USA > New York > Ulster County > History of Ulster County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers. Vol. I > Part 29
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From the fall of 1853 to the spring of 1855, at the vil- lage of Johnstown, Columbia Co., he was the law-partner of Charles Esselstyn, subsequently surrogate of that county, and during the latter half of that period also practiced law at Bondout, N. Y., dividing his time between the two places. In the fall of 1854 he was the Whig candidate for surrogate of Columbia County, running the highest on the Whig ticket, hut failing of an election by a few votes.
In the spring of 1855 he removed to Rondout, having formed a partnership with William Lawton, the present county judge of Ulster County, which still continues. The firm has had a large law-practice for the last twenty-five years, Judge Lawton usually taking the leading part in jury trials, and Mr. Stebbins taking charge of cases at the general term and in the Court of Appeals.
Since removing to Ulster County, Mr. Stebbins has at different times been nominated by the Republicaus for member of Assembly, county judge, delegate to the Consti- tutional Convention, and representative in Congress, and f :: the latter office ran some fifteen hundred votes ahead of his ticket, but the adverse majority was too strong to be over- come
He has been corporation counsel of the village of Rond- out for some thirteen years, and of the city of Kingston for six years. He has been generally successful in scenring good results for his clients, especially in the argument of cases at the general term of the Supreme Court and in the Court of Appeals. Except in private scientific and philo- sophical studies, and in occasional literary or political addresses, he has confined his labors to the law.
JOHN E. VAN ETTEN,
one of the prominent members of the Uster County bar, was born April 2, 1830, in that part of the township of Kingston, Uster Co., N. Y., which was, in the fall of 1879,
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WILLIAM LOUNSBERY, son of John and Sarah (Peters) Lounsbery, was born at Stone Ridge, in the town of Mar- bletown, Ulster Co., N. Y., Dec. 25, 1831. His paternal ancestor was of Welsh birth, and settled in Esopus, now Kingston, as early as 1643. A great-unele, Col. John Lounsbery, was a member of the Assembly in 1806, '11, and '20, a member of the State Senate in 1818, '19, '20, and '21, and a member of the council of appointment in 1820, during the gubernatorial administration of De Witt Clinton. Another great-uncle, Col. Ebenezer Lounsbery, was a member of the Senate in 1836, and for many years president of the Kingston Bank. Both served in the war of 1812, in which they acquired their military rank.
His father, Johu Lounsbery, was a tanner and merchant for many years at Stone Ridge; was a member of the As- sembly in 1853, and was classed as a Hunker in the political divisions of the Democracy of that period. Ile died in 1863, aged sixty. His children are Margaret, wife of John Winfield ; Richard (deceased) ; Elizabeth, wife of John N. Pink; William ; Ruth, wife of John A. Elmendorf; and Saralı, wife of John G. De Witt.
William Lounsbery received his preliminary education at Kingston Academy, and graduated at Rutgers College in 1851, obtaining the third honor of the class. He studied law with the well-known firm of Stephens, Edwards & Mead, of Albany ; attended the Law School of the Univer- sity of the city of Albany, and was admitted to practice in 1853. Ile immediately thereafter opened a law office in the then village of Kingston, where by his careful prepa- ration of, and faithful attention to the causes at first in-
trusted to him, he soon obtained the confidence of the pub- lic, and a handsome share of business. He continues the practice of his profession in 1880. Mr. Lounsbery was associated with Mr. S. S. Homnel from 1857 to 1861 in the proprietorship of the Ulster Republican, now the Kingston Argus. then, as now, the recognized organ of the Democracy of Ulster County. This was a period of sharp political controversy, and Mr. Lounsbery, in such intervals of leisure as were allowed him by his profession, entered into the contest of that period with spirit and zeal. His editorial articles, like his efforts at the bar, were marked by smoothness and elegance of siyle, clearness, directness, and force, and added greatly to the effectiveness of that journal as a party organ. He finds time to glean in the fields of general literature, and hence naturally became a member of the Ulster County Historical Society, and took great interest in preparing papers to be read before it. The same literary tastes led hitu to accept invitations to make addresses before the Kingston literary associations, and the Ulster County Agricultural Society. In early manhood he took an active part in local polities ; in 1868 he represented his district in the Assembly, and was chairman of the committee on the judiciary. He was elected mayor of the city of Kingston in March, 1878, for the term of two years, and in the fall of 1879, as the Democratic candidate, he was elected to the Forty-sixth Congress of the United States.
