Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 13

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1354

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHIICAL RECORD.

and a daughter, Paulina, who married Judge Albro Akin, of the same place. The latter had three children: (1) Albert J., born August 14, 1803. still living, aged ninety-three, inar- ried Jane Williams, of New York City (no chil- dren). (2) Almira Vander Burgh married (first) to Joshua Leavitt Jones, and had two children; married (second) to John Akin Tib- bits (no children). (3) Helen Maria married to John W. Taylor, and has two children.

A brief genealogical record of the branch of the Akin family related to the Vander Burghs is as follows: (1) John Akin, born in Scotland in 1663, emigrated to America about 1680, and settled in Dartmouth, Mass. There in 1687 he married (first) Mary Briggs, who was born in Portsmouth, R. 1., August 9, 1671, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Fisher) Briggs. Children of this union: (11) David, Judith, Deborah, Timothy, Mary, Hannah, Thomas, Elizabeth and James. The mother of these died, and for his second wife John Akin married Hannah Sherman, who bore him six children. (I) John Akin died June 13, 1746.

(II) David Akin, the eldest son of (1) John Akin, was born September 19, 1689, in Dart- mouth, Mass., and was there married in 1711, to Sarah Allen, also a native of that locality, and by her had the following named children: (Ilb) John, Mary, Elisha, Josiah, Abigail, Sarah, Hannah, James, David and Jonathan. In 1741 the father of this family moved to Quaker Hill (formerly called Oblong), where he died in 1779.

'1I]) John Akin, eldest son of (HI) David, was born September 15, 1718, at Portsmouth, R. I., and January 29, 1742, married Marga- ret Hicks, of Portsmouth, R. I., by which union children as follows were born: Anna, Mary, Abigail and (IV) John. The father of these died April 7, 1779, the mother in Octo- ber, 1803.

IV) John, the only son of (HI) John, was born November 11, 1753, at Quaker Hill, and December 27, 1775, was married at Pawling, N. Y., to Molly Ferris, who was born April 20, 1759, a daughter of Reed Ferris, of Pawl- ing. Children as follows were born to them: (V Albro, Sarah, Margaret, Ann, Daniel and Amanda. Of these (V) Albro married (first) Paulina Vander Burgh, of Beekman (three children); (second) married Sarah Merritt (no children); and married (third) Jemima Jacacks (seven children). Their son William H. Akin

married (first ) Martha A. Taber (two children); married (second) Sarah Miller (no children). Albro Akin, son of William H. Akin, married Emma Reed (two children), and their son, Albert J. Akin, Jr., was born November 12, 1882.

A brief genealogical record of the branch of the Ferris or Ferriss (anciently written Fer- rass) family related, as above, to the Akin family, is as follows:

(1) John Ferriss, a native of Leicestershire, England, a holder of land in several counties of England, emigrated with his family to Fair- field, Conn. (there are records showing that the Ferriss family were in America in 1650), and afterward, about 1654, removed to New York State. Ile is said to have been one of five brothers who emigrated to this country with their families, one of whom, Jeffry, lo- cated first, in 1635, in Massachusetts, later, in 1660, settling in Fairfield, Conn. Another brother, Benjamin, settled in Massachusetts in 1640. (1) John Ferriss died in New York State in 1715.

(11) Samuel, son of (1) John, came from Reading, England, about 1658, it is supposed, and was one of the first settlers of Groton, Mass .. whence he afterward moved to Charles- town, Mass. He married Jerisha Reed, and had one son, (III) Zachariah.

(III) Zachariah was born, it is supposed, at Pequenock (now Bridgeport), Conn., and was a Freeman in 1676. In September, 1698 or 1699, he was married to Sarah Reed, of Stratford, Conn. About the year 1710 they moved to New Milford, Conn., and their daugh- ter, Sarah, was the first female white child born there. The children born to (III) Zach- ariah and Sarah (Reed) Ferriss were as fol- lows: David, (IV) Benjamin, Hannah, John, Zachariah, Sarah Ann, Deborah and Joseph. From (111; Zachariah are descended numerous persons of that name in different parts of the United States.

(IV) Benjamin Ferriss was born Novem- ber 10, 1708; in 1728 married Elizabeth Beecher, and in 1730 they moved to Oblong (now Quaker Hill). Their children were Zeb- ulon, (V) Reed, Susannah, Phebe, Lillias, Benjamin, Gilbert and Edmund.

