USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume II > Part 24
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AUGUSTUS VAN CORTLANDT.
Augustus Van Cortlandt, the second son in his father's family, married for his first wife Miss Cuyler, and after her decease Miss Catherine Barclay, of Santa Cruz, West Indies. His children were James Van Cortlandt, born March 3, 1736, and died April 1, 1781; Helen, born January 4, 1768, and married James Morris, of Morrisania (whose son, Augustus Frederick Morris, assumed the name of Van Cortlandt, and inherited from his grandfather a part of his estate in Lower Yonkers); and Anna, born January 18, 1766, who married Henry White, son of Henry White and Eva Van Cortlandt.
For many years prior to the Revolution, Augustus Van Cortlandt was clerk of the common council of New York city, and to his unflinching loyalty to his trust, as well as to his king, is due the preservation of the city records of New York; for of his own motion and on his own responsibility, in 1775, he placed them in chests in a vault built at his own expense, in his own
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garden, "made," as he informed the provincial congress, "for that purpose of stone and brick, well arched and exceedingly dry," and kept them until after the peace of 1783.
FREDERICK E. WEEKS.
This is an age in which the young man is prominent, and the young man is always prominent during and after war; and all things have combined to give him precedence in America in these last years of the nineteenth century. Young men who, like Frederick E. Weeks, of Tarrytown, were coming to the front professionally and otherwise before the war began and gave their coun- try faithful service during its progress, returned to receive such substantial reward as a patriotic people like to accord to them who risk their lives in their defense.
Frederick E. Weeks was born at Sleepy Hollow, Mount Pleasant town- ship, Westchester county, New York, October 4, 1870, a son of Abel and Elmira F. (Miller) Weeks. His father, a well-known florist of Tarrytown, is a man who commands the highest respect. His mother died in 1881. Abraham Weeks, father of Abel and grandfather of Frederick E. Weeks, was in his day prominent in this part of the state; and the same may be said of our subject's maternal grandfather, Ira C. Miller. Both families are old in America, and representatives in the lines reaching down to Fred- erick E. Weeks have lived in Bedford and Mount Pleasant townships during many successive generations. Those by the name of Weeks in Westchester county are descended from old Holland stock, while those by the name of Miller in this line are from an ancient English family. Abel and Elmira F. (Miller) Weeks had four children, named Frederick E., Mary E., Charles J. and Hester A.
Frederick E. Weeks acquired his primary education at Poccacio Hill and Sleepy Hollow and in the public schools at New Brighton and Stapleton, Staten island. He was graduated at the North Tarrytown public school in 1888. Later he read law under the preceptorship of E. T. Lovett, and afterward under that of W. H. H. Ely, at Tarrytown. He took the degree of Bachelor of Laws from the New York University Law School in May, 1895, was admitted to the bar the same year, and entered upon the practice of his profession at Tarrytown. He is a member of the Westchester County Bar Association. In 1896 he was appointed assistant district attorney of Westchester county by District Attorney George C. Andrews. He has filled that responsible position with great ability since, except while absent in the United States army in active service in the Cuban war. He enlisted in Company C, Seventy-first Regiment National Guard of New York, October 9, 1897, and was mustered into the United States service as a corporal in
The Lewis Publishing Co
Frederick & Seks
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Company C, Seventy-first Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry. He served through the Cuban campaign with the Fifth Army Corps and was mustered out of the service November 15, 1898.
He participated in engagements at La Guisamis and San Juan, and in all the arduous service around Santiago. December 8, 1888, he was appointed by Governor Black, assistant adjutant-general on the governor's staff of the: state of New York, with the rank as lieutenant-colonel. He resigned the office of assistant district attorney April 29, 1898, to go to war, and was. re-appointed to the same office by District Attorney Andrews, January I,. 1 899.
Mr. Weeks is a member of the Society of the Army of Santiago de Cuba and of the Old Guard of New York City, and fraternally, of Solomon's Lodge, No. 196, Free and Accepted Masons, of Tarrytown, and of Irving Chapter, No. 268, Royal Arch Masons, of Tarrytown; also he is connected with the Westchester Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Tarry- town, and he is foreman of the Conqueror Hook and Ladder Company, of Tarrytown.
