History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 101

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 868

USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 101

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The first settlers in Fishkill village, says Mr. Bailey, were Henry Terboss and Henry Rose- krame, but the name of neither appears in the list of the inhabitants in Duchess County, in 1714, though both appear in the list of freeholders in 1740. Terboss, he says, was an eccentric man, and since he locates him where he elsewhere locates Johannes Terboss, (Terbush,) we are inclined to think he has confounded the two names. The name of Johannes Terboss appears in the list of 1714. It is one of varied orthography, and has, says Mr. Brinckerhoff, who pronounces him one of the first representative men in this part of the

* The history of this church is given in connection with the Catholic church in Matteawan.

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TOWN OF FISHKILL.

County, either been changed from its original or otherwise has now become extinct among us. He was an early Justice of the Peace and is spoken of in old manuscripts as being a Judge. He was admitted as a Representative in the Colonial Assembly, May 4, 1717, on the death of Baltus VanKleeck, and was succeeded at his death by Henry Beekman, August 31, 1725. He owned lands about Fishkill village, including the site of the Dutch Church, which was purchased of him.

The Wm. Van Wyck place in the west part of the village, came into the possession of Allard Anthony soon after the Revolution, and is now occupied by the widow of Watson W. Andrews.

East of the old Union Hotel, on the north side of the street, there was only one small house before reaching the Dutch church. It was occupied by Abram Smith, and was recently taken down. East of the church there was but one house on that side of the street till the residence of Mrs. John Van Wyck is reached. The old Van Wyck house, now owned by Sidney E. Van Wyck, was erected in 1737 by Cornelius Van Wyck and has been re- ferred to as the headquarters of the officers of that part of the American army stationed here during the Revolution.

The first settler west of the village was Cornelius Hageman, whose farm of one hundred and thirty acres was purchased April 10, 1739, by John Bailey, (great-grandfather of Henry D. B. Bailey, the historian,) who was born in Westchester county about 1704. Mr. Bailey enlarged the farm by subse- quent purchases to one hundred and ninety-seven acres, and in 1784 it was sold to Robert Brett, Mr. Bailey having removed to Poughkeepsie in 1778. It now comprises two farms, which are owned by Charles C. Rogers and William M. Baxter. Mr. Bailey was a builder in early life, and took con- tracts for building mills in New Jersey. He came to Fishkill about 1730 or '31. The next settler west was James Husey, whose name appears in the list of 1714. He died prior to 1739, and the farm, it is supposed, was purchased from his heirs by Hendrick Kip, who was a freeholder in 1740, and built the house still standing, in the front wall of which is a stone bearing the initials, "H. K." and the date "1753." The house is now owned by the heirs of John Scofield.

MERCHANTS .- The first merchant of whom we have information was John (Johannes) Swart, who, with his son, was doing business prior to and dur- ing the Revolution, in the building which was after- wards many years the residence of Judge Joseph I.

Jackson, in the northwest part of the village, which was known for many years as Swart's Corners. He discontinued mercantile business soon after the close of the Revolution.

Early in the century Cornelius Van Wyck built a store on the vacant site next west of Wakeman's drug store. It was a two story building and was for a long time the largest store in the village. It was afterwards torn down and a fine hall with stores below, erected on its site by James E. Van Steen- bergh. That building was destroyed by the fire of 1873, and was not rebuilt. In May, 1827, Henry D. and Samuel A. Hayt, brothers, and natives of Patterson, Putnam county, engaged in business, under the name of H. D. & S. A. Hayt. In 1867, Samuel, who had succeeded to the business, sold out to his son Wm. B. Hayt and F. R. Benjamin, continuing his residence in the village to the pres- ent time. Messrs. Hayt & Benjamin, the former of whom is a native of Fishkill, and the latter of Beekman, dissolved and divided stock in 1871, both continuing business, Hayt, till the spring of 1880, and Benjamin, to the present time, dealing in dry goods, groceries and crockery.

