Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 3

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

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Among the finest country seats ofmerica is Mr. Morton's " Ellerslie," at finecliff- on-the-Hudson, beautifully laid it and

adorned, a spot that Rhinebeck justly proud of.

W WALLACE SMITH has threputa- tion of a strictly first-clasbusiness man, reliable and energetic, and is atizen of whom Poughkeepsie, Dutchess cofy, may be justly proud. He is an offspring excel- lent stock of stanch Scotch andry, his

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

grandfather having come from Scotland to the i two years, during which time he participated New World, becoming a cabinet-maker of New York City. Politically, he was an Old- line Whig, and in religious faith was a member of the Reformed Dutch Church.

William Smith, the father of our subject, was a native of New York City, where he grew to manhood and followed cabinet-mnak- ing. There he was married to Miss Jemima Horn, who was born in that city, and was de- scended from Mathew Van Horn, who, with his brother James, came from Holland and located in New York City, where their de- scendants now live. She was a daughter of Mathew and Margaret (Hagerman) Horn, who were born, reared and died in that city, where her father engaged in the real- estate business, owning a large amount of property. In the metropolis five children were born to the parents of our subject: John H., who was one of the valiant soldiers of the Civil war, and died of starvation in Salisbury (N. C.) prison; W. Wallace, the subject of this review; George E., who is engaged in the trunk business in New York City; Margaret. who died unmarried; and Sarah H. Smith. For twenty years after his marriage the father continued to reside in New York City, and then went to Baltimore, Md., where he en- gaged in the trunk business for five years. His death, however, occurred in Poughkeep- sie, in 1864, where he had removed in 1859. His wife died in 1889. In politics he loyally adhered to the Republican party.

The birth of W. Wallace Smith occurred in New York City, September 20, 1834, and there he spent the days of his boyhood and youth, attending the city schools and learning the bookbinding business with A. Appleton & Co., with whom he remained until the panic of 1857. He then shipped on board the " Ni- agara " to help lay one of the Atlantic cables, which they commenced to lower on reaching England; but after it broke he returned to that country, though the "Niagara" came on to the United States. He next boarded the "Sus- quehanna," making a trip up the Mediterranean Sea. In 1858 the vessel was ordered home; but during the passage the yellow fever broke out, and only eighty-seven of the three hundred and fifty on board reached America. Mr. Smith then followed his trade of bookbinding in New York until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he joined Company L, Ninth N. Y. State Militia, and remained with the regiment for

in several battles, but while on picket duty just before the battle of Bull Run, he caught a cold which caused the loss of one eye. Re- turning to New York, he was with D. Appleton & Co., until 1870, when he came to Pough- keepsie and purchased the Poughkeepsie Book Bindery, of Gidley & De Garmo, at No. 258 Main street, and has conducted a very success- ful business there ever since, doing all kinds of bookbinding.

In 1869 Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Martha W. Avery, a native of West Point, N. Y., and a daughter of Josiah Avery, who was of Holland descent. Four children were born of this union, two of whom died in infancy. Those living are William Wallace, Jr., and Franklin A., who are with their fa- ther. In his political views, Mr. Smith coin- cides with the Republican party; was elected alderman of the Fifth ward of Poughkeepsie, January 1, 1887, serving four terms, and in 1893 was elected supervisor of the Seventh ward. Socially, he is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is highly respected and esteemed by the entire popula- tion of the city. and looked up to as a man truly honorable and upright in all things, and one whom they can depend upon as a friend.

H ON. HARVEY G. EASTMAN, LL. D., founder of Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, and one of the most remark- able men of his time, was born October 16, 1832, in Marshall, Oneida county, New York.

The earlier years of our subject were passed upon the farm which his father owned and cul- tivated, receiving as he grew up an academical education, and while still very young he became a pupil and afterward a teacher in a commer- cial school in Rochester, N. Y., taught by an uncle of his. It was while engaged in this school that Mr. Eastman conceived the idea of a Commercial or Business College, and, as the plan took definite form, he put it into prac- tice by founding. December 19, 1855 (when he was but twenty-three years of age), the first school of any prominence of that class in Os- wego, N. Y. In the spring of 1858 he opened a Commercial College in St. Louis, Mo., in one of the finest buildings in the city, equipped with all the appointments for his method of in- struction, and, by judicious management and systematic advertising, it at the end of the year

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

had become the largest and most popular pri- vate school in the West. Owing, however, to some differences existing among a certain class as to the political status of some of the lectur- ers brought to this institution by Mr. Eastman, he sold his good will in the College and turned his eye eastward for a new and permanent location.

