USA > New York > Westchester County > Biographical history of Westchester County, New York, Volume II > Part 39
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1600 and emigrated to the New World in 1632. He married Elizabeth Feke, and their descendants, now very numerous, are widely scattered. As far as the facts can be ascertained it is believed that Captain Underhill and his wife first settled on Long Island, New York, whence they afterward removed to Westchester county. The great-grandfather of our subject was Nathaniel Underhill, and his son, Frederick B. Underhill, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was born in' the town of Yonkers, Westchester county. Thomas Bon- nett Underhill, father of Caleb F., was born on the old family homestead, August 12, 1794, and followed the occupation of farming as a life work. He married Miss Susanna Fowler, and to them were born eight children, six sons and two daughters, who in order of birth were as follows: Elda Jane, deceased; Caleb Fowler, Fred Bonnett, Benjamin Fowler, David Morgan, Susan Ann, Isaac Vermilya and Thomas Bonnett. The father was a devoted. member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was widely and favorably known throughout the entire county. He died March 12, 1874, and his estimable wife, who was born in 1800, departed this life in 1850.
In speaking of Frederick B. Underhill, the grandfather of Caleb Fowler Underhill, it ought to be said that he was for many years a vestryman of St. John's church at Yonkers, and was most active in the building of St. John's chapel at Tuckahoe in the year 1798. He and many of his descendants are buried in the picturesque little glebe that surrounds this venerable church, which is beautifully situated opposite the Underhill homestead.
At the old ancestral home Caleb Fowler Underhill spent the days of his boyhood and youth and early became familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He acquired his education in dis- trict No. 5, and remained at his parental home until his marriage, in 1846, when he removed to the town of New Rochelle, Westchester county, where he carried on general farming until 1854, when he returned to the old Under- hill homestead, now the property of his youngest brother, Thomas B., and successfully engaged in its cultivation until 1875. He still resides there and has one of the old historic places of the county. A part of the house was erected more than a hundred years ago, but it has been enlarged and adorned with extensive verandas, which make it quite modern in appear- ance. It is beautifully situated on a knoll and commands a fine view of Yonkers and the palisades of the Hudson. Its splendid location near the river, whose beauty has been the theme of musician and poet, renders it a most at tract- ive place, and its picturesqueness is heightened by an old well, with two oaken buckets, one of which ascends while the other descends, bringing up the pure and sparkling liquid.
In November, 1846, Mr. Underhill was united in marriage to Miss Emily Sherwood, of New Rochelle. She was born, reared and educated in that
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city, being a daughter of Jonathan and Susanna Sherwood. One daughter, Susan Jane, who died in childhood, was born of this union, and one son, Wilbur Sherwood. Both Mr. and Mrs. Underhill are earnest and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Tukahoe, of which he has been a trustee since 1862. Their charming home is noted for its hospitality and they have the warm regard of many friends.
Prior to the war of the Rebellion, Mr. Underhill gave his political sup- port to the Democratic party, but when the country became engaged in civil strife he joined the ranks of the party which stood loyally by the Union and has since been a stalwart Republican. In 1875 he was appointed assessor of the town of Yonkers, and has filled the position through the intervening years up to the present time, so that his incumbency covers a period of almost aquarter of a century. His long retention in office stands in unmistakable proof of his efficiency and the confidence and trust reposed in him by his fellow citizens, who justly regard him as a man of sterling worth, possesssing those qualities which in every clime command respect.
Wilbur Sherwood Underhill, the son of Caleb F., has been connected with the Hodgman rubber works at Tuckahoe since 1879. He is a vestryman of St. John's church at Tuckahoe, where he has been the organist for over twenty years. He married Jane Odell Dusenbury, a daughter of Charles R. and Emily Dusenbury.
THE TODD FAMILY,
OF SOMERS, NEW YORK.
The Todd family is one of the oldest in Westchester county. The name is an altered form of the Scotch word "tod," which means fox. With a single exception the Todds have all come from the highlands of Scotland. From many sources data of the family history have been collected, and one authority says: "The original name of the Irish Todds is O'Shanagh, which is Irish for fox. An early English parliament compelled the Irish to assume the English names and thus the family changed the name. the Leinster branch taking the name of Fox, and the northern branch that of Todd or Wolfson, which has since been corrupted to Wilson." It appears from this that a portion of the Irish Todds are of Irish origin, but all other Todds are Scotch. Several times representatives of the name have come to the shores of the New World from Scotland. Prominent among these was Adam Todd, who arrived in New York about the beginning of the seventeenth century still wearing his tartan and plaid. His descendants have intermarried with the Brevoorts, the Astors, the Sedjwicks and other old and distinguished families of the Empire state.
