USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume I > Part 19
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Mr. Allen was married in 1883 to Miss Charlotte Mary Jones, a daugh- ter of John Jones, of Staffordshire, England, she having been one of the playmates of his childhood. They are the parents of five children, namely, Sarah Jane, Charlotte Abigail, Edward Ernest, Prudence May and Marion. The family attend the St. Andrews' church, Episcopal, at Yonkers.
JAMES GIBSON.
One of the worthy citizens that Scotland has furnished to the New World is James Gibson, who for almost forty years has been prominently identified with the agricultural interests of Westchester county, his present home being
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James Gibson
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in Mount Pleasant township. He was born in Soutra Mains, Fala parish, Midlothian, Scotland, October 24, 1816, and is a son of William and Eliza- beth (Wilson) Gibson, who spent their entire lives in that country, as farming people. In religious faith they were Presbyterians. Their family numbered six children, namely: William, who died in Troy, Rensselaer county, New York; Alexander, who also died in Troy; James, our subject; George, who is now living retired in Schenectady, New York; Robert, who died in Greenock, Scotland; and Isabella, widow of George W. Brockway, of Auburn, New York.
James Gibson was reared and educated in his native land, but in early life decided to try his fortune on this side of the Atlantic, and accordingly he came to the United States in 1835, locating first in New York city, where he engaged in the baking business until 1858. After two years spent in Brook- lyn, he came to Westchester county, in 1860, and here he has since made his home. His first purchase consisted of a tract of sixty-three acres, which he successfully operated for thirty years, and then sold the same to the Kensico Cemetery Association, purchasing his present farm of seventy acres, between Unionville and East View. He has given special attention to dairy farming, and in his undertakings has met with excellent success.
In 1843 Mr. Gibson was united in marriage with Miss Jane Brown, also a native of Scotland, born October 3, 1817, a daughter of Joseph and Jane (Gibson) Brown. She died on the 29th of November, 1897, after a happy married life of over half a century. Two children were born to them, the older being Jane, wife of Moses W. Taylor, of this county. William W., who resides on the home farm with his father, first married a Miss Mabie, of New York city, by whom he had one child, Jessie; and for his second wife married a Miss Christie, the children born of this union being Thomas, deceased; David H .; Catherine; and Cornelia.
In his potitical affiliations Mr. Gibson is a stanch Democrat, and in religious faith is a Presbyterian. By his honorable, upright life he has gained the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact, and wherever known he is held in high regard.
SAMUEL COMLY.
Mr. Comly, a representative citizen of Port Chester, was born July 5, 1835, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he lived until 1863, when he came to Port Chester and identified himself with the Russell, Burdsall & Ward Company in their large bolt and nut works, where he filled the position of secretary until 1882. Then he became one of the organizers and one of the largest stockholders of the Port Chester Bolt & Nut Company, with
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which he has since been connected as treasurer. This establishment is a large concern, giving employment to many men. It is now one of the largest manufactories of the kind in the country. He and his partner, William L. Ward, who is now a member of congress, really own the greater portion of the stock.
Mr. Comly, in his political views, is a stanch Republican. He has been a member of the board of trustees of the village for a number of years, active in city government. He has never desired public office, preferring to devote his energies to his business, in which he is a successful manager. He is president of the board of trade. In respect to religion, he is of the Quaker faith.
In matrimony he was united with Miss Emma M. Vail, of Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and they have two children: Walter S., the eldest, is the general sales agent for the company in which his father is interested; and Anna is the wife of Frederick H. Maples, of this place.
PATRICK J. CURRAN.
One of the city fathers of Yonkers, Westchester county, is P. J. Curran, who for two terms has been alderman from the sixth ward and is accounted a very influential man in the local Democratic party. He is a native of county Waterford, Ireland, born in 1851, and when a child of twelve years he accompanied his father, John Curran, a native of the same section of the Emerald Isle, to this country. He attended school in Yonkers and had also gone to school in the land of his birth. When he was in his sixteenth year he dropped his studies and started out to earn his own livelihood, in which enterprise he was successful from the start. For some time he worked in the silk mills in Yonkers, and so thoroughly mastered the details of the busi- ness that he was offered a position as foreman of McFarland's silk mills, and continued with that concern for five or six years. He then engaged in the liquor business and has followed this calling ever since, -a period of twenty- one years.
