USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume I > Part 3
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Hon. John Hoag was educated in private schools in the village of Sing Sing, and at the Mount Pleasant Military Academy, at Sing Sing, an old and thorough institution founded about 1818. He left school in his seventeenth year and took up the work of assisting to carry on his father's farming opera- tions, on the family homestead in Ossining, about a mile from the center of Sing Sing, where he has continuously lived ever since. The farm is a fine one, embracing sixty-eight acres of valuable land, provided with first-class buildings and every facility and appliance that could conduce to its success-
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ful management. He early became practically interested in the affairs of the town and took an active interest in local and national politics, considering all public questions from the point of view of a patriotic and conservative Demo- crat. His influence was fully recognized by his townsmen, and he was six times elected supervisor of Ossining and was chosen to fill other important home offices. He represented his district in the assembly in 1883 and in 1890 was elected treasurer of Westchester county, and re-elected in 1893, the du- ties of which responsible office he discharged for six years with the greatest fidelity and credit.
Mr. Hoag has been active in business circles. He was one of the organ- izers of the Westchester Trust Company, in 1898. Its officers are John Hoag, president; C. P. Marsden, Jr., secretary; Leslie R. Dickson, treasurer; and S. T. Kellogg, accountant. He is a vice-president of the Sing Sing Sav- ings Bank, vice-president of the White Plains Bank, and director of the First National Bank of Sing Sing, and has from time to time been prominently identified with other scarcely less important interests.
Mr. Hoag was married on October 4, 1870, to Elizabeth Celeste Acker, daughter of Sylvester and Esther M. Acker. She died December 14, 1897. Their children are George F. and John, Jr. (twins), and Henry B.
HENRY HUDSON.
The 13th day of September, 1609, marked the point of division between the prehistoric and the historic periods of the district of country now known as Westchester county. On that day Henry Hudson, the intrepid English navigator, anchored his vessel, the Half Moon, in the newly discovered river (which bears his name), near the site of the present city of Yonkers. The dawn of the following day disclosed the residents of the village of Nap- peckamak gathered upon the eastern shore, and viewing with wonder, but with a kindly interest, the strange revelation before them. We now know much, although far too little, of what has since transpired here; but we know almost nothing of the events of the untold centuries that preceded that day.
The European discoveries of North America found the continent peo- pled with millions of human beings, of types analogous to those of the Old World, and with characteristics almost equally varied. In stature they cov- ered a wide range, from the dwarf-like denizens of the far north to the vigor- ous inhabitants of other sections, whose height averaged, in the men, fully six feet. In activity and courage they excited the admiration of their dis- coverers. Their color was unique, and was imagined to resemble that of copper; but further investigation showed that this color varied greatly. Some
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of the natives were found to be nearly as dark as negroes, while in other sections they were almost as light as Caucasians. They spoke many hun- dred different languages, which showed striking analogies in their grammati- cal construction with equally striking disparity in their vocabulary. The goal sought by these discoverers was India, and, imagining that they had found its outlying provinces, they called the inhabitants of the new land Indians.
It would be the merest conjecture to attempt to state how long man had occupied the American continent. Apart from the length of time required for producing new languages, or even dialects, and from all ethnological con- siderations, there are facts connected with his existence here that indicate a period of almost incalculable antiquity. Of the animals found in the New World, none were identical with those known in the Old World, and in the vegetable kingdom the same rule held almost as absolutely.
