History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 41

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 41

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DR. MERITT II. CASH .- Little is known with eer- tainty of the early history of the Cash family that carries us farther back than the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Daniel Cash was born in New England; the date of his birth is not known. Hle afterwards lived in Pittston, Pa., and from thence re- moved to Wyoming Valley, and with his wife and child escaped from the massacre that soon after dev- astated that beautiful valley. He made his way back to Orange County, and settled near Millsburgh, in the town of Minisink. He and his wife died in the year 1789. Daniel Cash had eight children,-Isaac, Nathan, Reuben, Mehitable, Ziphorah, Polly, Betsey, Milli- cent.

Reuben, the third son of Daniel Cash, father of Dr. Cash, was born Jan. 23, 1768, and died Jan. 6, 1828, aged sixty years. He married Millicent How- ell, who died Sept. 3, 1838, aged sixty-three years. They had nine children, viz.,-Sally, Ilannah, Dr. Meritt H., Capt. John M., James M., Solomon V. R., Phebe M., Fanny, and Selah J.

Dr. Cash was born in the year 1803, at Rutger's Place, near Ridgebury, in the town of Minisink, where hespent his life. His father gave him the advan- tages of a liberal education, and being of a thoughtful and studious disposition, he naturally turned his at- tention to the professions, choosing that of medicine.

He graduated from the New York Medical College about the year 1825, and commenced the practice of medicine in his native town. He succeeded in gain- ing the confidence of the people in a remarkable de- gree, and in building up a practice that gave him at . April 26, 1861.

Dr. Cash was never a robust man ; the seeds of con- sumption were inherent in his nature, and perhaps only for his strong will and persevering efforts in battling against its fatal tendencies, would have laid him in the grave much earlier. This tendency to disease gradually undermining his health forced him to relinquish the practice of medicine, and during his later years he found pleasure and satisfaction for his active mind in reading, in agriculture, and the care of his ample estate; and notwithstanding his apparent supreme disregard of riches in itself considered, his fortune, under his wise and careful management, eon- tinued to increase and multiply to the end of his days.

Dr. Cash was a man of plain and simple tastes, caring very little for affectation, or making anything like a display of his wealth.

He was not an open professor of religion, yet he was a God-fearing man, a careful student of the Bible, talked freely of the future state, accepted in faith the promises of God, and often expressed a hope of a blessed immortality beyond the grave. As a rule he was kind to the poor, and was ever ready to extend a helping hand to any who proved themselves worthy of his confidence. He was a true patriot, and loved his country with a supreme devotion, and always took a great interest in its politics and general welfare, and he always felt a pride in relating the deeds of prowess recorded of his Revolutionary ancestors and the dis- tinction they acquired in that struggle; and any measure that had for its object the advancement of its interests, politically or socially, always found in him a warm friend and earnest advocate.

In the ancestral home he spent his life, and there, amid the scenes of his youth and among the people who had respected him in his riper years, and learned to love and revere him in his old age, he calmly died,

Harry Everett

Barton Ungrill D

Ilis ancestors came from England and settled at Flushing, L. I. William Wright, his grandfather, was born there in 1736, and moved to Duchess County, N. Y., in 1766. He there married Jemima Haight, and lived the life of a farmer, holding the office of justice of the peace under the crown of England during the colonial struggle for independence. He died in 1812. His wife died in 1825, in the eighty-sixth year of her age. Enos, son of William and Jemima Wright, born in April, 1772, married Mary Woolsey, of West Chester County, on Jan. 15, 1799. He lived in Fishkill, Duchess Co., and gave his time and attention to agricultural pursuits. By this marriage were born Elizabeth, died young ; Mary, married William Anthony, died in 1826 ; Bartow ; Hannah, married William Anthony as his second wife, and died in 1860; William W., a retired merchant of New York City ; and Josiah W., deceased. Enos Wright died in June, 1855. His wife died in January, 1822.

Bartow Wright, M.D., was born at Fishkill, Duchess Co., N. Y., Nov. 28, 1805. His early life was spent there, and he attended the Fishkill Classical School of Rev. Dr. Westbrook. At the age of twenty he began the study of medicine under Dr. Bartow White, of Fishkill, and afterwards entered the office of Dr. Theo- dore Anthony, of the same place, as a student. Subse- quently he attended medieal lectures at the Western Medical College, located at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., N. Y. Dr. Wright commenced to practice medicine in the year 1830, at which time he settled at Campbell Hall, Orange Co., N. Y., dependent upon his own re- sources and his professional education. For nearly half

a century he practiced medicine in Hamptonburgh and adjoining towns, and was widely and favorably known as a man and as a physician. For the past few years he has retired from active practice, but frequently aets as counsel.

