USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume I > Part 53
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In 1863 the Major married Miss Carrie A. Wilkin, daughter of James Wilkin, who was a graduate of West Point. The three children of our sub- ject and wife are Charles W., clerk in the register's office at White Plains, New York; Jane Gregory, a graduate of the Medical College of New York; and Henry D., now studying law with Colonel C. H. Frost. The family attend the First Presbyterian church.
WILLIAM H. HOYT.
William H. Hoyt, one of the most prominent brokers and dealers in suburban real estate in Tarrytown and the neighboring country, is the owner of a beautiful home on Croton avenue. He has been identified with many of the leading enterprises and societies in Tarrytown during the twenty-seven years of his residence here, and none of her citizens are more generally esteemed.
The parents of the above, Eleazer and Susan (Silley) Hoyt, were natives of New Hampshire, and grew to mature years in that state. The father, a prosperous farmer, was a son of Abner Hoyt, also one of the native sons of the Granite state. In fact, among the very first settlers of New Hampshire were numbered some Hoyts who came to the New World from England about 1641, and from them the later members of the family are descended. The Silley family is descended from a French doctor, who was one of the most noted surgeons and physicians of his time in New Hampshire. He was one of the genuine old-time doctors who traveled on horseback with pill-
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boxes and surgical instruments in old-fashioned saddlebags; and these same relics of former days are now in the possession of one of his descendants. During the last years of his practice he adopted the later method of riding from patient to patient in a two-wheeled chaise.
William H. Hoyt was born in the town of East Weare, Hillsboro county, New Hampshire, November 6, 1829. His boyhood days were spent upon his father's farm, and such education as he acquired before he was nineteen years of age was obtained in the district school of the period. He then went to Boston, where he was a clerk in a grocery establishment which did an ex- tensive business and traded with the West Indies. After remaining with that firm for three years he went into the employ of a dry-goods house and thor- oughly learned mercantile business in the line of that establishment. During the following four years he was engaged in the retail dry-goods trade on his own account with his older brother; but though he prospered he was forced to give up the enterprise because of failing health.
Believing that an out-door life might prove of benefit to him, Mr. Hoyt went to Illinois in 1856 and took up a large tract of land in the vicinity of a small town called Galva, then containing a population of perhaps five hun- dred. Mr. Hoyt improved his property, and at the same time dealt in grain and live stock. His land was but one hundred and forty-four miles from Chicago, and thus a ready market was near at hand. In connection with his other enterprises, he carried on a store for fourteen years. He became interested in political matters and served as supervisor of his town continu- ously for thirteen years. Later, when Galva had grown to be a place of three thousand inhabitants, he was elected president of the town. This was while the civil war was in progress. Mr. Hoyt was a strong Union man, and personally knew Lincoln, Grant, Governor Oglesby and "Dick " Yates.
Having resigned from his official positions, and having disposed of his various business enterprises, in 1869, Mr. Hoyt returned to the east and invested considerable money in the New York & Northern Railroad, which venture proved a disastrous one, as far as he was concerned. He withdrew from the railroad business after a time, and since then has been engaged in the management of suburban real estate. Opening an office in New York city, he has transacted as extensive a business in this class of property as any other firm in the metropolis. He enjoys the respect of all with whom he has had dealings, and his patrons once are his patrons always. For years he has been employed as an expert appraiser in the condemnation of lands for the New York water supply, and has served in many instances in other localities as an expert appraiser of valuable estates, etc. Socially he has been the president of the Irving Club, of Tarrytown, and a trustee in the same, and for several years was the able and popular president of the Young
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Men's Lyceum, and at present is one of the trustees; also vice president and trustee of the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Association.
The first marriage of Mr.' Hoyt was celebrated in 1851, the lady of his choice being Miss Celia Wilson, of Boston. Her father, John Wilson, was a
sea captain, and for many years was a pilot commissioner. Mrs. Hoyt died in 1864, leaving one son, who followed the wife and mother to the grave three years afterward, his death resulting from typhoid fever. April 19, 1866, Mr. Hoyt married Mrs. Susan M. Wilson, widow of Captain James Wilson. Mrs. Hoyt was born and reared to womanhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in which city her father, Horace Hanford, was a much respected resident. The three living children of Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt are Frank H., whose home is in Portland, Maine; Miriam E., now Mrs. M. S. Parker; and Alice E., at home. The family attend the Episcopal church.
