History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 124

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1336

USA > New York > Orange County > History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 124

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He married, Jan. 5, 1858, Nancy, daughter of Bart- lett D). Bennett and Sarah C. Sample, of New York. Their children are Georgianna and Irene C.

AL Vail

The Vail family has been identified with the history of Orange County from its early settlement, when three brothers, Josiah, Samuel, and Benjamin Vail, settled here from Long Island.

Josiah is the ancestor of Archibald L. Vail, and married Patienee Corwin, who bore him five children,-Isaiah, Daniel, John, Phebe, and Irene.

Isaiah married Abigail Meeker, who bore him eleven chil- dren,-Obadiah, Mary, Josiah, Phebe, Irene, Nathaniel, Isaiah, Abigail, John, Samuel, and George W.

Of these children, Josiah was grandfather of our subjeet, and married Mary Smith, who bore him the following children : Moses ; Luther, spent his early life here, and removed to Seneea County, where he died ; Samuel S., is now residing at Southhold, L. T., and has reached the great age of ninety years; and Maria, was the wife of Dr. James M. Gardiner, a physician of Newburgh.

Moses was father of Archibald L. Vail, and married Miriam ITulse, who was born in 1784, and died Sept. 30, 1872. Ile was born in 1783, and died Sept. 6, 1861. Their children were Gabriel, who followed boating on the Hudson most of his life, and died leaving no family; Silas, a farmer in Wallkill; Ar- minda, deceased; Josiah, deceased ; Dayton, studied for a phy- sician, and died soon after graduating ; Luther, resided on the homestead until his death; Maria, wife of Asa D. Dolson, of Museatine, Iowa; Margaret M., resides on the homestead; and Archibald L. Vail.

Moses Vail was during the early part of his life a merchant at Slate Hill, but a few years after his marriage purchased one hundred and three aeres of land in the town of Wallkill, about two miles from the village of Middletown, upon which he re- sidled until his death. He was a quiet, ugostentatious man, and contentedly followed agricultural pursuits, seeking neither of- ficial place nor its emoluments. Ilis wife was a member of the Old-School Baptist Church, and did ber part well as a wife and

mother in rearing her children and training them in all that pertains to true manhood and womanhood.

Archibald L. Vail was born on the homestead in Wallkill, April 22, 1829. At the age of seventeen he became a elerk in the forwarding, freighting, and groeery store of II. & B. G. Vail, of Middletown, and after one year went to New York, where he remained for three years in a grocery house as elerk. In 1850 he returned to Middletown, and for some two and a half years was elerk for Samuel Denton, a dry-goods merehant. In 1853 he formed a partnership with James T. King, of Mid- dletown, in the drug business, under the firm-name of King & Vail, which business relation continned for nine years. Ile then entered a partnership with Thomas B. Scott-Scott & Vail -in the hardware business. After two years Mr. Vail purchased Mr. Scott's interest in the business, and associated with him Leander Brink, with the firm-name of Vail & Brink. This firm continued the hardware, tin, and stove business until 1879, when they associated with them James A. Clark, who had been a elerk in the concern since 1864, and the firm of Vail, Brink & Clark continue a snecessful business on North Street in 1881.

In 1876, Mr. Vail purchased the Orange County Furnace and Machine-Shops, which he has sinee carried on independently of his other business interests. Mr. Vail has been associated with many other business interests in Middletown during his residence here, and has been a promoter of all enterprises tend- ing to the prosperity and thrift of the village.

For some twenty years he has been a director of the Middle- town Bank; ooe of the vice-presidents of the savings-bank, and a trustee since its organization : a trustee of the village for two terms; and a trustee of the Second Presbyterian Church for the past twenty years.

Hle married, Oct. 20, 1853, Ruth Ann, daughter of Walter Everett and P'hebe Case, of Midilletowo, who was born April 10, 1832, and died Oct. 17, 1878. The children born of this unioo are Phebe Ann, Archiena, Moses, and James Coleman.

I S Linderman.

Ilis father, Henry Linderman, of German extraction, born in the town of Crawford in May, 1764, settled in 1790 on one hundred aeres of land in the town of Wall- kill, near the Crawford line, then in a wild state, and there resided in a log house until 1807, when he erected a framed house, which was burned in 1840, and the present one built by his son, Henry S., subject of this sketch. To his first purchase he added one hundred acres, and brought his land into a good state of culti- vation.

