USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume II > Part 15
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REV. WILLIAM B. WALLER.
William Bradley Waller is one who has done much and done it well, - wherein all honor lies. A man of ripe scholarship and marked executive ability, his life has been consecrated to the cause of the Master and to the uplifting of men. He has devoted himself without ceasing to the interests of humanity and to the furtherance of all good works. His reputation is not of a restricted order, and his power and influence in his holy office have been exerted in a spirit of deepest human sympathy and tender solicitude.
Rev. Waller was born in Berwick, Pennsylvania, June 24, 1848, a son of William Lindsley and Louisa (Bonham) Waller. His father was for forty years a ruling elder in the New York Avenue Presbyterian church, of Wash- ington, D. C., in which city the son spent the greater part of his childhood and youth. His preliminary education was supplemented by a course in
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Princeton College, in which institution he was graduated with the class of 1869. He afterward engaged in teaching for a year and then returning to Princeton pursued a course in the Theological Seminary, in which he was graduated in 1873. On the 19th of February of the following year he was ordained to the ministry by the Presbytery of Philadelphia North; and during his ministerial service of almost a quarter of a century he has occupied but two regular pastorates. In 1876 he became pastor of the newly organized Green Ridge Avenue Presbyterian church, in Scranton, Pennsyl- vania, where he remained until 1882, when he accepted a call from the First Presbyterian church, of New Rochelle. Here he has remained continuously since as the beloved pastor of that congregation. The church is one of the oldest in the Empire state. It practically had its origin at the time of the Huguenot landing in Echo bay, in 1687. Like the Pilgrim Fathers, who had landed at Plymouth nearly seventy years before, they brought their church with them fully organized, and on the first Sunday which they spent in the the New World their pastor, Rev. David de Bonrepos, called his peo- ple about him in divine worship. Exiled from their beloved La Rochelle, these French Protestants named the new town which they founded in Amer- ica after their old home. In 1689 they erected their house of worship near the present site of the church, but it was destroyed by fire in 1723. Poverty and other difficulties often deprived them of a preacher, but the little band clung together and secured a regular legal incorporation February 22, 1808. All this time they were commonly known as the "French church," the official record of their incorporation naming them the " Presbyterian church of New Rochelle, formerly known by the name of the French church." In the early part of the century the work languished, but in 1846 took a new start and from that time the success of the church has been assured.
Such, in brief, is the history of the church over which Mr. Waller was called to preside in 1882. During his ministry it has been in a most pros- perous and flourishing condition. Its membership has been increased to four hundred, and its field of usefulness has been greatly extended. In 1891 they dismissed thirty-nine members to organize the Second Presbyterian church. which had developed from a mission, which they had for some time con- ducted, known as the North street chapel. The First Presbyterian is now one of the strongest churches in the suburban presbytery of Westchester. Many of its members are New York business men, and their gifts, tastes and standards are those of a city church.
That Mr. Waller has been their pastor sixteen years is evidence of his substantial ability as preacher and pastor. At this point it would be almost a redundancy to enter into any series of statements as showing our subject to be a man of broad intelligence and genuine public spirit, for these have
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been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. Strong in his indi- viduality, he never lacks the courage of his convictions, but there are, as dominating elements in this individuality, a lively human sympathy and an abiding charity, which, as taken in connection with the sterling integrity and honor of his character, have naturally gained to Mr. Waller the respect and confidence of men of all denominations.
MINOT CROFOOT KELLOGG.
The career of him whose name heads this review illustrates most forci- bly the possibilities that are open to a young man who possesses sterling business qualifications. It proves that neither wealth nor social position nor the assistance of influential friends is necessary to place him on the road to success. It also proves that ambition, perseverance, steadfast purpose and indefatigable industry, combined with sound business principles, will be rewarded, and that true success follows individual effort only. Mr. Kellogg has gained recognition and prestige as one of the influential and representa- tive business men residing in Mount Vernon, New York, and is to-day vice- president of the Patterson Brothers Company of New York city.
