USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume I > Part 8
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John Stilwell, the father of Benjamin W., was born at Flushing, Long Island, October 7, 1802, and during his boyhood secured a clerkship in a store in New York city. Subsequently he engaged in the dry-goods business on his own account there, and later became interested in real estate, in which he was eminently successful. He served for some years as school trustee in New York city, but on account of ill health removed into the country, purchasing a farm at Mile Square in Yonkers. He retired from mercantile life about 1850, but continued to engage in the real-estate business, making extensive purchases, and was uniformly successful, amassing a handsome fortune.
In 1823 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Jane Oakley, who died December 18, 1845, leaving several children. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Stilwell married Miss Cornelia Frances Seymour, and their children are Cornelia, wife of Charles L. Hulbert; Fannie, wife of E. Russell Coles, of Yonkers; and Benjamin W. Mr. Stilwell, although for many years a mem- ber of the First Reformed church, had strong Quaker tendencies and took a deep interest in all measures that tended to benefit the community. He served as village treasurer for a time, was one of the incorporators of the Yonkers Savings Bank, and, after a twenty-five years residence on Locust Hill, died, at his home there, in 1879, respected by all who knew him.
We now take up the personal history of Benjamin W. Stilwell, who was born at Yonkers July 19, 1858. Here he was educated in Hooper's private institute, after which he studied civil engineering, gaining practical
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knowledge with an engineering corps. It was his father's desire that he should study law and he accordingly matriculated in the Columbia Law School, where he was graduated in 1879, with the degree of LL. B. Shortly after his graduation his father died, and being appointed executor of his estate he was forced to devote a great deal of attention to the property interest. But without any special liking for the legal profession, and having for years desired to pursue medical studies, the opportunity presenting itself, he decided to take the course, and after one year at the College of Physi- cians & Surgeons he entered the Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital, and in 1887 obtained the degree of M. D., graduating with the honors of the class. He subsequently spent one year in the New York Ophthalmic Hos- pital, and later took post-graduate courses at the Policlinic and Northwestern Dispensary, after which he passed a portion of one year in study and travel at various centers of medical learning in Europe. On his return to America he located in Yonkers and interested himself largely in real estate, prefer- ring business to the practice of a profession.
He is a trustee of the Yonkers Savings Bank, and in 1898 became inter- ested in the United Gas Improvement Company, and is now connected with that company as its business manager.
On the 20th of February, 1880, Dr. Stilwell was united in marriage to Miss Mary Augusta Peene, a daughter of Joseph Peene, of Yonkers, and to them have been born four children, -Alice, Joseph Warren, John and Mary.
Dr. Stilwell is an honorary member of the Palisade Boat Club and the Chiron Club, of New York city. He is also a member of the Alumni Association of the New York Homeopathic Medical College, a member of the Yonkers Board of Trade, and is the president of the Society for Preven- tion of Cruelty to Children. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church of Yonkers, but believes in the widest liberality and tolerance in the matter of religious creeds. Intellectual, moral, social and material advance- ment all find in him an advocate, and his understanding of political questions is shown in the consistent support which he gives the Republican party. He is a man of scholarly attainments and broad general culture, and no resi- dent of Yonkers enjoys a higher regard or is more worthy of the esteem of his fellow men than Dr. Benjamin Watson Stilwell.
DAVID CROMWELL.
David Cromwell, president of the White Plains Bank, White Plains, New York, is descended from distinguished ancestors and bears a name that has gone down on the pages of history. Several branches of the Cromwell fam- ily in America are descended from Colonel John, third son of Richard, and
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brother of the renowned Protector, Oliver Cromwell. John Cromwell, son of Colonel John, emigrated from Holland to New Netherland, and in 1686 was a resident at Long Neck, in Westchester county, afterward known as Crom- well's Neck. He left two sons, John and James. The latter was born in 1696 and died in 1770, leaving three children,-John, James and William- John Cromwell, the oldest son, was a resident of Harrison. He was born December 5, 1737, married Anna Hopkins, of Long Island, and they were the parents of eight children, -James; Daniel; John; Joseph; William; Naomi, wife of Rev. Mr. Halstead; Esther, wife of John Griffin, Jr., of North Castle; and Hannah, wife of William Field, of Cortlandt. John Cromwell, the father of this family, was a patriot soldier in the Revolution. He died at an advanced age, in 1805.
