Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 37

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

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bless their union: Edwin J. and George Clifford. They reside at No. 36 Morton street, New York City.

P ETER BURHANS (deceased). The sub- jeet of this sketch, who was formerly a well-known wagon manufacturer of Pough- keepsie, was born in Pleasant Valley, Dutch- ess county, January 2, 1812, and was the son of William and Mary Smith ) Burhans. Jacob Burhans arrived in this country prior to Decem- ber, 1660. Jans, a son, who arrived in April, 1663, married Miss Helena Traphagan, and from them the subject of this memoir is de- scended through Barent and Johannes and Petrus.

Our subject had no schooling to speak of, but was a man of good mechanical ability. He spent his younger days in Pleasant Valley, coming to Poughkeepsie when about eighteen years old to learn the wagon maker's trade. He worked as a journeyman only a few years, and then started in business for himself in the city, later forming a partnership which proved somewhat disastrous. About the year 1844 he carried on business at No. 377 (now 385) Main street. In 1851 or 1852 he purchased the premises, and continued to carry on business there until the spring of 1877, when he retired on account of ill health, and had the building altered to suit other business. In 1855 he bought the adjoining lot, and put up a frame building which was used by various parties as a blacksmith shop till the summer of 1877, when it was demolished to give place to a more substantial brick building-Nos. 3873 and 389 Main street. Both buildings are still in the possession of the family. He was a self- made man, very thorough, careful, and pains- taking, and his work had the reputation of being the very best.

Mr. Burhans was twice married, his first wife being Miss Johanna B. Smith, a daugh- ter of Uriah Smith, a farmer in the town of Hyde Park (who died a comparatively young man), and niece of Judge Isaac Smith, of Lithgow. She died in 1859. To Mr. and Mfrs. Burhans were born three children : Albert, who died young; Ella, who married Isaac Germond; and Mary, who died in 1875, aged twenty-three years. His sec- ond marriage was, in 1860, to Miss Eliza Pinckney, daughter of Jacob Pinckney, of Bethel, Sullivan Co., N. Y. Our subject

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was a Republican, and took quite an in- terest in political matters. Although receiv- ing but little schooling, he supplemented it with a great deal of reading, and was well in- formed on current topics of the day. He was a member of the Methodist Church, and was early in life associated with the sons of tem- perance, having strong views and ideas regard- ing total abstinence. He died in 1887, in his seventy-sixth year. Mrs. Germond has one daughter, Clara, now (1897) eight years old.

William Burhans was a farmer by occupa-

tion. He married Miss Mary Smith, and they had the following children: Henry, Elmira, Peter, William (2), Edwin S., Charles, John, Willitt (who died in 1894), and George H. (who lives in Pleasant Valley, and is the only survivor). William (Sen. ) died about 1855.

ISAAC GERMOND, mentioned above, is a member of one of the very oldest families in the county, who formerly owned a large tract of land surrounding "Gerinond Hill," near Ver- bank, and one of the descendants, Lewis D). Germond, still occupies a part of the original tract in the town of Washington. George Washington Germond, father of Isaac, died in 1891 in his ninetieth year, leaving five sons and two daughters. The Germonds, Germans and Jarmans are said by some to be all de- scended from four brothers who came from France about two hundred years ago, one set- tling on Long Island, one in Harlem, one in the town of Washington, Dutchess county, and one in the town of Stanford, Dutchess county.

H ON. SAMUEL K. PHILLIPS, county judge of Dutchess county, and a lawyer of wide reputation for ability and success in the management of important cases, is a na- tive of Brooklyn, N. Y., born February 12, 1858, but since the age of four years he has had his home in the village of Matteawan. His father, Edmund S. Phillips, was the first lawyer to locate at Matteawan.

Judge Phillips received his education in the private and public schools of Matteawan, and at an early age began his professional studies in his father's office. He was admitted to the bar in May, 1879, having just attained his majority, and immediately engaged in practice. During the past sixteen years he has made an enviable record, and has been retained as counsel, on one side or the other, in nearly all

the cases of note that have arisen in this lo- cality. He was engaged by the State of New York to take charge of the legal matters in connection with the location of the State Hos -. pital at Matteawan, and later was employed by the State in the important matter of acquir- ing a right of way for a sewer from that insti- tution to the Hudson river. He is now the attorney for the Mechanics Savings Bank, of Fishkill Landing; for The Matteawan Savings Bank, and for The Matteawan National Bank, and has been the legal advisor of the pro- moters of many of the leading business enter- prises of the town. In some of the most im- portant of these ventures he is personally interested; he is president of The Matteawan. Savings Bank, a director of The Matteawan National Bank, and was one of the projectors, and is still a director and one of the principal stockholders of the electric railway system of the town of Fishkill. He is a trustee and the treasurer of Highland Hospital; a trustee of the Fairview Cemetery Association, chairman of the board of trustees, and for more than twenty years secretary of the Sunday-school of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Matteawan. For the past ten years he has been a member of the board of education, and during the last year of his service therein was its president.

