Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 141

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

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of the veterinary surgeons of Dutchess county, and has done much to elevate the profession by his scientific researches. In 1854 he mar- ried Miss Maria Frietag, also a native of Hes- sen-Cassel, and has six children: Louis, a physician at Schenectady; Frederick Augustus, our subject; Otto, a veterinary surgeon in Poughkeepsie; William P., a physician in Schenectady; Mary, the wife of F. C. Krue- ger, of that place; and Christina H., who is at home.

Frederick A. Faust, our subject, after com- pleting the high-school course at the age of six- teen, spent two years in the preliminary study of medicine with his brother, Dr. Louis Faust, of Schenectady, as preceptor. He matricu- lated at the New York Homeopathic College in the fall of 1883, and took the full general course, graduating April 15, 1886, passing his vacations also in studying with his brother. With this thorough preparation he began his professional career, and on May 4, 1886, he took charge of an established practice at Berne, Albany county; but a year later he disposed of it to locate in Poughkeepsie, where he opened an office alone on Garden street. He has been very successful in his practice at his native place, and after four years in his first office and three at No. 60 Market street, he purchased the property on the northwest corner of Cannon and Liberty streets, to which he removed March 31, 1894. He is a reader, and keeps well-informed upon all the lines of progress in his ever-advancing profession. His clients are among the best in the city, and his success in the past forms ground for firm belief in his future.

In local affairs the Doctor has always taken the side of progress and improvement. Although he adheres to the principles of the Republican party, he has never taken any ac- tive share in politics. On January 1, 1897. he was appointed, by Mayor Hull, a member of the city board of health, which position he is still holding. He is a member of the Ger- man Methodist Church, and takes great in- terest in its various enterprises for the welfare of the community. Socially, he belongs to the F. & A. M., Triune Lodge, the Poughkeepsie Chapter and Commandery, and to the Amrita Club. In professional circles he is a leading spirit among the younger element; has twice been vice-president of the Dutchess County Homeopathic Medical Society, and is a proni- inent member of the New York State Homeo-

Frederick a Fantinid

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pathic Society. In the summer of 1896 he spent some six months in Europe, studying at the hospitals of Berlin, specially the diseases of children, and internal diseases, and his knowledge of the German language, which he reads and speaks fluently, enabled him to make rapid progress in his studies. He also im- proved the opportunity by making a tour through Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

J OHN H. PARMELE. There are found in every community men who are the leaders in public affairs, who are the promoters of all interests that have for their object the pub- lic good, and on whom the welfare of the local- ity depends. Of this class of citizens our sub- ject is a worthy representative, and Dutchess county may well be proud to claim him among her native sons.

Mr. Parmele was born on the farm which is still his home, in the town of Pleasant Val- ley, February 14, 1846, and is a representa- tive of one of the early families of New Eng- land, descended from English ancestry. His grandfather, Joseph Parmele, who was born in Connecticut, August 15, 1776, married Lavi- na Westervelt, a native of Dutchess county, N. Y., and they located on the old family homestead south of Poughkeepsie. Eight children were born to them, as follows: Rich- ard, who was born June 21, 1802, was a farmer and merchant, and died in Poughkeepsie; John, born February 14, 1804, died at the age of twenty-one; Catherine, born January 13, 1806, became the wife of William H. Calkin; Cor- nelius, born April 29, 1808, died on the old homestead; Sarah Ann, born November 25, 1 809, died unmarried; William was the father of our subject; Elias, born February 13, 1815, was a farmer of Tompkins county, N. Y .; and Elizabeth, born May 20, 1821, died in in- fancy. The grandfather made farming his life- work, and died August 30, 1842, while his wife passed away March 28, 1847. They were members of the Reformed Church of Pough- keepsie.

William Parmele, father of subject, was born on the old family homestead in the town of Poughkeepsie, March 2, 1812, and was there reared to manhood. On November 23, 1842, he wedded Elizabeth Seaman, who was born in the town of Hyde Park, January 27, 1819, a daughter of William Seaman, a farm- er. They began their domestic life on the

farm where our subject now resides, and reared a family of four children: Lavina, born Janu- ary 2, 1844, wife of John C. Wood, who was a farmer of Hyde Park town; John H., sub- ject of this review; Mary, who was born Oc- tober 12, 1848, and is the deceased wife of Ed- gar A. Briggs, of Poughkeepsie; and Maria L., who was born July 26, 1854, and died in early life. The father of this family always devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits. His po- litical support was given the Democracy, and he and his wife held membership with the Pres- byterian Church. He passed away February 13, 1876, she on November 11, 1892.

