USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume II > Part 23
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Charles Edward Hartshorn, Jr., was born December 1, 1846, in New York city, and until he was sixteen years old he attended the public schools and academies of that place. He was in business with his father until 1872, when he opened a dry-goods and house-furnishing establishment at Nos. 250 and 252 Carroll street. Here he made a specialty of equipping institutions with beds and bedding, clothing, etc., and continued in this line for some three or four years, after which he commenced importing needles and scissors, notions, etc., and gave his attention to this branch of business for nine or ten years. Since that he has been occupied as before, in the furnish-
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ing of supplies to institutions of various kinds, and in the taking of contracts for the repair and construction of public buildings. His business is not merely local, but has often extended into adjacent counties. In addition to his regular line he has been awarded contracts for furnishing supplies to the navy, and has met with marked success in his enterprises. He is a member of Manhattan Lodge, of New York city, the one with which his father has been so long associated, and he is a member of the Lowerre Hose Company of Yonkers. Religiously, he is a member of the Reformed church.
The marriage of C. E. Hartshorn, Jr., and Miss Harriet E. Smith, of New York city, was solemnized on the 16th of October, 1872. Mrs. Harts- horn's father, Jeremiah H. Smith, was engaged in the crockery and queens- ware business in the metropolis for a number of years. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Hartshorn is Prescott Barker, a traveling salesman and a most exemplary young man in every respect. Judging by what he has already achieved his future is one of great promise, and his parents have just occa- sion to be proud of him.
CHARLES HENRY HEINSOHN.
A very energetic and successful business man and a patriotic citizen is the subject of this record, he being a resident of Mount Vernon, Westches- ter county. For seventeen years he has been a trusted employee of the Carroll Box & Lumber Company, one of the largest lumber concerns and ex- porters of greater New York, rising from a position as office-boy to a place which is as responsible as any in the business. Since October, 1891, he has been connected with the Mount Vernon fire department, of which, in July, 1898, he was appointed chief. His first service was for the Washington Engine Company, with which he continued for several years, being its sec- retary for four years, at the end of which period he was elected to the posi- tion of second assistant chief of the city fire department. Subsequently, the Fire Commissioners appointed him to the place of first assistant chief, and his next promotion was to the responsible office he now holds, with great credit. The department, which is one of volunteers, comprises two hundred and eighty members, divided into nine companies. They have one steam engine, two hand engines and all the latest equipments in general commonly employed. The Mount Vernon fire department is the best volunteer depart- ment in the state. A large share of praise is accorded Chief Heinsohn for the energetic, practical methods he employs and advocates, and his devotion to his duties, which are not light. The state reports show that the fire losses of this town within recent years has been but eight per cent. of the value of property involved, which speaks well for the efficiency of our volunteer fire department and its able officers.
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The Heinsohns are primarily from Hanover, Germany, but the father of our subject, Carsten Henry Heinsohn, was born in Hanover and came to this country from London when a lad of twelve years. He became a resident of New York city and for eight or ten years was engaged in the grocery busi- ness at the corner of Thirty-seventh street and Eighth avenue. Later he embarked in the confectionery trade, but during his last years he was retired and lived in Hoboken, New Jersey. His death occurred December 5, 1874, when he was fifty-eight years of age. His widow, whose girlhood name was Christina Beck, is still living. Mr. Heinsohn was a Republican in politics and in religion was a Lutheran. In his family were two daughters,-Mrs. J. B. Lotz and Mrs. William Schmidt. The latter is the wife of the president of the Stock Brewery of San Francisco, and one of their sons married a daughter of Senator Perkins, of California. William, the eldest son of C. H. Heinsohn, Sr., is in partnership with his brother, Richard, in the hard- ware business in Mount Vernon, the firm being known as that of Heinsohn Brothers.
