Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 70

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

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A SA B. CORBIN. The Corbin family is well known in the town of Pawling, Dutchess county, and its members in every generation have given evidence of the qualities which constitute good citizenship.

John Corbin, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of that town and passed his life there, acquiring his education in its public schools, and engaging in agricultural pursuits on arriving at manhood's estate. He was a devout Methodist, working actively to advance the cause of religion, and was beloved throughout the community. He married So- phia Burdick, and had three children, of whom

ASA B. MOREIN.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPIIICAL RECORD.

Asa B. was the second. The eldest, John Corbin, Jr., was born in the town of Pawling, and his education was obtained in the public schools. He was engaged in business as a carpenter and wagon maker during the greater portion of his life. He and his wife Matilda (Ferris), had one daughter, Alice, who was born in Pawling, is now the wife of Mr. Gar- ner, a farmer in Connecticut, and they have one child. The youngest of the three children of John Corbin, Sr., Betsy, born 1813, mar- ried Horace Haviland, and died March 28, 1 894.

Our subject was born December 16, 1814, was educated at the common schools, reared on a farm, and learned the trade of a carpenter, later also that of wagon maker. Some forty years ago he established that business, in con- nection with undertaking, in Pawling, and con- tinued same up to his death which occurred - February 28, 1887. He was a man of good executive ability, and accumulated a fine prop- erty. On December 16, 1859, he married Mary L. Allen, and they had one daughter, Grace A., born September 22, 1866, now the

wife of Alonzo M. Leach. The mother died June 16, 1889; she was born April 25, 1835, a daughter of Horatio and Hannah (Pendley) Allen, farming people of the town of Pawling, who had a family of four children: Susan, Ruth, Gideon and Mary L. Asa B. Corbin was a progressive man, originally a Whig, and later a Republican in politics, finally joining the Prohibition party on its formation, and in 1860 he served as supervisor of his county. In temperance work he was extremely active, giving freely to the cause of his time and money, and he was a zealous member of the M. E. Church.

ALONZO M. LEACH was born January 18, 1855, in Sherman, Conn., a son of David W. and Samantha M. (Hawes) Leach, who were the parents of three children, Alonzo M. being the youngest. Florence, the eldest, married Edward P. Briggs, a merchant of Sherman, Conn., and they have one child, Belle. Charles I., the second in David W. Leach's family, married Ida H. Wanzer, and they have had two children, Ray, and one that died in infancy. They live on the old farm in Leach Hollow, Conn. The Leach family are of Scotch extraction, and trace their pedigree back to Ichabod Leach, who was one of three brothers (sons of Moses Leach) who came from Scotland. David W. Leach, the father

of Alonzo M., was born in 1822, a son of David Leach. He was a Democrat, served as a captain in the old State militia, and was a member of the State Legislature, besides hold- ing other minor offices at various times. Sa- mantha M. (Hawes) Leach (the mother of Al- onzo M.) was the third in the family of thir- teen children born to David Hawes and his wife. She died in 1877.

Alonzo M. Leach received his primary ed- ucation at the common schools of the neigh- borhood of his boyhood home, afterward at- tending the Golden Hill Institute, Bridgeport, Conn., where he was graduated in 1874. He then worked on a farm until 1882, in which year he came to Pawling, where he entered the employ of Merwin & Holines, general mer- chants, with whom he has remained ever since, with the exception of one year he spent in Bridgeport. On October 19, 1892, he and Miss Grace A. Corbin were united in marriage. They have one child, Helen M., born Decem- ber 31, 1894. In his political preferences Mr. Leach is a Republican.

C OURT B. CUNLEY, the well-known to- bacconist of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess coun- ty, was born near Hillsdale, Mich., November 13, 1838, a son of Daniel and Sarah Ann (Van- Voorhees) Cunley.

Our subject spent his boyhood at Fishkill, attending the public schools. He learned the tobacco trade of the John Jay Cox Co., at Fishkill, and then went to New York City, where he finished his trade. Returning to Fishkill he again worked for the John Jay Cox Co., subsequently going to Red Hook and again to New York City. In 1867 he came to Poughkeepsie, and started business at the old stand established by Rudolph Griner in 1835. Mr. Cunley began the manufacture of cigars in 1879, and in 1882 moved into the store he now occupies.

