Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 176

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations > Part 176

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Commissioners of School .- John G. Vanderzee, L. Carter Tuttle, John C. Nott, John F. Shafer, Alexander R. Baker.

Supervisors .- From 1818 .- Moses De Long, David Bur- hans, Henry L. Mead, William N. Sill, Matthew Bullock, Gerrit Hogan, James Alexander, Leonard G. Ten Eyck. From 1832 .- David Springsted, James B. Wands, Joshua F. Babcock, Abner Udell, Abram Van Derhyden, Francis I. Shafer, John McHarg, Jeremiah Mead, Elias Milbank, George F. Imbrie, John Patterson, John Wilkes, William Kimmey, Albertus W. Becker, George C. Adams, John Wemple, Peter D. Johnson, W. Chancey Hotaling, William L. Flagen, John L. Winne.

Justices of the Peace .- After 1833 .- James Holiday, Con- rad Baumes, Hiram Babcock, Abram Wood, Volkert V. Bullock, James Alexander, David Bussell, Richard Wood, John Soop, Henry H. Burhans, Levi Cornell, George A. Leggett, Hugh J. Alexander, Sanford Bennett, Henry J. Snyder, Stephen V. R. Slade, Peter H. Bradt, Jeremiah Wood, Stephen Baumes, William Hurst, L. C. Tuttle, Walter T. Hotaling, Andrew C. Wood, David Conse, Leonard W. Soop, David H. Van Cott.

Town Clerks .- From 1833 .- Henry B. Haswell, David I. Burhans, John V. L. Burhans, Jacob Springsted, Alexander F. McGill, Hiram Babcock, Henry I. Creble, James W. Bender, John Birch, David P. Kimmey, Hiram Hotaling. David Couse, William Kimmey, David M. Niver, R. C. Main, J. G. Hotaling, John J. Bradt, Washington Groos- beck, Eli Belt, William Sible, John Simpson, George Brindle, Isaac Bulger, David L. Walley, Wendel Bender, E. M. Van Auken, Thomas J. Winne, Edwin Hotaling, Charles A. Niver, Henry V. Long.

The following members of the Nicoll family have held office, viz. : Richard Nicoll, Governor, 1664; William Nicoll, Register, 1683 ; Mathias Nicoll, Commissary of Judges, 1686; Richard Nicoll, Examiner in Chancery, 1740; Rensselaer Nicoll, Judge, 1762 ; Francis Nicoll, Dep. to Pro- vincial Congress, 1775-76 ; Senator in 1797.

In the public and political affairs of the town there is a spirit of progress and reform that has been well sustained by those whose duty it was to advance the interests of the people; the educational facilities for a higher culture of the intellect and for scientific attainments have been improved. The various churches and societies encouraging moral reform have exercised a controlling influence for good in the community, and this influence is in- creasing. The leading questions that affect the happiness and prosperity, temporal and spiritual, of the people are discussed by many with freedom, and the community enjoy that prosperity which comes to honest industry and personal integrity, directed by intelligence and carried on from year to year with persevering zeal.

JASON V. HASWELL-Lives west of Bethlehem Center on part of old homestead. Is grandson of Capt. Wm. Haswell, of New York militia during the war of 1812, and son of Samuel J. Haswell, de- ceased, who was born on old homestead in 1826, and died in 1874, and was a most exemplary and worthy citizen.

JACOB J. SooP-Settled at Selkirk in 1849, at which time he purchased from John L. Sill part of the Col. Francis Nicoll grant, one of the oldest titles on record in the county. The West Shore Rail- road crosses this farm.

RENSSELAER LASHER .- Is a farmer and resident of Mount Pleasant. The farm has been in the Lasher family for 50 years, contains 135 acres, and is one of the best in the county, situated four and one- half miles from city limits.

794

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

ALITTLE.

A.NiBacher

ALBERTUS W. BECKER.

Albertus Becker, a native of Holland, was one of three landowners and heads of families who lived along the old road from the Onesquethau Creek to the river ; he was married to Helen Van Derzee. Their son Walter was the great-grandfather of Al- bertus W. Becker. He married Anna De Ridder, of Schuylerville, Washington County, and had sev- eral children, one of whom was Albertus W. Becker, Ist, grandfather of his namesake mentioned above. He was born in 1772, and married Polly Van Der Heyden in 1800. He died about 1815, leaving a widow and two sons and three daughters. The second son was Walter Becker, who was born in 1806, married Maria Van Derzee, daughter of Cornelius Van Derzee, December 21, 1831, and died March 11, 1864. His widow and three children survived him, and one child had died previously.