(V) Reed Ferriss was born August 15, 1730, at New Milford, and died at Pawling. N. Y., in March, 1804. He married Anne Tripp, and they lived in Pawling. Their house was occupied by Washington when the

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHIICAL RECORD.

American troops were quartered on a hill near by. The children born to Reed and Anne (Tripp) Ferriss were: Edmund, Benjamin, Lydia, (VI) Molly, James, Warren, Pitt, Mor- ris, Anne and Seneca.

(VI) Molly Ferriss was born April 20, 1759, and married December 27, 1775, to John Akin, of Quaker Hill. She died October 30, 1851, aged ninety-two years. They had chil- dren: (VII) Albro, Sarah, Margaret, Ann, Daniel and Amanda.

(VII) Albro Akin was born March 6, 1778, and was married three times, as above related in the Akin family record.

James Vander Burgh, the subject proper of this review, is supposed to have been a son of John and Magdalen Vander Burgh, of Pough- keepsie. From a deed in the county clerk's office of said place, he is given land in Dutch- ess county, in 1752, when his father died. His mother and ten children are also mentioned in the deed. One of the daughters, Magdalen, named for her mother, married Clear Everitt. He it was, no doubt, who built the historic "Clear Everitt House," still standing on the main street in Poughkeepsie, and now known as . Washington Hotel." This house, evi- dently an hostelry, was the meeting place of the leading men of the Revolution, Governor Clinton, Lafayette and Washington being among its guests. Everitt was at one time sheriff of the county.

From James Vander Burgh are descended inany of that name, as well as others, who are scattered in various parts of the United States. One of his descendants, Edgar H. Vander Burgh, of Lithgow, Dutchess county, recently said in a letter to Dr. David W. Vander Burgh, of Fall River, Mass .: "I had heard much through Judge Coffin of Colonel Vander Burgh, of his residence and of his entertain- ment of Washington in the time of the Revo- lution, that he (Washington ) frequently stopped there over night on his way from Fishkill to Danbury on horseback. He used to stop by the road side near Colonel Vander Burgh's, and with the bridle reins over his shoulder draw water from a well sweep and drink. L had such a reverence for this history that I went to Beekman with Judge Coffin, and found the very well, and the timbers of the old man- sion laid on the wall. We took pieces of it and some nails with which it was made, and have them as sacred relics." Another of his great-grandchildren remembers, when very

young, being taken by an old colored woman, formerly a slave in Colonel Vander Burgh's family, to see the old house in ruins. The woman told her that there was where General Washington used to visit, and that she remem- bered seeing him. James Vander Burgh was commissioned lieutenant-colonel on October 17, 1775, and was made colonel March 10, 1778.

James H. Smith's history of Dutchess county says: "A short distance northeast of the hamlet of Poughquag lived, during the Revolution, Col. James Vander Burgh, an officer of some prominence in that struggle," and from the same source we learn that he was appointed assessor of the town of Beek- man in 1772, and, in 1775, supervisor, which office he held until 1779. This history also says: " In the New York Provincial Congress and Convention from 1775 to 1779, inclusive, when a State government was formed, Dutch- ess was represented by men of mark, and among them is the name of Colonel James Vander Burgh." From Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution we glean this bit of knowl- edge, which is taken from Washington's diary: " May 18, 1781. Set out this day for an in- terview at Weathersfield with Count de Ro- chambeau and Admiral Barras. Reached Mor- gan's tavern, forty-three miles from Fishkill Landing, after dining at Colonel Vander Burgh's." A few days later, during one of Washington's visits, a child was born, and in Vander Burgh's diary it says: "May ye 24. 1781, on Thursday, about eleven o'clock at night. my wife was delivered of her fifth son; we call his name George Washington. God send him his blessing." So the little son was evidently named after their honored guest. Col. Vander Burgh died in Beekman, and was buried there in the sixty-fourth year of his age. One of his descendants, Miss H. Pauline Tay- lor, of Quaker Hill, has a copy of his epitaph, his will and his diary, all very quaint and in- teresting.

Of his large family of eighteen children only one died before the parents, and that he was able to support his large family and give each daughter five hundred pounds, and to his sons either money or a prosperous farm, we learn from a copy of his will, so that his life stood out successfully from a financial point of view. But that is not all. Col. Vander Burgh was a man who closely watched and studied public affairs, he was eminently patriotic, and

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

was honored and trusted in civil life as he had been on the field, a Christian patriot and sol- dier, to duty ever true, to his posterity his memory is a rich inheritance. May they emu- late his virtues.

