History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 132

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 132


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THE WESTCOTT BURIAL-PLACE.


There are a few graves near the court-house, on the grounds of Mrs. Denton, sometimes mentioned by the above name.


CEMETERY OF THIE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.


This is in a beautiful section of the village, and is pleasantly situated. It seems to have been opened for use about 1810 or 1812. The old Wickham family vault was located there, and used earlier than the es- tablishment of the general burial place. The ground is in very good condition, though it needs much more care than it is receiving in the way of mowing, trim- ming, etc.


THE WEBB BURYING-GROUND


is situated about a mile southwest of Goshen village. This comprises an old part and a new, both in a fair condition.


THE VAN DUZER FAMILY LOT,


a mile and a half south of Goshen, dates back to early times, and is to some extent kept in repair.


540


HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.


THE HAIGUT FAMILY CEMETERY, GOSHEN, was incorporated by a certificate executed Feb. 4, 1873. D. Henry Haight was chairman of the meet- ing held for organization, and Henry G. Piffard secretary. The trustees named were David Henry Haight, Henry G. Piffard, and Charles H. Ilaight. There is a mausoleum erected at a great expense, and located at the junction of Main Street with the road leading to Newburgh. The cemetery proper is some distance from this structure, and is neatly walled. It incloses the early dead of the Jansen family, with others of the same neighborbood.


THE CASE FAMILY


burial-place is about a mile beyond the line of the corporation.


THE CATHOLIC BURIAL-PLACE


occupies a fine site of excellent sandy soil for burial purposes. It needs much additional care to render it the place of beauty it might be. Its very high mounds and deep-cut walks are inconvenient for the mowing and trimming which can alone keep a burial- place in that clean, neat condition which should indi- cate the love of the living for the memory of the dead.


TIIE WALLKILL VALLEY CEMETERY ASSOCIATION executed a certificate of association Nov. 14, 1859. Samuel W. Tryon was chairman of the meeting held to organize, and Oliver B. Tuthill secretary. The trustees named were Daniel C. Wisner, Benjamin Hulse, Oliver B. Tuthill, Noah Gregory, William P. Smith, James S. Hopkins, William Jackson, Jolin P. White, and William A. Booth. This is on the east side of the Wallkill, not far from the Goshen line. It is in excellent preservation, is laid out in lots, has several fine monuments, and one family vault. It is within the town of Wallkill.


At the county house there is the burial-place of the poor who die while being supported at the public expense on the Orange County farm.


At Conklingtown there is an old burying-ground, dating back to early times, and fenced with some care in later years.


The Bradner family lot is in the south part of the corporation or near the line. This is in good preser- vation.


On Prospect Hill was an old burial-ground, prob- ably not very large,-an almost forgotten place. Mr. O. B. Tuthill is of the opinion that bodies were re- moved from there to some extent. Remaius were, however, found in excavating for gravel recently. This was the Townsend ground.


On the Craigville road is the Vail burying-ground, still in use, and receiving some care as to its preserva- tion.


The Ramsey ground is further east, not far from the line of Chester.


The Thompson burial-place in the south part of


the town is an old ground, where many of the pioneers were buried.


On the Bradner farm, so called, southwest of Goshen, there are a few graves carefully fenced.


IX .- TOWN SOCIETIES, LIBRARIES, BANKS, INCORPORATIONS, Etc.


ORANGE COUNTY LODGE, No. 45, F. & A. M.,


was organized March 12, 1796. The officers of the present lodge are not in possession of any informa- tion concerning it, but it had a prosperous existence for some years. The present lodge is modern in its origin. It was preceded for some years by a lodge of Odd-Fellows, the leading members of which entered into the movement to found a Masonic lodge.


THE GOSHEN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION


was formed Aug. 9, 1831. The trustees named in the certificate were Ezra Scott, Nathan Kingsbury, Isaac R. Van Duzer, Samuel Wilkin, John J. Smith, Albert S. Benton, John S. Crane, John E. Phillips, William Horton, Jr. This library was established according to this certificate, and maintained for a time quite a collection of valuable works. They, however, disap- peared after a few years and the institution died out.


THE GOSHEN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION


executed a certificate of incorporation Nov. 9, 1858. The trustees named were Ambrose S. Murray, Henry Merriam, George M. Grier, Benjamin F. Edsall, John C. McConnell, John C. Wallace, Benjamin F. Duryea, Stephen L. H. Jackson, and William Murray. John C. McConnell was chairman of the meeting. They organized "for the purpose of erecting a public library." This movement was not continued. It was designed to seenre a public building for literary pur- poses, including a library, hall, and reading-rooms, but the encouragement was not sufficient to justify further effort.