Albertus W. Becker, the eldest child of Walter and Maria (Van Derzee) Becker, was born Decem- ber 12, 1834. He was educated in the district schools of his native town, and at the West Poult- ney Troy Conference Academy of West Poultney, Vt. Leaving the institution just named at the age of seventeen, he took charge of his father's farm,- the latter being in ill health, and at his father's

death he inherited the old homestead at Becker's Corners, where he has since resided in the house built by his grandfather in 1800. In 1862 he was elected supervisor of the town of Bethlehem. At this time the civil war had begun, and important du- ties devolved upon the incumbent of the office of supervisor in every town in the State. At a meeting of the citizens of the town, held at Bethle- hem Center, to provide for the enlistment of a suffi- cient number of volunteers to fill the quota re- quired from the town, Mr. Becker and Gen. Leonard G. Ten Eyck were appointed a committee to secure the men desired. They established their rendezvous in what is now the south part of the City of Albany, and were successful in securing the requi- site number of recruits-about forty-in about thirty days, most of them enlisting under Capt. David Burhans and forming a part of the Forty-third Regiment, N. Y. S. Vols. During the winter of 1862-3, with Peter R. Van Derzee and Justus Haswell, he visited the Forty-fourth Regiment at Hall's Hill, Virginia. In 1871 Mr. Becker was again elected supervisor and re-elected for three succeeding terms, serving continuously from 1871 to 1874 inclusive. A Republican, and an interest- ed observer of public affairs, Mr. Becker has never been a politician in the sense in which the word is commonly applied. He has not been a seeker

THE TOWNSHIP OF BETHLEHEM.

795

ALITTLE.

CORNELIUS V. BAKER.

after office, and such trusts as have been imposed in him have been filled with credit both to himself and his fellow citizens. The prosperity of the town and of its general interests has always been a subject of moment with him, and he has long been identified with some of Bethlehem's most promi- nent business enterprises. For about fifteen years he was president of the South Bethlehem Plank Road Company, in which he has been a stockhold- er since the opening of the road, and a director about twenty years. Soon after the organization of the Bethlehem Mutual Insurance Association, he became connected with it, and about ten years ago became its president and one of its directors, and has held those positions continuously to the present time. Upon the organization of the Beth- lehem Conscript Society, an association for protection against the depredations of horse-thieves, in 1875, Mr. Becker, who had been instrumental in forming the society, was chosen its treasurer and acting president, and has since held that position.

November 17, 1858, Mr. Becker married Miss Anna Haswell, daughter of Joseph Haswell, of Bethlehem, a descendant of one of the early settlers of the town. They have one son and two daugh- ters. Though not a member of any religious body,

Mr. Becker has contributed liberally to the support of the First Reformed Church of Bethlehem.

CORNELIUS V. BAKER.

CORNELIUS V. BAKER is one of the most prominent public men of the town of Bethlehem, descending on his father's side from an old English family who settled, in the person of his great-grandfather, Joab Baker, in Roxbury, Conn. His grandfather, also named Joab, settled in Coeymans, in 1791, and married Hannah Ashmerd, whose father was one of the pioneer settlers of Albany.

They had seven children, of whom the eldest was John Baker, the father of the subject of this sketch. He married Margaret Vroman, and for many years lived a retired life in North Adams, Mass. He died in 1882, at the advanced age of 86, at the residence of his son, Cornelius V. Baker, with whom he made his home during the waning years of his life. He was a man of rare intelligence and sterling worth. His wife, Margaret, died in 1823, leaving three small children.

Cornelius Vroman Baker, their only son, born in 1819, was then four years of age, and was reared on the old homestead in Coeymans.

796

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

A.LITTLE.

AMBROSE WILTSIE, Jr.

He early displayed a taste for agricultural pur- suits and business, and devoted himself with rare per- severance to the accumulation of landed property. In 1846 he married Caroline Lasher and settled on part of the Sill farm, which he leased for a term of years, purchasing before the expiration of the same 120 acres of the tract. The present homestead was afterward added, and subsequently additions have been made until the tract, known as Grand View Farm, comprises 450 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have had eight children, four of whom are living; three sons-Alexander R., Charles N. and Edward E., a daughter, Abbie S., all of whom have enjoyed liberal educational advantages.

