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 89
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Captain Pelatiah Ward, who fell in the Union Army, William I. Thorn, Esq., ex-District Attorney of Duchess, and Hon. Homer A. Nelson, the present member of the State Senate, were law students in his office.
As a lawyer we may perhaps be permitted to say that although no mean practitioner at the bar, Mr. Tallman's chief strength lies in his comprehen- sive grasp of any matter which he takes in hand, and in such a cool and clear estimate of all its bearings near and remote, such an extensive knowledge and familiarity with legal points, that he is eminently wise and trustworthy in counsel-while his unflagging industry and unfailing interest in his client's case leaves nothing to chance and nothing needful undone. In addition to the general law business which has in all these years been his base of operation there has been confided to him a special practice in the District and Circuit Courts of the United States for the New York Districts, as also the care and settlement of estates. During the earlier years of his practice and anterior to the period when that class of investments was taken up by insurance and other large monied institutions, his office was the medium of large annual invest- ments on bonds and mortgages. A large circle of acquaintances with investors was thus formed,
which resulted in his call to many positions of responsibility and trust.
In 1856 the office of Treasurer of the then Iowa Central R. R. Company, was tendered to him. The road was projected from a point on the Mississippi river where the city of Clinton now stands, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Under another name it now forms a part of the great line to California. He declined the office, although he yielded to the re- quest of the officers so far as to accompany the reconnoitering party over the section named; he drew the report of the commission to the company as to the feasibility and location of the road, which was accepted. In 1855 he established a Banking House in Davenport, Iowa, in the name of Tallman & Powers. Mr. Powers, who had been his clerk in the Surrogate's court and a former partner, became the resident partner in Davenport ; the credit and extensive relations of the house were such as to place its destiny largely in the hands of Mr. Powers. It was formed for five years and so continued.
In 1859, Mr. Tallman was mainly instrumental in founding the City Bank of Poughkeepsie, and was chosen President ; this office he did not ac- cept, and favored in his stead Joseph F. Barnard, Esq., now a Justice of the Supreme Court, who re- tained the office for a period of upwards of twenty years. He was, however, upon the establishment of the bank, appointed its attorney, and has con- tinued to act in that capacity to the present time.
In railroad matters, other than that previously mentioned, Mr. Tallman was actively interested in the advocacy of the Hudson River R. R., the Poughkeepsie & Eastern R. R., and the Pough- keepsie City R. R., of which he was one of the original incorporators. His attention and co- operation have been given to the water and sewer system of the city. In 1853, he was one of the organizers of the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, was designated as a trustee, and so continues. He was one of the People's Committee to procure the location of the Hudson River Hospital for the Insane, and was a member of its first Board of Trustees.
In 1852, he was one of the founders of the Home for the Friendless, then organized as the Poughkeepsie Female Guardian Society, prepared its act of incorporation and was one of the first Board of Counsellors. He is also a trustee of Vassar Brothers' Home for Aged Men.
From his youth up, Mr. Tallman has been iden- tified with the temperance cause, signing, when nine years of age what was then known as the par- tial pledge. At the age of twenty he became an officer in the Young Men's Temperance Society, and soon after urged the total abstinence pledge. Still later he was an officer in the Duchess County Temperance Society, and occasionally delivered addresses before it and kindred organizations. He aided in founding the State Inebriate Asylum at Binghamton, N. Y., for which he was several years a trustee.
