History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 36

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 36

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1816 .- Leonard Mason ; Charles H. Ruggles, New- burgh; Alexander T. Bodle, Goshen; Alexander Duer, Goshen ; Archibald Smith, Montgomery.

LEONARD MASON removed to Poughkeepsie.

CHARLES H. RUGGLES was circuit judge in 1831 ; residence, Poughkeepsie.

ALEXANDER DUER was the brother of John Duer, and has already been spoken of.

ALEXANDER T. BODLE and ARCHIBALD SMITH enjoyed no special reputation.

1817 .- George F. Tallman; Samuel G. Hopkins, Goshen.

1818 .- Thomas McKissock, Newburgh; Albert S. Benton, Goshen ; Alpheus Dimmick, Goshen ; James Dill; Ogden Hoffman, Goshen.

of Joseph Belknap (sister to Mrs. Charles Humphrey ). She died in 1843. He had two children,-Thomas, who removed to St. Louis, and Sophia (Mrs. Low- den ), who removed to Brooklyn. He died at St. An- drew's, aged seventy-sixty years, two months, and nine days.

OGDEN HOFFMAN .- The name of Ogden Hoffinan ' deserves special notice among the eminent men who have conferred lustre upon the Orange County bar. Although for the last thirty years of his life a resident of the city of New York, he is justly claimed also by Orange County, from the fact that here he pursued his legal studies, and commenced his brilliant professional career. Ogden Hoffman was the son of another very eminent lawyer, Josiah Ogden Hoffinan, and was born in the city of New York in the year 1793. He had commenced studying in his father's office when the war of 1812, between the United States and Great Britain, broke out, and at the first bugle-blast young Hoffman entered into the service of his country as a midshipman. He was the favorite midshipman and aide to the gallant Decatur, and acquitted himself so bravely as to have merited the highest encomiums of that brave commander and his fellow-officers. He was on board of the "President" with Decatur, in January, 1815, when she was attacked by the " Endy- mion," " Pomona," "Taredos," and "Majestic," not far from the port of New York, and after an eight hours' fight compelled to surrender. Hoffinan was sent to England as a prisoner, and was there confined for six months. He subsequently served under De- catur in the United States frigate "Guerriere" ( forty- four guns), in the war with the Algerines. In the battle with the Algerine ship, the "Mesora" (sixty- four guns), June 16, 1815, he was second in command of the cutter which first boarded the Algerine, and with his comrades was fighting the enemy on his own decks when the other cutters came to their assistance. On leaving the navy he came to Goshen, and pursued his legal studies under John Duer, and immediately upon his admission to the bar took a high stand in his profession. He was soon appointed district attor- ney of Orange County (1823), and also represented that county in the State Legislature as member of Assembly for one term (1826). In 1826 he removed to the city of New York, where his brilliant talents soon commanded for him the highest position. Ile

THOMAS MCKISSOCK was the son of Thomas Me- Kissock, of Ayrshire, Scotland, who settled in Mont- gomery prior to the war for independence. He was born in Montgomery about 1790, and at the proper age commenced the study of medicine. This profes- sion he abandoned, however, for that of the law, and entered the office of Ross & Bate in 1815. Subse- quently for many years he was associated with Judge | at first became a law partner of Hugh Maxwell. In Bate, his tutor, under the firm-name of Bate & Mc- 1828 he was elected a member of the State Legisla- ture for New York City, and rendered material ser- vices in the revision of the statutes. From 1829 to 1836 he held the office of district attorney by appoint- Kissock. In 1847 he was appointed judge of the Su- preme Court to close up the business of that court under the okl constitution, and discharged the duties devolving upon him with great credit. In 1849 he ' ment of the New York Common. Council. He was was elected representative in Congress. Very few then elected to Congress, and served two terms in the House of Representatives. In 1841 he was appointed to the office of United States district attorney for the Southern District of New York by President Ilarri- son. Again, in 1848, he was elected to Congress, and subsequently filled the office of attorney-general of men enjoyed more fully the confidence of men of all parties, and none to whose legal opinions greater deference was coneeded. Candor, ingenuousness, manliness, and moral integrity were predominant traits in his character. His wife was Elsie, daughter

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the State from 1854 to 1855. His active and useful career was terminated, May 1, 1856, by death. Mr. IToffman had no equal as an eloquent advocate, and combined in his composition all those engaging quali- ties of heart and mind which make up the character of the true gentleman. No man ever was more heartily loved by his fellows, or more sincerely mourned. During his residence in Goshen he mar- ried Emily, daughter of Jonathan Burrill, who at that time was cashier of the Orange County Bank.

