USA > New York > Columbia County > History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 56
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Mr. Hoysradt is not wholly absorbed in business : while these varied interests occupy his chief attention, he has also a taste for general literature and art, and enjoys with a keen zest the amenities of social and domestic life. The beauty and the pleasures of home are not neglected, and in his intercourse with friends he is one of the most social and hospitable of men.
Mr. Hoysradt was united in marriage to Caroline, daugh -. ter of the late Charles McArthur, of this city, in 1853, and by this union has one son and three daughters living.
IION. SAMUEL ANABLE
was well known as a business and public man in the city of IIudson for many years. He was born in Haddam, Conn., March 20, 1786, and after spending a short time in New London, came from that city to Hudson in his youth, and learned the trade of a currier with Mr. Hopkins, then residing here. He was married in 1805 to Nancy Cary, of Middle Haddam, Conn., and about 1810 established the leather business on the public square, in the city of Hudson, where he continued in business till 1835, at which date he sold a part of his business to his son, John S. Anable, and discontinued it entirely in 1837.
At this period other interests began to engross his atten- tion. He became interested in farming, in the West Stock- bridge Marble Association, and in the Hudson and Berk- shire railroad, now the Hudson branch of the Boston and Albany railroad. In each of these corporations he was an active member and director, and was also for many years a director of the Hudson River Bank. He was a man of in- defatigable industry and euterprise, and, by the large and successful business interests which he conducted, became quite wealthy.
He was a Democrat and a politician of much ability and sagacity. In the Jackson campaigns of 1828 and 1832 he was very active, and was a friend and supporter of Van Buren in 1836. In 1832 and 1833 he was elected mayor of the city of Hudson, the duties of which office he ably discharged, and to which he was again elected in 1843.
Mr. Anable was a man of strict integrity, strenuously honest and upright in all his dealings and relations. He was also a man of great force and strength of character,- too candid and honorable to equivocate or deny his honest convictions, and too generous and catholic to disrespect the honest convictions of others. Early in life he was not a professor of religion, but he was subsequently converted, and became a member of the First Presbyterian church of Hudson. The account which we have seen of his con- version says, " The impression of his conversion was felt through all the town. No man ridiculed it, for no man could deny it. There he stood ; the man whom they had known, the proud man, the man of the world, transformed
1)Harenado, / -
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
into the humble, zealous Christian. He came forward, with many others, and publicly professed his allegiance to Christ. He was ever ready to speak for his Master, in the church, in the streets,-everywhere ; and his words were burning words. He witnessed a good confession. Such was his life; and when at last God called him, how did he mcet death ? Patiently, resignedly ; I may say, almost exultingly. When the last moment came it was one of celestial triumph."' Such is the testimony borne by his pastor.
In January; 1840, Mr. Anable had been injured by a kick from a horse, which permanently lamed him, and was supposed to have hastened his death. He departed this life on the 11th of July, 1846. His wife survived him, and died March 16, 1866.
Of their seven children, only two daughters and their
Sarah Parker, was the oldest daughter of Mighill Parker, who performed valuable service for his country during the War of 1812, and granddaughter of Captain Parker, com- mander of the " minute-men" at Lexington, who left his plow in the furrow on the day of that memorable battle, and led his little army to victory. His father was a lineal descendant of David Williams, one of the captors of André, and of William Williams, one of the signers of the Decla- ration of Independence.
Like most successful editors in this country, Mr. Wil- liams is a self-made man. He was thrown upon his own resources when quite young, but by a strong will, indomi- table perseverance, and industrious habits he mastered all the practical, and many of the intricate, branches of educa- tion, and was never behind his elass. He early manifested a literary taste, and took naturally to the pen. He com-
ALITTLE.
M. PARKER WILLIAMS.
son, Samuel, now remain. The latter, Samuel Anable, the youngest of the family,-his father's successor in the leather business in Hudson from 1838 to 1845,-is now a resident of Albany, where he has carried on the same business since 1846, and is one of the successful business men of that city
M. PARKER WILLIAMS,
editor and proprietor of the Hudson Gazette and Daily Register, was born in Belfast, Maine, on the 24th of Feb- ruary, 1826. His father, Captain John Williams, was a prominent ship-owner and sea-captain of his time, and was largely engaged in the East India and Liverpool trade.
