USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume I > Part 6
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He has always been actively identified with the growth and development of the city, has promoted a number of its business enterprises, is a member of the board of trade, and was formerly a trustee of the old Mount Vernon Artesian Well and Water Company. He served for three years as school
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trustee, was a member of the Hook and Ladder Company, and while residing in Ohio he served as postmaster at Glendale, a small town near Cincinnati, after abandoning the practice of medicine. Public office, however, has had no great attraction for him, as he has always preferred to devote his energies to his business. He belongs to Hiawatha Lodge, A. F. & A. M., also the chap- ter, council and commandery, and was formerly a member of the Sons of Temperance and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In religious belief he is a Swedenborgian, and the Mount Vernon New Church Society held its first meeting at his home, in 1864, the services being conducted by the Rev. J. P. Stewart. Later the society occupied the Universalist church at Mount Vernon, but in 1873 a new house of worship was erected on Chester Hill, and Rev. Oliver Dyer was called to the pastorate. The Doctor had ever been a liberal contributor to the church, and has generously aided many charities and worthy movements for the benefit of his fellow men. He has devoted himself to that which he loves, -his family and his profession. His pleasant, genial manner wins him friends wherever he goes, haughtiness and ostenta- tion finding no part in his composition. His years rest lightly upon him, and the fine physique which he developed in his earlier days has the vigor of a man many years his junior. He is a typical representative of the age in which he lives and the city in which he practices, and truly his life may be termed a success, for the discoveries he has made he has seen adopted and honored,-a success which is above that of the millionaire.
On June 10, 1899, since the above sketch was written, Dr. Close departed this life, lamented by a wide circle of friends.
JOHN SAVAGE HAWLEY.
Centuries ago there lived in England one Walter de Hawleigh, a resi- dent of Dorchestershire. As the years passed the French form of the name was discontinued and the more Anglo-Saxon form of Hawley was adopted. The family flourished for many centuries, and its representatives were more or less prominent in the affairs of the nation. They resided for a long period in Parwidge (now Parwich), Derbyshire, England. Francis Hawley, Esquire, maintained his residence at Corfe Castle, a town long since fallen into decay. In 1642 Francis Hawley, of Buckland House, in Somersetshire, raised a troop of horse, at his own expense, for service in the army of Charles I, who rewarded him by creating him a baronet, and in 1671 he was elected to parliament, for St. Michaels in Cornwall.
Joseph Hawley, who belonged to the yeomanry, was born in 1603, and, coming to America at a very early period in the settlement of the colonies, - about 1629, served as town recorder of Stratford, Connecticut, from 1650
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Juo. S. Hawley
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until 1666. He owned lands there and was a very prominent citizen. His son, Samuel Hawley, Sr., was a farmer and tanner of Stratford, Connecticut, and was born May 20, 1647. He was twice married, -- first, 1673, to Mary Thompson, daughter of Thomas Thompson, of Farmington, Connecticut; while for his second wife he wedded Mary Patience Hubbell. He became the father of fifteen children, and his death occurred August 24, 1734. One of the children of the first marriage was Samuel Hawley, Jr., who was born in Stratford, May 14, 1674, and there made his home throughout his entire life, devoting his energies to farming. He married Bertha Booth, by whom he had seven children, and his death occurred in 1754, at the age of eighty- one years. His son, Obadiah Hawley, who was born in 1708, died in 1751. He followed farming at Woodbury and Roxbury, Connecticut, and married Sarah -, of Stratford.
Gideon Hawley, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was born in Huntingdon, Connecticut, in 1744, and was likewise an agriculturist. Removing to Charlton, Saratoga county, New York, he there purchased a farm of three hundred acres and successfully engaged in its cultivation. He was a man of very powerful build, tall and strong. In politics he was a Whig and in his religious belief a Presbyterian. He died May 10, 1840, and his first wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Curtis, passed away April 12, 1801. He married, secondly, Elizabeth -- , who died in 1822. His children were: Anson, who died at the age of fifteen years; Eunice; Urania Taylor; Obadiah; Curtis; Lemuel; Penuell; Mrs. Sarah Woodruff; Hannah, who was the wife of Judge John Savage, of the supreme court of the state of New York; Gideon and Roswell. Gideon was for fifty years an eminent and honored member of the bar of Albany, New York, and the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him. He was at one time treasurer of the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, was the first state superin- tendent of instruction of the state of New York, was one of the regents of the University of the State of New York, and one of the regents of the Smithsonian Institution, at Washington, D. C., and held other important positions. His wife was a daughter of Jacob Lansing, a very prominent man of Albany.
