USA > New York > Schoharie County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Schenectady, Schoharie and Green counties, New York > Part 31
USA > New York > Schenectady County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Schenectady, Schoharie and Green counties, New York > Part 31
USA > New York > Greene County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Schenectady, Schoharie and Green counties, New York > Part 31
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output was under Mr. Rose's supervision until his recent retirement, no further commentary upon his ability both as an executive officer and as a financier is needed.
Mr. Rose was married in 1870 to Mary C. Warner, who was born in Richmondville, daughter of Henry Warner. Her father, a farmer, who was a descendant of an old and honored family, died at the age of seventy years. Her grandfather and great-grandfather Warner were both carried captives to Canada by the Indians and held there as prisoners for a year. Mr. and Mrs. Rose have one daugh- ter, Sophina, who assists her father in the store. In politics Mr. Rose is a Republican. He is a member of the Lutheran church, and is a trustee of the society. His wife and daughter are also members of the church.
IDGAR HARTT, Greenville's veteran merchant, member of the firm of J. G. & E. Hartt, was born on Norton Hill in this town on January 2, 1828, his parents being John and Salome (Miller) Hartt. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Hartt, was a native of Dutchess County, New York. The maiden name of his grandmother was Polly Green.
John Hartt, the father, was born in Harts- ville, Dutchess County, and was a shoemaker by trade. He came to Norton Hill in 1820, previous to his marriage, and carried on a suc- cessful business here during the remainder of his working life. Ile hired a number of hands, and did considerable custom work. His death occurred at the age of seventy-four.
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He and his wife were members of the Chris- tian church; and he was a Deacon and active worker in the church. The house of worship was four miles from their home. In politics he was a Republican. Mrs. Salome Miller Hartt was born in Dutchess County. She lived to be eighty-seven years old. Of her seven children, five are living, namely : Mary Ann, who resides in Greenville; Edgar, the direct subject of this biography; John G., a sketch of whose life appears below; William B. ; and George A., who is in the employ of John G. Myers, of Albany.
Mr. Edgar Hartt received a practical educa- tion in the public schools of Norton Hill. His first business experience was in shoemak- ing, which he learned by working with his father. He followed his trade about nine years. The partnership with his brother was formed in 1856, at the old stand; and three years later the store where they are now doing business was built. It is doubtful if there is a single partnership in the State that has ex- isted longer than this. Messrs. Hartt still buy goods in some instances of the firms from whom they bought when they began business. They carry a very complete stock of general merchandise, including dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, ready-made clothing, hats and caps, crockery and glassware, oil cloth, hard- ware, grain, drugs and patent medicines, wall paper and stationery. The business has grown from year to year with the growth of the vil- lage, which has nearly doubled in size since they began.
In 1860 Mr. Hartt married Augusta Chap-
man, a native of Westerlo and daughter of Robert and Eliza Chapman, her father a black- smith. Both her parents died at the age of eighty. They had three children, two of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Hartt have three children - Gertrude, Clara, and Henry G. Gertrude is the wife of G. W. Palen, a tanner residing in Western Pennsylvania, near DuBois. Clara resides with her parents. Henry G. Hartt is a partner in the firm of Colier & Co., dry-goods merchants at Cox- sackie, where they carry on a most successful business. He married Grace Vanderburg.
OHN G. HARTT, brother of Edgar and his partner, was born at Norton Hill on October 3, 1829. Upon leaving home and starting life for himself, he entered the employ of Thomas Saxon in South Westerlo.
From that place he came to Greenville and began working for Mr. Bentley, with whom he remained for the next nine years, during the first three of which he worked for fifty dollars a year and found his own clothes. His hours were from six o'clock in the morning to nine o'clock in the evening, and he often had to work until midnight. His motto always was that, no matter how small an amount he earned, he must save a little; and he always kept to it. He left Mr. Bentley to join his brother in business, starting, as has been said, in the old corner store.
Mr. Hartt married in 1859 Jane A. Tall- madge, a native of Greenville, N. Y. Her father, Henry Tallmadge, a native of Poult-
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ney, Vt., was a physician by profession; but he came to Coxsackie, and engaged in mercan- tile business there. He died at the age of sixty-three. His wife, whose name before marriage was Jane A. Reed, was born in Cox- sackie, and died in Greenville at the age of seventy-five. She bore him eight children. Mr. and Mrs. Hartt have only one child, Ar- thur, who is a merchant at Ravena, Albany County, this State, and Postmaster in that place. He was in the Greenville Local print- ing-office for nine years, and has taken an ac- tive part in politics. He married Rose Wil- sey, and has one son, Harold.