For many years he has been a member of the Orange County Medical Society, and was formerly its president. In his early life he paid some attention to local sehool interests, but for many years his entire time and energies have been devoted to his profession, and the fraternity have always regarded him as a lover of his chosen life- work, and interested in its advancement in both county and State.

Dr. Wright was an original stockholder and is a director of the Montgomery and Erie Railway. He is an active member of the Presbyterian Church of Hamp- tonburgh, and interested in all that pertains to the wel- fare of his town and people.

In 1839 he married Mary Ann, daughter of William and Keturah Bull, of Wallkill, N. Y., and their chil- dren were William B., born in September, 1840; was graduated at Princeton College, N. J., and afterwards at the New York College of Physicians, and was subse- quently professor of ancient and modern languages at the Buffalo Normal College ; he married Mary C., daughter of Gen. Niven, of Sullivan County, N. Y. ; was brevetted major for gallant service in the late war, attained some reputation as a literary man, and died at Atlanta, Ga., in 1880. The second child was Bartow ; married Mary, daughter of Dr. Walsh, of Port Jervis, and lives in Goshen. Catharine W., who died in JJune, 1871, in the twenty-first year of her age.

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By will, his large fortune was distributed among his relatives, a special bequest having been made to Orange County, to be expended in the purchase of a suitable monument to commemorate those who fell at the bat- tle of Minisink, a bequest which was gratefully ac- cepted by the people of Orange County.

Proud of the distinction of having raised up so noble a son in their midst, and for his noble munifi- cence and liberality, his name will be venerated and his memory cherished so long as Orange County has a name to live.

HARVEY EVERETT, M.D .- His grandfather, Eph- raim Everett, born in 1742, was of English origin, and came from Long Island in 1762 and settled on some two hundred acres of land in the town of Wallkill, Orange Co., N. Y., upon which he resided until his deatlı, in December, 1834.

He is said to have purchased and used the first wagon in the town. He was one of the early mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church at Scotchtown.

His wife, Beulah, was a daughter of David Moore, one of the early settlers of Goshen, who died in 1789.

Their children were Julia (wife of Obadiah Howell), Ephraim, Walter, Lydia (wife of David Reeve), Hephzibah (wife of Daniel Moore), Benjamin, David, and Freelove (wife of Samuel Kirk).

Of these children, David, father of our subject, born in 1783, married Sarah, daughter of Andrew Clark McNish, who was of Scotch descent, and grand- son of Rev. George McNish, the progenitor of the McNish family in Orange County. She was born in Wallkill in 1789, and died in 1872.

David Everett succeeded to the homestead by pur- chase, and there carried on agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred in 1848. He was a quiet, unostentatious man, and passed through life esteemed for his integrity in all the relations of life, unmoved by the bickerings of political strife, and never sought office or held any, except to serve his town for a time as assessor, and fill some other minor places.

His children are Dr. Harvey, subject of this sketch ; Henry L., inherited the homestead, where he resided until a few years prior to his decease, when he re- moved to Middletown, where he died at the age of fifty-nine; and George Whitfield, who also remained on the homestead most of his life, and was never married. He died at the age of fifty-nine.

Dr. Harvey Everett was born Dec. 19, 1811, and received bis early education in the public and private schools of Middletown and at the Montgomery Acad- emy.

He began the study of medicine with Dr. John T. | ber Samuel M. was born Feb. 5, 1810, in the town-

Jansen, of Minisink, Orange Co .; matriculated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, and subsequently attended a course of lectures at the Vermont Academy of Medicine at Woodstock, from which he was graduated in 1834.

forty-seven years, retaining, by his skill in the treat- ment of diseases, and by his care and devotion to his patients, the confidence of a large and influential part of the community here and in the surrounding towns.

Dr. Everett has taken an active part in educational matters, and has been a promoter of all worthy local objects in the community.

He became a member of the Orange County Medi- cal Society in 1839; was one of the board of school inspectors of Wallkill from 1835 until that office was abolished, and for some ten years following he was school superintendent of that town. He was also supervisor of the town from 1842 to 1844 inclusive; one of the board of trustees of the Wallkill Academy from its founding, in 1841, until 1868; a member of the board of education from 1868 until 1872, and president of the board in 1871 and 1872.