Roswell Hawley, father of our subject, was born in Huntingdon, Con- necticut, November 15, 1791, and acquired a good common-school education in the schools of that town and in Charlton, New York. Like his ancestors through many generations, he devoted his time and attention to the tilling of the soil, and lived a quiet, honorable and upright life. For forty years he was a member of the Presbyterian church, and was a man who was most ex- emplary in all the relations of life and who won the respect of all with whom he came in contact. He served as a school trustee, and in his political con-
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nections was a Whig. He married Hettie Van Hoevenbergh, and to them were born six children: James D. and Sarah, both of whom are now de- ceased; Gidson A., who was a physician and coffee-planter of Guatemala, died in New Orleans, in 1888; Henry, who died at the age of five years; Elisha Roswell, who died March 14, 1862; and John S. The father of this family died May 20, 1859, at the age of sixty-eight years, and the mother, who was born in 1795, died March 30, 1873, at the age of seventy-eight years.
In taking up the personal history of John Savage Hawley, it is with pleasure that the biographist essays the task of giving the life record of one whose character has been so fully developed and well rounded as has that of the subject of this review. James Lane Allen has said: " First of all, a man must be a man with all the strength and vigor, and if possible all the beauty, of the body. Then he must be a gentleman, with all the grace and vigor and the good taste of the intellect; then, no matter what his creed, his supersti- tions, his dogmas or his religion, in addition to these he must try to live the beautiful life of the spirit." Such a type of man is John S. Hawley, whose name is inscribed high on the roll of New York's prominent representatives of business and who is in control of one of the mammoth industrial concerns of that city, yet who is not without a large share of that deep human sym- pathy and Christ-like spirit which teaches the brotherhood of man, and that "all are needed by each one; nothing is fair or good alone."
From a humble position in the business world he has risen to one of eminence through his own well directed and honorable efforts, and as he has advanced has ever had a hand down-reaching in aid of those who would climb to better things, who would reach that purer air and broader view wherein man sees things of life in their true relations and realizes that a noble char- acter is more to be valued than all else.
Mr. Hawley was born in Charlton, Saratoga county, June 28, 1836, and began his education in the public schools there. Later he pursued his studies in Jonesville, Michigan, and in the Charlottesville Academy, in Schoharie county, New York; but he put aside his text-books at the age of seventeen in order to assist his father on the farm. He remained at home until twenty- two years of age, with the exception of one year, when he held a clerkship in the Troy post-office. In 1859 he went to Texas and was associated with his brother Elisha in the fancy-goods business, -first in Richmond, that state, and afterward in Galveston. At the breaking out of the civil war, on account of their sympathy with the Union, they were obliged to leave the Lone Star state, and, after a perilous journey by schooner from Matagorda, at length reached Vera Cruz, Mexico. His brother having died in the fall of 1862, our subject made his way to San Francisco, and in the spring of 1863 went
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to Virginia City, Nevada, where he accepted a clerkship in the office of the Ophir Mining Company. He subsequently became superintendent and one of the owners of the Ophir grade toll-road, and at the same time engaged in dealing in lumber and wood. Success attended his efforts, and by close application, straightforward dealing and unremitting energy he acquired con- siderable capital. With this he returned to the east, in 1870, and entered the confectionery establishment of Wallace & Company, of New York, as junior partner, remaining with that firm until 1874. The following year he began the manufacture of confectionery on his own account, at No. 144 Chambers street. He was alone in business for three years and then admit- ted Herman W. Hoops to a partnership, under the firm name of John S. Hawley & Company, which style, five years later, was changed to Hawley & Hoops. The building which they now occupy covers nearly an entire block and faces on three streets, extending from 267 to 271 Mulberry street, from 8 to 16 Jersey street, and from 83 to 91 Marion street. They do an exten- sive business, one of the largest in the city, and furnish employment to eight hundred workmen. Their goods are shipped throughout the United States, and command the highest market price by reason of their superior excel- lence. The undertaking has been an eminently successful one, owing to Mr. Hawley's practical understanding of the business, his keen foresight and capable management, combined with equally reliable business traits in Mr. Hoops. Mr. Hawley is a charter member and one of the active representa- tives of the National Confectioners' Association.