ALBERT S. BENTON was county elerk in 1838. Concerning him we have no other information.

1822 .- Gabriel W. Ludlum, Goshen; John W. Knevels, Newburgh ; John W. Brown, Newburgh. !

JOHN W. KNEVELS was the son of Dr. Adrian Knevels, of Santa Cruz, W. I., and came hither with his father, whose family was composed of John W., Isaac, Augustus, Granville, and Maria. He studied law under William Ross, and was for a time associ- ated with him. Subsequently he gave no little atten- tion to horticulture, established a nursery, and pub- lished a monthly under the title of Tablets of Rural Economy. He also edited the Newburgh Gazette, and embellished his editorial articles with Greek types. He failed in 1737, and removed to Fishkill, where he died. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Cromeline Verplanck, and sister of Gulian C. Ver- planek.

part as one of the delegates from Orange County. In 1849 he was elected justice of the Supreme Court for the Second Judicial District for the term of eight years. En November, 1857, he was re-elected, and served an additional term of eight years, the last years of each term having been spent as an associate judge of the Court of Appeals. Not one of his decisions as judge was ever reversed by the Court of Appeals, notwith- standing the fact that in several instances doubtful and intricate points of law were involved. His de- She was one of three sisters very celebrated in their ! eision in the case of the seven million canal Joan was day for their beauty and attractions, one of whom, Frances, married Murray Hoffman, and the other, Caroline, became the wife of Henry Hone. The son of Mr. Hoffman, Ogden Hoffman, Jr., is United States district judge in California, and a second is Charles Burrill Hoffman, now living in the city of New York.

especially in opposition to a strong element in public opinion. Distinguished as he was as an advocate, he became far more distinguished as a judge. In many respects he was peculiar. Very few men had a keener appreciation of the value of money than he, and it was for this reason that he was a moderate man in his charges for legal services, and equally moderate in his expenditures. Penurious he never was,-the rapacity of many was not in his composition; had it been, abundant wealth, instead of a simple competency, would have resulted from his practice. He was a gentleman in the strictest sense, and all his business intercourse with his fellow-men was marked by the most thorough integrity. A strong man when aroused in any emergency,-one who could sway a jury and awe a mob,-he was remarkably kind and sensitive, Ilis wife was Eliza, daughter of Sclah Reeve. Chas. F. Brown, at present judge of the County Court, is his son.

SAMUEL JONES WILKIN .- The progenitor of the Wilkin family in Orange County, N. Y., of whom the subject of this sketch is great-grandson, was John Wilkin, who was of Welsh birth, and settled at or near Enniskillen, Ireland, soon after the conquest of that country by William, Prince of Orange, in 1688. In 1728, with his wife and three children, William, James, and Ann, he settled in the town of Shawan- gunk, Ulster Co., N. Y. (now town of Montgomery, Orange Co.), on a tract of 500 acres of land. He had born to him, after his arrival in America, children,- John, George, Joseph, Jason, Jane, Elizabeth, Lydia, Mary, and Susan. He died in the occupation of his farmı.

JOHN W. BROWN was the strong man of the class of 1822. He was born at Dundee, Scotland, Oct. 11, 1796; was brought to this country in 1801 by his father, who settled first in Putnam County, but soon after removed to what is now known as West New- burgh, where he conducted a fulling-mill. Receiving a good common-school education, but evincing stu- dious habits and an inelination for the profession of law, he entered the office of Jonathan Fisk. For a William, eldest son, born Jan. 20, 1720, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Rogers, who married a Miss Ogden, and who removed from Rye, Westchester Co., and settled in Wallkill, when their daughter was young. time, both before and after his admission to the bar, he took considerable interest in military matters, be- came captain of the "Bell-Button Company," and subsequently colonel of the militia of the district. He was early appointed justice of the peace, and from After his marriage William Wilkin settled in Wall- kill. Ile was a man of limited education, but pos- sessed a strong mind, a retentive memory, and in those days of real log cabins he was very much esteemed by his neighbors, and often served them in ' settling their accounts when difficulties arose among them. 1821 to 1825 was clerk of the board of village trus- tees. In 1832 be was elected member of Congress, and re-elected in 1834. Ile was a faithful, but not especially a brilliant, representative. In the politieal discussions following his last election he became a strong opponent of the "Albany Regency," which controlled the Democratic party. The Constitutional He reared a large family of children, who married Convention of 1846 was the outgrowth of this dis- , with members of the oldest and most respectable cussion, and in that Convention he took an active "families of Orange County, and many of their de-

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seendants have been prominent and influential mem- bers of society. The family of William Wilkin were among the early members of the Creeder Church at Neelytown.

