History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 38

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 38

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1844 .- S. W. Fullerton, Jr., Newburgh ; James L. Stewart.

1845 .- Daniel Fullerton, Goshen; Oliver Young; Hugh B. Bull, Montgomery; James G. Graham, New- burgh ; David F. Gedney, Goshen ; William R. Nel- son ; Levinus Monson, Newburgh ; Andrew J. Wilkin, Goshen.

Judge Gedney was born in Newburgh-on-Hudson, .Jan. 1, 1821. He was prepared to enter college at the Newburgh Academy, and in 1836 entered the junior class at Union College. He graduated in 1838, re- ceiving the usual degree of A.B. His father and elder brother having died while he was in college, he removed with his mother and an unmarried sister

(afterwards Mrs. Isaac R. Van Duzer) to Goshen, Orange Co. llere he entered upon his professional career as a student in the law-office of Van Duzer & Sharpe, and after the dissolution of that firm he continued his studies with Van Duzer & Westcott. He was admitted to the bar in 1845, and formed a partnership with Nathan Westcott, which continued until that gentleman was elected county clerk in 1850. In 1856 he was elected to the office of district attorney, and in 1862 to the office of county judge. lle formed a partnership in 1874 with his son, Mr. Herbert Gedney, with whom he is now associated in business.

In 1843, Judge Gedney married Miss Henrietta Robinson Duer, youngest daughter of Alexander Duer, Esq. Mr. Duer was a son of Col. William Duer, of the Revolutionary army, and a brother of the late Judges John A. Duer and William A. Duer. Of the three children of this marriage, the eldest-Alex. Duer Gedney-was lost at sea off Cape Horn in 1860; the others are living.

Judge Gedney's judicial career was marked by ability and impartiality, and he discharged the duties of district attorney in a manner eminently satisfactory to his county. He is an advocate of marked power, and has been connected with the trial of many im- portant civil and criminal cases. lle has taken for many years a prominent position among Republican politicians, and his speeches, both political and pro- fessional, are remarkable for the chastity of their lan- guage and the clearness and force of their logic. He is one of the oldest members of the present bar of Orange County.

The FULLERTONS-DANIEL, WILLIAM, and STE- PHEN W .- have been honorable representatives of their profession. Daniel, the last admitted to practice, was the oldest brother and had but a short legal career. Stephen W., the youngest, prior to his removal to New York, filled the office of county judge, and also that of district attorney, and had for his associate in prac- tice Charles H. Van Wyck, now United States sena- tor from Nebraska. William, after some years in his profession in Newburgh, during the largest portion of which time James W. Fowler was his business asso- ciate, removed to New York, where he was associated

DAVID FOWLER GEDNEY .- The paternal ancestors of Judge Gedney were English Quakers, who emi- grated from England to this country in the reign of Charles II. to escape the religious persecution against Nonconformists during the life of that monarch. His father was Eleazer Gedney, M.D., who was for many . with Charles O'Conor, and from that point has risen years an eminent physician in what. was then the vil- fage of Newburgh, Orange Co., N. Y. Dr. Gedney married Miss Charlotte Bailey, of New Windsor, in the same county, and who was the daughter of Dr. Jonathan Bailey. Dr. Bailey was related collaterally to the Revolutionary patriot, Samuel Adams.

to the highest rank at the bar of that city. Aug. 30, 1867, he was appointed justice of the Supreme Court for the Second Judicial District, to fill the unexpired term of Judge Serugham, but transferred the honor to his brother, Stephen W., who served from August 30th to December 31st. A brief history of the family will be found in another part of this volume. (See Wawayanda.)

JAMES G. GRAHAM was born in Shawangunk, Ulster Co., October, 1821. He graduated at Colum- bia College in 1840; studied in the office of Bate & MeKissoek, and after his admission to the bar prae- tieed in Ulster County. In 1848 he was elected to

David I Gedney

157

BENCH AND BAR.

the Assembly from the southern district of Ulster, and again in 1865. In 1878 he represented the First As- sembly District of Orange in the same body. He has held several local trusts with credit since his removal to Newburgh in 1866, and enjoys the esteem and con- fidence of the community. His first wife was Mary E., daughter of George G. Schofield, of Walden. He married second, Margaret J., daughter of Israel Knapp, also of Walden.

1846 .- Gabriel N. Sweezey, Goshen (removed to California in 1849, and died at Marysville, in that State, in 1875) ; DeWitt C. Cooley ; John Lyon ; S. Howell Strong; Moses Sweezey, Goshen ; Charles H. Winfield, Goshen. (See Dr. Winfield.)

