History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 139

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 139

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Adrian, son of l'eter Holbert, born Aug. 11, 1809, in Mini-

sink, is a man of good business ability, and has led a life of great activity, and mostly devoted to agricultural pursuits. For some two years after reaching the age of twenty-three he carried on a general store, in connection with Silas C. Brown, his brother-in-law, at Centreville, and also at Millsburg, theo settled on a farm in Monroe; but after about four years, in 1836, he purchased the Valentine farm, in the town of Goshen, -said to be one of the most productive farms in Orange County, -which he carried on until 1861, and sold to his son, Jesse A. Ilolbert, and removed to Goshen village.

In 1868 he went to New York City, and fur two years was engaged in the milk business, and then returned to Goshen. He had built one house in Goshen prior to going to the city, and he now built another after his return.

Like many other men who pass their middle life in active duties of farm work and become restless under inactivity, so with Mr. Holbert, and in 1879 he left the village and settled on a few acres of land near his old homestead, where he has erected a beautiful and substantial residence that would do honor to village real estate, where he expects to spend the re- mainder of his days. Mr. Holbert has been in every sense of the term a representative farmer of Orange County, and all the appointments of his well-regulated premises show enterprise, thrift, and care.

In 1832 he married Ilannah, daughter of Joshua Sayer, of Minisink, who was born Sept. 15, 1809, and died Nov. 20, 1813. The children born of this marriage are Charles, of Kansas; Hannah, wife of George Graham, of Greenville; Mariette, wife of Albert W. SInter, of Centralia, Kan. ; Sarah, wife of Richard Wilson, died in Wallkill ; and Jesse A.

Ilis second wife was Harriet, daughter of John Wisner, of Minisink, whom he married in 1845, and who died Jan. 14, 1868, leaving one child, Anna.

llis present wife is Frances, daughter of Joshua and Jemima (Sayer) Wells, and granddaughter of Joshna Wells, a represent- ative of an old family in the town of Goshen, and who are of English descent She was born Dee. 19, 1811, and married to Mr. Holbert, Dec. 22, 1870.

ITis ancestors were of Scotch and French extrac- tion, and his paternal grandfather was one of the early settlers of Orange County.

Ilis father, Samuel Gregory, born in Chester, Orange Co., in 1763, married Mary IJunter, who died Feb. 17, 1821, aged forty-six years and eight months. He died Nov. 18, 1827, and both were buried in the old graveyard near Monroe.

Ile resided in the town of Chester during the earlier part of his life; subsequently beeame a large farmer in the town of Monroe, where he owned some five hundred acres of land.

Ilis children were Katy (wife of Joseph Stevens), Benjamin, William, Hiram, Noah, Sylvester, James, Ilannah (wife of Benjamin Van Duzer), Elmer, George, and John,-only four of whom survive in 1881.

Noah Gregory, fifth son of Samuel, was born on the homestead, in the town of Monroe, Oet. 7, 1803. His minority was spent at home, where he learned farming, and obtained limited book knowledge in the district school. He married, March 23, 1826, Sally Maria, daughter of Stephen and Abigail (Goldsmith) Smith, one of a family of seven children. IIer father was born Feb. 27, 1752, and died July 25, 1803. Iler mother was born May 8, 1757, and died Dee. 23, 1826. Mrs. Gregory was born May 23, 1799, and

died Dec. 7, 1879. She was devoted to her family, and did her part well as a helpmeet of her husband.

Some two years after his marriage, Mr. Gregory purchased one hundred and fifty-seven aeres of land in the town of Goshen, then an uneultivated tract and wild, upon which he settled. This land he brought into a high state of cultivation in due course of time, and to this purchase he added one hundred and fifty-seven acres more. With the exception of some parcels sold, this has been his homestead sinee. He ereeted a house about 1831, which forms a part of his present residence, together with commodions barns.

