USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume I > Part 14
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Mr. Bard was instrumental in forming the Mount Vernon Republican Association, and on his own responsibility purchased Lincoln Hall, -for seven thousand dollars, -the building being now owned by the society. He is a stanch Republican in his political views, and is vice-president of the Second Ward Republican Association. He is a member of Steamer Company No. 3; of Hiawatha Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; and of the Royal Arcanum. He is one of the most active members of the board of trade, is treasurer of the New York & Mount Vernon Railway, and has one of the largest insurance enterprises in the state, outside of New York city.
On the 24th of October, 1888, Mr. Bard married Miss Madge Mai Watts, daughter of Harry and Sarah Watts, of New York city, and they have three children: Marjorie Mai, Hazel Lodice and Harriet Beatrice. They hold a very prominent position in social circles, and enjoy the hospitality of the best homes of the city. Mr. Bard began his career in Mount Vernon when it was but a small place, and has grown with its growth untiln his ame and reputation are as far-reaching as are those of the city. His life has been one of untiring activity, and has been crowned with a degree of success attained by comparatively few men. He is of the highest type of business
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men, and none more than he deserves a fitting recognition among the men whose hardy genius and splendid abilities have achieved results that are the wonder and admiration of all who know them.
WILLIAM H. ARCHER.
Colton wrote: " It is not known where he who invented the plow was born, or where he died; yet he has effected more for the happiness of the world than the whole race of heroes and conquerors who have drenched it with tears and saturated it with blood, and whose birth, parentage and edu- cation have been handed down to us with a precision exactly proportionate to the mischief they have done." Agriculture, indeed, has received the " high- est awards " from the consensus of the world of moralists; and it is a great pity that all mankind are not engaged in it, -at least to some extent.
The subject of this sketch is a retired farmer near Mount Vernon, New York, who has not only done honor to the noble calling but also is an honor to the community in which he resides. He was born in the town of West Farms, in the village of Fordham Heights, Westchester county, New York, December 24, 1835. He was the youngest son of Samuel D. and Mary (Ryer) Archer. His father was a native of the same village, settled upon the farm and followed agricultural pursuits all his life. He was a man of great determination and energy, and was widely and favorably known for his per- severance and integrity. He died about August 22, 1871.
Benjamin Archer, our subject's grandfather, was one of the pioneers of Westchester county, where he was the owner of a large tract of land extend- ing from Harlem river to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and to Tremont, a part of which constitutes the present town site of Ford- ham. The father of the last mentioned, also Benjamin by name, was also a settler of Fordham; and John Archer, who was the first settler in Westches- ter county and the first ancestor of the family in America, received a large land grant from King George III, in what is now Westchester county, and emigrated to America, taking possession of the grant in 1784, and this land was kept by successive generations of the family until 1865. The mother of the subject of the subject of this sketch was a native of the town of West- chester, in Westchester county, and was a daughter of John Ryer. The Ryers were an old Quaker family who became early settlers of this county and were descendants from German-Dutch ancestry.
Mr. William H. Archer, who is the subject proper of this sketch, was reared in Fordham Heights, Westchester county, and educated first in the public schools and afterward at a private school taught by Professor Wilson. On leaving school, at the age of eighteen, he returned home and remained
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William Henry Cu che
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on the farm until his twenty-fifth year, when he went to New York city and embarked in business as a partner of Jeremiah Wardell, under the fırın name of Wardell & Archer, and were engaged as importers of fancy groceries and in canning and pickling and in selling the products of their establishment at wholesale. Mr. Archer continued in business until the death of his father, ' in 1871, in his seventy-fifth year, when he disposed of his business in New York, returned to his old paternal home and took charge of the same for several years. While in New York city he also engaged in the brokerage business. After the death of both of his parents he came into the posses- sion of the homestead, where he has ever since made his home and carried on general farming. The farm comprises seventy-five acres, well improved and in a state of high cultivation.
In his political principles Mr. Archer is a Republican. For twenty-five years he was a member of the school board in East Chester, and was trustee for twenty years. Fraternally he is a member of the Odd Fellows order.
