Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 93

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

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married Josephine Way, of Mabbettsville, and had one child, Laura Jennette, that was left an orphan at an early age, its father and mother both dying. (2) J. Van Ness is next in order of birth. (3) Elizabeth, born Febru- ary 25, 1826, became the wife of James Fry, a farmer, of the town of Dover, and to them was born a son, Frank, who married Miss Emma J. Wing, and has two children.

J. Van Ness Dutcher was born January 31, 1823, in the town of Dover, where on reach- ing a sufficient age he attended the public schools, and, like his ancestors, has devoted his time and energies to the cultivation of the soil. He is public-spirited and progressive, taking a genuine interest in the enterprises set on foot for the advancement and welfare of his native county.

Mr. Dutcher was united in marriage with Miss Harriet M. Benson, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Benson, farming people of the town of Dover. Five children came of this union: (1) Mary Estella, born in February, 1863, 1s the wife of Alfred Still, a carpenter of White Plains, Dutchess county, and they have one child-Ida F., born July 26, 1883. (2) Ber- tha E., born October 22, 1867, is the wife of George Cutler, a postal clerk of New York City, and they have one child-Ethel, born November 26, 1891. (3) Harriet V., born January 13, 1871, is the wife of Elmer Dutcher, an agriculturist, and they have one child- Mabel, born September 10, 1895. (4) Van- Ness, born April 2, 1874, a farmer by occupa- tion, married Amelia Rozell, daughter of Obed Rozell, by whom he has one child-Mary, born February 15, 1895. (5) Cora, born October 27, 1876, completes the family.

J OHN CORNELL SHEAR was for many years one of the most prominent and influ- ential citizens of the town of Lagrange, Dutchess county. He was born in that town- ship, October 12, 1811, and is the son of John C. and Margaret (Cornell) Shear, the former born November 21, 1776, and the latter Au- gust 25, 1781. The parental household in- cluded six children: Anna, born October 31, 1800, died January 8, 1891; Catherine E., born April 8, 1803, died in December, 1888; Israel J., born February 26, 1806, died July 7, 1821; John Cornell, subject of this review; Abraham, born October 8, 1815; and Sarah,

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born December 3, 1818. The father owned and operated a farm in the town of Lagrange, where his death occurred August 14, 1825, and his wife, who long survived him, passed away November 25, 1868.

The educational advantages of our subject were good for that early day, as he supplemented the knowledge acquired in the district schools of his native township by a course in the Jacob Willets Boarding School, in the town of Wash- ington, Dutchess county. He also early be- came familiar with the labors of the farm, and in connection with his brother Abraham oper- ated land in Lagrange town until 1888, when their interests were separated, and our subject removed to his present farm in the same town- ship. He has always been an energetic, pro- gressive man, and secured through his efforts a handsome competence.

On April 27, 1876, Mr. Shear was united in marriage with Catherine L. Pierce, who is of French ancestry, and a daughter of Caleb Pierce, of Fishkill, Dutchess county. One child blessed this union, Anna. Mr. Shear is recognized as one of the valuable mem- bers of the community, giving his support and encouragement to those enterprises calculated for the general welfare, and has ever been held in the highest respect and esteem by his fellow citizens. While engaged in active busi- ness, he was one of the most noted stock-rais- ers of Dutchess county, giving special atten- tion to the raising of cattle and sheep. On February 16, 1874, he sold in the New York market a couple of "Durhams," weighing 4.616 pounds, for $450. His sheep were of the Southdown and Cotswold breeds, for which he received first premium at the county fair held at Poughkeepsie.

Johannes Shear, the great-grandfather of our subject, was born in 1718, in Germany, and came to America in 1751. His son, John C. Shear, grandfather of our subject, was born in America, in 1751.

J OHN WOODBURY PUTNAM (deceased).

The thanks of a grateful nation are due to the heroes who, in their country's hour of peril, went forth in defense of the Union, and beneath the burning rays of the Southern sun displayed their loyalty to the " flag of the free heart's hope and home." The gentleman whose name introduces this review belonged

to that noble army that proved the country's salvation, and he well deserves a place on the pages of its history.

