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 33
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"The ancestors of this branch of the Roberts family were dis- tinguished both in diplomacy nud in the sterner realities of war. The great-grandfather on the maternal side, Van Braam, was the second miubassador of the Dutch East India Company to the Court of Pekin, China, and in this capacity perfected the treaty with the Chinese government that enabled the Hollanders to holdl and control the trade of that peculiar people so many years, to the exclusion of all other nations.
"He was also the author of one of the first books in the English and French languages detailing the habits, enstoms, and peculiarities of that wonderful people.
" The great-grandfather on the paternal side was a distinguished officer in the Revolutionary war. He was a native of Wales, Great Britain, and at one period an ethicer in the British army.
" When the mother-country resolved to sulolne her rebellious colo- nies in America, Col. Owen Roberts was a citizen of Charleston, S. C., and patriotically espoused the cause of his adopted country.
"Ile was, however, teudered his commission in His Majesty's ser- vice, which he promptly and indignantly declined, defiantly return- ing as his answer his assurances of devotion to the land of his adop- tion, and an avowal of his determination to 'stand by her fortunes, come weal or come woe.' When hostilities began he was commis- sioned colonel of the 4th South Carolina Artillery, and was subse- quently killed at the battle of Stony, while gallantly leading his command in an effort to prevent the landing of Britsh troops at that point. Mortally wounded by a cannon ball through one of his lower limbs, ho was carried from the field and placed uu ler the shade of a tree, und out of range of the battle still raging.
" His son, Richard Brooks Roberts, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, learning of the terrible disaster to hi- futher, lastened to his side. (Sco Alexander Garden's ' Anecdotes of the Revolution.') Ilis fathor, observing the emotions of his son, said : ' Take this sword. which has never been tarnished by dishonor, and never sheath it while the liberties of your country are in danger. Accept my last blessing and return to your duty,' A short Time after he breathed his lust mp.on the spot where his comrades bad placed him. His son, Richard Brooks Roberts, was a youth scarcely eighteen years of age, holding a captain's commission in his father's regiment.
" He faithfully and patriotically lived up to his father's dying in- junctions, remained in the service of his comitry until the elose of the Revolutionary struggle, and was afterwards commissioned a major in the regular army by Gen. Washington. He died at the early age of thirty -seven, leaving three sons, the chlest of whom was Lucius Quintins Cineinnatu- Robert-, father of the subject of this sketch. This name was given him in honor of the Cincinnati Society, of which, as the oldest son, according to the rules of the society, be became a member upon the death of his father.
" Dr. Roberts was married, Dec. 20, 1566, to Miss Catharine Free- man, youugrst daughter of the late Samnel Freeman, of Poughkeep- sie, and passed the remainder of that winter in Havana, Cuba. In May, 1868, he surrendered his practice in Poughkeepsie to bis nephew, Dr. C. L. Houghton, and retired from the profession to bis farm on the Hudson River opposite and near that city, in Ulster County, where he now resides, devoting his time chiefly to agricultural and hurti- cultural pursuits, although he is also largely interested in the manu- facture of paper. At this writing ( 18;1) he is spending the greater part of his time in Wilmington, N. C., as president of the Carolina Central Railway Company.
". This brief record of a successful business career offers an instruc- tive and encouraging lesson to the young who are struggling. as Dr. Roberts struggled, under manifold dificulties to push onward and np- ward in life. It is a success achieved despite obstacles that wonkl have discouraged aby but the most resolute, a triumph due not to nay eperial brillianey of genius, but to striet attention to business, rigid economy, good, strong common sense, a persistency amounting almost to pertinacity, never yielding when in the right, but at the same
time respecting the rights of others : an 1, above all, an unquestioned integrity that never fails to inspire confidence and consideration."
The above is extracted from the third edition of " Rep- resentative Men North and South," published in 1874, to which it would be proper to add a brief sketch to eover the time to the present.
In 1855 the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad Company was organized to build a railroad from Wihnington, in North Carolina, to the Tennessee State line.
In order to appease the jealousies of the people of Wil- mington and Charlotte, construction was commeneed at both of those towns, and from each the work was pushed westerly.