In 1859 Mr. Eastman came to Poughkeep- sie-a place he had never visited before, but where his name and his College had by skill- ful advertising already become "familiar as household words "-and here founded the pres- ent Eastman National Business College, which at once became famed for its practicability and usefulness, and has for many years now been the recognized leader in business education throughout the United States. He rented his first room in the old Library building for sev- enty-five cents a week, and with temporary desks started his school, November 3, 1859, with three students in attendance. The be- ginning of the second week showed an attend- ance of sixteen, and before the end of the month this new school-started by a stranger at a few days' notice, and without friends or capital, and with no small degree of opposition from a large body of citizens-had outnum- bered in patronage other institutions many years its senior. By 1861 the attendance had increased to 500; in 1863 to 1, 200, every State, Territory and several foreign countries being represented; while in 1864-65 the daily attend- ance had reached the extraordinary number of more than 1,700 students. By 1864 the col- lege proper had increased from one room to five distinct buildings, used for instruction alone, and sixty-four teachers were employed, beside numerous assistants. A secretary and six assistants were required to attend to the official correspondence, which, it may be in- ferred, was one of no small magnitude. Each building was supplied with a stationery store to supply students, and a bindery belonging to the college was devoted exclusively to ruling, making and binding the blank books used. In 1876 the building was considerably enlarged :et the phenomenal growth of the busi- which seventeen years before had been ished by Mr. Eastman without the aid of dowment to the amount of a dollar, or scription to the extent of a penny.

Mr. Eastman died of pneumonia in the prime of early manhood, July 13, 1878, at Denver, Colo., whither he had gone for the

benefit of his health. He was a man of inde- fatigable energy, and through his enterprise became one of Poughkeepsie's most prominent citizens. In 1867, and again in 1873, he was appointed a commissioner of charities for the Second district; in 1872, and again in 1874, he represented the Second district of Dutchess county in the Assembly; in 1871, and again in 1876, he was elected mayor of Poughkeepsie. The degree of LL. D. had been conferred on him, and he was repeatedly urged to accept positions of greater public trust. Personally, he was one of the most genial, whole-souled men, a polished and accomplished gentleman ; socially, he was a man of exemplary virtues, a true and valued friend; in business he was prompt and reliable. Physically, Mr. East- man was a tall, slim, winning man, with keen, flashing eyes that lit up when engaged, indi- cating a soaring, restless ambition; he was compactly built, apparently of an iron consti- tution, with a vast amount of the go-ahead ele- ment in his nature.

Mr. Eastman was the owner of a valuable property of twenty-seven acres, known as ". Eastman Park," situated almost in the heart of the city, and celebrated as one of the most beautiful and valuable private estates in the country. On the purchase and the elaborate preparation of the grounds he invested upward of two hundred thousand dollars, and the en- trances were always wide open, inviting citi- zens and strangers alike to enter. In the midst of this grand park he erected his own resi- dence, a castellated building of much attract- iveness. On an eminence, known as Eastman Terrace, he also erected two blocks of houses -twenty-four in number-which have lawns, gardens, etc., and command an extended view up and down the Hudson.

In 1857 Mr. Eastman was married to Miss Minerva M. Clark, of Canastota, N. Y., and children as follows were born to them, three daughters- Cora C., Charlotte C. and Min- erva; Minerva died in infancy. In October, 1884, Mrs. H. G. Eastman was married to Clement C. Gaines, president of Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, and of the New York Business College, New York City, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere.

In his political preferences Mr. Eastman was a stanch Republican; socially, he was a member of the F. & A. M. and K. of P., and he was vice-president of the Poughkeepsie Bridge Company.

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

The founder and genius of Eastman Busi- ness College is no more, but the name of Har- vey G. Eastman is held in loving remem- brance by the friends who knew him, the stu- dents who revered him, and the city which honored him. Other hands picked up the dropped threads, and continued the work which his hands had laid aside, and Eastman Business College remains a lasting monument to his memory. His motto throughout life was-" Peace and good will toward all;" and his last words were-" 1 have tried to so live as to do no man injustice."

