USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume II > Part 27
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IRA McKEEL.
The well known and popular postmaster of Purdy Station, Westchester county, is Ira McKeel, who has for many years been prominently identified with its commercial interests. He embarked in business at that place on a small scale, but steadily and honorably worked his way upward until he attained a fair degree of prosperity, and won the confidence and respect of all with whom he came in contact, either in business or social life.
A native of Westchester county, Mr. McKeel was born in East Chester township, April 26, 1846, and is a son of Michael McKeel, Jr., whose birth also occurred in this county, as did also the birth of the latter's father, Michael McKeel, Sr., who was of German descent. Michael McKeel, Jr., wedded Sarah Schotts, a native of this county, and they became the parents of five children, namely: Oscar, Mrs. Josephine Buckhout, Mrs. Sarah Tompkins, Michael (deceased), and Ira, our subject. The father was a mem- ber of the Society of Friends, and was a Democrat in politics. He died at the age of fifty-five years, and the mother departed this life at Pleasantville, this county, at the age of ninety years.
Ira McKeel was reared on the home farm and was educated in the public schools of the neighborhood and the Jonesville Academy. He began his business career as a clerk in the store of W. E. Schotts, of Mamaroneck, this county, and later became a partner in the business. In 1867 he opened a small store at Purdy Station, which he. successfully conducted for thirty years, building up an excellent trade by fair and honorable dealing. He has always been a stanch supporter of the men and measures of the Democratic party, and for six years he has served as postmaster at Purdy Station, to the entire satisfaction of the many patrons of the office. Religiously he and his family are members of the Methodist church.
At the age of twenty-one years Mr. McKeel was married to Miss Mary D. Flewellyn, at Mount Kisco, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Purdy) Flewellyn, and to them were born three children: Clara, now the wife of N. H. Miner, a merchant of Purdy Station; Mortimer, who is now at Yorktown, this county; and Niles, who is also at Yorktown, engaged in the mercantile business.
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CHARLES E. YOUNG, M. D.
Dr. Young, of White Plains, New York, was born in Brooklyn, New York, August 27, 1858. He traces his ancestral history back to the year 1573, when Edmund Greenleaf was born in England. His maternal grand- father, Moses Greenleaf, entered the Revolutionary army at the age of seven- teen, as lieutenant, became captain in 1776, and served throughout the war. His grandfather, Elisha White Young, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was one of the pioneers of western New York. As an architect, many of the public buildings of Mayville, Chautauqua county, and vicinity, are monuments to his memory. The Doctor's father, Elisha Scott Young, -like himself a self-made man, -- was a successful New York city lawyer.
His mother is the daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Greenleaf, D. D., who founded the Franklin Avenue Presbyterian church, of Brooklyn, New York, after he was fifty years of age, and subsequently was its pastor for twenty-two years. She is also a niece of Hon. Simon Greenleaf, who was professor of law at Harvard University, and author of " Greenleaf on Evidence;" is also a great-granddaughter of the Rev. Jonathan Parsons, D. D., of Newburyport, Massachusetts, at whose house that prince of preachers, George Whitefield, died, and the remains of both men now rest side by side under the old South church, over which Jonathan Parsons was pastor. Connection with these illustrious New England families relates Dr. Young to the poets Whittier and Longfellow and to a long line of distinguished ancestry.
Dr. Charles Elisha Young was left fatherless at the age of five years, and the family was later in dependent circumstances, owing to the mismanage- ment of his father's valuable estate. A part of his early education was obtained in public school No. 12, Brooklyn, and at Nyack, New York; and at the age of fifteen he engaged as an errand boy in New York city, at a salary of three dollars per week. Feeling the necessity of further education, after drifting about in various menial positions he devoted his spare time to the study of preliminaries, using as an aid the evening sessions of the Brooklyn public schools, and in September, 1877, entered the Massachusetts Agricult- ural College, where, after two years of special study, he determined to fol- low the lead of his ancestry and enter professional life. Early in 1879 he commenced the study of medicine, under the direction of Dr. Charles S. Cahoon, of Lyndon, Vermont, doing chores for his board, and in March, 1880, having been awarded a scholarship, commenced his first course of lectures in the medical department of the University of Vermont, at Burlington. The following September found him in New York city, an almost total stranger, with very limited resources. He matriculated in the medical department of the University of the City of New York, from which he graduated March 7,
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1882, and immediately entered upon the practice of medicine in that city. He soon acquired a large and lucrative practice, and is well and favorably known in the profession.