Both John and Edgar Hartt are prominent members of the Republican party in this sec- tion. The former has been Town Clerk and Assistant Postmaster. Neither has cared for public office. Both are attendants of the Pres- byterian church, and their wives and the three children of Mr. Edgar Hartt are members of the church. The brothers are among the best- known men in the county, and command uni- versal esteem.
A" LBERT G. ROSEKRAUS, EsQ., a general merchant in Fulton, Schoharie County, was born May 5, 1837, in Berne, Albany County, a son of Holmes Rose- kraus, M. D. His paternal grandfather, Henry Rosekraus, removed from Westerlo, N. Y., to Wright, Schoharie County, when in the prime of a vigorous manhood, and from that time until his death, at the age of fourscore years, was engaged as a tiller of the soil. Ilis wife,
whose maiden name was Holmes, also lived to be eighty years old, and dying left five chil- dren; namely, Holmes, Frederick, Henry, Phebe Flansburgh, and Mrs. Hungerford.
Holmes Rosekraus received his elementary education in the common schools of Albany County, and after reading medicine for a time with competent instructors, entered the Al- bany Medical College, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. Locating at once in Berne, Albany County, he built up a very large practice in that town and vicinity, and became one of its most successful and favorably known physi- cians. After an active practice of thirty years, he passed to the higher life, at the age of fifty-four. He was deeply interested in local affairs, and served a number of years as Town Superintendent. He was a regular at- tendant of the Baptist church, of which his wife was a consistent member. He married Melinda Weidman, one of the three children of Jacob Weidman, a prominent farmer of Berne. Twelve children were born of this union, and six of them survive, namely : Jacob; Albert, the special subject of this sketch; James, a professor of music, and a minister; Thomas; Washington; and Eliza- beth. All of the children are gifted with ex- ceptional musical talent, and all but two are quite noted throughout Schoharie County. The mother died at the age of seventy-five years.
Albert Rosekraus attended the public schools of Berne until ten years old, and then came to Middleburg, in this county, where he contin-
A. L. KERR.
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ued his studies at the high school and acad- emy, and also worked for a while as a clerk. Going then to Albany, he served an appren- ticeship of two years and a half at the printer's trade; but, not liking it well enough to con- tinue it, he returned to Middleburg, where he was subsequently employed as a clerk ten years. Coming in 1864 to Fulton, he bought an interest in his present store, and in partner- ship with Charles Watson carried on an exten- sive business for three years. The partnership being then dissolved, he returned to Middle- burg, where for the ensuing three years he was engaged in mercantile pursuits in the store occupying the present site of Wellington Bassler's establishment. Disposing of his property there, Mr. Rosekraus then bought his present store in Fulton, and has since carried on a very large and successful business as a general merchant.
In politics he is prominently identified with the Democratic party, which he has served three years as one of the Democratic County Committee. He has been Justice of the Peace sixteen years, an office which he still holds, his present term not expiring until 1900. He has been Town Clerk two terms, and on three occasions has received the nomination for County Clerk. He was one of the promoters of the Fulton Valley Telephone Company, of which he has been a stockholder and a director several years. Fraternally, he is a member of Middleburg Lodge, No. 663, F. & A. M., which he assisted in organizing, and he was for some years the chorister. He belongs to the Reformed church. He has served a num-
ber of years as a Deacon of the church, and he was for a long time the organist and chorister. He has also been actively identified with its Sunday-school as a teacher and superintendent and as the leader of singing.
In October, 1858, Mr. Rosekraus married Margaret Zeh, daughter of Joseph Zeh, a well- known farmer and an old and respected resi- dent of Seward. She died at the age of three- score years, leaving three children, namely : Pauline, a teacher in Fulton; Dora, who was also a teacher for some years, and now is the wife of J. Brewster, a farmer in Seward; and Ida, who is the wife of Edwin Lawyer, and has one child, Albert. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Rosekraus married Mary Follett, daughter of John Follett, a cooper, of Fulton, their union being solemnized in October, 1897.
LBERT L. KERR, general merchant and Postmaster at Haines Falls, N. Y., was born in this village, September
18, 1862. He is the son of Robert and Mar- garet A. (Haines) Kerr. His father was born at Tannersville, and his mother was born at Haines Falls. His paternal grandfather, George Kerr, who was a native of Ireland, came to America at the age of fourteen, and later settled in Tannersville, where he followed farming. George Kerr died at the age of sixty.