In addition to his other interests Mr. Hawley has large real-estate hold- ings at Yonkers, and the firm of Harriman & Hawley-the senior member being Charles Harriman-are improving the beautiful suburb of Harriman, where they have erected many handsome residences, now the homes of some of the best people of the Terrace City. They have erected a very attractive station on the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad for the con- venience of the residents of the town and have introduced all modern improve- ments, including an excellent system of paving and water-works. The situ- ation of this suburb is unsurpassed in the entire section of the country. It lies along the east bank of the beautiful Hudson river, which is justly famed in song and story, and commands a view of the stream for at least twenty miles, including the palisades and other attractive features which have made the valley unsurpassed for its quiet and charming loveliness.
On the 21st of February, 1867, Mr. Hawley was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Reed, a daughter of Hercules Reed, a merchant. Four chil- dren were born to them: H. Reed, now a practicing physician of Staats- burgh, New York; Adelaide, who was born in 1873 and is now the wife of Claude Gignoux, an attorney of New York city, residing in Suffern, this state;
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John S., who was born June 18, 1877, and is employed in the office of Haw- ley & Hoops; and Elisha Roswell, who was born July 20, 1878. He was a young man of exceptional ability and promise, of noble character and most admirable qualities. It was his chief ambition to study for the ministry of the Universalist church and devote his life to the betterment of mankind, but death cut short his career, December 22, 1898. This was a great blow to his family and friends, for he had won the love and respect of all who knew him, and his life seemed bright with the promise of its future possibilities. The mother died December 9, 1892, and on the 6th of February, 1894, Mr. Hawley was again married, his second union being with Margarettha Voss, a most estimable lady and a daughter of John Voss, of Jersey City, New Jer- sey. The family have maintained their residence in Yonkers since May, 1898, and also have a beautiful summer home at Lake Placid, New York.
Mr. Hawley usually supports by his ballot the men and measures of the Republican party, but is not strictly partisan. In religious belief he is a Universalist, holding membership in the church of the Eternal Hope, in New York city, of which Dr. Crow is pastor. He contributes most gener- ously of his means to church and benevolent institutions, and in all such work is prompted by a most broad, philanthropic spirit. The donations which he has made, both known and unknown to the public, have been many, but none of his beneficent acts is more deserving of commendation than his labors in connection with the Charlton Industrial Farm School. The establishment of this splendid charity was due to Mr. Hawley, in whose brain originated the plan and through whose generosity the plan was made practicable. In a little pamphlet which has been published concerning the institution it is told how, on a certain October morning in 1890, Mr. Hawley stood on the platform at the railway station in Utica, New York. At the further end he noticed a group of men and boys, and on approaching them saw two boys in the care of a constable, -one about eighteen, the other probably twelve years of age. They were chained together with handcuffs. Neither had a criminal nor a vicious face. Mr. Hawley spoke with them and asked if they had been in some mischief. His sympathy was aroused for the lads who seemed on the downward road to ruin. A few days later Mr. Hawley was standing in the door of a confectionery establishment in St. Louis, when he noticed a little boy of seven or eight years endeavoring to climb into a wagon with the intention of stealing, but he missed his footing and fell under the wheels of a passing truck loaded with iron. The wheels crushed his chest, killing him instantly. These pitiful sights led Mr. Hawley to resolve that if he were ever able he would endeavor to help boys thus starting out on a criminal course, and near the close of 1894 he corresponded with Dr. James T. Sweetman, of Charlton, New York, concerning the estab-
