USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume I > Part 40
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between the two sections of the country, he once more went south, but soon afterward returned to the north and accepted a position with the firm of Smith & Garvin, of New York city, as an expert machinist. He was next with the firm of A. P. Stephens & Company, of Brooklyn, New York, but in 1868 went to Madisonville, Louisiana, where the firm of Hand & Hurd car- ried on operations for a short time. Once more we find him in the north, now serving as expert machinist in the Clipper Mowing Machine Works, at Yonkers.
About 1873 Mr. Hurd was employed by Rufus Dutton to plan and make tools for use in the manufacture of a new mowing machine, which was to be put upon the market at an early date. When he had successfully accom- plished his task the mowing machine, then known as the Eickemeyer, was sold to Rufus Dutton & Otis Brothers, and Mr. Hurd entered their service as an expert machinist, to perfect the mower, which was deficient in many im- portant respects. In this task he was also quite successful, and later the machine was sold to W. N. Whiteley, of the now world-famous Champion Mower and Reaper Company, of Springfield, Ohio. This great concern now manufactures annually more than forty thousand of these mowers, which have come into general favor, and are now used in all parts of the civilized world. This great invention has greatly revolutionized farming and sent the civilization of the century forward to a great degree, and to Mr. Hurd is due the credit for perfecting the machine, a fact which is probably not generally known, as it is the name of the manufacturers which goes forth upon the mowers. For some time he was the superintendent of the experimental shops, at Springfield, Ohio, wherein the work of perfecting the various ma- chines was carried on, and afterward he took charge of the knotter-works department of the binder and reaper for the same company, and during the following two years designed special tools for the work. Returning then to Yonkers, he lived retired for two years, at the expiration of which time he was urged to accept a place as expert machinist with Otis Brothers, to invent tools and superintend the construction of new machines, which they were manufacturing. His comprehensive knowledge of machinery, his thorough understanding of the scientific principles which underlie it, his marked me- chanical genius, and his ability make him thoroughly at home in the work of determining the component parts of an intricate piece of machinery and the mechanical rules that govern its operation. He has steadily worked his way upward to a place of prominence and responsibility in the mechanical world, and his high reputation is well merited.
Mr. Hurd was married, in Yonkers, June 29, 1865, to Selina E. Fisher, daughter of George and Mary Fisher, and to this union have been born the following children: Harriet I., Adelaide L., wife of John L. Hatfield, Jr.,
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by whom she has one son, Leland H .; Cornelia E .; Clara S .; and Edwin A., who died at the age of six weeks. The mother of these children died January 6, 1897, at the age of nearly fifty-five years, her birth having occurred September 11, 1842. She was a loving and indulgent mother to her children, a faithful helpineet to her husband, and a consistent member of St. John's Episcopal church.
DR. WILLIAM MERLE D'AUBIGNÉ CARHART.
Among the progressive, up-to-date young physicians of Westchester county, New York, none enjoy better standing than does Dr. William M. Carhart.
He was born May 21, 1863, son of Lyman Beecher Carhart and Ophelia Merle d' Aubigné Carhart, his wife. He received his early education in pri- vate schools in Brooklyn. Then he spent six years in the Peekskill Military Academy, and in the fall of 1881 entered Yale College, from which famous institution he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1885. Having selected the medical professional as the one for his life work, he entered the medical department of Columbia College the winter following his graduation at Yale, and in 1889 secured the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The first year of his active professional work was as house surgeon of the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Then he was employed for one summer as medical inspector for the New York board of health, and in the fall of 1891 he opened an office in Peekskill, New York, where he has since successfully practiced his profession, meantime giving much attention to special lines of work, which has gained him an enviable reputation. In the spring of 1892, he was appointed clinical assistant on the attending staff of the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital; in 1894 was made assistant attending surgeon of the same institution, and in 1895 was made instructor in diseases of the eye and ear at the New York Post-Graduate School. He was first attending physi- cian and surgeon in the Helping Hand Hospital at Peekskill, New York, about 1892, and in 1897 he was given the position of oculist and aurist at the same place. For several years he has been secretary of the medical board of the Helping Hand Hospital. His numerous duties and frequent calls for work in New York city made it necessary for him to establish headquarters there, and he now maintains an office at 255 Madison avenue, in that city. He is a member of both the New York County and the Westchester County Medical Societies. In 1896 he went through the public schools of Peekskill and examined the eyes of the pupils, after which he prepared two papers upon the subject, one being entitled "The Refraction of the Eyes of a Thousand School Children," which he read before the ophthalmological sec-
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tion of the New York Academy of Medicine. The other was " The Import- ance of the Exact Correction of Refractive Errors in School Children," read before the Westchester County Medical Society. Both papers were pub- lished in the New York Medical Journal. He has also contributed other valued articles to this journal and has read a number of papers on kindred sub- jects before some of the leading medical societies. At present he is employed as oculist at the St. Joseph's Home, at Peekskill, and also for the Peekskill public schools.