He died in 1831, when the subject of this sketch was five years old. He came from sturdy Revolutionary stock on both the maternal and paternal sides. His mother,
menced writing for periodicals before he reached his eigh- teenth year, and from this source received a considerable income, a large part of which came from good old " Father Norris," editor of the Boston Olive Branch, then one of the leading literary papers of the country, and who took special pride in developing literary talents in the young.
In 1848, at the age of twenty-two, he became editor of the Gazette, at Thomastown (now Rockland), Maine; but aiming for a larger field of labor, he went to Boston in 1850, and was connected with the Herald of that city. In 1851 he was called to Philadelphia, and was there con- nected with the Daily Register.
On the 7th of September, 1857, he purchased the Hud- son Gazette, which was in a decaying condition. He built it up to a paying basis, and on the 26th of May, 1866, established the Hudson Daily Register. He purchased a franchise in the Associated Press, which was a bold venture
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
at that time, but with his experience in journalism, and the facilities at bis command, the success of the journal was assured at the outset; and the result has not disap- pointed his sanguine expectations. Under his lead rural journalism in this section of the State has greatly improved in mechanical appearance, and no small degree of the im- provement in enterprise and energy in Hudson within the last decade may be attributed to the influence of the Gazette and Register.
HON. DARIUS PECK
was born on the 5th of June, 1802, in Norwich, Chenango Co., N. Y. He is the oldest of the six children of Rev. John Peck and Sarah (Ferris) Peck, his wife, and is a lin- eal descendant in the seventh generation of William Peck, who emigrated from England with Governor Eaton, Rev. John Davenport, and others, being one of the prominent founders, in 1638, of the colony of New Haven, Conn. IFis father, in 1804, removed with his family from Norwich, and settled in Cazenovia, then one of the western frontier towns of the State of New York. At that period schools of a higher grade being few and far distant, his advantages for an early education were limited to the common schools of the vicinity until he was about seventeen years of age. Prior to this time, however, his eager desire for intellectual improvement and for a liberal education induced him to devote many of his evenings and much of his few intervals of leisure from farming occupations to the acquirement of general and classical knowledge, and thus, by the aid of ap- propriate books and the occasional assistance of a neigh- boring classical scholar, he became quite proficient in the Latin language, and commenced fitting for college in the autumn of 1819, under Rev. Daniel Hascall and Mr. Zenas Morse, principal of Hamilton Academy, New York. Such preparation continued until the fall of 1822, interrupted by labor upon his father's farm during the summer, and by teaching school in the winter.
In October, 1822, he entered the sophomore class of Hamilton College, New York, and graduated at that insti- tution in August, 1825, ranking among the highest in a numerous class. On leaving college he studied law in the cities of Hudson and New York, under the direction of Hon. Ambrose L. Jordan and William Slosson, and became well qualified for the practice and the discharge of the duties of the legal profession. He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in August, 1828, and in the following year settled as a lawyer in the city of Hudson, N. Y., where he has since resided and continued his professional career.
He is distinguished as a sound lawyer, and an able, safe, and reliable counselor. His high moral character, thorough knowledge of legal and equitable principles, and their ap- plication, together with his long experience, have inspired and secured the utmost confidence of a large clientage in his own and in the adjoining counties. His career has been a busy one, and he has been for many years, and still is, much occupied with the discharge of the numerous and important trusts committed to his care.
In February, 1833, he was appointed by the governor and Senate of the State of New York recorder of the city of Hudson, then a judicial officer, as well as a member of the common council of that city, which office he held until April, 1843. He was for several years city superintendent of schools, and master and examiner in chancery, and in April, 1843, was appointed by the governor and Senate of the State of New York a judge of the court of common pleas of the county of Columbia, N. Y. In November, 1855, he was elected, and in November, 1863 and 1867, re-elected, county judge of Columbia Co., N. Y. He is now, and for several years has been, president of the Hud -. sou City Savings Institution.
Judge Peck has, for a few years past, devoted much of his leisure from professional and official occupations to re- searches relating to the history and genealogy of that branch of the Peck family to which he belongs, and has published a work on that subject exhibiting great thoroughness of research and accuracy of detail, as well as an improvement upon the usual plan of preparing such works.