The earliest ancestors of the Putnam fam- ily in this land was John Putnam, who, in 1634, came to America from Buckinghamshire, England, bringing his wife, Priscilla, and his three sons - Thomas, Nathaniel and John. The sons grew to manhood in Salem, Mass., and became the owners of large estates. In 1681 the three paid one-seventh of the total tax to Church levied on the ninety-four tax- payers in Salem village. Thomas Putnam was twice married, his second wife being Mary Veren, the daughter of a large ship owner. In the family of Thomas Putnam was a daughter who was one of those accused of witchcraft in 1692, and only saved her life by fleeing into the wilderness until the search was given up. His son, Joseph, born in 1670, married, in 1690, Elizabeth, daughter of Israel Porter, and among their eleven or twelve children was Israel Putnam, well-known and endeared to every American for his gallant services during the Revolutionary war-a general who " dared to lead where any dared to follow." He was born July 7. 1718, and died May 19, 1790. His wife was Hannah Pope, a sister of John Pope, with whom, in 1739, Israel Putnam bought a large tract of land in Connecticut. David, a lineal descendant, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was a native of Massachusetts; but his active business life was spent in farming in New Hampshire. He, too, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and fought at Bun- ker Hill. By his marriage with Miss Phæbe Woodbury he had a family of six children -- three sons and three daughters-of whom John Putnam, the father of our subject, was the youngest. The latter was born and reared in the Old Granite State, and remained upon the home farm, in Croydon, Sullivan county, dying in that town in 1885. He married Al- mira French, whose death occurred in 1862. Seven children were born to them: James, a Universalist minister, who for fifteen years preached at Danvers, Mass., and was the father of two children - Eliza and James H. ; Lucy, widow of the late T. C. Eastman, a successful cattle dealer of New York City; John W., of this review; Franklin (deceased), who was an attorney at Kansas City, Mo. ; Ellen (deceased); Nathaniel French, formerly an Episcopal min- ister, and who died at Salt Lake City, leaving four children - Graham, an attorney at Salt

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Lake City, married and has one son, John; John F. (deceased), Louisa and Ella; and George F., a banker and attorney at Kansas City, Missouri.

On April 6, 1825, in Croydon, Sullivan Co., N. H., John Woodbury Putnam was born, and in the district schools and academy he secured a good practical education. He was married in his native town to Laura S. Hall, a daughter of Carlton and Rhoda (Fos- ter) Hall, and they became the parents of three children: Minnie, now the wife of Howard Kinney, a farmer in Stanford town- ship, by whom she has two children-Laura and Roswell P .; Katharine B., wife of Harry B. Conklin, traveling salesman for the Ameri- can Brush and Broom Co., of New York; and Drury W., deceased.

Carlton Hall, the father of Mrs. Putnam, was the son of James and Hulda (Cooper) Hall, the former of whom was a soldier in the Rev- olutionary war, and the latter a descendant of Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Carlton Hall, a farmer and cattle dealer by occupation, married Rhoda Foster, by whom he had three children: Carl- ton F. died when about fifty years old, leaving five children; Mary Ann died at the age of ten years; and Mrs. Putnam. The mother died in 1838; the father on April 28, 1856. The Halls are descended from Edward Hall, who came from England to Duxbury, Mass., in 1636.

After his marriage Mr. Putnam lived upon a farm in Croydon, Sullivan Co., N. H., where he resided thirteen years previous to his coming to Amenia, N. Y. Before his marriage he had taught school winters, and assisted his father on the farm summers. In 1861, when the news spread throughout the North that Sumter had been fired upon, the martial spirit that had animated the breast of the much- loved "Old Put" stirred the pulses of this younger generation, and John Woodbury Put- nam enrolled his name as a member of the 6th N. H. V. I., commanded by Gen. Burnside, and was commissioned captain of Company G, which he had enlisted in his own county; but while in the swamps of North Carolina, he contracted typhoid pneumonia, and in 1863 was honorably discharged and returned home. He participated in a number of skirinishes, and in the battles of Roanoke Island and Falmouth, Va., at the latter of which he was slightly wounded. In February, 1866, he came to Amenia, Dutchess county, and made it his

home until his death, which occurred February 5, 1897.

In politics Mr. Putnam was an earnest ad- vocate of the principles of Democracy; served his town as supervisor, assessor and commis- sioner, and was frequently called upon to pre- side at Democratic conventions. He once ran for Assembly in the First District of Dutchess county, and his great personal popularity nearly overcame the heavy normal majority. Fraternally, he is connected with Mt. Vernon Lodge, F. & A. M., at Newport, N. H. He was a man of strong convictions of his own, and knew how to respect the opinions of others; quiet and reserved in manner, a true friend, and in all the relations of life he dis- charged his duties with loyalty and fidelity. A man whose word was as good as a bond, who made no boast of his religion, but practiced it in his every-day life.