The effective service which he has rendered his party in many campaigns, local and otherwise, was acknowledged when, in 1895, he was honored by being elected to the board of aldermen. The first year that he was a mem- ber of that body he was one of committees on public works, lamps and stone- crushers. He was re-elected in 1897 and is now serving his third year in the office. In company with Mr. Broderick he was influential in securing the new public bath-house in his ward and a handsome new school-house, it being designated as No. 12. He uses his influence on behalf of progressive enter- prises and improvements and is in favor of the best streets and public build-
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ings that the town can afford; and during his term much has been done in the line of macadamizing, paving and grading streets here. He makes a point of attending the various local and county conventions of his party and spares neither time, energy nor expense in promoting its welfare. He is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and of the Exempt Firemen's Association. In religious faith he is a Roman Catholic.
Mr. Curran has been twice married, the first time in 1873, the lady of his choice being Miss Ellen Burnett. February 6, 1889, he wedded Mary McGrath, and to them the following named children have been born: John, Mary, Marguerite, Joseph, Patrick, Jr., Catherine and Thomas. The last- named died in infancy.
HENRY RUDOLPH.
This gentleman, who is considered by all who know him as one of the progressive German-American citizens of Mount Vernon, Westchester county, is a property-owner here and stands well in the estimation of all with whom he has dealings. In fact, he is one of the founders of the city, as in 1851 he came here, and, in company with other gentlemen from New York city, purchased a large portion of what now constitutes the site of Mount Ver- non. The following year he settled here permanently, and from that time until the present, has been actively and earnestly identified with the devel- opment and improvement of the place.
Conrad Rudolph, the father of our subject, was a native of Germany and was employed at various occupations during his lifetime, which covered sixty-seven years. He was the father of two sons and two daughters, namely: Catherine Elizabeth, Maria Elizabeth, Balthazar and Henry.
The subject of this sketch was born July 27, 1827, in Hebel, Kur-Hes- sen, Germany, and in the schools of his fatherland obtained an excellent education. Then he set about learning the tailor's trade, and at the age of twenty-four sailed for America, where he hoped to find broader opportunities for endeavor. The lot assigned to Mr. Rudolph, a portion of the tract pur- chased by the founders of Mount Vernon, was designated as lot No. I, and was in that part of the town subsequently known as West Mount Vernon. Mr. Rudolph owned at one time eight lots, which he greatly improved. He has dealt some in real estate but has not confined his attention to this one department of trade. Long ago he abandoned the tailor's trade and for years has been engaged in the sale of boots and shoes. In 1884 he bought the site and built the business block at No. 62 West First street, and established his store here. He commands a good trade and has for his patrons many of the best people of the city. He still owns some valuable real estate in this locality and is well-to-do, as the direct result of careful business methods.
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From the time he cast his first ballot to the present he has always voted the straight Republican ticket. For some time he served as treasurer of the village and was a member of the school board of West Mount Vernon. In his native land he participated in the Revolution of 1848, serving in the Liebgarte First Infantry, and altgether was in the army for three years, in various German cities. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church and has acted in nearly all of the official positions in the church. He was married in August, 1851, to Martha Wiederhold, and by this union has three children, namely: Louis, Henry and Martha Elizabeth. The eldest son, Louis, is engaged in the plumbing and steam-fitting business, and is foreman of a large New York establishment, but has his home in Mount Vernon. He married Mary Struntz and they have three children-John, Louis and Anna.
HENRY OSTERHELD.
This prominent business man of Yonkers and well-known member of the firm of Eichemeyer & Osterheld, is now postmaster of this place, hav- ing been appointed to the office in 1898. He is an ardent supporter of the Republican party principles, as everyone hereabout knows, and everything bearing upon the public welfare receives his earnest attention. He is a man of broad and public-spirited views, and is always to be safely relied upon to stand by progressive movements, especially those which affect for good his fellow citizens.