James Cromwell, the eldest son in the above named family, was born November 6, 1752, and in early life worked on the farm of General Lewis Morris, at Morrisania. This dwelling was near Cromwell's creek, which derived its name from him, and after remaining here several years he removed to New York, where he conducted a grocery business, and at a later date he purchased a farm in the town of Monroe, Orange county (then known as Southfield), where he passed the rest of his days, his death occurring Decem- ber 23, 1828. He married Charlotte, daughter of Aaron Hunt, of Greenwich, Connecticut, and their children were: Hannah, wife of David Griffin; Rebecca, wife of George Fritts; Ann, wife of John Haviland; David; Aaron; William and Mary, twins that died young; William and John.
John, the last named, was born in Monroe, July 26, 1803. He engaged in business in New York city and finally having earned a modest competence, purchased a farm of one hundred acres in New Windsor, Orange county, where he resided during the rest of his life. He was a life-long member of the Society of Friends, known and honored as a useful and worthy citizen and faithful in the performance of all the duties of life. He married Letitia, daughter of Abijah and Patience Haviland, of White Plains, New York, and they were the parents of four children, viz .: Walter, a resident of Califor- nia; James, of Bedford, Westchester county, New York; Oliver, who died at New Windsor, New York, June 11, 1885; and David. The mother of this family died in 1861. Subsequently the father was married to Elizabeth Cocks, daughter of Charles and Ann (Conklin) Cocks, of Newburgh.
The immediate subject of this review, David Cromwell, dates his birth, in New York city, May 25, 1838, and at the age of eight years he removed with his parents to New Windsor, New York. He was educated in the Cornwall Collegiate School, where he graduated as a civil engineer and sur- veyor. After practicing his profession about one year, he went to New York city and embarked in the grain trade. In 1862 he moved to East Chester
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and established a store; which he conducted until 1879. In the meantime, in 1877, he was elected supervisor of East Chester and re-elected the follow- ing year. In the fall of 1878 he was unanimously nominated by the Repub- lican party as their candidate for the responsible office of county treasurer, and was elected over George W. Davis (Democrat), who had held the office for three years and was running for re-election. The faithfulness and ability exhibited by Mr. Cromwell in the performance of his official duties led to his re-election in 1881, by an increased majority, and in 1884 he was elected for a third term by a majority of about seven hundred, notwithstanding that the county gave a Democratic majority of over thirteen hundred on the electoral ticket. His ability and integrity command the votes of thinking men of all parties. As president of the White Plains Bank, he occupies a position of honor and responsibility and one which he is ably qualified to fill.
Mr. Cromwell was married December 3, 1873, to Miss Fannie Deuel, of New York city, daughter of Thomas W. and Julia Deuel. Their children are Fannie May and John Chester. The former, born May 23, 1876, is now the wife of Charles D. Horton: the latter was born July 29, 1878.
JOSEPH HASBROUCK, M. D.
The name Hasbrouck is well known in Westchester county, and we are pleased to be able to present to our readers a short history of the family dat- ing back to the year 1675, when a member of the family landed on American soil. They were of French Huguenot origin, and resided in Calais. During the religious persecution they moved to the Palatinate, in Germany, where they lived several years. During the year 1675 Abraham Hasbrouck, together with several of his neighbors, the descendants of Peter Waldus, set sail for this country, and landed in Boston in July of that year. He at once made his way to Esopus, where he joined his brother Jean, who had come here two years before. In 1676 he married Marie, daughter of Christian Duyou, whose lover he was in the Palatinate. She died March 27, 1741, at the age of eighty-eight. In 1677 he, with twelve others, obtained from Governor Andross a patent for a large tract of land in Ulster county, New York, at New Paltz, where he and his brother made their home until their death. He was a very prominent citizen, and for many years a member of the provincial assembly. He was an earnest Christian, and one of the founders of the Walloon Protestant church at New Paltz. On Sunday, March 17, 1717, he was suddenly stricken with apoplexy, expiring in a short time. He died in the ripeness of age and with the consciousness of a well spent life. He left five children, viz. : Joseph, who died January 28, 1723, aged forty years and three months; Solomon, who died April 3, 1753: Daniel,
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who departed this life January 25, 1759, at the age of sixty-seven; Benjamin; and Rachel, wife of Louis Dubois. The dates of the death of the two last named have not been recorded.