John H. Parmele remained in his parent's home until about seventeen years of age, when he became a student in Claverack Institute, supplementing his primary education by a thorough course of study there. When he laid aside his text-books, he returned to the farm, and has since been actively interested in its improvement and cultivation. He now owns and operates 103 acres of rich land, pleasantly situated five miles from Poughkeepsie, and his well-directed efforts bring him a good return.

On November 20, 1878, Mr. Parmele mar- ried Miss Mary A. Lyon, daughter of George Lyon, a farmer of this locality. Eight chil- dren have been born to them, their names and dates of birth being as follows: Mary L., March 10, 1880; Joseph L., August 31, 1881; Fred, September 21, 1885; Elizabeth, Septem- ber 2, 1887; George, May 19, 1889; William J., March 7, 1891; Ruth, February 6, 1894; and Ernest, July 20, 1896 (he died April 21, 1897).

The parents are identified with the Pres- byterian Church of Pleasant Valley, and are people of prominence in the community, hold- ing an enviable position in social circles. His political support is given the Democratic party, but he has had neither time nor inclination for public office, preferring to devote his best ef- forts to his farm work, and to the faithful dis- charge of his duties of citizenship.

T HERON R. MARSHALL. Among the leading farmers of the town of Pleasant Valley, Dutchess county. there is none better known in its history than the individual whose name is here recorded.

Here his birth occurred April 20, 1831, and in the same house his father. Israel Marshall, was born in August 14, 1796, but the farm then

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comprised a part of the town of Clinton. The grandfather, Zacheus Marshall, was a native of Connecticut, born at Horseneck, February 5, 1746, and was of English descent. On De- cember 14, 1764, he married Anna Totten, who was born October 20, 1747, and they be- came the parents of the following children: Hannah, born October 5, 1768, became the wife of a Mr. Stoughtenburgh, of Pleasant Valley town; Reuben, born June 14, 1770, was a resident of Hyde Park; David, born May 2, 1773, died while young; Totten, born July 7, 1775, was a farmer of Greene county, N. Y .; Daniel, born February 15, 1778; and Solomon, born January 2, 1783, died in childhood; and Phæbe, born October 25, 1787. For his second wife, Zacheus Marshall wedded Susan- na Dean (the grandmother of our subject). She was born in Dutchess county, July 11, 1756, and was a daughter of Stephen Dean, whose ancestors were English. Her marriage with Mr. Marshall was celebrated December 25, 1789, and she became the mother of three sons: Stephen D., born October 27, 1790, was a farmer of Pleasant Valley town, and died in Hyde Park; Henry S., born August 3, 1792, was a farmer of Hyde Park; and Israel was the father of our subject. On April 24, 1806, Zacheus Marshall was married to Jane Quinby, who was born June 27, 1765, and May 2, 1809, was born their son, Isaac P., who was was a farmer of Pleasant Valley town, and be- came a prominent politician. The grandfather was a carpenter by trade, and also carried on farming.

Upon the old home farm Israel Marshall grew to manhood, and on May 26, 1825, he was joined in wedlock with Anna Gifford, whose birth occurred in the town of Stanford, Dutchess county, March 23, 1799. Her fa- ther, John Gifford, was also a native of Stan- ford town, where he engaged in farming. After their marriage, the parents of our subject located upon the old farm, where they reared their two children: Susan A., who was born December 11, 1827, and died September 26, 1842; and Theron R. The father gave his exclusive attention to agricultural pursuits, was a Democrat in politics, and died in the faith of the Friends Church, July 13, 1873. His wife, who was also a member of that denomination, died October 25, 1883.

Our subject was reared to the life of a farmer, and received from his parents many a lesson in thrift and honesty, which have been

his guiding principles through life. On Octo- ber 31, 1855, he was married to Elizabeth Marshall, a granddaughter of John Marshall. She was born in the town of Stanford March 7, 1836. Her father, Isaac Marshall, who was born in Pleasant Valley town, January 22, 1816, wedded Eliza A. Lawrence, who was born in that town February 12, 1814. They

became the parents of seven children: Eliza- beth, wife of our subject; Augusta, wife of Joseph Doty, a farmer of Pleasant Valley town; William W., who resides in Poughkeepsie town; Sarah K., wife of Parris Baker, a farmer and carpenter; Permelia; Ellathan G., who operates the old homestead; and Emily J., wife of Clarence Van Wagner, a farmer of Pleasant Valley town.