The children of William Wilkin were Sarah, John, ' Wheeler Case, a lawyer at Goshen, and surrogate of

William, Jane, Daniel. George, Gen. James W., Robert, Joseph, and Elizabeth, most of whom lived to old age.

One brother of William Wilkin, George, was taken prisoner at Fort Montgomery, and died in the old Sugar-House prison in New York during the Revo- Intionary war.

Gen. James W., son of William Wilkin, was an influential citizen and lawyer during the early days of the Republic, and was prominently identified with the civil, political, and military history of Orange County nearly his whole life. Hle was graduated at Princeton under President Witherspoon.

He was appointed captain-lientenant of a com- pany of artillery in a brigade of Orange County militia, July 3, 1787, by Governor Clinton, and again March 16, 1792. He was appointed by the same Gov- ernor lieutenant-colonel of a regiment of artillery, May 19, 1803, and subsequently, by Governor Mor- gan Lewis, brigadier-general of the Second Brigade of Artillery.

Hle was appointed an attorney in the Uster County Court of Common Pleas in 1789 by Judge Derk Wyn Koop, having been admitted to practice law in Orange County the previous year.

He was State senator from the Middle District in 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, '11, 12, '13, and '14, and by virtue of his position as senator he was elected by the Assembly a member of the " Council of Appointment," Jan. 30, 1802, again on Jan. 30, 1811, and a third time Jan. 12. 1813.

He was a member of Assembly from Orange in 1808, 1809, and for the latter session was chosen speaker of the House.

Gen. Wilkin was president of the Legislative caucus which nominated De Witt Clinton for President of the United States, and was a member of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Congresses of the United States from Orange, and after the close of his Congressional career he served Orange County from 1819 to 1821 inclusive as county clerk, and also for several years as county treasurer.

He was a candidate against Rufus King for the United States Senate, and was defeated for the nomi- nation by a single vote.

He was a large man of fine presence. He was a man of strictly moral character and temperate habits, and was one of the pillars of the Presbyterian Church at Goshen, of which he was for many years an elder. He was exceedingly courteous and polite in manners, and generally amiable, although possessing a terrible temper when aroused. He was always deferential to the ladies, for whom in general he entertained the highest respect.

His wife was Ilannah, daughter of Roger Town- send, of Goshen, who bore him the following chil- dren : William, a private secretary of one of the Gov- ernors of the State; James W. ; Eliza Maria, wife of Orange, 1823-27 ; Sally, who died unmarried; Caro- line, wife of Hull Tuthill, a lawyer at Goshen, and after his death wife of John W. A. Brewster, of Maine. who died, leaving an only son, Rev. Charles A. Brew- ster, of Newark. N. J .; Samuel J., subject of this sketch ; Frances, wife of John 1. Thompson, of Go- shen, who has one son, Rev. J. J. Thompson, a grad- uate of Prineeton College.

Samuel J., son of Gen. James W. Wilkin, was born at Goshen, Dec. 17, 1793, and died March 11, 1866, in his native place, where he resided his whole life, ex- eept a short time, about the year 1838, spent in the city of New York, where he resided and practiced his profession ; but owing to failing health he was obliged to return to his native county.

Ile married, July 18, 1816, Sarah G., daughter of Col. David M. Westeott, one of the early journalists of Goshen. She was born May 29, 1796.

Their children were Mary, wife of Joseph G. Ellis, of Mobile, born Oct. 14, 1817, died shortly after her marriage, Oct. 10, 1842; Col. Alexander, born Dec. 1, 1819, was a lawyer in New York City. He served as captain in the Mexican war, and in 1849 settled at St. Paul, Minn., and resumed the practice of the law. He was there appointed Secretary of the Territory, and held the office until the incoming of President Pierce's administration in 1853. Upon the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861 he was elected to the captaincy of the first company of the first regiment raised in the State for the war; for gallantry at the battle of Bull Run was made captain in the regular army ; subsequently was appointed major in the Sec- ond Regiment, then its lieutenant-colonel, and npon the organization of the Ninth Regiment he was ap- pointed, by Governor Ramsey, its colonel, which posi- tion he was gallantly filling at the time of his death, although acting, as he had done for some time, as a brigadier-general. He was a brave soldier and an accomplished gentleman, and was killed July 14, 1864, at the battle of Tupelo, Miss.