In the seventeenth year of his age, Mr. Tallman united with the Methodist Episcopal church at
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Amenia Seminary, under the supervision of Dr. Merrick, now of the Ohio University, and Doctor Clark, afterwards Bishop. In 1840 he was one of the founders of the Second Methodist Episcopal church, now of Cannon street, Poughkeepsie, and from 1842 has been one of its trustees, sustaining its various official relations ; was its first repre- sentative to the New York annual conference, and was the presiding officer of the convention. He was for some years an officer of the Duchess County Bible Society. He was a member of the first and only State Council of Methodists ever held, which convened at Syracuse, February, 1870, composed of a representation from most of the churches of the denomination in the State, the delegation numbering about 600, among whom he was not inconspicuous. The council or assem- bly voted over $200,000 for the Syracuse Univer- sity, and instituted various reforms intended for the State as well as the Church, among which was the State Council of Political Reform, one of the auxiliaries of which was a potent factor in the overthrow of the notorious "Tweed Ring" of New York city. He was a member of the State Exec- utive Committee, and although a life-long Demo- crat, he disregarded any prohibition inconsistent with the platform of the council which declared : "We leave the party relations of every man undis- turbed, but when parties command the support of bad principles, bad measures or bad men, we must refuse to obey." His position in reference to the Rebellion was well defined and pronounced.
To those who have only known Mr. Tallman as a man of affairs, and absorbed through his hours of professional labor in the interests of his clients, it may be a surprise to learn that his "grand pas- sion " has always been in that Jine which has made Poughkeepsie a synonym for all that is pleasant and inviting as a place of retired and elegant resi- dence ;- in this direction he has accomplished more as a matter of pastime and recreation than many have done who have made it the subject of long study and arduous labor. The Cottage Hili property on Garden street, and later and more prominently the Cedar Hill place, now owned by Robert M. Taggart, Esq., and described in other pages of this history, are evidences and expres- sions of his taste and great ability in landscape gardening and rural architecture.
Personally, Mr. Tallman's kindness of heart has ever been apparent in his countenance and con- duct ; upright in principle and purpose, his benev- olence and friendship unselfish and enduring. In every department of endeavor known to him he has supplemented the efforts of the industrious and deserving. As church, educational and char- itable institutions have felt his favoring influence, so not a few individuals owe their establishment and success in life to his timely counsel and aid.
It would hardly comport with proper delicacy to advert at any length to the purity and excep- tional happiness of all his domestic relations, those only who have been the recipients of his hospital-
ities and enjoyed the friendship of his family can appreciate their rare excellence.
Mr. Tallman has been twice married; in 1842, to Mary Newman of Egremont, Mass., by whom were two children now living, Mary, wife of Theodore W. Davis, of St. Joseph, Mo., and Augusta, wife of John F. Phayre, of New York city ; in 1851, to Sarah Anderson, of New York city, by whom were two children, John Francis and Katharine Eliot. John Francis graduated from Syracuse University, receiving the degree of A. B., in 1879, and was admitted to the New York bar in 1881. The hon- orary degree of A. M., was conferred upon John P. H. Tallman by the Wesleyan University in 1851.
When it is considered what, to an earnest nature, must have been the amount of work and means involved in the relations already indicated, it may well be concluded that the life of John P. H. Tall- man has been neither idle, ignoble nor obscure.
HON. JOHN O. WHITEHOUSE.
John Osborn Whitehouse was born near the village of Gonic, in the town of Rochester, New Hampshire, on July 19, 1817, and died at the city of Poughkeepsie, Duchess County, New York, on August 24, 1881. Both his father and grandfather bore the christian name of William, and the father succeeded to the farm of his ancestor, the genera- tion to which Mr. John O. Whitehouse belongs being the third which owned and occupied succes- sively the same homestead.
Mr. John O. Whitehouse was one of a family of thirteen children, two of whom died in infancy. There were seven boys and six girls, Mr. John O., being the second in age. The oldest son remained at home, but the other children who survived infancy all came to this State at an early age.
The first to migrate was John O. Whitehouse, who at the age of seventeen found his way to Brooklyn, which then (1834) was but a village suburb of New York city, if we compare it with its present proportions in 1881. He there took a clerkship and a few years later another in New York itself.
At the age of twenty-two he commenced the shoe business in Brooklyn. At twenty-three he there married Miss Fannie Smith, who is now his widow. He very soon opened an additional store in the city of New York, and from that on, by rapid steps he became a leader in the manufacture and sale of shoes, maintaining large factories in Dela- ware for the preparation of leather, and in Massa- chusetts and the city of New York for its con- struction into shoes. From a large warehouse in the latter city he supplied the wholesale trade, and from several retail stores at different points brought his wares into private use.