In connection with his farming operations, Mr. Baker was for several years extensively engaged in lumbering and rafting pile timber to New York. He was also connected for a number of years with the forwarding and commission business from Albany, Cedar Hills and Coeymans to New York. In 1872 he was nominated for Member of As- sembly by the Liberal Republicans of his District, and met with the fate of the party, since which time he has led the life of a gentleman farmer, and devoted himself wholly to agricultural pursuits, bringing his farm to such a high state of cultivation that "Grand View" now ranks as the largest, most productive and valuable farm in Albany County. It is situated on the west bank of the Hudson, op- posite Castleton, eight miles south from Albany,

consisting of rolling upland, sloping gently to ex- tensive fields of rich alluvial bottom lands, extend- ing over a mile along the river.

Mr. Baker is a self-made man, and in his bus- iness enterprises has been remarkably successful. He is noted for clear judgment and accurate con- clusions, and many young and middle-aged men are indebted to his advice or help for their advance- ment in life. As a public man, he has filled a large measure of usefulness, being foremost in all enter- prises for the common good. As a neighbor, he has always been ready to lend a helping hand. The good that such men do lives after them.

AMBROSE WILTSIE, JR.

The first of the name of Wiltsie in Bethlehem was William Wiltsie, from Dutchess County, who, in 1795, came into the town and located on a tract of land embracing the farm now owned by Ambrose Wiltsie, Jr., which he purchased from Stephen Van Rensselaer, buying the possession from Nicholas See, who had previously taken up the land and made some improvements on it. He died in 1797, and the property passed into the possession of his children, one of whom, and the youngest son, was Ambrose Wiltsie, Sr., who was born in 1787, and was about nine years of age when his father took up his residence in the town. Ambrose Wiltsie became a substantial farmer and

797

THE TOWNSHIP OF BETHLEHEM.

a respected citizen of the town. He married Mag- dalene Miller, a native of Connecticut, who with her father's family moved into Coeymans from Dutchess County in 1795, the same year in which William Wiltsie became a resident of Albany County, and died in 1856. His wife bore him eight sons, of whom seven grew to manhood, and two daughters, and died in September, 1879, aged ninety-four years.

Ambrose Wiltsie, Jr., was born in the same house in which he now lives, April 3, 1828, and is the youngest of the eight sons of Ambrose and Magdalene (Miller) Wiltsie, of whom only two others are living. He was reared on the farm, where his services were required while he was yet quite young. Until he began the regular life of a farmer boy, he attended the public school several terms, summer and winter ; after that he attended only in the winter, until he attained his majority. He then became a student in Cazenovia Seminary, at Cazenovia, New York, where he remained dur- ing most of two years. He returned to Bethlehem, and, upon the death of his father in 1856, came in- to possession of the old Wiltsie homestead, which he had worked on shares since he was nineteen in partnership with his brothers. On January 15, 1862, he married Hannah Elizabeth Witbeck, a daughter of Jasper Witbeck, of Coeymans, who died in the following September. November 20, 1873, he married Mrs. Catherine M. Slack, the widow of Frederick Slack, and daughter of Jacob Kimmey, of North Bethlehem.

While at Cazenovia Seminary, Mr. Wiltsie ob- tained a knowledge of surveying. In connection with his farming, he did much surveying until January, 1882, since which time he has been in- capacitated for such service. Following in the foot-

steps of his father, who had long manufactured cider, Mr. Wiltsie continued to manufacture it, increasing the business from year to year until, during the past twenty years, it has been quite ex- tensive. About the time mentioned, he added the manufacture of vinegar, in which he has since been largely engaged.

On the 25th of January, 1882, while out in tlie woods, on his farm, overseeing and aiding some hired men, who were cutting down trees for logs. Mr. Wiltsie, standing in a stooping posture, was struck in the small of the back by a falling limb. The blow broke his back, and, as is supposed, cut off the spinal cord. Since that time the lower part of his body has been paralyzed, and he has been unable to move about except in a wheeled chair or other conveyance. His case is a very peculiar one in many of its features and has attract- ed the attention of many eminent physicians and surgeons, the wonder being that he survived the accident. Aside from the disability described, he is in a perfectly healthy condition, and has a reason- able expectation of living an average lifetime at least ; and notwithstanding the disadvantage at which he is placed, he constantly and ably man- ages all of his business affairs.

Mr. Wiltsie's grandfather on his mother's side, John Miller, was born in Alsace, Germany, and during the Revolutionary War fought for the American cause, under the Marquis de Lafayette, whom he accompanied to the New World on his memorable mission of freedom. Soon after the close of the Revolution, he settled in Connecticut, and there married Zabrina Bradford. Later he re- moved to Dutchess County, whence he soon re- moved to Coeymans.

