USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume I > Part 22
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which he served for five years, with credit to himself and to the best interests of the village at large.
Mr. Knapp's business interests have claimed the greater part of his attention, however, and in his undertakings he has met with marked success. He has erected a large and conveniently arranged brick barn for his car- riages and vehicles of all kinds, including a goodly array of buggies, wagons, victorias, hacks, coupes, single and double, and all of modern build and style. He keeps a large number of horses to be driven in single or double harness, speedy and safe for gentleman's or lady's driving. He keeps others especially for gentlemen's use, and also employs careful drivers and experi- enced help about the barns. He is a man of pleasing personality, genial and affable, and is one of the most popular business men of Tarrytown.
FREDERICK W. FLINT.
For many years prominently identified with the business interests of New York city, Frederick W. Flint is now an important factor in the public life of Larchmont. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, on the 27th of March, 1852, his parents being Thompson J. S. and Mary Elizabeth (James) Flint. The Flint family is of English origin, and the first of the name of whom we have record was Henry Flint, the father of Rev. Henry Flint, the founder of the family in America. In 1640 he crossed the Atlantic and founded a church in Boston, Massachusetts. The grandfather of our subject was Ephraim Flint, a native of New Hampshire, and Thompson J. S. Flint was a native of Massachusetts, his birth having occurred in Concord, that state, on the 6th of July, 1811. His early educational training was received in the public schools of Baldwin, Maine, and in 1826, when fifteen years of age, he went to New York city, entering Washington Institute, which was at that time conducted by his uncle, John Flint. He remained in that school for eight years, the last four as teacher of mathematics.
In 1835 Thompson J. S. Flint removed to Tremont, Illinois, where he made the acquaintance of Miss Mary Elizabeth James, to whom he was mar- ried in Tremont, October 19, 1837. She was born in Scituate, Massachu- setts, February 25, 1817, and was a daughter of Josiah L. James, a promi- nent real-estate dealer of Chicago. They became the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters: Mary F., Adell E., Edward E., James L., Helena and Frederick W.
After his marriage the father of this family engaged in merchandising in Pekin, Illinois, where he continued to reside until 1852, when he removed to Chicago and entered upon a wider field of usefulness and activity. He built the first grain elevator in that city and rapidly gained a foremost place among
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the leading representatives of commercial interests in that city. He remained in Chicago until 1864, when he removed to New York, becoming an import- ant factor in the business life of America's metropolis. In 1870 he was elected president of the Continental Bank, which position he filled with marked ability until 1873, when he resigned. The crowning labor of his eventful life was the organization of the settlement of Larchmont Manor, in Westchester county, New York. In 1872 he took up his residence there and continued to make it his home until called to his final rest, July 17, 1881. He purchased three hundred and fifty acres of E. K. Collins, and became the founder of the now flourishing village of Larchmont. He left the impress of his strong individuality upon that place and upon all the varied interests with which he was in any way associated. His was a well rounded and symmet- rical character, and over his life record there fell no shadow of wrong.
His youngest son, Frederick W. Flint, spent the first ten years of his life in the city of his nativity and accompanied his parents to New York on their return to the east. He was educated in a private school conducted by George C. Anthon at the corner of Fifth avenue and Twenty-sixth street, and on putting aside his text- books in order to learn the more difficult lessons in the school of experience he became his father's assistant. With him he was associated for a few years, and then opened a broker's office at No. 33 Broadway, New York. On the expiration of that period he removed to Larchmont and assumed the management of the Larchmont Manor Com- pany. He now occupies the old manor house, one of the landmarks in Westchester county. It was erected by Peter Monroe, in 1814, and was owned and occupied by him for a number of years. It was built of heavy timbers with spacious rooms and wide halls, greatly resembling the old manor houses of England. This property was afterward purchased by E. K. Collins, who in turn sold it to Thompson J. S. Flint, who occupied the home for many years. Frederick W. Flint has since repaired the building, preserving, however, the original design. The residence is surrounded by spacious lawns, beautifully decorated by flowering and ornamental shrubs and plants and shaded by natural forest trees of elm, oak, walnut and maple. It is a most beautiful and picturesque spot, -one of the most attractive homes in this section of the county.
