USA > New York > Putnam County > History of Putnam County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men > Part 38
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HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
THE MILLER FAMILY .- James Miller was among the early settlers at Norwalk, Conn., in 1671, having come to that place from the early Massachusetts settlements. He is said to have had two brothers: Thomas who settled in Pern, Vt., and John who settled at Southampton, L. I., and was the ancestor of the families in that region. James Miller and his wife, Martha, were in Rye in 1681, and lived on " Budd's Neck, near the West- chester path." His children, so far as known, were Abraham, Samuel and Anthony.
Abraham Miller was born in 1744 and died in 1794. He was a blacksmith by trade, and lived and died at Saw Pitts, now Portchester. He married Phebe, daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Seaman) Hawxhurst, of Rye, formerly of Oyster Bay, L. I., in 1770. She was born May 30th, 1748 (O. S.), at Oyster Bay, and died November 23d, 1831, at Somers town.
Abraham Miller was a preacher of the Society of Friends, and a companion of Elias Hicks. His children were: Daniel, born February 22d, 1771, died September 2d, 1841; Philadelphia, born August 2d, 1773, died November 13th, 1852; Elizabeth, born 1776, died 1850; Richard, born January, 1779, died October 3d, 1845; Charles, born November 1st, 1781, died August 29th, 1868; John, born 1783, died 1817; Abraham, born January 17th, 1784, died March 4th, 1847; Walter, born 1786, died 1787; Phebe, born 1788, died 1809; and Walter, born 1790, died 1838.
Abraham Miller, the seventh child of the above family, was a farmer and paper manufacturer, and resided at Somers, West- chester county. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and was buried at Amawalk. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Jane (Cornell) Griffin, of Mamaroneck, June 21st, 1804. She was born August 15th, 1783, and died June 18tlı, 1858. Their children were: Jane G., born September 22d, 1805, married Henry Gee; Eliza, born August 9th, 1807, married Henry Carpenter; Phebe, born January 26th, 1810, married Henry Birdsall; Robert, born June 21st, 1812, now living in Sing Sing; John G., born December 23d, 1814, died March 31st, 1885; Ben- jamin G., born March 20th, 1819, died July 29th, 1860; Charles, born March 23d, 1821, living in New York; Abraham H., born December 19th, 1824, died March 11th, 1854; and Mary E., born March 27th, 1830.
Henry It. miller.
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TOWN OF CARMEL.
Dr. HENRY F. MILLER, who is a prominent surgeon dentist, was born in the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., December 10th, 1841. His father, John G. Miller, who was a native of Westchester county, married Phebe, daughter of Isaac Carpenter, the repre- sentative of an old family in that part of the State.
The children of this marriage were: William J., who died at the age of 33; Dr. Henry F .; Abram J., the present district at- torney of Putnam county; Dr. Alonzo B., of New York; Ma- tilda J., deceased; and Phebe, wife of James A. Foshay. After the decease of Mrs. Miller, Mr. Miller married Emily A. Hotch- kiss, and had a child, Annie C.
The parents of Dr. Miller removed to Carmel while he was a child, and in the schools of this village he received his early education, and afterward was a student at the well-known in- stitute at Claverack. At the age of twenty-one he began the study of dental surgery under the direction of his uncle, Dr. Charles Miller; in New York. After completing his studies he commenced practice in Brewster, which he still continues, divid- ing his time between that village and Carmel.
For several years he held the office of United States assistant assessor, in this district, and is at present one of the directors of the Putnam County National Bank.
In 1880, Dr. Miller erected his residence in the village of Car- mel, and makes this place his permanent home.
Dr. Miller married Frankie E., daughter of Benjamin Travis. Their children are Harry Boyd and William Travis.
In his profession Dr. Miller stands as one of its most promi- nent representatives in the county, and enjoys an extensive and increasing practice.
He is also a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and one of the supporting members of the Presbyterian church in Carmel.
HON. HENRY D. CLAPP .- Among the young men who have established a reputation and a name in the county a prominent place must be given to the subject of this article. Mr. Clapp was born at the old homestead of his grandfather, Daniel Drew, at Drewville, August 16th, 1859.
His early education was carefully superintended by a private tutor, and after a preparatory course at Drew Seminary, he entered Madison University. Upon completing his studies at
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HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
that institution he entered Columbia Law School, from which he graduated in 1883.
