USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume I > Part 52
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When a young man Mr. Johnson served for four years as a member of the First Lancashire Volunteer Artillery, in Scotland. Socially he is identi- fied with the Scotch Clan of Yonkers; is also chief of the Clan McGregor, an organization of highland Scotsmen, at Yonkers, being also identified with the Rising Star Lodge of the Masonic order, and the local lodge of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Day Spring Presbyterian church.
On the 25th of January, 1886, Mr. Johnson married Alexandrina Camp- bell, daughter of Donald Campbell, of Eyler, in the highlands of Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have had five children, namely: George Donald, Maggie Barr, Thomas, and two who died in infancy.
HENRY FINCK.
Mr. Finck has been a resident of Mount Vernon, Westchester county, for the past seven or eight years, and is a member of the local board of trade. He is public-spirited and liberal in his views, favoring whatever he believes will be of benefit to his community, and always doing his whole duty as a citizen and voter.
The subject of this article is a native of Germany, his birth having oc- curred in the province of Prussia, June 3, 1849. He is a son of Christian Finck, of that country, and under the training and direction of his father
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acquired the habits of industry and learned the business methods that have stood him in good stead in his independent career. When he was eighteen years of age Henry Finck determined to seek a home and fortune in the United States, and in 1867 he landed in New York city. There he found employment in a brewery, and during a period of twelve years he continued in that line of business. Later he was interested in the milk business for a time, and still later kept a delicatessen store in Harlem. In 1890 he took up his residence in this place, and for four years engaged in teaming. Since 1894 he has taken contracts for hauling for the city, and he frequently keeps four teams running. Some time ago he purchased a sand lot, 100 x 300, it being situated near his own residence property, on Locust street. The sand is of a fine quality for building, and two or more teams are kept busy in sup- plying the trade with the amount of sand required. In addition to the local demand, the owner finds that he has built up a good outside trade, and con- sequently he ships to a considerable extent.
When he came to Mount Vernon Mr. Finck bought a site and built a substantial residence. He also erected a large barn, in which he keeps the dozen horses which he needs in his business. His success within the past few years has been remarkable, and he has no one to thank for it save him- self. He is fortunate in possessing the qualities of foresight and good judg- ment, energy well directed, and perseverance in whatever he undertakes, which traits are essential to prosperity. At times he gives employment to as many as fifteen men. Fraternally, he is associated with several benefit organ- izations, and politically he does not give his allegiance to any one party, but withholds the right of unbiased judgment upon all public affairs, regardless of party lines. Always a great lover of fine horses and carriages, Mr. Finck recently purchased a turnout which is very much admired in the city. A stylish trap, drawn by two splendid black horses, spirited and high-stepping, is frequently seen on the streets of this locality, and does great credit to the excellent taste of our fellow townsman, Henry Finck.
In 1874 the marriage of Mr. Finck and Miss Alberta Maples was solem- nized. They have a son and two daughters, of whom George, the eldest, is now employed with his uncle in New York city, while Lena and Lizzie are at home with their parents.
BENSON FERRIS.
When the word " finis " closes the life record of any individual the public places its estimate upon his life work and draws from the history thus ended its lessons of value or notes the points to be avoided. The career of Benson Ferris, however, was one well worthy of emulation, and the part which he played in the substantial development and improvement of Westchester county
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Benson Tevis
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was no unimportant one. Of keen discrimination and marked executive force in business affairs, he at the same time displayed a fidelity to duty and an adherence to honorable principles that commanded the respect and admir- ation of all. His word was as good as any bond that was ever solemnized by signature or seal, and over the record of his career there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.