During his active business life all the appoint- ments of his farm showed the work of a thrifty and enterprising farmer, and he may safely be classed among the substantial agriculturists of the town of Goshen. He has never taken an active part in polit- ical matters, but has always taken an interest in all enterprises tending to the prosperity of the town. His children were Mary Jane (widow of the late Joseph D. Stage, of Wallkill), Stephen S., Noah, Goldsmith, Harvey, Mrs. Sarah A. Goldsmith, John II., born Aug. 11, 1837, was a soldier in the late civil war, and died in 1863; William II., died in infancy ; Catherine E., born Nov. 9, 1842, died Jan. 1, 1880, was the wife of Hiram T. Stage; and George Elmer.

Richard L. Word

His great-grandfather Timothy, born in England, a farm on the Florida road from Goshen, upon which was among the earliest settlers of Goshen, Orange his son William C. afterwards resided. In 1833 he purchased two hundred and twelve acres about one mile northwest of Goshen village, upon which he resided the remainder of his life, and which was inherited at his death by Richard L. and Gabriel S., his sons. The latter disposed of his part of this farm, which is now owned by Mr. Everett. Co., his farm being located where Mr. Snyder now resides, just outside the limits of the village of Goshen, on the Florida road. On this homestead also his grandfather, Richard Wood, resided, and by his mar- riage with Miss Smith had the following children : Richard, Oliver, Timothy, and Joanna (wife of Jon- athan Owen ), all of whom were residents of, and died Both Timothy Wood and his wife were devoted members of the Presbyterian Church at Goshen, as also his father, Richard Wood, had been. in Orange County. Of these children, Timothy was ; father of our subject, and was born on the homestead Dec. 29, 1776. He married Dolly, daughter of Michael Carpenter, of Goshen, who was born Feb. 22, 1781, and died in 1864. He died in 1846.

Their children were Matilda, born Dec. 15, 1804, was the wife of Stephen Smith, of Goshen, and died Jan. 28, 1881; Richard L., born Sept. 3, 1806; William C., born April 26, 1810. was a farmer ou the Florida road, in Goshen, and died in 1840, leaving an only son, James J. Wood, a silversmith, of Brook- lyn, N. Y .; Sarah Jane, born March 11, 1814 (never married), and died Feb. 19, 1879; and Gabriel S., born Nov. 27, 1818, was a farmer, and died in the town of Mount Hope, Orange Co., June, 1876, leav- ing two daughters and one son.

Timothy Wood resided on the homestead after his marriage, about 1803, until 1831, when he purchased

Richard L., son of Timothy Wood, is the only sur- viving child, and resides upon a part of the home- stead where his father died. He was born on the old homestead where three generations before him lived, and where his great-grandfather, the progeni- tor of the family in Orange County, first settled.

In 1851 he built his present residence, and later, commodious barns, all of which, with the order of his whole farm of one hundred and thirteen acres, show the care of a thorough-going and thrifty farmer.

Mr. Wood has been industrious, prudent, and up- right, and as such is known by all his fellow-meu. Like his ancestors before him, be has led a quiet, unostentatious life, and strictly followed agricultural pursuits. He was never married.

NG, Golwwan

WILLIAM COLEMAN came from England, and was one of the first English settlers on Long Island, and the common ancestor of this branch of the Coleman family in America.

Of his three sons, William, John, and George, the oldest is in line of descent, and had seven sons, ono of whom was Thomas, who had two sons and one daughter, viz. : Curtis, Thomas, and Deborah, who married Jacob Brown.

Thomas, born July 2, 1732, married Elizabeth Roe, who was horn in 1730, and who bore him four sons and two daughters, of whom Thomas, grandfather of our subject, born April 27, 1767, married, for his first wife, Mary Galloway, born April 28, 1767, who hore him the following children : Elizabeth (wife ef Obadiah Smith), Ann (wife of Morris B. Pilgrim), Charlotte (wife of Morris Stephens), all of Monroe, Orange Co .; and Wil- liam, Roe, and Thomas. The mother of these children died Dee. 9, 1804. By a second wife Thomas Coleman had three sons,-Samuel, Emery, and Henry.

llis farm was on the banks of the Hudson, in the town of Cornwall, and he is supposed to be the first of the family who settled in Orange County. He died Feb. 21, 1822.

