Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 26

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

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never asked for the commission as captain to which he was entitled, but gave it to the late U. S. Capt. Platt Thom.

In 1865 he became interested in the tem- perance cause, and united with the Sons of Temperance, his zeal and influence bringing large accessions to the organization. He was also instrumental in founding a Father Mat- thew Society in Poughkeepsie, and in starting a series of public meetings in the court house and in Old Pine Hall, which aroused and main- tained for several years wide-spread interest in the total-abstinence movement. To Mr. Crum- mey, more than to any other one person, the success of these several enterprises was due. He was a fine extemporaneous speaker, and an able and dignified presiding officer. In the Sons of Temperance he seven times held the office of Grand Worthy Patriarch of Eastern New York, and later was made Most Worthy Patriarch of the United States and Canada. In the formation of the Prohibition party he gave it his allegiance. He was always a ready friend to any man, no matter how low and de- graded, who attempted to reform, and he gave freely of both time and money to secure them employment, and to establish them in an hon- orable mode of life. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity.

On November 10, 1857, Mr. Crummey was married in the town of Stanford to Miss Ger- aldine B. Arnold, a descendant of a pioneer family; her great-grandfather, Ahab Arnold, her grandfather, Welcome Arnold, and her fa- ther, Archibald H. R. Arnold, were all promi- nent residents there. Two sons were born of this union, SAFFORD ARNOLD and Edward Daly, both of whom, with their mother, sur- vive the beloved father and husband, who passed beyond the gates that separate the seen from the unseen, July 20, 1894. Surely he " hath done what he could."

G EORGE HUNTINGTON, M. D. The life of a country physician, who labors day and night through all seasons for the alle- viation of human suffering, lacks the spectac- ular features which bring some men, in far less useful callings, into public prominence, but no one will deny or even question the superior value of the work done by the unassuming medical practitioner.

Dr. Huntington is a descendant of an old New England family, and several of his an-

cestors were physicians of note. Simon Hunt- ington, the head of this branch of the family, came from England with three sons soon after the settlement by the Pilgrim Fathers. Our subject's great-grandfather and grandfather were natives of Norwich, Conn., but the latter, Dr. Abel Huntington, moved to East Hamp- ton, L. I., when a young man, and began the practice of medicine. He was a leader among his associates, and served two terms in Con- gress under Jackson's administration. His

wife was Miss Frances Lee, daughter of Col. Lee, of Lyme, Conn., and they had four chil- dren: Marrietta, the wife of Dr. David Gar- diner; Cornelia, a well-known writer of prose and poetry; Abbie L .; and George Lee Hunt- ington, our subject's father, who also became an able and successful physician. He passed his youth at East Hampton, and studied medi- cine with his father for some time, continuing his course later with Dr. Valentine Mott, of New York City. He took charge of his father's practice when the latter was elected to Con- gress, and then for some time followed his profession in Brooklyn, N. Y., where he inar- ried Miss Mary Hoogland, a member of an old Knickerbocker family. Soon afterward he re- sumed his practice at East Hampton, contin- uing until his death in 1884. Of his four chil- dren the eldest, Benjamin H., is president of the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn. (2) Abel Huntington, M. D., is medical director of the New York Life Insurance Co., of New York City, and Mary E., now a resident of Brook- lyn, is the widow of the late Frederick Bridge, who was engaged in trade with China and Japan, and who for several years was a resi- dent in those countries.

George Huntington, the third child of this family, was born in East Hampton, April 9, 1850, and received his literary education mainly at Clinton Academy, at that place, studying the classics under the tuition of John Wallace. In the fall of 1868 he began the study of medi- cine with his father as preceptor, and later at- tended three courses of lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, graduating in 1871. In the following year he located in Pomeroy, Ohio, but after a few months returned home and united with his fa- ther in practice, remaining there until 1874, when he established himself at Lagrangeville, Dutchess county. There he has met with the appreciation which his thorough mastery of his profession deserves.