Mr. Flint has other valuable possessions, and though the management of his property interests makes heavy demands upon his time, he yet finds opportunity to lend his aid and influence to many measures which prove of public benefit. He is secretary of the Larchmont Water Company, and is also a member of the firm of Roger, Lampson & Company, of New York city.
In politics he is a pronounced Democrat, is a warm personal friend of
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Grover Cleveland, and in the Cleveland campaigns took an active interest. He is a member of the official board of the Humane Society for the preven- tion of cruelty to dumb animals, and is a man of broad humanitarian prin- ciples and deep sympathy, quick to respond to a call for aid or to the promptings of charity. In manner he is very genial and affable, and is a great favorite in social circles. He was one of the founders of the Larch- mont Yacht Club, a club among the first in the country, having a member- ship of six hundred, the full limit. Since its organization he has held many of its offices, and its success is largely due his efforts.
AMBROSE C. MONTROSS.
The subject of this sketch, who for fourteen years has been a resident of Larchmont, where he now successfully conducts a livery and boarding stable, has led a life of honest toil, and his business interests have been so managed as to win the confidence of the public and the prosperity which should always attend honorable effort.
A representative of an old and prominent family of Westchester county, Mr. Montross was born in Peekskill, on the 6th of December, 1849, and is the youngest son of Andrew Jackson and Harriet (Tuttle) Montross. The father was also a native of Westchester county and a carpenter by trade, but during the later years of his life engaged in the livery business, which he car- ried on successfully up to the time of his death in 1855. His wife, who sur- vived him many years, passed away in 1896, when in her seventy-eighth year. She was a daughter of James Tuttle, who also was born in West- chester county.
The subject of this sketch was principally reared in the village of Peeks- kill, at which place he received a good common-school education. After leaving school he learned the trade of baker, and later that of a slate roofer, but did not devote his time to these occupations for any length of time, as he afterward accepted a position as clerk in a hotel at Peekskill. On leav- ing the hotel he entered the employ of R. H. Wolf & Company, manufac- turers of wire, at Peekskill, and remained with them five years, holding the position of shipping clerk the greater part of the time. In 1884 he came to Larchmont and started in the livery business, and to-day has a fine stable capable of accommodating forty horses. He also has a fine line of vehicles, -in fact everything belonging to a first-class stable, and from the public re- ceives a liberal patronage.
Mr. Montross married Miss Annie Chandler, of Peekskill, in which vil- lage she was born and reared, a daughter of William and Frances Chandler. They have become the parents of five children: Bertha; Emma, now the
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wife of Charles Freeman, clerk in the postoffice at New Rochelle, New York; Mildred; Carrie; and one son, who died in infancy.
Politically Mr. Montross is a pronounced Republican, and for three years acceptably served as receiver of taxes in the town of Larchmont. So- cially he is a member of Sheldrake Council, Royal Arcanum.
JOHN J. BRODERICK.
Prominent among the representative citizens of Yonkers and Westchester county, stands the gentleman of whom this sketch is penned. In the coun- cils of the Democratic party he occupies a respected place, his wide influence being generally acknowledged. All improvements and progressive move- ments receive his earnest support, and he has done heroic service in behalf of better school facilities for the rising generation of this locality. Both within and outside his party he is respected and admired for the manner in which he has advocated local enterprises, doing everything in his power to make this a beautiful modern city.
Yonkers is a native place of J. J. Broderick, which fact, perhaps, in a measure accounts for the interest he has always maintained in its develop- ment. Born in the sixth ward, February 22, 1858, he is a son of Michael Broderick, a well-known citizen. He was educated in school No. 6 and St. Mary's parochial school up to the time he was sixteen. He then was em- ployed for a short time in the Waring hat factory, after which he was in the west for two or more years, occupied in railroading. Returning, he has given his attention to the hotel business for the past twenty years, and has made a success of the same, now owning two hotels, which receive a large patronage.