R OBERT D. BUTLER, a well-known ag- riculturist residing near Chestnut Ridge, Dutchess county, is one of the most active and influential workers in local affairs in that lo- cality. He is a native of Dutchess county, born and reared in the town of Unionvale, and he began his business career in Dover town in early manhood as a merchant. After some years in that calling, he engaged in agriculture at his present farm. Politically he has always been a supporter of the principles of the Re- publican party, and he has held various town- ship offices. He is actively interested in the Masonic order, being a member of Dover Lodge No. 666, of Dover Plains, with the rank of Master Mason. His life has so far been spent in single blessedness.

The first ancestor of his family to come to America was his great-grandfather, Sam- uel Butler, a native of England, who lo- cated in, Rhode Island for a time, and then moved to a farm in the town of Unionvale, Dutchess county, where his last years were spent. His son, Daniel Butler, married Mary Hoxsie, and had five children: (1) Allen mar- ried Sarah Crouse; (2) Samuel, Eliza Fowler; (3) Peter, Mary Haight; (4) Elizabeth died in early youth; and (5) Joseph married Amy Wolley.

Peter Butler, our subject's father, was born in the town of Unionvale, Dutchess county, December 10, 1799, and was educated in the common schools of that section. He learned

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the carpenter's trade and worked at it until his marriage, when he engaged in farming. This occupation he followed for many years success- fully, and he became a leading citizen of his locality, and was one of the strongest adher- ents of the Republican party there. His wife was Miss Mary Haight, daughter of Robert and Phobe Haight, of the town of Washing- ton; seven children were born at the old home- stead in Unionvale, and received the best edu- cation that the common schools of that neigh- borhood afforded. (1) Elizabeth has taught school for some time in Dover, and is regarded as one of the most successful educators of that town. She and her sister Julia, the second in order of birth, have, like their brother Robert, the third child and first son, chosen to remain unmarried. (4) Joseph H. engaged in farm- ing, but some years later learned the black- smith's trade and opened a shop at New Mil- ford, N. Y., where he now resides. He mar- ried Maria Underhill, and has seven children: Peter, John, Minnie, Ella, Joseph, Irene and Frank, none of whom is married except Peter, who wedded Hattie Gray and has two chil- dren-Townsend and Oscar. (5) Benjamin F., a farmer by occupation, is now married. (6) Rhoda J. married John Vincent, a promi- nent resident of Poughkeepsie, who for some time held the offices of justice of the peace and county clerk. They had four children born and educated in Poughkeepsie. (a) Ella married Obed Vincent, a farmer of Dover, and has one child, Hazel. (b) Minnie married Charles Andrews, a farmer in the towns of Lagrange and Unionvale, and has four chil- dren: Bessie, Gordon, Mabel and Norman. (c) Walter and (d) Elisha V. are not married. (7) Peter died at the age of fourteen.

On the maternal side Mr. Butler is a de- scendant of the Haight family, which has long been prominent in Dutchess county. His grandfather, Robert Haight, was born and reared in the town of Washington, and estab- lished himself in business at Mabbettsville as a merchant and hotel keeper. He and his wife, Phoebe (Tripp), reared a family of ten children: Concerning (1) Seneca, (2) Edward, and (3) Josiah, no particulars are given. (4) Morris married Miss Howell, and had three children: Theron, Julia and Alvira. (5) Neil- son married Miss Hoffman, and had five chil- dren-Milton, Robert, Abraham, Hoffman and Edward. (6) Deborah, who was born in the town of Washington, married Dr. Benjamin

S. Wilbur, a leading physician and surgeon of Pine Plains, and they have nine children: Robert, William, Francis, Benjamin, Theron (married), Kate (Mrs. Fred Lewis). Charles, Maggie (Mrs. Williams), and Henry, who is not married, is a physician and surgeon in Pine Plains. (7) Julia was born in Mabbetts- ville, and married Jacob Sparks. Two sons were born to them-Homer and Cornelius- who, at the breaking out of the Civil war, en- tered the army with their father, and all three lost their lives in defense of the Union. Mrs. Sparks married a second husband, Henry Davis; a carpenter in Poughkeepsie, and they have one daughter, Lizzie, now the wife of John Propson, of Poughkeepsie, and the mother of five children. (S) Mary married Peter Butler, our subject's father. (9) Eliza- beth married Cornelius Lamoreaux; and (10) Milton married Miss Howell.

A NDREW C. SMITH, a leading merchant of Bangall, Dutchess county, was born July 26, 1865, in the town of Pleasant Valley, where his ancestors were among the early set- tlers. The late William S. Smith, his father, was a lifelong resident of that town, and he and his wife, formerly Loretta Husted, had been active members of the M. E. Church for many years previous to their death. They had five children: Egbert and Mary (both de- ceased), Jane (who married Daniel Albertson), William, and Andrew C.