In 1871 the eastern division was construeted from Wil- mington to Lilesville, a distance of one hundred and thirty miles, and the western division from Charlotte to Cherry- ville, a distance of forty-one miles. when the company failed to meet its engagements and foreclosure proceedings were commenced, and Dr. Roberts was appointed one of the receivers.
Under the receivers the castern division was extended to within three miles of Wadesboro', and the western division to Buffalo Station.
During the session of 1872-73 of the Legislature of North Carolina, a charter was procured for the organization of The Carolina Central Railway Company, authorizing it to purchase the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad Company, and requiring it to complete the entire line frour Wilmington to Shelby, a distance of two hundred and forty two miles, which required the construction of sixty miles within two years.
The road was completed through a rolling and expensive country to grade, in compliance with the terms of the charter, at a cost of about $1,400,000, including the necessary additional rolling stock.
The Carolina Central Railway Company was organized in April, 1873, and Dr. Roberts was elected president of the company May 6, 1873, and, in accordance with a resolu- tion of the board of directors, the president put the entire uncompleted portion of the eastern division under contract in July following. a distance of fifty-six miles, which was completed December 15, 1874.
In September, 1573, when the contractors were at work in full force on the whole line of the uncompleted eastern division, the unprecedented financial crisis set in. The con- tractors were to be paid for each month on the fifteenth day of the succeeding month.
On the 16th of October the contractors ealled in a body on the president for their September pay; but, so severe was the first few weeks of the crisis, to raise any amount of money under any circumstances was an impossibility.
The contractors understood the financial condition of the whole country, and their mistrusts led them to unnecessary fears, and some became threatening and turbulent.
The president quietly invited them all into his private room, and explained the difficulty fully, and told them they had only a choice of two plans to pursue, -- either to. go on with their work and take their chances of payment, or stop at once and look to the company for damages; that if the
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
company was not good for the amounts due them, it would not be good for the damages; that he would not advise which course to take, but believed if they kept on with their work payments would be resumed as usual in a few weeks.
Some demurred, and were inclined to discuss the matter, when Mr. W. Ames, of Massachusetts, the principal con- tractor, said, " Boys, you may do just what you please ; I have made up my wind what I shall do." (Many of his associates were sub-contractors under him.)
Several eagerly asked what he had decided to do. He coolly replied, " I am going back to work, and take my chances." This decided the matter, and every man went " back to work ;" and although they went back without a dollar of their pay, they worked with a will, and on the 15th of November they reecived their September estimates, and on the 15th of December they received the October dues, and on the 15th of January they were paid for No- vember and December, and regularly thereafter.
The 23d of September, 1873, will long be remembered by business men, and never be forgotten by railroad inen. The Carolina Central Railway was about the ouly road under construction in the United States that did not stop work within thirty days after the crisis set in, but unre- mittingly pressed on to an early completion through the unprecedented stringency of money, particularly for railroad purposes. It was, to some extent, a railroad crisis, and to borrowers were more closely scrutinized than railroad com- - panies or railroad mien, or those having connection with either. Had Ames decided on that critical day not ' to go back to work," and sought redress ia litigation, the result would have been different.
Owing to the debts contracted in building and equipping the Carolina Central Railway, and the continued depression, shrinkage of business, and a strong competition for freight, the company found the receipts inadequate to keep the property in good condition and pay the interest on the large mortgage debt ; therefore, in April, 1876, it was placed in the hands of receivers, who appointed the president their general manager, and he, at the first meeting of the bond- holders held after the appointment of receivers, recotu- mended the payment of every honest obligation of the company before paying any interest to the bondholders.
Although this was an extraordinary course, quite umar- alleled in such affairs, it was approved, and an order of court procured for the purpose; the recommendation was strictly carried out, and the entire floating debt of the com- pany was paid in full from the receipts of the road, after which the net receipts were judiciously spent in building stone culverts, and filling in trestles and other betterments. In August, 1876, a new general superintendent was appointed in place of the one resigned. As Dr. Roberts originally accepted the position to remain ouly while the road was being constructed, he gave the directors and receivers notice in January, 1850, that he considered a change of climate a necessity, and besides his personal affairs required him at home ; consequently, he could not consent to spend another summer in Wilmington, and should again retire to his farm in Ulster County ou or before the Ist of June, 15:30.