When the Half Moon lay at anchor off the village of Nappeckamak, the Indians soon overcame the terror that naturally accompanied so strange an apparition, and, putting off in their canoes, went on board in large num- bers. Their curiosity knew no bounds, and was only restrained by their dread of the supernatural powers the strangers might possess. By Hudson's own statement, he himself first violated faith with them. He detained two of their number on the vessel, and, although they soon jumped overboard and swam to the shore, his act was nevertheless an outrage upon the uni- versal rules of hospitality. He recorded that when they reached the shore, they called to him " in scorn." Hudson ascended the river to Albany, hold- ing communication with the Indians along the way; and so kind was their disposition toward him that he wrote of them as "the loving people." On his return he came through the Highlands on the Ist of October, and anchored below the village of Sackhoes, on whose site Peekskill has been built. Here "the people of the mountains" came on board and greatly wondered at the ship and weapons, the color of the men and their dress. Descending the river, Hudson found that the Indians at Yonkers were pre- pared to resent his treatment. The young men whom he had attempted to kidnap came out with their friends in canoes and discharged their arrows at the Half Moon, " in recompense whereof six muskets replied and killed two or three of them." The Indians renewed the attack from a point of land (perhaps preceding the vessel to Fort Washington), but "a falcon shot killed two of them and the rest fled into the woods; yet they manned off another canoe with nine or ten men," through which a falcon shot was sent, killing one of its occupants. Three or four more were killed by the sailors' muskets, and the Half Moon " hurried down into the bay clear of all danger."
Hudson returned to Holland and reported his discoveries to his employ-
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ful management. He early became practically interested in the affairs of the town and took an active interest in local and national politics, considering all public questions from the point of view of a patriotic and conservative Demo- crat. His influence was fully recognized by his townsmen, and he was six times elected supervisor of Ossining and was chosen to fill other important home offices. He represented his district in the assembly in 1883 and in 1890 was elected treasurer of Westchester county, and re-elected in 1893, the du- ties of which responsible office he discharged for six years with the greatest fidelity and credit.
Mr. Hoag has been active in business circles. He was one of the organ- izers of the Westchester Trust Company, in 1898. Its officers are John Hoag, president; C. P. Marsden, Jr., secretary ; Leslie R. Dickson, treasurer; and S. T. Kellogg, accountant. He is a vice-president of the Sing Sing Sav- ings Bank, vice-president of the White Plains Bank, and director of the First National Bank of Sing Sing, and has from time to time been prominently identified with other scarcely less important interests.
Mr. Hoag was married on October 4, 1870, to Elizabeth Celeste Acker, daughter of Sylvester and Esther M. Acker. She died December 14, 1897. Their children are George F. and John, Jr. (twins), and Henry B.
HENRY HUDSON.
The 13th day of September, 1609, marked the point of division between the prehistoric and the historic periods of the district of country now known as Westchester county. On that day Henry Hudson, the intrepid English navigator, anchored his vessel, the Half Moon, in the newly discovered river (which bears his name), near the site of the present city of Yonkers. The dawn of the following day disclosed the residents of the village of Nap- peckamak gathered upon the eastern shore, and viewing with wonder, but with a kindly interest, the strange revelation before them. We now know much, although far too little, of what has since transpired here; but we know almost nothing of the events of the untold centuries that preceded that day.
The European discoveries of North America found the continent peo- pled with millions of human beings, of types analogous to those of the Old World, and with characteristics almost equally varied. In stature they cov- ered a wide range, from the dwarf-like denizens of the far north to the vigor- ous inhabitants of other sections, whose height averaged, in the men, fully six feet. In activity and courage they excited the admiration of their dis- coverers. Their color was unique, and was imagined to resemble that of copper; but further investigation showed that this color varied greatly. Some
13
WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
of the natives were found to be nearly as dark as negroes, while in other sections they were almost as light as Caucasians. They spoke many hun- dred different languages, which showed striking analogies in their grammati- cal construction with equally striking disparity in their vocabulary. The goal sought by these discoverers was India, and, imagining that they had found its outlying provinces, they called the inhabitants of the new land Indians.
It would be the merest conjecture to attempt to state how long man had occupied the American continent. Apart from the length of time required for producing new languages, or even dialects, and from all ethnological con- siderations, there are facts connected with his existence here that indicate a period of almost incalculable antiquity. Of the animals found in the New World, none were identical with those known in the Old World, and in the vegetable kingdom the same rule held almost as absolutely.
