History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 150

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1354

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I > Part 150

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

2" The Life of Jolin Jay," in 2 vols. By his son, William Jay. 3 see "Continued Catalogue of Columbia College."

584

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

affairs. The records of the New York Lyceum of Natural | History, now known as the New York Academy of Natural Sciences, will exhibit the interest mani fested by him iu that most useful organization.

Dr. Jay is an Episcopalian and has been connected for many years with Christ Church, Rye, of which he is warden. He is well known throughout Westches- ter County, where he has long been greatly appre- ciated for his social and literary qualities.

These and many other illustrions names have adorned the history of the Jay family in America, the members of which have ever been faithful to their country, faithful to their religion and faithful to them- selves. Their residence there has added lustre to West- chester County, and their noble influence will be re- membered while American history continues to be read.

WILLIAM ANDERSON VARIAN.

William Anderson Varian, M.D., is descended from an old French family, who came to this country at an early date, the regular line of descent being as fol- lows: First, Isaac, who was living in New York in 1720 and died about 1800 ; second, James, born Janu- ary 10, 1734, died December 11, 1800; third, James, born November 22, 1765, died December 26, 1841; fourth, Dr. William A. Varian, who was born at Scars- dale January 23, 1820. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of John Cornell, a member of the Society of Friends and of a family noted for patriotism and vir- tue. He attended school in his native place up to the age of sixteen, and then went to White Plains, where he was a student at the academy for three years. He then entered the office of Livingston Roe, M.D., and continued with him for the same period. The death of his father, which occurred abont that time, ren- dered it necessary for him to labor for his own sup- port, and for a while he was employed as a teacher in East Chester. He afterwards entered the office of Dr. James R. Wood, a prominent physician of New York, and remained under his instruction for three years, at the same time attending the lectures at the medical department of the University of the City of New York, where he graduated, with the degree of M.D., March 4, 1846. After practicing for one year in New York he removed to King's Bridge, which has ever since been his home, and has been constantly employed in the practice of his profession. In 1849 he purchased a portion of the old Macomb estate and erected his present residence. He married Frances Elizabeth, danghter of Francis Losce, September 11, 1845. Their children were Sarah (deceased), Pamelia (wife of Maynard L. Granger), James (of Neola, Iowa), George Dibble (deceased), Sarah and Alice (both de- ceased).

Dr. Varian is one of the oldest residents of King's Bridge and thoroughly acquainted with the history of the locality and its early families. When he com- menced practice, the country round was thinly set- tled, and his rides to visit his patients extended from

One Hundred and Tenth Street on one hand to Green- burgh on the other. He was also frequently called to the villages on the western bank of the Hudson, and on one occasion, while crossing during a cold winter night, his boat became fast in the floes of floating ice and drifted below Fort Washington ; he and his two companious narrowly escaping a watery grave. He was present when gronnd was broken for the Hudson River Railroad and was surgeon for the company of contractors, they paying him at the rate of twenty- five cents a month for each man on the work.

In 1850 he made the acquaintance of Dr. Edwin N. Bibby, a prominent physician of New York, and this acquaintance ripened into a deep friendship, which lasted till the death of Dr. Bibby, in 1882. He was for many years his family physician, Dr. Bibby hav- ing retired from practice and spent the last years of his life on the Van Cortlandt Manor. During the late war Dr. Varian was a strong friend of the Union and plainly outspoken in his sentiments. During the riots in 1863 his life was repeatedly threatened, and for a while he made his professional visits armed with a double-barreled guu and a revolver, which he would have unhesitatingly nsed had occasion required. In politics and religion he maintains independent and liberal views, and the evening of his life is passed in the enjoyment of friends aud home. He had for many years been one of the police surgeons of New York and commands the respect of his professional brethren.

HOSEA FOUNTAIN, M.D.

Hosea Fountain, M.D., the second son of James Fountain. M.D., was born at Jefferson Valley, a ham- let iu the northern portion of Yorktown, July 24, 1817. His ancestry, both paternal and maternal, were English. The Fountain family, probably, were of Norman origin, and are supposed to be descended from Sir John Fountain, a monument to whom is fouud in a village church-yard iu Devonshire, Eng- land. Moses Fonntain emigrated from Bedfordshire, England, in 1650. The genealogy is as follows,-

Moses Fountain.