He married Miss Kate, daughter of the late John H. Eaman, for many years a prominent merchant and business man in Kingston. They have an only child, -Kate Du Bois Lounsbery.
8. L. Stattins
Litros
Photo, by Lewis, Kingston
Also 18. Parku
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THE BENCH AND BAR.
annexed to the township uf Woodstock. He is the second son of John Aaron and Rebecca Van Etten. On his father's side the family belongs to Knickerbocker stock, and came originally from Holland ; ou his mother's side, from Scotland.
In 1621 the Dutch republic of Holland granted to the Dutch West India Company-a corporation then recently formed-a territory whose boundaries were not accurately defined, but which the latter construed as including the lands between Delaware River on the south and Connecti- cut River on the north. In 1629 the said company, in order to give an impulse to colonization in their territory, allowed persons who should, within four years, undertake to plant colonies, consisting of certain specified numbers, to select lands sixteen miles in extent, unless they lay on both sides of a river, in which case they might extend eight miles on each bank, and stretch into the country as far as the situation required. Wonter Van Twiller was depated as an agent to inspect the condition of the country and to purchase the lands of the Indians previous to settlement,- a condition specified by the said company. It was also recommended that a minister and schoolmaster should be provided.
Under these auspices the Knickerbocker ancestor of the Van Etten family was drawn to the New World, and settled at Rhinebeck, Dutchess Co., N. Y., between the years 1630 and 1633, for family tradition assigns to him a large tract of territory in that locality. The same tradition also in- forms us that three brothers came over, -- Aubram (Abram), Patrus (Peter); and Baymon ( Benjamin) ; that Aubram was killed in battle with the Iulians, and that Baymon was never married.
A definite family record commences in the year 1717. In an old family Bible it is stated that in that year Patrus Van Etten (pronounced von, the " a" having the sound of " o" in Dutch) was born at Rhinebeck. One of the sons of this Patrus was Aaron. Aaron married Christina, a daughter of Patrus De Witt, of the township of Saugerties, Ulster Co. In consequence of this marriage, Aaron, in ex- change for lands at Rhinebeck, acquired a large tract of land in the township of Saugerties, at a place then called Plattekill (Flat Creck ), now called Fish Ciech.
Aaron had three soas, -- John, Jacobus, and Elias, --- among whom he at his death divided his form at Plattekill.
John was born May 31, 1759. Ile was in Gates' army, and fought at the battles of Saratoga, or Bemis Heights, and witnessed the surrender of Gen. Burgoyne and his army. The gun with which he fought measured nine feet in length. It was a flint lock, and was called a " Tower Hill." It was long celebrated as one of the best of " Tower Ilills." On one occasion a large party undertook to fire across a certain lake, and this " Tower Hill" was the only one which could carry a ball across the lake.
After the war John married Maria ( Polly), a daughter of John Van Valkenburgh. They had three sons,-Jonas, Levi, and John Aaron; the latter, the Benjamin of their flock, was born May 19, 1801. Jonas served in the war - 0 1912.
A remarkable fact in regard to physical development should be recorded,-Aaron and his three sons, John and
his three sons could all wear each other's clothes, hat, and boots. Each stood six feet in his stockings, and weighed two hundred pounds.
On the 19th of October, 1826, John Aaron married Rebecca, a daughter of Peter Vredenburgh. Rebecca was born May 20, 1808, and on her mother's side was of Scotch extraction. Five sons and two daughters were the issue of this marriage.
John E. Van Etten, whose portrait is placed in connec- tion with this sketch, was the second son of said marriage. He is now in the prime of life, resides in the city of Kings- ton, and is one of the prominent members of the Ulster County bar.
His education (except a year subsequently devoted to Latin and Greek) was completed in 1850, at Albany, under the distinguished anthor and professor of mathematics, George R. Perkins. Mr. Van Etten subsequently com- menced the study of law in the office of Erastus Cooke, in the city of Kingston, and iu 1856 was admitted to the bar of the State. Eleven years afterwards he was admitted to the bar of the United States.
In 1858, Mr. Van Etten married Adelaide, a daughter of Edward Green, a relative of Maj .- Gen Green, of Revo- lutionary fame.
The issue of this marriage are one daughter, Jessie, and two sons, John and Lauric.