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In 1874 the Doctor married Miss Mary E. Heckard, daughter of Judge Martin Heckard, of Pomeroy, Ohio, a well-known mining engi- neer, and for some years the judge of the pro- bate court there. Six children were born of this marriage: Katharine, Charles Gardiner, Abel (deceased), Elizabeth, Edwin Ilorton and Eleanor. The Doctor holds a high place in the esteem of his professional brethren, as well as with the public generally. Ile is a member of the Medical Society of Dutchess county, and was its president in 1887-88; in April, 1894, he was made an honorary member of the Brooklyn Society for the study of Neurology. He also belongs to the Audubon Society of New York City, and he achieved world-wide recog- nition as a scientific observer by a paper on "Chorea," read before the Meigs and Mason Academy of Medicine, in 1872, and published in the " Medical and Surgical Reporter." This paper describes a peculiar form of hereditary chorea existing in Long Island, N. Y., which has since attracted much attention both at home and abroad, and which has been designated "Hunt- ington's Chorea." We quote the following Irom an article by William Osler, M. D., pro- fessor of medicine in John Hopkins University, Baltimore. "Twenty years have passed since Huntington, in a postscript to an everyday sort of article on chorea minor, sketched most graphically, in three or four paragraphs, the characters of a chronic and hereditary form which he, his father and grandfather had ob- served in Long Island. In the whole range of descriptive nosology there is not, to my knowl- edge, an instance in which a disease has been so accurately and fully delineated in so few words. No details were given: the original cases were not (nor have they been) described, but to Huntington's account of the sympto- matology no essential fact has been added." In 1897 Dr. Huntington was made one of the auxiliary staff of the new General Hospital at Fishkill-on-Hudson.

L EWIS FREDERICK STREIT (deceased), a former weil-known carriage manulac- turer of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess, county, was born at Guilderland, Albany Co., N. Y., De- cember 2, 1816.

Frederick Streit, the great-grandfather of our subject, born in 1709, came from Bavaria, and settled at a place called Keskatomi Nijse, northwest of Catskill, N. Y., owned a farm on

land bought by Henry Beekman of the Indians about 1700; he afterward sold this farm and purchased one at Rhinebeck, N. Y., where he passed the rest of his days, dying February 8, 1781, aged seventy-two years. He married Catharine Mowel (Moul) from the west side of the river, who was born in 1702, and died February 23, 1785, at Rhinebeck. They had eight children: Christina, born February 27. 1740, married Caspar Ham; Elizabeth died in 1740; Anna, born May 26, 1734, died May 27, 1740; Mariah, born March 8, 1742; Frederick, born March 8, 1742, died May 21, 1800; Lodowick, born April 12, 1745; Catharine married Frederick Ham; and Anna married John Ackert.

Frederick Streit, the grandfather of Lewis Frederick, was born March 8, 1742, and died May 21, 1800. He settled at Guilderland, N. Y. ; married (first) Catharine Benner. Feb- ruary 7, 1762, daughter of Henrich and Cath- arine (Boetzer) Benner (they had one daugh- ter, Catharine, born August 9, 1768); and (second) Elizabeth Rauh, and to the latter marriage were born four children: Hannah, born November 14, 1770, died August 23, 1776; Mary, born July 14, 1773, died August 16, 1776; John, born November 2, 1775, died August 21, 1776; and Lodowick, born Decem- ber 26, 1777, died July 9, 1783. For his third wife Frederick Streit married on February 18, 1782, Catharine Moore, born June 8, 1752, at Red Hook, N. Y., died March 16, 1843, the only daughter of Phillip Hendricksen (born December 28, 1713) and Engel (Dederick) Moore; they had four children: Frederick, born May 2, 1780; Phillip, born September 21, 1783, died July 4, 1800, married Eliza- beth Cramer; Lodowick, born February 26, 1785, went to Canada; Hannah, born May 14, 1789, died February 3, 1833, married John M. Rowe, November 5, 1809.

Phillip Streit, the father of our subject, born September 21, 1783, died July 4, 1867, at Rhinebeck, N. Y., married November 6, 1803, to Elizabeth Cramer, born August 24, 1784, died November 25, 1861, daughter of John Nicholas and Elizabeth (Tipple) Cramer, the former born January 22, 1743, died Octo- ber 18, 1806, and the latter born in 1752. They had five children: Caroline Catharine, born September 9, 1804, at Rhinebeck, mar- ried (first) Lemuel Savage, of Granville, N. Y., November 30, 1802, and (second) Seth More- house; Anna Maria, born December 20, 1807,

Lewis & Street

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

at Guilderland, married George Lamoree, of Staatsburg, died September 20, 1895; Jane Elizabeth, born January 3, 1811, married Seth Morehouse, died January 4, 1862; Lewis Frederick, born December 2, 1816, died March 1, 1891; Margaret Ellen, born November 27, 1821, married David Henry Schryver, of Rhinebeck, New York.

