luke's Hospital, a trustee of the Cedar Hill Cemetery Association and a vestryman of St. George's Church.
THE BENEDICT FAMILY—The first of the Benedict family to come to Orange County was Elder James Benedict, a great grandson of Thomas Benedict, who came from England and settled on Long Island about 1638. Elder James Benedict came to Warwick in 1765 and made his home in a log house near Chonck's Hill—he had separated from the church in Ridgefield, Conn., because of unjust demands of the tithe-master and very soon after coming to Warwick lent his efforts toward establishing the First Baptist Church. The first house built for worship was one over which he was pastor and stood at the fork of the road nearly opposite the church burying ground—on an angle which still continues to be church property. He left Warwick in the year 1773, and moved to Wyoming, Pa., because of difficulty arising in the church through prejudice toward the Order of Free Masons, of which he was a member and which connection saved the lives of himself and family at the fearful Wyoming massacre when a secret signal from Brandt brought mercy and safe escort to peaceful territory, he returned to Warwick at once and died here, September 9, 1792, aged seventy-two years. He is buried beside his wife, Mary, near where the church stood. The stone house just east of Warwick village was built by his oldest son, James, in 1779, and has descended through succeeding generations to the present owners—the children of Captain Jas. W. Benedict.
JAMES D. BENEDICT was born in the stone house about one mile from Warwick, Orange County, September 2, 1834. His father, William Smith Benedict, purchased the Wickham farm about 1839 and continued to operate it for many years. He removed to Warwick in April, 1867, and remained there until his death, September 22, 1883. James attended the district school and the Florida Institute. He assisted his father on the farm during his younger days and has always made farming his occupation. He removed to Warwick in 1871. remaining there about nine years, when he again took up his residence on the Wickham farm, where he resided until his death, which occurred February 17, 1898. He was a member of the Grange, a prosperous farmer and a good citizen. Mrs. Benedict has presented the International Sunshine Society with a plot of land on her farm near Wisner, on which the society will erect a bungalow costing about $2,000. The plot is beautifully located, presenting a fine view of the surrounding country. On it is a spring that never freezes, supplying an abundance of pure water. The place is to be known as "The James D. Benedict Sunshine Rest Home."
JAMES H. BENEDICT was born on the Benedict homestead in the old stone house at Stone Bridge, February 13, 1854. and lived there with his father thirty-five years. November 14, 1888, he married Miss Ada Pitts, and they had two children—Laura, born in October, 1889, and W. Smith, born in December, 1890. He has a large dairy farm, is a member of the Grange, and a democrat.
JOHN VAN DUZER BENEDICT—The Benedict family in America dates back to A. D. 1638, when Thomas Benedict and his wife, Mary (Bridgum) Benedict, the first of the name to come to America, settled at the colony of Massachusetts Bay.
The subject of this sketch is in the eighth line of descent from Thomas, the first settler, and in the fifth line from Elder James Benedict, the first of the name in Orange County. Our subject was born in the town of Warwick, on January 1, 1837, in the stone house, now standing and for many years known as the "John Blain" house. His parents were Abner Benedict and Julia A. (Van Duzer) Benedict, who were each in equal lines of descent from both Thomas, the first settler, and from the "old Elder," as he was familiarly called. He first attended school in the old stone schoolhouse, at that time standing opposite the forks of the highway near Stonebridge, afterwards at the district school in the village of Edenville, entered the academy known as the "Warwick Institute," at Warwick, N. Y., on December 5, 1853, its opening day, and was also a student at the S. S. Seward Institute at Florida, N. Y., during the spring term in 1857, under the direction of Professor John W. Round, then principal of that institution. He entered the freshman class of Union College at Schenectady on the opening of the school year in September, 1857, and completing the full classical course, graduated on the 25th day of July, 1861. Returning home, he lived with his parents at their home near Edenville, Orange County, N. Y.
JOHN W. BENEDICT—His parents were Henry A. and Laura T. Benedict, and he was born on the homestead farm, August 16, 1855. After his school days he became a farmer, and has not changed his occupation. His dairy farm consists of 230 acres, and has belonged to the Benedicts since 1817. His father, born in 1818, died April 3, 1900, and his mother, born in 1826, is still living. They had ten children, eight of whom are living.
CHARLES F. BENNETT, of Middletown, N. Y., was born in the Bennett homestead near Middletown, October 15, 1869. His early life was spent principally on his father's farm. His father, John F. Bennett, removed to Bloomingburgh, Sullivan County, and engaged in the hotel and livery business. Charles Bennett is a member of numerous social and fraternal societies, including the Masons, Royal Arcanum, Elks and Eagles. For over two years he served as postmaster at Bloomingburgh. He engaged in the livery business at Middletown in 1900 and now has one of the largest livery establishments in the city. He recently purchased of his father the homestead farm at Springside, near Middletown. This farm has been in the possession of the family over one hundred years. Mr. Bennett was joined in marriage with Kittie Bertholf, daughter of Andrew T. Bertholf, of Howells, N. Y., January 25, 1892. They have one son, Mortimer W., a student at the Middletown High School.
JOHN BIGELOW—The following data taken from "Who's Who in America," covers in concise form the career of this distinguished citizen whose country seat is at Highland Falls, N. Y.:
"John Bigelow, author; born Maiden, Ulster County, N. Y., November 25, 1817. Graduated from Union College, 1835 (LL.D., Union and Racine Colleges, 1886; University of the City of New York, 1889); admitted to bar; inspector Sing Sing prison, 1845 to 1846; one of the editors New York Evening Post, 1849-61. Consul at Paris, France, 1861-64. United States Minister to France, 1864-67. Chairman of Governor Tilden's canal investigating committee, 1875. Secretary of State of New York, 1875-77. Executor and trustee of will of late Samuel J. Tilden. President board of trustees, New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden's foundations. Author: Molinos the Quietist; France and the Confederate Navy; Life of William Cullen Bryant; Life of Samuel J. Tilden (2 vols.). A life of Franklin (3 vols.) from his pen, and the complete writings of Franklin which he edited (10 vols.)."
JOHN W. BINGHAM, whose fruit farm of sixty acres is located in the town of Newburgh near the county line, was born in the town of Marlborough, Ulster County, in 1852. His education was obtained in the Marlborough schools and the public schools of New York City, and he then engaged with his father in the management of the farm, which was purchased in 1867. Mr. Bingham is an elder in the Marlborough Presbyterian Church and identified with the I. O. O. F. He married Miss Mary Bloomer and three children have been born to them. He is a son of Charles E. and Amelia (Holmes) Bingham, who were prominent in church and social circles of Marlborough.
JOHN JACOB BIPPUS, a successful merchant of Port Jervis, was born at Bearville, Pa. His parents removed to Port Jervis when he was a child, and in the schools of that place he received his education. He has been engaged in the grocery business since 1891, and is one of the leading merchants of Port Jervis. Mr. Bippus is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the K. of P., Elks, and is an officer in the Building and Loan Association. He is vice-president of the board of trade, has been town collector and was one of the first aldermen elected after Port Jervis received its charter as a city.
CALEB BIRCH—Among the representative merchants of Orange County is Mr. Birch, who has conducted a boot and shoe establishment in Walden for a period of thirty-three years. Mr. Birch is a native of the town of Plattekill, Ulster County, N. Y., and his younger days were spent in farming. In 1872 he opened his store in Walden and in 1875 erected the building he now occupies. Mr. Birch is a member of the American Mechanics and the Knights of Honor. He married Miss Abbie Gale and the following children have been born to them: Caleb, George, Marcus and Leuella. George, who is in business with his father, is clerk of the town of Montgomery, a member of the Masonic fraternity and one of Walden's progressive young citizens.