Robert Kerr, father of Albert L., engaged in agricultural pursuits in this section when a young man, and before the advent of railroads ran a stage-coach to Catskill. Since 1891 he has resided here summers, and spent his win-
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ters in New York City. He is now engaged in selling Christmas trees, cutting and shipping them to the metropolis, where they find a ready market. In politics he is a Republican. His wife, Margaret A., daughter of Peter B. Haines, formerly of this village, is a descend- ant of John Haines, who went from Staten Island to Putnam County, New York, where he died in 1771. Elijah Haines, son of John, moved from Putnam County to Greene County about the year 1779, as a pioneer, and spent the rest of his life here; and her grandfather, Edward, who was born in Greene County, New York, became a prosperous farmer in this county. Peter B. Haines, father of Mrs. Kerr, erected the first dwelling on the site of the Catskill Mountain House. He followed farm- ing. He also carried on a saw-mill, and was a useful citizen. He had a family of ten chil- dren. Robert and Margaret A. Kerr have two children : Gertrude, who married Cornelius H. Legg, of Haines Corners; and Albert L., the subject of this sketch. The parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Albert L. Kerr attended the common schools. At the age of twenty he took a clerkship in the post-office in this place, and later went to Tannersville, where he occupied the same posi- tion in the post-office under Mr. Mulford for three months (the fall season). In 1888 he engaged in general mercantile business on his own account at Haines Falls; and, the post- office having been removed to his store, he acted as Postmaster thirteen months. He then purchased the building in which he is now located. In 1898 he was appointed Post-
master, and in order to more conveniently handle the business, which is largely increased during the summer, he erected a special post- office building adjoining his store. This office transacts a large money order business, has eight mails per day, averaging five sacks of first-class matter and three of papers; and there are two regular mails on Sunday.
In 1888 Mr. Kerr married Belle B. Brewer, daughter of Nathan and Mary (Williams) Brewer, of this town. Her grandfather, Sam- uel Brewer, was born in Connecticut. Her father was a prosperous farmer here, dying at the age of seventy; and her mother, who was born in Colchester, N. Y., daughter of Thomas Williams, died at the age of forty-three. Na- than and Mary Brewer had four children - Charlotte, Belle B., Scott, and Mott. Char- lotte married Norman Kerr. Mr. and Mrs. Albert L. Kerr have had four children, two of whom are living: Louis A .; and Harold Maine, who was born February 15, 1898, a day made memorable by the blowing up of the battleship "Maine " in Havana Harbor.
Mr. Kerr is a Republican in politics. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church.
ACOB VAN VALKENBURGH, M.D., of Sharon, Schoharie County, N. Y., was born in this town, June 13, 1839, son of Henry and Olive L. (Roth) Van Valk- enburgh. His ancestors were Germans from the Lower Palatinate of the Rhine, or Pfalz, Germany. They came in the great Palatinate exodus about 1709. The original surname was
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Falkenburg. Some members of the family wrote it Valkenburg, and about the beginning of the present century it assumed its present form, Van Valkenburgh.
Dr. Van Valkenburgh is a lineal descendant in the sixth generation of Arnold Van Valken- burgh, who came to America accompanied by his wife and one son, the latter being then eight years old. Arnold Van Valkenburgh re- sided in Ulster County, New York, from 1709 to 1713, when he came to Schoharie County, and acquired from the Indians a tract of land. His son, John Joseph Van Valkenburgh, also resided in this county. The latter, who was the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, served in the French and Indian War as an Ensign. He was also a private in Colonel Kilian Van Rensselaer's regiment in the Revolutionary War, and acted as a scout. He had three sons - Adam, Joachim, and Joseph. The second son, Joachim, was shot by an Indian at Jefferson Lake in this county.
The third Joseph, who was Dr. Van Valk- enburgh's great-grandfather, was born in 1744. He and his two brothers served in the Revo- lutionary War as privates in a regiment com- manded by Colonel Peter Vrooman. Joseph Van Valkenburgh was the first of the family to locate in Sharon. The farm he cleared is now owned by John J. Van Valkenburgh, a distant relative of Dr. Jacob Van Valkenburgh. The log house of the pioneer stood about one mile from his great-grandson's residence. Joseph Van Valkenburgh married Magdaline Brown, who was born in 1742. Their children were :
Lana, Merie, Eve, Adam, John Joseph, Eliza- beth, Nancy, Peter, Merie (second), Margaret, Jacob, Joachim, and Henry. Joseph, the father, died March 28, 1815.