There is a legend in the Cramer family that the great-grandfather of Elizabeth Cram- er was one of the Princes of a small division of Germany. They lived in a castle supposed to have been at Baden-Baden; her grandfather married a daughter of a family with whom his father was at feuds, and they were conse- quently disowned by both families. John Nicholas, father of Elizabeth, was one of three sons born in Baden in 1743. It is said the children went to their grandfather's castle gate, and repeated the Lord's Prayer, · according to an old German custom for restor- ing peace, but it was unavailing, so the father, his wife and three sons sailed for America. The passage was very long (three months) and stormy; the father died and was buried in the deep, and the children were sold, according to the prevailing custom of that time, to pay ex- penses; the wife married again in Virginia. Two sons, John N. and another brother, Jacob or Wendel, settled in Rhinebeck. They brought with them an old German Bible print- ed in 1585, which is now in the possession of one of the members of the family.

Lewis Frederick Streit received the bene- fits of a common-school education. In 1830 he came to Poughkeepsie, and engaged in the carriage and sleigh-making business with John P. Myers, afterward carrying it on on his own account until 1853, when he took George Lockwood into partnership with him. The firm prospered, and in 1888 they sold their business and retired. Mr. Streit invested in real estate in Poughkeepsie, which at the pres- ent time is very valuable. In politics, he was a Republican, although he never sought public office, was made a member of the board of village trustees of Poughkeepsie, and repre- sented the Fourth ward as alderman in 1854. In early manhood he became connected with the Presbyterian Church, with the interests of which he was associated until his death. He was twice married; by his first wife, Martha Wigg, daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (De Groff) Wigg, and born December 23, 1811, married January 31, 1838, died in October,

1861, two children were born: a son who died in infancy, and a daughter, now Mrs. Elizabeth Raub, of Poughkeepsie. By his second wife, Rebecca Matilda Duncan, he had one child, a son who died in infancy. Mr. Streit died March 1, 1891. He will always be remem- bered as an honorable, upright man, who gained and held the respect and esteem of his

fellow citizens. He was identified with the industries of the city, and for many years was a director in the Poughkeepsie National Bank. His taste and enterprise, courtesy and probity, were noteworthy, and in no sphere was he more honored than in the Church where his name was recorded nearly all his manhood. His widow is living at the old home, and in 1886 she purchased her own old homestead at Unionvale, near Millbrook, New York.

Elizabeth Streit (the daughter of our subject by his first wife) was born in the city of Poughkeepsie, married James M. Raub, of Raubsville, Penn., who died July 20, 1872; they had two daughters: Alma, now Mrs. Halsey Haines Cheney, and Lena, now Mrs. John Morton Swift.

R OBERT FORSTER (deceased) was born in Canada March 14, 1821, of English and French ancestry. The father died when Robert was a small boy, and the latter went to New York City, where he received his early education.

Mr. Forster learned the machinist's trade with John Matthews, with whom he lived for several years. While in Mr. Matthews' em- ploy as foreman of the factory, our subject was married June 6, 1843, to Emma Manning. In 1846 he came to Poughkeepsie, and followed his trade, that of a machinist. In 1847 he built the apparatus for the manufacture of soda water, and engaged in the bottling business, in which he was the pioneer in Poughkeepsie. He first started in the retail business, which soon rapidly increased to wholesale, and he supplied the trade of Poughkeepsie and other ! cities. He was an active member of the fire department, but would never hold a political office. His business, which is now the largest in the city, is carried on by his widow, she has an adopted son, George, who assists her. He married Miss Emma Louise Hager, and they have three children: Grace T., Emma N. and Robert. Mrs. Forster also has in her employ James Du Bois, who has been with her

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since 18:3. and Robert William Polbemus. a nephew, who has been with her since 187 ;. M: Forstes died in Poughkeepsie June SS.

Charles Manning. Jr . the father of Mrs. Forster, was born at Hyde Park. Dutchess county. in 17gs. where he spent his boyhood attending public schools. He was a soldier in the war ni INIe. On January 2. 181 ;. he was married to Miss Maria Travis, who was born in the town of Pleasant Valley. Augus: 16. 1798. and children as follows were born to them: Elizabeth and Hester both deceased : Emma Sarah, who married William S. Pol- bemus. ci Poughkeepsie: James, and Charles. the latter being deceased. Mr. Manning was engaged in farming in Hyde Park catil 18h. when he went to New York City and went into business there. Later he returned to Dutch- ess county. and died January 2. 1857.