When the Half Moon lay at anchor off the village of Nappeckamak, the Indians soon overcame the terror that naturally accompanied so strange an apparition, and, putting off in their canoes, went on board in large num- bers. Their curiosity knew no bounds, and was only restrained by their dread of the supernatural powers the strangers might possess. By Hudson's own statement, he himself first violated faith with them. He detained two of their number on the vessel, and, although they soon jumped overboard and swam to the shore, his act was nevertheless an outrage upon the uni- versal rules of hospitality. He recorded that when they reached the shore, they called to him " in scorn." Hudson ascended the river to Albany, hold- ing communication with the Indians along the way; and so kind was their disposition toward him that he wrote of them as "the loving people." On his return he came through the Highlands on the Ist of October, and anchored below the village of Sackhoes, on whose site Peekskill has been built. Here "the people of the mountains" came on board and greatly wondered at the ship and weapons, the color of the men and their dress. Descending the river, Hudson found that the Indians at Yonkers were pre- pared to resent his treatment. The young men whom he had attempted to kidnap came out with their friends in canoes and discharged their arrows at the Half Moon, " in recompense whereof six muskets replied and killed two or three of them." The Indians renewed the attack from a point of land (perhaps preceding the vessel to Fort Washington), but "a falcon shot killed two of them and the rest fled into the woods; yet they manned off another canoe with nine or ten men," through which a falcon shot was sent, killing one of its occupants. Three or four more were killed by the sailors' muskets, and the Half Moon " hurried down into the bay clear of all danger."
Hudson returned to Holland and reported his discoveries to his employ-
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ees, the Dutch East India Company. During the following ten or twelve years many voyages were made to the shores of the Hudson and the Sound for the purposes of trade with the Indians, for their furs, and to explore the country. In 1621 the Dutch West India Company was incorporated. Two years afterward it formed trading stations at New Amsterdam and at Fort Orange, and considerable settlements were made on the sites of the future cities of New York and Albany. In 1626 Manhattan island was sold by the Indians. In 1639 the first sale of land in Westchester county was made. It included the northern shore of Spuyten Duyvil creek. Other sales were made by the Indians to the Dutch until, on the 8th day of August, 1699, the sachems Sackima, Corachpa, Wechrequa, Monrechro and sundry other Indians gave a general deed confirming numerous smaller sales made to Stephanus Van Cortlandt and others, and conveying the lands that were aft- erward known as Cortlandt's Manor.
When Henry Hudson sailed away from the river he had discovered, its shores re-echoed with the war-cries of a people whose confidence he had abused and whose kindred he had slain. The hostility he had awakened was not miti- gated by subsequent events, and when afterward the traders came, mutual suspicion and distrust were not long in bringing the clash of arms. So soon as the Dutch had made a settlement, their cattle were allowed to run at large for pasturage, and "frequently came into the corn of the Indians, which was unfenced on all sides, committing great damage there. This led to com- plaints on their part, and finally to revenge on the cattle, without sparing even the horses." In 1626 a Weckquaesgeek Indian, from the vicinity of Tarrytown, while on his way to Fort Amsterdam to exchange his furs, was robbed and killed by men in the employ of Peter Minuit, the first Dutch director.
The announcement of Hudson's great discovery did not produce rapid results. The extraordinary success of the East India Company at that time, and the enormous dividends it declared, drew the general attention to the eastern and not to the western world. A single vessel in 1610, the year after the return of the Half Moon, made a successful trading voyage to the " River of the Mountains," returning to Holland with a valuable cargo of peltries. Two Dutch navigators, Hendrick Christiaensen, or Colstiaensen, and Adrain Block, chartering a vessel commanded by Captain Ryser, next made a voyage to the new region. In the early part of 1613 Hendrick Corstiaensen, in the Fortune, and Block, in the Tiger, sailed again to the Manhattan, and explored the adjacent coasts and waters. Other vessels also visited the bay and river, and all returned with profitable cargoes of furs. No trouble was experienced with the natives, who were ready and willing to exchange their skins for the novel and attractive goods of Europe.
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WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
PETER STUYVESANT.