Mr. Van Etten is devoted to his profession. Having a large and lucrative practice, he has had no time or inelina- tion to engage in any business enterprises outside of his profession ; uor has it been necessary for him to do so. The strifes for office have always been distasteful to him, and therefore he has uniformly declined political preferment.
During the civil war he supported the Union cause ; voted for Abraham Lincoln twice, and voluntarily sent a substitute to the army. Since the close of the war he has aeted with the Democratic party, because of the centralizing and wealth-monopolizing tendencies of the Republican party.
Mr. Van Etten was a warm friend of the late IIon. William H. Seward, and Mr. Seward, while . Secretary of State under Lincoln, reciprocated this friendship by pre- senting Mr. Van Etten with an Arabian stallion of pure blood, imported direct from Arabia.
In 1872, Mr. Van Etten went to Europe on professional business, and after his professional engagements were ended traveled extensively, visiting many of the capitals, cities, and places of note in those countries.
Ile is a man of culture, and of extensive reading and information. As a lawyer he ranks high, and has been successfully employed iu many difficult and intricate causes.
ALTON B. PARKER.
His grandfather, John Parker, left Worcester, Mass., purchased, and settled on a farm in the town of Cortland- ville, Cortland Co., N. Y., about the year 1815, where he resided during the remainder of his life. Of his five sons and one daughter, John Brooks Parker was father of the subject of this notice, and shortly after his marriage pur- chased the homestead on which he resides in 1880.
Alton B. received his early education in the Cortland
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Academy, and in the State Normal and Training School at Cortland1, N. Y., and at the age of sixteen commenced teaching for the purpose of defraying a part of his es- penses at school. In the winter of ISTO-71 he had charge of the school at Accord in this county, and at the close of his term he began reading law with the well-known law firm of Hardenbergh & Schoonmaker, in Kingston. In Septem- ber, 1871, he entered the Albany Law School, from which institution, in company with Messrs. W. S. Kenyon, Jr., and T. Beekman Westbrook, he was graduated in May, 1872, and was admitted to the bar on the 9th day of the same month.
On the Ist of June following he began work as a elerk in the office of Hon. Augustus Schoonmaker, where he remained until January, 1873, when he formed a law partnership with W. S. Kenyon, Jr., which continued for six years and was dissolved.
Mr. Parker took an active part in the presidential cau- paign of 1872, and in the fall of that year made his maiden efforts on the stump in the discussion of the great political questions of that exciting campaign. In the closely- contested presidential campaign of 1876 he made some thirty speeches in Ulster County in support of the Democratic platforin.
In 1873 he was elected clerk of the Board of Supervisors, and re-elected for the years 1874-75. In 1877, Mr. Par- ker was elected surrogate of Ulster County for six years, and in 1880 is performing the duties of that office and continuing his law practice in Kingston. He married, Oct. 16, 1873, Miss Mary L., daughter of M. I. Schoonmaker, of the town of Rochester, Ulster Co., N. Y.
JUDGE GABRIEL WILLIAM LUDLUM -
was of English parentage both on his father and mother's side. His father, Gabriel Ludlum, was a descendant of one of the early settlers of Long Island, and when a young man entered business as a merchant in Sussex Co., N. J. Ile married Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas Lawrence by his first marriage, with Miss Bond, of Philadelphia. Ile died in 1801.
Gabriel William Ludlum was born at Wanitage, N. J., April, 1801. He was graduated at Inion College in 1818, and entered the legal profession. In 1823 he married Miss Catherine, daughter of Hon. Abraham Hasbrouck, of Kingston Landing, Ulster Co., N. Y. In 1824 he settled in Goshen, N. Y., and in 1826 removed to Fall burg, Sullivan Co., N. Y., gave up the practice of his profession, and turned his attention to business. While a resident there he laid the foundation for the largest tannery ever built in that county, and was also engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits. Ile gave the name " Wood- bourne" to the place bearing that name now in Sullivan County, and for several years resided there. He was ap- pointed by Governor Marcy, in 1828, judge of Sullivan County, and held the office for several years.
In 1838 he came to Kingston and opened a law-office with Judge Forsyth ; but in 1841 removed to Napanoch, where he again engaged in business. In 1851 he removed to Kingston, built a large flouring-mill at Rondont, and engaged in other business. He erected the residence now (1880) occupied by his surviving wife, eounnanding a rare
view of Roudout, the surrounding country, and the Ilud- Son.