Our subject was married at Fishkill, June 11, 1858, to Sarah J., a daughter of Morgan Owen, and their children were: Frank G., Minnie V. and Fred. Mr. Cunley is a mem- ber of Poughkeepsie Lodge No. 266, F. & A. M. ; Poughkeepsie Chapter No. 172, R. A. M .: Commandery No. 43, Knights Templar; King Solomon's Council of Royal and Select Mas- ters; member of the N. Y. Mystic Shrine of Mecca Temple; thirty-second Degree of Aurora Grata Consistory of the Valley of Brooklyn,

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

N. Y. : past exalted ruler of the Elks; member of the K. of P. No. 43; and of Fallkill Lodge N. 297. I. O. O. F. He attends the services of the Hedding Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics our subject is a Republican, and for six years represented the Third ward in the city council. He was on the water board for three years, and for the same length of time In the Alms House board. He was a pro- moter of the Electric Light & Power Co., in Poughkeepsie, and was chairman of the light- ing committee in the council. As it was through his zeal that the plant was put in, he was called the " electric light alderman." He has always taken a great interest in politics. Since living in Marshall street he has built three houses, and he also owns property on College avenue and Grand avenue.

Daniel Chinley, the father of our subject, was born June 12, 1801, in Stuttgart, Ger- many. where he received his schooling. He was in the German army for five years. In IK22 he came to Fishkill and worked in a woolen-mill as dyer, and was married in that town to Miss Sarah Ann Van Voorhees, who was born in Fishkill, October 20, 1809. They went to Hillsdale, Mich., soon after their mar- riage, making the journey by packet on the canal and across Lake Erie. In Hillsdale he bought a farm of about 352 acres, but. becom- ing afflicted with the. ague, he sold out and moved to Allegany county, N. Y., and farmed there; but on account of the fever and ague he again sold out and returned to Fishkill, where he remained until his death, September 25, INS5. Mrs. Cunley died February 29, 1584. They had the following children: Court B .. our subject: William H., born in 1840: George A., born in 1843, and Mary, John Wesley and Fletcher, who are deceased.

The following is the pedigree of the Van- Vo rhees family, taking only our subject's branch. The full record of this family makes a volume of over 700 pages. The English meaning of the Holland name [ Van Voor- hees is " froom before Hees, ' Van meaning "from an l Voor meaning . before." Hees being a small village about a quarter of a mile south of the town of Ruinen, in the province of Drenthe, Holland, which, in 1660, con- taine I nine houses and about fifty inhabitants. The earliest of the family of whom we have any definite information is Coert Alberts of Voorhees, the father of the emigrant ancestor, Steven Coerte Van Voorhees, and from the

fact of his second name being Albert, with the terminal "s." we know that his father's first name must have been Albert.

I. Coert Alberts Van Voorhees had seven children, of whoin Steven Coerte Van Voor- hees was the eldest.

II. Steven Coerte Van Voorhees was born, in 1600, at Hees, Holland, and died February 16, 1684, at Flatlands, Long Island. He married/1 ) in Holland ( wife's name not known : 2, prior to 1677 on Long Island, Willempie Roelofse Senbering, born in 1619. died in 1600. He emigrated from Hees. April. 1660. in the ship .. Bontekoe " (" Spotted Cow " November 29. 1660. He purchased from Cor- nelis Dircksen Hoogland nine morgens of corn land, seven morgens of woodland, ten morgens of plain land, and five morgens of salt meadow in Flatlands, Long Island, for 3,000 guilders. He also bought the brewery. He and his wife were members of the Dutch Church of Flat- lands.

III. Coert Stevense Van Voorhees third child of No. III, born 1637. died 1702. mar- ried 1664 to Marretje Gerritse Van Comoen- hoven, born April 10. 1644, died 1709. He was a representative of Flatlands in the Gen- eral Assembly at New Amsterdam city hall April 10, 1664. and delegate to the convention of March 26, 1674, at New Orange, to confer with Governor Colve. He was deacon of Dutch Church, magistrate 1664 to 1673, and captain of militia in 1689. He had nine children. of whom Johannes Coerte Van Voorhees was the youngest.

IV. Johannes Coerte Van Voorhees, born April 20, 1683, married 1) November 19. 1703. Barbara Van Dyck, (2) May 2, 1744, Sarah Van Vliet, died October 10. 1757. After his first marriage he left Flatlands and settled at Freehold, N. J., on a farm of 200 acres. From there he moved to Rombout precinct. now Fishkill, Dutchess county, buying 2.790 acres of land of Philip Verplanck, of the manor of Courtlandt. He was one of the organizers and many years elder of the Dutch Church at Fish- kill village. The tombstone in the Dutch church-yard bears this inscription: . Here lyes the body of John Van Voorhis, aged sev- enty-five years. Deceased October 10, Anno 1757.