J OHN DONALD (deceased). The subject of this sketch was a member of the firm of Donald, Converse & Maynard, one of the largest dry-goods houses in this section of the country. He was born in Lanfine, Scotland, Angust 17, 1844.

In early life our subject learned the dry- goods trade in Scotland, and with his brother William went to Aberdeen, where they formed a partnership in that business, continuing it for four years. In 1869 John came to America and located at Hartford. Conn., where he had charge of one of the departments in a dry- goods store. He remained there about five years, and in 1874 returned to Scotland and married Miss Jessie Frew, a native of that country, and a daughter of Alexander Frew, a tile manufacturer. Mr. Frew married Miss Mary Douglas, and they had two children: Jessie and William, the latter a physician in Scotland. Mr. Frew and his wife died in Scotland.

In 1875 Mr. and Mrs. Donald came to Poughkeepsie, and he formed a partnership with C. E. Converse and R. L. Maynard, the firm name being as above. Two children were born to our subject and his wife: William A. who is in the store at Poughkeepsie, and Douglas, who is at school. Mr. Donald died November 20, 1894. Politically he was a Re- publican, and fraternally a Mason. He and his wife were members of the Congregational Church, and took a deep interest in all Church affairs. He was an elder and deacon, and su- perintendent of the Sunday-school at the time of his death. He was a merchant of high standing, and greatly respected by all. His place in the store has been taken by his son William.

William Donald, the father, was born in |

Lanfine also, where he married Janet Kay Mc- Whirter, and they brought up a large family of children, the youngest of whom was our sub- ject. William spent all his life on a farm.

G EORGE H. WILLIAMS, the son of Ge- rome and Catherine Williams, was born at Chestnut Ridge, Dutchess Co., N. Y., Sep- tember 16, 1844, and resided there until 1860, when he removed to Poughkeepsie, where he has since resided.

During his residence in the country he at- tended the district school, and one year in a private school in the Clove kept by George Draper, later school commissioner of Dutchess county. After removing to Poughkeepsie he took a course at Eastman Business College, and then commenced studying under a private tutor for the purpose of taking an examination for admission to Yale College; but the wave of war fever then extending over the country was too much for him, so, leaving thought of col- lege behind, he, on September 22, 1862, joined Company G. 150th regiment, N. Y. S. V., and on October 11 left with the regiment for the front, and continued to serve with it until it was mustered out at the end of the war, June 8, 1865. During the time of his service in the army he was engaged in the battle at Gettys- burg, Penn., in the campaign from Chatta- nooga, Tenn., to Atlanta, Ga., in Sherman's march to the sea, in the campaign from Sa- vannah, Ga., to Raleigh, N. C., and the sur- render of Johnston's army; was wounded in the arm and hand at New Hope Church, Ga .; marched in the grand review at Washington, D. C., May 24, 1865.

After his return home he studied law with his father at Poughkeepsie, and was admitted to the bar May 18, 1866, and has ever since practiced law there. He has since been ad- mitted to practice in the U. S. Courts.

In 1865 he joined the 21st regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., and continued a member until it was mustered out, he being at that time its lieuten- ant-colonel.

Mr. Williams was city chamberlain of Poughkeepsie in 1875 and 1876, and Deputy Collector of U. S. Internal Revenue during part of President Cleveland's first administration. He is a Knight of Pythias and a P. C. of Ar- mor Lodge 107; a member of the G. A. R., and P. C. of D. B. Sleight Post 331; belongs to the Masonic order, and is captain-general

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD

of Poughkeepsie Commandery No. 43, K. T., and a member of the Mystic Shrine; and sec- retary of the Veterans Association of the 150th regiment, N. Y. S. Volunteers.

Our subject is descended on the side of his father from a brother of Roger Williams, who settled in Rhode Island, and comes from a line of soldiers, his grandfather serving in the war of 1812, and his great-grandfather during most of the Revolutionary war, and his great-great- grandfather being in the French and Indian war. On his mother's side he is descended from Henry Emigh, who came to this country from Holland about 1696 and settled in Clove, Dutchess county, building a stone house which is still standing and inhabited.