Dr. Carhart was married, at Madison, New Jersey, May 21, 1894, to Miss Annie Thompson Wendell, daughter of Captain George B. Wendell, of Quincy, Massachusetts. Their happy married life was terminated by her untimely death, March 11, 1898. The Doctor is a member of the First Pres- byterian church of Peekskill.
ROBERT P. GETTY.
In 1851 Robert P. Getty bought the Nappeckamack House in Yonkers, and, removing it to the northwest corner of New Main street and Nepperhan avenue, converted it into a tenement house. The Getty House, a structure of light-colored brick, was built on the site of the Nappeckamack House in 1851. It fronts one hundred and eight feet on Broadway and one hundred and sixty on New Main street, is in the form of an "L," and is four stories high. It cost about fifty thousand dollars. When the hotel was finished (1852) one hundred and sixteen ladies, in admiration of Mr. Getty's enter- prise in projecting and erecting such a splendid hotel, and including within it a hall for public lectures and concerts, presented him with a flag to wave over the building. The presentation was in the hall, and the eloquent address which was made by Colonel (afterwards Judge) Scrugham and the response by Mr. Getty were reported in full in the Hudson River Chronicle of June 8, 1852.
On this occasion a salute of five guns was fired. Mr. Getty had expected to name the hotel "The Havemeyer," in honor of his friend, ex-Mayor William F. Havemeyer, of New York; but a number of his friends during the night took the liberty to express their own feeling and the general sense of Yonkers people by placing upon the front of the building the letters which are seen upon it to-day, "The Getty House." The assembly hall in the hotel was used for public gatherings until about 1866 or 1867, when it was no longer opened for such purposes because it had come to interfere with the quiet of the guests. The managing proprietors of the hotel before 1860 were in turn Messrs. Henry Durell, Edward Dusenberry and Robert L. Doty, the last named having been its proprietor for more than twenty-five years.
Previous to 1852 there was no provision in the village of Yonkers for
Robert P. Getty.
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extinguishing fires. The fire which destroyed the mill on what is known as Mill street awakened some of the people to the need of fire apparatus. Rob- ert P. Getty procured at his own expense and brought to the town a small "goose-neck engine." The first fire company was organized under the name of Protection Engine Company, No. 1, with George L. Condit as foreman. Not long after the organization of the engine company Mr. Getty also pur- chased a second-hand hook and ladder truck, and in 1853 Hope Hook and Ladder Company No. I was organized, with David Chambers as foreman. A. M. Grant next bought an engine and housed it near his factory, and a company was formed under the name of Lady Washington Engine Company, No. 2. A. G. Van Orden was the first foreman. Before 1874 water for use of fires was had only from the Hudson, or the Nepperhan, or from cisterns.
Robert Parkhill Getty, who was a member of the first board of police commissioners, and who has been so long identified with the business inter- ests of Yonkers, was born near Londonderry, Ireland, May 1, 1811. His ancestors are said to have lived near Dundee, Scotland, and his grandfather, Robert, was one of the Scotch Covenanters. His father, Samuel, married Mary Parkhill. Their children were Nancy, wife of Richard McCotter; Eliza, wife of Robert Ralston; Mary, wife of Hugh Downs; Jane; Robert P., the subject of this sketch; Matilda, wife of Thompson Morrison; Eleanor and Samuel. The father of this family was a merchant, and traded in West India goods; was a prominent man in his native place, and an elder in the church for twenty-nine years. Owing to severe reverses he was compelled to retire from business, and, with his family, he emigrated to America in 1824.