HILAND H. BLANCHARD was born in Acra, Greene County, N. Y., February 18, 1850. His father, Justus Blanchard, was for a time engaged in the hotel business, after which he settled on a farm. He died at the age of thirty-five years. His wife, Emeline, daughter of Miles Darby, was born in Greene County and survived her husband's death many years, passing away at the age of seventy. The only surviving member of the family is the subject of our sketch. He attained his early education at the district school and afterwards attended the Wallkill Academy. In the fall of 1868 he identified himself with Wheeler Madden & Clemson, saw manufacturers, of Middletown, N. Y., and for the past twenty years has filled the office of superintendent of that concern. Mr. Blanchard married Miss Sarah Biggin, of Middletown; four children were born to this union. He is a member of Hoffman Lodge No. 412, F. & A. M., of Middletown, and the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a democrat and has served on city and county committees, is a member of the board of water commissioners and president of the Old Orchard Club.
FRED P. BLIVEN was born February 22, 1871, at Michigan Corners, Orange County. His parents were Ulysses and Caroline Bliven. There were six children in the parents' family. Fred attained his early education at the district school, and at an early age worked on a farm, which occupation he has always followed. He married Nettie Clara, of Middletown, March 22, 1897. Their one child, Pearl, resides at home. His father died in 1888 and the mother in 1880.
JOSEPH BOARD, merchant, was born at Chester, N. Y., November 9, 1842, son of Peter Seeley and Madeline C. (Conklin) Board, grandson of General Charles Board, of Boardville, N. J., and great-grandson of Captain Joseph Board, of the Revolutionary Army. He was graduated from Amherst College as A.B., with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1867. He has been a merchant, selling coal, feed and lumber since January 1, 1868, and is a member of the firm of Board & Bryan. He is a director of the Watertown Water, Light and Power Company of Watertown, South Dakota; director and secretary of the Chester (New York) Telephone Company, and director of the Chester National Bank (and secretary of the board). Since 1868 he has acted as executor or administrator of over twenty different estates of deceased persons. He was excise commissioner of the town of Chester, N. Y., in 1876; member of the board of supervisors of Orange County, New York, from 1878 to 1880, and 1883 and 1884; candidate for member of assembly, 1884, but defeated; and member of over twenty years and president five years of the Board of Education of Chester Village; clerk of village of Chester, from 1892 to 1894. He was superintendent of construction of the Chester Waterworks in 1892 and 1893, trustee of Chester Village one year, and he is trustee of the Chester Free Library of Chester, N. Y. He made summer tours of the Pacific Coast, in 1869, Texas, Mexico, New Mexico and Wyoming in 1883, British Isles and Continent of Europe in 1887. Arkansas and Missouri in 1904, Dakotas and Minnesota in 1905; also frequent summer journeys through New England. He is a republican in politics and a Presbyterian in religion (Liberal School). He is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Society, Amherst College, Delta Kappa Epsilon Club of New York City, member of the Sons of the Revolution, also a member of the American Geographical Society. Mr. Board married twice, first, June 1, 1868, Josephine Bradbury Curry, and second, October 2, 1870, Hannah A. Curry (both of Tilton, N. H.), and they have three children: Joseph Orton, born in 1873; Anna Tebbetts, born in 1880, and Josephine Clough, born in 1885.
JAMES BONNYMAN was born September 1, 1854, in Batriphnie, Banffshire County, Scotland. He received a common school education in Scotland, and came to America in 1872. He located in Philadelphia and worked at his trade as florist nearly nine years. He moved to Warwick in 1880, and after working for J. E. Cropsey for some time, started for himself in floriculture. He is a large grower of roses and carnations, which are mostly sold in the home market. He is a member of the Reformed Dutch Church, has been one of its deacons eight years, and is a member of the Y. M. C. A. He is an earnest church worker, and active in public affairs. In politics he is a republican. He married Miss Catherine Amelia McPeek, daughter of Lewis and Sarah McPeek, September 16, 1883. They have four children living, one having died while young. Those living are: Alexander M., born May 17, 1885, a graduate of Columbia College of Pharmacy; Amy R., born May 31, 1887, a graduate of the Warwick Institute, and Douglass, born May 27, 1893.
FRED BOOTH, secretary and general manager of the Firth Carpet Company at Firthcliffe, Orange County, N. Y., is a native of Yorkshire, England, and came to America in 1884 to superintend the plant of this company, then located in Philadelphia. In March, 1886, they purchased the Broadhead Woolen Mills, transferred their machinery to the new location and continued the manufacture of worsted yarns, tapestry and Brussels carpet. The concern, of which Mr. Booth is the active head, is one of the leading industries in Orange County. The capital stock is $1,000,000 and employment is given to four hundred persons.
The officers of the company are: F. F. Firth, president; A. F. Firth, vice-president; B. H. Tobey, treasurer, and Fred Booth, secretary and general manager.
JESSE BOOTH was born at Campbell Hall, May 8, 1853. His father was Alfred Booth and mother Dolle Watkins (Reeve) Booth. His parents had a family of four children: Matilda Roe, wife of W. H. D. Blake, of New Paltz, N. Y., died October, 1904; Hanna Caroline, wife of George Slaughter, of Campbell Hall, N. Y.; Marianna, wife of Lewis H. Woolsey, of New Paltz, N. Y.; Sarah Reeve Booth, wife of Samuel B. Hepburn, of East Orange, N. J., and Jesse. Jesse's early education was obtained at the district school at Campbell Hall after attending the Claverack School near Hudson, N. Y. Mr. Booth has always been identified with agricultural pursuits. He married Keturah Crowell, of St. Andrews, N. Y., January 7, 1885. There were born to them five children: Anna Louise, born September 28, 1885, died at the age of sixteen months; Dollie Watkins, born October 26, 1888; Pierson, born January 12, 1890; Alfred, born October 22, 1893, and Wellington, born September 26, 1896. Mr. Booth is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Hamptonburgh. In politics he is a republican and he is a member of the Hamptonburgh Grange No. 950. The farm which he owns has been in the family for a period of two hundred years. At present Mr. Booth resides on Highland avenue, Middletown, N. Y.
JOHN GAIL BORDEN, the youngest son of the late Gail Borden, who was famous as an inventor and public benefactor, was born in Galveston, Texas, January 4, 1844. Coming North when but a lad of thirteen, he entered one of the Brooklyn public schools, and later attended the Winchester Academy in Winchester Center, Conn., where he remained for two years. From the time when he left the academy until he entered a business college, young Borden assisted his father in establishing the condensed milk business, then in its infancy.
The call for volunteers in 1861 interrupted the business college course, and Mr. Borden, then but nineteen years of age, enlisted at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., under Colonel (the late General) John Henry Ketcham, in the 150th N. Y. Volunteers, serving in his regiment for two years and a half, and attaining the rank of second lieutenant during that time. Just before his regiment started for the front, the young patriot presented himself for baptism and membership in the Armenia, N. Y., Baptist Church, and in the years following gave every evidence of a consistent Christian life.
His service in the "150th" was terminated by a serious illness, caused by the severe strain and exposure of army life, and Mr. Borden was compelled to return to his home for rest and recuperation. When sufficiently recovered, he was transferred to the 47th N. Y. Volunteers, and remained with that regiment until the close of the war. Returning to his home in Brewsters, N. Y., Mr. Borden became actively identified with the Borden Condensed Milk Co., and upon the death of his father, in 1874, succeeded him as its president.
During his connection with the company, he made many valuable improvements in the methods of manufacturing condensed milk, and otherwise firmly established the reputation of the Borden Condensed Milk Co.
Removing in 1881 from Brewsters to Wallkill, N. Y., he purchased the property known as the "John P. Andrews farm," comprising about two hundred acres, and by acquiring adjacent lands from time to time, the "Borden Home Farm" was made to cover an area of some fifteen hundred acres. Most, if not all, of this property was a part of an original grant of land deeded by Queen Anne, in 1709, to "her true and loving subjects." Here Mr. Borden built a large condensery for the Borden Condensed Milk Co., continuing the management of the business until 1884, when failing health compelled him to retire from an active business life. From that time until his death, Mr. Borden gave his whole attention to the improving and beautifying of his "Home Farm," trying, as he expressed it, to "make two blades of grass grow where but one grew before." With all the improvements made upon the farm, he did not indulge in what is known as "fancy farming," but aimed rather to make his improvements on a practical basis, furnishing object lessons which any energetic farmer might easily put into practice.