Theron R. Marshall, the subject proper of this review, began his domestic life on the old homestead where he lived until 1892, when he removed to his present farm, comprising forty- five acres; but he still owns the other place, whose boundaries contain 120 acres of rich and productive land. He is a thorough Demo- crat in politics, has served his fellow towns- men as assessor, was justice of the peace from 1891 until 1895, and represented his town on the board of supervisors in 1883, 1884 and 1888. He is highly respected throughout the community, having the confidence of all with whom he comes in contact, and himself and wife are earnest members of the Friends Church. To them were born three children: Israel D., an agriculturist of Pleasant Valley town, who was born August 3, 1857, and mar- ried Carrie D. Van De Water; Susan A., who was born December 15, 1858, and died Sep- tember 10, 1860; and Robert L., also a farmer of Pleasant Valley, who was born August 13, 1860, and wedded Elizabeth W. Conklin.

W ILLIAM S. BECKWITH. There are few men more worthy of representation in a work of this kind than the subject of this biography, who has passed his entire life upon the comfortable homestead where he still re- sides. It is one of the best farms in the town of Red Hook, comprising as it does 144 acres of rich and fertile land, where he is success- fully engaged in general farming.

Our subject can trace his ancestry on his father's side to the founder of the family in the New World, who belonged to a promi- nent family of England dating from the tenth

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

century, and on coming from that country to America located at Hartford, Conn., in 1639. His descendant in the fifth generation, Sylvanus Beckwith, our subject's grandfather, was born in the town of Lyme, Conn., May 22, 1742. He married Amy Sutherland, born in this country in 1743, and who was of Scotch extraction. They located upon a farm in the town of Stanford, and all through the Revolu- tionary war he valiantly aided the colonies in their struggle for independence, serving as a soldier in the Continental army. He was called from this life May 30, 1839.

Nathan Beckwith, father of our subject, was born September 15, 1778, in the town of Stanford. He married Betsie Gale, a native of Amenia, Dutchess county, and a daughter of Josiah Gale, who came to Dutchess county from Connecticut. The Gale family is of English origin, and one of its members, George W. Gale, was the founder of the city of Gales- burg, Ill. In 1807 Mr. Beckwith located upon a farm in the town of Red Hook (at that time a part of the town of Rhinebeck), where he con- tinued to make his home until his death, March 4, 1865. His political support was given to the Democratic party, and he served his fellow citizens as supervisor of the township for many years; he served in the war of 1812 as lieuten- ant, being stationed at Brooklyn Heights, and for services in that war received a grant of land in Herkimer county, N. Y .; was commis- sioned as colonel of cavalry by Gov. Tompkins in 1820. On the occasion of the visit of Gen. LaFayette to Dutchess county, in 1824, Mr. Beckwith was marshal of the day. He was a classmate of President Martin Van Buren at Kinderhook Academy, and graduated as civil engineer. With Prof. Joseph Henry he sur- veyed a State road from Hudson river to Lake Erie, afterward adopted as the route of the Erie railway. He was a life member of the American Bible Society, also the Foreign Bible Society, and helped to organize the First Baptist Church of Red Hook. Mrs. Betsey Gale Beckwith in practical life maintained the religious fervor and devotion to Christian prin- ciples which characterized her Puritan fore- fathers, and was a blessing to her family and neighborhood, ministering to the spiritual and temporal wants of the afflicted until her death in 1838.

To Nathan and Betsey Beckwith were born four sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Josiah Gale, graduated from Union Col-

lege, studied medicine and settled at Litch- field, Conn, where he became eminent in his profession. He was president of the State Medical Society, a delegate to the National Medical Convention, and appointed by the State to the board of medical examiners of the insane at the asylum at Hartford. He was elected several times to the State Legisla- ture, and once nominated Governor. In 1831 he married Jane M. Seymour, a cousin of Governor Horatio Seymour, of New York, and died at Litchfield March 4, 1871.

The fourth son, William S. Beckwith, our subject, was born January 14, 1820, on his present farm in the town of Red Hook. He attended the district schools of the neighbor- hood until eleven years of age, when he was compelled to give up study and turn his entire attention to agriculture, at the same time tak- ing a few winter terms study in the Red Hook Academy. He is a very intelligent man, most of his knowledge being acquired by study at night, and otherwise, and is well posted on the current events of the day. On March 29, 1848, he was married to Miss Ann M. Collyer, a native of Sing Sing, N. Y., and six children blessed their union: Alice M .; Thomas C .; William, who makes his home in California; Amy, who married Armand De Potter; Leila, wife of Abram Havens, a lawyer of New York City; and George, who died at Pella, Iowa. Mr. Beckwith is a stanch Democrat, and has occupied various positions in his town, includ- ing that of poormaster, assessor many years, and supervisor of the town of Red Hook in 1884.