His children, in the order of their ages, are Frances Parcells, Grace Van Braam, Charles Henry Van Braam, Owen Freeman, Irving Bruce, and Thornton Delano.
Many minor instances might be mentioned to illustrate the practical common sense of the subject of this sketch. such as large importations of evergreen trees in Iowa from France and Scotland, to afford the much needed screens for man and beast on the bleak, windy prairies of that State, which he did as early as IS5S, and proved a perfect success. His personal courage is attested by his adventures in south- western Missouri, in the counties adjacent to the Arkansas line, among the timber thieves of that section, from whom he protected the pine timber on lands entered by him in 1857.
The destiny of every individual is often controlled by insignificant circumstances, considered trivial at the time, which, if utilized with tact and common sense, can be moulded to their advantage. The safest road to success is persistent industry, honesty of purpose, aud unyielding integrity ; being, at all times, no less willing to concede the rights of others than to claim those of their own.
DR. P. M. GEDNEY.
DR. BENJAMIN R. BEVIER.
who died in 1866, at Napanoch, was the fifth in descent from the Huguenot Louis Bevier, who emigrated to this country from France about the year 1660, and was after- wards one of the twelve purchasers of the " Paltz Patent," on which he settled about the year 1663. Abram Bevier and John Bevier. brothers, and grandsons of Louis, removed from ". the Paltz" to the " Warsink Valley" some time previons to the year 1745, and settled, Abram on the Bevier home- stead, and John ou what is now known as the " Mill Property" at Napanoch. Johannes Bevier, son of Abram, and grandfather of Dr. B. R., occupied the site of the old Doll House, now Cadney's Hotel. He was a man of note in his day, was birgely occupied in public matters, and was a distinguished officer in the Dutch Church of Wa-
UTTLO
Photo. by Lewis, Kingston.
L. B. PHINNEY, M.D., was born in New Milford, Susquehanna Co., Pa., April 16, 1820, being the eldest son and second child of William and Lydia (Belknap) Phinney. He spent his early life on his father's farm and in the district school of his native town. At the age of sixteen he entered a boarding- school at Newburg, N. Y., under the principalship of his uncle, Rev. Samuel Phinney, where he re- mained six years, four as a student and two as an assistant teacher. In 1842 he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. George Brown, of Newburg, with whom he remained a year, after which he at- tended a course of lectures of three terms at the Philadelphia University and graduated at that institution in 1844. In May, 1844, he commenced
the practice of medicine in Flint, Ulster Co., N. Y., where he continued in successful practice for twenty- two years, when, owing to ill health, he was obliged to relinquish the same. In 1866 he removed to Shawangunk, and purchased the farm upon which he now resides, and on which he has been engaged to the present time in agricultural pursuits. He married, March 27, 1861, Catharine, daughter of Thomas and Matilda (Bruyn) Bruyn. She was born in Shawangunk, Aug. 13, 1838. They have five children, viz .: Jonth, Lydia Louisa, Mary, Janet, and Ella.
In politics he was originally an old-line Whig and is now a Republican, but has never been an aspirant for political honors.
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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
warsing. Conrad Bevier, son of Johannes, and father of " Dr. Ben," was also a prominent man both in military and civil life. He was in active service through the whole of the Revolution, and was for some time in charge of the defeuses in the Wawarsing and Minisiuk Valleys, then an exposed frontier. He also distinguished himself at the battle of White Plains. At the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, he, with his command, was put in charge of the captured baggage and war material, which he conveyed to Albany. He was remarkable for his great personal courage
LITTLE
DR. BENJAMIN R. BEVIER.
and Avetness of foot. In civil life he served the town and county in various capacities. He was for many years a member of the State Legislature when that position was accounted an honor.