In politics Mr. Borden was a staunch Republican, firmly believing in every citizen taking an Active part in the politics of his town, and conscientiously performing his duty at the primaries and the polls.
Mr. Borden's patriotism increased with years, and he was one, if not the first, of the pioneers who labored to impress upon the minds of the children a strong love for country and "the Stars and Stripes," and each Decoration Day he presented to every child in the public schools in his vicinity, a small American flag; continuing this practice until his death. Among Mr. Borden's characteristics, none were stronger than his devotion to home and country. Courtesy and gentleness were also marked characteristics with him, and his hat was removed as quickly for a little girl as for a lady. He was a true disciple of the "gospel of labor," and one of his unwritten mottoes was, that "what was worth doing at all was worth doing well," which rule was followed out in all his undertakings. He worked incessantly and was old before his time. Mr. Borden died in October, 1891, at Ormond, Fla., where, as well as in the North, he left an enviable and lasting record of practical Christian living. He lived but forty-seven years—a short life, but one so filled with work for God and humanity, that its value cannot be estimated by the number of years alone.
CHARLES CLAYTON BOURNE, brick manufacturer, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1865 and has resided in Newburgh since 1889, when he began the manufacture of brick at Fishkill Landing, Dutchess County, shortly after completing his education at the University of the City of New York. Mr. Bourne is identified with the Masonic fraternity; member of the Powelton Club and a director of the City Club of Newburgh. He married Miss Anna, daughter of James Fullager. Their mansion overlooking the Hudson was erected by Mr. Bourne in 1905.
EDWARD C. BOYNTON, son of the late Major E. C. and Mary J. (Hubbard) Boynton, was born at West Point, N. Y., in 1864. Graduate Newburgh Academy, and Cornell University in 1887, with the degree of ME; was assistant in the laboratory of Thomas Edison two years; was then engaged as superintendent with various firms in the manufacture of electrical machinery. In 1895 was appointed chief electrical engineer of the N. Y., N. H. & H. Ry. Co., with whom he remained six years. In 1901 accepted position of mechanical engineer of Chicago & Great Western Railroad, with headquarters at St. Paul, Minn., remaining two years. From 1903 to September, 1906, he acted as consulting and testing engineer in New York City, when he was appointed manager of the Orange County Traction Co., where he remained one and a half years and is now consulting engineer in Newburgh. Member American Institute of Electrical Engineers; the National Geographic Society; New York Railroad Club; ex-member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; contributes special articles to the street railway journals; author of "American Electrical Railway Practice."
THOMAS W. BRADLEY, Walden, was born April 6, 1844; was for fifty years in the employ of the New York Knife Co., serving the last twenty-five years as president and treasurer, during which time he made the plant of this company the largest and most successful of its kind in the United States; was for some time president of the Walden National Bank and has been for many years a director and vice-president thereof; was one of the original trustees of the Columbus Trust Co. of Newburgh; has been for many years a trustee of the Walden Savings Bank; was a member of the State Assembly in 1876, chairman of the committee on military affairs and assistant inspector general of the National Guard; was a delegate to the national republican conventions of 1892, 1896, 1900 and 1908; was elected to the national house of representatives for the 58th, 59th and 60th Congresses, and served with the committee on military affairs, and the committee on invalid pensions; was married in 1867 to Josephine Denniston, daughter of Colonel James Denniston, of Little Britain; entered the Union Army as a private soldier, September 5, 1862; was promoted through every intermediate grade, and became a captain in the 124th New York Infantry Volunteers, served as personal aid-de-camp to Major General Gershom Mott, 3d Division, 2d Army Corps, was brevetted major United States Volunteers "for meritorious service," and was awarded the congressional medal of honor for gallantry at Chancellorsville, where he "volunteered in response to a call, and alone, in the face of a heavy fire of musketry and canister, went out and procured ammunition for the use of his comrades;" was severely wounded in action at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, was wounded in action at The Wilderness, May 6, 1864, and wounded in action at Boydton Plank Road, October 27, 1864; is a member of the Society of the Army of the Potomac, a companion of the first class in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and a member of the New York Chattanooga-Gettysburg Battle Fields Commission; is affiliated with Wallkill Lodge, F. and A. M., Highland Chapter and Hudson River Commandery; is a member of the City Club, Newburgh, and the Army and Navy Club, New York City; he has for many years been connected with the First Reformed Church of Walden; is a member of the Bradley Hose Co. of Walden, and of Enterprise Steamer Co., of which he was for some time the first foreman.
JOHN B. BRADNER, of Bellvale, Orange County, N. Y., was born in 1849. His early education was acquired at the district school in Bellvale. At the age of fourteen he began working on the farm. When eighteen years of age he clerked in a general store at Bellvale and after a period of seven years was taken into partnership, the firm being Burt & Bradner. This partnership continued for about three years, when Mr. Bradner withdrew and erected the first store at Greenwood Lake, where he continued in business for nine years. Mr. Bradner also owns a productive and valuable orange grove in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was united in marriage to Miss Clara R. Hunt in 1873. There were four children to bless this union, only two of whom are now living. In politics a democrat, Mr. Bradner has served as postmaster at Bellvale, was school trustee and has acted as trustee of the Warwick Savings Bank.
WILLIAM A. BRADNER is one of the six children of Jacob Howe Bradner and Sarah C. Vandervoort Bradner, four of whom are living. He was born on a farm near Warwick, May 23, 1867. The other living children are John H., of Olean, N. Y.; William A., of Warwick: Carrie, wife of S. D. Tilt, of Warwick, and Samuel Blain Dolson, of Bowie, Arizona. William A., after his schooling, which ended in Warwick Institute, assisted his father on the farm until his father's death in 1901. It is a dairy farm of one hundred acres, with one thousand peach trees, on which the Indians camped in pioneer days and near which Washington's army was camped for awhile. The house was built in 1810 of timber brought from Connecticut, and Mr. Bradner's grandfather bought the place of James Bell. Mr. Bradner is a skillful farmer, and in practical matters generally is up with the times.
GEORGE RICHARD BREWSTER, attorney, of Newburgh, was born in Newburgh, N. Y., November 17, 1873. He is a son of Eugene Augustus and Anna W. (Brown) Brewster. The family ancestry is traced through the Brewsters of Long Island and Connecticut, to Nathaniel Brewster, a member of the class graduated from Harvard (1642), whose father, Francis Brewster, came to America from London, England, and settled in New Haven, Conn. Mr. Brewster was educated at Siglar's Preparatory School, Newburgh, and Yale University, from which he graduated in 1894 with the degree of Ph.B. He read law in the office of his father, the late Hon. Eugene A. Brewster, and was admitted to the bar in 1896. He is a member of the Democratic Club of New York; Yale Club of New York; Transportation Club, New York; a director of the City and Powelton Clubs, Newburgh; director of the National Bank of Newburgh, and vestryman of St. George's Church; he is also a director of a number of local corporations.
Mr. Brewster was married January 18, 1899, to Margaret Conley Orr, daughter of the late James Orr, of Newburgh.
NATHANIAL R. BREWSTER, whose farm is situated at East Coldenham in the town of Newburgh, is a descendant of one of Orange County's old and prominent families. His ancestry dates back to William Brewster, who came over in the Mayflower and was the progenitor of the Brewsters in America. He is a son of William C. and a grandson of Nathaniel Brewster, who previously cultivated this property. Considerable interest is attached to this farm from the fact that Nathaniel Brewster near his home unearthed the skeleton of a mastodon, which was purchased by Dr. Warren, of Boston, and later sold to J. Pierpont Morgan, who presented it to the New York Museum of Natural History.