Charles J. Weeks, second son of Abel and Elmira (Miller) Weeks, at the age of twenty-one did gallant service as a private in Company C, Seventy- first Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, and received a gunshot wound before Santiago, July 1, 1898, while taking part in a charge by which a part of a battery was saved to the American cause. He recovered from his injur- ies and is living at Tarrytown.
Politically, Mr. Weeks is a Republican, as was his father before him.
GEORGE FISCHER.
One of Yonkers' most prominent German residents is George Fischer, who was born at Marienthal on the Rhine, Germany, January 9, 1854, and came with his parents to the United States when he was twelve years old. His grandfather, Christian Fischer, was a keeper of vineyards and a maker of some of those pure wines which sustained the fame of his country in the- wine markets of the world in his time. He had seven children, two of whom came with George Fischer's father and his wife and children to the New World.
Christian Fischer, Jr., father of George Fischer, located in Yonkers soon after his arrival in New York (1864), and lived there the remainder of his life, which terminated in 1897, after he had celebrated his seventy- seventh birthday. He was an active and useful citizen and was frequently elected to public office, and served with success and greatly to the satisfac- tion of his townsmen as commissioner of highways in his native country. By 44
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trade he was an engineer. In his youth he had served in the German army, and thus he acquired a liking for military affairs, which influenced him to become a member of the local militia, of which for many years he was a member. He was a member of Yonkers Teutonic Turnverein, the Brother- hood of Engineers and of other popular organizations, and sustained a life- long relation with the Catholic church. He had nine children: George and William, deceased; George, whose name appears above and who will receive further mention below; William; Anna, who married William Katt, of Yonk- 'ers; Lena, who married Augustus Nitch; Lizzie, who married George Zipp; and Frederick.
George Fischer was educated in the public schools of Yonkers. At the age of fifteen he left school to learn the butcher's trade, in which he was employed for some years. Later he studied engineering, but finally he turned his attention to hotel-keeping. His connection for several years with the City Hall hotel, of Yonkers, is well known. For several seasons he managed the Alpine and Excelsior excursion grounds, and later the Sawmill River Park. Since then he has conducted the Nepera Park hotel and carried on an extensive bottling business.
Politically, Mr. Fischer is a Democrat, and he is an active, practical worker in public affairs, who wields a recognized influence in his ward and throughout the city generally. He has been sent as a delegate to the county and assembly conventions and is an active member of his ward committee. He was a candidate for alderman in 1897 to represent the seventh ward, but the tide of election went against him and could not have been stemmed under governing circumstances. He has been a member of the Yonkers fire department for twenty-three years, and was several times foreman of Moun- taineer Engine Company, now Nepera Hose Company, No. 11. He was a member of the committee of one hundred citizens which visited Rochester in 1899. He is a Red Man (Algonquin Tribe, No. 288), a member of Alsatia Lodge, and is identified with other popular organizations.
December 25, 1874, he married Maggie Harding, who has borne him children as follows: Christian T., Fred (deceased), William (deceased), Elizabeth, Mary M., Frederick, Bertha and Julia.
DAVID FARRINGTON.
David Farrington was born in the city of New York, December 25, 1834, received his education in the public schools of that city, but left his studies ere he had completed the full term in order to begin an apprentice- ship in the engraving business. He was employed in this manner for six years, and five years longer as a journeyman, learning every detail of the art.
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Subsequently he was connected with the jewelry house of Ball, Black & Company as an engraver, for ten years. His ability and genuine talent becoming recognized, he was offered a good position with the American Bank Note Company, and has continued with this one firm for the long period of thirty years. In 1871 he purchased the property at No. 326 South Fourth avenue, Mount Vernon, where his home has been ever since, and he was one of the first to locate in this section of the city. With his business associates and fellow citizens he is deservedly popular, and every one has a good word for him. Fraternally he belongs to Hiawathia Lodge, F. & A. M., and to Mount Vernon Chapter, R. A. M. Politically, he cast his first vote for John C. Fremont, and has always been a loyal Republican.
For twenty years Mr. Farrington served as a member of the Clinton Hook & Ladder Company, and he is still an honorary member of that asso- ciation; is a charter member and one of the founders of the Exempt Fire- men's Association, and is now serving as one of the fire commissoners of the place, having been appointed to the office by Mayor Edson Lewis, in 1895, for a term of three years; and he was also treasurer of the board at the expiration of his first term. May 15, 1898, he was re-appointed, for another term of three years, by Mayor Edwin W. Fiske, and received the unanimous approval of the Democratic adminstration, and is now president of the board. When the project of the Mount Vernon water-works was started he was one of the active workers and stockholders in the company at its formation, and he is now a member and a trustee of the Home Building & Loan Association of Mount Vernon.