He was married, Sept. 12, 1836, to Harriet M. Hudson, of the city of Troy, N. Y., who died April 18, 1863, aged forty-nine years, and by whom he had his seven children, all born in the city of Hudson, N. Y., whose records are briefly as follows :
John Hudson, born Feb. 7, 1838; graduated at Ham- ilton College, New York, in 1859; was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in 1862, and settled as a lawyer in the city of Troy, N. Y., where he is one of the law firm of Tracy & Peck, of that city
Horace Robinson, born Dee. 9, 1839 ; graduated at Ham- ilton College, New York, in 1859; was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in 1863; settled as a lawyer in the city of Hudson, N. Y., where he is pursuing the practice of his profession. He was married to Anna Van Deusen, of Greenport, N. Y., Nov. 14, 1867, and has one son, an only child, Bayard Livingston, born Aug. 16, 1869.
Sarah Lucretia, born March 19, 1842; was educated at the Female Seminary, Troy, N. Y .; married Martin Hoff- man Philip, of the town of Claverack, N. Y., Oct. 19, 1859, and died there Oct. 25, 1876. She had children, -Katharine Maud, born in Hudson, N. Y., Sept. 13, 1860; Harry Van Ness, born Aug. 9, 1862, and Laura Johnson, born Dec. 10, 1863; both born in Claverack, N. Y.
Willard, born March 2, 1844; graduated at Hamilton College, New York, in 1864, and was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in 1867. He is practicing his profession in the city of Hudson, N. Y .; was married to Mary Langford Curran, of Utica, N. Y., June 16, 1869, and has had children,-Harriet Hud- son, born in Utica, N. Y., April 2, 1870, and died there April 5, 1870; Philip Curran, born Feb. 7, 1874, and Darius, born May 5, 1877 ; both born in the city of Hud- son, N. Y.
Nora, born Sept. 16, 1846 ; was educated at the Female Seminary, Troy, N. Y .; married Frederick Folger Thomas, of San Francisco, Cal., June 18, 1873. Her children, both
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
born in Oakland, Cal., where she resides, are William Shepard, born March 23, 1874, and Maud Angeline, born Feb. 10, 1876.
Theodosia, boru Oct. 24, 1848, and died in the city of Hudson, N. Y., Aug. 23, 1849.
Emma Willard, born May 9, 1852 ; was educated at the Female Seminary, Troy, N. Y., and resides in the city of Hudson, N. Y.
HON. JACOB TEN BROECK
was born on the 13th of May, 1800, in Clermont, Colum- bia Co., N. Y., where he was reared, and remained ou a farm till 1844, when he removed to the town of Greenport, whence, after a residence of ten years, he removed to the city of Hudson, and has resided here ever since. He is
IION. JACOB TEN BROECK.
the only director of the Farmers' National Bank now living in Hudson who was made such upon the organization of that institution, and he has served continuously in that capacity till the present time.
In 1862 he represented the First Assembly district of the county in the State Legislature. In 1863 and 1864 he was mayor of the city of Hudson, and, on account of the war and other canses, had an unusually responsible and laborious administration. But he performed the duties of his office with ability and credit, such as have always char- acterized his conduct as a publie man and a private citizen. He has been all his life a man of steady habits, industry, and enterprise, and by the application of these qualities to business he has secured an honorable reputation and a comfortable competence.
Mr. Ten Broeck was married, in 1821, to Miss Ann Ben- ner, of Dutchess county, and of the eight children, the fruit of this marriage, five are living at the date of this writing. In 1854 he left the farm ou which he resided, at Greenport, to one of his sons, and came to reside in the city of Hudson, retiring from active business except that required in looking after the interests of the bank. His other son resides on the old homestead in Clermont.
JOHN H. OVERHISER.
Mr. Overhiser was born Jan. 4, 1813, in Dutchess Co., N. Y. His father, George Overhiser, removed to Hills- dale, Columbia Co., when he was quite young. Here he was brought up on a farm, and resided till 1835, when he removed to Cayuga county, where his father died. In 1840 he returned to Hillsdale, where he spent five years in mer- cantile business .:
In 1842 he commenced his political career. Ile was elected justice of the peace for the town of Hillsdale, and served in that capacity eight years. Ile was four terms elected to the board of supervisors, and one year served as chairman of that body. In 1850 he represented the Second Assembly district in the Legislature. In 1867 he wa elected sheriff of the county, and on the 30th of May, 1868 was required, by virtue of his office, to perform the most
JOIN H. OVERILISER.
disagreeable duty of his life,-the execution of Joseph Brown, convicted of the murder of his own child. It was the only case of capital punishment which had ocenrred in the county for fifty-one years.