In 1650 Peter Stuyvesant, on behalf of the colony of New Netherland, had a conference with the authorities of Connecticut at Hartford, which resulted in a provisional treaty of the boundary that the line should "begin at the west side of Greenwich bay, being about four miles from Stamford, and so run a northerly line twenty miles up into the country, until it shall be notified by the two governments of the Dutch and of England, provided the said line come not within ten miles of the Hudson river." This agreement was never sanctioned by the home governments, and thirteen years later, on the 13th of October, 1663, a second conference was held, at which Connecti- cut proposed " that Westchester and all ye people of lands between that and Stamford shall belong to their colony of Connecticut till it be otherwise issued," which proposition was refused by the agents of Governor Stuyve- sant, who proposed that " West Chester, with the land and people to Stam- ford, shall abide under the government of Connecticut till the tyme that the bounds and limits betwixt the abovesaid colony and the province of New Netherland shall be determined heare (by our mutual accord or by persons mutually chosen, -margin) or by his Royal Majesty of England and other high and mighty lords of the estates of the united provinces."
War breaking out between England and Holland, this agreement or treaty was never ratified by the home governments. Finally new regula- tions were adopted, and Peter Stuyvesant was appointed director-general. It was hoped that he would also prove a "redresser-general." He came to New Netherland in 1646 and assumed the reins of government as the suc- cessor of Kieft.
Stuyvesant's administration was an energetic one on the part of the director-general, but he was beset with difficulties on every hand. He was anxious to insist on the Dutch claim to all the territory from the Connecticut to the Delaware rivers, which the English settlers were as emphatic in deny- ing. The English pushed their settlements almost to the Harlem river. On Long Island they claimed entire independence of New Netherland. Stuy- vesant had further troubles with the Indians up the Hudson. The internal affairs of his government were very jarring. Jealousies and disputes were frequent. He was stern in his assertion of authority, but that authority was but poorly respected. To add to his difficulties, he was very insufficiently supported by the college of the company in Amsterdam. The unfortunate organization of the company became more and more apparent. New Neth- erland was a financial burden. When, therefore, in 1664, in utter disregard of the rights and authority of the Dutch, the King of England gave to his brother, the Duke of York and Albany, the territory between the Connecti-
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cut and Delaware rivers, and Richard Nichols, as lieutenant-governor, with a fleet of four ships and four hundred men, appeared before New Amster- dam, the colony was ripe for a change, and, despite the earnest protests of Stuyvesant, quietly surrendered, and the Dutch authority ceased. It was restored, for a short period only, in 1673.
Peter Stuyvesant was born in Holland in 1602, and died in New York city, in August, 1682.
ORRIN DAYTON KINGSLEY, M. D.
In every community the family physician is influential above most of his fellow citizens, for the reason that his association with its members in times of sorrow, suspense and affliction draws him very near to them if he be a good man of kindly sympathies. The subject of this sketch is one of the older members of the medical profession in White Plains, and he has been called an ideal family physician. He settled here in 1876, when quite a young man. and for nearly a quarter of a century has been actively engaged in the prac- tice of medicine in this community, being one of the early representatives of the homeopathic school in this place.
Dr. Kingsley was born in the town of Sodus, Wayne county, New York, July 6, 1849, descending from an old New England family, and his ancestry may be traced in a direct line to colonial times. John Kingsley, the founder of the family in America, was a native of England. He emigrated to the New World in 1631 and settled in Massachusetts. The family continued to reside in Massachusetts and Connecticut until the beginning of this century, when the grandfather of the present generation located in northern New York, where he was one of the earliest and one of the most influential resi- dents. Here three generations of this branch of the family lived. When the Doctor, who represents the eighth generation, appeared upon the scene everything had undergone a change. The wilderness had disappeared and prosperous towns and cities had grown up and farms had been improved and beautified. There, in his native place, he passed his boyhood in the manner usual to such communities, except that, displaying a fondness for study, he was given better educational advantages than most of his playmates. After spending some years at the Marion Collegiate Institute, a leading school of that time, he was sent to Phillips Academy, at Andover, Massachusetts, to finish his preparation for college. The years he passed at Andover were exceedingly pleasant and profitable. The studious habits acquired there have remained with him through his professional career, and have added much to the success of his life. Ill health, however, for several years prevented the completion of his literary course; but, recovering somewhat, he decided upon the study of medicine and entered the office of Dr. Myron H. Adams, at Pal-
ON Kingsley
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myra, New York. After the perscribed course of reading under Dr. Adams' preceptorship, he studied at the Detroit Medical College, and was graduated in the class of 1873. In the following year he took a post-graduate course in the New York Homeopathic College, where he was graduated in 1874.