He was descended from two of the old historic families of this section of the country. His birth occurred July 16, 1825, at Wolfert's Roost, a point made famous by the pen of Washington Irving as the home of the noted and redoubtable Major Jacob Van Tassell, and afterward transformed by Irving into his beautiful country seat known as Sunnyside. The property had been purchased of Major Van Tassell by Captain Oliver Ferris, the grandfather of our subject, in 1802, and so descended to his son, Benson Ferris, Sr., who sold a portion of the homestead to Washington Irving, in 1835. At a very early period in the history of New England the Ferris family was founded at Greenwich, Connecticut, by Jeffry Ferris, and down through three Johns, Josiah and Oliver Ferris the line is traced to him whose name introduces this review. For meritorious and distinguished service in the Revolutionary war Oliver Ferris was promoted to the rank of captain, was at one time quar- termaster of his regiment and held the rank of first lieutenant in 1775, at the time of the siege and capture of St. Johns, serving under General Montgom- ery in the invasion of Canada. In the spring of 1802 he removed with his family from Greenwich, Connecticut, to a country seat on the banks of the Hudson river in Westchester county, and thus Wolfert's Roost became the family homestead for three generations. He was married to Abigail, daugh- ter of Enos Lockwood, at Greenwich, Connecticut, February 10, 1776, by Rev. Blackleach Burritt, of Revolutionary fame, who was incarcerated in the old Sugar House prison, in New York, and soon afterward made the acquaint- ance of Deacon William Irving, father of the well known author. To Cap- tain Oliver and Abigail Ferris were born seven children: Elizabeth, wife of Aaron Close; Abigail, wife of Daniel Dutcher; Martha, wife of John Jewell; Letty, wife of Daniel Ackerman; Sarah, wife of Smith Scofield; Benson; and Mary, wife of Jacob S. Starms.
Benson Ferris was the only son in the family, and was born in Green- wich, Connecticut, March 21, 1794. When a lad of eight years he accom- panied his parents on their removal to Westchester county, where he was reared to manhood, acquiring a liberal education. For some years it was his privilege to pursue his studies under the direction of Rev. Thomas Gibbon Smith, pastor of the old Dutch church of Sleepy Hollow. Then it was that he formed his great love for the early Latin authors, from whose writings he so often quoted, his favorite being Virgil, with whom he was especially con-
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versant. After the sale of Wolfert's Roost he built a new home on the west side of Broadway, just north of Sunnyside, where he lived with his family for many years. He was very popular among his neighbors and associates, who honored him as a man possessing superior qualities of mind, judgment and general ability. He was again and again elected to various local offices of trust and responsibility, and there were few township positions which he did not fill one or more terms. For twenty years he was justice of the peace, and his career was especially remarkable in that he used his whole influence against litigation, trying to promote harmonious adjustment of grievances without recourse to law. He was an elder in the Second Reformed church for a long period. and his aid and influence were ever given for the betterment of his fellow men. In 1856 he removed from his home on Broadway to Tarrytown, where his death occurred July 11, 1882. He was married, Jan- uary 23, 1822, to Maria Acker, and their children were William A., Benson, Jemima and Oliver. The mother was a descendant of Wolfert Acker, who was married to Maritje Sibouts, March 21, 1692, and through her father, Abraham Acker, 3d, Abraham, 2d, and Abraham, Ist, to Wolfert. Abraham Acker, 2d, born in 1730, married Catrina Van Tassell, sister of Major Jacob Van Tassell. Abraham Acker, 3d, grandfather of Mr. Ferris of this review, married Jemima Dutcher, a daughter of Captain William Dutcher, who owned a large estate, comprising the present Tiffany property at Irvington, and was one of the representative men of the community at the time of the Revolution.
Benson Ferris acquired his early education at a district school-house which stood on the road between Sunnyside Lane and the Sawmill river. He afterward attended the Tarrytown Institute, and later pursued a two-years course in the Paulding Institute, in which he later engaged in teaching. Sub- sequently he was employed as a teacher in the district school where he had first been a pupil. About 1850 he began merchandising, opening the first store in Irvington, which place was then known as Dearman. In 1856 he removed to Tarrytown and from that time until his death was an active factor in business, educational, social, moral and material interests in that village. In 1859 he established a hardware store, but sold out two years later. In connection with Cyrus W. Field and D. Ogden Bradley, he was one of the founders of the Tarrytown National Bank and served as a member of its directorate until his life's labors were ended. He was also a director in the Hudson River Gas and Electric Company. On the Ist of October, 1864, he was elected trustee of the Westchester County Savings Bank, of Tarrytown, and served as secretary and vice-president for several years. In 1879 he was chosen for the presidency and occupied that responsible position until his death, making the institution one of the most reliable financial con-
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cerns in the state. During the nineteen years that he was at its head the deposits increased from six hundred and six thousand to more than two mill- ion dollars. His influence was potent on the lines of conservatism and safe- ty. At his death, in a resolution passed by the directors of the bank, they said of him: "His life was devoted to the protection of the depositors of the bank and to the upbuilding and strengthening of their security. Being thoroughly imbued with the conviction that his office was a sacred trust, no motive of self-aggrandizement or selfish pecuniary benefit ever warped his judgment or controlled his official action. By his prudence in investment and economy of management he has, notwithstanding the decreasing earning power of money, maintained to depositors a rate of four per cent per annum, and at the same time has accumulated a surplus which places the Westches- ter County Savings Bank as a place of security for the savings of the poor second to none in the county." It is not easy to measure his influence for good on the side of conservatism in his community. In financial matters many sought his counsel and. advice, and it was always kindly and freely given. It was always on the lines of prudence, safety and security to indi- viduals as well as to the bank. Others might disagree with him, but he stood like a rock, unmoved by any financial fallacy.