Robert Parkhill Getty was intended by his father for the ministry, a plan which was defeated by financial misfortunes. When he, with his father, came to this country, he was thirteen years old, and first obtained employ- ment in the grocery store of James Cleland, in New York. Here he remained till 1828, when he went into business with Sylvanus Schermerhorn, with whom he was afterward a partner. He set up a grocery and liquor store on his own account, but was induced to give it up by the advice of friends, who were opposed to the liquor traffic. He served a regular apprenticeship at the cooper's trade, and was thoroughly acquainted with the provision- packing business and the inspection laws of the state. His opportunities for attending school ended in 1823, and about this time he became acquainted with Professor Parker (an ex-professor of Harvard), who took so great an interest in his welfare that he offered to instruct him evenings gratuitously, an act of kindness which was terminated after one meeting by the sudden death of the venerable professor. In 1835 he commenced business with Jeremiah Robins, in which he was successful. His first speculation, which
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was in city lots in Buffalo, was disastrous. Soon afterward he was chosen superintendent of the Association of Inspectors of Beef and Pork, an associa- tion which enjoyed peculiar facilities for making money, and when this came to an end he went into business with Martin Walters, and then with Drake B. Palmer. In 1844 he was appointed inspector by Governor Bouck, and reappointed by Governor Wright. In 1861 he received the appointment of United States government inspector, and during his continuance in office eight hundred and fifty thousand packages went through his hands, which represented a value of twenty-nine million dollars. He was the first to send American bacon to England, and his brand commanded ever after a premium in the market. He was also largely interested in building in the city of New York. He erected a warehouse in Greenwich street, from No. 115 to No. 123, and leased the same to the United States government as a bonded ware- house, for the sum of forty-five thousand dollars per year, for three years. In 1849 he came to Yonkers, where he built his present residence. He built the " Getty House," now the principal hotel in Yonkers, in 1851, and also erected the buildings on the southwest corner of Main street and Broadway; these were sold to John T. Waring in 1868. Very few men have held more local offices than Mr. Getty. In 1848 he was alderman in New York, and in 1847 and 1848 a member of the board of education. He was for many years one of the trustees of the village of Yonkers, and was president in 1859 and 1860, and also in 1871 and 1872. A few of the many positions he has held may be mentioned: director of the Hudson River Railroad; director of the Bank of North America, the Yonkers Bank, the Merchants' Insurance Company, and the Corn Exchange; president of the Cumberland Coal & Iron Company; vice president of the Produce Exchange; director of the West Side Elevated Railroad; first president of the Yonkers Gas Light Company, of which he has been a director since its organization; and he has been president and vice president of the Yonkers Savings Bank since its establishment. He filled many offices of a fiduciary character, and in every one his business capacity and integrity have been conspicuous. In politics Mr. Getty was early among the opponents of slavery, and he was a member of the first Republican convention.
Mr. Getty married Rebecca, daughter of Douw Van Buren, of Schodack Landing. Their children are Samuel E .; Harriet G., widow of William A. McDonald; Douw V. B., deceased; Rebecca M. ; Robert A. ; Moses D .; Will- iam F. H .; John; Mary M., deceased; Elnor C., deceased, and Emma.
Mr. Getty held the office of city treasurer of Yonkers for more than thir- teen years. Throughout his entire life he has been distinguished for the utmost promptness in all business matters, and in every position of trust has been thoroughly faithful to his charge.
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JAMES H. HAIGHT.
A well known and prominent citizen of Peekskill, Mr. Haight is an important factor in business circles and his popularity is well deserved, as in him are embraced the characteristics of unbending integrity, unabated energy and an industry that never flags. He is a leading merchant of the village, and as a public-spirited citizen is thoroughly interested in whatever tends to promote the moral, intellectual and material welfare of the community.
Mr. Haight was born in Westchester county, April 17, 1844, and is a representative of an old New York family. His father, Stephen Haight, was a son of David Haight, and a native of Delaware county, where he was reared and educated. He married Miss Mary A. Caine, who was born in Peekskill, of English parentage, and five children blessed their union. Both were earnest members and active workers in the Methodist church. The father was engaged in the dry-goods and grocery business in Peekskill, and here he died at the age of seventy years.