1848 .- Eugene A. Brewster, Newburgh.

EUGENE A. BREWSTER is a lineal descendant of Elder Brewster, of the Plymouth Pilgrims. His im- mediate ancestor in this county was Samuel Brewster, of New Windsor, a most substantial and representa- tive man of the Revolutionary era. He was born in New York, April 13, 1827, and was brought to New- burgh by his parents when he was three years old. He entered the office of John W. Brown in 1843, and remained with him until January, 1850, when he united in partnership with Nathan Reeve, Judge Brown's brother-in-law, and continued under the firm of Reeve & Brewster nntil 1855, since which time he has been without an associate. That he has few, if any, superiors in practice in the county will be gen- erally conceded by the profession. He has held sev- eral local stations with credit, and many rely as im- plicitly upon his judgment as they did upon that of his tutor, Judge Brown, some of whose habits of thought and action were deeply grafted upon his character. He married, in 1859, Anna W., daughter of Rev. John Brown, D.D.

JAMES N. PRONK was born in the city of Boston, Feb. 27, 1822. His father, Dr. John N. D. V. Pronk, a native of Amsterdam, Holland, was there educated a physician, and emigrated to America in ISI1, set- tling in Boston, Mass. He practiced his profession in that city until 1839, when he retired from practice, removed to Middletown, Orange Co., N. Y., and there resided until his decease, at the age of seventy-two years, in 1848.

Dr. Pronk's wife, who survived him twenty-five years and died at the age of eighty-two years, was Azubah Little, a native of Orange County, with whom he formed an acquaintance while traveling through her native county upon first coming to this connty, and whom he married in 1812.

Only three of their eleven children survived them, viz., Edwin, a resident of Boston; James N., subject of this sketch ; and Azubah L., wie of Silas L. King, of Bradford, Pa.

James N. Pronk received his early education in the English high school and public Latin school of his nativecity, and was graduated at the Teacher's Semi- nary at Andover, Mass. He removed with his parents

to Orange County, and for several years thereafter was engaged here in teaching. He studied law with Judge John G. Wilkin, of Middletown, and was admitted to the bar of this State, as attorney and counselor, at the January term of the Supreme Court held in New York City in 1849.

Jamal!

Immediately after his admission to the bar he opened a law office in Middletown, where he has actively pursued the practice of his profession since, -a period of thirty-two years,-and is now one of the oldest members of the Orange County bar, only Judge Wilkin being his senior in Middletown.

During his residence in Middletown, Mr. Pronk has been an active participant in nearly all of its worthy local enterprises.

He was largely connected with and one of the prime movers in the incorporation of the village, for many years its clerk, and for nine years its president.

He was one of the incorporators of the Middletown Lyceum, a society that existed and held a leading in- fluence for some thirty years ; of the Hillside Ceme- tery, of which association he has officiated as presi- dent since its incorporation, and has filled the position of trustee and director of various other organizations. Mr. Pronk was also one of the incorporators of " The Middletown and Bloomingburgh Plank Road Company," " The Middletown and Unionville Plank Road Company," "The Middletown and Unionville Railroad Company," "The Midland Railroad Com- pany of New Jersey," and of the " Wallkill Bank."

During the late civil war he was active in support

138

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

of the Union cause, and served as provost marshal of the Eleventh Congressional District, New York, with his office at Goshen.

As a citizen Mr. Pronk is public-spirited and enter- prising. All projects for the benefit of the commu- nity and to promote the best interests of society in which he lives receive from him willing and liberal support.

As a counselor he is careful, systematic, and judi- cious, and his opinions are always given with the strictest integrity after a thorough analytical treat- ment of the subject at issue, and as an advocate his retentive memory, his knowledge of the fundamental principles upon which the law is based, enable him to command the attention of judge and juror.

Mr. Pronk married, in 1841, Mary Ellen, danghter of Gilbert F. Mondon, of Port Jervis.

Their surviving children are Francis A. R., Ferris M., Devin N .. Ashbel C. K., Louisa, Mary, wife of N. Tate, of Middletown, and Nellie R.