Judge Ludlum was an earnest temperance advocate and a firm friend of the Bible cause. He was connected with local societies devoted to worthy objects, and often delivered public addresses in advocacy of their claims. He took an active interest in church matters, and, after removing to Napanoch, often represented the Reformned Church in the ecclesiastical eourts. He took an active and influential part in the projected Erie Railroad, and it was not due to any lack of zeal on his part, or want of influence, that that great highway of travel failed to be laid through the midst of Sullivan County. He spent the latter days of his life in travel, and died in California, by a fall from his horse, June 20, 1872.
llis children are Abraham HI., Mary Catharine, James, Helen, Gabriel, Anna Seeley, Julia Frances, William Cock- buru, Catharine, Mary Lawrence, and Elizabeth Bevier.
A. D. LENT
was born May 13, 1850, at Pleasant Plains, in the town of Clinton, Dutchess Co., N. Y. ; son of Abram S. and Mary
A. DEpent opent
N. Lent. His father was a merchant and farmer. Though brought up,and taught to work upon his father's farm, young Lent early formed a purpose to enter the legal pro- fession. His elementary education was received in the dis- triet school of his native town, supplemented by a number of years' attendance at the seminary at Pleasant Plains. From the time he was seventeen years of age, for the pur- pose of acquiring the means to prosecute his studies, he alternated his attendance at the seminary by teaching school. In due time he entered the Union University of New York, from which he graduated as Bachelor of Laws, May 13, 1874. In November of the same year he began the practice of law at Highland, township of Lloyd, Ulster
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Co., N. Y., receiving at the outset a very fair clientage which has gradually extended throughout Southern Ulster, at Poughkeepsie, and other cities'along the Hudson.
Mr. Lent has never held any political office, having re- fused every offer of the same, or to allow his name to be used as a candidate; he has repeatedly served as delegate to county and State conventions, but nothing more.
He is a member and steward of the Highland Methodist Episcopal Church ; also its Sabbath-school superintendent. Ile married a daughter of Richard D. Perkins, a descend- ant of one of the old families of Southern Ulster, at the present time a resident of Highland.
There he spent the remainder of his life, and the property passed to his son Cornelius, who still owns the place and resides upon it. In thus settling upon the farm and giving close attention to business his professional education became useful to the community around him in many ways. He was often the legal adviser of his neighbors, aud was chosen to many positions of trust and responsibility. About 1820 he was appointed county judge, and discharged the duties of that position with fidelity and suecess for several years, being respected for the soundness of his legal decisions and the impartiality of his administration of justice. He was often chosen supervisor of the town and justice of the peace,
Photo, by Lewis, Kingston.
ABRAM G. HARDENBERGH,
the subject of this sketch. was born in Marbletown, Jan. 14, 1788. He was the son of Gradus Hardenbergh, and the latter was the son of Leonard, who was the son of Jo- hannes Hardenbergh, the patentee of the immense Harden- bergh tract lying in this and adjoining counties. He re- ceived the rudiments of his education in the common schools of his native town, and afterwards completed a classical course at the academy in Kingston. Ile then received an appointment as teacher of languages in that institution, and filled that position for several years.
Subsequently he studied law in the office of Hon. John Sudam, of Kingston, and upon completing the usual course of reading he was admitted to the bar. He remained, however, only a brief period in the active practice of his profession, circumstances inducing him to return to Marble- town and take charge of his father's farm and grist-mill.
holding this last-named position for many years, and down to the time of his death.
He took a deep interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community in which he lived, and was especially active in the improvement and elevation of the common schools. He was often a commissioner and an inspector under the system of town supervision.
He was appointed county superintendent of common schools by the Board of Supervisors, and held the office for two terms, giving much valuable labor to the educational interests of the entire county. It is said that he was almost continuously the ineumbent of some office connected with the schools through all his life after he became a voter.
Ilis legal services were peculiarly valuable in the drawing of deeds, wills, contracts, and other important papers. They were always executed with great care and accuracy. He married, in 1817, Mary Cole, and their children were four :
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Elizabeth, widow of Dr. L. H. Wickes, now living in Cairo, Greene Co., N. Y .; Cornelius, residing upon the old homestead ; Jane C., widow of Matthew Hasbrouck, of Poughkeepsie; and Christina, wife of Samuel G. Dimmick, of Kingston.
Judge Ilardenbergh died April 14, 1853.