The present merchants, besides Mr. Benjamin, are : H. F. Walcott, hardware dealer, who is a native of Rhode Island, came here from New York City and established himself in the clothing busi- ness in 1845. In 1867, after having kept the Union Hotel for some years, he established his present business. Augustus Hughson, dealer in stoves and tinware, who has done business here since 1846 ; H. B. Rosa, furniture dealer and un- dertaker, who commenced business in 1860, suc- ceeding his father, John H. Rosa, who carried on the business from 1827, till his death Sept. 1I, 1860 ; DeWitt C. Smith, druggist, a native of Fish- kill, who commenced the hardware business in Jan. 1864. In the spring of 1866, Mr. Smith purchas- ed of Wm. Pelham the building which occupied the site of the present location, and started the grocery business in company with Mortimer Cooper, whose interest he purchased after about seven months. In 1875, Mr. Smith added drugs to his stock ; Geo. E. Everett, grocer, a native of Wappinger, who commenced business in October, 1879 ; Jarvis Washington Cary, grocer, who com- menced in the winter of 1880-'81 ; and Wm. F. Wake- man, druggist, a native of Poughkeepsie, whence he came to Fishkill in the spring of 1881.

PHYSICIANS .- The earliest physicians in Fishkill, it is believed, were the Osborns, James, Peter and Thomas, three bachelor brothers, and sons of Cor-

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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

nelius Osborn, an Englishman, and likewise a phy- sician. Cornelius was born July 13, 1723, and was a surgeon during the Revolution. He died just after peace was assured, Aug. 23, 1782. The Osborn residence was a half mile north of Fishkill village, on what is still known as Osborn Hill. The house was the residence of the late Wm. An- thony. Cornelius Osborn had eight children, five of whom were girls. The three boys were James, born Aug. 13, 1748, Peter, born March 4, 1759, and Thomas, born July 27, 1764. All three were born in this county and practiced medicine in this vicinity. Dr. Hunting was in practice here at the beginning of the century and resided here till his death in advanced years, having retired from practice some time previous. He lived where Edmund Luyster now resides. John Pinckney was a contemporary practitioner at Low Point.

Dr. Bartow White, one of the most distinguished physicians in the County, was born in Yorktown, Westchester county, Nov. 7, 1776, and came to Fishkill in 1799. This was his first field of prac- tice, which continued until an attack of epilepsy disqualified him some fifteen years before his death which occurred Dec. 12, 1862. He represented this County in Congress in 1825-'7, and was a Pres- idential Elector in 1840.

Dr. Lewis H. White, a native of Somers, West- chester county, and son of Dr. Ebenezer White, studied medicine with his father and his brother, Dr. Bartow F. White. He attended lectures at Yale in 1826-'7, and was licensed by the Medical Society of Westchester county, afterwards receiv- ing the degree of M. D. from the University of New York He commenced practice in Johns- ville, in East Fishkill, Nov. 17, 1828, continuing there nine years, when he removed to and has since practiced in this village. His son, Dr. Howell White, who was born in this village in 1856, and studied medicine with his uncle Dr. Oliver White, of New York, graduated at Bellevue Hospital, February 27, 1879. In Octo- ber, 1879, he established himself in practice in this village.

Mr. J. Conklin, who was born in Cornwall, N. Y., in January, 1846, studied medicine with his father, Dr. Peter E. Conklin, of Cornwall, and after his death with Thomas Heaton, of that place. He graduated at the Medical Department of the Uni- versity of New York in 1870, and established him- self in practice that year in this village.

Many others have practiced here a few months or years.