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lishment of an Industrial Farm School in that town. The subject was agi- tated and one of the best farms of the town was purchased. It contains over two hundred acres, is beautifully located and is in the highest state of cultivation. Mr. Hawley having donated twenty-five thousand dollars to the project, the school was opened in 1896. There has been an enrollment of twelve boys, and soon a new building will be completed that can accommo- date thirty or forty boys. The affairs of the institution are in the control of a board of trustees, consisting of five prominent citizens of the vicinity. The school is managed so that no indebtedness is incurred Its object is to teach the boys the value of character, to give them a plain common-school educa- tion and a thorough knowledge of farming, including especially the care of fruit-trees, and to form in them habits of industry and frugality. Great improvement has been shown by the boys who have been taken into the home, and the noble work is deserving of the greatest encouragement that it may take these homeless and oftentimes neglected ones from the paths of vice and make them respectable, law-abiding citizens. Such is the work of the school founded through the beneficence of Mr. Hawley, whose broad spirit and kindliness prompts him to extend a helping hand to all in need of aid, so far as it lies within his power to so do. He is especially interested in these boys, and every one who in years to come shall leave that school as a respectable young man will be a living monument to Mr. Hawley, whose life is so largely permeated by the principles of Him who came not to be min- istered unto but to minister. This institution has become the pride and ambition of Mr. Hawley, and he hopes to live to see the school endowed in such a substantial way as to make it perpetually self-sustaining.
JAMES WOOD.
The gentleman here named is justly regarded as one of the most cult- ured, public-spirited and useful citizens of Westchester county. He has contributed largely to the literary development of the county by his writings, his lectures and his earnest efforts to promote intellectual activity and espe- cially historical research. He is the author of two chapters of the History of Westchester county, by J. Thomas Scharf, that on the Indians of Westches- ter county and another on the Early Explorations and Settlers of the county. Mr. Wood has done much other notable work, which has consisted mainly in lectures upon historical subjects and travel, delivered before colleges and many literary and other bodies and in a wide range of articles contributed to the magazines and other periodicals, religious and secular.
James Wood was born November 12, 1839, at the place where he now resides, and where' his father and grandfather lived before him, one mile north
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of the village of Mount Kisco, in the township of Bedford, Westchester county, New York. His grandfather's name was James and his father's Stephen. The latter died in 1876.
The family came from Long Island early in the last century. They are descended from Jonas Wood, who came from Halifax, England, in 1635, and was named in the patent of Hempstead, Long Island, in 1644. The family was connected with that of the present Lord Halifax.
Mr Wood's mother was Phoebe Underhill, daughter of Caleb Underhill, of Yorktown, a descendant of that John Underhill who came from Ettington in Warwickshire, England, and settled at Oyster Bay, Long Island, in 1667. The Underhill mansion and buildings are still standing at Ettington, where numerous brasses and monuments to the family remain in the old parish church. The estates are now in the possession of the Shirleys, with whom the Underhills intermarried. Lord Freres is the present head of that family. Another John Underhill of this family was chaplain to Queen Elizabeth and was made Bishop of Oxford in 1589.
Mr. Wood married June 7, 1866, Emily Hollingsworth Morris, daughter of Henry Morris, of Philadelphia. They have three children-Ellen M., Carolena M. and L. Hollingsworth.
Mr. Wood was educated at Havorford College, Philadelphia, from which institution he has the degree of A. M. He is now (1899) the president of the college chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He has been a member of the board of managers of the college for twenty years and also of its exec- utive committee; he has been a trustee of Bryn Mawr College for ten years, and he is also connected with Cornell College.
Mr. Wood holds a remarkable number of official positions in institutions and organizations in the state and county. He is the president of the board of managers of the New York State Reformatory for Women, and also presi- dent of the Westchester Temporary Home for Destitute Children. He is the president of the Westchester County Historical Society and has held this office for twenty years. He was one of the society's charter members. He is the president of the Mount Kisco Village Improvement Association and of the Oakwood Cemetery Association. He has been president of the New York State Agricultural Society and was the first person who ever held that position for more than one year.