Charles Manning. the grandfather of Mrs. Forster. was a farmer in the town of Hyde Park, where he was born July 1 ;. 1771. He married Miss Elizabeth Myer, who was born drez. April se. inge. and they had fourteen chil- Charles Manning. the great-grand- father. was one of the early pioneers of the town of Hyde Park. Isaac Travis. the ma- ternal grandfather. was born in the town of Pleasant Valley. February 10. 1,63. and was married to Miss Elizabeth Conklin, who was born Jone 3. 1;60. They had sine children. of whom. Maria. the mother of Mrs. Forster. was the fifth.

G EORGE H. CODDING. M. D .. a leading physician and surgeon of Amenia. Dutch- ess county, was born a: Egremes :. Berkshire Co .. Mass .. Augus: 1. 1854. and comes of a family that for several generations have been prominent agricultorists of that county His great-grandfather. Cobb Chiding, whose birth occurred a: Taunous. Mass . in If;L. became a prosperous farmer and lemberman in the towa .i Washington. Berkshire county.

There. Ephraim Codding, the grandfather. was born February 2c. ISco. and spent his boyhoci days upon his father's farm. A: Cutebrok. Chan .. he married Miss Ann Elza Remington. who died in ispe. and to them were buen three children: Henry E., the father of our subject and Ana Elica and Sarah Philena. both deceased After a short resi- Jence a: Len ix. Mass . he in March. IS4;, se-

moved to the town of Egremont. Berkshire county, where he carried on agricultural pur- suits until his death, which occurred August II. IS;O.

Henry E. Codding. born June 16, 1826, obtained his elementary education in the com- mon schools of Berkshire county, and cum- pleted his literary training in the old Lenox Academy. His active business life was all devoted to farming in the town of Egremont. where he died November 24. 1896. A con- scientlous, earnest. Christian man, for several years he was deacon in the Baptist Church. and officially served as justice of the peace. being appointed by the governor of Massachu- setts. In December. 1829. he was united in marriage with Miss Emeline. daughter of Stephen Edgerley, of Glendale. Berkshire Co .. Mass., and they became the parents of three children: Marcia R., who was born November 9. 1850, and is now the wife of Alfred J. Hub- bard. of LeRoy. N. Y .: Clara G .. who was born May 11, 1852, and died in June. 1892; and George H .. of this review. The mother of these children was called to her final rest May 26. 1860. and Mr. Codding again married. his second union being with Cornelia Eggles- ton. daughter of David Eggleston. of the town of Northeast. Dutchess Co .. New York.

Dr. Codding was reared upon the home farm in the town of Egremont. Berkshire Co .. Mass .. and attended the Egremont Academy. after which he taught school for a year and a hali. and in is;s took up the study of medi- cine with Dr. Henry M. Knight, of Lakeville, Conn. On the death of that gentleman. he continued to pursue his medical studies under the instruction of Dr. John C. Shaw. at that time superintendent of the Kings County In- sane Asylum at Flatbush. Long Island, and subsequently graduated at the College of Phy- sicians and Sorgebas in New York City, in the class of $1.

The Doctor then entered Kings County Hospital at Flatbush. as assistant physician. and later was appointed second assistant at the Kings County Insane Asylom, thus gaining much practical knowledge. On January 9. IS52. he arrived in Amenia, where for three years he was in partnership with Dr. Desault Guernsey. but since that time has been alone, and is now at the head of a large practice. He is a member ci the Dutchess County Medical Safety, and was one of the founders of the New York State Medical Association.

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On March 28, 1883, Dr. Codding was mar- ried to Miss Irene Hinman Warner, daughter of Sherman B. Warner, of Southbury, Conn .. and to them were born two children-Joel Hinman, born May 29, 1884; and Desault Guernsey, born September 28, 1886, and died July 23, 1887.

C HARLES BROWN HERRICK (de- ceased). Among the prominent citizens of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, who have passed to the unseen world in recent years, the late Charles B. Herrick held an honor- able place, and the announcement of his death at Haines' Falls, in the Catskills, July 29, 1896, caused sincere and wide-spread grief among all classes in the city where the best of his years had been spent. Although it was well-known that he was stricken with a serious ailment-locomotor ataxia- his unvarying composure under suffering had led many of his friends to hope that the disease would not prove fatal. In the prime of life, having just crossed the half cen- tury line (for he was born August 15, 1845), he had scarcely begun to reap the rewards and honors due to his able and conscientious work in the legal profession, while the community which he had faithfully served in the various official capacities has lost an untiring supporter of its best interests.