His early success tempted four other brothers into the same line, until at one time there were five separate establishments in New York City and
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A.LITTLE
HON. JOHN O. WHITEHOUSE.
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Augusthisdebuth
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Brooklyn, conducted in the Whitehouse name, and together practically controlling that business, and all realizing the profitable fruits of exceptional sa- gacity, activity and thrift, each manufacturing, buy- ing and selling upon his own account, and meeting with eminent success.
He was the father of four sons and two daugh- ters, all born in Brooklyn. One son and one daughter died before his leaving that city. In 1860, he moved with his family which consisted of his wife, three sons and one daughter, to the city of Poughkeepsie to reside permanently. Before his own death he had borne the dead bodies of these three sons back to Greenwood, where the father and five of his six children are now "gathered in." His remaining daughter, the wife of Mr. Eugene N. Howell, resides with her husband and an only child in the city of Philadelphia.
Soon after removing to Poughkeepsie, and in 1863, Mr. Whitehouse purchased one of the most attractive residences with ample grounds, near the city, and soon after added to it the adjoining beau- tiful estate of Mr. Matthew Vassar, senior, known as "Springside." This continues to be the family homestead.
In 1870, Mr. Whitehouse constructed in the city of Poughkeepsie the largest manufactory of that locality, which gave employment to several hun- dred hands untilits destruction by lightning in July, 1879. The same year he rebuilt upon a larger scale and conducted manufacturing there and a wholesale warehouse in New York City, with retail stores elsewhere, up to his death, when the business was taken up by his son-in-law, Mr. Howell.
In 1872, Mr. Whitehouse was elected to Con- gress upon the Greeley ticket, from the District composed of Duchess, Columbia and Putnam Counties, which re-elected him in 1874. His first candidature was perhaps the most exciting and ex- acting of any known in the history of the State. He was the first Congressman to propose and urge the funding of the war debt in a four per cent. bond, but was so far in advance of his colleagues as to be at that time unsuccessful, but the propo- sition received such discussion as to cause its adop- tion years before his death.
He was the largest investor in the city of his adoption in local enterprises. The rebuilding of his factory was for the benefit of the city rather than for his own. The Poughkeepsie, Boston & Hartford Railroad in all its stages, the City Rail- road, the Hudson River Agricultural and Driving Park, the Iron Works, the Plough Factory and the Poughkeepsie News were all largely indebted to his liberality and enterprise.
Of Democratic antecedants, Mr. Whitehouse became a zealous and generous contributor to the success of the civil war, but after the flag which protected his nativity ceased to find an assailant, he was also quick and generous in his advocacy of forgiveness, forgetfulness and peace.
He was for many years one of the most active and important directors of a prominent National Bank in the city of New York, and as such car-
ried it through most critical emergencies. He was also director or trustee in a variety of public enterprises to all of which he contributed largely in money, time and skill.
His business life compassed an era ; reaching from the bench of the single shoe-maker in the alley, hammering and sewing at a single shoe, to those vast manufactories which severally contain a thousand men and women, whose duty it is to watch and feed the ceaseless activities of those hungry wonders of machinery which perform the most delicate operations with the swiftness and certitude of fate, and which throw daily into the markets of the world thousands of dozens of the most perfect articles of commerce and use. His sagacity was always the first to seize upon the early inventions of science and art which pertained to his business, and which in one lifetime entirely revolutionized everything which related to mechan- ical execution or beauty and fitness of design.
These facts sufficiently denote the sterling New England stock from which Mr. Whitehouse sprang and indicate the ceaseless activity and the benign conduct of his life. His only successful assailant was death. Obstacles animated him and increased his powers. In his business he was a master. His eye penetrated at a glance, and his judgment was as quick and unerring as his sight. His impulses were genial, generous and indulgent. He en- listed the affections of those who knew him best and commanded the unhesitating respect and un- limited confidence of all who knew him.
AUGUSTUS SCHELL.
