USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume II > Part 2
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I recall distinctly the routine work of each year on the Yonkers farms. January and February were the months in which wood was cut for summer use. Enough wood was cut in the winter to last all summer. "Fire-wood was drawn from the woods by ox teams. When the snow wasdeep we could put a chain around the tree we had chopped down, and, with our oxen, would drag the tree to the wood-shed, breaking a road through the snow, which in those winters fell plentifully. I have seen it three feet deep, and of course there were often heavy drifts. We used to pile the woodshed full of fire-wood and then pile it up outside. Loads of chips were brought to the yard from the woods. Chips made a quick fire for boiling the tea-kettle. Besides the wood we cut for home use we cut a good deal of cordwood to be taken to New York by our teams. We had no buck-saws, but used axes and sometimes cross-cut saws. Besides getting in our wood, we threshed oats, rye and wheat in January and February, calculating to get through before the first of March, which was the month for repairing stone walls and rail fences, and for cutting brushes and briars and heaping them up in piles to burn. In April the farmers were generally digging out stone and building stone walls. They were also at that time getting ready to plow their corn ground and also to plow their oats, which were sown in April. In May we planted our corn ground and also planted potatoes and plowed our pickle ground. Every farmer had his pickle patch, some reserving four acres and some five or six for that crop. In June the pickles were planted. That was a very important crop. Not one-quar- ter of the pickles were taken to the Yonkers pickle factories. The fact of the business is, that Yonkers, Fordham, West Farms, Eastchester and Greenburgh were the principal pickle pro- ducers for the New York market. It was a former Yonkers man who established the pickle industry in one of the western states. In June we also put our cheese peppers in beds to be afterward transplanted. A good many of them were raised. June was also the month for plowing and hoeing corn and potatoes. In the latter part of the month we plowed for buck- wheat and turned over our turnip ground. Turnips were raised to feed the cattle, not for mar- ket. June was the month in which the sheep were sheared and in which cherries were picked and taken to market. I have taken down to the city as many as sixteen hundredweight of cher- ries. In July we were plowing and hilling corn, which we tried to finish before the beginning of haying and harvesting, which was our July and August work. In July we also plowed and hoed our pickle crop. Apples were taken to market in August and pickles were picked in the last part of the month. That was the principal work. We also at that time dug potatoes and took them and our apples to market. This work extended into September. Forty-five bushels of apples were a load for a team. September might have been called our marketing month, for then we were gathering our crops and taking them to market. We also were topping our corn at that time, but we did not husk it until October, which was also the month for picking some variety of apples, digging some kinds of potatoes and for making cider. In November we were yet busy husking corn and digging potatoes. We were also, during this and other winter months, threshing grain, killing hogs and poultry, cutting wood, etc.
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The crops in Yonkers were fine. In the '40s over here in the valley (Tibbett's Brook), at the Horton farmhouse, near the present Dunwoodie railroad station, and a little south of the road to Eastchester (Yonkers avenue), we would get up the oxen and take the cart, which held forty-five bushels, out to the potatoe patch, in November, and there dig potatoes and fill the cart and have them in the wagon-house or cellar by noon. We would get another cart-load in the afternoon. We calculated that six hills of the variety, which was very large, would fill a bushel basket. They did fill it. Some of those potatoes were from six to eight inches long, and they were good, too! I remember that sometimes after supper we went to the barn to sort apples and potatoes. We made two candlesticks by cutting holes in two large turnips. We put a dip in each. One dip would be burning at one end of the heap of potatoes or apples, and the other at the other end of the heap. We sat there in the barn and worked. Just before stopping work, one of the men would go into the house and put some of those potatoes in the hot ashes of the open fire-place. When we all came in from the barn the potatoes were nicely backed, and there we sat, before going to bed, and enjoyed those mealy and white baked potatoes.