He was born in New Canaan, Connecticut, December 17, 1834, a son of Matthew and Electa (Crofoot) Kellogg. He traces his ancestry back to Dan- iel Kellogg, who was born in 1638, and was an early settler of Norwalk, Con- necticut, where he served as selectman in 1670 and died in 1713. He had a son, Samuel Kellogg, born in 1673, and the line continues through the lat- ter's son, Gideon Kellogg, born in 1717. Isaac Kellogg, son of Gideon and grandfather of Minot C. Kellogg, rendered able service to the cause of Ameri- can independence as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and his name appears upon the pension rolls. Matthew Kellogg, the father, who was born Septem- ber 22, 1782, was a prosperous farmer of New Canaan, Connecticut, and lived to the advanced age of ninety years.
Upon the homestead farm Minot Crofoot Kellogg was reared to man- hood, acquiring such an education as was then afforded by the town schools. At the age of nineteen he went to New York city, where he entered the employ of Patterson Brothers, hardware dealers, commencing as office-boy and working his way forward, step by step, to the position of senior clerk, and at length to an equal partnership in the business. In 1884 the concern was incorporated under its present style and he was elected its vice-president. He is president of the Co-operative Building Bank, of New York, a position formerly occupied by the late Hon. James W. Wyatt, of Norwalk, and among its directors are several prominent Connecticut men, including ex-Gov- .ernor Lounsbury, and the present lieutenant-governor of New York, Hon
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Timothy L. Woodruff. Mr. Kellogg is also vice-president of the Bank of Mount Vernon (New York), a director of the East Chester Savings Bank and of various other institutions, is one of the managers of the Mount Vernon Hospital and president of the board of trustees of the First Methodist church at that place. His business interests necessitated his removal from Con- necticut in 1874, and since that year he has resided in Mount Vernon, New York. The moral and religious institutions of the community in which he lives have in him an earnest and a liberal supporter, and the only organiza- tion in the metropolis with which he is said to affiliate is the Hardware Club. He never acts except from honest motives, and in all his varied relations in business affairs and in social life he has maintained a character and standing that has impressed all with his sincere and manly purpose to treat others as he would have others treat him. Politically, he is a Republican.
On the 24th of September, 1863, Mr. Kellogg was united in marriage with Miss Emily E., daughter of Charles E. and Abigail Ann Disbrow, of Norwalk, Connecticut, and to them were born two sons and two daughters, of whom the latter survive: Mildred C., the older, married Samuel W. Bertine, October 24, 1893, and has one son, Edwin Wilbur, born August I, 1897. The younger daughter, Cora L., is now attending the Mount Vernon high school. The wife and mother died February 8, 1889, and on January 7, 1891, Mr. Kellogg wedded Miss Mary L. Tallmadge, daughter of the late William H. Tallmadge, of New Canaan, Connecticut. The family is very prominent socially.
JOHN H. BRETT.
That class of citizens in whom utilitarian America takes the most pride comprises the representative business men who are still carrying out all the oldest maxims of industry, perseverance and integrity. Such a man is Mr. Brett, who has humbly and faithfully added his share to the prosperity of the country and earned for himself a good name. "Although no sculptured marble may arise to his memory, nor engraved stone bear record of his deeds, as to many unworthy kings and potentates, yet will a remembrance of him last as long as the land he honors."
The name "Brett" is of German origin; but the immigrant ancestor of our subject, his grandfather, Patrick Brett, came from Tipperary, Ireland, in 1850, locating at Albany, New York, where he resided until his death in 1872, prior to which event he had been retired from active business for many years. James Brett, the father of John, was a native of Ireland, a truckman by occu- pation, emigrated to America, landing at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1848, soon afterward moved to Albany, New York, where he resided until 1851, when he came to Mount Vernon, and here he engaged in trucking and teaming until
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his death in 1872. He was an exemplary citizen, a Democrat in his political faith, and in his religious faith an intelligent member of the Catholic church. He was one of the founders of the local church (St. Matthew's) in Mount Vernon, and he built the first church edifice for their worship. He married Ann Harrington, and had the following named children: Patrick, deceased; John H., our subject; Catherine; Patrick W., Mary and James. The mother of these children departed this life in December, 1876, at the age of forty- one years.