The remaining children were Charles, born Jan. 9, 1822, was killed accidentally while out hunting, Oct. 22, 1839; Westcott, born Jan. 4, 1824, a graduate of Princeton in the class of 1843, is now serving his third term, of seven years each, as judge of the District Court of Minnesota, and was a candidate on the minority ticket for chief justice of that State in 1874; William, born March 20, 1826, died May 12, 1839; Samuel Jones, died young; Hannah, born July 23, 1829, died May 22, 1839; and Sarah Westeott, born Jan. 2, 1838, is the wife of Roswell C. Coleman, a lawyer of Goshen, who, as a member of the " American Rifle Team" which visited Ireland in 1875, took first rank among the marksmen of the world.

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In the profession to which Samuel J. Wilkin devoted most of his active life, he was eminent as a successful and eloquent advocate, an able and a learned and skill- ful lawyer. He was all through his life marked as a man of sterling virtues and high-toned integrity of principle. None who knew him well could doubt either the incorruptible honesty or the stainless honor of the man.

He very soon attracted notice by his skill as an advocate, and at an age when most young men are elimbing slowly up the first steps of the ladder of dis- tinction he had already won an enviable reputation as a member of the bar of his native county. His first efforts were made against some of the ablest and most eloquent men of the State, and he was sue- eessful.

While still a young man he devoted much attention to politieal matters, and became a leader of his party in the county. He was elected member of Assembly . in 1824-25, when such an election was sought by the ablest men, and held a high position for talent in that body.

He was engaged mainly after this in his profes- sional labors at Goshen until he was elected a member of the Twenty-second Congress of the United States, where he served with honor. He resumed his prae- tice after the close of his term in Congress, which he continued until 1848-49, when he served as State sena- tor, and in that body became the acknowledged head and leader of his party. His record in the senate | led a quiet and uneventful life as a farmer, was never journal is bright with exhibitions of eloquence and talent of a high order.

This was the end of Mr. Wilkin's official career, except to serve as canal appraiser, appointed July 1, 1850.

In 1844, Mr. Wilkin was a candidate for Lieutenant- Governor of the State on the Whig ticket, with Mil- lard Fillmore as candidate for Governor, but the Locofoco ticket prevailed that year, and Silas Wright and Addison Gardner were elected for these offices.

The talents of Mr. Wilkin were of a high order as an advocate, and some of his addresses to juries in important cases were fine specimens of professional skill and impassioned eloquence.

He was a ripe and sound lawyer, and had carefully studied and mastered the foundation principles on which the science of the law reposes.

He brought into the practice of the profession the highest style of integrity, and never swerved from it under the presence of temptation.

He was a close classical student, and found time to pursue the studies which had delighted his youth in

the midst of his professional labors. He studied the principles of government and polities with great care and eminent success, and always took a deep interest in public affairs. He was a man eminently simple in his tastes, manners, and habits of life, kind and genial in his intercourse, and a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church at Goshen, of which he served for many years as eller.

JOHN G. WILKIN .- William, son of William Wil- kin referred to in the sketch of Samuel .J. Wilkin,

He was carefully and thoroughly educated, and graduated at Princeton College before reaching his majority. He studied law with his father, was ap- , and brother of Gen. James W. Wilkin, was grand- pointed an attorney, Oct. 26, 1815, by Hon. Smith Thompson, chief justice of the Supreme Court, and counselor and solicitor by Chancellor Kent, Feb. 1, 1822. father of our subject, succeeded to a part of the home- stead in Wallkill, now Hamptonburgh, containing 200 acres, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits during his life, and then died about 1823 aged seventy- four years. He commanded a company of militia during the Revolutionary war, and appears to have acted as a minute man, ready to be called out for ser- vice upon the shortest notice.

His wife, Sarah Crans, was of Huguenot stoek, her ancestors settling in Ulster County, from Holland. Both were buried in the old graveyard at Neelytown, where they were members of the church.

Their children were John, Joseph, Adam, Daniel, Marshall, Mary (wife of Gawn Mackinson), Sally (wife of Adam Shafer), Esther ( wife of Benjamin Hornbeck), Susan (wife of Luther Hornbeck), and Eliza, who married a Mr. Mckinney.