As to the price of farm land, the Horton farm of two hundred acres. at what is now called Dunwoodie, was bought in 1833, or 1834, for six thousand dollars. A little more than a score of years afterward, when the village was incorporated (1855), the average price of a lot on Warburtom avenue was about one hundred and fifty or two hundred dollars. Opposite Manor Hall the price was two hundred dollars. Judge Woodruff owned the property at that time. As to the upper end of what is now Warburton avenue, they would almost give you a lot in that locality if you would go up there. In 1872, when the city was incorporated, those lots opposite Manor Hall were worth five and six hundred dollars each. When Dr. Gates bought of Levi P. Rose two or three acres on the hill, opposite the present First Reformed church, he paid for it three thousand and nine hundred dollars. In 1893, a part of that property was offered to the city, for a city hall property, for one hundred and thirty thousand dollars.
I recall one event which created great excitement in Yonkers in 1842 or 1843. A dam above Ashford (a place subsequently called Ardsley by Mr. Cyrus W.Field), about five miles north of Yonkers, gave way, by reason of a sudden and heavy fall of rain, owing to a cloud-burst- Oliver Rhead, whose farm was in Sawmill river valley, a little north of St. John's cemetery, saw the river rising rapidly, and, mounting his horse, rode swiftly down to Yonkers to alarm the village. The Wells and Paddock dam, north of the present Elm street bridge, was then com- paratively new, but for some time it resisted the pressure of the flood. In those days there were no factories or other buildings near the dam to be damaged. At last the water broke through and with irresistible force rushed through the little village. It gullied out Mechanic (now New Main) street about seven feet. It also gullied out Mill (now Main) street, west of Getty Square. At that time the " 'Tony Archer " bridge, a wooden structure near the present cemetery(Oakland), spanned the Sawmill river. It had upright side-posts surmounted with railing. The water overflowed that bridge and the bridge over the Sawmill river just north of the present Getty Square. The Sawmill river road was covered. The water ran up over the stone wall, and as far as the old parsonage, in what are now Oakland cemetery grounds. It also overflowed. "Gully Guion's lane." I was on my way to a political meeting to be held at Bashford's tavern, which stood on the north bank of the Nepperhan, west of Manor Hall. When I reached the Tony Archer bridge, near the parsonage lot, I attempted to ford the water, which was running over the bridge. The current swept me and my horse down stream, and, after regaining solid ground, I rode down to the Post-road bridge and forded it without accident. I recall the deep. gully in Mechanic street near the site of the present Getty House. A few days after the flood a young horse belonging to Anson Baldwin was taken to be shod at Archibald's (afterward Peter Nodine's) blacksmith shop. The horse was restless and succeeded in breaking away from the tie-post. He ran around into Mechanic street, fell into the deep gully and was killed. The gully was full of boulders.
Jacob Read was born at Southeast, Putnam county, New York, on Sep- tember 30, 1818. His father, Rooney Read, was a soldier in the war of
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1812, and his grandfather, Jacob Read, was a soldier in the Revolution. Mr. Read came to Yonkers at the age of eleven, and is one of the oldest and best known citizens. He has held many positions of trust; for fifteen years was supervisor, and at present is a member of the board of water commissioners, acting as treasurer. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and Masonic orders. On November 23, 1845, he married Miss Catherine L. Mann, who. died on December 26, 1891. Five of his children are living, -George, Leander and David H., all residents of Yonkers; Mrs. Amanda Gibson, of White Plains; and Helen L., wife of Wilbur B. Ketcham, of this city.
THEODORE HILL.
One of the most progressive and successful agriculturists of Yorktown township, Westchester county, is Theodore Hill, who is the owner of a beau- tiful farm of two hundred acres. His methods of farm management show deep scientific knowledge, combined with sound, practical judgment, and the results show that "high-class" farming as an occupation can be made profitable as well as pleasant.
Mr. Hill was born December 1, 1850, and belongs to a family which was founded in this county by his great-grandfather, Uriah Hill, who came here from New York city during the early days of settlement on Manhattan island. His grandfather was Abraham Hill. His father, Abraham Hill, Jr., was a farmer throughout life, was broad and liberal in religious matters, and at the polls voted the Democratic ticket. He married Miss Thamer Lounsbury, the daughter of Daniel Lounsbury, who belonged to an old family of this. section, and was the son of a Revolutionary soldier. To Mr. and Mrs. Hill were born two children: Theodore, the subject of this sketch; and Hannah J., wife of Peter Curry. The mother died in early life, and the father after- ward married Miss Mary A. Fowler, whose death occurred in August, 1897.