Moses Fountain (whom we find in the town of Bedford in 1741.)

Matthew Fountain (who being a loyalist during the Revolution, moved within the English lines to East Chester. )

Rev. Ezra Fountain (pastor of the Baptist Church in Bedford for thirty- five years.)

James, M. D. -

Hosea.

Tyler.

Jabes Husted.

Hosea

Cyrus Horton. Ezra James, M. D.

Elias. 1

Dr. Fountain's maternal grandfather lived at Cos- cob, Conn., prior to the Revolution, but being a loyalist his property was confiscated and he was obliged to accept a settlement at the hands of the British government at St. John, New Brunswick. Charlotte Husted was born there, but at the age of twelve or thirteen years, came to New York to reside

William AVarian MUMS

585

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

with her aunt, who was a Van Guilder. Here, doubt- less, Dr. James Fountain made her acquaintance.

Hosea Fountain received his English education in The Hasbrouck family is of French Huguenot origin, and descended from Abraham Hasbroucq, who was a native of Calais. His father moved to the Palatinate, in Germany, with his two sons, Jean and Abraham, and a daughter. Here they lived for several years, and in 1675 Abraham Hasbroucq came to America "with several of his acquaintances, the descendants or followers of Peter Waldus." He landed at Boston, and in July, 1675, found his way to Esopus, Ulster County, N. Y., where he found his brother Jean, "who had come two years before." The next year he married Marie, daughter of Christian Duyou (Deyo), with whom he was acquainted in the Palatinate. She died March 27, 1741, at the age of eighty-eight. In 1677 he, with twelve others, ob- tained a patent from Gov- ernor Andross, for a large tract of land at New Paltz, in Ulster County, where he and his brother settled and " lived and died there." Abraham Hasbroucq was one of the founders of the Walloon Protestant Church, at New Paltz. He was a very prominent citizen, and for many years a member of the Provin- cial Assembly. On Sun- day, March 17, 1717, he was struck with apoplexy, " whereof he died very suddenly at a very good old age, and rests in the Lord till his coming to judge both the quick and the dead." He left five the district school of his native village, and at a school kept by a Rev. Mr. Patterson, in Patterson, Putnam County, N. Y. His professional studies were pursued at several schools. He attended the medical depart- ment of Fairfield College, Fairfield, N. Y., 1835-36 ; Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa., 1836- 37 ; College of Physicians and Surgeons New York, 1837-38, and would have graduated at the latter in March, 1838, if he had reached his majority. For this reason we find him in 1838-39 at the Medical Institution of Yale College, New Haven, Ct. He re- ceived his degree of M.D. March 26, 1839, from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, and spent six months in the New York Hospital. He practiced medicine with his father at Jeffer- son Valley for a time, and after his marriage with Mary Horton, daughter of Joel and Harriet Mont- rous Horton, in February 19, 1840, he settled at Peekskill. In 1843 he removed to Somers, and later in 1854 or 1855 he purchased the property on which he resided, until his death, August 28, 1885. Yorktown and the adjoin- ing town of Somers were the field of his profession- al labors, until April, 1884, more than forty years. He was laid to rest Septem- ber 1, 1885. The funeral took place in the Presby- terian Church, which was Nona Fountain filled with those who, themselves or in their families, had had the benefit at one time or another of | 1753), Daniel (died January 25th, 1759, aged

his professional services. June 20, 1872, he married, as his second wife, Mary Brett, daughter of James and Helen Ann Brett, of Fishkill and grand-daughter of Ebenezer White, M.D., of Somers. She survives him. The issue of the first marriage are Harriet Louise, Elias, Charlotte (now Mrs. Erskine Westervelt, of Hackensack, N. J.), and Mary Emma (now Mrs. Theodore F. Tompkins, of Yorktown.) Of the second, Grace, Elias Fountain (who was second lieutenant of the Sixth New York Heavy Artillery, and died from the effects of a wound received at Cedar Creek, Va., October 19, 1864), and his sister, Harriet Louise, who died ten days later from a gangrenous sore-throat, con- tracted from him while caring for him in his last illness. 55

THE HASBROUCK FAMILY.

children,-Joseph, Solo- mon (who died April 3, sixty-seven), Benjamin and Rachel, (wife of Louis Dubois).