Augustus Schell was born at Rhinebeck, August I, 1812-the son of Christian Schell and Elizabeth Hughes. His father was of German descent, as the name indicates-one of that steady and worthy class whose ancestors first settled a large part of Duchess and the neighboring counties. He was a merchant and an active adherent of the Demo- cratic party, who showed his zeal in the cause by service in the second war with Great Britain, and especially in the stirring defense against the antici- pated attack of New York city and its approaches. His death, when the subject of this sketch was twelve years old, left the mother with eight chil- dren, whose character and success in life she lived to enjoy in serene old age, as her own sufficient eulogium. Her diligence, care and economy secur- ed for them the education and practical training for active life, in which they have all achieved posi- tions of honor and trust. Richard Schell was a State Senator and Member of Congress; Robert Schell is a successful merchant and Bank President, and Edward Schell is President of the Manhattan Savings Bank.
Mrs. Schell was a devoted member of the Re- formed Dutch Church, in which all her children were carefully reared.
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HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
Augustus Schell, as a youth, was steadily indus- trious and justly inspired by the generous ambi- tion which comes only of innate power and real worth. He pursued his preliminary studies with diligence and entered Union College in 1827, from which he was graduated with marked distinction in 1830. Devoting himself to the profession of law, he pursued his studies at that famous institu- tion in Connecticut, the Litchfield Law School- the training school of so many great lawyers and men-under the direction of the late Judge Gould. After subsequently reading for one year with the late John Armstrong, he went to New York in 1832, where he entered the office of the late Judge Slos- son, with whom, after his admission to the bar, at the General Term of the Supreme Court at Albany in October, 1832, he entered into partnership in the practice of law, under the firm name of Slosson & Schell, which won and maintained the highest reputation and success. But it was not only as a lawyer that he was to vindicate his claim to honor and reward.
Mr. Schell early entered the ranks of the Dem- ocratic party in his native State, taking a warm and active interest in politics from his youth. His char- acteristic power and ability were recognized and as early as 1852, he was a conspicuous candidate for the highest office in the State, in the convention which nominated Horatio Seymour as Governor. In the same year he was elected Chairman of the Democratic General Committee, and has continued to hold a controlling influence in party affairs, not only in his own city and native State, but in the wider field of national politics. His connection with Tammany Hall identified him with its man- agement during the greater part of its most signal triumphs; and through all the difficulties which from time to time, it has encountered within and without, he has always been distinguished for his dignified, consistent and magnanimous course, even in the midst of the most bitter partisan strife and even violence.
He continued Chairman of the Democratic State Committee in 1853; '54 and '55. In 1854, he was unanimously nominated by the Democratic Convention for the office of Mayor of New York, which he declined at that time.
In 1857, Mr. Schell was appointed by President Buchanan, Collector of the Port of New York. Few men have filled that difficult and responsible office so well. His administration gave the highest satisfaction not only to the Government but the merchants of New York. His uniform courtesy, his unfailing patience, his quiet, yet firm demeanor, his sterling qualities of mind and heart, crowned his pronounced executive abilities with the honors of success, and reputation as one of the first among his fellow citizens.
Upon his retirement in 1861, he received from Mr. Chase, President Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, a letter of strong eulogy upon his effi- ciency and the admirable state in which he left the office to his successor.
In 1867, he was elected a member of the Con-
stitutional Convention of the State of New York, and took a prominent part in its most important labors. He was a member of the Committee on Finance, of which the late Chief Judge Church was Chairman. In 1872, he was appointed by Gover- nor Hoffman a member of the Constitutional Com- mission to propose amendments to the Constitu- tion of the State.
During the Presidential election of 1872, Mr. Schell was Chairman of the National Democratic Committee. Upon the re-organization of the Tam- many Society in the same year, when he took an active part in breaking up the Tweed Ring, he was made Grand Sachem of Tammany without a dis- senting voice, and has held that position to this time (1882).
In 1877, he was a candidate for the State Sen- ate from the Seventh Senatorial District but was defeated by a singular combination of the Republi- can party with Democratic opponents of Tammany Hall, which resulted in the election of the late John Morrissey.