OLIVER YOUNG .- The Young family are of New England extraction, the father of the subject of this biographical sketch having been Samuel, who was born in Connecticut, and married Miss Anna Dilly, whose ancestors were of Hessian descent and early emigrated to America. Mr. and Mrs. Young had eight children, among whom was Oliver, born at , Sarah-were born; all of whom are now deceased. Mount Hope, Orange Co., Oct. 7, 18II, to which place his parents removed after their marriage. He (Oliver) was early made dependent upon his own resources, and after the death of his father aided materially in the care of the family. At the age of seventeen he became a teacher, and later repaired to Milford, Pa., where, under the guidance of Richard Eldred, and afterwards of Melanethon Dimmoek, he pursued the study of law. Ile was admitted to the bar of Pike County, Pa., in 1835, and as an attorney and coun- selor in New York State, Nov. 8, 1849. Very soon after the conclusion of his legal studies Mr. Young removed to Port Jervis and established himself in his profession.

By application and fidelity to the trusts confided to him a growing and lucrative practice was gained. He speedily attained a reputation as a safe and judicious counselor, and an attorney who was devoted under all circumstances to the interests of his clients, to whom he, on every occasion, displayed the most ab- solute loyalty. This fact soon won for Mr. Young the confidence of the community and brought to him an extended business. He was a firm advocate of anti-slavery principles long before any organized opposition was manifested on the part of its oppo- nents, and for a length of tinie voted the ticket alone in the place of his residence. He cast the only ballot in Port Jervis for Hon. John P. Hale, anti-slavery candidate for the Presidency in 1856, and on various occasions maintained a steady defense of principles which were esponsed from a conviction of duty. He was also a man of liberal impulses, and did much to

relieve distress through benefactions of a private nature. Mr. Young was a proficient civil engineer, and possessed an extended knowledge of the bounda- ries and titles of much of the land embraced in Orange County. He was not an aspirant for office, and frequently declined local honors tendered him by his constituents. Mr. Young was married, Jan. 19, 1848, in Port Jervis, to Mrs. Lydia Frances Went- worth, formerly Miss Sinclair, of Bartlett, N. H., and had two sons,-Frank Sinclair, who died in early life, and Charles Oliver, who is engaged in the prac- tice of law in Port Jervis. The death of Oliver Young occurred Oct. 3, 1871, in his sixtieth year. The loss sustained by the bar of Orange County was on the occasion graphically portrayed in a series of resolutions commemorative of his career and his marked abilities, presented by its members to the family.

THOMAS J. LYON .- The Lyon family are of Scotch descent, three brothers-Samuel, David, and James -- having left the land of their nativity before the war of the Revolution and settled,-David in New Jer- sey, Samuel in Connecticut, and James in the Em- pire State, from whenee he later removed to Ohio. David chose a location at Orange, Essex Co., N. J., where his children-Daniel, Moses, Henry, and

Henry resided upon the homestead during his life- time, where he was both agriculturist and distiller, and later became a manufacturer. He participated actively in the war of 1812, for which he enjoyed a pension until the date of his death in his seventy- eighth year. Mr. Lyon was, in the year 1808, united in marriage to Miss Eunice, danghter of Thomas Harrison, of Orange, N. J., a soklier with the rank of colonel in the war of the Revolution, and also a pensioner until his death in his ninety-eighth year. To Mr. and Mrs. Lyon nine children were born, of whom the survivors are Dr. S. S. Lyon, of Newark, N. J .; William Lyon, of Lyon's Farms, N. J .; Thomas J. Lyon, of Port Jervis; John W. Lyon, of San Francisco, Cal .; and Mrs. Ann Steel, of Dayton, Ohio.

Thomas J., whose career is here traced, was born in Caldwell, Essex Co., N. J., June 20, 1816, and spent the early years of his life at the home of his parents, The common schools of the neighborhood afforded him an opportunity of acquiring the rudiments of an education, and a subsequent period spent at the Montclair Seminary, in the same county, supple- mented this with more substantial acquirements. A brief period was spent in teaching, after which Mr. Lyon entered the ministry and joined the Methodist Episcopal Conference of New Jersey. After a season of elerical labor in New Jersey, he was assigned by the Conference in 1840 to the Port Jervis charge, which place bas since been his residence. At the ex- piration of his fourth year Mr. Lyon voluntarily re- quested and received a local relation without any

Lyon

159

BENCH AND BAR.

change in his religious convictions, and began the study of law, Nathan Westcott, of Goshen, N. Y., having been his preceptor. An office was established by the latter gentleman in Port Jervis, of which Mr. Lyon was given the charge. He began his profes- sional labors in the Justices' Court, and continued so to practice until his admission to all the courts of New York State in 1849, his examination having oc- curred in the city of Brooklyn, N. Y. Mr. Lyon has since that time been actively engaged in the duties of his profession. He was employed by the New York and Erie Railroad Company as one of their counsel- ors, and acted in that capacity from the period of the construction of the road until 1867. As a trial lawyer Mr. Lyon has been especially successful. He has on many occasions displayed superior talents as an advo- cate, his elear, decisive arguments having gained for him many legal vietories. His mental powers are acute and comprehensive, his self-possession perfect, and his command of language both forcible and strik- ing. He was commissioned as postmaster under the Polk administration, and also during the Presidential term of Franklin Pierce. In 1869 and 1870, Mr. Lyon was elected to the Legislature of the State, and his abilities utilized as one of the committee on Ways and Means, on the Judiciary, and as chairman of the committee on Federal Relations. He is an unflinching Democrat, and has attained some distine- tion as an ardent worker and speaker in the cause of Democracy.