" Dr. Ben" was born on the 10th of September, 1782, in the house now owned by Alfred Burhans, at the top of the " Slager Bergh" (Snake's Hill), now known as Budd's Hill. The house, still standing, was then occupied by Benjamin Roosa, the maternal grandfather of the doctor, and for whom he was pamel. At that time there was but one family living between the western boundary of the Wawaising Valley and the Susquehanna River. This family lived on the Neversiuk, a mile below the Falls, at Paleu's Tanuery, and carried their grain to Napanoch by a circuitous foot-path of twenty miles. Dr. Bevier grew up a vigorous, athletic youth, with a strong passion for books and study, which was judiciously fostered by his parents. But facilities for intellectual cultivation did not abound in those days in these then outskirts of civilization, and the young aspirant for educational honors plodded on as best he could. On approaching his majority he chose the medical profession as his sphere of labor, and began his regular studies with the late Dr. James Oliver, of Marbletown, in this county. Here his great enthusiasm and patience of research gave promise of his future skill and eminence. He attended Icetures both in New York and Philadelphia, and received his diploma from the Faculty of Columbia College in the
year 1504, in the same class with the late Drs. Mott, Sea- man, and Buek, of that city. He commenced his career as a medical practitioner-a career which extended over sixty years-iu the town of Woodstock, in this county, about the year 1805, removed thence to Kingston, and thence to the old homestead at Napanoch some ten years later, where the remainder of his life was spent.
As a practitioner Dr. Bevier was distinguished for the precision and quickness with which he made his diagnoses, for his great fidelity to his patients, and for his genial man- ner. His "ride" was extensive, reaching from Mombaecus to the Mamakating Valley, and from the Upper Neversink to Samu's Point. And yet, notwithstanding the extent of his praetice, he managed to find time for a great deal of study. Down to his last days he kept himself informed of new discoveries in the science, discussed new theories with ability, and readily adopted improvements as they sue- cessively appeared. He did his riding mostly on horseback, and may be said to have lived nearly forty years in the saddle. This habit unquestionably served to strengthen his naturally vigorous constitution, and tended to the lon- gevity to which he attained. So long a practice in the -same fiehl made him familiar to all, and " Dr. Ben" was a household word from one end of the valley to the other. Nor was he less favorably, if' less generally, known abroad. The late Dr. Valentine Mott held him in high regard, and the intimate intercourse and warm friendship which existed
between the two was interrupted ouly by death ; and in all the upper river counties his professional brethren treated him with more than usual respect. His own intercourse with other members of the fraternity was always marked with kindness and courtesy. Tenacious of his own opinions, conservative both in view and feeling, he yet recognized and respected medical skill and talent wherever he found it. He grew into a position where he was, from the nature of the case, something of a terror to the inexperienced, yet no unfairness, no designed discourtesy could be laid to his charge. "The " Pope of Doctors" wore his honors never flauutingly, and wielded his power never harshly. The younger members of the profession found him sympathetic and kindly disposed, a valuable counselor, with no jeal- ousies and no sinister ends to serve. Ambitions to excel in his profession, he was still above resorting to any petty trickeries and cunning devices to enhance his reputation, but was content to stand or fall upon the real merits of his practice.
Socially, Dr. Bevier was an attractive man. Though dig- nified and even reserved when occasion demanded, he was naturally frank and hearty in his manners, a most entertain- ing and instructive companion. He had fine conversational powers, a great store of varied information, and when the mood was on him could make himself the centre of at- traction in any company. Seores of his oll patients have pleasant memories of his happy sayings and pleasant ways with which he broke up the dull monotony of the sick- room. Without losing sight of the somewhat magisterial gravity characteristic of the " Old School' practitioner, he could come down to humor the waywardness, engage the interest, and win the confidence of a sick child with un- common success. In his own family, while never demon-
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
strative, he was kind, considerate, and loving. The real great-heartedness of the man eine out in the dignity, pa- tience, and composure with which he bore the increasing infirmities and pains of old age, retaining .his self-control to the last hours of his life.
In a civil capacity Dr. Bevier's life was full of labors and full of honors. He had a remarkably sound judgment, abundant exceutive resources, an unflinching integrity, and correct and systematic business habits. These qualities in- troduced hint early to publie notice. When only thirty years of age, Governor D. D. Tompkins signalized his respect and esteem for him by making him one of the judges of the Ulster County Court, which office, however, Dr. Bevier soon resigned, as it interfered too far with his professional work. He subsequently served the county several tern's in the State Legislature, and hell various other important publie trusts. Hle was twice a candidate for Congress in this district, at times when the old Whig party, with which he was connected, was about two thousand seven hundred in the minority, and was defeated in one instance by only one hundred and fifty, and in the other by only sixty votes.