John Joseph Van Valkenburgh, second, the Doctor's grandfather, was born in Schoharie, July 23, 1771. The greater part of his life was spent in Sharon, where he owned a well- cultivated farm of one hundred and forty-four acres. He was one of the founders of the Bel- linger sect, being a Calvinist in religious be- lief. Of reserved disposition, he held aloof from public affairs. During the War of 1812 he was drafted; but, being unable to go to the front, he furnished a substitute. He died on his birthday, July 23, 1855. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Bender, was born in Bethlehem, Albany County, N. Y., October 13, 1776, and died June 4, 1860. Their children were: Henry, Lana, Christian, Will- iam, Maria, John, Joseph, Stephen, and Eliza- beth. Joseph served in the Mexican War, was wounded at the battle of Chepultepec, and subsequently drew a pension.
Henry Van Valkenburgh, Dr. Van Valken- burgh's father, was born in Sharon, May 14, 1798. He belonged to the Bellinger church, of which he was Elder for many years. Study- ing theology, he became an evangelist, in which capacity he was widely known through- out New York and New Jersey. He left the homestead after his first marriage, but contin- ued to make general farming his chief occupa- tion. He died in this town, April 18, 1866. For his first wife he married Rachael Blcom- ingdale, who was born June 19, 1803, and who
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died April 26, 1835, leaving one son, Henry H. The latter, when fifteen years old, went to reside with a bachelor uncle in the town of North Greenbush, Rensselaer County, N. Y., whose property he afterward inherited; and he became a prosperous farmer and dairyman. He married, and at his death left five children. For his second wife Henry Van Valkenburgh married Olive L. Roth, who was born in Mas- sachusetts, July 31, 1810, daughter of Joseph Roth. She was a descendant of John Roth, an Englishman, who was the progenitor of a long line of physicians and surgeons of Ux- bridge, England. Some of her brothers were well known as bridge-builders and mechanics. She was given a good education, and was par- ticularly proficient in vocal music. She was reared a Calvinist in religion. She died Au- gust 23, 1874, having been the mother of four children - Jacob, Albert A., Joseph, and Em- ily. Albert A., who was a farmer, enlisted in Company E, Forty-third Regiment, New York Volunteers, with which he served in the Civil War for two years, at the end of that time being assigned to the invalid corps. He died soon after his return from the army. Joseph, who is a merchant in Canby, Minn., is married, and has a family of five children. Emily became the wife of David Ottman, of Cobleskill.
Jacob Van Valkenburgh began his education in the district schools, and at a later date stud- ied the classics and high mathematics under the direction of a private tutor. He afterward attended the Troy Academy, then presided over by Professor Wilson; and his classical
studies were completed at the Hartwick Semi- nary. He taught school for a time, and also studied theology and medicine, with the view of becoming a missionary, but finally gave his whole attention to medicine. Beginning the study of that profession with Dr. William H. Parsons, an eclectic physician of Sharon, N. Y., he later received instruction from Dr. Robert Eldredge, and acquired a knowledge of botanic medicine under Dr. John Praymer. He also studied two years with Dr. J. S. Her- rick, an allopathic physician of Argusville, N. Y. ; and he received his degree from the Eclectic Medical College of Philadelphia, Pa., known as the Paine School, January 22, 1862. Locating in Charleston, N.Y., in April of that year, during the first five years of his practice he was obliged to contend against the animosity then existing between the eclectic and regular schools of medicine; but the skill he displayed in his profession at length gained for him the recognition of his opponents, and he has since received honorary degrees from two medical colleges. In 1867 he moved from Charleston to Sharon, where he has a lucrative practice.
Dr. Van Valkenburgh was one of the organ- izers of the Eclectic Medical Society of the State of New York, being one of the charter members named in the article of incorporation by the legislature of the State. He was corre- sponding secretary of the society, and served on various committees. He was also one of the organizers of the Twenty-third Senatorial District Medical Society, now known as the Susquehanna District Medical Society, and
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was one of its censors. He has been health officer many years, acts as a Notary Public, and was a trustee of Slate Hill Cemetery. He was a trustee of the public school in his village for many years. He delivers extem- poraneous address on public occasions, on patriotic, educational, or religious subjects ; frequently lectures to various societies, and writes for the medical and secular press. A book-lover and a close student from his boy- hood, he has gathered a large library, to which he makes additions every year. Never idle, he employs each moment in some useful occu- pation. He owns a farm, and is out of debt. In politics he was formerly a Republican, but supported the candidacy of William J. Bryan in 1896. While now a Populist, he loyally supports President Mckinley and Governor Roosevelt.