THE GOSHEN GAS-LIGHT COMPANY


effected a legal organization Sept. 13, 1867. The capital stock was fixed at $30,000, divided into shares of thirty dollars each. The first directors named in the instrument were Robert II. Berdell. David H. Haight, A. S. Murray, Thomas Edsall, George M. Grier, Ellis A. Post, John E. Howell, John Wallace, Henry Merriam. It was organized " for the purpose of supplying gas for the streets and for public and private buildings in the village of Goshen," and its time of duration wasstated at fifty years. For various reasons this organization did not enter into business nor construct buildings.


The Goshen Gas-light Company now supplying the village was chartered in July, 1879. The officers then chosen and still in office were J. W. Hodges, presi- dent, William Blakeman, secretary and treasurer. The franchise was obtained from the trustees by Mr. B. Van Steenbergh, conferring the right to manufac- ture gas in the village, lay gas mains along the streets,


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GOSHEN.


supply private and public buildings, and light the streets. The buildings were erected in July, August, and September, 1879. In the manufacture of gas a new method was adopted known as "the Averell Water Gas Process." It has been a great success and has been adopted by the Singer Sewing Machine Com- pany, Elizabethport, N. J., in Norwood, Mass., and is now being introdneed into Ellenville, Ulster Co. The gas-works were built by the firm of A. Vanderweiken & Co., of which Mr. Van Steenbergh was a member. The latter, desiring to enter into the foundry enter- prise mentioned elsewhere, retired from the manage- ment of the gas-works, and Mr. Vanderweiken is now the principal stockholder and the manager in charge. Four and a half miles of mains have been laid. The company supply at the present time seventy-two cus- tomers and sixty-nine street lamps.


ORANGE COUNTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COM- PANY, GOSIIEN,


was reorganized April 16, 1875, by papers filed in the office of the county clerk.


The commissioners appointed by the State depart- ment to examine the affairs of the institution were Matthew H. Robertson, George C. Willis, of Albany, and George W. Green, of Goshen. The authoriza- tion by the department was granted by Orlen W. Chapman, superintendent of insurance, Aug. 16, 1875. This institution thus newly authorized by the State department has a history of considerable age, and is one of the only two county mutual insurance compa- nies remaining in the State, the other being that of Duchess County. The Orange County Mutual was organized under a charter which was granted March 15, 1837. The directors named in the act were Isaac R. Van Duser, Horace W. Elliot, John J. Smith, John E. Phillips, John S. Crane, John B. Booth, Charles Monell, John Bailey, John W. Smith, Miles Hughes, Henry S. Beakes, Robert Denniston, Stephen W. Fullerton. The officers were John S. Crane, presi- dent ; Miles Hughes, vice-president ; David M. West- cott, secretary ; Charles Monell, attorney and coun- selor; John Bailey, general agent. The first policy was issued to Jonas King, of the town of Chester. John S. Crane continued president until his death. Jan. 13, 1876, Benjamin F. Edsall was chosen to that office ; he resigned March 3, 1879, and was succeeded at that date by Henry Bacon, the present incumbent. David M. Westcott, the first secretary, continued in office until his death. May 14, 1841, Horace W. Elliott was appointed his successor; he also remained in the office until his death. Oct. 8, 1863, John C. Wallace was appointed as the successor of Mr. Elliott; he resigned March 3, 1879, and on the same date Dud- ley Murray, the present incumbent, was appointed. The present directors (December, 1880) are George W. Sanford, F. H. Reevs, B. C. Sears, W. D. Van Vliet, A. B. Post, R. C. Coleman, N. H. Sanford, John C. Wallace, A. S. Dodge (deceased, vacancy | by Charles J. Everett.


not filled), H. A. Wadsworth, Ellis A. Post, Henry Bacon, John R. Halstead, Wm. M. Murray, J. W. Corwin. Wm. M. Murray is the present vice-presi- dent, and E. S. Turner is general superintendent.


NATIONAL BANK OF ORANGE COUNTY.