The republican party of the county, in just recognition of his ability, gave him the nomination for member of Assembly in the county convention of 1884. This nomination was ratified by an election with the largest majority ever given to a member, defeating his opponent by a majority of 791. He was the youngest member ever elected from Putnam county, and upon taking his seat in the Legislature in January, 1885, Mr. Clapp was appointed to the committees on Judiciary and Prisons. During his Legislative course he took an active part in the in- vestigation concerning prison labor and the various questions arising from it, and felt an especial interest in the reform legis- lation for the city of New York, and was an able supporter of Hon. Theodore Roosevelt in his efforts to accomplish so worthy a design.
Since retiring from the Legislature Mr. Clapp has been en- gaged in business in New York. The estate on which Mr. Clapp resides includes the greater portion of the old James Dickinson farm, of which a detailed account has been given in another part of this work. It has descended to him from his grand- father, Daniel Drew, who purchased it from the heirs of its former owner, Elisha Cole. One of the episodes of his boyhood days was the "breaking ground " for the Drew College, Octo- ber 1st, 1872, on which occasion he (then a boy of thirteen) performed the ceremony in the name of his grandfather.
Mr. Clapp, in gratification of a refined and liberal literary taste, has collected a fine library which furnishes enjoyment for his hours of leisure which, as an active man of business, it may be well supposed are not numerous.
The residence of Mr. Clapp, of which a view is presented, was originally built by Dr. Addison Ely, but was greatly embellished and enlarged to its present proportions by his respected father, Rev. W. S. Clapp, the improvements being designed by him from architectural designs which met his eye when travelling in Europe.
Mr. Clapp married Miss Jessie, daughter of Stephen T. McMahon, of Southeast, February 17th, 1885.
BRYANT S. PALMER, a well known citizen and successful merchant of Carmel, was born at Long Ridge, a small village
RESIDENCE OF HON. HENRY D. CLAPP, CARMEL, N. Y.
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TOWN OF CARMEL.
in the north part of the town of Stamford, Fairfield county, Conn ... October 5th, 1842. He is the eldest of a family of two sons and three daughters.
His father, Charles J. Palmer, was born and reared in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. His mother's maiden name was Margaret Scofield. She was a native of Pound Ridge, Westchester county. Her father, Elijah Scofield, was the youngest of a family of eleven children, all of whom lived to be over seventy-two years old. His great-grandfather, on his mother's side, was David Scofield, who served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war and was for sometime a prisoner in the old sugar house in New York and suffered great hardship.
When Bryant S. was about two years of age his father pur- chased a farm near Stewartstown, York county, Pa. Here he commenced his early education in the public schools of the town, helping his father with the farm work as soon as he was old enough.
After living here nine years his father returned to Long Ridge. Here his son continued his studies at the public school and finally finished his education at Bedford Academy and at a private school in Stamford, Conn. In the fall of 1861, he took a trip west as far as Illinois, and during the following winter taught school near Elgin in that State. Returning the next spring he entered the store of Whitlock Brothers at Croton Falls. Here he served his employers so well he was transferred as manager of a new store which they started at Purdy's Sta- tion. He continued in this position about five years when the business was sold out and he again went back to Croton Falls and became a partner of the firm of Whitlock & Co.
In August, 1869, he came to Carmel and began a mercantile business which he still continues, increasing and improving it slowly each year.
Mr. Palmer was appointed postmaster without his solicita- tion in August, 1871, and held the office nearly fifteen years. He has been a director in the Putnam County National Bank since 1880, and also one of the officers of the Putnam Agricul- tural Society for several years.
He was married to Lydia A. Howes December 19th, 1872. She was a daughter of William Howes, and granddaughter of Nathan A. Howes, one of the pioneer circus men of the country.
Their children are: Charles William, Gertrude, Irving Howes,
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HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
who died when six and a half years old; Robert Bryant, Addi- son Ely, Lewis Crosby, Mary Ida, Ralph Scofield, and Helen.
DR. JAMES H. MERRITT, son of David and Naomi Merritt, was born in Carmel, July 26th, 1828, the family from which he was descended being among the older settlers in the county. His early education was obtained at the public schools of his native town, and he graduated from Amenia Seminary.
The study of his chosen profession was begun under the direc- tion of a dental surgeon in Fond du Lac, Wis., and finished in the city of New York.
He then began the practice of dental surgery in Carmel, where he remained a short time, and in 1854 removed to Fond du Lac. In that place he remained about two years, then returned to Carmel and established his profession, and continued in its practice till the time of his death, which occurred August 21st, 1883, at the age of 55.