Henry Linderman was a man of naturally fino intel- lect ; was justiee of the peace for forty years, and during that time never had a judgment rendered by him re- versed in the higher courts. He always counseled settle- ment between parties in litigation instead of trial and the course of the law. He was a member and deacon of the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, and a supporter of kin- dred interests. He removed to Bloomingburgh in 1842, and died there Jan. 15, 1844. ITis wife, Mary Shaw, daughter of Moses Shaw, of Crawford, born in 1766 and died in 1831, bore him children,-David, a farmer in Wallkill; John, a physician at Dingman's Ferry, Pa., had a son, Dr. Henry Richard, a prominent physician, who was director of the Philadelphia Mint, resigned just after the beginning of the late civil war, was reap- pointed, had charge of all the mints in the United States, and died in March, 1879; another son, Garret B.,-a son-in-law of Asa Packer,-is an extensive coal owner and railroad man ; Albert B., another son, is the originator of the scheme to drain the Everglades of Florida, now being undertaken by Philadelphia capi- talists ; Peter went to Michigan, where he died ; Willet,

a lawyer in Shawangunk, Ulster Co., was district at- torney of that county for thirteen years; Elizabeth, wife of Robert Thompson, of New York ; Henry S., subject of this sketch ; James O., a lawyer, settled in Kingston, N. Y., and was judge of Ulster County from 1843 to 1855; Dolly; Emily, wife of Thomas J. Evans, of New York ; and Sarah Jane. Henry Linderman's second wife was a widow of Col. Clark, of Sullivan County, N. Y.

llenry S. Linderman was born on the homestead where he has spent his life, May 28, 1807. He married, Dec. 25, 1839, Mary Ann, daughter of James Martin and Catharine Linderman, of Crawford, who was born in 1810. Their children are James, who carries on the home farm, and for the past seven years has been engaged in the sale of agricultural implements, and is also an aue- tioneer; Virginia, wife of Benjamin F. . Van Fleet, of Wallkill ; Emma, wife of C. Albert Knapp, of Goshen ; Crotilda, wife of George E. Bull, of Bullville.

HIenty S. Linderman received a good English educa- tion while young, and after reaching his eighteenth year was for four years thereafter a teacher, the last year being spent as principal of the Bloomingburgh school. He then settled on the homestead, and has there carried on agricultural pursuits since. For eight years he has served his town as assessor ; was formerly a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church at Bullville, and is now a member of the church at Cireleville, of which he has been elder for the past five years.

Mr. Linderman is a man of positive convictions, good judgment, strict integrity, and correct habits, and seeks to fulfill the full duties of the citizen.

Her Pmilan

The Wilcox family are of English extraction. It is difficult to determine the period of their emigration to America, though a branch of the family early settled in Duchess County, N. Y., where Nathaniel, the great-grandfather of Horatio R., was born, his death having occurred in Canaan, Columbia Co., N. Y., at the residence of his son John. Among his children were Jehiel, Jesse, Nathaniel, Aaron, John, and two daughters,- Polly and Lois. Of this number, Nathaniel was born in the town of Dover Plains, N. Y., where his carly life was spent in agricultural pursuits. Hle was united in marriage to Miss Anna Medionigle, of Scotch parentage, and a native of Ilinsdale, Co- lumbia Co. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox removed to Lexington, Greene Co., N. Y., where the following children were born : Henry, Oliver, Joseph, Jehiel, John, Themas, Mar- garet, Anna, and Sarah. The year 1836 witnessed the death of hoth Mr. Wilcox and his wife, with an interval of but a few weeks between the events. Oliver, one of the sons above men- tioned, was born in Lexington, May 8, 1795, where his youth, until the age of sixteen, 'was passed. Being desirous to render himself independent of any changes which an uncertain fortune might develop, he decided upon the acquirement of a reliable trade, and having removed to Austerlitz, Columbia Co., he learned that of a hatter. His marriage to Miss Cynthia Beebe, daughter of Roswell Beebe, occurred March 18, ISIS. Tho Beebe family were originally from Connecticut, and at an carly date became residents of Chatham, N. Y., where Roderick, the grandfather of Mrs. Wilcox, was born, and subsequently mar- ried to Miss Nancy Vaughn. Among their children were Ros- well, Frederick, Henry, Jobn, Roderick, Alexander, Pamelia, Tripbena, Chloe, and Sylvesta. Roswell was born in 1777, at Chatham, where he resided until his death, March 31, 1841. lle was united in marriage to Miss Annie Gott, whose death occurred Sept. 4, 1830, in her fifty-ninth year. To them were born children,-Cynthia (Mrs. Wilcox), l'hilo, Auson, Welcome R., and Lucretia. The children of Oliver and Cynthia Wilcox were Iloratio R. and Franklin A., the latter of whom was born June 30, 1837, in Windham, Greene Co., N. Y., and married Miss Anna, daughter of Enoch Armitage, of New York City, their present residence.