The birth of Charles H. Heinsohn took place in New York city, July 22, 1863. He graduated from the public schools of the metropolis in 1877, and for the following three years was employed in a jewelry-manufacturing business. He then studied law for one year, under Henry W. Gould, sec- retary of the Richmond Land Company, and in 1881 entered the employ of the Carroll Box & Lumber Company, with whom he has since continued, working upward by rapid promotions, from errand boy to tally clerk, shipping clerk (in which capacity he served for eight years), superintendent of the yards and outside salesman and superintendent. At no time did he ever re- quest a better position or an increase in salary, but his genuine worth to the firm and his manifest ability brought their reward in the esteem of the com- pany and in material recognition thereof. Among his other financial inter- ests, he is a member of the New York & Suburban Building & Loan Associa- tion.
In fraternal circles Mr. Heinsohn is deservedly popular. He is fond of athletics, particularly of bowling, at which he is an expert. He belongs to various local clubs and is connected with the Hiawatha Lodge of the F. & A. M .; Zetland Chapter, R. A. M., and Exempt Firemen's Association, of New York, etc. Politically, he is a stanch Republican, as was his father be- fore him.
JOHN EMBREE.
One of the old families of Westchester county is represented by the gen- tleman whose name heads this sketch. His grandfather Embree came here from England at an early period and engaged in agricultural pursuits in this
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county as long as he lived. Of his three sons, Lewis, John and Samuel, the latter, born at West Farms, Westchester county, was the father of John Embree, of whom we write. He was a life-long farmer, and for years owned a valuable homestead comprising one hundred acres, it being situated, in part, within the present limits of the city of Yonkers, in the seventh ward. During the war of 1812 he was called into service and was ready for action whenever he should be required. He was a Whig, politically, and in religious faith was an Episcopalian. Death came to him as the result of falling from a wagon, his injuries being severe and terminating fatally. The death of his wife, whose maiden name was Catherine Garrison, took place when she was in her sixty-first year. They were the parents of ten children, namely: Stephen, James, Mary Blount, Isaac, John, Robert, William, Emmanuel, Elizabeth Leeds and Susan Reed.
John Embree was born in Yonkers, November 6, 1821, and attended the district schools of this city. Having gained a liberal education, he devoted his time to farming and remained with his father until he was twenty-eight years of age. Then entering a different line of business entirely, he built Main, Orchard, Washington and many other important streets in Yonkers, and up to 1870 was associated with his brother Robert as a partner. From the year mentioned until some time in 1871, he was again occupied in agricultural pursuits at Yorktown, Westchester county, after which he established his present grocery. He bought and built his present store prop- erty and has since successfully conducted a grocery business, in which his son Ethelbert B. is now associated with him. Also, for fifteen years he has been a director of the People's Savings Bank of Yonkers. By excellent practical methods and general reliability he has won the confidence of all who know him, and his warmest friends are numbered among his customers of years' standing. Formerly he was identified with the Democratic party, but he is now somewhat independent of party lines, choosing to give his allegiance to the men and platform which most nearly express his views at the time of election. Religiously, he is a consistent Christian, a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Yonkers.
On the 6th of November, 1848, Mr. Embree married Miss Sarah Roake, a daughter of Joseph Roake, who was a farmer and carpenter of Yorktown, Westchester county, and who is still living, being now in the ninety-third year of his age. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Embree are Joseph R., who is carrying on a successful livery business in this city; Ethelbert B., who is in the grocery business with his father; and Kate L., wife of William B. Lull, a jeweler in New York city, but whose home is in Yonkers. Mrs. Embree is now sixty-seven years of age, and, with her husband, is entering upon a peace-
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ful, contented old age, blessed in the thought of the good that has been accomplished through their united, unostentatious efforts to benefit and help their fellow-men.
JAMES SLADE.
A representative citizen and leading business man of Yonkers for a period of nearly forty years is James Slade, superintendent of the Yonkers Gas Company, one of the largest and most flourishing concerns of the kind in the state of New York. He is also extensively interested in real estate, - business and residence property,-and has done much toward the upbuilding and beautifying of the city.
Born December 22, 1836, James Slade is a son of George and Catherine (Vincent) Slade. Bath, Somersetshire, England, was the place of his birth, and in that section of the British isles several generations of his ancestors resided. George Slade, whose occupation in life was that of a forester and sawyer, lived and died in Somersetshire, as did also his father, Jesse Slade. To the union of our subject's parents six children were born, namely: George, Elizabeth, Eliza, James, Stephen and Edward. The father died at the age of forty-four years, and the mother lived to attain her sixty-fifth year. Three of the sons and one daughter came to the United States.