798

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

Jivan Minne

JURIAN WINNE.

JURIAN WINNE, a prominent citizen and agricul- turist of Bethlehem, Albany County, was born in that place, March, 1816. In descent, personal habits and character he belongs to the sturdy, fru- gal and industrious early settlers of Albany County. For two hundred years or more the Winne family, from father to son, have turned over the soil of the old homestead with characteristic thriftiness, wear- ing it better instead of wearing it worse. The farm is situated in the town of Bethlehem, about eight miles from Albany, on the Plains of Jericho, two miles south of Jerusalem. Here, among cows and calves and choice sheep, with Indian and Revolutionary traditions for a heritage, and the rough discipline of the farm for high school, Jurian passed his boyhood. He attended the common school of his native place until he was fifteen years of age, and by close application gained more than an average education for that time. His start in life was a part of the maternal acres leased him on condition of furnishing half the seed, paying half the taxes, doing all the work, and receiving one-half the returns when converted into cash. This train- ing in economy, laboriousness, business forethought

and the application of common sense to studying the conditions of agricultural success, laid the foun- dation of the scientific farmer, who, later in life, as- tonished while he taught his neighbors the value and efficacy of virtue, intelligence and knowledge in a pursuit which seems to be the last to profit by human experiment and experience. At the age of twenty-one he married Mary A., daughter of Chris- tian Houck, a prominent hotel-keeper, widely known throughout the country. Mrs. Winne is a lady of rare graces of mind and heart, and enters warmly into all the plans of her husband, taking a deep interest in all movements where his sympa- thies lead him, while at the same time she dispenses a generous hospitality at their lovely country home, no caller there being permitted to depart without sharing in their noble-hearted courtesy. M Winne's memory is rich in reminiscences of his early ancestors, their privations and hardships and fights with the Indians and Tories of Revolution- ary times. His great-grandfather, Francis Winne, was one of the pioneer families from Holland who settled Albany county, and purchased and settled the land now owned by the subject of this sketch. An oil painting of him, executed when he was only eighteen years of age (over one hundred and

John L Vinne

799

THE TOWNSHIP OF BETHLEHEM.

sixty years ago), is now in Mr. Winne's possession, and is pronounced by critics to be a masterpiece of art. Mr. Palmer, the sculptor, says it is one of the best pictures he has ever seen in all his travels.

Mr. Winne's mother was Susan Hogan, daughter of Jurian Hogan of Revolutionary fame, who was so well esteemed by the Liberal party that he was commissioned a Colonel, while the Tory party evinced their appreciation of his importance by offering a reward for his scalp. The Hogan farm of 300 acres joined the Winne farm, and the home- stead is still in possession of the family. Mr. Winne has taken an active interest in everything pertaining to the advancement of agriculture. He was one of the four organizers of the Albany County Agricultural Society, and was for two years vice- president of the State Agricultural Association. Sheep-raising and winter-feeding is the specialty in which he excels. Among his Leicester sheep he exhibited one that weighed 290 pounds at eighteen months old. Another had wool twenty-four inches long at two and a half years. His address on winter-feeding before the Agricultural Society of the State of New York attracted the most favor- able attention, and 5,000 copies were printed and distributed throughout the State. Being thor- oughly alive to every movement in the interest of farmers and the encouragement of honesty in the administration of public affairs, Mr. Winne was the first to organize a grange in his vicinity, and acted as treasurer of the State organization. Through his efforts the incorporation of the grange was effected, and he originated the measure which was subsequently enacted by the Legislature, whereby the New York City and Brooklyn ordi- nances for baling hay, and which operated disas- trously upon farmers, were done away with. In this movement Mr. Winne, aided by only one other gentleman, was opposed by six New York and Brooklyn lawyers, who appeared before Governor Tilden to contest the passage of the bill into a law. Governor Tilden, however, signed Mr. Winne's bill, and thereby afforded great relief to the farmers. For this Mr. Winne became a firm friend and adherent of the Governor, and during the presidential campaign of 1876 labored zealously for his election, canvassing, with his team and buggy, five counties to accomplish that end. Mr. Winne is also a great admirer of the late Peter Cooper, for whom, during the latter years of his life, he entertained a sincere friendship, and was a welcome guest at the house of the venerable phil- anthropist whenever he visited New York. He was one of the first to aid in the organization of the Greenback party, and was nominated by that party for State Treasurer in 1879. Although real- izing that there was no chance for his election, he entered the contest with a hearty will, and can- vassed Albany County, speaking almost every evening for a week. Mr. Winne's vote, under the circumstances, was respectable and flattering, being about one hundred in excess of that of any other candidate on his ticket in his district. Mr. Winne's liberality is proverbial. His deeds of