For several generations the ancestors of our subject were foresters in the employ of the Bavarian and Baden governments. Carl Osterheld, grand- father of our subject, resided in Bavaria much of his life, though he was a native of Baden-Baden. Like others of his family, he was employed by the government up to the time of his death, which occurred when he had attained the age of seventy-two years. In stature he was very large, and physically a strong man, these being family characteristics. The father of our subject was also a forester in the employ of the government, and died in his native land, in 1865, when sixty-seven years old. He had three sons, the eldest of whom, Carl, is now engaged in the express business in Philadelphia. George, the second son, was a member of the firm of Eichemeyer & Osterheld, and at his death was succeeded by our subject.
Henry Osterheld was born in a small village of Bavaria, Germany, De- cember 10, 1838, a son of Theodore and Catharine (Bredels) Osterheld, and attended school there until he was thirteen years of age, when he accom- panied his parents to Kaiserslautern, where better educational advantages were to be obtained. He entered the Latin preparatory school and later graduated in the " real schule." As his two elder brothers had chosen to
Henry Osterheld.
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enter different kinds of business from that of their ancestors, it was the earn- est desire of our subject's father that his son Henry should follow in the cus- tom of his forefathers. The young man, therefore, took a course of instruc- tion in the College of Forestry, at Ashaffenburg, and was graduated at the age of twenty years. Before accepting a position, however, he determined to see something of America, and the result of this move was that he did not carry out his original plan.
It was nearly forty years ago that Henry Osterheld landed on the shores of the New World. He proceeded at once to Yonkers, where his brother was engaged in business as a member of the firm of Osterheld & Eichemeyer, hat-machine manufacturers. Employment was given him in the shops, and he remained there until the land of his adoption needed his services, when he was one of the first to respond. He had previously been a member of the Otis Guards, or Wide-awakes, and in April, 1861, he joined the Fifth New York State militia at Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men for three months. He continued in the army, re-enlisting after the second battle of Bull Run, and being assigned to Company F, Sixty-eighth New York Volun- teers. He rose from the ranks to be sergeant, and as such fought at the battle of Chancellorsville in May, 1863. During the battle of Gettysburg his regiment was transferred to Tennessee, where they assisted in a series of attempts to raise the siege of Chattanooga and establish a base of supplies. They participated in the memorable engagements at Chattanooga and Mis- sionary Ridge. In January, 1864, the regiment was returned to New York on veterans' furloughs, and, after recruiting their diminished ranks, again went to the front. Mr. Osterheld was appointed to serve on General Rose- crans' staff as assistant inspector of railroad defenses in the Department of the Cumberland, Major James R. Willett being the chief inspector at that time. This department was then transferred to General Thomas' command, and Mr. Osterheld was sent to Nashville, Tennessee, as assistant chief inspector and took charge of the topographical engineers' department. Once, in 1864, the extremely dangerous and difficult duty of constructing a pontoon bridge across the Duck river was a task given to our subject to perform. The river was very high and afforded great hindrances, and the weather was so severe that the workmen had to be relieved every few hours. Mr. Osterheld, however, stood by his post of duty, superintending the work without rest or relief during the thirty-six hours which it required for its successful comple- tion. Subsequently he was transferred to the chief engineer's department, becoming assistant to the chief engineer, Major-General Z. B. Tower, head of the military division of the army of the Tennessee. He continued to serve in branch of the army until he was mustered out and honorably discharged in May, 1866. Thus, one of the very first to go to the rescue of his country,.
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he was one of the last to be mustered out of her service after the war. Returning from the battle-fields of the south to Yonkers, Mr. Osterheld re-entered the employ of the firm of Eichemeyer & Osterheld, this time as a bookkeeper. In 1870 he resigned that position in order to accept that of storekeeper in the New York custom-house. Later he was made liquidating clerk and finally United States gauger. He was thus in the employ of the government again for some ten years, as he resigned his last position in 1880. His brother had then been dead for two years and he took his vacant place in the old Yonkers firm. The plant of Eichemeyer & Osterheld is a large and prosperous one. One building is one hundred, and seventy-five by fifty feet in dimensions, and is a three-story brick structure; another building is seventy-five by fifty feet, and still another is of frame, and is fifty by sixty feet. Employment is given to quite a number of men and the business long since was accounted one of the leading industries of this place.