His mother, who died in August, 1885, was the mother of eight children, -four sons and four daughters, viz. : Eliza, Eleanor, George, Charles, Ben- jamin, Lewis, William H. and Margaret Louisa. Only three of these are now living, -Charles, Eleanor and our subject. In 1872 Mr. Archer was married to Miss Camilla P. Thomas, of Newark, New Jersey, in which city she was born and brought up. Her parents were James Farren and Abbie (Huestis) Thomas, of old families of Westchester county. Mr. and Mrs. Archer have two sons and two daughters, namely: Charles H., a rising young lawper of Mount Vernon; Florence, still at home; Louis J., an artist; and Bessie Camilla, also at her parental home.
George Archer, a brother of William H., was the colonel of the National Guards and at one time was United States assessor, and died in 1876, while in the latter office.
MAJOR ALFRED E. LATIMER.
Among the pleasantest rural homes of Westchester county is that of Major Latimer, it being most beautifully situated in Bronxville and surrounded by native forest trees, in which the birds seem to carol their sweetest. Adjoin- ing Lawrence Park, it is thus made more pleasant and attractive. At this delightful home our subject is now living retired, after having spent a quarter of a century in the service of his country as an officer in the regular army, and the peace and rest which he now enjoys are certainly well deserved after the discomforts of camp life and the hardships and privations endured when on the field of battle.
The Major is a native of South Carolina, born in Hamburg, November
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I, 1828, and is a son of Alfred R. Latimer, who was for many years a prom- inent merchant of Augusta, Georgia, and Hamburg, South Carolina. The paternal grandfather was Ebenezer Latimer, and the mother of our subject was Augusta Spain, daughter of Dr. James Spain, of South Carolina.
Major Latimer passed his boyhood in Augusta, Georgia, where he attended a private school and carefully prepared for college. Receiving the appointment in 1848, he entered West Point as a cadet, and was there graduated in 1853. General McPherson, General Schofield and General Phil Sheridan were classmates of his. July 1, 1853, he was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the Fourth United States Infantry; was com- missioned second lieutenant February 5, 1855, in the Second Infantry, and then promoted first lieutenant April 18, 1859. He was appointed captain of the Eleventh United States Infantry, May 14, 1861, accepted August 25, and was transferred to the Twenty-ninth Infantry, September 21, 1866. He was promoted major of the Nineteenth Infantry, June 25, 1867, and for a time he was unassigned for special duty, but was assigned to the Fourth Cavalry, December 15, 1870. He retired from the service March 20, 1879, and on the 27th of February, 1890, was breveted lieutenant-colonel. This promo- tion was for gallant services in action against the Indians on the north fork of the Red river, Texas, September 29, 1872. He was popular both with the men under him and with his fellow officers, and at all times was a gallant and fearless soldier, ready to perform any duty which fell to his lot. His loyalty as a citizen and his devotion to his country's interests have ever been among his marked characteristics, and he has the respect and confidence of all who know him. Since 1890 he has made his home at Bronxville, New York.
Major Latimer first married Miss Rosa Gear, a sister of the Hon. John H. Gear, now United States senator from Iowa. On the 25th of June, 1879, the Major wedded Miss Mary Elizabeth Faxon, a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Nathan S. and Elizabeth R. (Prescott) Faxon. The Prescotts were a prominent old Westchester county family. There were four sons born of the second marriage: Lewis S. and Alfred F. are still living, and Alfred E. and Horace are deceased.
JACOB HOLLWEGS.
The study of biography yields to no other in point of interest and profit. It tells of the success and defeat of men, the difficulties they have met and overcome, and gives us an insight into the methods and plans which they have so followed as to enable them to pass on the highway of life many who
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started far ahead of them in the race. The obvious lessons therein taught would prove of great benefit if followed, and the example of the self-made man should certainly encourage others to press forward. Jacob Hollwegs belongs to this honored class and through his own efforts has attained to an honorable position in commercial circles in New Rochelle. He is one of the oldest merchants in the town, and his identification with its business interests has added to the material prosperity of the community.
Mr. Hollwegs is a native of Hanover, Germany, born October 14, 1825. His parents, Henry and Catherine (Mangels) Hollwegs, were likewise na- tives of that kingdom, and the father was a skillful mechanic, -an expert worker in wood and iron. He followed general blacksmithing and wagon- making, and carried on an extensive business. Both he and his wife are now deceased, their entire lives having been spent in the land of their birth.