J EREMIAH MEAD, a leading dairyman of the town of Pawling, Dutchess county, noted for his successful management of large agricultural interests, is a descendant of one of the oldest families of Putnam county, N. Y. His ancestors came from England four or five generations ago, and made their home on what was then a frontier line in the town of Kent, Putnam county, where their descendants have been prominent in different lines of life. Jere- miah Mead, our subject's grandfather, had so strong a liking for the free life of a pioneer that he left his fine farm of 300 acres, in I845, to go with his family to the vicinity of Fond du Lac, Wis., then a wilderness, where he en- tered a large tract of land, upon which he passed his remaining years, dying in 1888, at

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the age of ninety years. His wife was Sarah Barrett, a member of another old family living near Lake Mahopac. They had seven chil- dren: Major, Milan, Morris, Mrs. Mahala Metcalf, Moses, Minerva (who married James Huyatt), and Marrilla (who married Henry Merrick). Major had several sons who are now occupying prominent positions in Wis- consin.

Morris Mead (our subject's father), who was born in 1817, was the only one of the family to remain in Putnam county, and there passed his entire life, following farmning as an occupation. He possessed the characteristic good sense of the Mead family, and was highly esteemed in the neighborhood. He was a lead- ing Baptist, helping to found their Church in his vicinity, and holding the office of deacon for many years. He married Sarah Hyatt, daughter of James Hyatt, a well-known resi- dent of Putnamn county. His death occurred in 1853; that of his wife in 1890. Of their seven children only three are living. Cather- ine died in childhood; Marilda is the wife of Eli Smalley, resides in Fishkill, and has one son, Charles, who is now an attorney. Peter and Sarah Ophelia died in childhood; Jere- miah is the subject of this sketch; Jennie died in 1876; and Roselle lives in the town of Dover.

Jeremiah Mead was born at the old home- stead in Putnam county, May 9, 1843, and re- ceived his education in the district schools of that locality. Being left fatherless at the age of ten years, he was obliged to take up the serious business of life while still a boy in years. At thirteen he left home to work upon a farm, for which he received during his first year $15 and his winter's schooling. For a number of years he continued to work for wages for eight months, and attending school during the winter. When he was twenty-four he returned home and worked the farm for two years, and then sold his interest to his brother. In 1869 he took the old Deacon Campbell homestead on shares, and has now conducted it for twenty- seven years, adding land from time to time until he has 400 acres under his control. He makes a specialty of dairying, and is very suc- cessful in that line. He owns a farm of 250 acres near Danbury, Conn., where he keeps fifty cows and other stock.

The Mead family has always taken a pa- triotic stand upon public questions, and from the grandfather down they became ardent sup- porters of the Republican party upon its forma-

tion. Mr. Mead has been active in local poli- tics, and was supervisor in 1891, 1892 and 1893, serving as chairman of the committee on equalization of taxes. He was also com- inissioner of highways for two years. He is a ready helper in every worthy cause, and be- longs to the Baptist Church.

In 1866 our subject married Miss Amanda Light, daughter of Putnam Light, who was born in Genesee county, N. Y., April 11, 1812, in which same year his mother died, and he was then reared by his uncle, Samuel Hawk- ins. He attended the public schools, and then worked on a farm. In 1839 he married Miss E. M. Smith, and they had four children, viz. : Cordelia, who lives with Mrs. Mead; Amanda (Mrs. Mead); Edgar D., farming the old home- stead in Putnam county; and Ellen M., wife of James H. Cole, residing in Danbury: The mother of these died August 20, 1853, and in November, 1854, Mr. Light married Miss A. J. Light, by whom he had three children: Henry C., who died in infancy; Emma C. and Willis E., both following teaching, the latter being a graduate of Eastman Business Col- lege. Mr. Light died March 7, 1888, in full membership with the Baptist Church. In poli- tics he was a Democrat, and he served as as- sessor three terins. He was a self-made man, and accumulated a comfortable competence, was well liked and generally respected.

W ILLIAM H. HAIGHT, proprietor of Haight's Sale and Transient Stables, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, was born No- vember 30, 1839, in the town of New Paltz, Ulster Co., N. Y., and there passed his boy- hood days, attending the Butterville district school and New Paltz Academy. Later, for two terms, he studied at the Nine Partners (Quaker) School, near Millbrook, Dutchess county, receiving, in all, a good education.