He married, in January, 1837, Sarah A., daughter of Walter and Abigail (Corwin) Everett, of Wallkill, who was born in March, 1811.

Their two surviving children are Darwin, graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York in 1864; was appointed on the medical staff at Bellevue Hospital, where he remained until 1866, when he settled in a successful practice at Middle- town, which he continues in 1881.

Genevieve is the wife of Frank B. Denton, of Mid- dletown.

SAMUEL M. CRAWFORD, M.D .- The family of Crawfords were of Scotch extraction, and early emi- grated to the north of Ireland, from whence a branch embarked for the United States.

Members of this colony found their way to Orange County, and settled in the township of Montgomery (now Crawford), the birthplace of Samuel, the grand- father of the subject of this biographical sketch. He devoted his life to the pursuits of agriculture, and was united in marriage to Miss MeCurdy, of the same township, to whom were born sons, Archibald, Moses, Robert, and Jonathan, and four daughters. Mr. Crawford's death took place in the township of Craw- ford, which was for many years a portion of Mont- gomery. The birth of his son Moses occurred in the latter township, in 1777, his life having been spent in the occupation of farming. He married Elenor, daughter of Alexander Thompson, of Montgomery, and became the father of seven children,-Alexander. Samuel M., Jonathan, Matilda (Mrs. N. P. Hill), Isa- bella, whose death occurred in early life, Jane T. (Mrs. Wm. B. Crawford), and Mary. Of this num- ship of Montgomery, where the years of his boyhood were spent. The public school of the district was first attended, after which the academy in the village of Montgomery enabled him to acquire proficiency in the classics, and fitted him for admission to Union College, at Schenectady, N. Y., in 1829, from which

After his graduation he settled in practice at Mid- dletown, where he has remained since, a period of institution he was graduated in 1832. He at once

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began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. George Eager, of Montgomery, and received his diploma in 1336.

The doctor soon after chose his native township as a commanding field of labor, where he began his pro- fessional career, and has since been an active practi- tioner. Ile is now one of the oldest representatives of the profession in Orange County, and though en- titled, after a laborious life spent in the interests of the science of medicine, to a respite from toil, still responds to the many demands made upon his skill and knowledge derived from wide experience.

Dr. Crawford was, in April, 1836, married to Miss Eliza A., daughter of John C. Niemyer, of Virginia. They have had eight children, of whom the following survive : Matilda (Mrs. J. C. Wilbur), Susan V., Henry V., and Mattie (Mrs. C. H. Hinckley). In his politieal affinities the doctor is a stanch Republican, though an active professional life has left little time for participation in the campaign strifes incident to official preferment. His religious views are those of the Presbyterian denomination, his family being among the worshipers of the church in Montgomery. soon after resolved to settle at Chester, which he did, Dr. Crawford is one of the earliest living members of the Orange County Medical Society, having joined it in 1837.

DR. THOMAS S. EDMONSTON .- The progenitor of occurred March 11, 1852.

this family in Orange County was James Edmonston, who, with his wife, Margaret Smith, came to this country in 1720 from Enniskillen, County Tyrone, Ireland. He remained for seven years at Plymouth, Mass., where he landed, and then settled on 200 acres of land in the town of New Windsor, Orange Co. When the army came to this county, Mr. Edmonston being an old settler and acquainted with the country, Gen Washington requested him to go with him and Col. Pickering and select a camp-ground, which he did, leading them by an Indian path to the Square, where they established their camp. Mr. Edmonston had many encounters with the Indians, who were about him in great numbers and hostile during the French war, and at one time he came near being escalped. The stone house which he built in 1755 is :still standing, and the property is still held by his descendants. His children were William and Sally. The latter married Patrick McDaniel. William mar- rio2 Jane, daughter of David Sutherland, of Canter- bury, Cornwall, who bore him four daughters and three sons, of whom James was father of our subject, was a major in the Revolutionary war, and after its close he was a farmer near Newburgh, and died in 1844, in the occupation of his farm. 11is wife was Gertrude Harris, of Poughkeepsie, by whom he had :a large family of children. One son, Samuel, was a physician in New York City. DeWitt Clinton was a prominent physician of Newburgh for many years, and his widow survives in 1881, and resides in that «ity. Harris was a physician, first settled at Wash- ingtonville, and afterwards in Newburgh, where he

died. William had a son, William Henry, who was a practicing physician at Jacksonville, Fla., and died at the old homestead. Thomas S. Edmonston, next youngest of the family, was born on the homestead, near Newburgh, March 13, 1804. He received a good education in the schools of Newburgh and became a teacher. Upon reaching his majority he began the study of medicine with Dr. James M. Gardiner, of Newburgh, and about the same time established him- self in the drug business there, which he carried on while prosecuting his medical studies.