J AMES SPENCER VAN CLEEF, one of the most prominent and successful lawyers of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, was born August 1, 1831, at Athens, Greene Co., N. Y. He is descended from one of the old Knickerbocker families, the first American an- cestor being Jans Van Cleef, who came from the town of Cleve or Cleef, Holland, as early as 1659, settling in New Utrecht, L. I. He was probably a descendant of the old Dukes of Cleve, whose inheritance, now vested in the Emperor of Germany, was the immediate cause of the Thirty-years War. There is also a legend that Lohengrin was a Van Cleef.

Jans Van Cleef represented Borwick (now Bushwick) in the General Provincial Assembly at New Amsterdam, April 10, 1664, under Peter Stuyvesant, Director General, in rela- tion to the "protection of the inhabitants against the malignant English." He married Enjeltje Lowerons Preterse prior to 1661, and had eight children, among whom was Ben- jamin, the third child and first son, born No- vember 25, 1683. He married Hendriks Supten as early as 1711, and settled in New Jersey, where they reared a family of twelve children. One son, Laurens, married Jen- netje Loan, and had five children, among whom was Isaac, our subject's great-grand- father, who was born October 24, 1742. He married Dorcas Pumyea in 1769, and had eleven children. Their son, Cornelius, our subject's grandfather, was born January 2, 1777, and died July 10, 1855. He became a leading farmer at Harlingen, N. J., and an active supporter of the Reformed Dutch Church there. He married Margaret Kershau,

granddaughter of Lucas Nevius, who was a grandson of the Johannes Nevius who was clerk of the city council. They had four chil- dren, namely: Cornelius, Isaac, George, and Matilda, who married Garrett Hegeman. The family have generally been engaged in agricult- ural pursuits, the majority living in New Jersey, but one branch residing on Staten Island has engaged in commercial pursuits. They have always been adherents of the Re- formed Dutch Church, and many have been ministers. Rev. Paul D. Van Cleef, D. D .. of Jersey City, is a member of the family.

Our subject's father, Rev. Cornelius Van- Cleef, was educated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn., with a view to entering the ministry. Soon after entering college he joined with a fellow student in establishing the first students' prayer meeting ever held there, meeting once a week in their several rooms. For more than a year this faithfully- conducted exercise was treated with ridicule by the other students, but during the second year, on the occasion of the death of Rev. John M. Mason, D. D., a son of President Mason, of the college, the attendance at the prayer meeting became very large and nearly every student was converted, including all but one in Cornelius Van Cleef's class. All but two of his class entered the ministry, the Rev. Dr. George W. Bethune, of Brooklyn, being one of the most successful. After leaving college Cornelius Van Cleef studied in the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Dutch Church, then located at New Brunswick, N. J., and on graduating, in 1823, he immediately offered his services to the Board of Domestic Missions, or what was then called the Board of Managers of the Missionary Society of the Reformed Dutch Church. He was sent to Palatine, N. Y., where he remained six or eight months, and as a result of his labors the foundation was laid for the now flourishing Church at Fort Plain. He was then trans- ferred to Manayunk, near Philadelphia, where he remained two years, and there also was successful in establishing a Church, now known as the Fourth Church of Philadelphia. From the missionary field he was called to the Church at Athens, N. Y., where he was installed as a settled pastor. He remained there five years, and during that time the country was visited by its first scourge of cholera, Athens being especially afflicted and losing many of its in- habitants. £ Mr. Van Cleef remained there

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

throughout the plague, ministering to the sick and the dying, and so generally beloved did he become that when he returned years afterward to visit his old charge all the other churches closed their doors for the purpose of hearing him. His pastorate there was very successful, the membership increasing from forty to about one hundred and sixty. In 1833 Mr. Van- Cleef accepted a call to the Church at New Hackensack, and remained there thirty-three years, when, because of advancing age, he moved to Poughkeepsie. Here he held no stated charges, but preached as opportunity offered, and we may without impropriety call him the honorary pastor, indeed, almost the apostle, of many of the Churches in this vicin- ity. It was largely through his efforts that the Second Reformed Dutch Church was es- tablished in Poughkeepsie in 1848, and the Church at Millbrook about 1870. During his active ministry he was once appointed presi- dent of the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church, which position he filled with great ability and dignity. As a speaker he was faithful, earnest and impressive, and be- ing more solicitous concerning truthfulness and clearness than grace and embellishment, his discourses were marked by simplicity and Godly sincerity. As a pastor he had in rare measure the one qualification which is first of all in importance, and without which all others are of little avail-a hearty love for his people.