In the schools of his native town Jacob Hollwegs acquired his education, pursuing his studies until his seventeenth year and gaining a good knowledge of all the fundamental branches and many advanced ones. He became a good Latin and English, as well as German, scholar, and thus with a broad general knowledge to assist him in life he entered upon his business career. For three years, during his minority, he was lame, which cut him off from many of the pursuits and pleasures of youth. On the 4th of July, 1846, he boarded a westward-bound sailing vessel, commanded by Captain Catamore, an Englishman by birth, but well versed in the German language. The voyage was a stormy one, and it was sixty-three days after leaving the Ger- man port before anchor was dropped in the harbor of New York, on the 9th of September.
Not long after his arrival in the United States, Mr. Hollwegs secured a position as clerk in a general store in New York, filling that position for two years. He then formed a partnership in the patent-rights business, but after six months, becoming convinced that this was a "snide, " he withdrew and returned to New York city, where he entered into partnership with Peter Traugott, under the firm name of J. Hollwegs & Company, and opened a grocery store, which he successfully conducted for several years, when he sold out to his partner. In 1855 he removed to New Rochelle, where he en- gaged in general merchandizing, in what is now North street. There he re- mained until his greatly increased trade demanded more commodious quar- ters, when he erected his present three-story, brick business block, putting in a large stock of dry-goods, hardware and groceries. There he carried on operations until 1894, when he sold out to his nephew, Joseph E. Baker, but in 1896 he repurchased the stock and is still in active business. He enjoys a large and lucrative patronage, by reason of his earnest desire to please the public, his promptness and his straightforward dealing. His well directed
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efforts have brought him success and he is now the possessor of a desirable competence.
In 1858 Mr. Hollwegs married Miss Kate, a daughter of Greenfield Pote. She was born and reared in New York city, and her father was a sea captain in command of a merchant vessel. They have no children of their own, but have reared two of the children of Mrs. Hollwegs' sister, their father having been killed in the war of the Rebellion. In politics our subject has always been a pronounced Democrat, supporting each presidential candidate of that party since 1852. He served as a member of the board of trustees of New Rochelle for twelve years, was justice of the peace for a short time and has been supervisor of the town of New Rochelle. In all these offices he dis- charged his duties with commendable promptness, ability and fidelity, win- ning the approval of all concerned. Socially he is a member of Huguenot Lodge, No. 46, A. F. & A. M. He came to America with the hope of bet- tering his financial condition, and he has not been disappointed in this hope. Here, where the energetic ambitious man is unhampered by caste or class, he has steadily worked his way upward, gaining the just reward of his labor, his fair name being untarnished by shadow of wrong.
EDWARD BLISS FOOTE, M. D.
Dr. E. B. Foote, one of the earliest settlers in Larchmont Manor, New York, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, February 20, 1829, a son of Herschel and Pamelia Bliss (Townsend) Foote and a grandson of Captain John Foote, Jr., who served in the war of the Revolution. His paternal grandmother was the daughter of Captain Benjamin Mills, of West Simsbury, Connecticut, also a distinguished officer of the Revolution. The Foote family is of English origin. The first of the family to come to this country was Nathaniel Foote, who settled in the colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1633 and removed to Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1636. From him are descended nearly all of the numerous family of that name in this country. Herschel Foote, father of our subject, was born in Canton, Hartford county, Connecticut, and was a pioneer settler in Cleveland, Ohio, where he became a prosperous and esteemed merchant. He was thus engaged for nearly forty years, in what is now known as East Cleveland, where he was chosen by his fellow citizens as justice of the peace, and also commissioned as postmaster. He died in Brooklyn, New York, in the autumn of 1870, in the eightieth year of his age. His wife by maiden name was Pamelia Bliss Townsend, a daughter of Chris- topher Townsend, a native of New York state. Her mother dying at the time of her birth, she became the adopted daughter of Jonathan and Hannah Bliss, of Cleveland, they having no children of their own. This most esti-
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mable lady was spared to a long life of usefulness, dying at the residence of her son in Larchmont Manor, in 1893, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years.