He received a license to practice physie and surgery, Jan. 20, 1829, from the Herkimer Medieal Society. About that time, while passing through the village of Chester, be chanced to put up at the hotel in the place when the landlord's wife was very ill of a fever, and many others in the village were sick from the same disease. The attending physician having given up as incurable the landlady, Dr. Edmonston at once began the treatment of her case, and not only was he successful and restored her to health, but cured the rest in the vicinity in the same way afflicted. He and at once was inducted into a large and lucrative practice, which continued until his death, in a great measure caused by overwork and exposure, which

As a physician, Dr. Edmonston ranked among the first in Orange County. IIe was indefatigable in his devotion to the interests and care of his patients, skill- ful in the treatment of complicated diseases, sympa- thetic in cases of suffering, and his services were often given at all times of day or night to those from whom remuneration was impossible, as well as to those who were abundantly able to compensate him for his services. As a citizen, he was honorable in the pro- motion of all worthy local objects, and endeared to the people not only in Chester, but in the adjoining towns of Warwick, Goshen, Hamptonburgh, and Blooming-Grove, where his practice extended. His consultations often reached to other counties, and his counsels commanded the confidence and respect of his associates.

At the time of his death he was a member of the Presbyterian Church at Chester. Ilis wife was Drusiffa, youngest daughter of John and Christina (Wells) Decker, and granddaughter of Johannes Decker, who in 1768 owned the mill and property where Walden, town of Montgomery, is now a thriv- ing and prosperous village. The Deckers were among the early settlers of Esopus, and as early as 1689, Broerson Decker was numbered among the Huguenot settlers of Ulster County who found homes on the banks of the Hudson. She had one sister, Cornelia, wife of George G. Mitchell, and one brother, Theo- dore Wells, a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, N. Y.

Christina Wells was great-granddaughter of Sarah Wells, the first reputed white woman in the town of

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Goshen, and a lineal descendant of Hon. William Wells, an educated lawyer in England, who came to America, and was high sheriff of New Yorkshire, on Long Island. The father of Christina Wells was Joshua, who was born at Goshen in 1744, was a soldier in the colonial army, married Rhoda Booth, a grand- danghter of William Bull and Sarah Wells, and died in 1819, he being the son of John Wells, the progenitor of the family in Orange County. The children of Dr. Edmonston are John Decker and Cornelia Mitchell Edmonston.

S. G. CARPENTER, M.D .- The Carpenter family, of which Dr. Carpenter is a member, is one of the oldest in Orange County, and he is a descendant of Capt. Solomon Carpenter, one of the first to own land in the town of Goshen.

Papers now in possession of the family show that Capt. Solomon Carpenter, of Jamaica, L. I., deeded 412} acres of land on May 1, 1714, situated in Wawa- yanda, now Goshen, to John Everett and Samuel Clowes for £80.

Another sale was made by him to John Yelverton in 1749, and the instrument of sale was witnessed by an Indian named " Herkiahena."

In 1753 he made a sale of land in Goshen to his son Solomon, and in 1715 he made a sale to Jolin Carpen- ter, of Jamaica, L. I., of land in Goshen, and John Carpenter in 1779 sold land to his son John in the south division of the old town of Goshen.

The will of Capt. Carpenter, dated 1763, designates his sons Solomon and Nehemiah as his executors, and provides among other things that the negro children should be learned to read the Bible and know the shorter catechism of the Presbyterian Church by whoever purchased them by the time they were twenty years old; that the elders and ministers of that church were to judge if this had been done at that age, and if not, they were to put them to school at the expense of their masters until it was accomplished and the officers of the church satisfied.

Capt. Solomon Carpenter seems to have been a man of great enterprise and good business ability, and one of the early founders and promoters of the Presby- terian Church here. Another member of the family, Michael Carpenter, was appointed June 1, 1770, by Governor George Clinton, ensign of a company of militia.

Nehemiah, father of our subject, was born in Goshen, March 2, 1798, was a farmer in the west divi- sion of the town, also in the town of Mount Hope, during most of his active business life, but spent his latter years at Chester, where he was engaged in the drug business with Dr. Carpenter, his son. During his residence in Goshen he was a member of the Presbyterian Church there, and for several years officiated as deacon. He died April 20, 1858.

