USA > New York > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and family history of New York, Volume III > Part 10
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in public office, but always for public good and not for self- aggrandizement, as his record abundantly proves. He moved to Greenwich village in the ninth ward about 1832, residing on Hammond street, now Eleventh street. He was elected alderman from this ward about 1836, and became president of the common council. He was elected to the state legislature in 1833, during the administration of Governor Silas Wright, with whom he enjoyed intimate relations. He was largely in- strumental in the passage of the Union Ferry bill, which was of great eommereial importance to the city of Brooklyn. He moved to Brooklyn in 1840 and from that time until his death was identified with its interests, and favored every movement tend- ing to its growth and prosperity. He settled on the property of his second wife, Sarah J. Van Brunt, which consisted of a farm of thirty-four aeres lying between Smith and Eighth streets and extending from Gowanns ereek to the Flatbush line. It was on a portion of this farm that the gallant Marylanders who fell at the battle of Long Island were buried. Mr. Talmage was eleeted alderman of the eighth ward of Brooklyn after a resi- dence there of three years and was elected mayor of the eity in 1845. A foundation for a city hall was undertaken during the administration of his predecessor, but for lack of funds only one story of the building was completed, and the debris re- moved, and plans for the present eity hall were made and adopted and the present building was constructed under his administra- tion. Largely through the efforts of Mr. Talmage the debt was liquidated, and not long after the building completed.
The most important work of his life, however, was in eon- neetion with Prospect Park, Brooklyn, of which he was the orig- inator and chief promotor. He introduced and carried through the state legislature the bills of 1858-'59 and '60 for the crea- tion of the park, and was untiring in his efforts until the work
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was fairly under way. The three first commissioners appointed by the legislature were Thomas G. Talmage, E. C. Litchfield and Charles Stanton. When they found they were likely to meet with opposition from the Republican side of the honse, Mr. Stranahan, a Republican, was added to the commission. The conception of the enterprise was due to Mr. Talmage, and this he prosecuted with unabated vigor and energy up to the day of his death, which was caused from a cold contracted while advocating the measure at Albany. Without detracting from the honors awarded to another, they should be equally shared by him who fell at his post of duty a martyr to the cause to which he had devoted the best years of his life. It is noteworthy also that the man who conceived this enterprise was a descendant of one of the oldest families on Long Island, among whose descendants are found some of the brightest and most dis- tinguished statesmen, patriots, orators and learned divines of the country.
Mr. Talmage was three times married. His first wife was Dorothy Miller, daughter of Colonel David Miller, of Morris county, New Jersey. One of her brothers, Hon. Jacob Miller, was a United States senator from New Jersey for about sixteen years, and was the contemporary of Clay, Webster and other distinguished statesmen of that period. Another brother was William Miller, United States minister to France. There were four children by this marriage: David M., Mary Louise, Will- iam Henry and Tunis Van Pelt. Mr. Talmage married second- ly Sarah J. Van Brunt. a daughter of John Van Brunt. and two children were the issne of this marriage: Jane Elizabeth, who married Rev. Henry Vonbac, and Adrian. The third wife of Mr. Talmage was Harriet Joraleman, a danghter of Judge Tenis Joraleman, from whom a principal street in Brooklyn
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derives its name. By this marriage there was one child, Fred- erick T.
Tunis Van Pelt Talmage, fourth child of Hon. Thomas Goyn Talmage, was born in Clinton, New Jersey, in July, 1832, during the temporary sojourn of his parents at that place. Un- til he was eight years of age his childhood was spent in New York city. Since 1840 he has resided in Brooklyn, and was educated at the public schools of the two cities. At the age of seventeen he went to California as one of the "Forty-niners," returning in 1852, richer only in experience. He began busi- ness in Brooklyn that year as a street contractor. He graded Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth avenues and all the streets between First and Ninth streets. In 1857 he started in the retail coal business, and since 1882 has been engaged in the wholesale coal trade.
He was engaged actively in local polities for many years. His first public office was that of supervisor, to which office he was elected from the eighth ward in 1860 for a two-years term, and in 1862 was elected alderman of the same ward, the second year of his term serving as president of the board. He represented the fourth district in the state legislature in 1874-5, introducing and carrying through one of the most important measures ever enacted for the people of Brooklyn, but more especially for his own constituents. This was the readjustment of Prospect Park taxes, which, instead of requiring the few property holders whose property was contiguous to the park to bear the entire burden of taxation, was distributed throughout the entire city. He claimed that as the whole city was ben- efited equally by the park, other property holders should share equally the burden of taxation. By his strenuous efforts to overcome the strong opposition to the measure he made many friends in both parties.