S MITEN (more generally known as S. VIN- CENT) TRIPP, one of Dutchess county's most successful business men, was born in the town of Clinton, Dutchess Co., N. Y., August 31, 1822, being one of a family of eight chil- dren, of whom there is only one surviving member, Mrs. Susan Weed, of Clinton Corners.

Smiten Tripp, his father, who was also a native of Dutchess county, during his early years was engaged at the carpenter's trade, and later purchased the farm where he spent the balance of his life. On November 20, 1806, he married Miss Margaret Wickes, in what is now known as the Cheesman house, which was built by her father, Jacob Wickes, in 1800. Her mother was a Miss Nancy Carle.

S. Vincent Tripp's maternal grandfather, Jacob Wickes, lived during the Revolutionary war on the Creek road. He was surprised one night by the English, and after a severe strug- gle he assumed insensibility, and was left for dead. One of the bullets fired is still to be seen imbedded in the wall of the room of the conflict. Vincent was the name of our sub- ject's paternal grandmother, she being Miss Hannah Vincent.

In 1848 Mr. Tripp was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Losee, daughter of Will- iam Losee, of Dover. She was a woman be- loved by all who knew her, always liberal in her charities, and it was greatly by her en- couragement and good judgment that Mr. Tripp made his business career so successful. Two children were born to them, a daughter, Priscilla, and a son, Alfred Noxon, the former of whom died at four years of age.

In 1854 Mr. Tripp left the homestead, and removed to New York City, where he engaged in the carting business for the firm of Earle & Co. About two years later he located in Cohoes, Albany county, where he entered the grocery and feed business, with David Bedell. The partnership was discontinued after some three years, and Mr. Tripp removed to the city of Rochester, from which time he was always engaged in the grain business. Toward the close of the Civil war the sudden decline

in grain nearly ruined him, he losing over thirty thousand dollars within a few days. Wheat declined one dollar per bushel, corn seventy cents and oats fifty cents. Oats he had been offered one dollar and six cents per bushel he sold for fifty-five cents, and wheat that he had been offered two dollars and sixty cents he sold for one dollar and fifty cents per bushel. Still he did not lose courage, but, backed by his banking house, he looked for his money where he had lost it, and in 1865 returned to New York and engaged in the grain business, until 1867, at Twenty-second street and East river, with A. P. Clark, under the firm name of Tripp & Clark. During 1867 and 1868 he was associated with Jacob Bogart at Thirty-fifth street and East river. From the fall of 1868 until November 1, 1875, Mr. Tripp continued in partnership with George E. Ketcham, at Twenty-second street and North river. In the meantime he had built the "Tripp Elevator" at Thirty-fourth street and North river, which he entered November 1, 1875, with George Rogers and Alexander Bonnell as partners; on November 1, 1879, a new partnership was formed under the firm name of S. V. Tripp & Co., com- posed of Mr. Tripp, his cousin, Capt. I. C. Wickes, and Alexander Bonnell. Mr. Bonnell retired from the firm November 1, 1881, and since that time the grain business at Thirty- fourth street and North river has remained under the firm name of S. V. Tripp & Co., with only Capt. I. C. Wickes as his partner, until Mr. Tripp's death September 22, 1895. The business continued until May 1, 1896, when Capt. Wickes bought Mr. Tripp's interest in the business.

Mr. Tripp was engaged in many other en- terprises. He was a director of the Home Bank of New York, and a member of thirty years' standing of the Produce Exchange. Through all his prosperity and reverses, he never lost courage and energy, but his great success was the Grain-elevator business at Thirty-fourth street and North river, where he made a large fortune; and the business was unequalled by any of the twelve firms engaged in grain business in New York and Brooklyn. In 1886 he removed to Poughkeepsie, and purchased the attractive residence on South Hamilton street.

Mr. Tripp was twice married. His first wife died in 1890, and three years later he married Mrs. Jennie Farrar, daughter of

IN. Ship

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Thomas Milligan, a marble dealer of Berkshire county, Mass. Rev. F. B. Wheeler officiated at the funeral services of Mr. Tripp September 25, 1895, which were largely attended. Among those present were the officers of The Pough- keepsie National Bank, of which he was vice- president; four of his business partners; a cominittee of ten from the Produce Exchange; and twenty-three employes from The Elevator who had been in the services of the deceased from ten to twenty-seven years. The inter- ment was in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery. The following resolutions in handsome binding were presented to Alfred N. Tripp:

Whereas the members of the New York Produce Ex- change have learned with deep sorrow of the death of S. Vincent Tripp, for many years a member of this Ex- change,

Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Tripp the Exchange has lost a valued member, who by his long career as an upright and public-spirited merchant has won the respect and esteem of his fellow members and endeared himself to all his associates;

Resolved, That we extend to his family our sincere sympathy in their great loss, and that a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to them by the Secretary;

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to his memory the President appoint a committee to attend his funeral.