James H. Haight is indebted to the schools of Westchester county for his educational privileges, for here he was reared to manhood. When the civil war broke out he responded to his country's call for aid, and enlisting, on June 7, 1862, in Company F, Eleventh New York Volunteer Cavalry, which was assigned to the Department of Maryland and Virginia, and later to the Department of the Gulf. After three years of faithful and arduous service he returned to his home in Peekskill and became interested in the dry-goods and grocery business there in 1865. He is highly regarded in trade circles, as an honorable business man who has gained the entire con- fidence of his many customers.
In 1866 Mr. Haight was united in marriage to Miss Hester A. Meeks, of Fort Montgomery, Orange county, New York, a daughter of Captain Hiram and Fanny (Crokite) Meeks, who are still living, though both have passed the eightieth milestone on life's journey. Mr. and Mrs. Haight have become the parents of five children, namely: Lena, wife of Lewis Ames, a resident of Cold Springs, New York, and a member of the firm of Haight & Ames, who conduct a general store at that place; James Arthur, who is a member of the firm of Haight & Barker, grocers of Peekskill; Hettie May, wife of John W. Barker, junior member of the firm of Haight & Barker; and Fanny A. and Winifred M., both at home.
Mr. Haight is a prominent representative of the Republican party in Westchester county, and has been a member of the water board for nine years, the last term of which he served as its president. In the spring of 1898 he was elected supervisor of Cortlandt township, and in addition to that office he is also filling the position of chief of the fire department. Socially,
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he is identified with Cortlandt Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Bald Eagle Tribe of Red Men. He is plain and unpretentious in manner, and, while not aggres- sive in opinion, not disposed to be contentious, he yet has a " mind of his own," with the moral courage to express it when occasion so demands. Energetic in his business, courteous in manner, Mr. Haight is one of the popular men of the county, and has a host of warm friends.
REV. JOHN J. OWENS.
Father Owens, who is pastor of the Church of the Holy Name of Mary, at Croton-on-Hudson, New York, was appointed to this charge some four or five years ago, and has completely won the affections of the people among whom he is laboring. The church, now one of the most flourishing in the state, was built thirty years ago, in 1868, and for its first pastor had Father McClennan. In the course of the ensuing years it prospered and overcame many financial obstacles to its success, long since becoming a recognized power in the community. At present the church membership is about four hundred.
Just in the prime of manhood and vigor of body and mind, Father Owens is specially qualified for the arduous duties that devolve upon him as spiritual adviser of this large flock. He is an interested and judicious shep- herd, sparing not himself whenever others may be assisted in any manner by him. He is mild, yet firm and just, and is looked up to and revered for his wisdom and genuine kindliness of heart, word and deed. He has been untiring in his efforts to build up this church, spiritually and materially, and is now enjoying the fruits of his labors in a marked degree. At the time that he came to Croton-on-Hudson there was a debt of one thousand dollars on the church, and there was no rectory in connection with it. Within a little over three years these deficiencies had been met, through the earn- est co-operation of pastor and people, the indebtedness being paid, and a rectory built, at a cost of thirty-six hundred dollars.
The birth of Father Owens occurred in New York city in 1857. His higher education was obtained in St. Francis' College, New York; and in St. Joseph's Seminary, in Troy, New York. In 1884 he was ordained, taking the first orders at the church of St. Augustine, at Morrisania, New York. He remained at that place for two and a half years, and then spent three months in Florida. His next pastorate was in St. An- drew's church, New York city. He labored zealously in that parish for eight years, and was then assigned to his present charge, June 21, 1894, by Archbishop Corrigan. Genial and cheerful in manner, a perfect gen- tleman and an acknowledged scholar and ripe student, he possesses the
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friendship of many persons of culture and superior attainments, outside as well as within his own communion. He has a high sense of the great responsibility resting upon him as a leader of his people, and they are never absent from his mind and plans. He finds his time occupied from early morning until late at night in attending to the services of the church or to the needs of his parishioners, whose demands upon his sympathy, advice and assistance are endless. With a brave heart he smooths out, as best he may, the difficulties pressing upon each individual soul, and many a blessing is called down upon the head of this wise and loving pastor.