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In 1865 Mr. Talmage came within one vote of receiving the nomination for mayor, his opponent being Mayor Kalbfleisch. HIe ran on the independent Democratic ticket in 1867, but was defeated. From the first day he entered public life he has been actively connected with the Twenty-second Ward Improve- ment Association.
During the Civil war, as one of the supervisors he served on the relief committee which gave genuine assistance to the widows whose husbands were killed on the battle-field. He as- sisted in raising the Fifty-sixth Regiment (of which his brother was major), and was commissioned captain by Governor Mor- gan. He went with his regiment to the front in 1863 during the invasion of Pennsylvania by Lee's army, and remained in active service until all danger was passed, after which he resigned his position.
Until within the past few years he has been actively iden- tified with the Reformed church. Since 1898 he has been con- nected with the Park Congregational church, of which he is a trustee.
He married, in 1853, Magdalene Van Nest de Forest, daughter of John I. de Forest, of New York. Their children are: Magdalene, who married Francis E. Dodge, and has chil- dren named Frank, Linden and Helen; William De Forrest, unmarried; Katherine A., who married William H. Force and has two children,-Katharine and Magdalene.
THE RAPELYE AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
DESCENDANTS OF JORIS RAPALIE, OF LONG ISLAND.
According to recent discoveries, Gaspard Colet de Rapella (of Rapella), the founder of the Rapalye family of America, be- longed to the celebrated Coligny family of France, and was a nephew of Admiral Coligny, who suffered martyrdom for his
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religious belief at the instigation of Queen Catharine, of Na- varre, being one of the victims of the massacre of St. Bartholo- mew. The titles which he bore were Gaspard de Coligny, Mar- quis de Chatillon, Admiral of France, Colonel of French In- fantry, Governor of Picardy, Isle de France, Paris and Havre.
"The house of Coligny was," says a well known authority on French heraldry, "next to those of Montmorency, Rohan, Leval and a few others, and, always excepting the semi-royal house of Lorraine, one of the first in France. The ancestry of the family was traced back to the first Duke of Burgundy. In the sixteenth century they had been a great house for four hundred years and more. They founded the Abbey of Le Mirerir in 1121; those of Montmerle and Crillon in 1202. Humbert de Coligny is said to have followed Conrad III in the second Crusade, but his name does not occur in the Cartulary of Jern- salem or in the lists of Families d'Outre Mer. * *
* The place from which they took their name is a small town or village in the department of Ain on the line from Lyons to Strasburg, some forty miles west of Geneva and twenty-five miles north of Main. About one hundred years before the birth of Ad- miral Coligny the family removed from Coligny to Chatillon- sur-Loing, from which place they took their title. The Ad- miral's father, high in favor with Francis the First, was mar- shal of France, governor of Picardy, lieutenant of the prin- cipality of Orange and the county of Guienne."
Of Admiral Coligny it is said:
"He received in 1577 the Collar of the Order and the com- mand of the French Infantry. He acted against the English at Boulogne and negotiated the treaty which restored the place to the French in 1550. In 1557 he commanded the infantry in the campaign of Lorraine and was engaged in the taking of Metz, Soul and Verdun, and in the sieges of Rodermark, Dam- villiers, Ivry and Montmedy. Fighting under the Duke of Vendome in Picardy, he carried by assault Hesden and Sero- nanne.
"Espousing the cause of the Protestants, he incurred the animosity of Queen Catharine of Navarre, and was assassinated August 24, 1572. The monument erected to his memory recites briefly his virtues, his achievements and the honors he had won. Vol. III-9
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The armorial bearings of this noble family are described as: Coligny-Chatillon : de gueules a l'aigle d'argent becquee mem- bree et couronnee d'azur ongles d'or couronnee, de due centier ; une demi-aigle poses de profil, couronnee de becquee d'azur. Supports : deux limions, d'argent affrontes assis et accoles de gueules. Devise (motto), Je les prouve tous. Issue, an dixieme siecle des comtes souverains de Bourgogne, cette maison illustre a pour chef de nom et d'armes le marquis de Coligny-Chatillon au chateau de Choye, Haute-Saone."