In 1896 Mr. Brewster established here a school for nervous and backward children, and the methods of training adopted have proved very successful.
WALTER H. BREWSTER, supervisor of the town of Blooming Grove, is a descendant of one of Orange County's old families. He is a son of Henry S. and Harriet (Halsey) Brewster and was born on his father's farm in Blooming Grove in 1869. He has always been engaged in agricultural pursuits, in which he has achieved much success. He was appointed a member of the board of supervisors to fill a vacancy in 1902 and in 1903 was elected to the office and re-elected in 1905 and 1907. Mr. Brewster married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Warren Hathaway, and they have one son, Henry.
GEORGE E. BRINK, agent, L. & H. R. Ry., at East Chester Station, village of Chester, N. Y., son of Geo. E. Brink, of Franklin, N. J., and Lucretia Trusdell, of Vernon, N. J., was born December 7, 1879, at Franklin Furnace, N. J. His mother moved to Warwick, N. Y., when he was three years old. He got a common school education, and after working at odd jobs entered railway service as clerk in the general office, November 1, 1898. He also learned telegraphy, proved a good operator and has held various positions on different railroads in the capacity of agent, yard master, assistant train master, operator and train dispatcher. For the last two years and over he has been at East Chester, N. Y., where he has built up business in one year from $300 to $1,200 monthly. Mr. Brink has many friends in the vicinity and is well known by all as a thorough all-around railroad man.
LEANDER BRINK was born in the town of Shawangunk, Ulster County, N. Y., January 30, 1833. He is a son of James Brink, who was born in the town of Wallkill, Orange County, N. Y., in 1804. The family is of Dutch lineage. At the age of two years Mr. Brink's parents removed to Schuyler County, and his younger days were spent on the farm. In 1854 he came to Middletown and clerked for his uncle, Hiram Brink, a furniture dealer, with whom he remained until October, 1857. He was then taken in the firm as partner, the firm name becoming H. & L. Brink. In 1864 he went to Saginaw, Michigan, engaging in the manufacture of salt, Mr. Brink being superintendent of the works.
He continued in that business until 1867, when he returned to Middletown, retaining his interest in the salt works until 1876. In politics Mr. Brink is a republican and is a man of strong temperance sentiment. He was married to Miss Mary Horton in 1857, daughter of Hiram Horton, of Wallkill township.
T. HUNT BROCK, proprietor of the Hotel Erie at Port Jervis, was born at Scranton, Pa., in 1870, at which place he obtained his education. He first became identified with the hotel business in 1881 at the Hotel Windsor at Scranton, Pa., where he remained for a period of ten years. He removed to Port Jervis, N. Y., in 1901 and purchased the Erie Hotel, which he still conducts.
Mr. Brock is a member of the following social and fraternal organizations: F. and A. M. No. 291, of Scranton, Pa.; Neversink Chapter, Delaware Commandery, and Mecca Temple, Mystic Shrine of N. Y.; B. P. O. E. No. 645, of Port Jervis, and the Sons of Veterans, Camp No. 8.
CHAUNCY BROOKS, contractor and builder, of the village of Montgomery, N. Y., was born in 1842 at Eagle Valley in what was then the town of Monroe. His father traded Monroe Village, depot and all, for four hundred acres of land at what is now called Tuxedo. He still has a brother, Malcom Brooks, there, who is ex-supervisor of Tuxedo. As a young man he taught school for a while in his home district, and then learned to be an architect and builder. In 1867 he came to Montgomery, where he has achieved much prominence both as a contractor and in the affairs of the village. He was president of the board of water commissioners for six years during the time of its construction, and a member of the school board for nine years. In 1869 Mr. Brooks married Martha, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Mould) Wait, and three children have been born to them. Charles W., a civil engineer and graduate of Brown's University and also of Philadelphia University, resides at Washington and is in the employ of the government in the War and Navy Department. Alida W. is a graduate of the Emerson College of Boston and of the College of Albany, and is still attending the University of New York City and teaching at Bayonne, N. J. She is a teacher of elocution and physical culture. His youngest daughter, Minnie M., is a graduate of Montgomery High School, also of the Metropolitan College of Music. She resides at Montgomery, where she is giving instruction in music. Mr. Brooks has erected most of the substantial buildings in Montgomery and vicinity and gives employment regularly to a large force of men.
F. B. BROOKS, bookkeeper for C. T. Knight and assistant postmaster at Monroe, N. Y., was born in this village in 1872. He has been associated with Mr. Knight for the past eleven years and is actively identified with public affairs of his native place. He is president of the board of education and director and treasurer of the Fire Company. He is also director of the local building and loan association. Socially he is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Brooks deals extensively in real estate and has effected the sales of many valuable farms and choice country seats in Orange County.
GEORGE H. BROOKS was born at Mountainville, and his education was in the district school. From his youth until nineteen years of age he assisted his father on the farm. In 1875 he went to Turners, N. Y., and worked at blacksmithing four years, came to Chester in 1879, and was with Joseph Gavin two years; then went to Sugar Loaf, Orange County, and opened a shop there, which he conducted ten years. In 1891 he came to Chester and purchased of S. Hadden the establishment in which he had been manufacturing buggies for thirty-five years. He enlarged it, added new and improved machinery, making of it one of the best appointed manufactories in the county. He is a Methodist in religion and a republican in politics. In September, 1885, he was married to Eliza Litchult. Their seven children's names are Dora L., Lena C, Elsie, Helen, Merry, Clarence and Phoebe J. Mr. Brooks' father is still living at the age of ninety at Little Britain in the town of New Windsor.
DAVID BROWN, who is engaged in the express business in New York City, maintains a country place in the town of Newburgh, situated on the State road, known as the Cochecton turnpike. Mr. Brown purchased this farm, which comprises forty acres, in 1903. Commencing in a small way, Mr. Brown by industry, enterprise and the wise counsel of his wife has built up a very prosperous business in the metropolis. He married Miss Mary J. Baxter and they have one daughter, Genevieve.
EBER L. BROWN, owner of a seven-hundred-acre farm in the town of Minisink, and much valuable real estate in the village of Unionville and the cities of Middletown and New York, was born in Sussex County, N. J., in 1828. As a boy he clerked for a number of years and subsequently became a member of the wholesale grocery firm of Stillwell, Brown & Co., of New York City, for five years. In 1848 he went to California and engaged in mining with much success. On his return East he was connected with a wholesale dry goods house in New York and a wholesale grocery house.
Business cares affected his health and he came to Unionville and settled on the farm where his father was born. There he made his home and supervised the farm for twenty years. He then opened a wholesale and retail feed store in Unionville, and here organized a silk manufacturing establishment, giving employment to fifty hands. The plant was destroyed by fire in 1894. Mr. Brown now devotes his time principally to his real estate holdings in Unionville and Middletown. He is one of the directors of the Sussex Bank and has served as supervisor of the town.
Mr. Brown was twice married, his first wife being Miss Sarah E. Lewis. His second wife was Miss Caroline M. Lain, and they became the parents of twelve children, of whom five are living.
EDWARD ALLEN BROWN, proprietor of the Brown Hotel at Middletown, is a native of Orange County, having been born in the town of Greenville on December 7, 1840. His residence in Middletown dates from 1888, when he purchased the Russell House and conducted it under that name until the spring of 1908, when the new brick building, erected on the site of the old structure, was completed. This hotel now known as the "Brown," is one of the largest and best equipped hostelries in eastern New York, and has a large patronage. Mr. Brown has owned and conducted hotels in New York City, New Orleans, La., Logansport, Ind., and Port Jervis, N. Y. For two years he held the office of under sheriff of Orange County; was sergeant-at-arms in the Assembly during a part of the Tilden administration; was assistant journal clerk the first year of Cleveland's administration, and was purchasing agent for the New York State Prison under Warden W. R. Brown.