Of his children, William, father of our subject, was born March 19, 1792, and early in life learned the painter's trade. Ile married Ann, daughter of Nathaniel and Margaret (Brad- ner) Cenkling, ef Goshen, who was born Oct. 19, 1793. For two years after his marriage he resided at Hackettstown, N. J., and then purchased a carding-mill in the town of War- wick, near Florida, which he carried on for some thirty years, until small mills were superseded by larger machinery on a larger scale, when be built a grist-tuill on the site of his carding- mill, and carried it on the remainder of his life, in connection with a small farm bought subsequent to his first purchase of the mill property.

He was a promoter of the best interests of society, and a con- tributor to the support of the Presbyterian Church at Florida, of which his wife was a member. He died April 18, 1850; his wife died April 29, 1876. Their children were Nathaniel C., born Dec. 9, 1815; Thomas J., born Aug. 28, 1817, was a merehant in New York, and died May 8, 1878; John C., born

July 28, 1819, is a farmer in Milwaukee, Wis .; Mary E., born Feb. 24, 1822, was the wife of P. P. Demarest, of Goshen, and died April 20, 1876; Cornelia A., horn Nov. 23, 1823, wife of A. L. Beyca, of Rye, Westchester Co , N. Y .; Harriet Eve- line, horn July 18, 1825, present wife ef P. P. Demarest ; George C., born Aug. 21, 1828, of Colorado ; Caroline, born June 6, 1831, was the wife ef lIenry D. Welty, of Auburn, N. Y., and died Jan. 8, 1877; and Margaret A , born Jan. 26, 1834, died unmarried, July 9, 1868. The eldest of these children, whose portrait appears above, spent his early life until the age of twenty-six at home, working in the mill and on the farm of his father. He married, Nov. 17, 1840, Fanny Maria, daughter of John and Eunice (Smith) Knapp, and great-granddaughter ef William Knapp, who was the progenitor of the Koapp family in Orange County, and settled where William Knapp new re- sides in the town of Goshen, from Horseneck, Cooa., ameng the carliest white people who found a home in the wilderness country about Goshen. She was born June 21, 1817, on the Knapp homestead, and belonged to a large family of chil- dren.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Coleman are Mary E., born June 5, 1841, died Aug. 31, 1863; Harriet Eliza, died in in- fancy : Anna A., wife of Robert Osborn, of Goshen; Fanoie E., wife of Giles E. Goodrich, of Goshen; Nathaniel C., died at the age of five, Ang. 5, 1858; and Addie W.

About one year after his marriage Mr. Coleman purchased eighty-eight aeres ef land on the Conklingtown read, near Goshen village, upon which he settled, and which he retains, except some seven acres known as " Prospect Lake," which he sold, and which furnishes the supply of water for the village of Goshen. He built his present residenee in 1851, and all the barns on his farm before and after that time. lle has led a quiet life as a farmer, and he and his wife, by their industry and judicious management, have secured a fair competeney. The products of his dlairy, in the form of butter, on account of its superior quality, finds ready market at home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Coleman are members of the Methodist Church at Goshen, and promoters of all worthy objects.

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carried on, on his own account, successfully the hard- ware and tin business for six years. Returning to New York, he remained there in business until 1865, when he came to Goshen, purchased a farm of 241 acres of land, upon which he has resided since.

Mr. Ackley's life has been, thus far, one of activity, industry, and self-reliance, for which he has been re- warded with a fair competence.

He married, June 23, 1858, Sarah J., daughter of Cornelius Westervelt, of New York City, whose ances- tors were early settlers in New York.