Previous to filling most of these official positions, and subsequent to his services in the Legislature, Mr. Overhiser was engaged in extensive forwarding and commission busi- ness on the New York and Harlem railroad. He continued this business from 1852 to 1868, at which time he removed to Hudson. He assisted in organizing the present police system of the city, and in 1873 was appointed by the mayor and common council police justice, the duties of which office he is still discharging. He is an efficient and popular municipal officer.
Mr. Overhiser has been three times married, his first and third wives being sisters, Emily and Eliza, daughters of Captain Isaac Downing, of Hillsdale. His second wife was Eliza, widow of William H. Downing, of Hillsdale. He has reared three children, all by the first marriage, two of whom are now living. The Downings are well-known citi- zens of Hillsdale, their ancestors having settled there many years before the Revolution, and the original estate being still in the possession of some of their descendants.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
CHARLES ESSELSTYN.
Charles Esselstyn was the son of Cornelius and Clara Esselstyn, of pure Knickerbocker stock. He was born in Claveraek, in this county, in October, 1803, entered the freshman class of Union College in 1822, and graduated io the same class with Hons. Elias W. Leavenworth and Josiah Sutherland, both from this county.
He died at Hudson, on the 21st day of December, 1868, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. IIe had been for more than forty years a practitioner, and for a considerable por- tion of the time a leading and successful one, at the Columbia bar. He studied law with Hon. Thomas Bay, and was for a time after his admission to the bar his law partner in the city of Hudson. He subsequently removed to the town of Livingston, and having married, in May, 1832, Sarah M., daughter of Rev. Herman Vedder, of Gallatin, he continued the practice of law at the village of Johnstown for about thirty years, first as the law partner of Killian Miller, Esq., and after Mr. Miller's removal to Hudson, of John M. Welch, Esq., and Seymour L. Stebbins, Esq.
While a resident of the town of Livingston, he filled many offices of trust. Was justice of the peace, superiu- tendent of schools, and supervisor, and for several years was chairman of the board of supervisors of Columbia county.
In 1859 he was elected surrogate of the county, and in 1860 he removed to the city of Hudson, where he continued to reside to the period of his death. In 1863 he was re- elected surrogate by a flattering majority in a county hostile to him in politics. He discharged the delicate and import- ant duties of this office with great acceptance to the people of the county, and to all suitors in his court.
Mr. Esselstyn was never ambitious of public distinction, and rather declined than sought occasions to appear before the public. But for a constitutional diffidence he was well calculated to shine as an advocate in the courts.
Judge Henry Hogeboom, on the occasion of the death of Mr. Esselstyn, said, " I was his fellow-pupil at the Hud-
son Academy, and well remember the forensic promise of his early years, and how, in easy, flowing, and graceful elocu- tion, he bade fair to outstrip all his youthful competitors, and he would very probably have done so, but for his native modesty and retiring disposition. He had many of the striking qualities and characteristics of a successful orator: a fine-shaped head, a full and expressive eye, great ease and flow of language, a happy address, quick perceptions, and perhaps, more than all, a power of ready adaptation in con- versation and manner, to the character, tastes, and tone of his audience.
" He was eminently a man of the people, popular with all elasses, but especially so with the great middle class, with whom he was proud to identify himself, and to whom he claimed to belong. Without a touch of aristocracy in his composition, all his feelings and associations and sympathies were with the masses of the people, and he was eminently beloved by them. No man probably ever went to his grave with fewer personal enemies.