His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Caleb Gokt- smith, of Scotchtown, Orange Co., whom he married Jan. 5, 1824. She was born April 17, 1800.

Their children are Dr. Solomon G. Carpenter and Mary E., born Nov. 12, 1834, wife of Jehiel G. Clark, a merchant at Chester.

Solomon G. Carpenter was born Jan. 6, 1825. He prepared for college at the Farmers' IIall Academy, Goshen, but on account of ill-health was obliged to relinquish his desire to take a college course.

In 1842 he began the study of medicine with Dr. J. W. Ostrom, of Goshen, attended three courses of lec- tures at the University of the City of New York, and was graduated from the medical department of that institution in 1845.

Dr. Carpenter settled the same year in practice at Chester, and has devotedly and continuously practiced medicine in Chester and the surrounding vicinity since, where for a period of thirty-six years he has retained the confidence of the community as a skill- ful, self-reliant, judicious, and honest practitioner.

From 1848 until 1858 he carried on a drug-store at Chester in connection with his professional duties.

Dr. Carpenter has been a member of the Orange County Medical Society since 1845. His wife was Mary S., daughter of Jacob Feagles, of Amity, this county, whom he married Nov. 12, 1857. She died Jan. 7, 1865, aged thirty-seven years, leaving the following children : Lizzie, Mary S., and Clara.

CHARLES P. SMITH, M.D .- His grandfather, Isaac Smith, born at Jamaica, L. I., March 8, 1755, came to Orange County with his parents when he was twelve years old. His active business life was spent in the town of Chester as a farmer.

He married Mehetabel, daughter of Joshua Wells, who was a descendant of Hon. William Wells, an educated lawyer of England, born near Norwich in 1608, and who settled upon Long Island, where he became high sheriff of New Yorkshire, his great- grandson, John, being the first settler of the family in Orange County, and died there July 4, 1776. She : was born March 14, 1768, and died Nov. 22, 1831.

Isaac Smith died Oct. 14, 1836, leaving the follow- ing chillren : Parshall, Hezekiah, Joanna (wife of Isaac Van Duzer), Isaac, Sarab, Julia Ann, Eliza Jane (wife of Abram Demerest). Of these children, only Mrs. Demerest survives in 1881, having been born April 17, 1808.

Isaac was the father of Dr. Smith ; was born Dec. 22, 1800, and died April 19, 1850. He was a farmer in West Milford, N. J., during the early part of his life, and subsequently settled at Chester, where he was engaged in the mercantile business until his; death. lle was an industrious and active business: man, liberal to the needy, and devoted to the princi- ples of Christianity. He was an elder of the Pres- byterian Church at West Milford, and a promoter of all worthy local objects.

His wife was Katy Maria, daughter of James Smith, of Chester, who was born Feb. 7, 1803, and died April 19, 1838.

The children born of this union are Joanna, wife

- -

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IIISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

of John Yeomans, of Troy, Pa .; Sarah, born Jan. June 8, 1853. She died March 27, 1854, leaving no 17, 1825, died Oet. 4, 1857, was the wife of George W. children. Vreeland ; Charles P., subject of this sketch, born Feb. 27, 1827 ; Oscar F., a farmer of West Milford ; Phebe Jane, born Feb. 24, 1832, died unmarried Feb. 10, 1855; James M., born April 3, 1834, died March 10, 1864; Amzi L., a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

For his second wife, Isaac Smith married Mary K. De Kamp, who was born Aug. 12, 1806, and died Oct. 14, 1855, leaving a surviving daughter,-Julia Eliza- beth, wife of George W. Masten, of Chester.

Dr. Parshall Smith spent his boyhood on the home farm, and in attending the district school and receiv- ing private instruction from Rev. Cornelius Conkling, the Presbyterian minister of the place. At the age of sixteen he became a teacher, and taught school for one year. He then entered the preparatory school of the New York University, intending to take a col- legiate course, but failing in means to carry out his objeet, and being wholly dependent upon his own re- sources, after one year there he returned to teaching, which he continued until the age of twenty, and be- gan the study of medicine with Dr. D. D. Meeker, of West Milford. In the winter of 1849-50 he attended his first course of lectures at the New York Univer- sity Medical College, and in the spring following purchased the drug-store of Dr. G. S. Carpenter, at Chester, Orange Co., which he carried on for a year, at the same time doing what practice was offered, which, however, was confined largely to charity. His second course of lectures was taken at Castleton Medical College in 1851, from which he graduated at the close of the term.

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 41

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