The son, ALFRED N. TRIPP, after leaving business college was for ten or more years as- sociated with his father in the grain business in the office and as superintendent of the ele- vating department. He was held in great esteem and affection by the employes, who were visibly affected on learning of his decease. In 1888 he inarried Miss Carrie Eliza Butler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Egbert C. Butler, of Clinton, Dutchess county. After the family removed to Poughkeepsie he assisted his father in his private business, and was a director of the Poughkeepsie National Bank. He died December 27, 1895, and is survived by Mrs. Tripp and a little daughter, Katherine Grace. The funeral services, conducted by Revs. W. Bancroft Hill and Edward G. Rawson, assisted by a quartette rendering " Lead Kindly Light" and "Thy Will Be Done," were most beauti- ful, while Mr. Tripp, looked as though asleep among the many flowers he so greatly loved. Among those present were the directors of the Poughkeepsie National Bank and a large dele- gation from The Elevator. The interment was in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery. The carriers were the same who bore to their last resting place the father and mother of Mr. Tripp.

B ENJAMIN HOPKINS. To have held for forty-two consecutive years the office of justice of the peace among intelligent, discern- ing and independent people. is of itself con- vincing evidence of the possession of mental ability of a rare order, combined with the moral qualities which inspire and firmly retain public esteem and confidence. Since 1854 the subject of this sketch has presided over the lower tribunal, aptly termed the " People's Court, "in the town of East Fishkill, Dutchess county, and when one reflects upon the law- less and unsettled conditions which prevailed here in the earlier days, the force of charac- ter, the courage-moral and physical-and above all the tact, necessary for the faithful and effective discharge of his duties seems notable indeed.

Justice Hopkins comes of an honored ances- try, the first of the line crossing the ocean from England with the first settlers in Massa- chusetts. It is supposed that Edward Hop- kins came over in the "Mayflower." Stephen Hopkins, one of the patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence, was a brother of Benjamin's great-grandfather. The branch of the family to which our subject belongs settled near White Plains, in the town of North Cas- tle, N. Y., in Colonial times, and his grand- father, Benjamin Hopkins, removed to the town of Fishkill, Dutchess county, during the Revolutionary war. He was a native of Rhode Island, and prior to his marriage sailed a vessel along the coast, being engaged in freighting and trading. He married Sarah Palmer, about which time his property was destroyed by the British, and in 1779 he came to Dutchess county, as already noted, where he bought a tract of four hundred acres of land, and where he passed the rest of his life.

John Hopkins, the father of our subject, was born in the town of Fishkill September 6, 1779, one of a family of eight children. He early became familiar with agricultural pur- suits upon the home farm, and continued to follow that occupation as a lifework. In 1819 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Brill, a daughter of John and Hannah (Cor- nell) Brill, natives of Dutchess county. Her father was of Holland descent. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. John Hopkins located upon the farm now owned by our subject, and there reared their four children: Benjamin, our subject; Gilbert P., who was a merchant of Carthage Landing, Dutchess county, and

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

was killed on a boat in 1846; Solomon P., who was a freight agent in early life, and later engaged in the cattle business in Chicago; and Sarah P., married to S. B. Knox, of Carthage Landing. The father belonged to the Society of Friends, while the mother was a member of the Reformed Dutch Church, and both were earnest, conscientious Christians. In politics he was a Whig, and in his town efficiently served as justice of the peace and overseer of the poor.

Benjamin Hopkins, the subject of this sketch, was born April 18, 1820, in the house which is still his home, and until he was six- teen years of age was never absent from the home farm. His carly educational advantages were good, and he took a complete course at the old Dutchess County Academy, Pough- keepsie, which has since been replaced by the Poughkeepsie High School. In 1849 the town of East Fishkill was carved out of the town of Fishkill, and in the following year Mr. Hop- kins was elected a member of the board of supervisors, to which office he has been re- elected at intervals for ten terms. Since his first election as justice of the peace he has been re-nominated on the Democratic ticket at the expiration of each term, and his re-elec- tion has never been seriously opposed. His present term will not expire until 1901. It is a fact of which he may well be proud that he has never had a case reversed in the upper courts, his decisions being based upon that exact and impartial justice which, when once pointed out, commends itself to every honest man as sound law. So popular is he that one year (1859) he was elected supervisor on the Republican ticket by 200 majority, while, as justice of the peace on the Democratic ticket. he won by a majority of sixty. In 1862 he was appointed deputy collector of Internal Revenue for the towns of East Fishkill, Pawl- ing and Dover, and served three years. He has twice been appointed justice of sessions, and since the passage of the first free-school act of 1847 he has been trustee of the Storm- ville school district. In early life he was a Whig, but after the defeat of Gen. Scott in 1852 he became a Democrat, and has sup- ported that party ever since. During the Civil war he was active in raising recruits to sup- press the Rebellion.