GEORGE J. STENGEL.
Beauty of quality and texture are very important matters when a fine carpet is to be decided upon, but, after all, the loveliness of design and the harmony of shades are no secondary affairs in the judgment of the purchaser, and thus it may be readily seen that the position of superintendent of the department devoted to designing patterns in the immense establishment of the Alexander Smith Carpet Company is one of the most responsible places of those held by the forty-five hundred persons whose names are on their pay-roll. Mr. Stengel is a young man, but has been in the employ of this company since 1882 and has enjoyed unusual advantages in the direction of artistic training. By nature he is an artist, and he thoroughly enjoys his work. From the forests and ocean, from river and meadow, he gains his inspiration, and his deft fingers and his brain of genius modify, change and translate nature to the public. The carpet is his canvas.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, Christian Stengel, came to the United States from Cassel, Germany, and landed here October 12, 1846. He settled in Newark, New Jersey, where, in time, he owned one of the largest tanneries in the country. It was he who made famous the " horse " brand of leather, manufactured first in his tannery. He was an esteemed citizen, a stanch Democrat, a Mason, and at one time a member of the Put- nam Horse Guards (militia). He lived and died in the faith of the Reformed church, his death taking place July 2, 1876, when he was seventy-one years old. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Eliza Groell, departed this life May 18, 1875, when seventy years of age. They were the parents of six children: George Jacob, who died at the age of sixty-nine years; Lilly Gerth, a widow; Charles H., August, Charles Gabriel, George Frederick and Henry.
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Henry Stengel, father of our subject, was born in Cassel, Germany, in 1834, and accompanied his father to the United States. He learned the saddlery business and for many years conducted a flourishing trade in Newark, New Jersey. During the progress of the civil war he sold out his business and undertook to enlist in the defense of his adopted land, for one year's service, but he was rejected, as at that time men were being enlisted for no less than three years. He then became associated with his father in the tannery, and in September, 1871, came to Yonkers. Here he opened a leather-finding store, which business he soon abandoned, to resume his trade, which he has since followed. In his early life he was very fond of athletics, and he is now a member of the Yonkers Turn Verein and Rising Star Lodge, No. 450, F. & A. M., and Terrace City Chapter, R. A. M. In the chapter he is now serving as secretary, is past master of the local lodge and was master of the Newark lodge at one time. In politics he is a Democrat. For eight years he has been warden of Christ church, Protestant Episcopal, of Yonkers, and holds membership there. Having been elected to the position of excise commissioner of this city, he served most faithfully, and for the long period of thirteen years he was president of the board. The marriage of Mr. Stengel and Miss Anna Eliza Steurer was solemized April 19, 1860. Their five children are as follows: Anna C., Emily J., George J., Edna Steurer and Carl Henry. The last named is pursuing a course in civil engin- eering at Cooper Union, in New York city.
George J. Stengel was born in Newark, September 26, 1866, and was educated at school No. 2, Yonkers. Graduating there at the age of fourteen, he then entered upon a course of work in the Art Students' League, of New York city. This institution has grown to be one of the leading art schools in this country, and among the instructors there are such noted men as Kenyon Cox and Siddons Mowbray. Mr. Stengel took two years of work in the antique class and spent a similar period in the life class, in the meantime identifying himself as an apprentice with the Alexander Smith Carpet Com- pany, of Yonkers. In this capacity he served for three years, becoming thoroughly conversant with the requirements of the business. He was then rapidly advanced by various promotions until 1893, when he was placed in charge as superintendent of the department of designing patterns for the moquette carpets, the finest carpets manufactured here. He has a corps of assistants, including about a dozen designers and an apprentice. He is fre- quently sent abroad by the company, and spends three or four months at a time in Paris and elsewhere, consulting with foreign artists and designers, and bringing back the very latest ideas for carpets.
Mr. Stengel is an artist through and through, and the world is likely to hear of him in another field of art. He is a landscape painter of no slight
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skill, and many beautiful things have come from his hand, both in oil and water colors, and have won much admiration in current local exhibitions. In his studio may be found numerous interesting sketches, some of scenes and persons he has portrayed during his continental journeys, and many quite ambitious canvases are also there. His good taste and originality of idea serve him in good stead in his chosen vocation, and not only in America but in other lands the results of his skill and artistic ability are carrying pleasure and refinement into thousands of homes and public institutions.