His children are Minnie A., Edward H., Jennie MI., Edith, and John.

JAMES M. BULL.

His grandfather, Daniel Bull, was son of John, and grandson of William Bull, who was born in England in 1689, and sailed from Dublin, Ireland, and died in Orange County in 1755. The ancestry of the Bull family is given in the sketch of Jesse Bull, of Bloom- ing-Grove.

Daniel Bull was born on the homestead, in the old stone house in Hamptonburgh. He settled in what is now the town of Chester, where he became a large land-owner.

He was an active and enterprising business man. A part of his homestead is now owned by the heirs of David Bull, his nephew. He was an influential Quaker, and one of the founders of the Quaker Society and builders of their meeting-house, which was on a part of his property on Quaker Hill. He died at the age of eighty-four. His wife, Sarah Harlow, of Hampton- burgh, died at about the age of forty-five. Their chil- dren were Stephen, lived and died on the homestead in Chester; Ebenezer, lived and died upon the original Bull homestead in Hamptonburgh, purchased for him by his father to keep it in the family ; Phebe, was the wife of Joseph Booth, of Hamptonburgh; and the youngest son, John Milton, was the father of our sub- ject. He was born March 25, 1798, and died Nov. 29, 1879. His wife was Martha, daughter of Joseph, and granddaughter of Charles Durland, who came from Long Island in 1756, and after the close of the French

and Indian war, in which he served, settled in Chester, on the place now owned by his grandson, James Dur- land. Martha Durland was born in May, 1800, and is the oldest living member of the Chester Presbyterian Church in 1881. Their children are Sarah, died young ; Ebenezer, of Westchester Co., N. Y .; Mary Ann, died at the age of forty-two; James M. ; Samuel, succeeded to the homestead of his father in Monroe; Elizabeth, was the wife of Joseph W. Young, and died at Oxford in November, 1858; and Emily, became the second wife of Joseph W. Young.

John Milton Bull settled on a farm of 300 acres on the bank of Little Long Pond, in Monroe, where he spent his active business life, and was known as a progressive and an intelligent farmer. He possessed remarkable good judgment, was a man of practical ideas and sterling honesty, and was also a man of great determination and resolution of purpose. He continued litigation, begun by his father, for the con- trol of the ontlet of Little Long Pond until sixty years had elapsed from the beginning of the suit, when the matter was settled by arbitration ; their opponents were Mr. Craig and his successor, Mr. Ames, of Craig- ville.

James M. Bull was born on the homestead in Monroe, April 3, 1830, and married, Jan. 25, 1859, Ann Eliza- beth, daughter of George S. Conkling and Mary Seeley, and granddaughter of Joshua Conkling, who came from Long Island and was one of the early settlers of Goshen. Her mother was a daughter of Thaddeus Seeley, and granddaughter of Thaddeus Seeley, old residents of Chester. She was born June 8, 1835. Their children are George Seeley, was drowned young ; Albert C .; Cornelia; John Milton, died young ; and Whitfield H.

In 1856, Mr. Bull purchased the "Sheriff Jackson" place of about 100 acres in the town of Goshen, upon which he has resided since. He markets the prodnets of his dairy in New York, and his father was the first man who sent canned milk to a New York market from Oxford in the fall of 1842.

Mr. Bull is a throughgoing, industrious, and well- to-do farmer; like his forefathers, he is no seeker after place, but has devoted his life strictly to agricultural pursuits.

WARWICK.

I .- SITUATION, BOUNDARIES, AREA, TITLE.

WARWICK occupies a large portion of the southern part of the county. It is bounded north by Minisink, Wawayanda, Goshen, and Chester; east by Chester and Monroe; south and southwest by the State of New Jersey ; west by New Jersey and the town of Minisink.