A number of years ago Mr. Broderick was elected as an alderman from the sixth ward, and afterward was similarly honored in the third ward. He has since served as one of the city fathers, continuously, his majorities at elections running from five to six hundred votes, in a ward which boasts of but nineteen hundred votes. At one time or another he has officiated on all the important committees of the board and for a time was president of the honorable body. He has also acted as mayor of the city upon several oc- casions. As previously stated, he has been specially interested in the cause of the education of the young, favoring all measures of progress in this direc- tion, and was influential in securing schools Nos. 9 and 12 in the sixth ward. Among other improvements which he secured for this ward are two fire- engine houses, with three companies of men; a public bath house; various street alterations for their amelioration, and the opening up of several new streets. When the matter of having a public-works department was being
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agitated in this city, he was one of its strongest advocates, neglecting no effort to secure this important and effective part of the civic system, even going to the legislature, in order to supervise personally the passage of a bill which had been introduced there creating this department. His influence in high places is well known, and his word has great weight with the 'author- ities in the distribution of federal and various other official appointments. In 1897 he was a candidate for the position of sheriff of Westchester county, and, though defeated, it was by seven hundred and one votes, only, and he was the first Democrat who had ever carried the third assembly district.
Mr. Broderick is a relative of the noted "Dave" Broderick, first of New York city and afterward of California, where he was killed in a duel with the red-handed Judge Terry of that state. John J. Broderick married Miss Lizzie Brennan, and their surviving children are Margaret, John, Thomas and David.
JOHN WESLEY BARNHART.
At Tarrytown, New York, is located the beautiful home of Dr. John Hendley Barnhart. It stands in the midst of Windle Park, and commands a splendid view of the Hudson river and the scenes made famous by Wash- ington Irving. The Doctor is the son of the Rev. John Wesley Barnhart, whose devoted and able labors in the Methodist Episcopal church made his name a household word in every community in which he engaged in gospel work. He was born in Marlboro, New York, September 9, 1833, his parents being George Winslow and Sarah E. (Purdy) Barnhart. They were devout Christian people, and reared their fifteen children to love and serve God and their fellow-men. The father, who was a respected farmer and school- teacher, died in 1871, at the age of seventy-one years, and the mother passed away in 1891, at the age of eighty-one years. Of their sixty descend- ants, all except a few of the youngest are members of the Methodist Episco- pal church, and are more or less active workers in the congregations with which they are connected.
In his youth, the Rev. John W. Barnhart learned the wagonmaker's trade, which he followed in connection with farming. When twenty-one years of age, he determined to gain a better education than had been afforded him by the public schools, and overcoming all obstacles-and there were many in his way-he entered the Charlotteville Seminary, in Char- lotteville, New York, and later matriculated in the Hudson River Institute, at Claverack, where he pursued the higher branches of study. He worked his way through college, and after spending four years at Wesleyan Uni- versity, at Middletown, Connecticut, he was graduated with honors in that institution, on the 20th of June, 1861. Immediately afterward he turned
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his attention to educational labors, securing a position as principal of a semi- nary at Moorestown, New Jersey, and not long afterward became proprietor of that school. While in college he served as a local preacher, and gave evidence of the genius and the beauty of spirit which were always noticeable in him. In the fall of 1864 he secured a charter from the state of Pennsyl- vania and organized the Fairmount Female College, located in Green street, Philadelphia. He conducted that school with marked ability and great suc- cess, at the same time devoting his energies in a large measure to ministerial work. In April, 1867, he joined the New York East conference and served as pastor of the following churches, in the order named: Tompkins avenue church, Brooklyn; Forsyth street church, New York city; First Place church, Brooklyn; First church, Greenpoint; St. John street, New Haven; Green avenue church, Brooklyn; and the church of his denomination at Danbury, Connecticut. During the last nine years of his life, at his own request, he was not assigned a regular pastorate, but he was faithful and zealous in his labors in the Master's vineyard until death called him to his reward, January 25, 1897. His last days were passed in Tarrytown, and he held the office of trustee in the Tarrytown Methodist Episcopal church, proving a valued assistant to the pastor and the people. His loss is deeply mourned by all who enjoyed his acquaintance, but his example and influence are a lasting power for good in every community where he dwelt. He was a man of exceptional business and executive ability, and showed great discernment and sagacity in the investment of his individual funds and of those of the various churches over which he presided. He was most charitable and benevolent, and gave freely of his means to the poor and needy, believing himself to be but a steward of the Lord, and accountable to Him for the use of his means. His estimable wife still survives him, her home being in Tarrytown. She bore the maiden name of Ellen Frances Miller, is a native of Middletown, Connecticut, and a daughter of Caleb and Mary B. (Hendley) Miller.