Mr. Lyon was married Dec. 31, 1840, to Miss Jemima Westfall, of Deerpark, and became the parent of eight children, of whom Sarah E., Annie M. (Mrs. E. A. Brown, of Newburgh), and John W., a practicing lawyer in Port Jervis, survive. By a second marriage, to Miss Miriam V. Osterhout, he has five children,-Thomas J., Jr., Wallen, Edwin F., Mary E., and Frederick, all of whom are living.

1851 .- JAMES W. TAYLOR, Goshen. Mr. Taylor was born in Hamptonburgh in February, 1828; graduated at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1848; studied law in the office of Wilkin & Gott, and was admitted to practice in 1851. In 1854 he served under Nathan Westcott as deputy county clerk, and in I856 removed to Newburgh, where he succeeded Daniel B. Boice, deceased, in the partnership with William C. Hasbrouck. At the general election in 1856 he was elected special county judge, and was subsequently twice appointed to fill vacancies in that office. In 1864 he was appointed attorney for the city of New- burgh, and in the fall of that year was one of the Presidential electors of the Republican party. His record so far in life has been that of an excellent lawyer and a useful and respected citizen. He mar- ried, in 1850, Caroline, daughter of John Wilson, of Goshen.

1857 .- Abram S. Cassedy, Newburgh.

ABRAM S. CASSEDY was born at Ramapo, Rock- land Co., N. Y., on the 29th day of November, 1833.

His grandfather, Archibald Cassedy, emigrated from the north of Ireland about the time of the Revolu- tionary war, and taking up a residence in Rockland County beeame one of the pioneer settlers of what was then a wild and unbroken section of country. Of hardy Scotch-Irish descent, imbued with the indomi-

table industry and perseverance that is the special characteristic of his raee, he was a valuable acquisi- tion to the pioneer life of the country, and contributed much toward the development of the locality in which he settled. The father of Mr. Cassedy was also named Archibald, and was born in Rockland County, where he passed his life in mercantile and agricultural pur- suits. He married Lydia, daughter of Judge Gurnee, of Rockland County. The Gurnee family is of French extraction, and was early represented among the pio- neers of that county, having emigrated from Paris previous to the Revolutionary war.

The early education of Mr. Cassedy was obtained at the common schools of his native county. He subse- quently enjoyed the benefits of an academic course, graduating in 1853. He immediately turned his at- tention to the study of the law, and entered as a stu- dent in the office of Judge William F. Fraser, of Clarkstown, N. Y., in 1855. Subsequently he entered the law-office of Wilkin & Gott, at Goshen, and was admitted to the bar in 1857. He was immediately appointed deputy county clerk by the late Dr. Drake,

160

IHISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

then the popular clerk of the county, in which posi- tion he served two years. At the expiration of that time he became clerk of the board of supervisors of Orange County, a position in which he remained from 1858 to 1862. Meanwhile, in 1859, lie removed to Newburgh, where he entered upon the active practice of his profession, and has ever since remained. Judge Charles F. Brown is now the partner of Mr. Cassedy, and under the name and style of Cassedy & Brown the firm are carrying on a large and successful business.

As a lawyer Mr. Cassedy is painstaking and con- scientions, and brings to the investigation of his cases a degree of research and legal acumen not common in the profession. Naturally of a studious turn of mind, patient and industrious, he discharges the duties of his profession in a faithful and successful manner, and commands a large clientage. The possession of these qualities early brought him into publie notice, and it has been his good fortune, although decidedly averse to the holding of public office, to be elevated by the partiality of the public to several prominent official positions.

In 1862 he was elected district attorney of the county against his former preceptor, Joseph W. Gott, and filled the office acceptably for three years. He sub- sequently served as alderman from the Fourth Ward, but soon resigned from that office. In 1874 he was elected a member of the board of education, and acted as president of that body in 1877, declining election to the board after that date, although nominated. In 1875 he was appointed corporation counsel of New- burgh, a position that he held for three years.