DAVID COLE.
The present pastor of the First Reformed church is Rev. David Cole, D. D. He succeeded Mr. Hulbert, and was installed January 10, 1866. His long service as a Yonkers pastor has greatly endeared him to his own people and the city at large. In 1891 a large and fine oil portrait of the Rev. Dr. Cole was presented to him by the citizens of Yonkers. The tablet affixed to the frame bears the inscription: "Presented to the Rev. David Cole, D. D., by his fellow citizens of Yonkers-on-the-Hudson, a token of their personal esteem and of their grateful appreciation of the large services he has rendered church and state, as a public-spirited citizen, an accurate scholar, and a faithful minister of the gospel."
The Rev. David Cole, D. D., senior pastor in Yonkers, was called to the pastorate of the Reformed church from Rutgers College, where he was the professor of Greek language and literature. He is the author of a num- ber of works, -educational, religious, genealogical and historical. His love of the classics is proverbial among his acquaintances. His knowledge of Hebrew and Greek and Latin, supplemented by his attainments as a theo- logian, have given him high rank as an able and sound expositor of the Scriptures.
SAMUEL HUNT.
Samuel Hunt was born in New York city, September 21, 1861, and isa son of Edgar and Phœbe (Ward) Hunt. The family is of English descent, and the paternal grandfather was born in Sing Sing, Westchester county, about 1811. By occupation he was a farmer, and engaged in the tilling of the soil throughout his entire life, his landed possessions comprising sixty- five acres, in Sleepy Hollow. For forty years he there made his home, car- rying on farming operations very successfully. He was also regarded as one of the public-spirited and progressive citizens of the community, and for twenty-six years served as road commissioner of the town of Sing Sing. In
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politics he was a Democrat, and active in the work of the party. He mar- ried Martha Ferris, whose people resided at Croton Landing, and to them were born four sons and two daughters, namely: Edgar, Levi, Sylvester, Daniel, Emeline and Martha. The grandfather of our subject died in 1887, at the age of seventy-six years, but his wife is still living, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years.
Edgar Hunt, the father of Samuel Hunt of this review, was born at Sing Sing, in 1841, and acquired his education in the Wilson school. He is a carpenter and builder by trade and pursued a course of study in architecture in New York city. For twenty-four years he was prominently identified with the building interests of Sing Sing, carrying on operations on an exten- sive scale. He is now the owner of a plantation of forty-two acres at Floral- bluff, near Jacksonville, Florida, where he raises vegetables on a small scale, but devotes his energies chiefly to the cultivation of oranges. During the Civil war he became sergeant of Company C, Forty-seventh Regiment of New York Volunteers, and took part in the raid at Haverstraw. He married Phobe Ward, a daughter of Thomas Ward, of New York city. Thomas Ward was of English origin, and was one of the first newsboys of the metrop- olis. For eight years he served on the police force and was one of the city trustees. He took quite an active part in public affairs, and gave his politi- cal support to the Republican party. He died in 1889, at the age of eighty- four years, and his wife is now living, at the age of eighty-eight. They had four children, James, Thomas, Eleanor and Phoebe, the last named being the wife of Edgar Hunt. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hunt are living, at the age of fifty-four years, and their children are Samuel, of this review; William E .; Mrs. Clara Ward; and Charles.
Samuel Hunt is a graduate of the public schools of Sing Sing and of Odell's Business College of that city. Thus well equipped for a practical and useful business career he began learning the machinist's trade when seventeen years of age, serving an apprenticeship of four and one-half years in the cotton-gin factory at Sing Sing. He afterward worked in the Smith Carpet Factory at Yonkers for a year and a half, and later went to New York city, where he entered the employ of the firm of Beale & Collings- worth, manufacturers of drill and air compressors. In 1884 he came to Yonkers, and, as a journeyman, entered the service of Otis Brothers & Com- pany, but after two years was promoted to the position of foreman of departmant No. 3,-the machine department, -in which capacity he has since served with marked ability and fidelity. He is an expert machinist, and produces the most delicate and the finest work in his line, the product of his department being unsurpassed by the work of any other foundry in the .country. He has under him three men who have been in the employ of the
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