Able and popular, possessing all the quali- ties which insure success in public life, it is not surprising that he should already have be- come a leader in political affairs. In Novem- ber, 1895, he was elected on the Republican ticket to the office of county judge. Com- menting upon his nomination, the Poughkeep- sie Star says:

* young in years but old in experience, a good lawyer, a man to be trusted by the people. Although there are many attorneys in the county who feel that this is a good year to be the nominee on the Republican ticket, all were united in en- dorsing Mr. Phillips as the choice of the party." The Fishkill Standard, the leading Democratic paper of the locality, said: "As a citizen of the town of Fishkill, and as an active professional man, we have only words of com- mendation for Samuel K. Phillips. Raised in Matteawan, and educated in the public schools there, he has always been before the eyes of the public, and has won his way to distinction and success by many excellent qualities. That he will make a good county judge, if elected, and be a worthy successor of those who have preceded him, is sure. "

S.K. Philips

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The Judge is a prominent Free Mason, and at present is master of Beacon Lodge No. 283, F. & A. M., a member of Highland Chapter No. 52, R. A. M., Hudson River Command- ery, K. T., and Mecca Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine. In October, 1885, he married Miss Henrietta Reid, daughter of Luke and Abigail (Darling) Reid, of Hudson, N. Y. They have one son, Samuel Vincent Phillips.

G UERNSEY FAMILY. (I) John Guern- sey, the progenitor of the Guernsey fam- ily in America, appears in Milford, Conn., about 1634. (II) Joseph Guernsey, son of the above, born in 1639, married Hannah Coley, daughter of Samuel Coley, Sr., April 10, 1663, resided at Milford, and was a " free planter."

(III) Joseph Guernsey, son of Joseph, was born at Milford, 1674. Large land owner. He married Hannah Disbrow, daughter of Gen. Disbrow, of Horse Neck, and removed to Woodbury, Conn., where he died September 15, 1754. (IV) John Guernsey, son of above, born April 6, 1709, married " Ann Peck, daugh- ter of Jeremiah Peck, and granddaughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Peck, well known through- out New England." He removed to Litchfield, Conn., thence to Amenia, N. Y., where he died and was buried, 1783.

(V) John Guernsey, son of John and Ann Guernsey, was born October 28, 1734. He married Azubah Buel; removed to Broome county, N. Y., where he owned 1,000 acres of land; afterward returned to Amenia, where he died in 1799, and was buried near the grave of his father. (VI) Ezekiel Guernsey, M. D., son of the above, was born in 1775, married Lavoisa Bennett, daughter of Col. Peter Ben- nett, and died at Stanford, Dutchess county, N. Y., in 1856.

(VII) Stephen Gano Guernsey, son of Eze- kiel and Lavoisa Guernsey, was born in the town of Stanford, September 8, 1799, and died in the town of Stanford in 1875; married Elenor Rogers, of Litchfield, Conn., daughter of Dayton Rogers and granddaughter of a Revolutionary soldier.

(VIII) STEPHEN GANO GUERNSEY, son of Stephen Gano and Elenor Guernsey, was born April 22, 1848, in the town of Stanford, Dutch- ess county, N. Y., and in his boyhood winters attended the common schools of the locality, while in the summers he did general work on

the farm. His education he finished at Fort Edward Institute, Glens Falls, New York.

In 1870 Mr. Guernsey moved to Pough- keepsie, where he read law with Judge Charles Wheaton and his brother, I). W. Guernsey, and was admitted to the bar in 1871. In 1874 he was appointed deputy county clerk, which incumbency he held until 1876, when he re- signed to commence the practice of law for himself in the office of Jacob Jewett, who died some few months later. Mr. Guernsey contin- ued in the same office, and has since remained in active practice, which is a general one. In his political preferences Mr. Guernsey is a Democrat, and has served as member of the board of education four years-from 1890 to 1894. He was U. S. Loan Commissioner, ap- pointed under Gov. Robinson, and has been re-appointed by each succeeding governor to the present time, although, owing to a change of the State laws, there is little business for the office at present. In 1892 he was elected president of the Poughkeepsie National Bank, and is still serving as such.