Joseph Hasbrouck, the eldest son, was married in 1706, to Elsie, daugh- ter of Captain Joachim Schoonmaker and a granddaughter of Hendricks Joachim Schoonmaker, a native of Hanse Towns, Germany. She died July 27, 1764, aged seventy-eight years, eight months and three days, and was placed beside her husband in the New Paltz burying-ground. She left a large number of children, whose lives were an honor to her training. They were Abraham; Isaac D .; Rachel, who was born in 1715 and died forty-one years later: she was the wife of J. Eltinge; Mary, wife of Abraham Harden- berg, born January 10, 1714, and died in 1774; Sarah, wife of William Osterhoudt, born February 21, 1709, and died in 1780; Benjamin; Jacob, who married Mary Hoornbeck; and Colonel Jonathan Hasbrouck.
Abraham, the eldest of this interesting family, was born on the old family homestead at Guilford, Ulster county, New York, August 21, 1707. January 5, 1738, he married Catherine Bruyn, a cousin and daughter of Jacob and Tryntie Bruyn. She was born June 24, 1720, and died August 10, 1793. Her materal grandfather was Captain Joachim Schoonmaker, and her mother, Tryntie Schoonmaker Bruyn, died August 27, 1763. The paternal grandfather was Jacobus Bruyn, a native of Norway, who came here about the time the Dutch made their settlement, and married Gertrude Esselstein. He died November 21, 1744, at the age of sixty-four years. One of his sisters, Esther, married Zachariah Hoffman. Abraham Has- brouck was one of the most prominent and influential men of Ulster county, and for thirty years was a representative of the people in the legislature. He moved to Kingston in 1735, and lived there until his death on November 10, 1791. He was buried with the honors of war. He left the following children: Elsie, wife of Abraham Salisbury; Catherine, wife of Abram Houghtaling; Mary, wife of David Bevier; Jonathan, who married Catherine, daughter of Cornelius and Catherine Wynkoop; Joseph, who married Eliza- beth Bevier; Jacobus, who married Maria, daughter of Charles De Witt; and Daniel, who married his cousin Rachel, daughter of Colonel Jonathan Hasbrouck, of Newburg. Colonel Jonathan, the youngest child, was born April 12, 1722, married Tryntle, a daughter of Cornelius Dubois, and settled in Newburg. He died July 31, 1780, and was buried on his own land, between his house and the North river, by two of his sons. He had five children, -Cornelius, Isaac, Jonathan, Rachel and Mary. He was a very powerful man, measuring six feet four. His old homestead is now owned by the state of New York, and is the noted Washington's headquar- ters at Newburg.
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Another son of Joseph and Elsie Hasbrouck, the second oldest of the family, was Isaac, who was born March 12, 1712, and is the great grand- father of our subject. He was married in 1766, to Antie Low, the widow of John Van Gaasbeck, by whom he had three children, -Joseph, Elsie and Jane,-the last named becoming the wife of John Grispell. He died April 6, 1778, and was buried in the Shawangunk church-yard, near the burial place of Jacobus Bruyn's family. His wife died October 2, 1784.
Joseph Hasbrouck, the grandfather of our subject, married Cornelia, daughter of Edmond Schoonmaker, who bore him nine children: Stephen; Sarah, wife of David Tuttle; Maria, wife of Thomas Ostrander; Jane, wife of Cornelius De Witt; Katy, wife of Samuel Johnson; Levi, George, Abel and Augustus.
Augustus Hasbrouck was the father of the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. He was united in marriage to Miss Jane Eltings, a daughter of Rev. Willhelmus Eltings, and reared a large number of children who grew to adult years and are honored and useful citizens of the communities in which they reside. They are Wilhelmus; Abram; Joseph; Cornelius; Stephen; James H .; Richard; Charles Dudley; Cornelia Schoon- maker; Augustus; Aaron; David; Herman and Edward.