Mr. John H. Brett, whose name honors the introduction of this sketch, was born August 4, 1854, at Mount Vernon, and left school at the age of fourteen years to assist his father in business, and thus remained with him to the time of his death: he was then eighteen years of age. Selling the teams they had been using in their business, he became associated with Reynolds Brothers in the grain and feed business, and remained with them two years; next he was employed by Burr Davis & Son in the livery business for five years; and finally, in 1892, he engaged in the grain business on his own account, at Mount Vernon, in which he has since continued, with the success that is due industry and integrity. His place of business is at 5 and 7 Pros- pect avenue.
Besides the daily routine of the work-a-day life by which he earns his livelihood, he takes an interest in other business enterprises and in social, religious and public affairs, being a director in the Mount Vernon Steamboat Company, running boats between New York city and Mount Vernon; a mem- ber of the board of trade; formerly a member of the Nogan Hose Company for eight years; a member of the order of Knights of St. John of Malta, Ancient Order of Foresters, Exempt Firemen's Association, the Catholic Benevolent Legion, Society of St. Vincent de Panl (charitable institution), of the Mount Vernon City Club, Mount Vernon Gun Club and of the Turn- verein (a singing society). In politics he is a leading and active Democrat, and for a long time has served as the receiver of taxes for the city of Mount Vernon.
Early in the year 1884 he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Delaney, of Fordham, New York.
ROBERT F. WHITE.
Robert F. White is one of the prominent men of Purdy Station, where he conducts a livery and store. He was born in Penryn, Cornwall, England, December 8, 1850, and is the son of William Henry and Emma (Elliott) White. His father went to Australia in 1854, where he died. He was a mason and builder of skill. The wife and mother is now in her eighty-first 39
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year and still resides in the home of her birth, Cornwall. She has had six children, viz .: Daniel, of England; Reverend John, of Arvada, Colorado; Mary, wife of Joseph Stephens, of Devonshire, England; Emma E., at home with her mother; and Robert F., our subject. The oldest son, William H., is deceased.
Robert F. White graduated at the Wesleyan high school, and at the age of twenty had also graduated at the Polytechnic School of Cornwall, as engineer. He soon afterward came to this country and entered the employ of John Roach, the famous shipbuilder of Philadelphia. Later he aban- doned this work to take up the work of the ministry, in the Methodist Epis- copal church, preaching in Greene and Schoharie counties, and for two years in Westchester county. In 1884 he located in Purdy Station in his present business, which is prospering even beyond his expectations.
In 1877 he was joined in matrimony to Miss Lola Josephine Smith, a teacher from Charlotteville, Schoharie county, this state, and a daughter of Henry Smith. They have five children: Anna, a highly successful and pop- ular teacher; Emma Lola, Robert Henry, George Furneaux and Harrold Leslie. Mr. White has given invaluable aid to the Republicans of this county, "stumping " a portion of the state for Harrison and also for Gov- ernor Morton. The issue discussed by him principally was the tariff, upon which he is exceptionally well informed. He is a pleasant and forceful speaker, bringing his audience into irresistible sympathy with the speaker, and he is always sure of an appreciative hearing. He is now serving his third term as justice of the peace, and has been on the school board eight years. He has made two trips back to the mother country, -the first in 1884, and again in 1891. He is of a social disposition and has gathered a large fund of pithy anecdotes which serve him a good purpose in election- eering.
SIVORI SELLECK.
Sivori Selleck, one of the old and respected citizens of Pound Ridge township, Westchester county, was born in this locality May 25, 1855. His father, Sands Selleck, was born in this county May 16, 1816, and died Sep- tember 8, 1897. In addition to farming he was extensively engaged in the manufacture of baskets, and stood foremost in that line of industry in this portion of the state at that time. He was very active in the Republican party, and for a number of terms was a selectman of his township. Both he and his estimable wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. The latter, whose maiden name was Betsey E. Austin, and who survives her hus- band, was born in 1822.