The birth of Horatio R. occurred at Chatham, N. Y., Sept.

25, 1819, though the early years of his life were speut at Pitts- field, Mass. The public and private sebools near his home afforded him opportunities for education, and laid the foun- dation for more thorough acquirements at the Wilbraham Academy, Wilbraham, Mass. Having determined upon a career of hasiness activity, he then removed to New York, and served a brief apprenticeship as clerk. A more extended field of labor opened at Ashland, Greene Co., soon after, where he engaged with his father in mercantile and toanufacturing enterprises. Mr. Wilcox was married, Aug. 20, 1845, to Miss Sarah M., daughter of Ilon. Henry Kinsley, ex-member of the State Legislature from Ashland, N. Y. They have one sen, Henry K., who is married to Frances, daughter of Ilon. George D. Wheeler, of Deposit, N. Y., and who has served for twelve years as deputy collector of the Eleventh District, New York. Their daughter, Olivia, is the wife of John W. Slawson, one of the editors and proprietors of the Middletown Daily Press.

During the year 1853, Mr. Wilcox made Middletown his residence, where he at once established a factory for the manu- facture of hats. After an interval of rest he became largely interested in the Middletown Gas-Light Company, of which he is president. Ile is a director of the Middletown National Bank, and vice-president and one of the incorporators of the Middletown Savings-Bank. Hlo was one of the originators of the Middletown hoard of water-works, of which ho is now commissioner. He is also a director of the Middletown, Union- ville and Water-Gap Railroad, and of the Middletown and Crawford Railroad.

Mr. Wileox is a Republican in politics, but indifferent to the honors of official life, and has no political aspirations. He has, however, fer several years held the position of president of Middletown village, and also been a member of the board of education. Ilis religious views are in sympathy with tho creed of tho Presbyterian denomination. In the development of the public and business interests of the place of his resi- denec he has been an important factor. Its mercantile enter- prises have found in him an energetic and able representative, while all worthy schemes for the public good have been cor- dially advanced by him.

Geoff allace

WILLIAM WALLACE, of Scotch-Irish extraction, came from the north of Ireland, with his wife, four sons, and two daughters, about the close of the Revolutionary war, and settled in Mary- land, where his wife died. The children were John, who settled in Goshen, where he was a teacher for some time, afterwards a merchant, and for one term was county treasurer. He died there. William, born in 1777, went to Crawford, Orange Co., while a young man, where he married, about 1806, Kezia Mac- Dowell, of Scotch extraction. About IS09 he purchased ninety aeres of land near Scotchtown, in the town of Wallkill, where he spent his active husiness life. He resided for a few years in Middletown, and died in 1862 at the residence of his son George, subject of this sketch. William Wallace was a strictly honorable and upright citizen, quiet and unassuming, and a deacon in the Presbyterian Church at Scotchtown, of which his wife was also a member. She died in 1842, aged fifty-two. James, settled in Milford, Pa., where he was a large farmer, and there died. Robert, was a Inmber merchant in Philadel- phia, and there died. Jane, was the wife of Robert Longbeed, of Wallkill. Mary, was the wife of Robert A. Thompson, of Ilopewell.

The children of William and Kezia Wallace were fifteen, viz. : John C., was a merchant at Goshen, was county clerk, 1843 to 1846, and from 1876 to 1879; William, was a carriage-maker by trade, was a merchant at Buliville for some time, and died in 1863, at Middletown ; Mary W., is the widow of Theron Libolt, and resides at Scotchtown ; Rebecca, is the widow of Walter B. Scars, of Montgomery ; Robert, was engaged in mercantile busi- ness at Goshen from beyhood, and there died about 1840; Andrew T., a farmer in Crawford; Harvey, a merchant at Goshen; Martha Jane (deceased), was the wife of John E. Corwin, of Scotchtown; George; Alfred, died at the age of thirteen ; Matilda ; Theodore, died at the age of eighteen, in 1846 : and Elizabeth, James (Ist), and James (2d), died young.

Of these children, George Wallace, our subject, was born July 17, 1823, and spent his boyhood at home. At the age of four- teen he went to learn the wagon-making trade with his brother- in-law, Walter B. Sears, in Montgomery, where he remained most of three years. Ile then returned home, where he re- mained until his marriage.