"The origin of the Rapelye family," says a recent writer in the Brooklyn Eagle, "has often been erroneously stated as being of French or Dutch extraction; but the true origin of the family is Italian, they having come from Rapelia, a town in Italy, from which place they emigrated to France in the fif- teenth century. The first mention of the family of which we have any detailed account is Gaspard Colet de Rapella, who was a nephew of the celebrated Admiral Coligny. Gaspard Colet was born in Chatillon-sur-Loing, a town in France, in 1505. He was an officer in the French army, and a staunch Protestant, and during the religious persecutions in that country he was compelled to flee to that haven of refuge, Holland, in 1548. There he settled and married the daughter of Victor Antoine Jansen, or in plain English, Johnson, of Antwerp, and had three children. The first he named after his uncle and himself, name- ly, Gaspard Coligny; the second preserved the family name, Abraham Colet; the third was a daughter, Briekje, and she married her cousin, Victor Honorius Jansen, and had one son, named Abraham, who became an historical painter. He mar- ried the daughter of Hans Loedwiek, of Amsterdam, and had three sons, William, Joris and Antoine.
"The two eldest determined to leave Holland and emigrate to America. They sailed from Rochelle, in France, in 1623, and settled at Fort Orange, now Albany. William died unmar- ried, but his brother, whose full name was Joris Jansen de Rapalie, married Catalyntie Trico, of Paris, France, and, drop- ping the name of Jansen, assumed that of Rapalie, and became the founder of the entire Rapelye family of this country. The younger brother, Antoine, who also emigrated to this country, in 1631, preserved the true family name of Janssen, and was the founder of one branch of the family in this country."
Joris Rapelie removed from Fort Orange to New Amster- dam in 1626, and resided there till after the birth of his young-
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est child. On June 16, 1637, he bought from the Indians 235 acres of land, called Runnegaconck, now embraced within the city of Brooklyn. He became the first settler on Long Island, and his eldest child, Sara, who was born on June 9, 1625, was the first white child born on the island. She married Hans Bergen, and they in turn became the founders of the Bergen family of Brooklyn. Joris was the leading man and took a prominent part in the public affairs of the colony. He died soon after the close of the Dutch administration, his widow sur- viving him many years. Their children were:
I. Sara, born June 9, 1625, married first Hans Bergen, and secondly Tennis Gysbert Bogert.
II. Marritie, born March 11, 1627, married Michael Van De Voert.
III. Jannetie, born August 16, 1629, married Rem Remsen de Breck.
IV. Judith, born July 5, 1635, married Peter Van Nist.
V. Jan, born August 28, 1637, married Marya Maer, and had no issue.
VI. Jacob, born May 28, 1639, was killed by the Indians.
VII. Catalyntie, born March 28, 1641, married Joremus Westenhout.
VIII. Jeronemus, born June 17, 1643, married Annetie, daughter of Van Teunis Dennis.
IX. Annetie, born February 6, 1646, married first Martin Ryerse, and secondly Joost Fransz.
X. Elizabeth, born March 28, 1648, married Cornelius Der- rick Hogeland.
XI. DANIEL, born December 29, 1650, married Sara, daugh- ter of Abraham Clock.
Daniel Rapalie, youngest child of Joris Rapelie, was born on Manhattan Island December 29, 1650, later removed to Brook-
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lyn, and died there December 26, 1725. He was a man of high standing and respectability, and was an elder in the Brooklyn Reformed Dutch church. He married, May 27, 1674, Sarah, daughter of Abraham Martensen Clock. The latter was one of the early proprietors of New Amsterdam. His name appears on an old map of New Amsterdam, the location being Hanover Square, and the tradition being that this name was given to it by the family of Daniel Rapelie, by his wife. Sara (Clock) Rapelie had issue: Joris, born March +, 1675; Daniel; Catha- rine, who married Joseph Van Clief; Annetie; Mary, who mar- ried Elbert Hegeman; Sarah, who married Peter Luyster; and Daniel, born March 5, 1691, who married, October 17, 1711, Aeltie, a daughter of Johannes Cornell. He removed to New- town and bought the farm on Flushing Bay.
Lieutenant Joris Rapelie, eldest son of Daniel and Sara (Clock) Rapelie, was born in Brooklyn March 4, 1675. He was the chief brewer of the town, held the position of lieutenant in his Majesty's forces, and resided in Newtown. In the building of the edifice of the Reformed Low Dutch church congregation of Newtown, December 2, 1731, it is said that "encouraging ad- vance having been made in obtaining subscriptions (amounting to £277 12s.), the congregation, on May 27, 1732, appointed their brethren and faithful friends, Abraham Remsen, Isaac Brogaw. Joris Rapelie, Abraham Lent, Nicholas Berrien and Abrahan Brinkerhoff, a committee to superintend the building of the church, who forthwith entered upon arrangements for the work."