Dr. Young was elected a Resident Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine March 1, 1888; a member of the New York Physicians' Mutual Aid Association, March 13, 1888; and a member of the Medical Society of the County of New York, March 24, 1890. He was appointed to the staff of attending physicians to the Northeastern Dispensary, December 13, 1883, and also served on the staff of attending physicians to the New York Found- ling Asylum during the summer of 1885. Dr. Young early became expert in the fields of obstetrics, gynecology and paediatrics, and has written articles upon subjects in these lines, and has made various contributions to the sub- ject of medical charity, and has written other papers both within and outside- of the field of medicine.
Continuing in the religious belief of his fathers, Dr. Young was ordained to the office of deacon in the Central Presbyterian church, of New York city, December 13, 1885, and served as secretary of the board until he removed his residence to White Plains, September 7, 1893, his removal here being largely on account of the health of his family.
Of late years Dr. Young has devoted most of his time to the study and treatment of chronic diseases, retaining a city office for the treatment of cases in this special field.
Dr. Young is the present noble grand of Hebron Lodge, No. 229, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and regent of White Plains Council, No. 1762, Royal Arcanum. He is also medical examiner for several life and accident insurance companies. He has been instrumental in the education of several young men and women. For his scientific attainments the Massa- chusetts Agricultural College conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Science, and he is now president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College- Club of New York. He is also a member of Alpha Chapter of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.
Dr. Young married Miss Carrie T. Dinnis, New York city, September 13, 1888. They have one child, Florence Greenleaf Young.
DANIEL MAPES.
Southold, Long Island, is one of the oldest English towns in the state, having been settled in the fall of 1640. Among the earliest of the settlers- was Thomas Mapes, of English descent, the ancestor of the many families of the name found in various portions of the country. Thomas Mapes was not only one of the pioneers in Southold, but was also interested in the settle-
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ment of the town of Brookhaven, Long Island, and had a share in the vari- ous divisions of land in that town. He married Sarah, daughter of William Purrier, also among the first settlers of Southold. In 1683 Thomas Mapes was made freeman of the colony of Connecticut, of which Southold was a part at that time. He was taxed for two hundred and forty-four pounds, which shows him to have been a man of means. He went to Brookhaven in in 1655, but returned to Southold in 1657, and died there in 1686. He pos- sessed much land in Southold and one part, known as " Mapes' Neck," was owned by his descendants for three generations. He left nine children, - Thomas, William, Jabez, Jonathan, Abigail (wife of John Terrell), Sarah (wife of William Coleman), Mary (wife of Barnabas Wines); Noami, and Rebecca (wife of Thomas Young, son of Rev. John Young, the first minister of Southold).
These children have a large number of descendants. Jonathan, the fourth son, was born in 1671 and died in 1747. He married Hester Horton in 1696 and had two sons, -Jonathan and Benjamin.
Jonathan was the father of John Mapes, born March 10, 1766, and mar- ried Julia Ann Wood, January 24, 1793. Their children were: Samuel, born June 19, 1794, who has no living descendants; Anna, born December 7, 1796, who died unmarried; Daniel, the subject of this sketch, born February 23, 1800; John, born September 10, 1802, who had two daughters, Charlotte and Caroline; Leonard, born November 16, 1804; Benjamin, born March 24, 1810 (he left three children: Cornelia, wife of Theodore Fitch, Emily, wife of Frederick Strang, and Charles, who married Clara Masters); James, born October 7, 1812, married Rachel Archer and had four children, -Leonard, John A., Emily and Anna. John Mapes, the father of this family, died in 1836, and his wife died in 1840.