LAWYERS .- Joseph I. Jackson was the first law- year in Fishkill village. He was born near New Hackensack, October 24, 1783, and admitted to the bar about 1805, but did not continue long in the active duties of his profession. Though nomin- ally a farmer, he was always an active public man. He was Master in Chancery; a Member of As- sembly from this County in 1820-'21 ; and for six- teen years an able Judge of the County Court, first as associate, and afterwards as presiding judge, having been appointed to the latter office in 1840. He died at his residence in this village of heart disease, August 2, 1863. His son, of the same name, was a lawyer in Poughkeepsie. James W. Oppie, from Peekskill, opened an office in Fishkill soon after 1827, and was for many years the only lawyer in the village. He stood high in his pro- fession, and had an extensive practice in this and Putnam counties, continuing till his death, about 1862. A man named Waldo practiced here a short time, till his death. John K. Liston practiced several years, and died here about 1853 or '4. Milton A. Fowler, from Claverack, came here im- mediately after the death of Oppie and practiced till 1868, when, having been elected Surrogate in 1867, he removed to Poughkeepsie, where he is now a prominent practitioner. Ward Emigh, a native of Union Vale, was in practice from about 1858, till his death, Feb. 16, 1869. Wm. R. Thompson, from Newburgh, practiced a few years and went to Poughkeepsie. Gideon Hill, from Ellenville, came here first as principal of the Union School in 1867. He opened a law office about 1870 and practiced some four or five years. He is now practicing in Newburgh. The present at- torneys are, Wm. E. Dean and Wm. H. Wood. Mr. Dean is a native of Fishkill, and son of James E. Dean, also a native of Fishkill. He was admit- ted at Albany in May, 1880, having graduated the previous day from the Albany Law School. Mr. Wood is a native of Stanford in this County. He was admitted Dec. 12, 1879, and opened an office in Fishkill, forming a law partnership with Frank G. Rikert, of Matteawan, in January, 1880.

The Fishkill Manufacturing Co., was incorpo- rated May 17, 1881, with a capital of $15,000, for the purpose of making paper bags. The first trus- tees and officers were : James E. Dean, President ; James P. Foster, Treasurer; Sidney J. Everett, Secretary. There has been no change. The buildings were erected in April, 1874, by Avery & West, the latter of whom invented the machine with which the bags are made, but died before

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TOWN OF FISHKILL.

the works were got in operation. Chas. E. Rog- ers afterwards acquired an interest with Mr. Avery, and the business was conducted under the name of T. N. Avery & Co., for a year or two, when it was sold to Chas. Fitts, who soon after sold to N. E. Clark, his bookkeeper and superintendent, who continued it till the spring of 1881, when he sold to the present company, who employ about fifteen persons, two-thirds of whom are females, and make daily about 200,000 bags, mostly manilla, for groc- ers and millers use.

The Fishkill Savings Institute was incorporated Feb. 25, 1857, with a board of twenty-seven direc- tors, of whom only one-Adolphus Van Dewater- is now a member. The first officers were : Alex. Hasbrouck, President ; James E. VanSteenbergh, Treasurer ; Samuel H. Mead, Secretary. Mr. Hasbrouck was President until his removal to Poughkeepsie, about 1861. He was succeeded by T. V. W. Brinckerhoff, and the latter Jan. 16, 1869, by Richard Henry Brinckerhoff, who filled the position till his death, June 12, 1869. Oct. 23, 1869, James E. Dean was elected to that office and has since held it. VanSteenbergh was Treas- urer till his death, Dec. 4, . 1868. Alex. Bartow was elected to that office Jan. 16, 1869, and held it till January, 1877, when James Dearing, the pres- ent incumbent, was elected. Edward H. Bedford was elected Secretary March 13, 1858, and held the office till his death, Jan. 21, 1872, when Chas. E. Bartow, the present incumbent, was elected.