Mr. Schell was a Democratic Presidential Elec- tor in 1876, and in 1878 was defeated as a candi- date for the mayoralty of New York, by a combi- nation similar to that of the previous year, result- ing in the election of Edward Cooper. The politi- cal career of Mr. Schell has stamped him as one of the most loyal, efficient, and sagacious leaders of the Democratic party, which owes him a far greater debt than it will ever be able to repay.
Mr. Schell became a director in the New York & Harlem Railroad Company, in 1863, and soon afterwards (in 1864) in the Hudson River Rail- road Company, and when the New York Central was consolidated with the latter in 1869, he was made a director of the new organization, which of- fice he still holds. In the same year he entered the directory of the Lake Shore Railroad, of which he was soon after made Vice-President. He is a director in the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, and the Union Pacific Railroad, as well as other leading railway companies ; and has been an active member of the Executive Committees of many of these roads.
He has also been an active director in the Union Trust Company for several years, as well as the Western Union Telegraph Company. He has also been long connected with many Banks and Insur- ance Companies.
His ability as a lawyer and wisdom in the con- trol and direction of great corporate interests were early recognized among the greatest of those men who were destined to wield the gigantic power of successful enterprise in developing the resources of the continent, opening the great ways of communi- cation through its vast territories and providing the means of transportation for the products of America to the markets of the world.
During his half century of active life in New York, Mr. Schell has been conspicuous in most of the literary, social, and charitable institutions which have been so marked a feature of the period.
He has been for more than forty years one
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of the most important members of the New York Historical Society. As Chairman of its Execu- tive Committee during the period of its greatest labors and activity, and subsequently as President of the Society, he rendered most valuable services, best known and acknowledged by those who were associated with him in the long and successful effort to place its treasures in a fire-proof building and the institution on a permanent basis of prosperity ; which will endure so long as the conservative policy is continued which he maintained and aided to establish.
He has also been for thirty years an active member of the Board of Trustees of the New York Institution for the Blind, and since 1866, its President. In this capacity, he is an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees of the Roosevelt Hospital. He is also a Trustee of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.
During his long service in the Institution for the Blind, he has been one of the most active and liberal in promoting all improve- ments and the advanced methods of instruc- tion and treatment. Foremost in sympathy for this class of unfortunates, who appeal so strongly to the kindly regard of their fellow men, Mr. Schell's hearty and effective labors have been rewarded with abundant success in this grand field of charitable effort.
In March, 1873, Mr. Schell married Miss Anna M. Fox, daughter of George S. Fox, and grand-daughter of Thomas Leggett, prominent families belonging to the Society of Friends.
Mr. Schell's career is a signal illustration of what may be accomplished by a man who is diligent in his calling, and faithful to the principles of an early training in rectitude and personal honor, as well as just and genuine self-respect. Winning reputation and fortune, unaided by inheritance or family influence, he has commanded success in life, as well as deserved it; and still enjoys the fruits of his labors, in vigorous health, honored by all who know him, and beloved by those who are admitted to the privilege of his friendship and regard.
CORNELIUS N. CAMPBELL, M. D.
Cornelius N. Campbell was born on the 7th of July, 1825, in the town of Amenia, near Dover Plains, Duchess County, N. Y. He attended vari- ous schools in Amenia, and at Dover Plains, and took a preparatory course for college at the Amenia Seminary, then a flourishing, successful institution ..
In 1846 he commenced the study of medicine and graduated from the medical department of the New York University in 1849. He commenced the practice of his profession in Pawling, Duchess Co., and after a short time removed to Stanford, in the
same county, where he continued its practice, only interrupted by representing his district one term in the State Legislature, and his town two years in the board of Supervisors of the county.
After the breaking out of the civil war, he received the appointment of Surgeon of the 150th Regiment N. Y. State Vols., on the 25th of Au- gust, 1862, and served with his regiment during the remainder of the war ; acting as Surgeon of Brigade, and Surgeon-in-Chief of the Ist Div., 20th Army Corps until after the taking of Atlanta, Ga.
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