In 1880, while strenuously declaring himself not to be a candidate, he was nominated by acclamation for the office of mayor of Newburgh by the Democratic party, and although that city usually gives a Repub- lican majority of from two to three hundred votes, was elected by the flattering majority of three hundred and twenty-four. He is still filling that office in a suc- cessful manner, and his administration of municipal affairs has been characterized by a degree of economy not before attained for fourteen years.

1868 .- C. Frank Brown, Newburgh ; William D. Dickey, Newburgh.

WILLIAM VANAMEE is descended from one of three brothers who emigrated from Holland in the early settlement of New York. Two of the brothers settled on Long Island, and the other upon the Hudson.

The name is spelt differently by the various branches of the family, but Mr. Vanamee follows the spelling given in Dixon's work upon surnames.

Mr. Vanamee was born in Albany, N. Y., Jan. 9, 1847. When he was nineteen years old he came to Middletown for the purpose of studying law. After prosecuting his studies two years, he was admitted at Poughkeepsie in May, 1868, and he has since resided in Middletown, engaged in the active practice of his profession. In September, 1871, he was married to Lida, daughter of Dr. J. W. Ostrom, of Goshen.

Mr. Cassedy has declined the nomination to other important offices within the gift of the public, some of them being of a kind calculated to attract the most ambitious of men. He has preferred, however, to confine himself to the legitimate practice of his pro- C. FRANK BROWN, son of Hon. John W. Brown, was born in Newburgh, Sept. 12, 1844. He graduated at Yale College in 1866, and subsequently read law in the office of A. S. Cassedy, assisted by the advice and counsel of his father. In 1869 the law-firm of Cas- sedy & Brown was formed, of which he is still the junior partner. He was elected district attorney in 1874, and county judge in 1877, filling both positions with credit. He married, June 27, 1876, Hattie E. Shaffer, of Poughkeepsie. fession. He takes an active interest in all movements tending to advance the social, material, or educational welfare of the community in which he resides, and lends the support of his means and influence to the development and sustentation of its institutions. He has been for a number of years a director of the Quas- saick National Bank, of Newburgh, and is the attor- ney for that institution. A number of important causes have been litigated successfully by him, aggre- gating hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was married in 1861 to Miss Margaret J., daughter of the , acteristics of four distinct races are represented in the late Dr. Charles Drake, of Newburgh.

HON. FREDERIC BODINE .- The blood and char- Bodine family,-the French, Dutch, Irish, and Eng-

161

BENCH AND BAR.

lish, the paternal ancestors of Frederick having been Huguenots, who early fled from persecution in France, and, embarking for America, colonized on Long Island. A portion of this little band eventually found their

Jedine Bodine

way into Orange County, among whom was William Bodine, the great-grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch, who acquired a large tract of land one mile to the west of Walden village, the homestead of later generations of the family. Among his children was Peter, the grandfather of Frederick, who resided upon a farmi in Montgomery, and married Miss Mary Millspaugh. Their children were eleven in number, one of whom was Sylvanus, born July 10, 1807, and whose death occurred in Steuben County, N. Y., in his seventy-first year. Ile was nnited in marriage to Miss Sarah Ann, daughter of John Hor- ton, of Goshen, and had children,-Amasa and Fred- eric. The latter, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, was born in Montgomery, June 18, 1835, where the years of his early life were passed. These years were uneventful in character, the winter being devoted to study or teaching, while the summer brought its routine of farm employments.

In 1865, Mr. Bodine, having become weary of agri- cultural labor, disposed of the farm, and removing to the village of Montgomery, embarked in business enter- prises. During the same year he entered the political arena as the Republican candidate for representative in the State Legislature, to which he was elected by a large majority. Here he represented his constit-

neney with marked ability, and served on the com- mittees on schools and colleges and towns and vil- lages. In connection with the former he did signal service, being largely instrumental in the introduc- tion of the bill in behalf of the free-school system, which afterwards became a law, under which the State is now working. Mr. Bodine, in the fall of 1866, pur- chased a farm at Plattsburgh, N. Y., to which he re- moved, but the surroundings of his old home proving more congenial, he returned to Montgomery the fol- lowing year and engaged in business. He has since been identified with the public interests of the town- ship; is a director of the Walden Savings-Bank, has been railroad commissioner for the township of Mont- gomery since 1873, and has served as highway com- missioner and inspector of elections. He was ap- twinted, in 1880, supervisor of census for the Fourth New York District by President Hayes, including the counties of Ulster, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, and Delaware.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 38

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