He married, Nov. 11, 1816, Susan C., daughter of Oliver Bailey and Susan Millspaugh, of Goshen, who were formerly residents near Seotchtown. Oliver Bailey died Dee. 20, 1867, aged seventy-cight. His wife died July 5, 1873, aged eighty. Both were members of the Presbyterian Church at Scotch- town. Oliver Bailey was a son of Capt. Daniel Bailey, born on Long Island, who was the progenitor of his family in Orange County, and settled near Phillipsburgh, in the town of Wall- kill.

Susan C. Bailey was born July 29, 1825. Their children were Georgianna, died at the age of six years, March 21, 1855 : Susan Alice, is the wife of John W. Clark, of Goshen ; Theo- dore: and Carrie If.

In the spring of 1848, Mr. Wallaec settled on his present farm of one hundred and forty aeres, known as the Baldwin homestead, once owned by Rev. Mr. Baldwin, the first settled pastor of the Scotchtown Presbyterian Church. Here he has resided since, engaged in stock-raising and dealing in cattle and sheep. In 1873 he began the manufacture of briek in Middletown, and has furnished briek for many of the substan- tial buildings of the village, and in 1880 he furnished one and a half millions of brick for a portion of tho asylum builling in Middletown.

Mr. Wallace has been a stockholder in the banks at Middle- town for some lime, and owns considerable real estate in the village. Both himself and wife have heen members of the Presbyterian Church at Scotchtown since 1855, and he has served the church as elder for several years.

505

MOUNT HOPE.

was engaged until 1861 in manufacturing all kinds of wagons for ordinary use.

For seven years following, in connection with Thomas K. Beyea, he engaged quite largely in pur- chasing timbered lands, taking off its timber for wood, railroad ties, etc., and afterwards disposing of the land.

About 1868 he began to deal in cattle, and for ten years purchased stock in the midland counties of the State, and disposed of them mostly at a home market.

Mr. Bliven began life with little of this world's goods, but with willing hands, resolution, and honest

purposes he has gradually, by economy, secured a fair competency, adding to his first purchase a 25- acre lot across the road from his residence, and also some 75 acres of land near by. He has taken an ac- tive part in thie Presbyterian Church at Scotchtown as a member, and many years ago he was influential and active in the suppression of the sale of intoxi- eating liquors in the locality.

Frank and unostentatious in his ways, Mr. Bliven has the confidence of his fellow-citizens, and is ever ready to do, commensurate with his means, for every worthy local work.

MOUNT HOPE.

I .- SITUATION, BOUNDARIES, AREA, TITLE.

MOUNT HOPE is one of the western towns of the county. It is bounded north by Sullivan County and the town of Wallkill, east by Wallkill, south by Wa- wayanda and Greenville, west by Deerpark. The acreage of the town, as given in the last equalization table of the supervisors, is 16,204 acres. The assessed valuation of the town was $673,470, and the tax paid upon that basis was $5157.79.

The town lies wholly north of the old county line that originally divided Orange from Ulster. For the title to the soil we refer to the patents, fully explained elsewhere.

II .- NATURAL FEATURES.

The most important points in the topography of Mount Hope are the Shawangunk Mountains and the Shawangunk River. The former occupy the western portion, extending from southeast to northwest, and the latter flows in the same direction along the base of the mountains, and nearly parallel to them. The highest summits are 1400 to 1800 feet above tide- water. The Little Shawangunk rises in this town in part, and flows for a short distance near and along the east boundary. There are several small branches of the Shawangunk, mostly from the northwest, draining the long beautiful slopes of the Shawangunk Mountains.

The geological features of the town are worthy of study. The deposit of minerals is riel, and has given rise to very many mining enterprises, some of the more important of which are mentioned below. The eastern slopes of the Shawangunk Mountains are sus- ceptible of tillage almost to the very summit, and at the present time the scenery combines much of the beauties of nature with the varied and charming

features arising from cultivated farms adorned in many cases with handsome residences. In Eager's " History of Orange County" a somewhat doubtful opinion of the agricultural resources of Mount Hope appears in the close of the following passage. Thirty- five years of subsequent cultivation have doubtless modified the face of the country to a considerable de- gree :

" The Mount Hope portion of the old town is an exact diamond in shape, and among the least of her sisters. Its situation and physical character are ruled by the same laws which govern Deerpark, as it lies on the eastern slope of the mountain, shelving pretty suddenly down to the Shawangunk Creek. The location of the town and the bed of the creek are among the highest portions of the county. This fact is alluded to in the name borrowed, as we suppose, from the older village of Mount Hope, and expresses a high location and a mind bnoyant and hopeful.