R. T. BROWN, senior member of the firm of Brown & Whitten, merchants at Pine Bush, N. Y., is a native of New York City. The firm continued the business established by Taylor & Howell. Mr. Brown was associated for two years with Mr. Howell under the firm name of Howell & Brown. Mr. Brown then conducted the business alone five years, and in 1907 the present partnership was formed.
Socially Mr. Brown is a member of the Knights of Pythias, he married Miss Elizabeth Decker and they are the parents of three children.
U. GRANT BROWN is of Welsh descent, his ancestors coming from Wales to America in 1650, settled on Long Island at a place then called Oyster Bonds and now Glen Port. He was born July 28, 1863, at Burnside, Orange County, and farming has always been his occupation. His education was obtained at the district school of Burnside. His parents were Daniel T. and Lucretia Brown. Of their five children only two are living, U. Grant and Linus W. The latter resides in New Orleans, La. U. Grant was married to Anna Sinsabaugh, of Cornwall, N. Y., March 27, 1889, and three children have been born to them—Edna, Josephine and Helen.
WILLIAM WISNER BUCKBEE has the distinction of having been born at Wisner, Orange County, in the old stone house, which has been in the family one hundred and forty years. The date of his birth was July 12, 1861. He was educated in the district school, began active life as a farmer, and remained a farmer until his death, November 19, 1886. He also dealt in coal and feed at Wisner. He was postmaster there twenty years, was treasurer of Locust Hill Cemetery, and being a popular republican and good citizen, held several town offices at various times. He was a grandson of Captain John Wisner. He was married to H. Elizabeth Wisner, October 7, 1885, and their seven children are all living—Emma, Albert, Anna Buckbee, William, Francis, Henry and Louise.
AUSTIN C. BULL, who was born in the Governor Clinton homestead in the town of New Windsor in 1855, has always made his home at this historic spot, superintending his farm of three hundred and nine acres. He is a descendant of an old and honored Orange County family. William Bull, the first of that name in this county, was born at Wolverhampton, England, in 1689. He came to America in 1715 and a year later married Sarah Wells, of Goshen, which was the first marriage ceremony performed in the old town of Goshen. He died in 1755 and she died in 1796, aged one hundred and two years. In 1868 an appropriate monument was erected over the remains of the venerable couple near Hamptonburgh Church by their descendants. The father of Austin C. was John Springstead Bull, a son of Isaac and grandson of John Bull, a native of Hamptonburgh. J. S. Bull was born in the town of Monroe in 1809. When a boy he entered the employ of David H. Moffat, a merchant of Washingtonville, and in 1832 purchased the business. He married the daughter of Samuel and Bethiah (Reeder) Moffat, of the town of Blooming Grove. He purchased the Clinton property in 1840 and the couple resided there until their death, the former in 1876 and the latter in 1889. Mr. Austin C. Bull is a member of Blooming Grove Congregational Church and is identified with Washingtonville Grange.
CHARLES R. BULL, a prominent citizen of Orange County, residing near Oxford Depot, is a descendant in the fifth generation of William Bull and Sarah Wells, the pioneers who settled in this county in the middle of the eighteenth century, to whom frequent reference is made in this history.
Charles R. was born at the Blooming Grove homestead in 1838 and is a son of Jesse and Caroline (Board) Bull. After completing his studies at Chester Academy he attended a private school at Bloomfield, N. J., for three years. He then engaged in the management of his farms, which comprise four hundred and forty-eight acres. In public life Mr. Bull has served as supervisor four years. He was appointed by Governor Odell, during his second term, loan commissioner of Orange County and is the present incumbent of that office.
Mr. Bull is a director of the Chester National Bank, of which his father was one of the incorporators. He is also a director of the Columbus Trust Company, Newburgh, and vice-president of the Orange and Rockland Electric Company of Monroe.
Mr. Bull married Harriet, daughter of Jesse Roe, of Chester, and they are the parents of one son and two daughters: Jesse, who resides at home; Caroline, now the wife of Clarence S. Knight; Mary, the wife of S. B. Patterson.
EBENEZER BULL was born March 3, 1846, in the old stone house at Hamptonburgh, Orange County, erected in 1722, which is still standing. Mr. Bull is the fifth direct descendant who has resided in this house. After his schooling he returned home and assisted in farm work and has always been identified with farming. He married Anna, daughter of Byard Walling, of Middletown, N. Y., October 17, 1894. Mr. Bull's parents were Ebenezer and Jane Bull. There were thirteen children born by this union. He is a member of Hamptonburgh Grange No. 950 and largely identified in the dairy business. Tradition says the barn on Mr. Bull's farm is older than the stone house, but the date of erection cannot be verified. Purgatory swamp, near the Bull stone house, derived its name from a messenger of the revolutionary period, who was sent from the army of New Jersey with papers to Washington's headquarters at Newburgh. He had instructions to stop over night at this historic stone house of William Bull, became confused and stopped at William Bull's son's house opposite the swamp. In getting through at night he made the remark "out of Purgatory," and it has always maintained this name.
HARRY BULL—The parents of Harry Bull were William and Phoebe Bull, of Stony Ford, Orange County, and here he was born on the old Bull homestead, May 25, 1872. There were eight children, five of whom are living. He attended the district school at Franklin Square and Friends Academy at Locust Valley, and then took a three months' course in the Agricultural College at Cornell University, Ithaca, as a preparation for the farming to which he has always devoted himself. He is a republican, and has been justice of the peace for the past eight years. He is a member of Hamptonburgh Grange No. 950, of which he was one of the organizers, and of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Bull married Miss Lucille Pierson, of Hamptonburgh, daughter of W. H. and Elizabeth Pierson. They have two children, Keturah, aged seven, and Henry, aged six.
IRVING CRAWFORD BULL was born in Middletown, Orange County, N. Y., January 24, 1879. Father's name was Albert Bull and mother's name was Ella B. Crawford. Father was druggist for thirty years. Graduated from Middletown High School in 1898 and was president of his class. Graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, in 1901, receiving the degree of bachelor of philosophy. Graduated from Columbia University Post-Graduate, in 1902, receiving the degree of master of arts. Dividing the years of 1902-1903 was assistant to Professor Henry M. Howe, professor of metallurgy, Columbia University, assisting in the experimental works in connection with publications by Professor Howe, also giving frequent lectures at the University. In October, 1903, he formed a partnership with Alfred E. Roberts, of Hartford, Conn., under the firm name of Bull & Roberts, analytical and consulting chemists and metallurgists, with offices and laboratories at 100 Maiden Lane, New York City; also branch offices and laboratories at Middletown, N. Y. They are the consulting chemists and metallurgists for many transportation companies centering in New York, also for large contracting companies. He is also a member of the Yale Club, New York City; honorary member of the Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company, Middletown, N. Y.; member of the Society of Chemical Industry, American Chemical Society, American Leather Chemists' Association, America's Institute of Mining Engineers. He has been chemist to the board of water commissioners, Middletown, N. Y., for five years; he is also a Son of the Revolution, and a member of the University Club, Middletown, N. Y.
On April 20, 1904, he married Mabel Dorothy Horton, youngest daughter of the late James Horton, Middletown, N. Y., former president of the United States Leather Company. On July 7, 1905, a son was born, whose name is Irving Horton Bull.
RICHARD BULL, son of Daniel Harlow Bull and Mary Ann Board, was born in the homestead at Campbell Hall, the house being built previous to 1800; no record can be found of anyone having occupied it but the Bull family. Mr. Bull's late school education was at Farmer's Hall and Montgomery Academy, two years in each. He has always been identified with farming and is a member of Hamptonburgh Grange No. 950, and also a member of National Grange, and also of the New York Mill Exchange. He is one of the trustees of the Burial Hill Cemetery Association at Hamptonburgh. The Bull family have held an annual picnic for forty years on the one-hundred-acre tract granted to William Bull and Sarah Wells by Christopher Denn, who were the first settlers in Orange County. Mr. Bull was treasurer of the picnic for a number of years, and president for one term.