Dr. Stephen Hasbrouck, the fifth of the family, was born in Bergen county, New Jersey, January 29, 1842, and is at present a practicing physi- cian at Haarlem, New York, where he is held in the highest esteem. At the age of fourteen he went to Great Falls, Massachusetts, where he secured employment as a clerk, remaining there three years. He then returned to his home and attended the normal school at Trenton, afterward embarking in the commission business in New York. He was a great student and decided upon making medicine his especial study, and with this aim entered the New York Homeopathic Medical College in 1866. Soon after the close of the civil war a colony from New Orleans, composed of persons who had been dis- loyal to the Union, resolved to seek a new home in Brazil, and engaged the services of Dr. Hasbrouck as surgeon to the expedition. This colony was composed of about three hundred persons, and the experiences through which they went during the few years spent in Brazil convinced them that they had not improved their condition by leaving their native country. Through the influence of Dr. Hasbrouck, the captains of some of the United States war vessels were induced to bring back to this country what remained of the colony and they returned much better satisfied with the existing government than when they went away. While in Brazil he wrote a treatise on Homeop- athy, as practiced in that country, which was published in the New England Medical Gazette. He was a surgeon in the Brazilian army during the war with Paraguay, and while in South America passed through several epidemics
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of small-pox and cholera. He was in St. Thomas during a violent epidemic of yellow fever, and the good results attendant upon his treatment of the disease proved the efficacy of his method. He was on the island of St. Thomas during the hurricane and earthquake which devastated it, and pub- lished the first description of that fearful scene of destruction. Returning from this trip, he graduated at the New York Homeopathic Medical College, and located at Dobbs Ferry, where he was successfully engaged in the prac- tice of his profession for three years. He then located in New York, where he remained seven years, until 1881, when he made an extensive tour of Europe and the East, visiting Egypt, Palestine, and most of the countries of the Old World. Returning in 1883, he has since made his home in Yonkers, where he is esteemed a worthy citizen and a skillful physician. He married Miss Anna M., daughter of Captain John Stillwell, and has two children, Augustus and Mabel. He has an extended practice and holds an enviable position among the members of the Homeopathic medical profession.
Dr. Joseph Hasbrouck was also born in Bergen county, New Jersey, and remained in his native village until he was fifteen, when he taught school for two years. The New Jersey Normal School was established about that time and he was enrolled as a pupil of that institution, graduating there in due time. He then resumed his work of teaching until he was twenty-nine, in the meantime devoting his spare time to the study of medicine, and in 1869 graduated in the medical department of the University of New York. He is a practitioner of the Homeopathic school, and began his career at Goshen, Orange county, New York, later opening an office at Newton, Sussex county, New Jersey, and was the first Homeopathic physician to practice in the coun- ty. In 1875 he came to Dobbs Ferry, which has since been his home. He has a large and lucrative practice, which is not confined to his immediate neighborhood, but reaches out over a large territory where his skill and suc- cess is well known.
Dr. Joseph Hasbrouck has been five times married, Sarah and Anna D. Dayton, daughters of Elias Dayton, being his first and second wives. He then married Emma, daughter of Stephen Archer, and at her death he wed- ded Ellen M., daughter of Reverend D. L. Marks, of the New York confer- ence. She died in 1888, and in June, 1890, he married Mrs. Mary B. Rob- erts. Of the children of Dr. Hasbrouck, Dayton, the eldest son, died Janu- ary 13, 1885, at the age of twenty-four years, being at the time of his death a member of the senior class in the New York Homeopathic College. His surviving children are Mabel E. and Edith S., twin daughters, and a son, David Marks, fourteen years of age. He is a member of the Westchester County Homeopathic Medical Society, and for two years its president, and is a member of the Homeopathic State Society. He has for several years
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been connected with the board of education of Dobbs Ferry. He is presi- dent of the savings bank, is the health officer of the village and was president of the village from 1894 to 1898. He is deeply interested in all that per- tains to the welfare of the community, and has been connected with the Re- publican party since its organization, taking an intelligent interest in its suc- cess, although he has not been an aspirant to office. Socially, he is a mem- ber of the Holland Society of New York. His residence is one of the his- torical landmarks of Westchester county. It was in this house that General Washington, Governor Clinton and General Sir Guy Tarleton met on the suspension of hostilities, May 3, 1783, to arrange for the evacuation of New York. It was during the Revolution a part of the Phillip Phillips estate, and it later became the Livingston mansion, formerly the home of Van Brugh Livingston, and sold by him to Steven Archer in 1836. It was the residence of Mr. Archer until his death in 1877, and was purchased from his heirs by Dr. Hasbrouck in 1882. The mansion, which is a well preserved relic of olden times, stands on the east side of the old Albany post road, a short dis- tance below Livingston avenne. In 1894 Dr. Hasbrouck presented to the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution a site for a monument, which was erected June 14, 1894.