Dr. Merritt established an excellent and widespread reputa- tion as a dental surgeon, and secured a large practice. During the last years of his life he interested himself largely in im- provements upon his property, furnishing profitable employ- ment to many needy people, and the laboring man out of em- ployment found in him a willing and efficient helper.
He was a man of quiet habits, taking no part in political strife, and devoting his time to his business and his family, to whom he was strongly attached. He was for many years a zeal- ous member of the Methodist Church of Carmel.
He was married in 1854 to Miss Antoinette, daughter of Mor- ris Brown. Their children are: Ella (deceased), David S., Anna, John B., and Jessie (deceased).
Dr. Merritt was justly considered one of the most expert and successful members of his profession in the county. He was a well educated man, possessed of very original ideas, and an earnest worker in all that he undertook.
THE FOSTER FAMILY .- Thomas and Nathaniel Foster, broth- ers, came from Cape Cod in 1740, and settled in Southeast. The farm of Thomas Foster was west of Doansburg, and he resided there till the time of his death, about 1790. Thomas had eight children.
Of these, James settled in Southeast, where his descendants
Bryant. S. Palmer
Jamison Mert
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TOWN OF CARMEL.
are numerous; Seth settled on a farm about a mile east of Car- mel, where his grandson, William H. Foster, now lives; and the others went to Dutchess county. Seth Foster married Huldah Ragan, about 1786. Their children were: Eleanor, wife of Jesse Kelley; Isaac, who died unmarried; Tilly, and Thomas. After the decease of his first wife, Mr. Foster married Elizabeth King, and had two children: Huldah, wife of Ebenezer Kelley; and Laura, who died unmarried. Seth Foster died September 15th, 1837, aged 76.
Tilly Foster was born in 1793, died April 4th, 1842. His home- stead was the farm on which the Tilly Foster Iron Mine is lo- cated, and from him it took its name. He married Sarah Arm- strong and had children: Isaac E .; Seth; Eleanor, wife of Mid- dleton Bell; Laura, wife of Nathan L. King, M. D .; Emily and James. By a second marriage he had one son, Walter, who died young.
Thomas Foster was born in 1795, and died September 22d, 1840, aged 45. He married Betsy, daughter of Joseph Crane, in 1821. They were the parents of two sons: Rev. Joseph, born 1822, was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Red Mills, from 1854 to 1859, and died in 1860, leaving no children; and William Hill Foster, born May 7th, 1824. The latter, who is now living on the ancestral home, about a mile east of Carmel, married Rachel Chapman, of Sharon, Conn., and has three cliil- dren: Emma Josephine, Marilla Chapman and Bessie Crane. Mr. Foster has long been an active member of the Presbyterian Church of Carmel, and for twenty-five years has been one of its ruling elders. The homestead farm was held by lease under Frederick Philipse, by Seth Foster, from 1786 to 1801. In the latter year he bought the farm and built the present residence in 1811.
WILLIAM W. EVERETT, widely known as president of the New Jersey Steamboat Company, is of Scotch descent, and is a grandson of the eminent Judge William Watts of Putnam county. His father, Leonard K. Everett, who married Miss Louise H. Watts, daughter of the judge, was a farmer residing at Carmel, where William W. was born, November 26th, 1838.
After finishing his education at the Carmel Academy, now Drew Seminary, Mr. Everett spent a few years in the home of his parents, leaving at the age of twenty-three for New York
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HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
city, where he entered a broker's office as clerk. He was thus employed during eight years, after which he returned to Car- mel, where he remained till 1877. He then came again to New York.
At that time he was made a director in the New Jersey Steam . boat Company commonly known as the People's Line Steamers, and in the fall of the following year he was elected president of the corporation, which position he continues to hold at this time.
Mr. Everett is a man of varied abilities and attainments. He manages the enormous business of the New Jersey Steamboat Company with promptness and dispatch, and he has won for himself a foremost place among the managers of our great steamboat lines. His position brings him constantly into con- tact with the great men of the time and he is widely and favor- ably known not only throughout his native county, but through the entire State, particularly at the capital and in New York city.
Mr. Everett was formerly connected with a number of social organizations in New York, prominent among which were the New York and Manhattan Clubs, in which his genial disposi- tion and open manner made him exceedingly popular. These same characteristics have also had a like effect in Putnam county, where he is greatly esteeined.
Mr. Everett married November 20th, 1860, Miss Georgenna Kelly, daughter of Robert W. Kelly and granddaughter of the distinguished financier, Daniel Drew. They have three chil- ren: Gertrude, Robert R. and Louise.