In the affairs of his village Mr. Ferris always took a deep interest, and his labors largely advanced its welfare. In 1866 he was appointed school commissioner for the second Westchester district; he served on the Irvington board of education, and the Tarrytown board of trustees, being elected to the last mentioned position in 1879. The cause of education always found in him a stalwart friend and his work in its behalf was most effective. He was one of the original incorporators of the Young Men's Lyceum, in 1869, and served as a director until his death. That he was a person of broad humani- tarian principles, especially interested in young men and their advancement, was shown by the active part which he performed in advancing the interests of the lyceum, and his liberal bequests to it at the time of his death. His fellow townsmen manifested their faith in his integrity and excellent finan- cial ability when during the first year of the civil war he was given the appointment as a member of a committee which had in charge the task of raising funds with which to render needed assistance to the families of Union soldiers who had offered their services, and perhaps their lives, to the cause of freedom and an undivided country. Mr. Ferris was one of the most active and zealous members of the committee, and through the efforts of himself and associates many thousands of dollars were collected and distrib- uted in this noble cause. When was inaugurated the project to erect a monument in Sleepy Hollow cemetery in honor of the Revolutionary soldiers, he was one of the first to give his support to the enterprise, and was one of
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the first subscribers to the fund. He was a member of the Westchester County Historical Society, also one of the officers of the Tarrytown Histor- ical Society, and always a liberal supporter of every patriotic and benevolent undertaking in this place.
In politics Mr. Ferris was originally a Whig, and in 1855, in connection with Horace Greeley and William H. Robertson, he was a member of the " committee of sixteen " which organized the Republican party in West- chester county, a fact which he often recurred to with pleasure. Three years later he was appointed a member of the executive committee of the party at a convention over which Horace Greeley presided. He held that place for many years and often attended the state conventions as a delegate. Locally he was for many years an able leader in the Republican party, as well as a man of marked personal influence in other directions.
In 1875 Mr. Ferris was united in marriage to Mrs. Mary P. Dutcher, of Rhode Island. They had no children, and his wife died May 6, 1890, so that his only near surviving relative was his brother Oliver, since deceased. To his friends he was loyal and true, and he held confidence and friendship inviolable. He possessed many admirable social qualities, a marked court- esy, a kindliness of disposition and a consideration for the opinions of others, and in a high degree enjoyed the respect, confidence and good will of his fellow men.
JONATHAN CARPENTER.
This prominent citizen of Westchester county, now retired from active business cares, is one of the men who make old age seem the better portion of life. Youth has its charms, but an honorable and honored old age, to which the lengthening years have added dignity and sweetness, has a brighter radi- ance, as if some ray from the life beyond already rested upon it. A native of Westchester county, Mr. Carpenter was born in Scarsdale, November 9, 1816, and is of Welsh descent. His grandfather, Jonathan Carpenter, Sr., was born September 7, 1749, and was a son of Benedict Carpenter, who died June 22, 1791, and, because of British persecution during the Revolutionary war, was forced to remove from Scarsdale to Long Island, where he was mar- ried, April 18, 1782, to Miss Esther Coles. After peace was declared he returned to Scarsdale and took up his trade of blacksmithing. In the family of Jonathan Carpenter, Sr., were five children, the fourth of whom was Joseph Carpenter, the father of our subject. He was born at Scarsdale, September 3, 1793, and was married, September 15, 1814, to Miss Margaret W. Cornell, who was of French extraction. Two children were born of this union, -Esther and Jonathan. Even before the war of the Rebellion, the father attained considerable notoriety because of his opposition to slavery.