Thomas Selleck, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this narra-
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tive, was born in this county, and owned an extensive tract of land in Pound Ridge township, this property having been in the family for several genera- tions, handed down from father to son. A portion of the estate-fifty acres- is comprised within the sixty-two-acre farm now owned by Sivori Selleck. Thomas Selleck was a stone-mason and contractor, and among other public works constructed by him, which at the time were considered very important and splendid specimens of skill and engineering, was the Holly's Pond dam, in Stamford, Connecticut. He was a stanch Republican, and was an influ- ential member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife, whose name before their marriage was Esther Jeames, was a native of the county, her birth having occurred near the banks of the Hudson river.
Sivori Selleck is one of eight children, the others being as follows: George B., who enlisted in the Thirteenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry in the civil war and died in 1862, in New Orleans, when but twenty-one years of age, from fever contracted in the service; Ann Eliza, wife of Levi Brush, of New Canaan, Connecticut; Adeline, wife of Loomis Schofield, of Pound Ridge township; Emma G., Mrs. Charles Brown, of New Canaan; Titus S., a mechanic and resident of this township; Hannah E., Mrs. John B. Weed, of New Canaan; Sands, Jr., residing at Pound Ridge, this county; and Francis S., a grocer of New Canaan.
When he had grown to manhood the subject of this article went to Ada, Ohio, where he engaged in business for about one year, after which he returned to his native county and purchased a tract of thirty acres in this township. He dealt in ship timber in connection with his farming opera- tions for some three years. Then selling out, he went to Stamford, Con- necticut, where he made his home for some three years. In 1886 he came back to the old homestead here, of which he became the owner by purchase. He now is following in the footsteps of his father, cultivating the farm and manufacturing baskets for the use of dealers in New York city. His business in this line is a paying one and employment is afforded several hands.
From his early manhood he has been active in the ranks of the Repub- lican party, and has officiated in various minor positions of local importance. He was excise commissioner for six years; for three consecutive terms has been commissioner of highways and is now serving as secretary and treasurer of the board. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster at Scott's Corners, and is still acting in that capacity. At numerous conventions of his party he has been present as a delegate, and at all times he has been an interested fac- tor in the success of the same. Fraternally, he is a member of the Odd Fel- lows society, belonging to Wooster Lodge, No. 37, of New Canaan, Connect- icut. He is also associated with Commodore Perry Council, No. 44, O. U.
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A. M .; Oenoke Tent, K. O. T. M .; Olive Branch Council, No. 8, Daughters of Liberty, of New Canaan; and the Sons of Temperance. He has always been an interested worker in the cause of total abstinence from intoxicating liquor and tobacco.
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of Scott's Corners, being a steward and trustee and having been district steward of the district including Pound Ridge township. For a long time he has been an influential worker in the Sunday-school cause and is now the superintendent of the school which is carried on in connection with his home church. His wife and daughter, also, are great workers in the church and Sunday-school, and the latter, Miss Lula B., who has a special talent for music, presides at the organ. The marriage of Mr. Selleck and Miss Sarah Macdonald, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Warren) Macdonald, was solemnized October 9, 1889. Mrs. Selleck was born in Brooklyn, New York, March 1, 1862, and by her marriage has become the mother of two children-Lulu B. and George Thomas.
FRANK J. HOLLER.
Frank J. Holler, a popular and successful citizen of New Rochelle, is a son of Lawrence and Louisa (Mangis) Holler, and was born in New Rochelle, June 17, 1872. He was graduated from the public schools, and, after a thorough commercial course at Packard's Business College, entered a large- wholesale house in New York city as bookkeeper. He made good progress in the concern and severed his relations with it only when, at the age of nine- teen, he was called home to assume charge of his father's business, in conse- quence of the latter illness. He gradually took into his hands the entire man- agement of this important enterprise and has developed it far beyond the expectations of its founder. It is an ice business and was established by the elder Holler in 1858. The firm owns its plant, which is complete in every respect, fully equipped in every way and equal to the demands of its growing business. The capacity has been increased from time to time, and its present manager has added to it materially by the purchase of new property. Mr. Holler's success is the result largely of his own personal influence. He is a genial and friendly man who is welcomed everywhere, and this is reinforced by a capacity for affairs which would bring success to any project to which it might be devoted.