" Ile was also a great pacificator. ITis disposition and aim were to settle controversies and re-establish harmony among litigants in the courts, and those who had differences in private life. Hence, in his office of surrogate, his missiou was a most useful and successful one, and in his whole career of private and professional life he left hosts of friends, who look back with sentiments of grateful regard upon his successful efforts to harn:onize and heal their troubles. He died such a death as such a man should die. Patient, re- signed, and contented, he yielded himself without a murmur to the decrees of his heavenly father. Finding death invad- ing the citadel of life with slow but certain step, he reconciled himself to his inevitable fate, and making his peace, as his friends have just reason to hope and believe, with his Maker and Redeemer, he awaited the summons to depart, and when it came sank away peacefully, and without convulsions or a groan, to his final rest."
B. b. Evand
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
HON. CORNELIUS H. EVANS,
son of the late Robert W. Evans, was born in the city of Hudson, N. Y., June 22, 1841. He received the rudi- ments of his education at the common schools, and was also classically instructed at the Hudson Academy and the private institute of Mr. Bradbury in Hudson. Entering his father's mercantile counting-room at the age of nine- teen,-where he remained till his father's death, in 1868,- he had ample experience to qualify him for the responsi- bilities of an active partnership in the firm, which he as- sumed, the business being conducted under the firm-name of Phipps & Evans till 1873. He then purchased the in- terest and real estate of Mr. Phipps in the cities of New York and Hudson, and took into partnership with him Mr. James H. Gaul and Mr. James H. Phipps, the firm-style being C. H. Evans & Co., of which Mr. Evans has since been the active and responsible head. As a business man his career has been remarkably successful. He built his present fine residence on Warren street in 1870, and in 1868 completed a block of stores and dwellings begun by his father.
Mr. Evans was united in marriage in 1864 to Miss Imogene Grant, of Hudson, N. Y., and has two sons, Robert W. and Cornelius H., aged respectively thirteen and eleven years.
In politics he is a Democrat, and as such has held sev- cral responsible positions in the municipal affairs of the city. He was elected alderman in 1869, mayor in 1872; he was re-elected to the mayoralty in the fall of 1876, and still holds the office. For two years past he has been a member of the Democratic central committee, and for twelve years secretary and treasurer of the Hudson Aque- duct Company.
Under his administration of the city government marked improvements have been made. The new Hudson water- works, costing originally two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, have been inaugurated and completed, and the present efficient police force of the city established. Under his first administration about half of the city was supplied with sewerage, and other public works improved and new ones originated. It may be said without exaggeration that his activity and public spirit have infused new life into the improvements of the city. He is comparatively a young man, but in point of executive ability, force of character, business enterprise, and honorable dealing he has made a reputation for himself which is highly appreciated by his fellow-citizens.
JOHN GAUL, JR., ESQ.
This veteran member of the bar of Columbia county is a native of the city of Hudson, N. Y. He is of German ancestry on his father's side, and on his mother's of Dutch extraction, being the son of John Gaul and Rachel Miller, daughter of the late Cornelius C. S. Miller, of Claverack. He was born on the 13th day of February, 1809, and has ever since resided in the city of Hudson, where he has practiced law since 1830.
Possessing naturally a vigorous constitution and great strength and acuteness of intellect, he began early in life to
manifest those traits of mind and character which in their maturer development have rendered him eminent as an ad- vocate and jurist. His rudimentary studies were pursued in the excellent public schools of his native city, and were followed by a good academical education, which he com- pleted at the age of fourteen, and in the same year (1823) he began reading law in the office of Campbell Bushnell, Esq., a distinguished lawyer of the city of Hudson. Dur- ing the period of his academic and legal studies he also possessed, in common with the professional men of Hudson and their students, the advantages of an excellent lyceum, known as the "Hudson Forum," which combining literary exercises and the discussion of a wide range of topics, af- forded the young men of that day a superior opportunity, in connection with their seniors and the best talents of the place, to develop their mental powers and train themselves in the art of public speaking. This institution was of great educational advantage, and by none was more highly prized and improved than by young Gaul, whose talents soon be- came conspicuous in its debates.
While pursuing his legal studies he was invited, at the age of eighteen, by a committee of the citizens of Hudson, to deliver the Fourth of July oration on the occasion of the national celebration. On this occasion the Declaration of Independence was read by Colonel Elisha Jenkins, one of the most accomplished gentlemen of his day, and former secretary of state. It was a high compliment to the young orator to be called out amidst such associations, in a com- munity abounding with able and experienced public speak- ers, and shows in what estimate of promise his talents were held by his fellow-citizens even at that early age.
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