Lieutenant Joris Rapelie married Agnes, daughter of Cor- nelius Berrien. He was a man of education and prominence. In 1669 he settled in Flatbush, and in 1685 removed to New- town, where during the previous year he and his brother-in-law, Abraham Brinkerhoff, bought over four hundred acres of land at the head of Flushing Bay. His wife was Jannetje, daughter
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of Jan Stryker. Lieutenant Joris Rapelie, by his wife Agnes (Berrien) Rapelie, had issue, Daniel, Cornelius, Abraham, Jane, John, Jacob and Jeromns.
DESCENDANTS OF JOHN RAPELYE, FIFTH CHILD OF JORIS.
John Rapelye, fifth child of Lieutenant Joris and Agnes (Berrien) Rapelye, was born June 11, 1711, in the house which his father, Joris, built. This is still standing and in good pres- ervation, being the property of the Elliott family, of Corona. In 1743 John and his brother Jeromus bought the paternal es- tate, which they divided, John retaining the farm more recently occupied by Robert Willett. He died of consumption February 11, 1756. He married, January 12, 1733, Maria, danghter of Abraham Lent, son of Ryck, eldest son of Abraham Rycken, who assumed the name of Lent. Their children were: George, born October 22, 1733; Anna Catrina, born August 10, 1736. who married Jacobus Riker; Abraham, born November 21, 1739; and Daniel, born August 15, 1745, who married Ellen, danghter of William Livisay.
George Rapelye, eldest son of John and Maria (Lent) Rapelye, was born October 27, 1733. After the Revolution he settled at Communipaw, New Jersey, and on March 22, 1791. was accidentally drowned in coming to New York. His remains were recovered and buried at Communipaw. He married Mary, daughter of Colonel Bernard Bloom, of Newtown. His widow died June 4, 1819, aged eighty-six, and was interred at New- town. Their children were: John, born February 7, 1757; Ber- nard, born August 27, 1759; and George, born March 14, 1763. The latter married Anna, daughter of Panl Vandervoort, and being knocked overboard by the boom of a vessel, was drowned in the East river May 28, 1789, leaving issue two sons, George and Paul, the first of whom was also drowned at New York
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several years after. Thus by a singular fatality a father, son and grandson, each bearing the same name, met a watery grave. Paul ocenpied the farm upon Newtown creek formerly owned by Thomas Alsop.
John Rapelye, eldest child of George and Mary (Bloom) Rapelye, was born February 7, 1757. He purchased a farm in Newtown from Captain William Weyman, and resided in the old farm house, which is still standing, being occupied by the son and daughters of his son-in-law, Benjamin Moore. He mar- ried Lemma Boice, of New Jersey, and died April 5, 1829. She died September 15, 1832. They had issue George I., Jacob, Jane, who married Benjamin Moore, and Mary. The eldest son, George I., was born in Nova Scotia, his parents and grand- parents having gone there with many other loyalists at the elose of the Revolution. Both their sons became two of the most prominent members of the Rapelye family. George I., the eld- est son, was born February 7, 1787, and came with his parents to Newtown, first locating for a few years at Bowery Bay, and afterward purchased Captain William Weyman's farm. He lived there for the rest of his life-a period of almost ninety years, dying on April 23, 1883, at the ripe old age of ninety- six years and two months. He was familiarly known as "Unele George," and for the latter part of his life was the oldest in- habitant of the town. He was a vestryman of St. James' Prot- estant Episcopal church of Newtown village, and held that and the office of warden for a period of sixty years. He held sev- eral town offices, notably that of commissioner of highways, and also inspector of turnpikes. He was the last of his gen- eration.
Jacob Rapelye, the second child of John and Lemma (Boiee) Rapelye, was born in Newtown September 8, 1788. When he was twenty-one years of age he became a clerk in the
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United States Bank in New York city, but on the breaking out of the war of 1812 he obtained a commission as first lientenant of artillery, and was very active in the defense of New York city. He was afterward appointed adjutant to General Izard and did active duty throughout the war, and at its close he removed to Charleston, South Carolina, and engaged in the drygoods business. In 1816 he received the appointment of deputy secretary of state of South Carolina. During the in- surrection of the negroes in that state Mr. Rapelye was placed by the governor on a committee of investigation, and he did much in restoring public safety.