Joseph, the eldest son, married, in 1706, Elsie, daugh- ter of Captain Joachim Schoonmaker, whose father, Hendrick Joakimse Schoonmaker, " was a native of Hanse Town, in Germany." Joseph Hasbrouck died January 28, 1723-24, age forty years and three months. His wife, Elsie, died July 27, 1764, aged seventy-eight ycars, eight months, three days, "and was buried at New Paltz by the side of her husband. She brought up all her children in honor and credit." They left " six sons and four danghters,"-Abraham; Isaac D .; Rachel, born 1715, died 1756, wife of Jan Eltinge; Mary, wife of Abraham Hardenberg, born

586

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

January 10, 1714, died 1774; Sarah, wife of William Osterhoudt, boru February 21, 1709, died 1780; Ben- jamin ; Jacob, who married Mary Hoornbeck ; and Colonel Jonathan.1 The names of one son and one daughter do not appear. Abraham, the eldest son, was born on the old family homestead at Guilford, Ulster County, August 21, 1707. He married his first cousin, Cathariue Bruyn, January 5, 1788-89. She was born June 24, 1720, and died August 10, 1793. She was a daughter of Jacobus Bruyn, and his wife, Tryntie, who was a daughter of Captain Joakim Schoonmaker, and died August 27, 1763, aged seventy- cight. The father of Jacobus Bruyn " was a native of Norway, and came here in the Dutch time, and married Gertruy Esselstein." Jacobus Bruyn lived at Bruynswyck, in Ulster County, and died November 21, 1744, aged sixty-four. He had a sister Esther, who married Zachariah Hoffman. Abraham Has- brouck was one of the most prominent men of Ulster County, aud was for thirty years a member of the Legislature. He settled in Kingstou in 1735, and died there November 10, 1791, and "was buried the next day with the honors of war." He left eight children,-Elsie, wife of Abrahamn Salisbury; Catha- rine, wife of Abram Houghtaling; Mary, wife of David Bevier ; Jonathan, who married Cathariue, daughter of Cornelius and Catharine Wynkoop; Jo- seph, who married Elizabeth Bevier; Jacobus, who married Maria, daughter of Charles De Witt; and Daniel, who married Rachel, daughter of Colonel Jonathan Hasbrouck (his uncle), of Newburgh.

Isaac Hasbrouck, the second son of Joseph, was born March 12, 1712 (o.s.). In 1766 he married Antie Low, widow of John Van Gaasbeck. They had three children-Joseph, Elsie and Jane, wife of John Crispell. Isaac died April 6, 1778, "and was buried at the Shawangunk church-yard, near the burying- place of Jacobus Bruyn's family." His widow, Antie, died October 2, 1784.

Joseph Hasbrouck, the son of Isaac and Antie, married Cornelia, daughter of Edmond Schoonmaker, and they were the parents of nine children-Stephen ; Sarah, wife of David Tuttle ; Maria, wife of Thomas Ostrauder ; Jane, wife of Cornelius De Witt; Katy, wife of Samuel Johnson; Levi, George, Abel and Augustus.

Augustus Hasbrouck married Jane Eltinge, and left children-Dr. Stephen, of Yonkers; Dr. Joseph, of Dobbs Ferry; Wilhelmus, Cornelius, Richard, Augustus, Cornelia, wife of William Simpson, Abra- ham, James H., Aaron, David, Herman and Edward.