Before closing these memoirs, a brief mention must be made of the ma- ternal grandfather of the Doctor, Wilhelmus Elting. He was of Huguenot stock, and traces his ancestry back to Henry IV, of France. He devoted his life to the improvement of mankind, and served as pastor of the Dutch Reformed church at Paramus for fifty years, and he and Dr. Dewitt, of New York, were the last ministers of the Dutch Reformed church who preached in either the Holland or English language.
Concerning Dobbs Ferry, we may add, as a postscript, that General' Washington made his headquarters here July 6, 1781, when the French allies under Rochambeau joined the American army. August 14, that year, Wash- ington planned the Yorktown campaign, which brought to a triumphant ter- mination the war for American independence. May 6, 1783, Washington and Sir Guy Carleton arranged here for the British evacuation of American soil; and opposite this point, two days afterward, a British sloop of war fired seventeen guns in honor of the American commander in chief,-the first salute by Great Britain to the United States of America.
JOHN H. KEELER.
The unostentatious routine of private life, although of vast importance to the welfare of the community, has not figured to any great extent in his- tory; but the names of men who have distinguished themselves by the pos-
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session of those qualities of character which mainly contribute to the suc- cess of private life and to the public stability, and who have enjoyed the respect and confidence of those around them, should not be permitted to perish. Their example is more valuable to the majority of readers than that of heroes, statesmen and writers, as they furnish means of subsistence for the multitude whom they in their useful careers have employed.
Such are the thoughts that involuntarily come to our minds when we consider the life of him whose name initiates this review-a man who is accounted as one of the most important factors in business life in Yonkers, and whose reputation in business circles is unassailable. He was born in the city which is still his home, May 26, 1840, his parents being Albert and Harriet (Myers) Keeler. During the colonial epoch in the history of the country representatives of the family resided for several generations in Fair- field, Ridgeway county, Connecticut. The paternal grandfather of our subject was a farmer of that county, and when the Revolutionary war was inaugurated he aided in the struggle which brought independence to the nation. He reared his family in his Connecticut home, and there Albert Keeler was born and reared. Having arrived at years of maturity he became a lumber merchant, and removing to Yonkers continued to be engaged in the same line of business activity until his death. His political support was given the Whig party until the organization of the Republican party, when he joined its ranks. He was one of the early trustees of the village of Yonkers and afterward served as alderman for eight or ten terms. He was also a member of the state militia and took part in the general training, common at that time. His religious opinions were in harmony with the doctrines of the Episcopal church and he attended its services. He died at the age of seventy-five years, and his wife still survives. Their children were Charles E., Albert and Josephine, all now deceased; and John H. The maternal grandparents of our subject were John and Charlotte (Nodine) Myers. The former was a carpenter by trade and was one of the pioneers of Yonkers, his home being in Getty Square-the present location of the Citizens' National Bank, of which Mr. Keeler is cashier. The grandmother also was a representative of one of the oldest families of Yonkers, in whose honor Nodine Hill was named.
John H. Keeler pursued his early education in public school No. 2, of Yonkers, afterward attended Professor Francis' Academy, and later Professor Hasbrouck's Academy, of Yonkers. At the age of seventeen he put aside his text-books to learn the more difficult lessons in the school of experience. He entered upon his business career as bookkeeper in the employ of Henry W. Bashford, dealer in coal and wood, with whom he remained for three years, after which he spent eight years as bookkeeper with Robert P. Getty & Son,
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government inspectors in the beef department at New York city. While there he connected himself with the Seventeenth Regiment of New York Militia, with which he was associated for about seven years, and during the war of the Rebellion he served for a short time under General Schenck, doing duty at Mount McHenry and Harper's Ferry. After receiving his discharge, he returned to the employ of Mr. Getty, with whom he remained until 1863.
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