Coert Van Voorhees (second child of No. IVi was born April 5. 1706, married June 16, 1727, Catherine Filkin, died March 19. 1785. He lived at Fishkill.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

VI. Zachariah Van Voorhees (tenth child of No. \') was born March 25, 1748. Mar- ried (1) February 12, 1772, Anna Lawrence, born August 27, 1751, died December 10, 1781; (2) November 25. 1786, to Nancy Springsteen, who was born May 15, 1763, and died February 9, 1851. He died July 3, 1811. He resided at Fishkill.

VII. Coert Van Voorhees (third child of No. VI) was born July 15, 1777, married May 8, 1803, to Elizabeth Palmer, born 1787, died December 17, 1869. He died in 1818. VIII. Sally Ann Van Voorhees ( third child of No. VII) was born October 20, 1809. She married Daniel Cunley, and died February 29, 1884.

IX. Court B. Cunley (eldest child of No. VIII) was born November 13, 1838.

S AMUEL VAN COTT (deceased). Among the sturdy, energetic and successful farm- ers of Dutchess county, who thoroughly under- stand the vocation they follow, and conse- quently are enabled to carry on their calling with profit to themselves, was the subject of this sketch, who was actively engaged in agri- cultural pursuits in the town of Lagrange, some fourteen years.

Our subject was born in the town of Dover, Dutchess county, February 8, 1826, and came of Holland lineage. His grandfather, John Van Cott, who was born in Long Island, N. Y., married a Miss Titus, and in their family was Stephen Van Cott, the father of our subject, who was also born on Long Island, and en- gaged in farming, in the town of both Dover and Washington, Dutchess county. He was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Doty, and to them were born the following children: Nelson (deceased), Martha, Jane, George Samuel, and Caroline and Oliver (both de- ceased).

Samuel Van Cott was reared amid the hills of the town of Washington, and there breathed the spirit of freedom and independence which was so largely characteristic of him. He se- cured his education in the common schools, and early in life received a home training upon the farm, which well fitted him for the calling he so long followed. He was born in the town of Dover, but most of his boyhood days were spent in the town of Washington, where he remained until nineteen years of age, when he went to Onondaga county, N. Y., there

conducting a store for a short time. For five years he was engaged in farming in Broome county, N. Y., after which he went to Cali- fornia, where he remained in the mining dis- tricts some three years. Returning to New York State, he again located in Broome county, where for some time he followed agricultural pursuits, and was also engaged in the same oc- cnpation in Herkimer county several years. Later, for seventeen years, he conducted a farm in Onondaga county, but in 1882 he re- turned to Dutchess county, and made his home in the town of Lagrange until his death, which occurred February 6, 1896.

On Long Island in 1860, Mr. Van Cott married Miss Elizabeth R. Velsor, daughter of John Velsor, and the following named five children blessed their union: John, Valentine, Henry R., George S. and Charles P. A stanch adherent to the Republican party. Mr. Van Cott took an active interest in politics.

M ENRY JOSEPH TAYLOR, a highly-re- spected citizen of Poughkeepsie, Dutch- ess county, is a native of New York, born at Highland Falls, December 4, 1862. Many of the ancestors of our subject were natives of Dover, Dutchess county, where his paternal grandfather's birth occurred; but most of his life was passed in Danbury, Conn., at which place he was employed as a hatter.

The father, Ezra Taylor, was also born at Dover, where his early education was received, and for ten years he there worked as a me- chanic, after which he removed to Spuyten Duyvel, N. Y., where he worked at his trade for several years. He then went to West Point, N. Y., where he was employed by the government until 1885, and during the Civil war enlisted there in the Union service, but did not leave that post. For over twenty years he made his home at Highland Falls, N. Y., where he was highly respected by his fel- low citizens. He was a man of excellent edu- cation, with scarcely an enemy in the world, of a retiring disposition, and, though often ten- dered public office. would never accept. At Dover, Dutchess county, Ezra Taylor married Deborah Lee, daughter of Thomas Lee, but she died in April, 1892, leaving five children: Royal E., a carpenter of Peekskill, N. Y. ; Martha A., wife of Capt. H. H. Meeks, of Yonkers, N. Y .; Warren Madison, who is con- nected with the Ansonia Clock Company, of

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

South Brooklyn, N. Y .; Henry J., subject of this review; and William E., head salesman for C. Crum, furniture dealer, at Newburg, New York.