THE WEEKS FAMILY .- Hon. Chauncey R. Weeks was born in Carmel village March 12th, 1812, at the hotel on property now owned by heirs of Lewis Ludington.
His father, Robert Weeks, was a physician of Putnam county, of whom a sketch is given in this work, in the.chapter relating to physicians.
His grandfather was a Quaker doctor and resided and practiced in town of Somers, Westchester county.
The Weeks family came from Cape Cod, Mass., but were orig- inally from England.
Chauncey R. Weeks was educated at the public schools. He first learned the harness making trade with James Raymond.
Everett
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TOWN OF CARMEL.
In 1833, taking a small interest with Waring, Tuffs & Co., in the menagerie business, he travelled through the Eastern States and Canada. In 1836, opened a general store in Carmel village. In 1838, was employed on steamboats on the Hudson River, as clerk, by Daniel Drew. In 1840, again engaged in the menagerie business .. In 1842, became a partner with Raymond & Co., and travelled through United States. Later became a partner of the firm of Ogden, Weeks & Co. About 1860, retired from the menagerie business and became a stockholder in the People's Line of steamers on the Hudson. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1847 and again in 1856. In 1837, he married Ada Raymond, daughter of James Raymond of Carmel village. Their children are: James R .; Thomas R. and Edward C. (twins); Louisa and Chauncey R., jr., deceased.
Edward C. Weeks, son of Hon. Chauncey R. Weeks, and present county clerk of Putnam county, was born in Carmel in 1844. He was educated at Raymond Collegiate Institute, private school at Croton Falls, and Eastman's Business College, Pough- keepsie. He has always been an active man of business and has held positions of responsibility. For a number of years he was employed in the Croton River National Bank at Brewster, and the First National Bank of Carmel. For four years he was in the employ of Van Amburgh & Co., as treasurer. Later he en- gaged and traveled with P. T. Barnum as ticket agent. In 1880, he was elected supervisor of Carmel township. In 1881, he was elected county clerk of Putnam county and re-elected in 1884. For a number of years he has been secretary of the Putnam County Agricultural Society, and in 1885 was elected its presi- dent.
In 1867, he married Josephine Howes of Carmel, daughter of William Howes, and granddaughter of Nathan Howes, the prominent representative of this old and well-known Putnam county family.
CHAPTER XXII.
TOWN OF SOUTHEAST.
Settlement and Early History .- Early Records .- Supervisors .- Philipse Lot No. 8 .- The Fowler Family .- Milltown .- Columbia Library .- Southeast Center. Presbyterian Church at Southeast Center .- Doansburg .- De Forest's Corners. -Line between Lots 8 and 9 .- Presbyterian Church at Doansburg .- Dyke- man's Station .- Baptist Church at Dykeman's Station.
S OUTHEAST, which is one of the towns formed in 1795, from the former towns of Frederickstown and Sontheast, is bounded on the south by the county of Westchester, on the west by the town of Carmel, on the east by the State of Con- necticut, and on the north by the town of Patterson.
The territory embraced in the town consists of Lot No. 9, of Philipse Patent, and the south half of Lot No. 8; also that por- tion of the Oblong which extends from the Westchester line to the northern part of the Oblong Lot No. 12. The length of the town from north to south is six miles, and from east to west, six miles and five rods. The width of Lot 9 is four and one-fifth miles.
The south boundary along the county line west of Peach Pond has always been well defined, and a stone wall running west from that lake is the original line between Philipse Patent and the Manor of Cortlandt. To the east of Peach Pond the boundary on the Oblong was for some time in dispute and, in 1803, an Act was passed which recited that " Whereas disputes and difficulties have arisen relative to the northeast bounds of the County of Westchester, and the southeast bounds of the County of Dutchess," the supervisors of the towns of North Salem and Southeast were required to appoint a skilled sur- veyor, who should commence at the twenty mile monument on the north line of the Manor of Cortlandt, and continue the same line eastwardly to the boundary line of Connecticut; and it was
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TOWN OF SOUTHEAST.
provided that the costs should be paid by Gilbert Field, Com- fort Field and Nehemiah Field, who were the owners of the land through which the line ran. There is a traditionary line which is recognized as the boundary, but we are not aware of any monuments erected by the provision of the act.