May 15, 1861, Mr. Farrington married Miss Anna Luyster, a daughter of Albert Luyster, an old citizen of the metropolis. For sixty years Mr. Luyster kept a butcher's stall in Washington market, New York. Four chil- dren blessed this marriage, namely: Amy A., Elbert L., Ada A. and Elmer. Mr. Farrington was married a second time, wedding Miss Annie Makeon, of New York, and by this marriage there is one child, named Clinton.
The Farringtons lived in this locality long before this town was dreamed of, and the paternal grandfather of our subject owned a large farm in the township of Eastchester, now within the borough of Mount Vernon. His family comprised the following children: John, Thomas, Washington, David and Hettie. David, the father of the subject of this article, was born in 1796, in the old family residence which stood until a few years ago at the corner of Lincoln and North Fourth avenues, in this town. David Farrington spent nearly all his life in New York city, and at one time held a position as superintendent of street-cleaning there. He was a volunteer in the war of 1812, and in his political views he was a Democrat. His death took place in Brooklyn, where he had lived for a few years, his age being
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ninety-three. He was twice married, his first union being with Caroline Reynolds, the mother of our subject. Of their six children-Anne Maria, Eliza, Francis, David, Amanda and Emma, only two survive,-David, the subject of this sketch, and Emma.
REV. CHARLES ELMER ALLISON, D. D.
There is scarcely a man or boy in Yonkers who is not more or less acquainted with the genial personality of Dr. Allison. To the majority he is known as one of the most fluent and humorous after-dinner speakers in the city, whilst to the more serious-minded he is esteemed as the zealous evan- gelical pastor or as the grave and learned historian. He is equally respected by all classes, and no one could pose more successfully as " the man of many friends."
The history of the Allison family in Europe and the United States by the Hon. Leonard Allison Morrison, D. D., contains biographies of the Orange county Allisons, and records that the subject of this sketch is a descendant in the sixth generation of Joseph Allison, probably a Scotchman or of Scotch descent, who resided at Southold, Long Island, in 1721, and migrated to Goshen, Orange county, about 1725 or 1726, having purchased lands designated as the Allison tract in the Wanayanda patent. On his maternal side the Rev. Dr. Allison is in the eighth generation from Edward Elmer, a Puritan who emigrated from England to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1632, twelve years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, and who emi- grated, in 1635 or 1636, with the Rev. Thomas Hooker and his congregation to Hartford, Connecticut, as original proprietors of that city. One of Dr. Allison's ancestors was General William Allison, an officer of the American Revolution, who, as a colonel, commanded the Orange county troops at the battle of Fort Montgomery. One of the officers in command of the king's forces at that battle was the son-in-law of the Hon. Frederick Philipse, who, in the eighteenth century, was proprietor of the Manor of Philipseburgh and lived in the Manor Hall of Yonkers. General Allison was a member of the provincial convention of New York from 1775 to 1777, and state senator for the terms 1783-6.
The following from a recent issue of Church Tidings, edited and pub- lished in Connecticut by the Rev. Arthur Requa:
" Mr. Allison was the second son of Isaac W. and Teresa A. Allison, and was born at Slate Hill, Orange county, New York. His college prepar- atory school was Chester Academy, and he was graduated from Hamilton College in the class of '70. He was one of the six Clark prize orators of that class. He was graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1874. Mr.
Charles E. Allison.
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Allison was licensed by the presbytery of Hudson, and ordained by West- chester presbytery, April 30, 1879,-the day when Dayspring was first enrolled as a church.
" Mr. Allison came to this enterprise from his seminary in 1873, at first coming up on Saturday and returning each Monday. When organized, Day- spring had ninety-four members; in 1897 the enrollment was four hundred and thirty-six. The Dayspring Sabbath-school has likewise grown from sixty to four hundred and twenty-five members. Nearly twenty-six years of such active service is an unusual record in these days. As senior pastor of the city, he recently succeeded Dr. Cole as president of the Yonkers Clerical Association.