The boyhood days of Henry J. Taylor were spent at Highland Falls, where he at- tended school until sixteen years of age, when he came to Poughkeepsie and for three years worked for his uncle, William Taylor, in the grocery business. He then went to New York City, where he remained five years, being em- ployed by the New York, New Haven & Hart- ford Steamboat Company, and on his return to Poughkeepsie was in the grocery store of R. B. Cary for one year. The following five years he worked for Holmes & Boice, after which he went to Arlington, where he and his uncle, William Taylor, engaged in the grocery trade, under the firm name of Taylor & Tay- lor, for a couple of years. On selling out his interest to his uncle, our subject entered the employ of E. S. Craft, with whom he has re- mained since July, 1894.

On October 24, 1888, at Highland Falls, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage with Miss Olive T. Fanrot, daughter of Capt. Theodore Fanrot, and their union has been blessed with two children: Lee Fanrot, born in July, 1889, and Henry Earle, born in October, 1892. Mr. Taylor has made many friends since coming to Poughkeepsie, and by all who know him he is held in the highest esteem.

D C. TRIPP, M. D., the leading physician and surgeon of the town of Beekman, was born July 6. 1848, at Ithaca, N. Y., the only child of F. W. and Rebecca (Taber) Tripp, the former of whom was a native of Pawtucket, R. I., the latter of New York. The father owned and operated a machine- shop at Ithaca, where the iron work for canal boats, etc., was turned out.

Our subject, after completing his educa- tion at the schools of his native town, entered the office of Dr. S. P. Sackett, where he com- menced the study of medicine. Subsequently he attended Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York City, where he was graduated in 1875. For a time he practiced on Twenty- fourth street, that city, while taking a post- graduate course, but being persuaded by his relatives to return to Ithaca, he did so, and for the following seven years was in active prac- tice there.

While attending medical college in New York, the Doctor met Miss Sarah Elizabeth Sands, daughter of Dr. Samuel Sands, of Darien, Conn., to whom he was married June 5. 1878. On April 3, 1885. he became a resi- dent of the town of Beekman, Dutchess coun- ty, having bought the practice of Dr. Clark A. Nicholson, who soon afterward died. He was the leading physician of the locality, and Dr. Tripp has proven himself a worthy successor. Successful from the start, he has a large and growing practice, not only in the town of Beekman, but in the towns adjacent on the west. He stands high among the medical fra- ternity of the county, and is a member of the Dutchess County Medical Society.

J UDGE ANDREW COLE (deceased). A man's reputation is the property of the world. The laws of nature have forbidden isolation. Every human being either submits to the controlling influence of others, or as a master spirit wields a power either for good or for evil on the masses of mankind. There can be no impropriety in justly scanning the acts of any man as they affect his public and busi- ness relations. If he is honest and eminent in his chosen field of labor, investigation will brighten his fame, and point the path that others may follow with like success. From among the ranks of quiet, persevering, yet prominent citizens there is no one more de- serving of mention in a volume of this charac- ter than Andrew Cole, who departed this life at his late residence in Pleasant Valley, De- cember 3, 1896.

Judge Cole was a native of Dutchess coun- ty, born in the town of Unionvale, July 31, 1825, and was the son of William Cowles (as the name was spelled by his ancestors). The father was also born in the town of Unionvale, the date of his birth being October 14, 1790, and was the only child of John M. Cowles, who was of Holland descent, and a prominent farmer of Unionvale town, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. They were earnest members of the Society of Friends. William Cowles was united in mar- riage with Miss Charlotte Lake, who was born September 30, 1792, in the town of Lagrange, Dutchess county, where herfather, James Lake, was a lifelong agriculturist. The young couple began housekeeping upon a farm in Lagrange town, and later became residents of the town

Tripp. M.D.

B-1

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of Unionvale, and upon the old homestead there the father died February 20, 1845; his wife passed away February 23, 1871. They, too, were members of the Society of Friends, as were also the maternal grandparents of our subject, and in politics the father was a Dem- ocrat.

Andrew Cole, whose name opens this sketch, was the fifth in order of birth in the family of seven children, the others being Milton, who engaged in farming in the town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, where his death occurred; James, who followed the same pursuit in Lagrange town, where he died; Parleman, a conductor, who died in Pennsyl- vania; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Jar- vis Emigh, a miller and the postmaster at Hyde Park, Dutchess county, and now makes her home in Poughkeepsie; Mitchell, who is engaged in wagon making; and William H., who at one time followed carpentering in Dutchess county, later in Brooklyn, where he died.