It has been said of him by one who knew him well, "As a Christian man his character was so exquisitely beautiful that I know not in what character to describe it." He passed the borders of the unseen on Sunday morning, June 13, 1875, in his sixty-seventh year, leav- ing two children, James Spencer and Sophia Somers Van Cleef.

James Spencer Van Cleef was educated at College Hill, Poughkeepsie, and Rutgers Col- lege, New Brunswick, N. J., graduating in 1852 with the degree of A. B., to wheih was added later that of A. M. He entered the office of Holden & Thayer, of New York City, as a law student, and was admitted to the bar there in 1855. In 1858 he began the practice of his profession at Poughkeepsie, and in the following year formed a partnership with Hon. Mark D. Wilbur, which continued until the close of the Civil war. During this time Mr. Van Cleef had almost exclusive charge of the business, Mr. Wilbur being in the army. About 1870 Mr. Van Cleef entered into partnership

with Prof. Samuel W. Buck, of Lyndon Hall; but two or three years later this was dissolved, and for twenty years he has practiced alone. He has been very successful especially in cases connected with the Surrogate's court, in which he has for many years ranked among the lead- ing practitioners. He was married in 1862 to Harriet Mulford Howell, daughter of Capt. George Howell, a prominent resident of Sag Harbor, N. Y., and has had three children: Elizabeth Howell, who married Dr. B. C. Kinnear, then of Boston, and died in 1886, leaving no children; Ellen Shepard, who mar- ried Walter M. Jones, of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co., of New York, and has four children: and Henry Howell, now a student in his father's office.

Mr. Van Cleef was originally a Whig in political faith, but in 1856 he became an ardent supporter of the principles of the Republican party. Prior to the Civil war he took an active part in the politics of Dutchess county. and he has now been a member of the board of education in Poughkeepsie for twenty years, being the oldest continuous member of same. During this time he has been largely instru- mental in bringing the schools of the city into their present satisfactory condition. In any movement for the public welfare he has taken a prompt and hearty interest, and one of the largest industries in the city was located there a few years ago mainly through his influence. . For many years he has been an active member of the Second Reformed Dutch Church.

Mr. Van Cleef is known as a very success- ful angler; is one of the leading members of the State Association for the Protection of Fish and Game, and since its organization has been a member of the Committee on Law and Legislation. In the fall of 1894 he was re- tained as counsel for the Senate Committee on Game and Fish, and at their request drew up the new fish and game law, which was passed substantially as the original draft made by him.

G EN. ALFRED B. SMITH (deceased ). Among the leading citizens of Pough- keepsie none holds a higher place in the esti- mation of his fellow men, or has taken a more active part in the development and growth of all those enterprises which go to make up a flourishing city than did the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. As a man of

ABIS muth

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

business; as a member of the legal fraternity; as an honored veteran of the Civil war; as a worker in Church and philanthropic matters; as a friend of education and as a public official, he always commanded the respect and ad- miration of those more intimately connected with him.

Stephen Smith, the great-great-grandfather of our subject, was a farmer in Massachusetts in the early Colonial days. He married Doro- thea Matton, a sister of Gen. Matton, of Massa- chusetts, who was a major in the Revolu- tionary war. Three brothers of Stephen Smith also served throughout that war. Arad, a son of Stephen, and our subject's great- grandfather, was born in Salem, Massachusetts.

The grandfather, also named Arad, was born at Amherst, Mass., and married Salome Elmer, by whom he had fourteen children, of whom Adolphus H. was the father of our sub- ject. In 1808 Arad Smith moved with his numerous family to St. Lawrence county, N. Y., and settled on a one-square mile tract of land in the primeval forest. There he made his home until 1833, when he removed to Elyria, Ohio, where he died about the year 1865. Politically he was a Whig, and in religious belief he was a Congregationalist.

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Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 3

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