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Jonathan Carpenter
Residence of Jonathan Carpenter.
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During his infancy, Jonathan Carpenter removed with his parents from Scarsdale to New Rochelle, and until he reached the age of eighteen years he engaged in farming. At that time ill health compelled him to give up active work and he did not resume it again until he was thirty. His father then retired and the management of the farm fell into his hands. He continued to successfuly engage in agricultural pursuits until at last by perseverance, industry, enterprise and integrity he amassed a fortune, which now enables him to lay aside all business cares. To the old homestead he added, by pur- chase, what was known as the Haviland property, containing seventy-seven acres of good farming land, with a sawmill upon it, which he operated for some time. He now has one hundred and eighty acres under a high state of cultivation, and stocked with a fine grade of cattle. Although he still contin- ues to look after every detail in the management of the place, he leaves the work to hired help. In 1892 he had the misfortune to lose his barns and outbuildings by fire, and it was with great difficulty that he saved his fine residence from thus being destroyed, as the season was very dry and water was scarce. Although his loss amounted to twelve thousand dollars, he immediately rebuilt, on a larger scale, and now has one of the best equipped farms in the county.
On the 11th of January, 1862, Mr. Carpenter was united in marriage with Miss Phila Jane Benedict, daughter of Hiram and Jane (Griffin) Bene- dict, of Scarsdale. They have no children. Religiously, they are consistent members of the Society of Friends, and he is also a strong temperance advo- cate. In early life he was a supporter of the Whig party, and is now an ardent Republican, whose aid is never withheld from any object which he believes will prove of public benefit.
GEORGE WILLIAM SUTTON.
The family of Sutton is an honorable one in Amenia and it is of English origin. George William Sutton, of New Rochelle, is one of its most promi- nent representatives in this day and generation. One of the early Suttons in Amenia was Rev. Abner Sutton, who, according to certain ancient family records, was born in 1741 and married in 1768. George Davidson Sutton, George William Sutton's paternal grandfather, was an influential preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church in New York city. He was born in 1811 and died in 1868, after a most useful life. He had children named George W., Anna J., David A., Effingham and George. His wife was Harriet Ann Stevens.
George W. Sutton, father of George William Sutton, was born at New- ark, New Jersey, August 1, 1832, and was married to Justine Augusta De Veau,
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at Erie, Pennsylvania, July 23, 1853. Mrs. Sutton was a member of an old and highly respected family of French lineage. Early in life he became inter- ested financially and otherwise in the importation and manufacture of silk. After some few other alliances of more or less importance, he became the senior partner in the historic silk house of Passavant & Company, Green and Spring streets, New York city, and maintained that position in the silk trade for forty years. His New York residence was at No. 8 West Fifty-first street. He removed to New Rochelle in 1884, having bought the estate of Thad- deus Davids, of ink-manufacturing fame, a beautiful homestead of twenty acres, finely located and overlooking the Long Island Sound. Here he lived a quiet, retired life until his death, which occurred November 14, 1894. He owned another estate embracing a tract of one hundred and fifty acres, which was Washington's headquarters near White Plains, and also held other valu- able real estate at and near New York city. He was a member of St. Mary's Episcopal church, New York city, and gave five thousand dollars to that institution at his death. His liberality was shown in bequests to other worthy objects. His wife died in 1893, aged fifty-nine years. Their son, Eugene, born in 1854, is identified with the silk trade. Their daughter, Anna Josephine, married Arthur W. Watson, of Passavant & Company. Their daughter, Justina Augusta, is the widow of Joseph T. Fearing, and lives at New Rochelle. Arthur N. died in 1873. McWalter B. is a senior in Trinity College.