In the usual manner of farmers' boys our subject spent his boyhood and youth, receiving his literary education in the old district school, and at the Nine Partners School, in which he taught for a time. He then entered the law office of Varick & Eldridge, Poughkeepsie, where he remained some time, from there proceed- ing to LaCrosse, Wis., where he was admitted to the bar, and tried his first suit in that now thriving city. It was then a mere hamlet, the houses being all made of logs, and he built the first frame house on what is now Second street. He was also one of the first lawyers of Winona, Minn. ; here he was appointed district attorney, and afterward elected probate judge of Winona county, there remaining until 1857, when on account of ill health he returned to Pleasant Valley, where he passed his declining days. While a resident of Winona he was one of its most active and influential citizens, and served as attorney for the owners of the city.

In 1852 Judge Cole was united in marriage with Miss Sarah A. Mastin, a native of New York City, and a daughter of James B. Mastin, who finally became a resident of Pleasant Valley, where his death occurred. The an- cestors of the Mastin family were from Eng- land. By the union of our subject and wife were born three children: Lilly N., Zoda A. and Wilhelmina, all of whom died in child- hood.

Although Judge Cole was not engaged in

active practice of law after his return to Dutch- ess county, his services were, nevertheless, frequently sought in legal matters, and he took a lively interest in everything pertaining to the legal fraternity. He was prominently identi- fied with the Democratic party, but was never prevailed upon to accept office, though often urged to do so. His estimable wife holds membership with the Presbyterian Church, but he always adheres to the faith of his an- cestors, being a Friend to the day of his death. In the taking away of Judge Cole, the Dutchess county Bar has lost one of its most able members; Pleasant Valley, one of its most prominent and most highly esteemed citizens; and those of his own household, a genial companion and sympathetic adviser.

J OHN C. SICKLEY, the city librarian of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, is a native of Springfield, N. J., born August 29, 1855, and is descended from John Sickley, Sr., a sea captain, of Holland birth. John, Sr., was married in Holland; his wife was drowned at sea. Their only child, John Sickley, Jr., was born at Schooley's Mountain, N. J., and in that State engaged in agricultural pursuits. By his marriage with Sarah Allen he became the father of nine children: Margaret: James; John, who was shot during the Revolutionary war, at Millstonebridge, N. J .; Archibald, the grandfather of our subject ; William; Catherine; Obediah: Eliza and Robert.

By occupation the grandfather was a farmer and successfully followed that pursuit in New Jersey, his native State. but his death oc- curred in California. He was united in mar- riage with Miss Sarah Hazen, of the same State, and they became the parents of six children: John C., the father of our subject; Ziba H., who was a merchant of Spring- field, N. J .; Jane, who married Theodore Pearson, a farmer, millwright and county judge of Union county. N. J. ; Clarissa, who wed- ded Halsey Burnett, a boot and shoe mer- chant; James, a farmer of New Jersey: and Andrew J., a farmer of the Empire State.

The father of our subject was born in Spring- field, N. J., and was reared on a farm in that State. On reaching manhood he there kept a country hotel for some time. The lady who became his wife bore the maiden name of Mary. C. Bradbury, and she was also a native of Springfield. Her father, Samuel Bradbury,

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

was a paper manufacturer of that place, and was the son of John Bradbury, who was born in England and sent out by that country to travel through America and report on the condition of the country. He published a work on his trav- els, entitled. "Bradbury's Travels in America in 1809-10 -11." After their marriage the par- ents of our subject located on a farm in Spring- field, where six children were born to them, namely: Ellen and Clarissa, both of whom died in childhood; John C., subject of this review; George, who died while young; and James and Mary, who are living with their mother upon the old homestead. The father, whose life was passed in farming and hotel keeping, died in August, 1865. In politics he was an unswerving Democrat, and held sev- eral important offices in his locality.

Our subject spent his early days upon the home farm, aiding in its operation, and attending the district schools of the neighborhood; his edu- cation, however, was completed in the schools of Poughkeepsie, where his mother removed with her family in 1870. He began the study of law with Judge Nelson, and later was with Mr. Crummey. On being admitted to the bar in 18;7. he began the practice of his chosen pro- fession, which he continued for some time; but in 1883 was appointed city librarian, and is still serving in that capacity to the satisfaction of all concerned.

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Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 70

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