"Mr. Allison published, in 1889, ' Historical Sketch of Hamilton Col- lege,' and in 1896 was published his memorable ' History of Yonkers.'
" Mr. Allison is the genial story-teller, ready wit and popular after-dinner speaker of the city of Yonkers. What fraternity, banquet or society supper is complete without him?
" He is an indefatigable worker, a sympathizing pastor, a lover of chil- dren, a strong, impressive preacher and an all-around friend. His parish includes the people of every church, and he is equally the friend of the wealthy and poor. He is a stanch friend of temperance. He was moderator of the presbytery in 1886. The new Dayspring church is a fitting monument to his personal impress upon the city of Yonkers."
THOMAS J. CALLAN.
The marked business and executive ability of Thomas Joseph Callan enables him to fill a responsible and important position in the commercial circles of Yonkers, and his bravery and loyalty enabled him to win fame in the military history of our country; but, whether on the field of battle, in his place of business or in the walks of public and private life, he is ever true to duty and by his straightforward course has commanded the respect and con- fidence of his fellow men.
Mr. Callan was born in county Louth, Ireland, July 13, 1853, and is a son of Peter and Ann (Hackett) Callan. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Callan, was a farmer and weaver, and lived to the advanced age of ninety- eight years. His maternal grandfather, Peter Hackett, was a government official during the greater part of his life, serving in the public-land depart- ment, at Stevenson, Ireland. Several of his sons were in the military serv- ice of their country, and another, Rev. Dean Richard Hackett, was professor of sciences, metaphysics and Gregorian chants in Maynooth College, Dublin,
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Ireland. Peter Callan, the father of our subject, was also a native of the Emerald Isle, acquired a college education and prepared for the priesthood. Abandoning the idea of entering the church, however, he married Ann Hackett and came to the United States, landing in New York city in 1854. Previous to his emigration he had followed agricultural pursuits, but after his arrival in America he turned his attention to the coasting trade, operating in the vicinity of New York city and making his home at Greenpoint, Long Island. Two years later he brought his family to this country. Subse- quently he resided in Newark, New Jersey, where he was engaged in the leather business. He died in the Orange valley, in Essex county, New Jer- sey, at the age of seventy-eight years, and his wife passed away at the age of seventy-six. Their children are as follows: Patrick, who served as alder- man in Newark and as deputy state labor inspector of New Jersey, is a veteran of the civil war and belongs to Garfield Post, No. 4, G. A. R., at Newark. Rev. William M. R., who died in February, 1898, at the age of fifty-eight years, was a priest of the Roman Catholic church and had charge of the church of Our Lady of the Valley, in the Orange valley, for twenty- five years. His remains were laid to rest in the cemetery of the Holy Sep- ulchre, and there on Sunday, September 25, 1898, with appropriate cere- monies, a handsome monument, erected to his memory, was unveiled by his parishioners, September 25, 1898. Mary, the next of the family, is the wife of Thomas Degman, a citizen of Newark, New Jersey. Ann Callan, the next child, died on the day she proposed entering a convent. Jane was a sister of charity, having entered a convent when fourteen years of age and being there known as Sister Mary Joachim. She died in St. Mary's convent in Hoboken, New Jersey, at the age of thirty-three years. Thomas Joseph is the next of the family; and the youngest was Richard, who died in infancy.
During his infancy Thomas J. Callan was brought by his parents to the New World, and acquired his education in St. Patrick's Brothers' school at Newark, New Jersey. At an early age he left his parents' home and started out to make his own way in the world. He first learned and followed the undertaking business and subsequently engaged in the grocery trade, but in 1876 he put aside the pursuits of civil life and entered the military service of his country, enlisting at Boston, Massachusetts, as a member of the Seventh United States Cavalry. With other members of that command he was trans- ported to Shreveport, Louisiana, and placed under Major Bell for training and discipline. As soon as they were ready for service they were transferred to the command of Captain McDougal and sent to Fort Lincoln, Dakota, to quell the Indian uprising and hostilities in Montana, on the Big Horn river. They arrived at Fort Lincoln on the 10th of May, and after being delayed for a few days by the severe weather they broke camp, at five o'clock on the
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morning of May 17th, there being about six hundred men and officers in the command. General Custer and several of the officers were accompanied by their wives as far as Big Heart river, where they first went into camp, and there many a farewell was exchanged which proved to be a final one, for the husbands marched forward to one of the most fearful engagements that have ever occurred in the history of our Indian warfare, and the death rate was most terrible. They continued on their way, with various exciting and thrill- ing experiences and all the attendant hardships incident to one of the most perilous and difficult marches recorded in the annals of the west. On the 16th of June they arrived at Powder river, where they went into camp and soon afterward entered upon the celebrated campaign of the Little Big Horn. Mr. Callan passed through the entire campaign, under command first of Gen- eral Custer and then of Colonel Reno and Captain McDougal. The march- ing column was under command of Brigadier-General A. H. Terry and was composed of the Seventh Cavalry, in charge of Lieutenant-Colonel George C. Custer, a battalion of infantry, the Seventh Infantry, one company of the Sixth Infantry, a battery of Gatling guns, forty-five scouts, guides and inter- preters. The total was fifty officers, nine hundred and sixty-eight enlisted men, one hundred and ninety civilian employes, and one thousand, six hun- dred and ninety-four horses and mules.