. . . "The Shawangunk Kill, here a small stream, runs through the whole length of the town from south to north, and is the only one worth mentioning. This town may be considered hard to till, and not very pro- ductive in grains under any state of husbandry. The spots which have the benefit of mountain wash may be excepted, still the culture of stock and its produce in various ways must in the nature of things in this climate be the most advantageous husbandry. A shepherd will thrive better than a horticulturist."

III .- EARLY SETTLEMENT.

As this town is a modern organization, its settle- ment is largely blended with that of the towns from which it was taken, Deerpark and Wallkill. In the early proceedings of Wallkill Precinct (1772 to 1780), in several military rolls given elsewhere, and in lists of names in the chapters upon Deerpark, will be found many of the early families who entered upon the present territory of Mount Hope and made for themselves homes within its limits. The several papers given, as above stated, undoubtedly contain the name of nearly every settler prior to the Revolution. At Finehville and in that neighborhood was made an

506

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

early settlement. The general accounts do not locate the pioneer Finch there until 1773. There were others earlier.

Jasper Writer was from Germany. On arriving in this country, then a minor, he landed at Philadelphia, and lived until he was of age in the family of a Mr. Depuy. Arriving at his majority, he came to this sec- tion, and settled on the farm where John H. Writer now lives. The wife of Jasper Writer was Eve Kort- right. As to the time when he made a settlement here the family traditions are very clear but not de- cisive. It was understood that he was over one hun- dred years old at the time of his death, though how mueh over that was not known. He died Nov. 15, 1842. Supposing him to be one hundred, that would leave seventy-nine years of residence here, and carry the date of his settlement back to 1763; if over one hundred, it would make the settlement still earlier. His wife, Eve Kortright, was from Phillipsburgh ; she died Dec. 31, 1830. The children of this pioneer were Aaron, who was born April 25, 1776, and settled on a part of his father's estate; Jasper, Jr., who re- mained on the old homestead; John, who moved to Pennsylvania and died near IIonesdale; Margaret, who became Mrs. Rundle, and after his death Mrs. Wagoner; Nancy, who married Joel Rundle, of Green- ville; Elizabeth, who married John Van Tuyl, of Greenville; Rebecca, who married Daniel Van Tuyl and settled at Pond Eddy ; Eleanor, who married John McKeeby. Aaron Writer, above mentioned, had four- teen children, among them Aaron K., father of Dr. Theodore Writer, of Otisville.

Among other early settlers of this section of coun- try was Ashbel Cadwell. His wife, Sylva Stevens, was one of those who escaped from Wyoming at the time of the massacre and went through the forest on foot to Connecticut. After Mr. Cadwell's death she became the wife of John Seybolt. A son of Ashbel Cadwell was Elisha Cadwell. Harvey R. Cadwell, a son of Elisha, resides at Otisville, and to him we are indebted for many items in this chapter.

Another early settler was Rufus Stanton. He first settled a mile from Finchville, near where Edward Force now lives. He afterwards moved to Finch- ville, and his homestead was the large brown house standing near Mr. Moore's. His children were Joseph (now living at Finchville, at the age of eighty-seven), Samuel, Nathaniel, Jonathan, and Mrs. Ezra Hoyt. It was probably before James Finch came to Mount Hope that Stanton settled there, though, as in many other cases, family tradition has not preserved the exact date.

Israel Green, mentioned in the chapter upon Wall- kill, settled at an early day on the site of Middletowu. His descendants state that he gave the land for the site of the Congregational church* and for their

burial-place, on the express condition that it should remain a burial-place forever,-a contract which they claim could not be impaired even by a legisla- tive enactment. His children were Orange, who settled in Michigan; Nathaniel, who lived at Otis- ville, and afterwards in Sullivan County ; and there was one daughter. Osmer B. Green, the proprietor of the hotel at Otisville, is a son of Nathaniel.

Daniel Green, a brother of the pioneer Israel, set- tled not far from Finchville.

William Shaw was a settler in Mount Hope, not far from Howell's, before the Revolution, probably for some years. His homestead is now owned by a descendant, Oscar Shaw. His children were John, William, Robert, Alexander, Henry, and Mrs. Ben- jamin Woodward.

Benjamin Woodward, Esq., was one of the early patrons of Mount Hope village, and did business there, and, with Benjamin Dodge, Esq., was instru- mental in originating and carrying forward all those little aets and appliances, difficult to be told, though of yearly necessity, which give animation and growth to such a place. This gentleman was of an enter- I prising turn of mind, and took a deep interest in the improvements of the town, which brought him early into public notice, both at home and abroad. Having the confidence of the people, and being of the Demo- cratie party, he was honored with the station of State senator, which he held for two terms.

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 124

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1336

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1336