This institution was originally chartered in the winter of 1812 as "The President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of Orange County." The or- ganization was made June 7, 1813, and the first board of directors comprised the following names: Richard Trimble, George Monell, John Barber, Abraham Schultz, James W. Wilkin, George D. Wickham, John Duer, David W. Westcott, John G. Hurtin, Moses Phillips, Jr., John Bradner, Alanson Austin, and Reuben Hopkins. George D. Wickham was chosen president and continued in that office until November, 1845. He was succeeded by Ambrose S. Murray, who is the present incumbent, after a service of thirty-five years in that position. Henry A. Townsend was cashier from the organization until July 31, 1813, when James W. Wilkin succeeded temporarily. He was followed, Sept. 3, 1813, by Morris Robinson, who remained cashier until June 2, 1820. Jonathan Bur- rill was then appointed and served until April 19, 1824. Henry Seward was then chosen cashier, and he continued in that capacity until Aug. 1, 1834. Am- brose S. Murray then served until November, 1845. On his election to the presidency, as above noted, Thomas T. Reeve became cashier, who continued until April 3, 1857. William T. Russell then served until November 27th of that year. He was succeeded by Charles J. Everett, the present cashier. George W. Murray is the present vice-president, and George A. Denniston clerk.


At the. reorganization of 1832, the board of direc- tors comprised the following: George D. Wickham, John W. Smith, Moses Phillips, Isaac Jennings, Hud- son MeFarlan, D. H. Moffatt, Jr., I. R. Van Duzer, Samuel Williams, Oliver Davis, James W. Wilkin, James Hulse, Isaac Van Duzer, Richard Trimble.


The bank was reorganized Jan. 1, 1862, under the General State Banking Law. The directors at that date were Albert S. Murray, George M. Grier, Richard M. Vail, George F. Talman, Algernon S. Dodge, Wm. H. Houston, George T. Wisner, Wm. F. Sharpe, Charles B. Hoffman, John H. Morris, George Mapes, John Wallace.


The present directors (December, 1880) are A. S. Murray, A. S. Dodge, Charles J. Everett, George W. Murray, R. M. Vail.


The original capital paid in was $105,600. At the new organization of 1862 the amount was increased to $110,000. The institution became a national bank Jan. 1, 1865. The banking-house was originally "up town," at the place which is now the residence of Am- brose S. Murray. * There it remained for forty years.


* It was temporarily opened first in the parlor of the house now owned


542


HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.


In 1853 the present building was erected. It is not large and showy, according to the modern usage in the erection of banks, but is nevertheless a very con- venient building. The stock of the bank is valuable, the price for any shares which may happen to be put upon the market reaching to $180 and over; in one instance $200 is said to have been paid.


It has been able to declare large dividends through all its history, and especially during the last fifteen years. It represents a long and honorable career. The management has been conservative. Unity of control has produced its usual valuable results. There have been but two presidents in a period of sixty-seven years; and Mr. Murray's term of service in this bank approaches very nearly to half a century.


AMBROSE S. MURRAY .- Among the influential and substantial business men of Goshen is Hon. Ambrose S. Murray, who was born in the town of Wallkill, Orange Co., N. Y., Nov. 27, 1807, and for the past fifty years has been closely identified with the finan- cial and business interests of the county, and the growth and prosperity of Goshen, where he has spent | most of his active business life.


His paternal grandfather, George Murray, was born at Inverness, Scotland, and emigrated to Amer- ica while a young man, as a soldier in the British army. He settled at Reading, Pa., where he married a Miss Snyder, and subsequently removed to Orange County, where he reared a large family of children, and where he spent the remainder of his life. His children were Alexander, John, George, William, James, Jacob, David, Charles, and one daughter, all of whom were married and reared families.


William, son of George Murray, born in Orange County, in 1773, married Mary Ann Beakes, of the same county, who died in 1847, aged seventy-two years. He died in 1849. He was a farmer by occu- pation, and resided in the town of Wallkill, where for many years he was an active and influential 1 citizen. He was among the zealous and devoted members of the Baptist Church of that town, and officially identified as deacon.


In matters of religion and education he was a man always interested in their propagation, and a liberal contributor in their permanent establishment and prosperity.


He was identified politically with the Democratic party, and although naturally of a retiring disposition he held various places of trust and responsibility in his town, and was chosen one of the Presidential electors in New York State, to cast his vote for James K. Polk for President of the United States.


His children are Archibald Y. ; Sally, who became the wife of William A. Sayer; Cynthia, who became the wife of Jonas Hulse; Amelia, wife of Tustin Moore, of Orange County ; William; Edmund B .; Ambrose S .; Mary Ann, wife of Gabriel Dunning, of Wantage, Sussex Co., N. J .; and Ilenry B.


this sketch, spent his boyhood on the home farm, and in obtaining such an education as the common schools then afforded.