The Bank of Fishkill was incorporated June I, 1850, with a capital of $120,000; and was con- verted to a national bank April 1, 1865, under the name of the National Bank of Fishkill, with a capital of $200,000. Samuel A. Hayt was the first President. He was succeeded by Joseph I. Jackson, whom he succeeded at the expiration of a year. Dr. Lewis H. White succeeded to the office a few years before the suspension in 1877- at which time Alex. Bartow was the Cashier. He succeeded James E. VanSteenbergh, the first Cashier, at his death in 1868. The failure in- volved the loss of the capital, $200,000, and an additional seventy per cent. of that sum assessed on the stockholders.

THE PRESS .- The first paper in the town-the first also in the County-was The New York Packet, the first number of which was issued in Fishkill, Oct. 1, 1776, by Samuel Loudon, a Whig printer, who fled with his press and material from New York when that city came into the possession of the British, and returned there after the close of

the war. Loudon was State printer until he found a rival in John Holt, (who also fled with his press from New York, first to Kingston and then to Poughkeepsie,) and while here printed the journals of the Legislature, "at a time when no other printer in the State would do them," he says in a petition for the State printing, presented in 1784, three days before Holt's death. He also printed the orders for the army while it lay at Newburgh ; and, says Hon. Gulian C. Verplanck, the Constitution of the State of New York, "the first as well as the most important book ever printed in the State," was printed here by him in 1777 .* Loudon occupied at one time, with his press, the present residence of Mrs. John C. Van- Wyck, and at another, the building now occupied as a grocery by Jarvis W. Cary, which has since been altered and modernized. An " extra " copy of this paper, dated Oct. 21, 1777, announcing the surrender of Burgoyne, is preserved at Wash- ington's Headquarters, in Newburgh ; also a copy dated Thursday Feb. 1, 1781, No 200, containing an anecdote of Lieut. Oliver Lawrence.

The Free Press was started at Fishkill in 1841, by Fred W. Ritter. In 1842 it was removed to Poughkeepsie, where it was changed to The Duchess Free Press and continued until 1844. The Fishkill Journal was started in 1853, by H. A. Guild, and discontinued in 1855. The Ameri- can Banner was started at Poughkeepsie in 1856, by Chas. J. Ackert. In 1857 it was removed to Fishkill and published as The Duchess County Times, by J. Carpenter Mills. Alfred W. Lomas succeeded Mr. Mills and changed the name to The Fishkill Journal. In 1860 it passed into the hands of Caleb M. Hotaling ; and in 1862, into those of Chas. S. Wilber, who sold it that year to James E. Dean and Milton A. Fowler, and went to the war. In August, 1865, Messrs. Dean & Fowler were succeeded in its management by Geo. W. Owen, the present publisher, who enlarged it after about a year from a six to a seven column paper, and about a year later to its present size-eight columns, twenty-eight by forty-two inches. In 1865 it was neutral in politics. After publishing it about a year Mr. Owen changed it to a Republican paper and has since continued it as such. It is published every Thursday, simul- taneously at Fishkill and Matteawan, and has a circulation of 1,000 copies. It is, with the excep- tion of the Poughkeepsie Eagle, the only Republi- can paper in the County.

* Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution I., 693.

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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

HOTELS .- The old time hotel in Fishkill was the Union Hotel, which was kept for many years by Joseph Bogardus, who died Feb. 3, 1859, aged 74. It was burned Dec. 1, 1873, at which time it was kept by Wm. Jackson, and the site is now vacant. The Mansion House now kept by I. J. Kern, was built in 1825. The Kniffen House was built in 1873-'74, by John L. Kniffen, the present proprietor, who had previously kept a saloon on its site, which was burned in 1873.

SCHOOLS .- The first school house was built prior to the Revolution, and stood on the south side of Main street, near the blacksmith shop formerly kept by John Beecher. The well known Van Steenbergh, a celebrated teacher, who fled from New York dur- ing the stormy times of the Revolution, taught the youth of Fishkill during that period. An academy, the first in the County, was in existence nearly midway between Fishkill and Brinckerhoffville, some years prior to the Revolution, and was removed to Poughkeepsie after the close of the war. It was for a time under the supervision of Rev. Chauncey Graham; and previous to and during the Revolu- tion, the Rev. Dr. Isaac Rysdyck taught a classical school in Fishkill, as appears from advertisements published in the paper of that time, and the min- utes of the General Synod of the Dutch church in 1772.