In 1877 Mr. Guernsey was married to Miss Marianna Hicks, and children as follows were born to them: Raymond Gano (IX) Homer Wilson, Louis Gildersleeve and Emeline. Our subject is a careful, conservative business man.

E LIZABETH H. GEROW, M. D., a pio- neer woman physician of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, whose success has been a pleasing and convincing test of the ability of her sex to cope with all the difficulties of her profession, is a descendant of an old Huguenot family, the name being originally Giraud.

Her ancestors were early settlers in Ulster county, and her great-grandfather, William Gerow, was a resident of Plattekill, where the homestead has ever since been maintained. Her grandfather, Elias Gerow, lived and died there; he married Elizabeth Coutant, and their son, Elias Gerow (2), our subject's father, was also a lifelong resident, following farming as an occupation. He married Sally Ann Baker, a native of Westchester county, who survived him and died at our subject's home in Pough- keepsie. Ten children were born of this union -four daughters and six sons-of the latter only four are now living.

Dr. Elizabeth H. Gerow attended the schools of Plattekill during her childhood, and later studied in the Friends' School at Union

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Springs, N. Y. She taught for some time in Ulster county, and then, desiring to prepare herself lor the medical profession, she entered the Woman's Hospital in Boston, Mass. After eight months there she began the course in the Medical Department of Michigan University, from which she was graduated in the spring of 1875. She had, in the meantime, continued her studies in the Woman's Hospital during her vacations, spending about three years, in all, in the institution, and gaining an experi- ence which at that time was seldom obtainable by a woman. She became an expert in deal- ing with the diseases of women and children, and, from the first, has met with unusual suc- cess in her practice. On May 1, 1875, she opened her office in Poughkeepsie, and in five years had all the business that she could attend to. For the past ten years she has devoted her entire time to her large office practice.

Dr. Gerow is held in high esteem among her professional associates, as well as with the general public, and was appointed on the first Medical Board of the Vassar Hospital in Poughkeepsie, and she is a member of the Dutchess County Medical Society, and a cor- responding member of the Boston Gynecolog- ical Society.

W ILLIAM L. DAVIS (deceased), a well- known farmer and auctioneer of the town of Washington, was born in Columbia county, February 10, 1835. His father, Henry D., was born in the same county, where he married and settled on a farm. To him and his wife were born these children: Or- ville, who married Miss Maria Emigh, and is now farming in the town of Clinton; he has one son, Henry T .; Esther died unmarried, April 10, 1896; William L. is our subject. Mr. Davis farmed in Columbia county and in Wis- consin, dying in the latter place in 1837. His wife was Miss Jane Ann Lawton, who was born in the town of Washington May 1, 1809, the only child of Seth Lawton, who was born June 18, 1782, in Rhode Island, and died in November, 1869, and Esther (Peck) Lawton, who was born near New York City, August 25, 1786, and died December 6, 1851. David Lawton, the father of Seth, was a farmer in Washington town.

William L., our subject, remained at home in the town of Washington until December 27, 1856, on which date he was married to Miss

Mary L. Wilson, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Streight) Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Davis secured a farm in this town, and three children were born to them, namely: Thomas L., born March 6, 1859, died October 7, 1862: Seth L., born December 17, 1862, died December 20, 1864; Willard H., born September 15, 1865. Mr. Davis was ? Democrat, and he and his wife were both members of the Methodist Church.

WILLARD H. manages the Iarm of 168 acres, on which he raises Jersey cattle, Berkshire hogs, and Thorndale horses. The farm is called " Brookside Stock Farm."

Thomas Wilson, the father of Mrs. Davis, was born and reared in the town of Unionvale; his wife was born in Stanford. They settled on a farm in Unionvale, and reared a family of six children: Eseck, a retired citizen of Poughkeepsie; Maria became the wife of Dr. John Perry, of Amenia, and after his death she married Moses Conger, a lawyer in the town of Clinton; Sally A. married Henry Chamberlin, a tanner and currier (both are de- ceased); Mary L. is our subject's wife; John died in the Civil war; George, a farmer, died August 21, 1896, in Ashley, Illinois. Thomas Wilson died in 1843, and his wife July 3, 1879.