Dr. Edward Bliss Foote spent the first fifteen years of his life at the parental residence, seven miles east of the city of Cleveland, on Euclid avenue, where he attended what was then called Shaw Academy, and now the East Cleveland high school. Leaving school, he entered the printing-office of the Cleveland Herald, then owned by J. A. Harris, where he learned the trade of printer, and was given employment in the job-printing office of Smead & Coles, the latter (Edwin Coles) afterward founding the Cleveland Leader and eventually uniting the Cleveland Herald with the same publication. From their office he went to New Haven, Connecticut, and accepted a position as compositor on the New Haven Journal. Remaining there for a brief period, he removed to New Britain, Connecticut, where he became the editor of the New Britain Journal, which, under his editorship, became the largest weekly in the state. Two years later we find him associated as co-editor with J. W. Heighway, editor and proprietor of the Brooklyn Morning Journal, the first morning paper published on Long Island. It was while thus engaged that Doctor Foote began the study of medicine. He entered the office of a specialist of New York city, and after he had completed his reading under him he began to practice under the directions of this preceptor. He matriculated in the Penn Medical University, in Philadelphia, at which he graduated in 1860. The same year he located at Saratoga Springs, New York, and began the practice of his profession. but soon moved to New York city, where a wider field was open to him. His office in the city for over thirty years has been at 120 Lexington avenue, and his practice may be said to be world-wide and lucrative. His patients may be found wherever the English and German languages are spoken. His name is not alone known here, where he has practiced so successfully, but he has achieved wide fame as the author of several books and monographs upon medicine, which have met a popular demand-the first one, "Medical Common Sense," next "Plain Home Talk," and finally "Science in Story," in five volumes. These, as well as the numerous monographs upon medicine, hygiene and the human temperaments, have found their way to nearly every part of the world. The late Stephen Massett, the extensive traveler, litterateur and song-writer, remarked that he had met with "Plain Home Talk " in every clime that he had visited, even so far away as South Africa. An address by Doctor Foote before the Medical Congress Auxiliary of the Columbian Exposition, in 1893, on the "Cause of Disease, Insanity and Death," received much favorable comment from the Chicago press, and awakened lively discussion in the body of physicians before which it was delivered. The Doctor edited and pub- 8
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lished "Dr. Foote's Health Monthly " for twenty years, and has contributed articles to different magazines and medical journals from time to time.
In the year 1853 Dr. Foote was joined in matrimony to Miss Catherine G. Bond, a daughter of John Bond, of Watertown, Massachusetts, in which state she grew to womanhood. To Doctor and Mrs. Foote have been born three sons,-E. B. Foote, Jr., Hubert T. and Alfred Herschel, the latter, a promising youth, dying of appendicitis at the age of twelve years. The Junior and Hubert have followed their father in the choice of their life work, and are rising physicians. Both are associated with their father in medical practice. Dr. E. B. Foote, Jr., was a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York City, of the class of 1876, carrying off the Seguin prize for the best report of the lectures on nervous diseases. The second son, Dr. Hubert T., a resident of New Rochelle, in this county, was gradu- ated at the Eclectic Medical College of the City of New York.
Doctor Foote was for twelve or thirteen years corresponding secretary of the Eclectic Medical Society of the State of New York, and is a highly re- spected member of New York County, State and National Eclectic Medical Associations. He also belongs to the Ohio Society of New York, the Con- necticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and was at one time the vice-president of the American Secular Union. He has accumu- lated a sufficient competency to enable him to pass the sunset years of a very busy life in comfort and ease, and richly deserves the eulogies so lavishly bestowed upon him in the Cyclopædia of American Biography and other bio- graphical works. He has been a resident of Larchmont Manor for the past eighteen years, his residence being, in its location, one of the most com- manding in the village; and so situated as to afford a magnificent view of Long Island Sound and the various inlets between Larchmont and New Rochelle.
ISAAC BRINKERHOFF LENT.