Of these children, Daniel, father of Judge John G. Wilkin, was born in 1784, and died in 1850. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812 on Staten Island.

For five years following his marriage he resided in Shawangunk, Ulster Co., after which time until his decease he resided upon a part of the homestead of his father, to which he succeeded by inheritance. He ambitious for political place in his town, was a pro- moter of religious work and good society, and both himself and wife were members of the Associate Re- formed Church at Neelytown, of which his ancestors had also been members, and afterwards of the Cov- enanter Church at Coldenham.

His wife was Harriet, daughter of John B. Haines, of Coldenham, Orange Co., formerly from Connec- tient, afterwards from Long Island, and whose ances- tors were of English birth. She died in 1870, aged seventy-six years.

Their children are Susan A., widow of John A. MeWilliams, of Elmira; Abbey (deceased), was the wife of Cornelius Hornbeck, of Ulster County ; Judge John G. ; Moses B .; Daniel F., a lawyer in Nashville, Tenn .; and Joseph M., a lawyer at Montgomery. Orange Co.

Judge John G. Wilkin was born Oct. 22, 1818. As early as eight years of age young Wilkin, under the advice of his teacher, was set to learning the rudi- ments of the Latin language, with the supposed in- tention of his parents of eventually preparing him

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

for the ministry. This study he pursued diligently for four years, and made such rapid progress that, under the old preparatory course, he had read as far as Horace when his teacher removed to other parts, and for the time being the Latin was virtually aban- cloned. For several years afterwards he remained at home engaged in farm work. At the age of seven- teen he was called from Montgomery Academy, where he was attending school, to take charge of the school at home as teacher, which he successfully conducted, and for a part of three years thereafter further prose- cuted his studies at the academy, going from home daily on horseback and on foot, a distance of four miles. He was subsequently a teacher at Monticello, N. Y., and while there, in 1838, began the study of law in the office of Judge Wm. B. Wright, of that place, who afterwards became a judge of the Supreme Court and of the Court of Appeals in this State. After two years' study with Judge Wright, Mr. Wil- kin became a law student with Gen. A. C. Niven, of Monticello, one of the most eminent lawyers of the State, where he completed his law studies, and was ad- mitted to the bar at the October term of the Supreme Court, held at Rochester, N. Y., in 1842. He was admitted as counselor in 1845.

On the 16th of January, 1843, following his ad- mission as attorney, he opened a law-office in Middle- town, where he has continued the successful practice of his profession since, a period of thirty-eight years.

Mr. Wilkin was appointed brigadier judge-advocate of artillery in 1842, and served until the militia sys- tem of the State was abolished. He was appointed an examiner in chancery by Governor Bouck in 1843, and held the office until it was abolished by the new constitution in 1846. He was elected, and was the first special county judge of Orange County under the law creating that office, and was elected and held the office of county judge from 1852 to 1856 ; was one of five commissioners on every commission chosen to assess damages in the construction of the Hudson River Railroad from Greenbush to and below Castle- ton, and is the attorney of the North River Railroad Company.

Judge Wilkin has been a director of and attorney for the Middletown Bank (now Middletown National Bank) since 1849; vice-president since 1855, and for some time was its acting president. He was one of the charter members of the Middletown Savings- Bank, and has been one of its board of trustees and attorney for the bank since its organization.

He was appointed revenue collector of the Eleventh District of New York upon the creation of the office in 1861, and held the office until 1869, when he resigned.

Judge Wilkin was among the foremost and most active in Orange County, during the late civil war, in raising and equipping troops for service, and gave his full support in time and means for the Union cause.

He married, Feb. 20, 1850, Louisa, daughter of Na- thaniel Cooley, of Middletown.

Their children are John, studied law with his father, was admitted to the bar in 1876, and is practicing his profession in his native village ; Dr. Charles H. was graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, subsequently at the New York Hos- pital, and is a successful practitioner of medicine and surgery in New York City.

Judge Wilkin is a man of positive and progressive views, and he has always had the courage of his con- victions. He has never hesitated to espouse a cause if convinced that it was right, and he has never per- sisted in it through false pride if satisfied that he was wrong. Though the bent of his intellect inelines him to consider public questions in their broader aspects, and with reference to their remote and ultimate bear- ings, he has never been a mere theorist or doctrinaire. On the contrary, his prudent counsels and practical sagacity have always commanded the respect and in- fluenced the judgment of his fellow-citizens.

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 36

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