Union Free School No. 6 .- Feb. 28, 1866, it was decided by a vote of ninety-seven to eighteen to establish a union free school in district No. 6. In December, 1869, about three acres of land was purchased as a site for a school house, and Decem- ber 7, 1869, it was resolved to levy $8,000 for build- ing a new school house, and to apply the proceeds arising from the sale of the old school house and site to furnishing the new building, and the balance, if any, to the building itself. Oct. 11, 1870, an ad- ditional $2,000 was levied for building a school house, which was begun in 1871 and finished in 1872. It is built of brick and is a credit to the village. The number of children of school age residing in the district September 30, 1881, was 231 ; the number who attended district school some portion of the year was 152; the average daily attendance was 71134. The number of vol- umes in the district library was 300, valued at $50. The amount expended for school purposes during the year ending Sept. 30, 1881, was $2,063.51, of which $1,439 was paid for teachers' wages.

CHURCHES .- The First Reformed Dutch Church of Fishkill was organized in conjunction with the church at Poughkeepsie in 1716 by Rev. Petrus

Vas, the fifth pastor of the church of Kingston. The two churches formed a collegiate charge, held property in common, and were served by one pastor until 1772. The consistory of this church as regis- tered April 17, 1730, were: Abraham Brinckerhoff and Hendrick Phillips, deacons, and Peter Duboys and Abraham Buys, elders. The first name of a church member appears under date of Sept. 30, 1727 ; the first marriage recorded, Oct. 7, 1831 ; and the first recorded baptism, Oct. 10, 1731.

" Although," says Rev. Mr. Kip,* "religious services were without doubt observed as oppor- tunities offered," it was not until 1731 that their first house of worship was erected, as appears from a petition made to Governor John Montgomery, June 28, 1731, by "Piter Du Bois," in " behalf of the elders and deacons and other members of said congregation," for permission to receive gifts from the inhabitants of the Province in aid of its con- struction, and from a bond executed the same year, wherein it is clearly stated, that they had agreed and built a church.

This church was built of stone, and its walls were pierced in the upper story with port-holes, as a means of defense against Indians. It was quadrangular in shape, (though we have been told that it was octagonal,) and faced the street. It was inclosed with a hip-roof, from the apex of which rose a small cupola, in which the bell was suspended. The window sash were made of metal and the pains of glass were very small. The church was enlarged and rebuilt in its present form in 1786, and as much of the old walls as could be were retained. It was not entirely completed, however, until 1795, owing to the poverty of the congregation. Subsequently an additional entrance was made making one on each side of the tower, and this we believe is the only external change which has been made. Various alterations have been made in the interior of the church at differ- ent times. The church was used as a prison dur- ing the Revolution, and in it was confined Enoch Crosby, the supposed original of Harvey Birch, the hero of Cooper's Spy.

About 1763 began to be manifested the ill effects of the unhappy strife between the Coetus and Conferentie parties, to which we alluded in con- nection with the church at Poughkeepsie, and which was not terminated until June 16, 1772, when a plan of union between the two parties was adopted. But not until May 12, 1778, did the

* This sketch is mainly prepared from a discourse delivered Sept. 12, 1866, at the celebration of the church's 150th anniversary, by Rev. Francis M. Kip, D. D., who was then the pastor.

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agencies at work succeed in harmonizing the con- flicting interests which arose from the division in this congregation by Rev. Solomon Froeligh, a young man, who came to Fishkill about the commence- ment of the Revolutionary war, gathered around him the members of the old Coetus party, established separate service, and organized a consistory.