Mr. Haight remained on his father's farm until of age, at which time he commenced the droving of cattle and sheep, purchasing in Canada and throughout the Western States, and finding his markets in all the larger cen- ters of this country, as well as selling many " store cattle " in the Hudson river counties. In 1878-79, during the great Leadville (Colo. } silver excitement, he sold horses, mules and cattle in Denver and Leadville. In 1880 he took up his residence in Chicago, Ill., and engaged in the manufacture of tinware and

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tinware machinery, owning some patents that caused a revolution in the manufacture of tin- ware, which machines are successfully used to the present day. In this industry he employed from seventy to 100 men and at the same time he owned a membership on the Chicago Board of Trade, in which his deals proved highly sat- isfactory to both himself and others.

At the end of two years Mr. Haight re- turned east, and, in 1882, opened his present boarding and sale stables in Poughkeepsie, in which he has met with well-merited success, at this writing owning the largest establishment of the kind in the city. He also owns a 275- acre farm near the corporation line, with a brickyard attached, all of which are running successfully under his personal supervision.

Our subject was brought up under the influ- ence and in the strict lines of the Hicksite- Quaker faith, which has had its influence in governing all the turning points of his life; never seeking public office or becoming a mem- ber of any secret society; never feeling at home in any Church that was not governed by the Hicksite rule- "Do unto others as you would be done by "- inspiration, he says, is the only true teacher, and should govern all faith. "Owe no man, and love one another," is the watchword in all his business relations.

When a very young man Mr. Haight was married, which marriage, not proving a happy one, was divorced. He then wedded Elma (daughter of Isaac G. Sands), whose death, after ten years of uninterrupted happiness, caused much the greatest sorrow of his life. One child, Meda, was born to them, June 7, 1884.

John N. Haight, our subject's father, was born in Stanford, Dutchess Co., N. Y., where he lived until fourteen years of age. His par- ents, Amos and Eunice (Northrop) Haight, of Amenia, N. Y., dying when he was fourteen years of age, John N. Haight apprenticed him- self to Rowland De Garmo, at New Paltz, Ulster county, in order to learn the tanner's and currier's trade. At the age of twenty- seven he married Mary, daughter of Rowland (his employer) and Phebe De Garmo, and, be- sides our subject, they had two daughters, Eliza and Mary, who married and settled in Orange county, N. Y. At the age of twenty- one William H. Haight found his parents in straightened circumstances, but by diligence and economy he placed them and his sisters beyond want, and then commenced the battle 49

of life for himself. Recently, when asked how hard times affected him, his answer was that only those who spend their money before they earn it cry about " hard times."

C HARLES G. CUTLER. The ancestors of the Cutler family were among the early settlers of the town of Dover, Dutchess coun- ty, and the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, William Cutler, was born there in 1760. That locality was then a wilderness, and his youth was spent amid the scenes of pioneer life, in which he took an active part. He traced his ancestry back to one of three brothers-James, Otis and John Cutler-who came over in the "Mayflower." William Cutler lived to a good old age, dying in 1842. He married Elizabeth Gifford, of Pawling, Dutchess county, and had nine children. (1) Bigelow, a farmer near Jamestown, N. Y., married Miss Dennis, and had four children- William, Thursa (Mrs. Johnson), Eliza and Nancy. (2) Abigail married Thomas Tomp- kins, a farmer of the town of Dover, and had two sons-Enoch, who married Tabitha Hum- phrey, and William H., who married Abbie Humphrey. (3) Thomas C. married, and was the father of five children, all now deceased excepting George, who is a physician in Cali- fornia. (4) Calvin C. is mentioned below. (5) Robie married Isaac Northrup, a farmer at Copake, N. Y., and had two children-Will- iam and Ella. (6) Thurza died at the age of twenty-seven. (7) Mahala did not marry. (8) William S., the father of our subject, was born in 1805 at the old homestead in. Dover, where he received his education. He followed farming from an early age, and was a promi- nent man in that locality ; he supported the Democratic party, and held a number of town- ship offices, including that of assessor. In 1858 he married Miss Irene H. Brush, daugh- ter of Amos Brush, a well-known farmer of New Fairfield, Conn. They had three chil- dren: William B., Charles G. and Hattie. William was born in 1859, and after complet- ing his education at Wilbraham, Mass., en- gaged in mercantile business at Dover Furnace, where he also holds the position of station agent. He is a member of the F. & A. M., Lodge No. 666, of Dover. He married Miss Maric Sparks, of Poughkeepsie, but they have no living children. Hattie, the youngest of

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Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 141

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