While he gives his chief attention to his art work, Mr. Stengel is not a man of one idea, and in many other fields he finds amusement and profit. He is a member of the Sullivan County Club, which has its headquarters in Wurtsboro, and there Mr. Stengel owns a cottage and frequently passes his vacations. He is fond of hunting, and often makes brief trips into Vir- ginia, for the purpose of spending a day or more in the pursuit of game. He belongs to the Yonkers Gun Club, the Salmagundi Club, Rising Star Lodge, No. 450, F. & A. M., Terrace City Chapter, and Yonkers Commandery. Politically, his franchise is used in favor of the Democratic party.
JAMES F. LAWRENCE,
One of the present supervisors of Westchester county, James F. Law- rence, who is a representative citizen of this part of the state, was born April 4, 1846, on the farm where he now resides. He is a son of Cyrus Lawrence, who was born on the Lawrence homestead, near Cross River, and now occupied by Samuel H. Lawrence.
During the Revolutionary war General Clinton gave a commission to Captain Samuel Lawrence, and he it was who first settled on the Lawrence homestead. Captain Lawrence and wife, Rhoda, were the parents of ten children, one of whom was Joel, the grandfather of our subject. The last mentioned married Hannah Bouton, a member of an old and prominent New York family of English descent. Their only child, Cyrus, was an attorney at law for a number of years, and for three decades served as justice of the peace. He was a lifelong supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and was public-spirited and broad-minded upon all subjects. When still a very young man he married Miss Molly Mead, whose death occurred a year or so afterward. Later he married Louise Weed, and of their five chil- dren three are deceased - Darius W., DeWitt C., and Edward. The living are Mrs. Thomas Gilbert and Cyrus J .; the latter is a broker in New York city. For his third wife Mr. Lawrence was united with Mary Howe, a native of New York city, where she was reared and educated. Her father, James Howe, a veteran of the Mexican war, was born in Westchester
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county, and died in the prime of his life at the age of forty. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Lawrence, was by maiden name Anna Clark. Mrs. Mary (Howe) Lawrence is still living, being now in her eightieth year. Her only child is the gentleman of whom this sketch is penned. Mr. Lawrence was a Freemason of high standing, belonging to Salem lodge.
James F. Lawrence was reared on the farm where he now resides, early acquiring a thorough knowledge of the various departments of agriculture. His education was received in the district schools, and since reaching man- hood he has widened his field of knowledge by private reading and study, and has become an able and well-informed man. He has given allegiance to the Republican party ever since receiving his right of franchise, and is qualified to give good reasons for the " faith that is in him." He takes an active part in political affairs, and has frequently been sent as a delegate to conventions of his party. In 1893 he was elected the supervisor of Lewisboro township, and has held that office ever since, such has been the fidelity with which he. has served the interests of the citizens. He has greatly widened his circle of acquaintances and friends, and has become one of the most influential lead- ers of the Republican forces in the county. The office which he now holds. was held by various members of his family before him, as for instance Cyrus Lawrence, in 1840.
The fine old farm which he owns and cultivates is known as the Elm Tree farm, being noted for the splendid elm trees growing upon it. Here Mr. Lawrence has a hundred and forty-five acres under good cultivation, and in addition to the raising of general crops he conducts also a flourishing dairy business. Frank and jovial in manner, few men are more popular among all classes.
In 1876 Mr. Lawrence was united in marriage with Miss Hannah Dick- inson, a daughter of Arnell Dickinson, deceased. Mr. Dickinson was a native of this county, and in early manhood married Miss Elizabeth Robert- son, a daughter of Henry Robertson, of Bedford, New York. The five chil- dren of our subject and his wife are: Elizabeth, who is a graduate of the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, at Lima, New York; Anna Meta, who died at the age of eighteen; Walter A .; Cyrus Fayette; and Rhoda, who is named after the wife of Captain Samuel Lawrence.
JACOB WEIMAR.