After the death of the parents, Daniel Mapes and his sister Anna, owing to their age and great decision of character, became the acknowledged heads of the family, and by their industry, perseverance and integrity exerted a very salutary influence in the community in which they resided. In early life Daniel engaged in mercantile pursuits in the village of West Farms, and for half a century was one of the most prominent and successful business men in the southern portion of the county, amassing a large fortune, which he dis- pensed in the latter years of his life in acts of benevolence and charity, mak- ing liberal contributions to the educational institutions of the Reformed church at New Brunswick, New Jersey, Cornell University and the Syrian College at Beyroot. From his early youth he was noted for strictly temperate habits, to which he attributed his uninterrupted good health for more than four-score years.
He was for many years a useful and honored member of the Reformed
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church at West Farms and manifested his attachment to it by his liberal con- tributions to its support. On the 20th of January, 1884, he fell asleep in Christ, full of years, riches and honors, and was buried in Woodlawn cemetery.
LEVI W. FLAGG.
Dr. Levi Wells Flagg was born in West Hartford, Connecticut, Febru- ary 14, 1817. After receiving a thorough primary education he became a student of Yale College, where he graduated in 1839. Among his class- mates were Charles Astor Bristed and John Sherman, of New York; Rev. Francis Wharton and Hon. H. L. Dawes, of Massachusetts; ex-Governor Hall, of Missouri; Professor J. D. Whitney, of California, the eminent chem- ist and geologist; and others who became distinguished.
After graduating, he went south and spent three years in teaching in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Returning to his native place, in 1842, he studied medicine for a year with Dr. Pinckney W. Ellsworth. At the expiration of that time, removing to New York city, he entered the office of Professor Willard Parker, with whom he remained two years. In 1847 he graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and in the following year estab- lished himself in Yonkers as a physician of the "regular" school. Shortly afterward he was induced to investigate homeopathy, the result being a con- viction, as he said, of its superiority over the old system of practice. He at once became its strong advocate and the pioneer practitioner in the country. His success in introducing the new system was most marked; he grew rapidly in favor with the community, acquiring wealth and a pre-eminent position among the physicians of the locality. Notwithstanding his change of pro- fessional faith, the relations between himself and his old teacher, Professor Parker, greatly to the honor of the latter, ever continued of the most friendly character.
Dr. Flagg avoided politics entirely, and never held any public office of a political character. He always devoted himself wholly to his profes- sion, in which he was a zealous and untiring worker, a portion of a year spent in Europe, and a short time in Mexico, being almost the only relaxation he allowed himself between the commencement of his practice and his death, on May 15, 1884. When, in 1865, the Westchester County Homeopathic Medical Society was organized, he was elected its president, and held that office for three years. He was also a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy.
Dr. Flagg was married, on May 17, 1848, to Charlotte Whitman, of Hartford, Connecticut, and they had eight children, five of whom survived
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him: Howard W., Marietta W., Lucy W., George A. and Robert N. Flagg, M. D., who succeeded to the practice of his father.
It is with great pleasure that we present our readers with the above. brief sketch of one of the most popular and successful physicians, as well as most useful and upright citizens, that it has ever been the good fortune of Westchester county to possess. Dr. Flagg came to Yonkers when the village was in its infancy, and for thirty-six years he watched its develop- ment and growth. No one was or could be better known than he. By his steadfast integrity, his professional ability and his genial and winning manner he won for himself the respect of the business community, an extensive and lucrative practice and a high social standing. His death not only created a vacancy beside the family hearth, but was also a loss to the city and county in which he lived.
WILLIAM H. BELL.
The name forming the caption of this sketch is a household appellation in the village of Pleasantville and town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county, New York. Indeed, perhaps no man in the town is better known than William H. Bell. For more than two-score years he has been interested officially in its educational matters, having served as school trustee and presi- dent of the school board twenty-one years, and in every way he has had at heart the highest welfare of its people.
Mr. Bell was born October 5, 1837, in the town of North Castle, a son John and Mary E. (Slagle) Bell. His father was a native of England and his mother of New York state. Both are deceased. He was a carpenter by trade. Of their ten children only four are now living. William H., our subject, had no other educational advantages than those afforded by the pub- lic schools, and those only for a few months. On reaching manhood he chose the occupation of shoemaking, which he had learned when a boy and which he has followed mostly ever since. He has been a resident of Pleas- antville ever since 1853, interested in the public welfare of the community. In shoe-manufacturing he has employed as many as seventy hands at a time, being the leader in this line at Pleasantville. Having learned his trade when in youth, he was twenty-six years of age when he established his business in Pleasantville, in 1863.