Having completed his common-school education, James Slade took a position as a clerk in a store, and in 1855 came to this country. After clerking for three years in the city of New York, he removed to Lynchburg, Virginia, and finally, in 1860, he became a permanent resident of Yonkers, and the same year witnessed his first connection with the Yonkers Gas Com- pany. The output of the gas plant at that time was from thirty to thirty- five thousand cubic feet a day, whereas, at present nine hundred thousand feet a day are produced. Employment is given to a large number of men, frequently being over one hundred at one time. Business is rapidly increas- ing, and gas is being used more and more for fuel, on account of its conven- ience and cheapness, it being furnished to the consumer at one dollar and thirty-five cents a thousand feet, while formerly the rate paid was five dollars and seventy-five cents a thousand. The gas plant is modern and well equipped in every particular and is valued at one million and a quarter of dollars. The company has absorbed three other competing ones, -the Westchester Gas Company, the Municipal Gas Company, and the Strong Fuel Gas Com- pany, and continues to use their holders. The company supplies Spuyten Duyvil, Mount St. Vincent, Kingsbridge, Woodlawn, Riverdale, Yonkers, and points as far north as Hastings. For fifteen or sixteen years Mr. Slade has been one of the directors in the gas company, being among the longest on the board, in fact, having served longer than all save one, Robert P.
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Getty. The other directors are William Warburton Scrugham, president, Harold Brown, Henry K. Bangs, Alfred Jones, William Robinson, Alexander Smith Cochran, and Samuel D. Babcock. The offices of the company are at the corner of Wells street and North Broadway.
To the excellent business management and careful personal supervision of James Slade much of the success which the Yonkers Gas Company enjoys must be attributed. He is an able financier and has made investments, on his own account, in real estate, tenements, business property and residences in this city and elsewhere, and with few exceptions he has made a distinct success of his undertakings. Socially he is a member of the Knights of Hon- or. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and in local affairs votes for the man whom he considers best qualified for any office. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian, but he attends the Baptist church.
In 1864 Mr. Slade married Miss Mary Nolan, and they have four sons, of whom they have reason to be proud. Richmond E. is superintendent of the Gas & Electric Company at White Plains, New York. He is a graduate of Columbia College, married a Miss Wiggins and has two children. Clif- ford L., the second son, is superintendent of the gas and electric light plant at Port Chester, New York. Foster C., a graduate of Cornell College, and a mechanical engineer, now in the employ of James R. Floyd's Sons, mechan- ical engineers and contractors, of New York city. Harvey is now attending Columbia College, is in the school of arts, and is a member of the class of 1899.
JAMES BROWN ODELL.
Thirty years ago this well and favorably known merchant of Yonkers embarked in the grocery business here, and during this period the volume of his trade has increased until it is now equaled by few houses in this line in Westchester county. Industry and strict attention to business rarely fail to bring success in some degree, but additional qualities, almost amounting to genius, seem essential to great prosperity, and certainly Mr. Odell possesses marked ability as a financier. While he has devoted his time and energies to the building up and management of his large business, he has never failed in his duties as a citizen. During the war of the Rebellion he served in the Union army as a member of Company H, Seventeenth New York militia. Politically he supports the Republican platform, and is quite active in the advancement of the interests of his party. In Grand Army circles he is well known and deservedly popular, his membership having been with Fremont Post, No. 590.