Theodore Hill was reared and educated in Yorktown township, West- chester county, New York, and since attaining to man's estate has devoted his time and energies to agricultural pursuits, with good success. He now owns and operates a fine dairy farm near Lake Osceola, in Yorktown town- ship, Westchester county, on which is an excellent orchard, large barns and a nice residence,-in fact, all the conveniences and accessories of a model farm are there found.
On the 20th of June, 1892, Mr. Hill was united in marriage with Miss Susan H. Curry, a daughter of Dr. James H. and Emily (Minor) Curry. Her father is a prominent physician of Yorktown, and both parents are promi- nent members and active workers in the Methodist church. Mr. and Mrs.
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Hill have two little sons, who make bright their home, namely: James Curry and Theodore A.
While taking an active interest in political affairs, Mr. Hill is not a mem- ber of either of the great political parties, but prefers to vote for the man whom he believes best qualified to fill the office, regardless of party ties. He is an efficient member of the school board, and is also filling the offices of collector and commissioner in his township. He and his wife are leading members of the Methodist church, and they well deserve the high regard in which they are uniformly held.
NELSON H. BAKER.
A prominent and distinguished attorney of Sing Sing, Mr. Baker has for almost forty years successfully engaged in practice at the Westchester county bar. He was born in this county, March 4, 1835, a son of Quinby and Elizabeth (Dayton) Baker, and is a worthy representative of good old Revolutionary stock. The Baker family is of English origin, and tradition states that its progenitor in the New World was the chaplain on the May- flower. Our subject's great-grandfather, Daniel Baker, was a captain in the Colonial army under General Washington, and participated in the battle of White Plains at the time the British fleet came up the Hudson river, and the grandfather, Daniel Baker, who was a farmer, served as a soldier in the war of 1812. Quinby Baker was an inventor and was accidentally killed when our subject was quite small, having participated in the Mexican war, in which he was wounded and died from the effects of a poisoned bullet. He left three children, the others being Alonzo, a mechanic residing in Bedford, and Cla- rissa, now deceased. For four generations the Baker family have resided in Westchester county and have been numbered among its most worthy and progressive citizens. The Dayton family is also an old and loyal one, being well represented in the Revolution, the war of 1812 and the civil war, and is connected with the Greene family of Revolutionary fame. Our subject's maternal grandfather, Gilbert Dayton, was wounded in the war of 1812.
Reared upon a farm, Nelson H. Baker obtained his early education in the district schools and by private instruction from an Irish tutor, Thomas O'Rily. At the age of twenty-one he commenced the study of law with Francis Larkin, of Sing Sing, and was admitted to the bar in November, 1859, since which time he has engaged. in general practice in Sing Sing. Early in life he became interested in political affairs, and when still a young man made the race for supervisor, and was elected. The following year he was elected justice of the peace, and filled that office for four consecutive terms. He was then appointed district attorney to fill an unexpired term of
Salon Ho Baker
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more than two years, and at the end of that time was elected to that position, which he then held for four terms, or fourteen years in all. Since then he has given his entire attention to his private practice, making a specialty of criminal law, and has defended many noted criminals. Prominence at the bar comes through merit alone, and the high position which he has attained attests his superiority. As a fluent, earnest and convincing advocate he has but few equals. Thoroughness characterizes all his efforts, and he conducts all business with a strict regard to a high standard of professional ethics. He follows his own peculiar style and is quick to discern which course to pursue, but has always refused to prosecute a case when he has believed the prose- cution to be unjust. As an attorney he ranks among the foremost in this. section of the state, and he is recognized as one of the most eminent citizens of Westchester county.
On the 2d of November, 1859, Mr. Baker was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Urmy, a native of the town of Ossining, now Sing Sing, who died February 21, 1898. Two sons were born to this union, Ralph and Stuart, both of whom have been well educated, and Stuart practices law and is a member of the Westchester county bar.
ROBERT A. ROTCHÉ.