"Every man who rises in any profession or trade must tread a path more or less bedewed by the tears of those he passes on his way"-Long- fellow. "The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do, without any thought of fame."- 30
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Ibid. " There are three things essential to success, -conscientiousness, concentration and continuity. In extremity it is character that saves a man. To one object should the lines of life converge. This should be the focal point of thought and feeling. Continuity is not incompatible with change. It is the reverse of a fragmentary and desultory mode of life."-President Smith, of Dartmouth. These and many other citations from shrewd observ- ers of practical life could be appropriately made in contemplating the life and career of the subject of this sketch, who is a brilliant example of sturdy Ger- man persistence in some of the useful arts of life.
Mr. Weimar was born April 12, 1823, at Waldalgesheim, Prussia, near the famous "Bingen on the Rhine," a son of Valentine and Agnes (Sennar) Weimar. His father, a locksmith and shipsmith by trade, was a man of considerable mechanical genius, who had more than the average accomplish- ments of a mechanician, having spent many years as an apprentice. For many years he was the chief engineer of the fire department of his city. In military life he served for a time in Napoleon's army, at the age of seventeen years. All his life he resided at his birthplace, dying at the age of sixty-five years; his wife passed to the other world at the age of fifty-five.
They had ten children, namely: John, deceased, a locksmith by trade, who was a lancer or cavalryman in the German army, and passed his life in the fatherland; Valentine, who was a farmer in Germany; Philip, who was engaged in the safe business for the Herring Company, and was a resident of Mount Vernon at the time of his death; Peter, who came to America in 1845, was employed in the safe business by the Herring Company, and resided in New York the remainder of his life, excepting for three or four years at Mount Vernon, where he died; Christina, wife of Charles Eich and residing in New York; Cathrina (Hammel) resided in New York for a time and after- ward near Utica, this state, on a farm; Jacob was the next born; Louis, deceased, who was a tailor at Rochester, New York; Agnes; and Frederick William, who was a resident of Brooklyn.
Mr. Jacob Weimar, to the age of seventeen years, attended the public grammar and high schools, graduating at the latter, and also attended a pri- vate school, attaining a superier education and finishing the course. Having from his youth evinced a desire to become an accomplished artisan in some mechanical trade, he began to learn the locksmith's trade in his father's shop. Subsequently he was associated with larger concerns, spending much time in mechanical institutes in the study of fine machinery and making a specialty of steam engines and spinning machinery. He was but twelve years of age when he constructed a good lock, and but seventeen when he made a one- horse-power engine, which he placed on exhibition at the Crystal Palace exposition in 1857. He was employed in the construction of steam engines
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and in spinning machinery to the age of twenty-three years, when he came to America, encouraged to do so by two brothers living in New York city.
Landing at that city in June, 1846, he became associated as employe with the Herring Company, safe manufacturers, in company with his brothers, and he remained with them until he became superintendent of the manufactur- ing department of their works, and during this time he invented a half dozen devices on which he obtained patents, namely: An iron or steel box in a fire-proof safe; a combination lock; conical bolts in burglar-proof safes; tongued and grooved lever handle for burglar-proof safes; a solid round-cylin- der safe, without screws or bolts; and an improved combination lock, with cone spindles, which is the perfected lock usually adopted as the best in the world. On all these patents Mr. Weimar secured royalties from the Herring Company. In 1858 he introduced the first round bolts adopted in burglar- proof safes prior to the flat bolts now universally used. He had a safe fitted with round bolts on exibition at the St. Louis fair in 1859. He has contrib- uted more toward the perfection of burglar-proof safes than any other man in the world. All his other patents have been adopted by different compa- nies. In April, 1896, he retired from the safe business.
For the first eight years of his residence in this country, that is, up to 1854, Mr. Weimar was in New York city, and since then he has been a resi- dent of Mount Vernon. Altogether he has been in the service of the Herr- ing Company fifty years, this company being the largest safe-manufacturing company in the world. They make the most expensive safes in America, such as those used by banks and trust companies and in deposit vaults, etc. In the beautiful city of Mount Vernon he is now spending the evening of his use- ful life in the enjoyment of the results he has so richly earned, occupying a residence in an appreciative community. He owns a considerable amount of real estate in Mount Vernon, to which he gives his personal attention. He has served eleven years in the Mount Vernon fire company, and he is a pol- icy-holder in the New York Life Insurance Company and in the Equitable Life of Hartford.