Dr. Van Valkenburgh married Harriet Moulton, daughter of Gurdon Moulton, of Lykers, Montgomery County, N. Y., and of English ancestry. Mrs. Van Valkenburgh, who was a teacher in the public schools, died May 31, 1892. She was the mother of four children, namely : Emma, widow of Irving A. Parsons; Minnie, who married Charles Van Horne; Moulton, who died at the age of twenty months; and Flora, who resides at home with her father. The daughters are all graduates of the Cobleskill High School, and the first and second were teachers prior to their marriage.
Dr. Van Valkenburgh assisted in building the Methodist Episcopal church, which stands on land given by him for that purpose. He
has served as steward and trustee and as super- intendent of the Sunday-school. He is also a class leader, and acts as janitor without fee or reward. He is a Master Mason, having been a member for thirty years, or since 1869, of Cobleskill Lodge, No. 394, F. & A. M.
IDWARD A. GIFFORD, the well-known lawyer of Athens, N. Y., for six years District Attorney, was born in this town on December 22, 1856. He is a son of Al- fred and Christina (Hollenbeck) Gifford, and grandson of Joseph Gifford, late a farmer in Rensselaerville, N. Y. His grandfather died at the age of seventy-four, and his grand- mother died at the age of eighty. Their chil- dren were: John, Rufus, Abraham, Warren, Alfred, Margaret, Sophia, James, and Jere- miah.
Alfred Gifford was born in Rensselaerville, Albany County, and was reared on a farm there. Coming to Greene County in 1868, he settled in New Baltimore, where he remained ten years. After that he was in Coxsackie for ten years, and he then went on the road as agent for the Capitol City Iron Works Com- pany of Albany. He has travelled all over the country in the interests of their business. His political principles are Republican. He and his wife are members of the Christian church, and reside in Philadelphia, Pa. Mrs. Gifford's parents were Abraham and Jane (Van Horsen) Hollenbeck, both of Dutch ancestry; and her paternal grandparents were Casper and Christina Hollenbeck. Her father was for
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many years one of the prominent men of Athens. He had several children. Alfred and Christina Gifford are the parents of five sons - Lawrence F., Edward A., Frederick W., George B., and William L. George B. and Lawrence F. Gifford are in l'hiladelphia. William L. and Frederick W. Gifford reside in Boston, Mass.
Edward A. Gifford was reared on a farm, and received his elementary education in the common schools, subsequently continuing his studies at home. Early in life he formed the resolve to achieve a prosperous career. He obtained a legal clerkship in the office of J. Washington Hiseerd, of Coxsackie, and during his three years' stay there gained much valua- ble knowledge and experience. He then en- tered the Law Department of Union Univer- sity at Albany, N. Y. ; and on January 25, 1884, four months before his graduation there- from, he was admitted to the bar in Albany, passing a brilliant examination. Three years, later, after successful practice of his profession in New York City, he abandoned it in order to accept a position as superintendent and general passenger agent and excursion agent of the Seneca Falls & Cayuga Lake Railroad Com- pany, and of the Cayuga Lake Park Company at Seneca Falls, this State. These offices he held until October, 1889; and the following month he again took up the practice of law, settling in Athens.
In November, 1892, he was elected District Attorney, being the second Republican to hold that office in Greene County. Re-elected in 1895, he served until 1898, a period of six
years in all. As District Attorney, Mr. Gif- ford won a high reputation for ability and con - scientious devotion to official duty. He con- ducted without assistance the prosecution of George W. Hess, indicted for murder in the second degree for the killing of Hezekiah Bedell (a colored man) ; also of Pasquale Ca- serta, who was tried for murder in the second degree for the killing of his cousin, Joseph Caserta. In the first case he had against him the Hon. Jacob H. Chute and the Hon. Eu- gene Burlingame, of Albany, but secured the conviction of Hess. In the second case the accused was defended by Egbert Palmer, Esq., of Catskill; but again Mr. Gifford won his case, and convicted Caserta of murder in the second degree, as charged in the indictment. Both cases excited great public interest, and rank among the most celebrated criminal cases ever tried in Greene County. Mr. Gifford is at the present time attorney for the Union Commer- cial Co-operative Bank of Albany, for the town of Athens.
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