Coming as he did from a Scotch ancestry, he in- herited that resolution and force of character that early in life gave him a place among business men, and made him esteemed for his integrity and early- developed business ability.


At the age of seventeen he became a clerk, at Middletown, N. Y., in the store of his uncle, Stacey Beakes, where he remained until the year 1831, when hecame to Goshen as clerk in the Orange County Bank. Here was an opportunity for his business qualifica- tions to develop, and such was the confidence reposed in him by its directors, that in 1834 he was elected its cashier, which place he creditably filled until the death of its president, George D. Wickham, in 1845, when he was chosen president of the bank, which position he has held since, a period of thirty-six years.


Before the reorganization of this bank under the national banking law, and while transacting business under its charter from the State, its bills were printed npon fine yellow tinted paper, which in consequence of their peculiar color, and the locality from which they originated, were known not only throughout the county, but the country, as " butter money."


Mr. Murray's yellow money, in consequence of his strict integrity and business capacity, was considered wherever and whenever presented equal to gold, and many of these notes may still be found in the posses- sion of those who sacredly treasure them as memen- toes of the past.


For a short time prior to the reorganization of the Wallkill Valley Railroad, and continuously since that time, Mr. Murray has been one of its directors.


He was a director of the Erie Railway for fourteen years ending in 1867, and is one of the directors of the "Farmers' Loan and Trust Company" of New York. He was formerly identified with the old Whig party, and upon the organization of the Republican party in 1856 he was active in the propagation of its principles, and has since unswervingly advocated its progressive measures. He was elected county trea- surer, and served for three years beginning with 1851.


In the fall of 1855 he was elected in the Tenth Con- gressional District of New York to the Thirty-fourth Congress, and by re-election was a member also of the Thirty-fifth Congress of the United States.


Mr. Murray married, in 1836, Frances, daughter of Henry G. Wisner, a prominent lawyer of Goshen, whose wife was Sarah Talman. The children born of this union are Ellen, widow of the late John V. Beam, Jr., for many years a merchant in New York City ; George W., who carries on mercantile business in New York, and officiates as vice-president of the National Bank of Orange County, at Goshen, of which his father is president; Wisner Murray, who


Ambrose S., son of William Murray, and subject of for several years was in the bank at Goshen with his


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543


GOSHEN.


father, died in 1876, aged thirty-two years ; Ambrose S., Jr., a graduate of Trinity College, is a practicing lawyer in New York; Russell, was graduated at Trinity College, and is a merchant in New York ; and Francis W., who, after graduating at Yale, was grad- uated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, and by appointment is a surgeon in the Chambers Street Hospital of that city. Both George and Wisner Murray served in the late Rebellion ; en- listed and went out with the Seventh New York Regiment.


THE GOSHEN NATIONAL BANK.


The preliminary meeting for organization was held Sept. 6, 1851. It was called by the subscribers to the stock, and there were present Barret Ames, B. F. Ed- sall, John S. Crane, Charles Reevs, Henry Merriam, William M. Graham, Henry S. Beakes, and Alex- ander Wright. Barret Ames, chairman. A resoln- tion was passed directing a certificate of organization : has a burglar-proof vault with walls of great thick- to be filed in accordance with law ; the name at that time being "The Goshen Bank."


A formal meeting of stockholders was held Sept. 13, 1851, to complete the organization. Jeremiah Knight, of Monroe, was appointed chairman, and William Montgomery secretary. All the steps neces- sary to open the bank for business were then taken, and the following board of directors chosen : Henry S. Beakes, Benjamin F. Edsall, John S. Crane, Ga- briel Scely, Jeremiah Knight, Marcus Sears, Alex- ander Wright, Henry Merriam, Charles M. Reevs, Barret Ames, Peter Townsend.


At the first meeting of the directors, held on the same day, Barret Ames, chairman, Alexander Wright was duly elected president, and William L. Beakes appointed cashier. The bank was opened for busi- ness Nov. 12, 1851. Mr. Wright continued in office until his resignation, Nov. 17, 1857 ; and under the same date, William Murray was chosen his successor. He served until his death, Aug. 25, 1875. Aug. 31, 1875, William T. Russell was chosen president, and is the present incumbent (December, 1880). He had previously served as vice-president for several years.