JOHN GOODWIN GRAY
was born at Greenfield, in the town of Wawarsing, Feb. 4, 1829. Ile is the youngest of the eight children of Thad- deus and Elizabeth Gray. His paternal ancestors were among the early settlers of New England. His grandfather, Benoni Gray, was a soldier in the French and Indian war of 1755, and was also first lieutenant in the colonial army, and served as such during the whole period of the Revolu- tion. John G. Gray's mother was a daughter of Oliver Besley, the first settler of Greenfield, whose ancestors were French Huguenots, and fed from religious persecution in their fatherland to Ilolland, and thence to New York, during the seventeenth century. Mr. Gray's youth was spent on his father's farm in Greenfield, and his early op- portunities for education were such as the common schools of that place afforded ; and in former times these schools were common enough. But when the State Normal School at Albany began to send out teachers the schools were greatly improved. Mr. Gray was fortunate enough to have the aid of some of these teachers during the latter part of his attendance at the district schools. He eagerly availed himself of the opportunities offered, and thus gained a thorough knowledge of the rudiments of an education, be- coming quite proficient in English grammar, arithmetic, and algebra. About the same time he formed the ae. quaintance of Rev. Isaac G. Duryee, of Woodbourne, who, perceiving young Gray's inclination, took a great interest in him, and gave such advice and aid as were best suited to his circumstances. Without incans or home encourage- ment, Mr. Gray resolved to take a college course. Mr. Duryce advised it, and was his first instructor in the lan- guages. He persuaded his pupil to enter Union College,- his own alma mater,-and in September, 1849, he entered the Fresinnan class of that institution. As he had spent less than a year preparing in the classics, he had to work very hard during his first year in college in order to carry on the regular course and make up his back preparatory studies. But by great effort he succeeded, and after the first year stood at the maximum in all his studies, and, be- sides the regular course, pursued civil engineering, under Prof. Gillespie, as an extra. To illustrate his pluck and perseverance, it may be interesting to state some facts, which Mr. Gray has always been diffident in relating, about the privations and hardships he endured in order to complete his college course. He commucneed without any means except such as he obtained by manual labor while in college and during vacation. In college he seenred the office of bell-ringer, at the salary of about one dollar per week. As soon as the term closed he immediately sought employment at any kind of labor that would pay the best wages, and worked till the commencement of the next term, when he was promptly at his place in his class, and re- maived there, conscientiously performing all the duties re-
«mired of him. The records of that institution will show that, term after term, he was not absent once from recita- tion, from chapel, or from church ; that he never entered his class unprepared, or shirked a duty assigned him. In order to live and purchase his clothing and books ( his tui- tion-fee was remitted ) on the pittance earned by him. he had to practice the most rigid economy, generally boarding himself, and seldom expending as much as one dollar per week for food, more frequently but half that sum.
After completing the entire four years' course he was re- warded, however, in the consciousness of having done his
LITTLE
best, in having the confidence and esteem of the faculty, in being able to see that he had made some attainments, and in having the assurance that others, better capable of judg- ing than himself, also recognized his attainments in their electing him a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Immediately after graduating, in 1853, Mr. Gray weit to the State of Mississippi, where he engaged in teaching for a number of years. But, in connection with teaching. he commenced the study of law under the instruction ot Prof. Hayward Foote, a cousin of Governor Henry S. Foote, of that State, and in March, 1855, was admitted to practice in all the courts of law and equity of Mississippi, but continued teaching for some time longer. He was professor of mathematics in the Southern Feraale College, near Cayuga, Miss., and resigned that position to commence the practice of law at Port Gibson, in 1858. He was get- ting a good start in the practice of law, when the secession troubles came on. He was heartily opposed to that move- ment, and dul all in his power to counteract it. Ile wrote articles for a number of papers in that State, trying to show the folly of such an undertaking. He had married Miss
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Lizzie Hutchins, a native of Mississippi, who had mimer- ous and influential family connections ; otherwise his course would not have been prudent or safe. As the movement advanced, opposition became vain and dangerons, and, as he was determined not to take part against the Union, he abandoned the practice of law and resumed the business of teaching. By this means he was shielded from conserip- tion, and thus gained immunity from military service in the Confederacy. During the siege of Vicksburg he lived about fifteen miles distant in the interior, and after the fall of that place was exposed to raids from foraging parties on both sides. Ilis sitnation thus becoming dangerous as well as annoying, he resolved to leave Mississippi, and in the fall of 1863 went to St. Louis, Mo. He taught school in that place until the following spring, and then, owing to bad health and the unsettled condition of the country, re- turned to his native town
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