practical, substantial charity are beyond enumera- tion or specific mention, because he is one of those rare men who "let not the left hand know what the right hand doeth." The indigent and unfortu- nate have been the recipients of his bounties unex- pectedly, and have been made to rejoice in the midst of their mourning. He is a man who ap- preciates worth of character in the circles of pov- erty as highly as in those of the affluent, and his society is sought as freely by the latter as by the former. Mr. Winne is a gentleman of sterling integrity. He is a strict constructionist as regards financial trusts, and as such commands the respect and confidence of his party and his fellow men generally. Possessing one of the most productive farms in Albany County, with every improvement in machinery, and with a scientific knowledge of his calling, strengthened by long experience and observation, he is a conspicuous and worthy repre- sentative of the great farming interests of the State.

JOHN L. WINNE.

This gentleman is one of the best known and most popular citizens of the town of Bethlehem. He ranks as a leading farmer and is recognized as one of the progressive, self-made men of the town. Born in Berne, a member of an old and respected family of that town, he received the rudiments of an education in the common schools, and began active life as a farmer lad. When he began farm- ing on his own account it was on a rented farm, and in company with another young man, their united means being necessary to stock and work the place. He has lived successively in the towns of Berne, Knox, New Scotland and Bethlehem, and, commanding the respect of all with whom he has associated, his advancement has been sure, if not so rapid as that of many less conscientious and more

speculative men. His farm, near Adamsville, is one of the neatest and most productive in the town, presenting evidences of care and industrious culti- vation. He has long been happily married, and around him are a family of bright and interesting children, one of whom, a son, bids fair to rise to prominent rank in the town. Politically, Mr. Winne is a stanch Republican, and has been such since attaining his majority. He is not a politician or a seeker for office; but, in recognition of his integrity and ability, he has been three times suc- cessively (in 1883, 1884 and 1885) elected to the responsible office of Supervisor of Bethlehem, the last time against strong, wealthy and influential op- position both in the town and county. His ad- ministration of the trust thus reposed in him has done him great credit and won the approbation of his fellow citizens. Mr. Winne's success in life is but the just reward of industrious endeavor and an inherent desire to render unto all men that which is honestly their due. Such men are a credit to the age in which they live, and perform their part in making the world better for those who come after them, for it is thesmall duties of life well done that make up the sum total of all earthly prog- ress.

800

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

We take pleasure in making mention of the fol- lowing gentlemen, who, by their guaranteed sup- port, aided in the publication of this valuable work :

Francis Baker, Francis Selkirk, P. Van Wie, G. P. Noyes, C. V. Niver, Ambrose Wiltsie, Jacob J. Soop, P. H. Van Derzee, Wm. Kimmey, A. W. Becker, J. Lansing Pearse, D. P. Winne, Jurian Winne, John Wemple, L. W. Soop, John M. Staats, John J. Mull, Garrett Van Allen, John L. Winne, D. Van Allen, W. T. Hotaling, Jno. H. Schoon- maker, Albert Westervelt, O. S. Haswell, Rensselaer

Lasher, David N. Mead, Peter McCormick, Jas. Schoonmaker, Geo. M. Bender, Jno. M. Hough- taling, James Patterson, H. V. H. Onderdonk, John McHarg, George Lasher, C. A. Niver, C. V. Baker.

Rev. LANSING PEARSE has been for twenty-nine years engaged in the work of the ministry, twenty- five years of which time he has been located at Adamsville, Albany County, New York.

J. W. MATTICE is a resident of Slingerland and has been practicing law since 1847.

HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF BERNE.

By Rev. ROBERT DOIG, M. A.

I .- ITS GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.

DERNE is located on the Helderberg Mountains. It is the central town resting upon this ridge, and from its position may be regarded as the back- bone of the Helderbergs.

Helder is the name of a fort in Holland, signify- ing strength or firmness; hence the character of the town; the firmness, stability and heroic nature of its early inhabitants.

Some say that the mountains were called " Hellebergs," Helle meaning light or clear, from the clear and far-off prospect given from them to the early German settlers.

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Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 176

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452