The only statement of area that can be given is com- prised in the annual equalization table of the board of supervisors, showing 61,380 acres. The assessed val- uation of the town for 1879 was $3,035,646, and the taxes levied upon that basis were $23,621.71. The title to the soil of the town is derived from the Wa- wayanda Patent.

II .- NATURAL FEATURES.

The topography of this large tract is sufficiently in- teresting to justify a lengthy article, instead of the brief paragraph appropriated to this chapter. For ad- ditional material reference is made to the General His- tory. Quaker Creek forms the western boundary, and has its source principally in Gleninere Lake (Thomp- son's Pond). Tributaries of this, flowing generally northwest, are the following : Pochuck Creek, formed of several branches, rising in the southwest part of the town ; a second of little importance empties into Quaker Creek, a short distance north of the Pochuck ; Wheeler's Creek, formed of several branches, is next north; and a fourth unites with Quaker Creek, near Florida. East of the higher lands, in which these streams rise, is the valley of the Warwick Creek. This stream has its sources in the north and the centre of the town, and among them is Wickham's Pond. It flows nearly south into the State of New Jersey ; has many tributary rivulets from each direction, and drains an extensive tract. It is sometimes called the Wawayanda, but owing to its distance from the town of the same name it is liable to confuse, and should give way to the better name, Warwick. Long House Creek is a tributary of the Warwick, and flows from the southwest line of the town near Greenwood Lake nearly to Wickham's Pond. When uniting with the Warwick its waters flow again to the southwest through the Warwick Valley. There are various rivulets that drain a section of country north of Greenwood Lake, and flow into that body of water. The outlet of Ster- ling Pond flows southward into the town of Monroe, and hecomes a tributary of the Ramapo.

The ponds form a distinct feature of the topogra- .

phy of the town. Long Pond is partly in Orange County and partly in New Jersey. It is about nine miles long and one mile wide. It is used as a feeder to the Morris Canal, and was formerly celebrated as a delightful fishing ground, especially for pickerel, which were exceedingly abundant. Thompson's Pond is mentioned in the chapter upon Chester. This name is from Judge William Thompson, for- merly of Goshen, who owned the pond and had a flour-mill on its outlet. Wickham's Pond is situated in the Sugar-Loaf Valley, in the northeast part of the town. Its outlet is one of the principal branches of the Warwick Creek. It had its name from William Wickham, Esq., once first judge of the county, to whose estate the pond belonged. Stirling Pond is situated in the southeast part of the town, and is of considerable note in connection with the mines and the early mannfacture of iron in that vicinity. The name was in honor of Lord Stirling, of New Jersey, prominent in Revolutionary times. Upon the outlet of the pond are the Stirling Iron Works.

In the Drowned Lands tract the so-called islands form a peculiar feature. They are known as Little, Gardner's, Black Walnut, Pine, Merritt's, and Owens'. They are simply small portions of upland in the midst of what was once low and swampy ground.

In the early settlement of the county some of these islands could only be approached by a boat, but under the drainage and cultivation of modern times this would never be suspected, as the Drowned Lands themselves are now traversed by good roads and divided into valuable farms.

The elevations in the town have special names. A range in the southeast is known as Warwick Mountains. East of these is Rough Mountain, a barren and rugged tract. Still further east is Stirling Mountain. Round Hill, near the New Jersey line, is so named from its circular outline. A short dis- tance from this is Taylor Mountain. In the north- east are the Bellvale Mountains. Near Bellvale Corners is Decker Hill. Rock Hills are situated east of Florida. South of Big Island Station are Mounts Adam and Eve. These insulated mountain- masses are united in location, and we will not sep- arate them in description. They are on the edge of the Drowned Lands, in the west part of the town. Adam is the highest, Eve the longest and largest. The latter lies cast and north of the former. These elevations spring up from the bottom-lands on the

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WARWICK.

west and the beautiful glades around Edenville on the east without any apparent physical reason, and stand, solitary and alone, like twin islands on the broad expanse of the ocean.