Mr. Holler is a stanch Democrat, and wields a strong influence in municipal affairs. As a heavy taxpayer, he is naturally interested in the economical and honorable administration of all public offices. He has- served his fellow-citizens as inspector of elections, was elected auditor of New Rochelle by a majority of 550 out of 1,296 votes, was triumphantly
Frank ISFile
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elected alderman to represent the third ward, was delegate to the county convention of his party in 1896, and has been otherwise prominent in the management of the business of the city. So well and faithfully has he dis- charged every duty to the public, that he is uniformly regarded as a model official. He has never sought office, and has never accepted it, except when convinced that the interests of the community demanded such a concession on his part. He was secretary of the Democratic county committee for three years, is a member of the Democratic Club, and of the Knights of Columbus, and was formerly a member of Huguenot Engine Company. He has been a lifelong member of St. Gabriel's Catholic church. Toward every organi- zation with which he has been connected, he has always exercised a spirit of helpfulness that has been more than liberal.
Lawrence Holler came, when six years old, from Germany with his father and mother and the balance of their family, and located at New York, where the family resided for eight years, and in 1846 came to New Rochelle, where Lawrence Holler, Sr., acquired considerable real estate, and the family had a home in a substantial stone residence. This property descended in part to Lawrence Holler, Jr., father of Frank J. Holler, and he has sold off tracts of it as occasion has brought him opportunities for profitable trans- actions. He has always taken an interest in local matters, was commis- sioner of highways, and has held other offices. He is an exempt member of Huguenot Engine Company, and has always been an influential Democrat and a member of the Roman Catholic church. On May 29, 1867, he mar- ried Louisa Mangis, a daughter of Melchor and Anna Elizabeth (Witterman) Mangis, and she bore him three sons and four daughters, as follows: Law- rence, who died aged one year; Catharine E., who died July 2, 1884; Henry, and Amelia were twins, born March 10, 1871, and the former died July 17, 1871, and the latter died August 2, 1871; Frank J., our subject; Maria Wil- helmina; and Anna Frances.
Three of Frank J. Holler's grandparents died at the age of eighty, and his paternal grandfather at the age of ninety-one.
ELIAS BRYANT.
This honored veteran of the civil war and one of the most popular men of Mount Pleasant township, Westchester county, was born on the 12th of April, 1837, in Morris county, New Jersey, and is a worthy representative of a good old family of that state. His ancestors are supposed to have come to this country from Holland, and the family name was originally Brount. His paternal grandfather, Elias Bryant, was a native of New Jersey and was an expert blacksmith. He married a Miss Corwin, and both died in that state.
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Elias Bryant, Jr., our subject's father, was born in 1800, in New Jersey, and throughout life followed the stone and brick mason's trade. He married Miss Electa Meeker, a native of Morris county, and a representative of two of the honored old families of that state, -the Meekers and Skinners,-eight- een of their members being soldiers of the Revolutionary war. Fannie Meeker, an aunt of our subject, is still living, aged ninety-four years. The children born to Elias and Electa Bryant were Isaac, who died at the age of eighteen years; Jacob, a resident of Scranton, Pennsylvania; Phoebe, wife of Lewis Sturges, of Tarrytown, New York; Amada B., of Tarrytown; Eveline, deceased wife of James L. Minnerly; and Elias, our subject. The mother died at the age of forty-six years, and the father was again married, having by the second union two children: Van Cleave D., deceased; and Frederick, a resident of West Virginia. The father was called to his final rest at the age of seventy-one years. He was a Democrat in politics and a Presbyterian in religious faith.
The subject of this review was reared and educated in his native state, where he remained until coming to Tarrytown, Westchester county, in 1857. Here he worked at the painter's trade until his enlistment in the Union army. On the 7th of January, 1864, he joined the Seventh New York Heavy Artillery, and with Grant's command participated in the battles of Spottsylvania, the Wilderness, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. He was wounded in the left leg by a gunshot and gangrene set in, necessitating the use of crutches for eleven months, and for nine months was confined in a hospital at Washington, D. C., being honorably discharged April 13, 1865. He was at Ford's theater on the night of President Lincoln's assassination and witnessed the shooting by Wilkes Booth.
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