A prominent and popular citizen of Peekskill, Westchester county, Mr. Rotché has always been noted for his patriotism and loyalty to the govern- ment and for his earnest efforts to advance the welfare of the community in which his lot is cast. He was a young man of but nineteen years when he offered his services, and his life, if need be, to the Union, and with his brave comrades took a distinguished part in the battle of Antietam, two hundred and sixty-five of the regiment meeting death in that fearful combat between the opposing armies. He was also a participant in the battles of Fredericksburg and Roanoke Island and in minor engagements and skirmishes with the enemy. His term of service extended over a period of two years, beginning on August 19, 1861, and terminating in August, 1863, when he received an honorable discharge. He was a member of the famous Hawkins Zouaves, Ninth Regiment of New York Infantry.
Mr. Rotche has never lost his interest in the boys who wore the blue, and, wherever he has gone has been identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, and is now the commander of Abraham Vosburgh Post, No. 95, of Peekskill. He is a stanch Republican and has loyally aided that party since he had the privilege of casting his first presidential ballot, for Abraham Lincoln. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Cortlandt Lodge, No. 6, and while he was a resident of San
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Francisco, California, he was a member of Oriental Encampment, No. 57 I. O. O. F.
Robert A. Rotché, who has made his home in Peekskill for many years, is a native of this county, his birth having occurred in Cortlandt township, January 13, 1842. He is a son of John G. and Margaret (Henry) Rotche. The father, who was a native of Philadelphia, was a brick-maker by profes- sion. His death took place over thirty years ago, in 1867. His widow passed away in August, 1896, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. Both were members of the old Dutch Reformed church. They were the parents of six children, only two of whom survive, namely: John H., a resident of Croton-on-Hudson, and Robert A.
In his youth Robert A. Rotché received an excellent education in the pub- lic schools of the county of his nativity. Soon after he left the school-room he entered upon his army life and when he returned from the battle-fields of the south he went to San Francisco, California, where he remained for twenty years or more, and there engaged in merchandising and was also prominently identified in local political affairs.
In 1867 the marriage of R. A. Rotche and Miss Jennie Black was solemnized in Brooklyn, New York, by Rev. Dr. Lowry, of Hanson Place Baptist church. Mrs. Rotche is a daughter of James Black, of Brooklyn. Edward A., the only child born to our subject and wife, died June 17, 1883, at San Francisco, aged fifteen years. He was a bright, promising youth, admired and loved by all who knew him, and his loss was deeply felt by a large circle of friends.
LEONARD JACOBI.
As one who has attained conspicuous success in connection with the busi- ness and industrial activities of the nation, and standing at the head of one of the important and magnificent manufacturing and commercial enterprises of Westchester county, there is a manifest consistency in according in this compilation at least a brief review of the life of Leonard Jacobi, of Yonkers, who is the president of the Nepera Chemical Company, of Nepera Park. His exceptional business sagacity and acumen can be recognized when we revert to the circumstance that he had by his own efforts accumulated a suf- ficient competency to enable him consistently to retire from active business at an age when the average man is but formulating plans and initiating his business career.
The subject of this sketch received his educational discipline in the pub- lic schools of New York city, and thereafter instituted his independent busi- ness career by going to San Francisco, California, where he became a stock- broker. Instituting operations in this line in the year 1874, his success was
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almost phenomenal, a's is shown in the fact, already referred to incidentally, that he was able to retire at the age of twenty-seven years, having accumu- lated a fortune by his wise manipulations and rare business discrimination. The story of his brilliant success is as brief as it was astonishing, taking into consideration his youth and the difficulties with which he naturally had to contend.
After retiring from business in California, Mr. Jacobi devoted fourteen years to travel and recreation in Europe, and while thus journeying about from one place of interest to another he chanced to form the acquaintance of Dr. Leo Baekeland, who is now associated with him in the great enter- prise which they have built up in Westchester county. A more formal description of this industry appears in connection with the sketch of Dr. Baekeland, which is published on other pages of this work. Suffice it to say at this point that the enterprise was inaugurated in 1893, when the Nepera Chemical Company was organized, its principal product being the celebrated Velox photographic paper-a sensitized paper for use in printing from ordinary photographic negatives, and one whose facility in manipulation is bound to revolutionize this feature of the photographic processes. The paper is described more fully in the review of the life of its inventor, Dr. Baeke- Jand, but it will not be out of place to state here that the pronounced points of superiority in the product are that it is sensitive to what the photographer would call very "slow" light-that is, prints can be made with utmost facility not alone by daylight, but from the light of ordinary gas or lamp; while the process of developing and fixing the prints is by gas light or any artificial light. The Velox paper, however, gives results which equal any- thing that can be obtained from aristo papers, and also gives the depth of tone-shadows and lights which the aristo paper invariably blurs. In this respect the Velox is superior to both the aristo and the old-time albumen paper, which likewise had its elements of superiority over the former in the pres- ervation of the more delicate values of the various negatives.