In 1897 the village was incorporated, and he became its first president, and he is still a member of its board of trustees, and he has filled other important local offices. He has also served as delegate to several conven- tions. The duties of his public positions he has ever taken pride in execut- ing faithfully. He was formerly a Democrat in his views of national policy, but he is now a Prohibitionist.
Aml 26. Bell
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Mr. Bell was married November 20, 1861, to Miss Phoebe Palmer Far- rington, the daughter of George W. and Susan E. (Clark) Farrington, and they have had five children, namely: Charles F., George W., William H., Jr., Frank and Hattie. For the past twenty-five years their home has been on the Bedford road, where they enjoy life on their handsome property. Mr. and Mrs. Bell are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Pleasant- ville. Mr. Bell served on the board of trustees of his church for over twenty- five years, as treasurer for twenty years, and is at present a steward, which office he has held for many years.
ALEXANDER SMITH.
The notoriety of this gentleman is connected mainly with the founding of the great carpet mills at Yonkers. As the threads are woven and inter- woven in the fabrics manufactured at the great Alexander Smith & Sons' Carpet Mills, so the threads of the history of its founder are woven and inter- woven in the history of this enormous industry. Since its inauguration in this city, it has not only been making carpets: it has also been making Yon- kers. Employing as it does to-day about four thousand operatives, it serves to maintain and support almost one-third of the entire population of the city. Certainly the founder of such an enterprise is worthy of the enduring affec- tion and honor of all the citizens of the Terrace City.
Alexander Smith was born near Trenton, New Jersey, October 14, 1818. His father, Nathaniel Smith, was a farmer, and his early years were spent "close to nature's heart," where he gained a rugged constitution and acquired that energy and perseverance which characterized all his efforts in after life. When he was sixteen years of age his father moved to West Farms, New York, where he opened a small country store, and here the boy had his first experience in mercantile pursuits. For nine years he worked with his father, becoming during that time postmaster and colonel of the local militia. In 1845, having watched with the interest of an inventive mind the small carpet factory at West Farms, owned by James W. Mitchell, then employing twenty-five hand looms, he purchased the property and turned all his energy and interest to the development of this infant industry. At first the enter- prise did not prove a success, and after operating the factory for several years he closed its doors and went to Schenectady, where he remained for six months as superintendent of a similar institution. Returning to West Farms he reopened his factory, experimenting with looms for the manufacture of tapestry ingrain carpets, for which he secured patents. These carpets were the principal product of the mill for a number of years. He carried on busi- ness in a modest way until the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861. 46
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It is interesting to note here the development of the Axminster loom, which was ultimately to give the firm a world-wide reputation. Its unfore- seen, undreamed-of beginning was due to the meeting, during the winter of 1849-50, of Halcyon Skinner and Mr. Smith. Mr. Skinner had become known to Mr. Smith as a skillful artisan, and the carpet manufacturer applied to the young carpenter for aid in designing and making the machin- ery. In 1856 Mr. Skinner obtained a patent conjointly with Mr. Smith, and an experimental loom was constructed. Changes and improvements were made at frequent intervals, and in 1860 a quite complete and satisfactory loom was in operation. From this time on constant improvements were effected until, in 1871, Mr. Smith conceived the idea of inventing a power loom for weaving moquette carpets, thus producing a fabric equal to Axminster and costing considerably less. With the aid of Mr. Skinner this was accomplished, and the large moquette mill on Nepperhan avenue stands to commemorate this successful venture.