The whole of Lot No.9 of Philipse Patent, was the property of Roger Morris and Mary his wife, and was confiscated after the Revolution and sold in farms to varions persons most of whom were already in possession as tenants. A list of the purchasers with the number of acres sold to each, will be found in the chapter on the " Confiscation and Sale of the Shares of Philipse Patent belonging to Beverly Robinson and Roger Morris." The settlement of this town began abont 1730, when families from Long Island, or from the northern part of Westchester came to this region. The first settlers of whom there is any knowledge was the family of Samuel Field, who was the owner of Lot 5 on the Oblong, at the time of the division in 1732. His daughter, Jane Field, born in 1733, is said to have been the first white child born on the Oblong. The Townsend family prob- ably came about the same time, as David Townsend was the original owner of Oblong Lot No. 6, and in 1745, Elihu Towns- end (who was probably his son) was living here and in 1801 he gave to his five grandsons, Abijah, Elihu, Samnel, Abra- ham, and Stephen, the sons of his son Uriah, certain lands in Lot No. 6, bounded east by the Connecticut line. The county line runs through Lot 6, and Elihu Townsend's house was in Westchester county. In 1791, Isaac Townsend sold to Nehemiah Comfort and Gilbert Field a tract of fourteen acres, which lay next to the Connecticut line. In 1786, we find a deed from John Johnson to the above named Nehemiah Field, Comfort Field, and Gilbert Field, which conveys 26 acres " beginning at the northeast corner of Lot No. 6, by the Oblong line, and run- ning westward bearing ten degrees north 72 rods, and thence South 16 rods."
As there is no record of the survey of the Oblong except the map, the above course of ten degrees north of west may be taken as the direction of the bounds between the Oblong lots as the needle pointed at that date. The Fields and the Townsends, who were thus the earliest settlers, have continued the owners of land at the southeast corner of the county till the present time.
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HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
The next definite knowledge of the early settlers is in the record of the laying out of roads in 1745, which is found in the clerk's office of Dutchess county. From this record some idea may be gained as to the location of early settlers in the town. James Dickinson, from whose place several roads radiated, probably lived on the south side of Croton River, at South- east Center, and on the farm afterward owned by Hezekiah Sandford, whose house is still standing at the intersection of three roads, leading respectively to Brewster, Milltown and to Westchester county; the latter being called the " Peach Pond road." John Dickinson had a mill at Southeast Center, where the "Sash and Blind Factory" of Isaac Armstrong now is, and that was probably the first in town, except Joseph Crane's mill on the Oblong. This latter which, as "Crane's Mills," was a noted landmark, was on Croton River about half a mile east of the Oblong line, and the mill seat and a large extent of land around it are now owned by Stephen C. Barnum. One road is mentioned as running " from Crane's mills to ye bridge by Jeremiah Calkins." This latter place was at Milltown, where the road crosses the river.
Edward Gray was the lessee of a farm at what is now called Doansburg, and probably the one now owned by the heirs of Archibald Sears.
Elijah Tompkins had a farm toward the north part of Doans- burg, next to the Oblong line, and James Paddock held a farm which continued in the possession of the family for many years, near the line between Southeast and Patterson. Nathan Bailey had a house near Peach Pond on the farm now owned by Gen. James Ryder, as early as 1745, and traces of the old road that led to it are yet visible. Edward Hall had a mill on the Oblong, probably at Milltown, while the names of Curhellus Fuller, Joseph Lee, "Capt. Ball," William Bloomer, " Capt. Wright," Samuel Jones, Nathaniel Stevenson, Joshua Barnes and Anthony Batterson occur as being settled here as early as 1755. David Paddock was the holder, as tenant, of a large farm of 304 acres next to the Oblong, and the same was sold to him by the commissioners of forfeiture, July 4th, 1782. This farm lay at the west end of Joe's Hill, and descended to his son, David B. Paddock, whose daughter, Mary, married Moses Richards, whose son, David Belden Richards, is the present owner of a small part of the original farm. The old Paddock
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TOWN OF SOUTHEAST.
homestead was on the north side of Croton River, on the road to Milltown, and the residence of Mr. Richards stands on the site. Between this house and the residence of Stephen C. Bar num, the present owner of "Crane's Mills," runs a line of board fence which is continued south of the road to the Croton River. North of the road the board fence continues to the north, to a stone wall which runs still farther on. This line of fence and wall is the original Oblong line, and at the end of the stone wall (which terminates about a quarter of a mile north of the road) is the place where the "8 mile monument" stood. This monument, which marks the distance of eight miles from the angle in the Oblong line in Westchester county, is thus de- scribed in the original survey :
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