He married Annie Wells, of Newburgh, whose mother was the daughter of Mehetable Bull, and her father was Captain William Bull, who was an officer in the Revolutionary War. Their one child, Charles Wells Bull, is a wholesale jeweler in Maiden Lane, New York City. He is the sixth generation on his father's side from the first William, and seventh on his mother's.
STEPHEN M. BULL, wholesale grocer and representative citizen of Newburgh, N. Y., was born in the Clinton homestead. Little Britain, N. Y., July 14, 1844; he was educated at district schools and by a private tutor. In 1864 he located in Newburgh and was engaged successfully with Johnston & Alsdorf and Thomas H. Skidmore & Son as bookkeeper and salesman. In 1879 the wholesale grocery house of Skidmore, Bull & Co. was formed. Since 1891 Mr. Bull has been sole proprietor. Married May 26, 1869, Martha, daughter of Samuel Oakley. Two children have been born—Emily Grace and John Springstead. Mr. Bull is a direct descendant of William Bull, who was born in England, February, 1689, and came to America in 1715. The family occupied a prominent place in the early history of Orange County.
THE BULLS OF SOUTH CAROLINA—Stephen Bull and Barnaby Bull, sons of Josias Bull, of Kingshurst Hall, emigrated to South Carolina in 1670 in a ship named Carolina. They were uncles of William Bull, who emigrated in 1715, settling at Hamptonburgh, Orange County, N. Y.
From Mrs. Haxtum's Genealogical Column in the New York Mail and Express we read:
"The Bulls were among the very earliest settlers of South Carolina, and have always borne a high record in the public life and in social relation. Stephen Bull, the founder of the family, was deputy proprietor for Lord Ashley in 1674 to 1682. After that date he represented various other proprietors until 1699. He was almost continuously in the grand council, where his discreet judgment and high personal character were greatly esteemed. He held in turn and together many high offices, civil and military, and was an adventurous explorer and trader among the Indians. He was buried at his beautiful seat, Ashley Hall, still in its decadence, one of the chief attractions of the historic river. His son, the Hon. William Bull, saw service as an officer in both the early Indian wars, and in civil life was active in the commons and council. He assisted General Oglethorpe in laying out Savannah, and was lieutenant-governor, acting from 1738 to 1744. His home in Charleston was the old 'Hayne House,' now owned by Mr. Henry Picken. His son, Stephen Bull, was distinguished in military and civil public life, and was the father of General Stephen Bull, of the Revolution. His home was Sheldon, one of the old family estates. The Hon. William Bull, of Ashley Hall, was the first American to graduate in medicine, which he did at Leyden, in 1734. Returning, he served the province in various capacities, civil and military, until appointed lieutenant-governor in 1759. He administered the province with great vigor and ability at various intervals, acting five times as governor. Loyal to the crown, but without creating animosity, he left Charleston with the royal troops in 1782, dying in London in 1791, an exile for conscience sake from the land he loved and served so well."
A few miles beyond the Ashley River is the Bull dominion, where once stood Ashley Hall, the country home of Governor Bull, the last colonial governor of South Carolina. A large monument of marble appropriately inscribed and bearing the Bull coat-of-arms stands on the grounds, commemorative to his memory.
WILLIAM BULL was born July 25, 1830, on the homestead farm near Stony Ford, Orange County, N. Y. The present owner, William Bull, of this historic old house, which was built in 1791, is the fifth of that name to occupy the homestead. The third William Bull, who erected the house, was with Washington at Valley Forge and at the battle of Monmouth. Our subject acquired his education at Mount Pleasant Academy at Ossining. He entered Princeton College in 1847 and graduated in 1851. He returned to the farm and has always followed agricultural pursuits. He married Phoebe Bull, one of eight daughters of Ebenezer Bull, of Hamptonburgh, November 22, 1859. Their children are: Elizabeth Green; Sarah, wife of Charles F. Wells, of Newburgh, N. Y.; Ebenezer Henry, and Bartow W. In politics Mr. Bull is a republican and has served the town as justice of peace for fourteen years, has been post master at Stony Ford, and held other town offices. He is a member of the Zeta Psi college fraternity, Stony Ford Grange No. 951, and Pomona Grange. He attends the Presbyterian Church of Campbell Hall.
WILLIAM EDGAR BULL, of Charleston, S. C, is a son of Edmund Llewellyn and Mary Evelina (Bruen) Bull. Edmund Bull was born in Orange County in 1817, removed to Charleston in 1832, and died there in 1892. His marriage with Mary Evelina Bruen occurred in March, 1844, and fifteen children were born to them. The progenitor of this branch of the Bull family was William Bull, who emigrated from Kingshurst Hall, Wolverhampton, England, in 1715, settling at Hamptonburgh, Orange County. William was a nephew of Stephen and Barnaby Bull, who emigrated to America in 1670, and was the progenitor of the Bull family of South Carolina. Edmund Bull was a son of James D. Bull and Nancy Rogers. James D. was a son of Chrisie Bull and Elizabeth Case. Chrisie was a son of John Bull and Hannah Holley. John was a son of William Bull and Sarah Wells. The marriage of William Bull and Sarah Wells was the first ceremony performed in the old town of Goshen. They made their home in a log house from 1719 until 1722, when they built the stone house which is still standing. A view of this old house appears on another page in this volume.
ISAIAH BUNN was born at North Church, N. J., July 22, 1808, and is one of six children, all living, of Obadiah Bunn and Hanna I. Wilson Bunn. He attended the district school, mostly in the winters, until he was twenty-two years of age, when he operated a threshing machine for four years. He then went to New York City, worked there a year, and went from there to Hamburgh, N. J., where he engaged in the bottling business. He came to Warwick in 1887, and started a small bottling plant. The business was so successful that he now has one of the most up-to-date bottling plants in this section of the State. He is the owner of a well producing the purest water for carbonated drinks, and is manager of the Spring Lake Ice Company. His wife was Miss Minnie Vanderhoff, of Warwick, and their children are Minnie and Howard, who are living at home. He is a member of Deckertown Lodge No. 98, F. & A. M.
E. R. BURROUGHS, president and manager of the Abendroth & Root Manufacturing Company, has resided in Newburgh since 1901, when the plant was moved from Greenpoint, N. Y., to this city. The factory buildings are distributed over twelve acres of land and have a total floor space of four acres, modern in every way, and thoroughly equipped for the work produced. The property has a frontage of 800 feet on the Hudson River, with deep water docking facilities. A private switch from the West Shore Railroad bisects the plant, enabling connections with the New York Central, the Erie and N. Y., N. H. and H. Railroads. Machinery utilizing 600 horse-power of Root water tube boilers are in operation. Among the departments are a gray iron and brass foundry, forge shops, boiler erecting department, spiral pipe mill, sheet iron, plate metal and drum shop. The company has recently placed on the market the Frontenac touring car, which ranks among the foremost makes of automobiles in this country. Branches are maintained in New York, Pittsburgh and Chicago.
W. J. BURROWS, son of Alexander and Jennette (Todd) Burrows, was born in New York City in 1856. When he was two years of age his parents removed to the town of Newburgh, and it was here he received his schooling. He then engaged in farming with Fenton Cosman, where he remained eight years and then purchased his present fruit farm of twenty-two acres. Mr. Burrows has been trustee of the Marlborough Presbyterian Church fifteen years, elder two years and superintendent of the Sunday-school two years. He is a member of Cronomer Valley Grange and has served as its secretary. He married Miss Nancy E. Morrow and five children have been born to them.