In 1772, the services, which had hitherto been conducted in the Dutch language, were com- menced to be held alternately in the Dutch and English languages. Some years later, during the pastorate of Rev. Nicholas Van Vranken, preach- ing in the Dutch language was wholly relinquished, not only in this church, but also in the churches of New Hackensack and Hopewell, which were, at intervals, for many years, associated with this under one pastorate. This connection was dis- solved by Classis in October, 1805.

The church at Hopewell was formed from this in 1757; that at Fishkill Landing, in 1822; and that at Glenham, in 1837. The silver tankard used by the church in celebrating the Lord's Sup- per was presented to it by Samuel Verplanck in January, 1820, to commemorate Englebert Huff, a Norwegian, who was attached to the Life Guards of the Prince of Orange, afterwards William III. of England, was a member of this church, and died at Hopewell, March 21, 1765, at the age of one hundred and twenty-eight years. It is related of him that at the age of one hundred and twenty- one years he and a young man of twenty-one years were simultaneously paying their addresses to the same young lady. Two massive silver plates used in the same service were presented to the church in 1836, by three ladies, in memory of their sister, Miss Letitia VanWyck, then recently deceased. In Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh are a mahogany oval-leaf table and three chairs, which were brought from Holland by the Verplanck family in 1682, and were formerly the altar furni- ture of this church.

The present membership of the church is 182 ; the attendance at Sabbath school, of which E. B. DuMond is superintendent, about seventy-six.

The following is the succession of pastors :-

Rev. Cornelius VanSchie, Oct. 4, 1731, till 1738.

Rev. Benjamin Meynema, from 1745 till 1755. Rev. Jacob Vannist, 1758, till 1761.

Rev. Henricus Schoonmaker,* Dec. 11, 1763, till 1772.

Rev. Isaac Rysdyck, t Sept. 1765, till 1789.

Rev. Isaac Blauvelt, Oct. 26, 1783, till 1790. Rev. Nicholas Van Vranken, Nov. 23, 1791, till 1804.

Rev. Cornelius D. Westbrook, May 9, 1806, till 1830.

Rev. George H. Fisher, Oct. 1830, till 1835. Rev. Francis M. Kip, D. D., July 25, 1836, till 1870. Rev. Peter E. Kip, Aug. 2, 1870, till 1874.

Rev. Asher Anderson, Aug. 25, 1875, till 1880. Rev. M. Bross Thonias, May, 1881. The pres- ent pastor.

Trinity Church, (Episcopal,) Fishkill. The in- completeness of the early records of this church makes it impossible to determine with absolute cer- tainty when it was organized, or the church edifice built. Mr. Brinckerhoff assigns to the former event the year 1765, and to the latter the year 1760, which, he says, conforms to the opinion of the venerable Rev. Dr. Brown, of Newburgh, and to that of the late Gulian C. Verplanck and others. Mr. Bailey assigns to the latter event the year 1770, which is more nearly correct, for among the records and papers now in the possession of Mr. Isaac E. Cotheal, we were shown an instrument bearing date of Sept. 30, 1767, by which Matthew Brett conveyed to James Duncan and Richard Southard two roods and thirty-one perches of land, in trust, in consideration of £2, "for the use of the inhabitants of Rombout Precinct *

* who are members in communion of the Church of Eng- * land as by law established, for a cemetery and church-yard, and for building a church of England thereon, for no other use or purpose whatsoever." This is the plot on which the church stands and in which those who worshipped there lie buried. The church building, which was the first of its denomin- ational character in the State east of the Hudson and north of the Highlands, is one of the oldest church edifices in the State, and older by many years than any other in the County. The State Convention, on taking refuge in Fishkill, first met in this church Sept. 5, 1776, but as it was not in fit condition for use and was destitute of seats or other conveniences, removed to the Dutch church. It was afterwards used as a hospital by the Ameri- can army during the Revolution, and was then in an unfinished condition.

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History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 101

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 868

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 868