Joseph Wilson, Mrs. Davis' grandfather, was born in Ireland, where he followed the oc- cupation of a weaver. Henry Streight was the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Wilson.

W ILLIAM R. KIMLIN, who was a prom- inent contractor and builder in Pough- keepsie, Dutchess county, and whose death took place December 8, 1891, was born in that city October 7, 1843. His father, Will- iam Kimlin, was born in Ireland in 1800, and came to America in 1839.

William Kimlin obtained a good education in the public schools, and also in that con- nected with Christ Church (Episcopal). He was a man of keen perceptions, and, having always been a great reader, was well informed on all subjects of general interest. After leav- ing school he learned the trade of a mason, serving an apprenticeship of three years with Mr. Harlow while the latter was engaged in building Vassar College. He was a journey- man mason for some time, and was also fore- man for Elias Spross for several years. About 1874 he started as a contractor and builder in partnership with James Mathews, the firm

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name being Kimlin & Mathews. This connec- tion continued for three or four years, when Mr. Kimlin assumed entire charge of the busi- ness for himself. During this time he made contracts for some of the largest buildings in the city, among others the post office, which was begun in the fall of 1884, Mr. Kimlin com- pleting his part of the work in 1886. He was one of the foremost men in his trade, and, having more than average ability and judg- ment, was successful in his enterprises. He possessed strong individuality, and made him- self felt in any matters in which he was interested.

Mr. Kimlin was married September 17, 1873, to Miss Mary, daughter of Thomas Conn, of New York City. Her father was a butcher, and was of Irish descent, his family coming from County Down. Five children were born of this union: William T. is in the employ of F. J. Nesbitt; Stewart T., Lottie S. and Edith B. are at home with their mother; and one died in infancy. Of these, William T. and Stewart T. have learned the mason trade, and expect in about a year or so to enter in the same business as their father.

Mr. Kimlin was strongly in sympathy with the Republican party, although he never took an active part in politics. He belonged to the Exempt Firemen, and was a member of Christ Church, Episcopal. He was a loyal citizen, and always ready to do his share toward promoting the interests of his community.

G EORGE TOFFEY DOUGHTY (de- ceased) was throughout life identified with the interests of the town of Beekman, his birth having occurred at Greenhaven, in that township, October 6, 1816. The Doughty family came from England at a very early pe- riod in the history of this country, one of the first being Francis Doughty, a clergyman of the Church of England.

Joseph Doughty, the grandfather of our subject, was born on Long Island, and fol- lowed farming as a life work. He was a sin- cere member of the Society of Friends. He married Miss Psyche Wiltsie, and to them were born twelve children, namely: Thomas, who became a farmer of Beekman town; Joseph, who in early life was a merchant, and later lived in Beekman town; Cornwell, a farmer and merchant of the same township; Nehe- miah, a farmer and miller, also of Beekman

town; William, the father of our subject; Martin, also a farmer of Beekman town; Jacob, a merchant of Greenhaven; Psyche, who married Samuel Vail, a prominent citizen of Albany, N. Y. ; Mary, who wedded Jonathan Hoag, a farmer of Nassau, N. Y .; Jane, who married Philip Flagler, an agriculturist; John and Elizabeth.

William Doughty, the father of our sub- ject, was a native of the town of Beekman, and on attaining to man's estate was united in marriage with Mrs. Sarah Vanderburgh (née Van Wyck), by whom he had six children: Phebe, John J., Pysche, William, Sarah and George T. All his life the father carried on farming in the town of Beekman, where he was numbered among the highly-esteemed cit- izens. He died in 1854 at the age of eighty- four years, the mother in 1865 at the age of ninety-four years.

During his boyhood, George T. Doughty attended the district schools near his home in Beekman town, and for three years resided with his sister at New Lebanon, N. Y. He was also for a time a student in the Nine Part- ners Boarding School in the town of Washing- ton, Dutchess county. He always followed the vocation of farming, and erected all the build- ings upon his place with the exception of the residence.

On December 14, 1836, in the town of Beekman, Mr. Doughty married Miss Eliza- beth Van Benschoten, of the town of Lagrange, Dutchess county, and to them were born three children: Mary G. ; William H., of New York City, who married Mrs. Edith Bryant (nec Chatterton), and to them was born one child Laura Isabelle; and Edward, deceased The mother of these died May 17, 1843, and in the same township Mr. Doughty was again married, his second union being with Hester Kelley, by whom were also born three children : James A., of Torrington, Conn., who was married to Miss Alice J. Brooker, of the same place, and to them were born two children Ella Brooker (deceased) and Marion Seymour; Phebe J. ; and Cornell, of Brooklyn, N. Y., married Miss Anna J. Butts, of New York City, and to them was born one child-Isa- belle Perry.