Our subject spent his boyhood days in his native town, attending the district school, and later engaged in clerking as the best possible training for a mercantile career. After one year at Salisbury, Conn., one at Cold Spring, N. Y., and three in Bangall, he opened his present store, where he carries a line of gen- eral merchandise, his fine business ability and high character winning for him a constantly growing trade. He was married December 4. 1892, to Miss Martha D. Millis, a daughter of William Millis, a well-known resident of Ban- gall.

In politics he is a Democrat, and he is among the foremost among the younger local workers. In 1893 he was elected clerk of the town of Stanford, and has since filled the posi- tion with marked satisfaction to the public. Socially, he belongs to the K. of P., Pough- keepsie Lodge No. 43.

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A UGUSTUS HOLDRIDGE, one of the leading and representative citizens of Dover Plains, Dutchess county, is now con- nected with G. D. Chapman, in the firm of C. E. Buckley & Co., manufacturers of the Buck- ley water device. The Holdridge family has long been prominently identified with the in- terests of Dutchess county. Dr. Augustus Holdridge, the grandfather of our subject, was a well-known physician practicing in Union- vale and Beekman towns. He was born at Spencertown, Columbia Co., N. Y., and was very prominent in Masonic circles; the apron which he wore at his lodge is still in the pos- session of the family. He had six children, namely: Standish; Myron, the father of our subject; Peter, who married Mrs. Margaret Friday; Mrs. Elsie Sweet; Harriet, who mar- ried James Hamblin; and Betsy, who died in 1896. The last named was the wife of Sey- mour Tomlinson, proprietor of a hotel at Washington Hollow, Dutchess county, who died in 1856. Until recently the county fair was held upon his land.

Myron Holdridge, the father of our subject, was born in the town of Dover, Dutchess coun- ty, in 1806, was there educated, and followed farming. He held membership with Dover Plains Lodge No. 666, F. & A. M., and was the oldest member of the Sons of Temperance in the community, being a charter member of the lodge to which he belonged. He was Democratic in politics, and at one time he was elected coroner, but would not qualify, as he cared nothing for public office. He died Octo- ber 30, 1889. He married Miss Lucina Til- ton, a daughter of Daniel and Lucy (Salisbury) Tilton, of Deerfield, Oneida Co., N. Y., who removed to Dover Plains when she was but two years old. Her father was three times married, his first union being with a Miss Wilbur, by whom he had two sons, Peter and Wilbur. By his second wife, Lucy, he had two daughters, Lucina and Mary. His third wife, who bore the maiden name of Abi- gail Foss, was the sister of Rev. Job Foss, a Baptist minister of Dutchess county. Mrs. Holdridge died May 31, 1895.

Augustus Holdridge, the subject of this sketch, who is an only child, was born at Dover Plains, Dutchess county, January 5, 1846, and there received his literary training. He followed farming until 1869, when he turned his attention to railroad work, at first being employed on the Harlem road, but later

was with the Long Island Railroad Co. for about sixteen years as conductor. Like his father and grandfather before him, he is iden- tified with the Masonic fraternity, having joined Dover Plains Lodge No. 666, F. & A. M., in 1868, but is now connected with Peconic Lodge, of Greenport, Long Island. Like his father, he is a Democrat.

Mr. Holdridge was united in marriage, Sep- tember 8, 1870, with Miss Ruth Rosalie Gid- ley, who was born at Hanover, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., December 3, 1848, and they have become the parents of six children, namely: Grace, born July 9, 1872; Myron T., who was born December 9, 1874, and died September 28, 1875: Augustus, born October 16, 1876; Harvey G., born October 4, 1880; Frank H., born June 11, 1884; and Henry E., born Au- gust 20, 1889.

Jonathan Gidley, the grandfather of Mrs. Holdridge, was born and educated in the town of Lagrange, Dutchess county, and was a farmer by occupation. His political support was given the Democratic party. He wedded Miss Mary Hall, and to them were born nine children: Elizabeth, who married John A. Van- Vlack; Waite, who married Richard Ferguson; Mrs. Ruth Moe; Mrs. Polly Morey; Rebecca, who died unmarried; Henry, who wedded Mary Kelley; Hall, who married Currence A. Daton; Jonathan, who married Jane Kelley; and Tim- othy.