February 16, 1864, Mr. Osterheld married Miss Kate Eichemeyer, a daughter of Rudolph Eichemeyer, Sr., and their children are: Theodore, the eldest son, a graduate of the mining department of Columbia College, and located in Pueblo, Mexico, where he is interested in mining operations; Mrs. Schopen, whose husband, a physician, died at the age of twenty-seven years; Dr. Carl, the second son, is a graduate of the College of Physicians and Sur- geons, of Columbia University, and is also a resident of Pueblo, Mexico, where he is occupied in professional duties; Theresa is the wife of Edwin William Denning, an artist, and resides in this city; and Nellie, the youngest of the family, is living with her parents.
At one time Mr. Osterheld was a very prominent man in Grand Army circles. He was commander of Kitchen Post for a number of years and in 1879 was elected senior vice-commander for the state of New York, with the rank of brigadier-general. In October, 1882, he was marshal of the sixth, or business, division of the grand parade in the bi-centennial celebration of the founding of this city. He has been one of the police commissioners of this place and has been second to none in his interest in matters of municipal improvement. He is a member of the Yonkers Club and has been a liberal contributor to the various churches and benevolent institutions of this vicinity.
CHARLES MERRITT.
Charles Merritt was born in New York city, January 5, 1842, and is a son of George and Eveline (Conkling) Merritt. The Merritt family have long been identified with the Empire state and for many years were residents of Ulster county. George Merritt, the grandfather of Charles, was a farmer of Ulster county, his home being near Shrub Oak, opposite Poughkeepsie.
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He and his wife Mary were the parents of three children, George, Gilbert and Stephen. He was a successful man, accumulated a competency dur- ing his active life, and for a number of years before his death lived re- tired. His death occurred in 1856, at the age of eighty years. His body was interred in Eighteenth Street Methodist Episcopal cemetery, but was subsequently removed to Woodlawn cemetery, the family burying-ground. His eldest son George, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Ulster county in 1801, for some years was engaged in farming on the old homestead in that county, and on leaving the farm, removed to New York city and engaged in the trucking business, owning the first spring truck that was used in New York and for years carrying on an extensive and successful business. For two years he was located on Perry street and in 1834 he removed to the corner of Twentieth street and Eighth avenue. He was a volunteer fireman for five years and was a member of the Exempt Firemen's Association, and he was at the celebrated fire of 1835. Politically, he was first a Whig and later a Democrat, always active in politics, and filled a number of responsible positions. He was alderman from the six- teenth ward; held a position in the United States custom-house under Fill- more's administration; and was an enthusiastic attendant at numerous conventions. Fraternally, he was for many years identified with the Masonic order. Temperate and correct in all his habits, a great reader and a close observer, he retained his vigor of both mind and body. At the age of sixty years he ran a foot race on a wager, with a young man of sixteen years, around City Hall park, and won. He was a man of deep piety, a member of the old Eighteenth Street Methodist Episcopal church, and trustee of the church for a number of years. His good wife also was a devoted Christian and a member of that church. He died in 1887, at the age of eighty-six years, and she in 1898, at the age of ninety-six. Their children in order of birth are George, Gobin, Stephen, Mary, Augustus and Charles.
Charles Merritt, the direct subject of this review, received his education in the public schools, which he attended until he was fourteen. At that time he left school to learn the plumber's trade, which occupied his time until he was twenty. At that age he engaged in business on his own account at Seventh avenue and Twenty-first street. Subsequently he moved to Twenty-third street, and from there to the corner of Twentieth street and Eighth avenue, where he has carried on business for thirty years. His plumber's license is dated 1861, and he is to-day one of the oldest licensed plumbers in the city of New York, and his establishment is the oldest in the six- teenth ward.