Harvey, M. Food
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There was also an emigration of the Irish Todds of whom a part came originally from Scotland. In the early part of the seventeenth century Hugh Todd came from county Antrim and settled on wild land in the interior of Pennsylvania, whence his descendants removed to New Jersey, Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky. It was into a branch of this Irish stock that Abra- ham Lincoln married, Mrs. Lincoln being a great-granddaughter of Robert Todd, who was a native of Pennsylvania and a general in the Revolutionary army. Then there are the English Todds, who have come to this country from the " merrie isle" where they have been known as far back as the eleventh century. They seemed to have setted first in Yorkshire, where the name is common to-day. There are several branches of the Yorkshire Todds in America. The family in New Haven and Westchester county, New York, are descended from one of these, the original ancestor being Christopher Todd, who came from Pontefract, West Riding, Yorkshire. The register of the old parish church there is still in existence and contains the records of his marriage, also that of his parents and grandparents.
William Todd, of Yorkshire, England, was married, September 25, 1592, to Isabel Rogerson. They had a son, William, who was born in Yorkshire, June 29, 1593, and died in May, 1617. He was married, May 22, 1614, to Katharine Brewster, a daughter of John and Isabel (Ward) Brewster, and they had two children-Christopher and Mercy.
Christopher Todd was born at Pontefract, West Riding, Yorkshire, Jan- uary 12, 1617, and died April 23, 1686. He was but twenty years of age when, with his wife, Grace, daughter of Michael Middlebrook, of Hold Mills, Yorkshire, he sailed with Mr. Davenport's company on the Hector, probably some time in April. It required about two months to make the voyage in those days, and anchor was dropped in Boston harbor June 26, 1637. The prominence of " the famous Mr. Davenport " and the opulence of merchants who accompanied him gave to this company, in the estimation of the colo- nists, an unusual value and they were accorded a very warm welcome. Most of the company remained in Boston or vicinity through the winter, and on the 30th of March, 1638, the greater number embarked at Boston for Quinnipiac, where they arrived about a fortnight later. There they settled and for some time, under a compact which they formed, they governed themselves by what they believed to be the Biblical teaching. Christopher Todd seems to have been at first one of the less prominent of the colonists. He signed the "General Agreement" modestly, with his mark, and quietly took his allot- ment in the "Yorkshire Quarters," and when the "meeting-house " was "dignified " he had his place assigned him, not in one of the honorable "middle seats," but in the "third side seat," though "Sister Todd "-for they worshiped in those days "the men apart and their wives apart"-was
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a little more fortunate. It was not long, however, before Christopher Todd began to make another kind of mark. He bought a gristmill, the first erected in New Haven, and it was long known as Todd's mill, and after 1798 passed into the possession of Eli Whitney, who erected there the first estab- lishment in America for manufacturing fire-arms. "The record of the gen- eral court " shows that he was "a continually adding to his real estate." He even rose to the dignity of a " viewer of fences." He bought an acre and a half of ground on Elm street, between Church and Orange streets, subsequently known as the "Blue Meeting House lot," where St. Thomas. church now stands, and there resided. The place remained in possession of the family for a hundred years. Christopher and Grace (Middlebrook) Todd had six children.
Samuel Todd, the second of the family, was born in New Haven April 29, 1645, and died in April, 1714. He succeeded his father in the gristmill and carried on the business for many years. He was " propounded " for freeman in 1670 and proprietor in 1685. He was married November 26, 1668, to Mary Bradley, a daughter of William Bradley and his wife, Abigail or Alice née Pritchard. Mary (Bradley) Todd died September 26, 1724. By her marriage to Samuel Todd she became the mother of eleven children.
Jonah Todd, the seventh of the family, was born in New Haven Febru- ary 16, 1684, and died August 29, 1730. He was married April 20, 1709, to Hannah Clark, who was born April 6, 1685, a daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Tuttle) Clark and a granddaughter of Samuel and Hannah (Ford- ham) Clark.