GRINNELL BURT was born in Bellvale, Orange County, N. Y., on November 7, 1822. He was a grandson of James Burt, who for twenty years was a prominent legislator of the State. An orphan at fourteen, he was thrown on his own resources. With unusual ability for mechanical construction, and a mind that quickly grasped all opportunities for developing the resources of the country, he became interested in railroad projects. Meanwhile his love for the law prompted a course of reading and study which proved of great value when corporate interests were committed to his charge.
With others he organized, in 1859, the Warwick Valley Railroad. The growing needs of the valley called for various extensions of the line. Mr. Burt's pluck and rare executive ability served his constituents well. By the last consolidation the road was merged into and known as the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway Company. He was its continuous and only president forty-two years, dying in office. He was identified with various projects for bridging the Hudson. His was the vision to project the Orange County Railroad—"the missing link"—between the West and Southwest and New England, via the Poughkeepsie Bridge. This dream of his old age he pushed through with indomitable energy, enduring many anxious hours in its consummation, but which to-day justifies all his sagacious commercial foresight. The record of this Warwick railroad, while under his care, was that it never had a strike, never was in the hands of a receiver, never defaulted in the payment of the interest on its bonds, and no passenger lost his life during Mr. Burt's long administration. He selected his subordinates with rare judgment. At his death the new president retained to a man the entire corps that had served under Mr. Burt. No better choice could be made.
The other roads he served for varying terms as director, reorganizer, superintendent or president, were the Pittsburgh & Western; Cincinnati, Van Wert & Michigan (now the Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw); New Jersey Midland (now the New York, Susquehanna & Western); Kanawha & Ohio; New York & Greenwood Lake; Middletown, Unionville & Water Gap, which he brought out of its chaotic condition and placed on a sound footing, and the Toledo & Ohio Central, generally conceded to be one of the most successful reorganizations of a bankrupt company ever effected.
In 1875 Governor Tilden appointed him one of three commissioners to remove obstructions from the Delaware River. The commission served without pay, and after their work was thoroughly done a balance was returned to the State treasury—a result so unusual in the expenditure of public money that it excited no little comment.
No public work was ever dearer to Mr. Burt than the establishment of the Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital. Serving as chairman of the building committee he saved the State much money by his watchful care. He was appointed by Governor Dix on the first board of trustees of this noble institution, and gave twenty-seven years of ungrudging service; acting first as vice-president, he eventually became president for the eleven successive years before his death. All this he did amid the stress and strain of conflicting business cares in behalf of suffering humanity.
In Warwick his name was coincident with its progress. He was one of the agitators for incorporating it under a special charter; an incorporator of Warwick Institute, serving thirty-two consecutive years on the board of education; one of the founders of Christ Church; on the committee of three to bond the town to pay volunteers in the late rebellion; on the first board of trustees of the Warwick Cemetery Association, active in building the reservoir and water-works; on the first board of directors of the First National Bank, where he served as vice-president for fifteen years.
The American Trossachs trip, which he inaugurated, was one of his many-schemes to bring our valley's beauties into a wider recognition. This excursion as planned by him would challenge comparison for varied interest and charm with any one day's excursion taken in any part of the world. Mr. Burt also did much for the development of Greenwood Lake. The artistic station and his own stately home, both built under his direction and out of our native McAfee limestone, are evidence that Grinnell Burt was a man of taste and culture as well. If you would see his monument, look about you in the little village he so loyally loved and served.
In 1849 he married Miss Jane S. Van Duzer, daughter of Isaac Van Duzer, of Warwick, by whom he had one son and four daughters: Frank Howard, who died in infancy; Kate V. D., who married Charles Caldwell, of Newburgh; Lily, wife of Frederick Halstead, of Brooklyn; Jane, who died in 1903, and Mary Herrick Burt, who resides in the old homestead. Mrs. Burt died in 1870. In 1886 he married Miss Louise Pierson, daughter of Samuel V. Pierson, of Middletown, N. Y. By this marriage he had twin sons, Grinnell, Jr., and Howard Pierson. Mr. Burt died August 3, 1901.
Surely a few words of tribute should be added in honor of this man whose unfaltering honesty, ability and enthusiasm called to his side noble helpers and the capital necessary to carry out these difficult public works. Personally he was possessed of most genial social traits—to see him in his home was to see him at his best. Here he dispensed the widest hospitality. He held high national ideals free from party lines. He was capable of long hours of unremitting physical and mental toil. He did not waste his energy talking about things he would like to do—he did them. He was acknowledged to be a winning and witty public speaker, and, when occasion demanded, a formidable antagonist, as he was absolutely fearless and not to be shaken from his convictions; and yet being[?] so fair withal that his warmest personal friends were among those with whom he differed on many occasions. In every walk of life he was a man.
When death came it seemed only a momentary interruption and to point back triumphantly to his long and honorable life of service.
THOMAS BURT, of Warwick, was born January 5, 1821. Both of his parents died when he was about fifteen years of age. He then lived with his uncle, Thomas M. Burt, in Albany, who sent him to an academy for one year. The next year he was employed in the printing office of Packer and Van Benthuysen. The next three years, he was employed in farming in central Ohio. In 1841 he returned to his native place, Bellvale, and soon after bought his father's farm and sawmill, which he operated until 1868, when he moved to his farm in Warwick, where he now lives. In 1846, he married Hannah Sayer, and lived a married life with her over fifty-four years. His surviving children are Elizabeth, Lydia, Annie, and Mrs. Vernon B. Carroll.
The next seven years he was in the lumber and coal business in the firm of Taylor, Burt and Pierson. In 1876 he organized the Warwick Savings Bank and has served as secretary and treasurer to the present time. As secretary and treasurer of the Warwick Cemetery Association he has had the care of its records and funds for twenty-six years. He was one of the commissioners who introduced public water into the village. He has served as trustee in the district school, academy, and Union Free School for many years, and as executor and administrator of estates and of trust funds.
He is independent in politics, has never held public office, has supported free soil, anti-slavery, and republican candidates, as well as Grover Cleveland.
FRANK V. BURTON—Among the many private residences which grace the banks of the Hudson River at Balmville, none is more imposing in appearance than "Woodbine," the beautiful summer home of Mr. Frank V. Burton, located on Big Hill on the river road. In 1850 Mr. Josiah H. Burton, who is now in his eighty-second year and father of the present owner, purchased a tract of land of about one hundred acres and resided in a handsome home nearer the river than the present mansion is situated. The property was afterward purchased by his son, Frank V., who in 1895 constructed his present ideal residence. The building is a three-story structure, 125 by 40 feet in dimensions and of Normandy style of architecture, with a covered piazza extending the whole length of the east side. The residence is surrounded by spacious lawns, filled with the choicest flowers and ornamental shrubs, while the river view from the house is one of the most magnificent to be found in the country, extending a distance of ten miles.
GILLMORE O. BUSH, who has held various public offices in what is now the town of Tuxedo, was born at Arden, Orange County, in 1863. After attending the district and parish schools he took a commercial course at the Paterson Business College. Mr. Bush then spent five years in Connecticut, and in 1886 came to Tuxedo Park and was appointed a member of the newly organized police force. After serving four years as patrolman he was promoted to chief of the department, which position he still retains. He has been deputy sheriff of the county of Orange since 1886. In 1899 Mr. Bush received the appointment of postmaster at Tuxedo Park and was reappointed in 1904. He has acted as assistant chief of the fire department since 1901. He is a charter member of Lorillard Lodge, F. and A. M.
Mr. Bush is a son of James S. and Eliza J. (Minerly) Bush, old residents of Orange County.
HORACE G. BUSH, son of Peter B. and Harriet (Ford) Bush, was born in the town of Monroe, Orange County, N. Y., March 13, 1863, on the farm where he has always resided. The Bush family have long been prominent in the affairs of Orange County and in 1905 Horace G. was elected a member of the board of supervisors. Socially he is identified with the Masonic fraternity. He married Mary F. Smith, and two sons, Peter and Horace S., have been born to them.