Politically he is an able advocate of the principles of the Republican par- ty, voting for the men and measures of that party ever since the first campaign of Abraham Lincoln, in 1860. He is a member of the Masonic order, which he joined before his emigration to this country; and in religion he is a mem- ber of the Lutheran church, and, socially, of the Mount Vernon City Club.
In matrimony, May 25, 1849, he was united with Miss Catharine Gschwind, who died in 1891, at the age of sixty-three years. They had five children, namely: Anna, who died at the age of ten years; Amelia C .; Jacob, who died in infancy; Edward W., a florist of Mount Vernon and a member of the city board of health, who married Laura Huss, a daughter of Colonel
·
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Henry and Mary (Busch) Huss, of Mount Vernon, and has two children, - Edward W., Jr., and Marie Katharine; and Herman Frederick, the fifth child of our subject, is deceased, having been a florist by occupation.
AARON BURR WHITLOCK.
Aaron Burr Whitlock, one of the most prosperous and substantial agri- culturists of Somers township, was born at Whitlockville, October 10, 1824, and was reared on the old homestead where six generations of the family had lived, having secured their title to the farm from the Indians. Our sub- ject's great-grandfather, Thaddeus Whitlock, Sr., had two sons: Aaron and John B. The latter, in company with Squire Wood, started a town, to which they gave the name of Mechanicville, but which was afterward changed to Whitlockville, and later to Katonah. Here they established mills and manufacturing plants and it soon developed into a thriving village. The older son, Aaron, married Esther Ketchum, and to them were born two chil- dren: Thaddeus, the second, father of our subject; and Samale. Thaddeus Whitlock, the second, was also a native of Whitlockville and in early life married Miss Nancy Gregory, daughter of Stephen Gregory, of Somers Center. six children were born of this union: Aaron Burr, our subject; Anna G. Avery, deceased; Artemas, a resident of Highbridge, New York; Chloe, deceased; Thaddeus, who was in partnership with our subject for many years, and died in 1876; and Silas, deceased. The father died at the age of sixty- eight, and the mother at the advanced age of ninety years. Both were con- sistent members of the Methodist church and most estimable people.
Becoming a civil engineer in early life, Aaron B. Whitlock assisted in the construction of the New York Railroad, and in 1851 embarked in business for himself, and later with his brother Thaddeus at Croton Falls, where our subject still carries on operations. It was in 1867 that he located upon his present farm in Somers township, where he owns three hundred and fifty acres of valuable land which he has placed under a high state of cultivation and improved with a fine set of modern buildings. He is enterprising and progressive in his methods of doing business and due success has not been denied him, as he is to-day one of the well-to-do, as well as one of the highly respected citizens of his community.
On the 19th of February, 1849, Mr. Whitlock was united in marriage with Miss Sarah A. Avery, a daughter of Colonel Avery and Lucy, née Wood, and to them were born six children, namely: Charles A., who mar- ried Carrie Green and resides on the old homestead; Walter, who married Fannie Smith; Sarah, wife of Mory Smith, of Tarrytown, this county; Lucy, wife of Vail Smith, of Brewster, New York; Eva, deceased; and Carrie,
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deceased wife of William Thacker. The wife and mother, who was a con- sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, was called to her final rest in 1885, and in March, 1887, Mr. Whitlock was again married, his second union being with Miss Addie Jennette Smith. He is a very active and prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Purdy Station, and is justly deserving of the high regard in which he is held by all who know him.
JULES BREUCHAUD.
The possibilities in the line of masonry construction seem illimitable. Each year witnesses marked advance in this direction, and what a few years since was deemed utterly impossible is now accomplished in a manner that reflects the highest credit upon those whose genius has produced superior and adequate methods. Our life, continually becoming more complex in its inter- ests, its activities, its demands and its needs, has called forth an inventive genius which was unnecessary in the earlier days of simpler living. The work of the civil engineer to-day, however, is marvelous, awakening the admira- tion of the entire world. America has taken a leadership along this line which is acknowledged by all countries, and the prominent position which Jules Breuchaud occupies among the representatives of his profession is indi- cated by the fact that he is now engaged on the construction of the new Croton aqueduct, the Croton damn being regarded as the largest piece of solid masonry in existence with the exception of the pyramids of Egypt.
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