George William Sutton was born in New York city December 4, 1862. He gained his primary education in private schools in New York and later was a student at Chartier Institute and at St. Paul's Academy, Concord, New Hampshire. At sixteen he was sent to Europe for further education and with a view to familiarizing himself with the silk trade in its foreign aspects. He pursued his studies at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, and at Lyons, France. Then, after gaining an intimate experience in the silk trade at Lyons and other European centers of that trade, he returned to the United States in 1882 and was soon busily and profitably engaged in silk manufac- ture at South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Five years later he retired from this enterprise and from 1887 to 1894 operated successfully on the Consoli- dated Stock Exchange. He then organized the Phoenix Electric Telephone Company, of New York, for the manufacture of telephone apparatus and appliances, and has been its president from that day to this. Later he organized the New Rochelle and Westchester Telephone Company, of which he is also president.
Mr. Sutton has been a resident of New Rochelle since 1884 and has taken an active and beneficial interest in all its local affairs. He is a Repub- lican and a practical politician who goes into any political contest to win for
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his party and its candidates. The first ward .of New Rochelle is Demo- cratic, but Mr. Sutton desired an election as its alderman on the Republican ticket and obtained it. Of course this means that he overcame obstacles; but he had been accustomed to do that. He was elected alderman from the first ward for three years. He is a member of the Republican Club of New Rochelle, and not long since resigned the treasurership of that organization, and is a member of the New Rochelle Yacht Club, the New Rochelle Rowing Club and of the New Rochelle Board of Trade, being also identified with several other social and beneficial orders and societies. He attends St. Mary's Episcopal church, New York city.
Mr. Sutton was married June 10, 1886, to Margaret, daughter of Russell Bates, a distinguished merchant of Boston, Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale performing the ceremony. Mr. and Mrs. Sutton have two children, George William, born in 1887, and Ruth Remington, born in 1889.
MAJOR CHARLES R. SWAIN.
Major Swain, who is now serving as clerk of the village of Peekskill, Westchester county, was elected to this position in 1898, on the Democratic ticket. He is quite a local leader in that political organization and has occu- pied various offices of responsibility and honor, meeting with energy, prompt- ness and fidelity, the duties thus placed upon his shoulders. Among the fra- ternities he belongs to the Masonic order, his membership being with Cort- landt Lodge, No. 34, F. & A. M .; and to the Odd Fellows society, in which he has passed all the chairs in the local lodge.
A son of Andrew J. and Jeannette (Gregory) Swain, our subject is of French and Indian extraction, on the paternal side, and of Scotch and Hol- land-Dutch lineage on the maternal side. His ancestors were numbered among the early settlers of Orange county, New York, and some of them fought in the colonial war for independence. The Major's father was a cap- tain in the war of 1812, and the same spirit of loyalty to country and sacri- fice and devotion to the flag has prevailed in each succeeding generation of Swains.
Major Charles R. Swain was born in Highland Falls, Orange county, New York, June 5, 1844, being next to the youngest in a family of eight chil- dren, six of whom grew to maturity. When he was but thirteen years of age he began to earn his own livelihood, and for three years was employed in the sutler's department at West Point, New York. When the civil war came on he made several unsuccessful attempts to get into the regular service and finally was accepted. October 5, 1862, he became quartermaster sergeant of the One Hundred and Seventy-sixth New York Regiment, and acted in the
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capacity of captain much of the time, though he was non-commissioned. He was also the drill-master of the regiment for some time and continued to do active duty in the army as long as his services were needed by his country.
At the close of the war the Major came to Peekskill, and in 1867 engaged in the grocery business. For five consecutive years he was elected town clerk of Cortlandt, and, during this period systematized the tax-book which is still in use in the county. In 1877 he was elected superintendent of the water-works, continuing as such until he tendered his resignation in 1886. He was foreman of the Peekskill Hook & Ladder Company for eleven years. From 1876 to 1887 he was engaged in the foundry business in New Jersey, and then, selling out, he embarked in the manufacture of brick in Croton, New York. He was superintendent of the business there, his partners in the enterprise at first being L. D. Beck and Captain James S. Van Cortlandt, and, later, George Heit and Mr. Tice. In 1897 the Major disposed of his interests in all business concerns, save that of the Enamel Works, in which he still owns a part. He has, nevertheless, made his home in Peekskill for several years, and is one of her most respected citizens.
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