In church association Mr. Wood is a member of the Society of Friends and his family have long been Quakers. He has held many positions in church affairs and is now the clerk (presiding officer) of the New York Yearly Meeting, which embraces the states of New York and Vermont. He has been one of the managers of the American' Bible Society for several years.
Mr. Wood has taken a great interest in agricultural matters. He has
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been the president of the Eastern New York State Horticultural Society two years, being the first man that ever held that office more than one year. His home, " Braewold," with its residences and outbuildings of stone, its greenhouses, vineyards, orchards, breeding stock of hackney horses, herd of Devon cattle and flocks of Hampshire Down sheep, is an interesting place to every visitor.
Mr. Wood has traveled extensively in foreign lands and over our own continent and has resided for many years abroad.
SILAS D. GIFFORD.
The late Silas D. Gifford, a distinguished citizen and judge of Westches- ter county of the last generation, was born in Columbia county, New York, December 31, 1826, and died at his residence in Tuckahoe, this county, Sep- tember 15. 1895. He came from an old and highly respectable American family, whose ancestors settled in New England during the colonial period. His father. Rev. Isaac S. Gifford, was a prominent Baptist clergyman, and his grandfather, Amaziah Gifford, was a patriot soldier in the Revolution, serving for four years in the Continental line.
. He received his early education in the public schools of his native town, and, after completing his academic studies, entered Williams College, from which he was graduated. Having made his home in Westchester county, he taught school for one year in the famous Sleepy Hollow district, near Tarry- town, and then became a law student in the office of Hon. Robert S. Hart, of White Plains. Upon his admission to the bar, in 1852, he opened an office in Morrisania, on old Fifth street (now East 167th street, New York city), and engaged in the professional practice in which his abilities and ener- gies soon won for him both reputation and substantial success.
A strong believer in the principles of the Republican party from the time of its first organization, he took a leading part in the advocacy of its cause in the southern portion of the county and was early selected to fill responsible official positions. He was appointed superintendent of public schools for the town of Morrisania, and in 1856 was elected justice of the peace. In the latter office he continued for two terms. In 1862 he was appointed surrogate of Westchester county, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. Robert H. Coles. He was elected supervisor of Morrisania in 1870, and county judge in 1871 and again in 1877. He served for twelve consecutive years on the Westchester county bench, for a number of years being the presiding justice of the court. Upon his retirement he was presented with a magnificent gavel by the attaches of the court, as a mark of their apprecia-
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tion of his faithful services and his uniform courtesy in all his official rela- tions.
At the convening of the county court at White Plains on the day after his death the presiding judge, Hon. Isaac N. Mills, paid the following tribute to him:
"The sad intelligence of the death of Hon. Silas D. Gifford, formerly presiding judge of this court, has been communicated to us this morning. Judge Gifford was for twelve years presiding judge of this court. No one was ever a better judge than he. He was learned in the law, possessed of the soundest practical sense, of great application and industry, and absolutely impartial. His judicial record will long be a matter of just pride with all the citizens of this county. This court will be adjourned over the day, and also the day of the funeral."
Judge Gifford at all times took a lively interest in public questions and affairs, having a high conception of the duty of the citizen. During the civil war he was a member of the Westchester county recruiting committee, and was instrumental in raising several companies of volunteers.
In April, 1873, he removed from Morrisania to a handsome residence which he had purchased in the outskirts of the village of Tuckahoe. There he lived until his death.
He was married, in 1854, to Elizabeth, daughter of John Rae. Besides his widow, two children survive him, -Jessie and Stanley Pelham. The latter is a mining engineer in New York.
ISAAC N. MILLS.
Judge Isaac N. Mills, of Mount Vernon, was born in the town of Thomp- son, Connecticut, September 10, 1851. His paternal ancestors were farm- ing people who carried on agricultural pursuits in the town of Thompson, Windham county, Connecticut, prior to the Revolutionary war. On his mother's side he is descended from a family of Rhode Island Quakers, for many generations residents of that state. To one branch of the family belonged General Greene, of Revolutionary fame.
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