Dr. John H. Barnhart, son of this honored clergyman, was born in Brooklyn, New York, October 4, 1871, and acquired his earlier education in private schools. He was graduated at Wesleyan University, in the class of 1892, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He did not then put aside his text-books, but continued his studies, and later successfully passed the exami- nation for the degree of Master of Arts which was then conferred upon him. In the autumn of 1893 he became a student in the medical department of Columbia University of New York city, and, after completing the regular course of study there, was graduated in 1896, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
On the 5th of May, 1897, Doctor Barnhart was united in marriage to Miss Emma Gertrude Platt, of Southampton, Long Island, a lady of superior
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education and culture, who presides over her pretty home with grace and charming hospitality. Her father is Hubert Merwin Platt, a respected citi- zen of Southampton. The Doctor and his wife are members of the Asbury Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is serving as a member of the board of trustees.
WILLIAM MOSS.
For the past ten years this worthy citizen of Tarrytown, Westchester county, has been engaged in the boot and shoe business here, and by honesty and square dealing has built up a large and remunerative trade. By strict attention to business and just regards for the needs and wishes of his patrons he has wrought out financial success for himself and has won a place among the leading citizens as a man of public spirit and enterprise. Politically he is affiliated with the Democratic party, and for two years he served as one of the trustees of the town. In Masonic circles he stands deservedly high, his membership being with Solomon Lodge, No. 196, F. & A. M., Tarry- town, of which he is now acting in the office of master. He is also past high priest of Irving Chapter, No. 268, R. A. M., and is a member of Morton Commandery, No. 4, K. T.
William Moss, Sr., the father of our subject, was a native of England, as were also his ancestors, but he resided for a few years in the southern part of Ireland, where he had business interests. He chose for his wife a Miss Sarah Enright, and of the children born to them William, of this sketch, is the second eldest living.
The date of the birth of William Moss, Jr., is November 1, 1845. He spent the first fifteen years of his life in the Emerald Isle, the land of his nativity, and received an excellent education. In 1860 he took one of the most important steps in his career, for he came to the United States, which was thenceforth to be the land of his adoption and patriotic allegiance. He arrived in the city of Boston, and soon afterward went to Montreal, where he remained until the civil war in the states had ceased and affairs had set- tled down to an assured peace basis. In 1868 he took up his residence in the city of New York and for a period of four years made his home there. At the expiration of that time he came to Tarrytown and entered the employ of George and David Silver, manufacturers of boots and shoes. He contin- ued with that firm for sixteen years, thoroughly mastering the details of the business, and in 1888 he decided to establish a store of his own in North Tar- rytown. He has succeeded even beyond his expectations in his enterprise, and, while attending to his personal interests, he has not neglected the wider and more far-reaching duties of good citizenship.
In 1872 Mr. Moss married Mary A. Bellington, of New Brighton, Staten
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Island, New York. Mrs. Moss is a native of England, and was brought to this country by her parents when she was two years old. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Moss is graced by two daughters, Ella Mary and Josie Enright. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, Mr. Moss being one of the trustees of the congregation. He was very influential in the establishment of the church, and gave liberally of his means to the good work. At all times he may be found using his influence in the support of religious and benevolent enterprises, and all measures having for their object the uplifting and advancement of his fellow men are warmly seconded by him. The Moss family reside in an attractive home on Washington street, and. within its hospitable walls their numerous friends love to congregate.