The early representatives of the Bush family emigrated from Holland. Henry, the great-grandfather of Horace G., was a native of Orange County. He was the father of five sons, of whom Peter H., by his marriage to Abigail Smith, became the father of Peter B., referred to above.
CHARLES CALDWELLwas born in the town of New Windsor, March 31, 1839, the son of John R. and Ruth Nicoll Caldwell, and grandson of Richard Caldwell, the Irish patriot.
After graduating from Albert Roe's School of Surveying and Civil Engineering at Cornwall, Mr. Caldwell opened an office in Newburgh, and in 1863 was appointed corporation surveyor, and later was annually appointed city surveyor, holding the office for nearly forty years. He was known to be a republican in politics, having no influence with democratic mayors or boards of aldermen.
Mr. Caldwell laid out all the streets of Newburgh opened since 1867, planned and superintended the building of twenty miles of sewers, laying the twenty-four-inch conduit from Washington Lake and building the large stone arch bridge spanning Quassaick Creek.
Mr. Caldwell's reputation as an expert surveyor and engineer was well known throughout the State, and his services in important and complicated surveys were always in demand, especially where suits were brought before the court for decision. He planned and superintended the building of the dams and water-works of Goshen and Warwick, building the large stone skew arch bridge at Wappingers Falls; was in 1876 engineer in charge of the work done by the State in removing obstructions from the Delaware River; did much careful work at the Hudson River, Matteawan and Long Island State Hospitals, did the grading and designed and constructed the water supply system for the State Camp Ground at Peekskill.
He was also for many years chief engineer of the Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad. He was a trustee of the Newburgh Savings Bank, vice-president of the Woodlawn Cemetery and Historical Society, and a vestryman of St. George's Church.
Mr. Caldwell was the generous promoter of every public and philanthropic work undertaken in his home city, a genial, lovable man who made friends wherever he traveled. Being himself absolutely incorruptible, he was intolerant of any dishonesty or unfaithfulness in others, particularly in the discharge of public trusts.
In 1874, Mr. Caldwell married Miss Kate Van Duzer Burt, daughter of Grinnell Burt, of Warwick, N. Y.
For twenty-eight years he was associated in business with Mr. Everett Garrison.
Mr. Caldwell died May 8, 1902.
DANIEL G. CAMERON, lumber merchant, Newburgh, N. Y., is a son of the late William T. Cameron, who for a quarter of a century was engaged in the lumber trade in that city under the firm name of Cameron & Sloat, established in 1866. Daniel G. entered the employ of his father's firm and upon the retirement of Mr. Sloat was entrusted with the management, becoming proprietor at his father's death in 1899.
Kenneth M. Cameron is associated with his father in this business.
FRANK H. CAMPBELL was a man of honored lineage; he was the only son of William and Grace Hamlinton Campbell, and was born in Vernon, N. J., February 9, 1850. He was educated at the Newton Collegiate Institute and a private military school in Poughkeepsie. He married Miss Emma Jayne, only daughter of Lewis Jayne, of Florida, Orange County. Mr. Campbell was one of the largest farmers of the county. He owned and controlled ten farms, aggregating twenty-five hundred acres, in the town of Warwick and northern New Jersey. He was long a buyer of cattle for dairy purposes, and was at times in the mercantile and feed business. More recently he was engaged in a wholesale milk business in New York, in which he received the products of eight creameries. He was a director of the First National Bank of Warwick, and the board paid him a high tribute as a citizen and business man after his death. He was an ardent sportsman, making hunting trips annually to the Adirondacks, or Maine woods. He was an active Mason, in politics a democrat, and in local improvements a zealous helper.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell had three children—Lewis Jayne, Grace Hamlinton and Frances Edith. When Mr. Campbell died the son was in the Philippines, having enlisted in the United States Army.
PETER CANTLINE, a prominent young attorney of Newburgh, N. Y., was born in that city, November 8, 1882. After graduating from the Newburgh Academy in 1900, he entered the law office of Hon. A. H. F. Seeger, where he pursued his professional studies and was admitted to the bar in May, 1904.
Mr. Cantline served as special deputy county clerk in 1904 and 1905. Socially he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, St. George's Church and the Wheelmen's Club of Newburgh.
GEORGE WICKHAM CARPENTER was born January 15, 1847, and resides on the homestead farm, which has been in the possession of the family since 1764. His parents were Oliver R. and Phoebe J. Carpenter; of their seven children George Wickham was the eldest. He was educated in the Middletown High School and Academy, a private school and the Fort Edward Institute. He married Hattie Bennett, of Middletown, in 1882, and both are members of the First Congregational Church of Middletown. In politics Mr. Carpenter is a democrat, but never aspired to office.
GILBERT CARPENTER, a progressive citizen of Monroe, was born here in 1850. In 1867 he was a member of the grain, feed and coal firm of Carpenter, Webb & Company, which was later merged into the firm of Carpenter Brothers. Since the death of his brother William, in 1877, Mr. Carpenter has continued the business alone. He is a director of the National Bank of Monroe, trustee of the Dairy Association and trustee of the school board. Mr. Carpenter has always taken an active part in matters pertaining to the welfare and progress of his native place. His energy and foresight as president of the board of water commissioners during the construction of the plant has furnished to Monroe a water system that is un-excelled. He organized the first telephone system in the village and his son Louis erected the line. Mr. Carpenter married Irene, daughter of John K. Roe, and three sons and one daughter have been born to them, of whom Lewis R. is cashier of the Monroe Bank. He is a son of Dr. Ethan B. Carpenter, who served as member of Assembly in 1853.
SOLOMON CARPENTER—In 1714 Solomon Carpenter, one of the pioneers of Orange County, settled at Goshen on Main street, at the intersection of the Newburgh and Montgomery roads, which became known as Carpenter's Corners, and is now called Johnson's Corners. He was one of the company who bought the Minisink patent from England. He was made captain of the Goshen Colonial Militia in 1724 and was afterward made colonel. His royal commissions are still retained by his descendants. The old colonial house at Carpenter's Corners was built about 1724 and was remodeled by James Carpenter before the Revolutionary War. The property has remained in the family ever since. Jeromus Johnson, brother of General Jeremiah Johnson, of Long Island, married Mary Carpenter in 1802. The property has descended to its present owner, Mary E. Johnson, who married Seymour S. Peloubet, a law book publisher, of New York. The house contains some fine old mahogany furniture, which was brought from England in colonial times in sailing vessels owned by James Carpenter. These vessels sailed from Newburgh to all parts of the world, bringing wine and spices from Spain and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea; cloth, dishes and furniture from England, and molasses and sugar from the West Indies.
Nehemiah Carpenter, a son of Solomon, was quartermaster in the 5th Brigade, New York State, during the Revolutionary War. He was at the siege of Yorktown and his letters, written just before the battle, are now in possession of the family. After the war, because of ill-health, he went to the West Indies on one of his brother's ships and has left a very interesting diary of his journey.
James W. Carpenter, son of James Carpenter, was major in the War of 1812, and S. S. Peloubet, who now lives in the old home, was in the Civil War.
FRED C. CARY—Isaac Cary, the father of Fred C. was a descendant of John Cary, who came from Somerset, England, in 1634, and joined the Plymouth Colony, was born in Mendham, N. J., March 22, 1823, and died October 13, 1893. He was educated in the district school, the Fairchild Private School and later took a course in the Medical Department of Harvard College, from which he graduated. He practiced medicine in Brooklyn for some time, removing from there to Warwick, Orange County, in 1853, where he became one of its leading physicians and continued his professional practice until his death. He was a member of the Reformed Dutch Church, and in politics a democrat. He was a member of Warwick Lodge No. 544, F. & A. M. He married Harriet Roe, of Warwick, in 1854. Their children were a daughter, who died in infancy, and two sons—Frank W. and Fred C. The former is in the office of the N. Y. C. & H. R. Railroad in New York.