As a business man he has been successful in various callings-farming, clerking, auction- eering and school teaching. In 1842 he began

merchandising at Low Point, Dutchess county, but the following year returned to the old homestead, purchasing the interests of the other heirs, and has since engaged in its care and cultivation. He has 290 acres of rich and productive land, on which he has mainly car- ried on general farming.

On December 6, 1844, Mr. Hopkins was married to Eliza Montfort, a native of the town of Beekman, Dutchess county, and a daughter of Peter and Cornelia (Flagler) Mont- fort, both of whom belonged to old families of the county. Five children were born of this union: Cornelia, who married John Taber, of Dover, Dutchess county; Phobe, who died unmarried; Sarah, the wife of William H. Og- den, of Kansas City, Mo .; Lodo V .. wife of John Ogden. also of Kansas City; and John G., who is engaged in business at the Exchange Building at Chicago. The wife and mother was called to her final rest in October, 1859. Mr. Hopkins afterward married his present wife, who bore the maiden name of Margaret Lasher. She is a native of Columbia county, N. Y., and a daughter of Jacob Lasher. Seven children have been born to this union: Charles, a promising young lawyer, now of Poughkeep- sie; and Benjamin, Mary, Harry W., Bertha M., and George and Edith M. (twins), all at home. Mr. Hopkins is one of the most highly respected and prominent men of his commu- nity, always faithfully discharging every trust reposed in him, and has the confidence and es- teem of all with whom he has come in contact.

J STERLING BIRD, M. D., a prominent member of the medical profession of Dutch- ess county, with residence at Hyde Park, was born August 29, 1836, at Winchester, Conn. He is descended from an old Connecti- cut family, whose founder in America, Thomas Bird, a native of England, located at Hartford about 1644, some ten years after its settle- ment, and became one of the small freehold- ers in the place. His son James was the fa- ther of John Bird, who was born in 1695, and the son of the latter, Ebenezer Bird, was born in 1739. The next in direct line is David Bird, whose birth occurred in Bethlehem, Conn., in 1776. About 1797 he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Church, by whom he had the following children: Harmon, Joshua, Susan, David (the father of our subject),

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Lucy, Nancy, Anna, John, Sterling, Frederick and Betsy.

David Bird, Jr., was also a native of Beth- lehem, Conn., born March 11, 1804, and was reared upon his father's farm. On reaching manhood he engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods on a small scale, at Winchester, and became one of the successful and prosper- ous men of his community. He married Eunice Phelps, daughter of Wilcox Phelps, of Norfolk, Conn., and they became the parents of two children: Sarah and J. Sterling (sub- ject of this review). In religious belief the fa- ther was a Congregationalist, taking a promi- nent part in the work of that Church, in which he served as deacon. He was actively inter- ested in political affairs, an unfaltering Aboli- tionist, and was elected to the State Legisla- ture on the Whig ticket. His death occurred in 1863. that of his wife in 1882.

J. Sterling Bird was educated at Wilbra- ham, Mass., taking nearly the entire course, and completed his literary training at the age of twenty-two. About 1860 he took up the study of medicine, first entering the Berkshire Medical College, Pittsfield, Mass., which he attended for one term, in the following year entering the College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York City, where he graduated in 1863. He then took some special courses, though it was his intention to engage in general practice. During his four-months' vacation he was at the United States Military Hospital at Newark, N. J. After his graduation he was for a year and a half on the medical staff of the Bellevue Hospital, New York City, and in that way se- cured much practical knowledge. On April 3, 1865, he arrived in Hyde Park, where he immediately opened an office, and, with the exception of four months in his second year, has uninterruptedly been engaged in practice there. The Doctor is now one of the oldest practitioners in the locality, has been remark- ably successful in his treatment of cases, and not only does he rank high among his profes- sional brethren, but is one of the leading and substantial citizens of the town.

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Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 13

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1354

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1354