Abraham Todd, the only child of Jonah and Hannah Todd, was born in New Haven, February 18, 1710, and died December 17, 1772. He studied theology and was a graduate of Yale College of the class of 1727. Although but seventeen years of age he was married that year, November 20, 1727, to Hannah Dickerman, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Glover) Dicker- man, and granddaughter of Lieutenant Abraham and Mary (Cooper) Dick- erman, and great-granddaughter of Thomas and Ellen Dickerman, of Rev. Mather's company. In June, 1732, Rev. Abraham Todd was invited by the Episcopal church in Derby, Connecticut, to the pastorate at that place, but just previously had accepted a call from the Second Congregational Society, of the West church, at Horse Neck, Greenwich, Connecticut, which stood on the hill afterward made famous by Putnam's desperate ride. He was duly installed the following year. "In 1769 the society by vote impowered Mr. Todd to desire one or more persons to tune the psalm as he shall see proper." It is related that during his ministry many of his hearers were outspoken men, even expressing themselves publicly during worship as to the merits or demerits of the doctrine advanced. Among this class of persons
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WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
was one Palmer, who was present during the service on an occasion when an Indian missionary preached to Mr. Todd's congregation. He preached fluently, and we presume well, and so great an impression did his logic and eloquence make upon Palmer that he exclaimed at the close of the sermon with great vehemence, "Let's swap Todd and buy the Injun; he does a good deal the best." Mr. Todd himself was present, but whether he thought it so much the greater compliment to the Indian or a low estimate of his own powers, we are not informed. His death occurred in 1773, after a pastorate of forty years. He had enjoyed the confidence of his people, adding many to his flock. Of his character, the duration of his ministerial office over a single church is perhaps a sufficient indication. His wife was the president of an association whose purpose was to provide clothing for the soldiers in the French and Indian war. Her death occurred June 21, 1777. They had eight children.
Oliver Todd, their seventh child, was born October 25, 1748, in Green- wich, Connecticut, and died July 25, 1814. He was married July 25, 1768, to Lydia Close, who was born October 5, 1747, and died April 27, 1825. They had four children, -Fannie, Ira, Huldah and Uel. Oliver Todd and his brother moved with their wives to South Salem, New York, when the British occupied Greenwich, Connecticut, during the Revolutionary war, set- tling on lands now owned by Squire George Todd. Oliver Todd served in Colonel Crane's regiment in the American army, and thus loyally fought for the cause of freedom. He and his wife are buried in the old Todd burying- ground on the farm. He left a will, giving to his wife " the use of one-third of all my lands and buildings as the law directs, also I give and bequeath unto my said wife the household furniture and her clothing to do as she thinks proper with; and I also give to my said wife the choice of one horse and four cows." To his sons he gave his land, and to his daughters one thousand dollars each and made Abraham Todd and his two sons his executors.
His son, Uel Todd, was born May 2, 1782, in South Salem, New York, and died February 27, 1852. He was a farmer by occupation and with his family he removed in 1812 to the farm owned by his father, in the town of Somers, near Whitehall Corners. His father, dying in 1814, left him this farm as a part of his share of the estate. He married Laura Mead, daughter of Enoch Mead, of Revolutionary fame. She was born January 22, 1783, and died July 26, 1814, leaving seven children. He afterward married Mrs. Jane Baker Teed, widow of Samuel Teed and a daughter of Samuel Baker, of Somers, New York. She was born April 29, 1787, and died May 22, 1828, leaving seven children. For his third wife Uel Todd chose Betsey Baker Purdy, a sister of his second wife. She survived him. Uel Todd owned property in Greenburg, New York, and resided there at one time. He died.
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in 1852 and was buried in the Todd family cemetery, near Whitehall Corners.