In 1828 Mr. Rapelye settled in Brooklyn and made his home at the corner of Atlantic avenue and Clinton street, where the Sonth Brooklyn Savings Bank now stands. After living there for many years he removed to 145 Columbia Heights. When he came to Brooklyn he entered into the real estate business, with Mr. Charles Hoyt as his partner, and he was largely in- strumental in the widening and improvement of Atlantic avenne and in the opening of Clinton and Court streets. He was also interested in the establishing of Sonth Ferry and did much to further the work. In 1837 he invented a machine to clean the streets, the hrooms of which were on long arms which revolved like a windmill; but on its first trial it was destroyed by an angry mob who thought that its nse would throw them out of employment !
Mr. Rapelye, in connection with Cornelius J. Bergen and Alexander Bergen, took a very active part in the opening of that part of South Brooklyn that is near Carroll Park. In 1853 he bought one hundred aeres of land at Newtown and named the tract Laurel Hill. There Mr. Rapelye built himself a fine mansion and made it his home up to the time of his death, Angust 21, 1867. Always of a kindly and charitable disposition,
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he possessed many friends. He was identified with the Protes- tant Episcopal church, and rendered material aid toward the building of St. Luke's, the first St. John's and Emanuel churches of Brooklyn. He married, September 9, 1818, Elizabeth Van Mater, and had issue: Margaret, born December 11, 1819; Lemma Ann, born at Laurel Hill September 17, 1821, and died January 31, 1824; Catharine, born at Charleston, South Caro- lina, December 26, 1822, and died at Newtown December 18, 1895; John, born in Newtown December 30, 1824, died De- cember 10, 1825; Gilbert Van Mater, born at Newtown August 18, 1826, and resides at Rhinebeck, New York; John, born August 4, 1828, and died August 10, 1844; Augustus, born March 29, 1830, and died February 7, 1900; Lemma Ann, born September 11, 1831, and died November 26, 1874; Mary Elizabeth, born June 11, 1833, died May 29, 1866; and Jane Moore, born September 28, 1839, and died September 17, 1883.
Augustus Rapelye, seventh child of Jacob and Elizabethi (Van Mater) Rapelye, was born in Brooklyn March 29, 1830, and died February 7, 1900. After his father's death he re- sided for some years at Laurel Hill, where his father had pre- viously settled. In June, 1885, be married Miss Helen Schroe- der, of Woodside, a daughter of Herman Schroeder, of an old and highly honored family of German descent. Mr. Rapelye in 1890 removed to Newtown village and purchased the Sackett- Moore place, where he resided until his death. For many years he conducted a real-estate business in New York, but about 1890 he retired from active business life and occupied his time with his many home pursuits. He was a public-spirited man and took an active interest in town and church affairs. For a number of years he was a member of the board of education for district No. 1 of the old town of Newtown, and on the re- tirement of Judge Garretson from the presidency of the board
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he was elected to that position, continuing until the consolida- tion of the town with Greater New York. He took a great in- terest in the school and was a most active and useful member of the board. In church affairs he was one of the most distin- guished laymen in the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Long Island. For some years he was warden and treasurer of St. James' church, of Elmhurst, of which he had been a faithful member for many years, and was the chairman of all the im- portant committees of the vestry of that church. He was a member and secretary of the standing committee of the diocese of Long Island, and was one of its trustees as well as a member of the missionary committee. He was a lay delegate from St. James church to the arch-deaconry of Queens and Nassan in 1898, and was a delegate to the general convention of the Prot- estant Episcopal church in America, held in Washington, D. C. He was treasurer of the jubilee fund of thirty thousand dollars, which was added to the Episcopal fund of the diocese to cel- ebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Bishop Littlejohn's epis- copate. Mr. Rapelye was an intimate and confidential friend of the bishop, and was greatly respected and esteemed by all the clergy throughout the diocese.
At the time of Mr. Rapelye's death the standing committee of the diocese of Long Island paid a graceful tribute to his mem- ory by a series of resolutions, beautifully engrossed, which were presented to his widow. The following, from these, show the estimate in which he was held by his associates in the diocese : "A layman of such exalted personal worth; so useful to the com- munity, so devont and helpful as a son of the church; so ambi- tions for the extension of the heavenly kingdom-was truly an important factor in any diocesan life; was an enthusiastic friend and supporter of all measures and agencies which he believed
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