Mr. Beakes, the first cashier, served until his resig- nation, Nov. 21, 1857. He was succeeded by William T. Russell, chosen the same day. He continued cashier until April 9, 1866, when he resigned, and was suc- ceeded by William M. Murray, the present incumbent of that office. Charles S. Edsall served as teller from .November, 1866, to November, 1879, when he was succeeded by John Ogden Smith, the present teller. The present board of directors (December, 1880) comprises the following names : William T. Russell, Benjamin F. Edsall, Henry Merriam, James Durland, Nathan C. Sanford, George Grier, William M. Mur- ray.


doing business under this authority soon after. The business was first transacted in the building now owned by John Sturtz; not long after it was moved to the building now owned by L. and W. Poppino, on Main Street.


The present building was erected by the bank in 1869, and occupied in April, 1870. The expense of the lot, building, and fixtures was about $15,000. The capital of the bank was originally established at $110,000, in shares of $100 each, and remains the same at the present time. Since Nov. 17, 1857, in addition to making large semi-annual dividends, the bank has accumulated a surplus of $22,000, and of other undivided profits, 826,000. The stock of this hank is exceedingly valuable, bringing at times when put upon the market $160, and one sale was made a short time since at 8162.50. The bank building is a very fine edifice of modern construction, with high ceiling and a convenient arrangement of rooms. It ness, and closed with the latest improved chronometer lock.


HON. WILLIAM MURRAY .- His paternal grand- father, George Murray, was born at Inverness, Scot- land, and while a young man came to America as a soldier in the British army. He resided at Reading, Pa., but for many years prior to his decease was a resident of Orange County, where he died. His wife was a Miss Snyder, who bore him eight sons and one daughter, of whom William was father of our sub- ject, and was born in Orange County in 1773. Wil- liam Murray was a farmer in the town of Wallkill, an active and influential citizen of the connty, and one of the deacons in the Baptist Church where he resided.


Politically he was a Democrat, and by that party in the State was honored as one of the Presidential electors to east his vote for James K. Polk. He died in 1849. His wife, Mary Ann, a sister of Stacey Beakes, died in 1847, aged seventy-two years. Of their family of five sons and four daughters, William, subject of this memoir, was second son, and was born in the town of Wallkill, near Middletown, Orange Co., Oct. 1, 1803. He obtained a good education in boyhood in the schools of his native place, and at about the age of sixteen began his business life as a clerk in the store of his uncle, Stacey Beakes, of Middletown, N. Y., where he laid the foundation for business ca- pacity for which he afterwards became so distinguished. He subsequently became a clerk in a dry goods jobbing-house in New York city, and after a few years became a member of the partnership, under the firm- name of Ira Smith & Co., in which successful busi- ness relation he remained until 1841, when he re- moved to Goshen, where he continued to reside, with the exception of ten years spent at Phillipsburgh on 1875.


The change to a national bank was made under the . his farm, until his death, which occurred Aug. 25, authorization of the comptroller of the currency, bearing date July 8, 1865. The bank commenced


For more than thirty years after his early retire-


544


HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.


ment from a prosperous mercantile career, Mr. Murray was a resident of Goshen and vicinity, and during the most of those years he occupied in the community positions of trust and responsibility. Public and private interests were largely committed to his care and watchfulness, and it is faint praise of him to say that he was true to every trust, and that if he had enemies, the most censorious of them could not point to one instance wherein infallible judgment and per- fect integrity failed to govern his actions.


In 1850 he was elected to Congress on the Demo- cratic ticket, and served in the Thirty-third Congress. By re-election he was a member also of the Thirty- fourth Congress of the United States, and none de- served a higher position than Mr. Murray for ability, sound logic, sagacity, and unspotted integrity.


During his second term he was called upon to cast his vote npon Mr. Donglas' Territorial bill, which involved the repeal of the Missouri Compromise Line of 1820. The position was not void of embarrass- ment. Mp. Murray had been elected, at the time of President Pierce's election, by the suffrages of the Democratic party. Mr. Pierce favored the bill, and his party showed a disposition to sustain him in such support. Mr. Murray's support was eagerly sought and strongly nrged by the administration. The Pres- ident and the cabinet held him in high estimation, and knew that his name would be a tower of strength if it could be procured to indorse the new policy. But to Mr. Murray the line of duty did not seem to lie in that direction, and no inducement availed to secure his co-operation in the disturbance of this long-sanc- tioned compromise. His opposition was steady, vigi- lant, and unyielding, and his vote was cast against the Douglas bill on its final passage, and for this he was read out of his party. He was instrumental in tbe organization of the Republican party, and gener- ally afterwards acted with it.




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