Harvey Mead Todd, the eldest child of Uel and Laura (Mead) Todd, was born in Lewisboro, New York, January 2, 1803, and died December 21, 1881. He acquired his education in the district school of Somers, to which town the family removed in 1812. At an early age he put aside his text- books and took up farm work, carrying on agricultural pursuits until his death. His farm was on the old turnpike road, two and a half miles from Somers village, known as the Micah Purdy farm, which he bought from his father. His residence stands on a high elevation some distance west from the highway, and is a handsome structure, commanding a splendid view of the Plum Brook valley, the undulating farms of eastern Somers and the dis- tant hills of Connecticut. Surrounding the mansion are an ample lawn and the cultivated fields of a rich and extensive farm. Harvey Mead Todd was a plain, unostentatious man, upright and straightforward in every transac- tion. By his steady industry he won a large fortune and obtained for him- self a representative place in the community in which he lived. He was a director of the Farmers and Drovers' Bank at Somers. February 11, 1827, he married Miss Esther Warren Nelson, daughter of William and Catherine (Green) Nelson, and granddaughter of Absalom and Esther (Warren) Nel- son, and a great-great-great-granddaughter of John and Hendrica (Vander Vleecht) Nelson, of ye Flatlands. Absalom Nelson served in Colonel Lud- dington's regiment, Crane's company, in the war for independence. Mrs. Todd was born November 8, 1808, and died May 1, 1883. Four children were born to them: William Nelson; Augustus E., who was born May 18, 1830, and died November 26, 1830; Edgar A., who was born Novem- ber 6, 1833, and died May 6, 1836; and Laura Josephine, born October 1, 1845.
William Nelson Todd was born in Somers, March II, 1828, and is a farmer by occupation. He was married October 10, 1855, to Jane Elizabeth Wilson, who was born October 22, 1826, a daughter of Samuel and Jane (Purdy) Wilson and granddaughter of Samuel and Charity (Rogers) Wilson. Her grandfather served in Colonel Drake's regiment in the Revolutionary war. William N. Todd purchased from his father-in-law's heirs the estate known as the Wilson farm and made his home thereon until 1880, when he purchased the Crane estate, north of Somers, where he now resides. In connection with agricultural pursuits he has served as the vice-president of the Farmers and Drovers' Bank, of Somers, for a long period, and for many years has been a town officer, discharging his duties with marked promptness and fidelity. In 1888 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 23d of March of that year. They were the parents of six chil-
Lynn Food
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WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
dren: Charles Yates, who was born July 17, 1856, and died May 1, 1857; Isabelle M., who was born December 15, 1857, and died May 12, 1879; Wil- nettie, Wilson G., George E. and Eleanor Blanche, all yet living.
EDWIN F. STUDWELL.
Captain Edwin Francis Studwell, one of the most popular and influen- tial citizens of Port Chester, New York, is now the efficient superintendent and manager of the Port Chester Transportation Company, with which he has been identified for many years. As a business man he has been enterprising, energetic and always abreast of the times, and the success that has come to him is certainly well deserved.
Born in Greenwich township, Fairfield county, Connecticut, April 8,. 1843, Captain Studwell is a son of George O. and Joanna Studwell, the former also a native of Greenwich, and the latter of Harrison township, Westchester county, New York, born near Rye. The Studwell family is one- of the oldest in the New World, having been founded here as early as 1640. It is probable that our subject's grandfather, Solomon Studwell, was also a native of Greenwich township, Fairfield county, Connecticut. He was a shoemaker and farmer by occupation, and died at about the age of seventy- five years. The father was a seafaring man, beginning his marine life at the age of fifteen years, and following the water in the transient freight business on Long Island Sound until his retirement from all business cares at the age of seventy. He then made his home in Port Chester, New York, where he died at the age of eighty. Prior to 1860 he was a Democrat in politics, but later gave his support to the men and measures of the Republican party. He was only fairly successful in a business way, but his life was such as to win for him the confidence and respect of all with whom he came in contact. His. wife died at the age of fifty years, leaving seven children.
At the early age of ten years, Captain Studwell, of this review, began. clerking in a grocery store in Brooklyn, New York, but continued to attend the public schools during the winter months for a few years. His next em- ployment was in a store at Greenwich, Connecticut, where he remained for two years, and then shipped as boy and deck hand on a sloop running out of Stamford, Connecticut, remaining on her about a year. On the Ist of March, 1860, he came to Port Chester, New York, and entered the service of the company of which he is now superintendent and manager. When the company was organized under the style of the Port Chester Transporta- tion Company, he was elected secretary and treasurer; has always served as. manager, and was also captain of the steamer Glenville until 1897. In his
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hands the business has steadily grown, and the firm is one of the most relia- ble in this section.
Captain Studwell married Miss Mary Anna Ferris, daughter of John Ferris, and they have become the parents of six children-four sons and two daughters, namely: Nettie; Edwin A., secretary of the Port Chester Trans- portation Company; Nelson F .; Mabel E .; Chester A., who is attending Dart- mouth College, and Lester W., at school in Stamford, Connecticut.