MUNSON E. FROST.
Fortunate is he who has back of him an ancestry honorable and distin- guished, and happy is he if his lines of life are cast in harmony therewith. Our subject is blessed in this respect, for he springs from a prominent family, which was early founded in this section of the state.
John Frost, the first of the family of whom we have any authentic. record, made his home on the banks of the Croton river, in Putnam county, New York, near the Westchester county line. He was a farmer and shoemaker by occupation, was a very industrious and honest man, a true Christian gentle- man and a rigid Baptist. He was quite domestic in his tastes, and died at an advanced age, during the Revolutionary war, at the home above men- tioned. He married a Miss Munson, of Connecticut, who belonged to one of the old and honored families of that state.
Ebenezer Frost, a son of this worthy couple, was born July 8, 1776, was reared on the old homestead, and, with his brother Joel, learned the hat- ter's trade, which he continued to follow for some time. He then engaged in the mercantile business at Somers, and later at West Somers until his death, and for forty years filled the office of postmaster at that place. He also served as justice of the peace for some years, and in 1838 was one of the commissioners to locate the road around the old Croton dam. He was solicited to take stock in the first elephant that was brought to America; always took quite an active interest in military affairs, serving as captain of the light-horse cavalry, and was one of the promoters and a charter member of the Westchester County National Bank, remaining as one of its directors until his death, which occurred in October, 1854. As a business man and private citizen he stood high in the estimation of his fellow men and had the respect and confidence of all with whom he came in contact. He was a life- long Democrat, taking great interest in political affairs, and was one of ten
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in the town of Somers to support Thomas Jefferson for the presidency. He wedded Miss Mary Green, a daughter of Samuel and Amy (Fowler) Green, who came from New Castle, Westchester county, to Somers, in the same county, about the time of the Revolutionary war. Six children were born of this union, namely: Elizabeth, a resident of Somers; Calvin, mentioned be- low; Mary and Anna, twins, who died unmarried; Munson E., who also is mentioned below; and Samuel G., one of the the most honorable and straight- forward men of Westchester county, who died in March, 1888.
Calvin Frost was born January 29, 1819, and at the age of eight years entered the North Salem Academy. He continued his studies at various places and before he attained his majority graduated from Yale College. He then took up the study of law with Henry Ferris, of Peekskill, New York, was admitted to the bar, and successfully engaged in practice until his death, which occurred July 22, 1895. He was held in high esteem by the bar and judiciary, was thoroughly in love with his profession, was a close student and a man of the strictest integrity, and believed success obtainable by those who would apply themselves. He was quick to grasp the points of a case, was a good judge of law, and, what is almost of equal importance, a good judge of men; his success was therefore assured. He was a stanch Democrat in poli- tics, but always shrank from official preferment. He wedded Miss Mary Hait, and they became the parents of three children: Antoinette Stout, now a widow; Clarence H., an attorney at law of Peekskill, New York; and Elihu B., an attorney of New York city.
Munson E. Frost, whose name introduces this sketch, was born on the IIth of November, 1829, and received a good common-school and academic education, as well as an excellent knowledge of every department of farm work. Throughout life he has continued to follow agricultural pursuits, and still resides on the old homestead at Somers. In connection with general farming he has also dealt quite extensively in cattle and has engaged in the dairy business. In August, 1879, he led to the marriage altar Miss Delia S. Tillott, of Fishkill on the Hudson, a daughter of James and Betsey (Knapp) Tillott, and to them have been born two children: Laura M. and J. Tillott, both at home. The family attend the Episcopal church and are quite promi- nent in social circles.
Being one of the most popular and influential citizens of his county, Mr. Frost's advice is often sought and his counsel often followed by the people of his town and vicinity. The surrogate court has felt his presence in the settling of estates since Surrogate Mills' time, which dates back to the early '50s, and he has drawn up at least one hundred wills, being called upon by his friends to perform that duty for many years. He has often been solicited to accept official honors both in county and state, but he has always declined,
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