In 1893 Mr. Merritt came to Yonkers and invested in real estate, and established a branch plumbing business here, and he also invested in real
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estate at Lowerre, much of which he has disposed of at good advantage. Also, as agent, he has handled a large amount of real estate, chiefly at Caryl. In his various business ventures he has met with success and has accumu- lated considerable means.
Politically, he is a radical Democrat, active and enthusiastic in promot- ing the interest of his party. He has been an attendant at every Democratic national convention, except the Bryan convention, since the meeting of the one that nominated George B. McClellan, to many of which he has been a delegate. For two years he was sanitary plumbing engineer in the health department of New York city; was special agent in connection with the dis- trict attorney's office; was in the New York custom-house, by appointment from Washington, D. C .; and while residing in New York was one of the Democratic leaders in the sixteenth ward, being familiarly known as the "old war-horse" of that ward. For five years he served in the Volunteer Fire Department. He is a member of the order of United Workmen and attends worship at the Baptist church.
Mr. Merritt was first married, in 1862, to Miss Ada Hyatt, daughter of George L. Hyatt. She died October 4, 1874, at the age of thirty-four years, leaving two children, namely: Charles, a plumber of New York city; and Ida, wife of Harry Cortelyou, of Brooks Brothers, clothiers, of New York city. For his second wife he married, in 1883, Miss Isabella Mayo, daughter of Charles Mayo, a ship carpenter of New York city. Their union has been blessed in the birth of two children-Winfield Scott and Isabella Ruth.
H. EUGENE SMITH, M. D.
A native of New Jersey, Dr. H. Eugene Smith, of Mount \ born in Jersey City, on the 4th of July, 1860, and is a son o Smith, who for a number of years was a successful and promine! of New York city, and was also instrumental in organizing the P. of Mount Vernon, being elected its first president and serving as a mitnivel of its directorate up to the time of his death, which occurred on December 1, 1890. He was a splendid financier, possessing great sagacity and a judg- ment rarely at fault, had great perseverance and force of character, and was equally prominent in business and in social life by reason of his unquestioned reliability and honor, his courtesy and genuine worth. He married Maria L. Fleming, and to them were born two children, the daughter being Annie E., wife of the Hon. Edwin W. Fiske, mayor of the city of Mount Vernon. The mother of these children died December 14, 1892.
The son, Dr. H. Eugene Smith, acquired his education in New York city, where for a time he attended the public schools and later pursued his
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studies in a private school. When he began to consider the problems of life and to determine what pursuit he desired to make his life work, he thought of the medical profession and resolved to devote his energies to the allevia- tion of human suffering. To this end he entered the medical department of the University of New York city and on the completion of the regular course was graduated and received the degree of M. D. For eighteen months there- after he practiced in a hospital and added to his theoretical knowledge a practical experience that well fitted him for duties along the line of his chosen vocation. He then began the practice of medicine in New York city, where he continued until the removal of his office to Mount Vernon in 1884. His labors have been crowned with a high degree of success and he has a liberal and constantly increasing patronage.
The Doctor is a member of the Westchester County Medical Society, the State Medical Society and the Jenkins Medical Society, and is the pres- ent health officer of Mount Vernon. His medical lore is comprehensive and accurate, and in addition he possesses the tact, the sympathy and the skill of the successful medical practitioner. Socially he is connected with many fraternal and benevolent orders. He is a very prominent Mason, having at- tained to the Knight Templar degree, while of the Mystic Shrine he is also a member. He belongs to the Red Men of America, the Foresters, the Knights of St. John of Malta, the Sons of Veterans, the National Guards of the State of New York, and is surgeon of the post of the Eleventh Battalion, of the grade of captain. He is also president of the City Club of Mount Vernon, of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of Mount Vernon, and the New York Athletic Club. In politics he is pronounced Democrat, un- wavering in support of his party. His skill and ability in the line of his chosen calling have gained him prestige in professional circles, his social qualities have made him a favorite with many friends, and his prominence in the city of his adoption well entitles him to representation among its leading men.
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