Reaching Powder river on the 7th of June, Major Reno, of the Seventh Cavalry, was dispatched with six companies, on scouting duty. They pro- ceeded up the Powder river, thence to the Rosebud and back to the mouth of Tongue river. General Terry went by boat up the Yellowstone river to the mouth of the Tongue, and there met General Custer, after which they were joined by seven companies of the Seventh Cavalry, and also a detach- ment of the Second Cavalry and Fifth Infantry under Major Gibbons. Major Reno having found a scouting party of Indians, reported to Brigadier- General Terry that he had met the Indians and that they outnumbered the white men fifteen to one. He decided that it was unwise to attack the enemy under such disadvantages and reported to General Terry asking for reinforcements. The scouting party, of which Mr. Callan was a member, made a forced march of two days and two nights on their return trip, and reported. On the 22d of June General Terry ordered General Custer to take command of the Seventh Cavalry and provided him with a number of mules and some Gatling guns, but the latter General Custer declined to take with him. He then proceeded with his command and pack train up the Rosebud river to the headwaters of the Little Big Horn river. General Terry had ordered Major Gibbons to take four troops of cavalry and pack mules and proceed up the west bank of the Yellowstone, and cross the stream at the fording above the mouth of the Big Horn river. General Terry himself
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remained in command of all the infantry and proceeded by boat up the Yellowstone and Big Horn rivers as far as the latter was navigable, and met the other detachments at the valley of the Little Big Horn river. It was upon reaching this point that he learned of the sad fate of General Custer and his men. The General, having made forced marches, met the enemy two days ahead of the designated time and in the attack his command was entirely annihilated and the brave commander also lost his life.
Mr. Callan was with the forces under Major Reno, on June 25 and 26, and, with his company, was for two days and two nights under the enemy's fire. The command was ordered to fall back to the hills, where, on the first day, and two hours after its opening of the engagement by Major Reno's command, they were met by Major Bentien and his battalion. They then decided to go to the rescue of General Custer, and they held their position until the arrival of Generals Terry and Gibbons, on the 27th, when they learned of General Custer's defeat. Mr. Callan was presented with a medal of honor by congress for voluntarily aiding his wounded comrades and supplying them with water, which he secured at great peril to himself.
While Mr. Callan and four of his comrades went to secure water, some of their party were wounded by the rifle balls of the enemy. Mr. Callan and his comrades, however, located where the Indians had concealed themselves, and after Mr. Callan and his comrades had returned to the skirmish line of the troops, and had given the hospital steward their canteens, which they had filled with water, Mr. Callan and bis comrades again took their places in the line of battle. Their journey, which they had made to secure the water, was fraught with peril, they having made the distance of more than a quarter of a mile outside of their own skirmish line, and through the lines of the enemy. Mr. Callan and his comrades had carefully located the Indians, who had concealed themselves in the foliage of a tree, from which point they had a clear control over the only route by which the troops could secure any water; and when the command was given to charge upon the enemy, to drive them back from approaching too close to the wounded troops, and after their return from the charge, Mr. Callan and his comrades turned their attention to the tree where the Indians had concealed themselves, and soon one by one the redskins were seen to drop lifeless from his perch in the tree, and thus the way to the river to secure water for the troops was made clear; and it may also be added that Mr. Callan contributed no small part in the accom- plishment of this fearful task.
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