The Nepera Chemical Company has an extensive and finely equipped plant, which covers a large area, and here employment is afforded to one hundred individuals. The Velox paper met with an almost instantaneous favor on the part of photographers, and the product of the factory is now shipped to every civilized country in the world, foreign agencies having been established in a number of the principal cities abroad. In addition to these agencies in foreign lands, a number have been established in the various sec- tions of the United States, and a large corps of traveling salesmen is em- ployed by the company in the introducing and sale of the Velox paper. Besides Velox, however, the Nepera Chemical Company has the only manu- factory in the world that produces all kinds of photographic papers, other
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manufacturers having their specialties only. In this respect the Nepera Chemical Company stands unique in its branch of industry. The enterprise has important bearing on the industrial status and prosperity of Yonkers, and is duly appreciated by all classes of citizens who are interested in the progress of the city. The company largely employ home labor and skill and pay good salaries, much of the work requiring the co-operation of prac- tical chemists and men of education.
Personally Mr. Jacobi is a man of most pleasing personality, genial and affable in manner, and he has gained a distinctive popularity in both busi- ness and social circles. He is a thorough business man, alert and progress- ive, and a hard worker. He is quick and energetic, and is recognized for his superior ability in handling affairs of great breadth. He has pushed the business of the Nepera Chemical Company to the front with great rapidity, expending each year many thousand dollars in advertising, realizing that by this typical American method a business may be built up in one year to a point which could not be reached in ten by the slow system of gradual intro- duction of products by personal solicitation alone. He stands distinctively as the business head of the enterprise; Dr. Baekeland devotes his attention to the development and improvement of the manufacturing processes, by con- tinued investigation and experimentation, being also secretary of the com- pany; while Albert G. C. Hahn, M. S., is treasurer. Mr. Jacobi took up his residence in Yonkers in 1897.
EDWARD B. KEAR.
The present well known and popular supervisor of Yorktown township, Westchester county, was born March 24, 1866, and is a representative of an old and highly respected family of this county. His paternal great-grandfa- ther, Jonathan Kear, who was of Welsh descent, settled near the present vil- lage of Yorktown some time prior to the Revolutionary war. His son, Peter Kear, the grandfather of our subject, was here reared to manhood and mar- ried Miss Susan Anderson, who was born at Croton-on-Hudson and was of German descent. To them was born a family of nine children, and of those who reached maturity we offer the following brief record: Peter is a resident of Geneva, New York; Amos died in 1891, his being the first death in the family for forty years; Henry C. is the father of our subject; William and George are both residents of Seneca Falls, New York; Cyrus resides at Almont, Michigan; Sarah Dean has her home at Rochester, New York; and Daniel also resides at Almont, Michigan. The mother of these children died at the age of eighty-two years, and the father two or three years later. By occupation he was a farmer, and in politics was a Republican.
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Henry C. Kear, the father of our subject, is a native of Westchester county, born December 18, 1836, and was reared on the homestead at York- town, receiving his education in the public schools of the neighborhood. At the age of twenty-seven years he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Farmer, a native of Ireland, and to them were born two children: William C., of Yorktown; and Edward B., of this sketch. The Kear homestead con- sists of two hundred and fifty-six acres of choice farming land, which has been placed under a high 'state of cultivation and improved with good and substantial buildings. In fact it is one of the most valuable and attractive farms in the vicinity. To its further improvement and cultivation father and sons still devote their energies with most gratifying results, and Mr. Kear also owns a valuable farm of one hundred and forty acres in the town of Somers.
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