III .- EARLY SETTLEMENT.

In the division of the Wawayanda Patent the por- tion which fell to Benjamin Aske received his personal attention in its settlement, as did that of Denne and Cromeline. By deed dated Feb. 28, 1719, he sold to Lawrence Decker, yeoman, for fifty pounds, 100 acres, in the deed described as "being part of the 2200 acres of land called Warwick," showing that previous to that time he had bestowed the name of Warwick upon his tract. This deed was signed by Mr. Aske, " of the County of Orange." By deed, May 20, 1721, lie sold 100 acres "of his farm called Warwick" to "Thomas Blain, now residing upon the same." The third recorded deed from Mr. Aske was to Thomas DeKay, Dec. 8, 1724.

Lawrence Decker having received a deed, as stated, made a settlement soon after. It was the opinion of the late Mr. Henry Pelton, who had investigated these early matters, that his location was the Thomas Welling farm of modern times. It is supposed that one or two other Decker families came at the same time, and either then or subsequently a family by the name of Stagg, a name written "Stage" in sub- sequent years. Thomas Blain's deed mentioned shows that he was already located in the year 1721, and his farm was the Henry Pelton place of later years, though Blain 'subsequently changed to the Samuel Dolsen place. Thomas DeKay located no doubt soon after his purchase on the farm owned in later years by Joel Wood. His son, Thomas DeKay, Jr., sue- ceeded him on the old homestead.

John Vane must have settled in Warwick soon after. His homestead was on lands adjoining the present Belden Burt farm, on the south, and reaching across the Warwick Creek to the north road. His dwelling was near the creek by the spring, a few rods northeast of the John Pelton barn of the present time.

The story of early settlement is interrupted for a time following the above locations of 1719 to 1725. There are few traditions of other families until the removal to this place of Daniel Burt in 1746 (men- tioned below). He only remained four years at that time, and his permanent settlement dates from 1760. Meanwhile, there is some documentary evidence as to other families. The following fragments, among the reports of slaves made pursuant to an act of the Legislature, are found in the "Documentary History of the State." Their titles indicate that the location of a part at least of those mentioned was in War- wick:

" The number of ull the Negro's belonging under Cupt. John Wimmer of ' flor- aday,' 1755.

" Nathaniel Roe, two, a male and a female.

." William Thompson, two, a male and a female.

"James Thompson, one, n male.

" David Shepherd, one, a male.

" Jonathan Elmer, one, a male.

" Henry Wisner, one, a male.

" Joseph Alson, two, a male and a female,

" Richard Alson, one, a male.

" Israel Parshall, one, a male.

" George Carr, one, a male.

" Adam Wisner, one, a female.

" Matthew Howell, one, a female.

(Signed)

"JOHN WISNEN."

" May it please His Excellency

" According to the act of your Assembly this is a true account of all the slaves belonging to my District-1755.

" To Cornelius De Kay, one negro slave.

" To George De Kay, one negro slave,

" To Richard Edsall, one negro male and three female slaves.

" To Benjamin Burt, one negro slave.

"To Thomas Welling, one negro slave.

"To Richard Edsall, Jun., one negro slave.

" To John Allison, one negro slave.

" To Peter Clous,* one negro slave. (Signed) " JACOBUS DE KAY."

The name of James Thompson, probably the same as that in the above list, occurs as quartermaster in Col. Vincent Matthews' regiment of 1738. Several of the others appear in the papers of twenty years later given below. James Burt, Esq., makes the fol- lowing memorandum on the above list of 1755:

Nathaniel Roe lived in what is now the town of Chester. He had a son, Nathaniel Roe, Jr.

William Thompson lived about two miles from Florida, in the present town of Goshen. James Thompson, his brother, was settled in the same neigh- borhood.

David Shepherd was probably living at Amity, an- cestor of many of the same family name residing in that vicinity in later years.

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 139

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