Timothy Gidley, the father of Mrs. Hol- dridge, was a native of Dutchess county, born in the town of Lagrange, August 27, 1806, and, like his father, engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was a stanch Democrat in poli- tics, but cared nothing for the honors or emolu- ments of public office. A great Church worker, he always took part in the progress of the Methodist Church, of which he was a promi- nent member in Chautauqua county, where he removed soon after his mårriage, which oc- curred August 27, 1831, Miss Mary Christie becoming his wife. She was the daughter of Leonard and Ruth Christie, of the town of La- grange, Dutchess county. By this union there were six children, all born in Hanover town- ship, Chautauqua county. Catherine R., born October 4, 1835, died unmarried at the age of twenty-seven years; Hall, born August 27, 1838, a carpenter by trade, married Miss Lu- cinda E. Smith, daughter of Daniel C. and Cordelia Smith, agriculturists of Hanover town- ship; Henry R., born October 10, 1840, also

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a farmer, married Miss Ella D. Kewley, daugh- ter of John and Dorcas Kewley, farmers of Hanover township; Mary A., born November 16, 1843, died September 29, 1844: Harvey J., born November 22, 1846, engaged in mer- chandising in Dunkirk, N. Y., and married Miss Nettie M. Ellis, daughter of Frank and and Abi Ellis, of Forestville, N. Y., by whom he has one son, Ellis Harvey, born June 28, 1885: Ruth Rosalie, the wife of our subject, completes the family.

L EONARD D. HALL. There is probably no man in the town of Beekman more widely or favorably known than this gentle- man, who is now a resident of Poughquag. In that town he was born December 28, 18II, and is the grandson of William Hall, a native of Rhode Island, who became one of the earli- est settlers of the town of Beekman, where he followed farming throughout life, dying in 1822.

Our subject's maternal grandmother was a daughter of Simeon Draper, a native of Mas- sachusetts, who prior to the Revolutionary war, with thirty-five others, bought near where is now Wilkesbarre, Penn., seventeen town- ships of land. He died there, however, very soon after his settlement on the place, and later the family were driven away by the In- dians. Many years afterward our subject, then a lad of seventeen summers, accompanied by his mother, drove with a team from Union- vale, Dutchess county, over to this property with the intention of trying to recover at least a portion of it; but as the records had been destroyed nothing could be done. Mr. Hall says the trip was an arduous one, occupying some two weeks, and adds that it was the only time he ever felt homesick.

Israel Hall, the father of our subject, was born in the town of Beekman, Dutchess county, the second son in the family of ten children of William and Mary (Vail) Hall, and his educa- tion was secured at the district schools of the neighborhood. He married Catherine Albro, a native of Rhode Island, and a daughter of Benjamin and Eleanor (Draper) Albro, and nine children blessed their union, as follows: Amy, who died unmarried at the age of eighty- eight years; Eleanor, widow of Isaac Northrup; Mary and Leonard D. (twins), the former being the wife of John Townsend; Margaret, living at Unionvale, on the old homestead;

Maria Ann and Draper, both deceased; Rutsen S., a prosperous farmer, living on the old homestead in Unionvale; and Richard V., de- ceased. With the exception of two years passed in the town of Clinton, Dutchess county, Israel Hall devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits in the town of Beekman. In the war of the Rebellion he had been com- missioned a lieutenant, and received 160 acres of land from the government for his services. In politics he was an Old-line Whig.

Leonard D. Hall, the subject of our sketch, received a liberal education at the district schools of his native place, and remained un- der the parental roof until he was thirty-seven years of age. After he became of age he re- ceived $100 a year for his time, his father giv- ing his note for the same, which note our sub- ject deposited in a crack in the old house, where it remained one year, and was then paid. In the fall of 1849 Mr. Hall was married to Maria Lossing, a cousin of Benson J. Lossing, the historian. In the fall of 1884, she was called from earth, and February 4, 1886, Mr. Hall married Harriet Eliza Hurd, daughter of Benjamin D. and Mary (Campbell) Hurd, both natives of the town of Pawling, Dutchess county, where they passed their entire lives, the father dying June 16, 1872, in the seventy- eighth year of his age, the mother passing away January 7, 1882, at the age of eighty- one. They were highly respected farming people, and Mr. Hurd was a stanch Repub- lican in his political preference. They had a family of seven children, as follows: Archi- bald C., who, when twenty years old, died January 18, 1842, in Cuba, whither he had gone for the benefit of his health; William T., who married Mary Cook, and had three chil- dren (he died June 26, 1854); Harriet Eliza (Mrs. Leonard D. Hall); Mary Jane, who mar- ried Thomas Brill, and died in June, 1893, leaving five children: Edgar I., a farmer in the town of Pawling, who married Caroline Howard, and has four children; Eustacia A., who married Gerome Dodge (now deceased), and had one daughter, Effie, who died when eight years old; and Julia G., who married James Longhead (now deceased), and lives in Pawling with her only child, Robert. To our subject and his wife have been born no chil- dren.

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Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 93

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