This prominent and useful citizen of Westchester county was born in the town of Yonkers, this county, in December, 1827, the son of Abraham and Catherine (Huestis) Lent. His father, who was a farmer all his life, was born in 1791, at Colenburg on the Hudson, in this county, and his father, Isaac Lent, also a native of that place, and a follower of agricultural pur- suits during life, died in 1845. The father of the last mentioned was named Jacob Lent. The ancestors of the Lent family in America were three broth- ers from Holland, named Henrich, Abramsen and Rysdych Lent, who re- ceivel a large land grant from King James which extended for miles along the Hudson river, a part of which now constitutes the town site of Croton, New York.
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Mrs. Catherine (Huestis) Lent was born in Somerstown, Westchester county, in 1793, the daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Huestis, natives of Mamaroneck, this county. Her grandfather, Thomas Huestis, was also a native of that place, descending from a French Huguenot family, the first American ancestor coming to this country about the year 1684.
Mr. Isaac B. Lent spent his boyhood in Yonkers, and for a time at- tended the public schools and afterward a private school taught by William C. Howe, who afterward was one of the associate judges of Westchester county. In his nineteenth year young Lent left the farm, and in 1847 began to learn the carpenter's trade, which he completed, and followed it until the year 1866, when he became interested in Monrovia and Cecil Park, and con- tinned to have more or less interest in the park until 1882, since which time he has been engaged in real estate and insurance.
Politically he is a Democrat of the Jeffersonian type, while on local matters he is independent in his vote. He has served as school trustee and tax collector for several years, and is a gentleman widely and favorably known. In 1893 he was appointed postmaster at Tuckahoe, and held the office during the administration of President Cleveland, or until 1898.
In 1851 he was united in matrimony with Miss Hester Burdett, of New York city, where she was born and brought up, her parents being Benjamin and Naomi Burdett. Mr. and Mrs. Lent have four children, namely: James B., Ivah, Herbert DuBois and Benjamin Franklin. Herbert DuBois married Miss Julia Merritt, of Tuckahoe, and has three children, -Marjoria M., Her- bert DuBois, Jr., and George Hunt. Benjamin Franklin married Miss Viola Bush, of New York city, and has one child, -Frank Burdett. Benjamin Franklin is engaged in the music business in Ithaca. New York; Herbert Du- Bois is an attorney at Mount Vernon; and James is a carpenter and builder of Tuckahoe.
JOHN W. SMITH, M. D.
The medical profession, in which more sacrifices are made for the good of humanity than in any other, is honored in Tuckahoe, New York, by the suc- cessful services of Dr. John W. Smith, who was born at Richfield Springs, Otsego county, this state, February 29, 1864; and hence the anniversary of . his birthday strictly comes but once in four years-a " quadrenniversary " as it were. His parents, Michael and Jane (Dorsey) Smith, were natives of Ire- land, where they were reared and married, and soon afterward they emigrated to the United States, settling at Richfield Springs; and here Doctor Smith was brought up and educated in the public schools and at Richfield Springs Seminary, the principal of which was the successful educator, Samuel West. His professional studies he pursued under the preceptorship of Dr. J. D. Fitch,
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of Schuyler Lake, New York, and in the medical department of the Univer- sity of New York City, graduating in 1889. Soon after this he was appointed physician to the New York Infant Asylum at Mount Vernon, which position he resigned after serving one year. In the fall of 1889 he moved to Tucka- hoe, where he succeeded the late Charles G. Nordquist and where he has since continued in the successful practice of his profession. The Doctor is a member of the Westchester County Medical Society, is the health officer of his town, and is a member of the Royal Arcanum and of the Catholic Benevolent Legion. He has an excellent patronage, and is considered a thorough and reliable physician.
In 1889 the Doctor was united in marriage with Miss Constance Isher- wood, of New York city, and a daughter of Commodore Isherwood, and he has a son and a daughter.
ISAAC H. LENT.
" Business is the salt of life," says Feltham, "which gives not only a grateful smack to it, but also dries up those crudities that would offend, preserves from putrefaction and drives off all those blowing flies that would corrupt it;" and says Dr. Holland. " The secret of many a man's success in the world resides in his insight into the moods of men and his tact in dealing with them." Many more apothegms could be appropriately cited in our estimate of the subject of this sketch, who is the successful proprietor and manager of the New Rochelle Carriage Repository, to the business of which establishment he has devoted his attention since 1892.
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