Like many of the foremost citizens of the country, he was born and reared upon a farm, and his father, William Herrick,. still resides at the old home at Salt Point, Dutchess coun- ty. Our subject prepared for college at East Hanıpton, Mass., and was graduated from Yale College in 1869. His legal studies were prosecuted in the office of Thompson & Weeks, and in 1870 he began to practice, his office being located in the old " Lawyers' Row." on Market street at the site of the present post office. In 1876 he formed a partnership with Col. Henry E. Losey, which continued until his death. Mr. Herrick's interest in educa- tional and literary pursuits was shown in many ways; he was a trustee of Vassar Institute, and also served three years as a member of the board of education. In politics he was an act- ive worker, and for a number of years pre- vious to his death he was chairman of the Democratic City Committee. When the water board was organized he was appointed clerk, which office he held for several years, 1

and his work as city attorney under the ad- ministration of Mayor Elsworth and of Mayor Ketcham reflected great credit upon him, and was satisfactory in the highest degree to the people. The Poughkeepsie Courier said at the time of his retirement from office:

During Mr. Herrick's incumbency, suits aggregating between $150,000 and $200,000, have been brought against the city, and the total recovery has only been $3,700. This is quite a remarkable record, most of the actions for damages resulting from slippery sidewalks. In addi- tion to defending all suits against the city, Mr. Herrick has been the right hand man and confidential adviser of two mayors, and the official adviser for six years of all the city boards, at the same time has attended to a large private practice. Very little business, however, will re- main uncompleted at the close of his term. Only one suit is pending against the city.

In all relations of life, Mr. Herrick was a typical American gentleman. Dignified in ap- pearance, at the same time he was pleasing in manners, and he fully appreciated the value of the friendship and esteem of his associates. Although he was always earnest in the support of any cause which he espoused, he never made use of any methods that were not hon- orable and straightforward, and neither in public or private life was he ever swerved by criticism, ridicule, or invective from the dis- charge of his duty as he saw it. His innate kindness and justice were displayed in his characteristic reluctance to express an opinion where character or reputation was involved. His legal brethren held him in the highest esteem, and a meeting of the Bar Association of Dutchess County, held shortly after his death, was largely attended, and eloquent tributes of respect were paid by Messrs. Frank Hasbrouck, ex-Judge Henry M. Taylor, Frank B. Lown, Gifford Wilkinson, J. Hervey Cook, Safford Crummey, Martin Heermance, and others. Resolutions of condolence with the sorrowing relatives were adopted, and the words of praise of the life so prematurely ended voiced the feelings of all present.

Mr. Herrick left a widow, formerly Miss Ada Van Benschoten, daughter of Philip and Jane Ann (O'Dell) Van Benschoten, of the town of Lagrange, and three sisters and a brother also survive him. The funeral serv- ices were held at the home of the deceased on Hooker avenue, and his remains were interred in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, a large company of friends gathering to pay the last token of affection. For several years the de- ceased was a member of the University Chib of New York City.

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cratic airs of the other lines, calling their home- steads after different castles of the local Lord Livingstons in Scotland, to whom, according to the investigation published in the " Curio," Vol. I., 1887-1888, pages 45 and 46, they can- not trace their connection. Burke says as much in his " Lost Peerages." Even E. Brock- holst Livingston, F. S. A .: Scot., who has written so largely on the subject, admits he cannot supply "the missing link " ( " Curio," I., 46). There were almost as many so-styled " Livingston Manor houses" as there were well-to-do heads of families of that name. Nevertheless, there was only one real "manor house," situated on the north shore of the Roe- liff Jansen Kill, near the railroad station, just to the north of its junction with the Hudson river, which was burned down in the preced- ing century, never rebuilt, and the possession of its site has passed into other hands.

Like the Hapsburg family, who boasted of the growth of their possessions by marrying heiresses, the first Livingston laid the founda- tion of his fortune in his union with the widow of a Van Renssalaer. Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, in her "History of the City of New York," Vol. I., pp. 275 and 276, furnishes a pen pic- ture of him, moral and physical, and his de- scendants have not lost his peculiar character- istics to this day.

The different scions of the Watts family, moved by affectionate recollections of the old home in Scotland-once just without, now within the city limits of Edinburgh-called all their rural residences in the Province and State of New York, "Rose Hill," the title borne by their forefathers' mansion for several hundred years. The simple appellation "Rose Hill" was a common weal. They did not arrogate to their homes the titles of different castles of Earls and Lords in Scotland, scattered through- out the realm, not aggregated, as here, in a small district.

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Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 26

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