His practice in this neighborhood as legal adviser, eon- missioner of deeds, and notary public was for many years scarcely less extensive than his medical practice. Ile probably drafted more wills during his life than any law- yer in U'lster County, and few if any lawyers have a wider experience than he bad in drawing up deeds, con- tracts, ete. Very much of the real estate at this end of the county has thus passed through his hands. For years he held a land-ageney for Robert Tillotson and other pat. ent-holders in Western Ulster and Sullivan Counties, and transacted the business connected with these large estates to the satisfaction of all concerned. He had, indeed, un- usual skill in this kind of business, and was resorted to for information and advice from great distances and from all quarters. His strict systematic management of all his ae- counts and doenments gave him a wide renown. There was in truth something peculiar in this, -- the last piece of public writing which he did was a copy of a subscription paper in aid of the R. P. D. Church of Napanoch, written the week before his death, and is a model of neatness and accuracy. We are convinced that the papers of which he died possessed, being the accumulation of a lifetime speut in transactions involving changes of the real estate of a large district, are of great value, and we urge their careful preservation.
Religiously, Dr. Bevier's character was undeveloped. In his later years, serupulously correct in his habits, strict in his integrity, honorable in all his intercourse with his fellow- men, he contented himself with his morality, and made no pretense to any interior experience of divine truth. But at the same time he admitted the full force of the claims which religion had upon his attention. He usually man- aged to find time amid his professional duties to fill his seat in the sanctuary on the Sabbath, where he was ever an at- tentive and interested hearer. His hand and his purse were ever at the service of the church, and his counsel in temporal matters was as eagerly sought as it was cheerfully given. He held at his death the office of treasurer of the Dutch Church of Napanoch, a post which he had occupied
for many years. In his old age he became more serious and thoughtful ; but if he underwent a saving change it never impressed him so satisfactorily that he could venture to make a public profession of it. And yet he liked to talk in his last days upon religious themes, and frequently gave his emphatic assent to the cardinal doctrines of grace.
Dr. Bevier left a wife, three sons, and one daughter. Prior to her father's death, another daughter, wife of R. C. Southwick, Esq., of Poughkeepsie, died. His youngest son and namesake succeeds him in the profession at Napanoch. Dr. Bevier has left to his children and friends a legacy of usefulness and therefore of honor. He has left to his fel- low-townsmen an example of integrity and unselfishness that deserves imitation.
DR. WILLIAM H. GEDNEY
is a son of Dr. William Gedney, a native of Orange ('o., N. Y. His father's name was Daniel. When a mere chikl he was left an orphan by the death of his parents, and at sixteen years of age apprenticed himself to learn the trade of a tanner. An attack of lung disease compelled him to abandon the business, and in 1804 he commenced the study of medicine under his brother, Dr. Eleazer Gedney, of Newburgh, N. Y. In 1807 he removed to Milton, Ulster Co., N. Y., and began the practice of his profession. From that time until his death, about the year 1849 (at the age of sixty-four), he enjoyed a large and extensive practice in that section of the county, and the reputation of a skillful and intelligent physician, He took an active interest in public affairs, and was supervisor of Mart- burongh in 1825. His wife was Eleanor, daughter of Capt. Anning Smith, one of the first settlers of Marlborough, and the children of the union were Almira, David, Char- lotte, Catharine, Ruth S., Eleanor M., William II., Adelia, Augustus I., George W., and Eleazer. David and Au- gustus II. both became physicians, practiced in Marl- borough for about four years each, and died in that town. Bui four of this large family of children are now living, viz. : Eleanor M., who is the widow of James W. Southard, late of Newark. N. J .; William H., the subject of this sketch ; Charlotte, widow of Henry J. Perkins, of High- land, Ulster Co .; and George W., a resident of Pough- keepsie, N. Y., and who is engaged in the transportation business between Albany and New York City.
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