Returning to his home, he entered into partnership with his preceptor, Dr. Adams, of Palmyra, New York, where he remained two years, enjoying the advantage of a large experience. In 1876 he moved to White Plains and succeeded to the practice of Dr. W. A. Ely, who had occupied the field for a few years. He met with success from the first, and at the end of six years had so increased the practice of his predecessor that he could no longer man- age it alone. In 1882 he associated with him Dr. A. M. Haight, of Wood- bridge, New Jersey, who still remains in partnership with him in the man- agement of their extensive practice.
October 15, 1873, Dr. Kingsley married Miss Rachel M. Shipley, of Pultneyville, Wayne county, New York, a daughter of Waters Shipley, who was a prominent citizen of that place. The Doctor is the father of three children: Florence Birdina, who died June 24, 1883; and Charles W. and Arthur D., both of whom are living. The Doctor and his wife are promi- nent members of the Presbyterian church of White Plains, in which he has served as elder for the past eighteen years. Both take an active and helpful part in the religious life of the church and community.
Dr. Kingsley is one of the physicians of the Westchester Temporary Home for Destitute Children and a member of the New York State and Westchester County Medical Societies. He has always been a progressive physician, seeking to avail himself of every discovery of science that might aid in the relief of human suffering. His life has been one of strictest fidel- ity to his profession. Prompt, energetic and skillful, he has by attention to every detail of business attained both prominence in his profession and finan- cial success.
SAMUEL JONES TILDEN.
In an old-fashioned frame dwelling-house still standing, though consider- ably older than our federal constitution, Mr. Tilden was born on the 9th of February, 1814. The old homestead, where four generations of the family have been reared, fronts upon the long street which constitutes the back- bone of the village of New Lebanon, in the county of Columbia, in the state of New York.
Mr. Tilden's ancestry may be traced back to the latter part of the six- teenth century and to the county of Kent, in England, where the name is still most honorably associated with the army, the navy and the church. In 1634 Nathaniel Tilden was among the Puritans who left Kent to settle in 2
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America. Eleven years previously he had been mayor of Tenterden. He was succeeded in that office by his cousin John, as he had been preceded by his uncle John, in 1585 and 1600. He removed with his family to Scituate, in the colony of Massachusetts, in 1634. He was one of the commissioners to locate that town, and the first recorded conveyance of any of its soil was made to him. His brother, Joseph, was one of the merchant adventurers of London who fitted out the Mayflower. This Nathaniel Tilden married Han- nah Bourne, one of whose sisters married a brother of Governor Winslow and another a son of Governor Bradford. Among the associates of Joseph Tilden in fitting out the Mayflower was Timothy Hatherby, who afterward married the widow of Nathaniel Tilden, and was a leading citizen of Scituate until expelled from public life for refusing to prosecute the Quakers.
Governor Tilden's grandfather, John Tilden, settled in Columbia county, since then uninterruptedly the residence of this branch of the Tilden family. The Governor's mother was descended from William Jones, lieutenant-gov- ernor of the colony of New Haven, who, in all the histories of Connecticut, is represented to have been the son of Colonel John Jones, who was one of the regicide judges of Charles I, and who is said to have married a sister of Oliver Cromwell and a cousin of John Hamden. The Governor's father, a farmer and merchant of New Lebanon, was a man of notable judgment and practical sense and the accepted oracle of the county upon all matters of public concern, while his opinion was also eagerly sought and justly valued by all his neighbors, but by none more than by the late President Van Buren, who, till his death, was one of his most cherished and intimate personal friends.
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