The following, taken from an old journal, will indicate the early develop- ment and promise of the factory at West Farms: "One could scarcely expect to find in the village of West Farms an incipient rival, in carpet- making, to the imperial French carpet factory of the Savonnerie, or of the Gobelins. It is nevertheless true. Alexander Smith, of that place, exhibits a power loom for weaving tufted pile carpeting similar to that now produced by hand and called Axminster or Wilton. This factory makes twenty-five yards of carpet a day, or two yards an hour." In striking contrast with these figures is the present output of nearly forty-two thousand yards per day, or twelve million yards per annum. But the experience at West Farms was not one of unbroken prosperity; indeed, had it not been for the indomit- able perseverance and pluck of the young manufacturer through these early years of misfortune, the enterprise must have failed. At the breaking out of the war he sustained large losses in the south, causing temporary financial embarrassment, from which, however, he quickly recovered.
In 1862, at a time when everything seemed to presage success, a fire destroyed his entire plant, the only thing saved being the American flag that was preserved to wave over one of the largest of America's industries. Mr. Smith immediately rebuilt and again set himself to the task of perfecting the loom for tufted carpets, the model of which had been completely destroyed by the fire. Only two years elapsed before another conflagration swept away his second factory, destroying the loom, now almost perfect, over which years of labor had been spent! He said of these first twelve years of his experience, so full of trial and adversity, of anxiety and patient affort, that they were spent in bringing this second invention to the state which he could rely on for future success. " Tried by fire, " he stood the test, and out of
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the trial came the strong, firm, undaunted man, who could fashion and plan an enterprise which was to be the grandest of its kind on the western hemis- phere. "Wise men ne'er sit and wail their losses." Alexander Smith was one of those sagacious men who are " better made by ill." It was this last fire of 1864 that resulted in his moving his interests from West Farms to Yonkers. "Ill blows the wind that profits no one." Thus it is that, as a result of the twin disasters at the place where he had first ventured his fort- unes, he determined to transfer the operations of his business interests to Yonkers. In 1864 he purchased the property which comprises part of that formerly occupied by the Waring Hat Factory. This was the beginning of an enterprise which was destined to bring more of the laboring classes to this community, and to maintain more than any other work established here has accomplished. Nearly thirty-two years have elapsed since its inception. Further on will be found a sketch showing the development of the different mills, together with statistics relating to their production and proportions.
We return again to the career of Mr. Smith. He was married when quite young to Miss Jane Baldwin, daughter of Major Ebenezer Baldwin, who was a well known resident of Yonkers. He had two children, who are still residents of Yonkers,-Warren B. Smith, who succeeded his father as presi- dent of the carpet company, and Eva S., now the wife of William F. Cochran. He married, a second time, a Miss Thomas, of Baltimore, Maryland.
Mr. Smith was the first president of St. John's Hospital, and was also a member of the board of education. With the great cares which his large business interests laid upon him, he was ever sensible of and responsive to the call which his duty as a citizen involved. He took an active, personal interest in matters pertaining to the city's welfare. He was a stanch Repub- lican, and was a candidate for mayor of the city in 1874, but was defeated by his Democratic opponent, Joseph Masten, by a small majority. In 1878, he was nominated by his party for congressman from his district, and after a vigorous personal campaign, was elected by a very large majority. It was the crowning recognition of his talents and ability tendered by those who had known him most intimately for years, but it was the crowning which was bestowed at the goal of a life successful beyond measure, filled to the full with activity, honored and beloved by all who had the good fortune to know him, for he died on the eve of his election November 5, 1878, at the age of sixty. The suddenness of his death at a time when he was apparently about to enter upon a new and larger field of usefulness caused the most wide- spread disappointment and sorrow. The loss of no citizen of Yonkers has been more deeply and sincerely mourned than that of Alexander Smith. On the day of his funeral, by unanimous argeement, all the stores were closed and the flags all over the city hanging at half-mast betokened the passing
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away of one of Yonkers' most distinguished citizens. A few days after his death a memorial service was held at Washburn (now Music) hall, when addresses were delivered expressive of the love and sympathy of the people. No words could more fittingly conclude the sketch of Mr. Smith's life than those uttered by William Allen Butler on that occasion. He said: "When we stand by the bier, or near the bier, of such a man as we mourn to- night, we reassure ourselves, we take courage, we reassert the supremacy of conscience in the sphere of the human relations, and we take satisfaction and solace in the memory of the good and benevolent actions which belonged to such a life, which death cannot destroy and which smell sweet and blossom in the dust."
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