The Odells are old and honored residents of Westchester county. Joshua Odell, the great-great-grandfather of James B. Odell, of this sketch,
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was born November 4, 1707, and his wife, Sarah, was born August 2, 1713. Their son, born May 2, 1733, was christened Joshua. His home was on a farm now comprised in Mount Hope cemetery, then called the Odell farm, and there he resided until death. He married Mary Vincent and their children were John, Abraham, Joseph, James, Isaac, Daniel, Sarah Tuttle, and Abigail Under- hill. The father was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and later espoused the principles of the old Democratic party. His son James, the grandfather of our subject, was born in the town of Greenburg, on the ancestral home- stead (Mount Hope cemetery) December 13, 1775. Following in the foot- steps of his patriotic father, he tendered his services in the second war with Great Britain, and was for a short time in the American army, as a private. He owned a small farm in the town of Greenburg, and was a weaver by trade. In 1809 he built a house for his family upon his property, which domicile is still standing, and, at the end of the ninety years intervening, is in a fair state of preservation. Mr. Odell was not only a farmer but was also a weaver of cloth and blankets, and was quite skillful in that trade. Very active in religious enterprise, he was one of the founders of the First Presbyterian church of Dobbs Ferry. For his wife he chose Elizabeth Odell, who, though having the same surname, came from another branch of the family. Their children were as follows: Mary McKenny, born August 23, 1800; Isaac, October 28, 1802; Daniel, August 21, 1804; Ann Foster, March 16, 1807; Benjamin, February 26, 1809; Lawrence, June 20, 1812; Eliza, August 7, 1814; Susan Wood, December 12, 1816; Jane, November 26, 1819; Caroline Keeler, August 24, 1822; and Harriet A. Keeler, July 13, 1827. Eliza died unmarried, and of the entire family only Mrs. Jane Wilsea survives.
The parents of James B. Odell were Isaac and Bertha (Corwin) Odell, the former a native of the town of Greenburg, this county, and the latter of Long Island. The father was born October 28, 1802, and spent his whole life in the vicinity of his birthplace. He was a carpenter by trade, and was quite successful as a business man. He was summoned to the silent land in 1842, when just at the prime of life, and was buried in the cemetery at Dobbs Ferry. In religious creed he was a Presbyterian, as was his father before him, and in political faith he, too, was a Democrat. His widow survived him for more than half a century, her demise occurring in 1895, when she was in her eighty-third year. Their five children were Mary A .; James B .; John F., deceased; William H .; and Caroline, who died at the age of eight years. Mary A. is the wife of Leonard W. Elliott, for thirty years a member of the New York police force, and now retired and a resi- dent of Yonkers. William H., also a citizen of this place, is an expert mechanical engineer, and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
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James Brown Odell was educated in the public schools of the town of Greenburg, and served an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade, which calling he followed for about ten years. Then for three years he operated an engine in a machine shop, and in 1868, in company with Henry B. Jones, he started in the grocery business in Yonkers. At the expiration of four years Mr. Odell purchased his partner's interest in the business, and soon after- ward became associated with John J. Littebrandt, formerly one of his clerks. The firm have ever since carried on the business under the style of Odell & Littebrandt. They now employ seven clerks and keep constantly in requi- sition five delivery wagons. From small proportions their trade, exclusively retail in character, has grown until the annual transactions have reached an- average aggregate of one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Odell is a member of the Yonkers board of trade and is the executor of the Barnes estate, the property of the late Reuben Barnes, father of his wife. For a score of years he has been one of the trustees of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Yonkers, and has long held membership in this congregation.
The first marriage of Mr. Odell was solemnized November 5, 1859, when Mary A., daughter of Leander Hodges, became his bride. She died May 19, 1864, aged twenty-four years. They became the parents of two children, - George F., to whom individual reference is made elsewhere in this work; and Ada King, who died May 2, 1864, aged two and one-half years. Mrs. Odell's maternal grandfather, Stephen Battison, was born in 1740, and. resided at Georgetown, Connecticut. He was aide-de-camp on the staff of a general during the war of the Revolution. His wife lived to attain. remarkable longevity, her death occurring when she had reached the venerable age of ninety-nine years. Leander Hodges was born in George- town, Connecticut, and came to Yonkers in the '40s. Here he became quite influential and prominent in business, political and church circles. For some. time he represented the second ward as alderman in the city council. Very zealous and devoted in the cause of religion, he was prominently identified with the First Methodist Episcopal church of this city, and, having prepared- himself for the ministry, he was enabled to wield a distinct and valuable influence as a local preacher and exhorter. He married Sarah Burt and they. became the parents of two children, -Mary A., who became the wife of Mr. Odell, and George J.