For three terms, Mr. Doughty filled the office of supervisor of the town of Beekman, and enjoyed the popularity which comes to those generous spirits who have a hearty shake of the hand for those with whom they come in

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

contact fromn day to day, and who seem to throw around them in consequence so much of the sunshine of life. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and was one of nature's noblemen, the world being better for his hay- ing lived. His death, which occurred in the town of Beekman, June 7, 1887, was widely and deeply mourned.

G EORGE E. CRAMER, president of the Board of Trade of Poughkeepsie, and a leading grain dealer and wholesale grocer of that city, was born in Pleasant Valley, Dutch- ess county, August 31, 1841.

Our subject's ancestors came originally from Holland, settling in Dutchess county at an early date. His grandfather, Philip Cra- mer, was born in 1783, near Poughkeepsie. where he was a farmer for some years before his removal to Pleasant Valley, Dutchess county, where he died at the age of forty-nine years. He married Susannah Reynolds, and they had three children: Phoebe, who married Jehial Smith; Elizabeth, the wife of Henry Burhans, and George B., our subject's father, who was born in Poughkeepsie in 1814. His schooling was limited to a few years' attend- ance at the public schools of that city, but he was a man of common sense, and acquired a good practical education in the course of his life. He was a carpenter and builder in Pleas- ant Valley for many years, and was quite suc- cessful; but failing health compelled him to choose another occupation, and, in 1874, he engaged in the butcher trade at the same place. Politically, he was first a Whig, and later a Republican, but although he was greatly in- terested in the welfare of his party, he was never an office-seeker. For full half a century he was a devout and consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, and was a trustee for many years. He married Miss Mary A. Dun- can, a daughter of Joshua Duncan, a well- known manufacturer of cotton goods at Pleas- ant Valley, in partnership with George P. Far- rington. The Duncans are among the oldest families in that locality. Nine children were born of this marriage, seven of whom are still living, and all residents of Dutchess county. The mother died in 1880, the father surviving her until May, 1893.

The subject of our sketch attended the dis- trict schools of Pleasant Valley, and studied for a time with a private tutor, supplementing

these limited opportunities in his later years by an extended course of reading. At the age of eleven he began to work for his uncle Duncan in the grocery business in Poughkeepsie, but after two years he returned home and clerked in a country store for about two years. At the age of sixteen he went to Poughkeepsie as clerk for John McLean, grocer, remaining four years; then engaged as bookkeeper for John H. Matthews in the freighting business at the Lower Landing, and after five years there he spent two years in the same capacity with Gaylord, Vail & Doty, at the Main Street Dock. In 1871 he entered the employ of W. W. Reynolds & Co., as bookkeeper, and three years later became a member of the firm, then known as Reynolds & Co., and composed of William T. and John R. Reynolds and George E. Cramer. On January 1, 1890, the firm be- came Reynolds & Cramer, and as the senior member is not in good health, the more active management of the business devolves upon Mr. Cramer. This is one of the oldest houses in the city, dating back to 1820, and under the able and enterprising direction of Mr. Cramer its already extensive trade has been enlarged to five times its volume at the time of his en- trance into the firm, and is now the largest es- tablishment of its kind in the Hudson River Valley. He holds high rank in commercial circles, and has been president of the Pough- keepsie Board of Trade for the past four years. In 1892 he was appointed president of College Hill Park Commission, by William W. Smith, who bought this property and donated it to the city as a public park.

In 1866 Mr. Cramer was married to Miss Mary A. Barnes, a daughter of Mrs. Jane A. Barnes, and a descendant of one of the old families of Poughkeepsie. They have one daughter, Ella W. Cramer. Although he is a Republican in principle, and has taken an act- ive interest in the success of his party, Mr. Cramer is not an office seeker, and has refused to accept any nominations for public office. He is ready to assist any movement for the welfare of the city, and takes especial interest in the schools, serving for eleven years in the board of education, and for several years its president. He belongs to the Washington Street M. E. Church, of which he is a trustee and the treasurer, and has been superintend- ent of the Sunday-school for twenty-five years. At one time he was active in the Masonic fra- ternity, of which he is still a member, and is

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Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 37

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