Captain Studwell has ever been a loyal citizen, co-operating in all that is calculated to promote the interests of city, state or county. His political support has always been given to the Republican party. He has always kept well informed on the issues and questions of the day, and taken quite an active part in local affairs, but has never sought political preferment, though often solicited to become a candidate for office. Socially he is a member of the Royal Arcanum; was first assistant of the fire department for eight years, and is now serving as chief; and he is also the secretary of Port Chester Savings Bank.
CORNELIUS VAN TASSEL.
Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel, of the South Battalion of Westches- ter County Militia, was a lineal descendant of the noted Van Texel family of Holland, John Cornelius Van Texel being one of the first to emigrate when it was decided to occupy and settle New Netherland. He married, shortly after his arrival, the daughter of an Indian chief, at Eider's Neck (now Huntington, Long Island), and one son was born, who was named after his father and baptized in the year 1650, in the Dutch church erected within Fort Amsterdam, upon Manhattan island. This son afterward settled in the Indian town of Accamacpo, in the county of Westchester, and his farm lands 'comprised nearly all of the present village of Sing Sing. He was appointed tax collector, and for a number of years prior to the year 1700 paid the taxes collected from this particular town to Childe Brook, the colonial treasurer. Of his family, consisting of several sons and daughters, all became members of the Dutch church at Sleepy Hollow, and are num- bered among the earliest supporters of that ancient congregation. Their father having died about the year 1703, the colonial government gave them, in 1705, a grant of land, four miles by six in size, at Eider's Neck, Long Island, in right of their grandmother, who had received the same through her tribal relations. They continued, however, to reside in Westchester county.
Cornelius, the eldest son, and grandfather of the subject of this sketch, became a tenant upon Phillips Manor, which farm was afterward occupied by his son Dirk, and after his death by Lieutenant Cornelius, who was
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appointed an officer of the provincial congress and assigned to the Tarry- town company, -this being September 2, 1775, the first and earliest mention of the name in Tarrytown yet discovered. The adjoining farm on the south was occupied by Peter Van Tassel, a member of the county committee of safety for the year 1777, while that on the west extended to the Hudson river and was occupied by Captain Jacob Van Tassel. It was also the head- quarters of the water guard, which Irving has made famous in his Wolfert's Roost, -the present Sunny Side ..
The enforcement of the enrollment act, that required each militia pre- cinct to include all Whigs, Tories, sick, lame, lazy and distressed, of sixteen years of age and upward, to do military duty, devolved principally upon the members of the committee of safety. In order to encourage enlistments in the British service, Governor Tryon, in command at King's Bridge, deter- mined to capture and imprison every committeeman that could be found, and directed, on November 17, 1777, Captains Emmerick and Barnes, of his cav- alry, to carry out his instructions. They succeeded in taking Peter and Lieutenant Cornelius prisoners, after burning their dwellings and barns. Their hands were tied to their horses' tails, and in this manner were com- pelled to drive their stock of cattle to the British camp, while their families were left to care for themselves as well as they could. Several of Lieu- tenant Van Tassel's neighbors, under direction of Abraham Martling, a Con- tinental soldier, who resided upon a portion of his farm, a few nights after- ward proceeded to New York and burned Lieutenant-Governor Delancy's house, in retaliation for this offense.
There being no arrangement made between the opposing military forces for the exchange of civilian prisoners, the Van Tassels were compelled to remain confined in the provost gaol (jail) some eleven months, as the British authorities supposed they were civilians, and declined to entertain the fre- quent requests made for their discharge. They were finally released, and re- turned to the vicinity of their former homes, the ruins of which did not quench their ardor to re-enlist in the cause of liberty. Nowhere within the limits of the neutral ground did loyalty find or possess truer patriotism. Out of thirty- nine members of the Van Tassel family that were engaged in the military service, sixteen were connected with the South Battalion of Westchester county militia, and around the charred remains of the former home of Lien- tenant Van Tassel many sanguinary encounters with the enemy took place. The bodies of six Hessian soldiers are still interred upon a portion of his late farm. General Washington's headquarters, during the summer of 1780, was at the house of Joseph Appleby, a second lieutenant of Lieutenant Van Tassel's company.
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