On the 18th of October, 1870, James B. Odell consummated a second marriage, being then united to Miss Martha Barnes, daughter of Reuben and. Mary (Hodge) Barnes, of Yonkers. Her father was one of the honored and prominent citizens of Yonkers for many years, having located here in 1852. To him and his wife more detailed consideration is given on other pages of this compilation. Mrs. Odell entered into eternal rest on the 21st of June,.
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1894, leaving two daughters, -Gertrude Wilhelmina, who was a successful teacher in the public schools of Yonkers, and who was married April 20, 1899, to Mr. B. Eugene Sperry, of Ridgefield, Connecticut; and Mary L., who still remains at the paternal home, on Hawthorne avenue.
CHARLES R. CRISFIELD.
Among the representative business men of Yonkers, New York, is found the subject of this sketch, Charles R. Crisfield, who dates his birth at this place December 7, 1840, and is a son of English parents, John and Martha (Beale) Crisfield.
About 1830 John Crisfield, accompanied by his wife and two children, emigrated to this country, making the voyage in a sailing vessel and being seven weeks on the sea. Landing in New York city, he took up his abode there and began life in the New World as a dry-goods peddler. Later he opened a store in New York and in connection with it ran a wagon, selling goods throughout the adjacent part of Westchester county. His location was first on Canal street and later in Harlem, and at length he came to Yonk- ers and engaged in the hotel business, opening the Squangum House on North Broadway, where William Welsh's store is now situated. He was subsequently engaged in the dry-goods business at Saugerties, New York, and later he returned to Yonkers, and on a tract of twenty-three acres, which he had previously purchased, opposite Caryl station, for one thousand dollars, he built a residence. The taxes upon this property at that time were only four dollars and eighty cents. Afterward he sold thirteen acres to Mr. St. Vincent, for seven hundred dollars per acre, and in 1898 the heirs disposed of the remainder of the property, ten acres, for sixty thousand dol- lars; and, as showing the increase in the valuation of this property, it may be stated that that year the taxes were six hundred dollars. After his return to Yonkers, Mr. Crisfield engaged in the grocery business, opposite the Man- sion House, and next to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he continued for eighteen or twenty years, after which he retired. He was a Democrat and a man of local prominence. For twenty-four years he served as justice of the peace at Yonkers. A member of St. John's Episcopal church, active and influential, he served in various official capacities, filling the offices of deacon, elder, etc. Fraternally, he was identified with the I. O. O. F. He died June 1, 1880, at the age of eighty-two years; his wife, in 1879, at the age of seventy-six years. They were the parents of eleven children, namely: John, deceased; Eliza, wife of Robert Lawrence, of Yonkers, deceased; the next two in order of birth died in infancy; Mary Ann, widow of Martin B. Demorest, a carpenter of Nyack, New Jersey; Martha J., wife of John J.
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Banty, a carpenter of Deland, Florida; George H., who is in the real-estate business at Yonkers, married Susan Van Tassel; T. W., who resides in Irvington, is engaged in the livery business there and is clerk of the town; Emily V., wife of William Read, resides at Nyack, New Jersey; Charles R., whose name graces this sketch; and Jessie, wife of James B. Strang, a retired farmer of Stamford, Connecticut.
Charles R. Crisfield was educated in the public schools of his native town. At the age of seventeen he left school and began learning the butcher's business, working with his brother John, with whom he remained five years. After this he engaged in business on his own account, at the old home place opposite Caryl, where he remained twelve years, at the end of which time, in 1878, he purchased his present place and built his market, barn, etc., and here he has since been successfully engaged in the butcher busi- ness. Adjacent to his residence he owns a number of lots, sixteen in all which have grown very valuable. His is one of the oldest established markets in Yonkers, and he enjoys a large trade at Riverdale as well as Yonkers, his business requiring two wagons.
Mr. Crisfield is independent in his political views, and has never sought or held office, his own private affairs demanding the whole of his time and attention. He was once a member of Hope Hook & Ladder Company. He worships with the Reformed church, of which he is a consistent member.
Mr. Crisfield was married April 22, 1880, to Miss Antoinette Radford, a daughter of Thomas Radford, and they have five children, viz. : Walter R., Richard W., Louis R., Della and Charles B.
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