Stephen Hasbrouck, M.D., son of Augustus Has- brouck and Jane Elting, was born in Bergen County, N. J., January 29, 1842. His maternal grandfather was pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Paramus for thirty years. At the age of fourteen yonng Has- brouck went to Great Falls, Mass., where he engaged asaclerk. Hestayed three years, then returned home, and attended the Normal School at Treutou, and afterwards entered business as a commission mer- chant in New York. In 1862 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, aud afterwards studied in the New York Homoeopathic Medical College. At the close of the late war a colony from New Or- leans. composed of persons who had been disloyal to the Union, resolved to seek a new home in Brazil. They numbered about three hundred souls, and en- gaged the services of Dr. Hasbrouck as surgeon to the expedition. The experience of a few years convinced most of them that they had not bettered their coudi- tion by leaving their native country, and, through the influence of Dr. Hasbrouck, the captains of some of the United States war vessels were induced to bring back the relics of the colony, who returned much better reconciled to the government and the starry flag than when they went away. While in Brazil he wrote a history of the practice of homœopathy in that country, which was published by the New England Medical Gazette. He was on the island of St. Thomas during the hurricane and earthquake which devas- tated it, and published the first description of the fearful scene of destruction. On his return he gradu- ated from the New York Homeopathic Medical Col- lege, aud settled at Dobbs Ferry, where he remained three years in the practice of his profession. In 1874 he removed to New York, where he stayed till 1881, when he made a very extensive tour in Europe and the East, visiting Egypt and Palestine and most of the countries of the Old World. Returning from his travels in 1883, he settled in Yonkers, which has since been his home.

He married Auna M., daughter of Captain John Stillwell, of New York, and has two children-Au- gustus and Mabel. He holds a good position among the members of the homœopathic medical pro- fession, and is esteemed as a useful and worthy citizen.

Dr. Hasbrouck's maternal grandfather, Wilhelmus Elting, was of Huguenot origin, and his ancestry could be traced back to Henry IV. of France. Dr. Hasbrouck was a surgeon in the Brazilian army dur- ing the war with Paraguay, aud, while in South America, passed through several epidemics of small- pox and cholera. He was in St. Thomas during a violent epidemic of yellow fever, and the good results that followed his methods of treatment proved their efficacy.

Joseph Hasbrouck, M.D., was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, March 20, 1839, and remained in his native village till the age of fifteen, wheu le

Col. Jonathan Hasbrouck was the youngest child, and was born April 12, 1722. He married Tryntie, daugliter of Cornelius Dubois, and set- tled in Newburgh. He died July 31, 1780, and " was buried on his own land by two of his sons, between his house and the North River." His homestead is the famous " Washington's Headquarters," at Newburgh, now owned by the State of New York. He left children-Cornelius, Isaac, Jonathan, Rachel and Mary. He was a very tall man, being six feet four inches in height.

Stephen Harbouch M.D.

Jeseph Hasbrouck

Lire W. Hagg

587

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

connnenced teaching school, in which he was engaged for two years.

At the establishment of the New Jersey Normal School he entered that institution, and graduated in due time. He then engaged in teaching until he reached the age of twenty-nine. During the latter part of this period he pursued the study of medicine, and in 1869 graduated from the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York. He im- mediately investigated the system of homeopathy, and has since practiced it. His first year of practice was at Goshen, Orange County, N. Y. From thence he removed to Newton, Sussex County, N. J., and was the first to practice homeopathy in that county. In 1875 he removed to Dobbs Ferry, which has since been his place of residence. He is a member of the Westchester County Homeopathic Medical Society, and was its president for two years. He has been four times married. His wives were Sarah and Anna D., both daughters of Elias Dayton, of New Jersey, and cousins of Hon. Wm. L. Dayton ; Emma, daugh- ter of Steven Archer ; and Ellen M., daughter of Rev. D. L. Marks, of the New York Conference. Of the children of Dr. Hasbrouck, his eldest son, Dayton, who died January 13, 1885, at the age of twenty four, was at the time of his death a member of the senior class of the New York Homeopathic College. His surviving children are Edith S. and Mabel E., twin daughters, and an infant son, David Marks.

Although not a professional politician, he has al- ways taken a deep interest in political affairs, and is especially interested in all that pertains to the wel- fare of the locality in which he lives. He has been for several years a member of the Board of Education of Dobbs Ferry, and is its present president. He is also health officer of the village, and president of the savings bank. He has been connected with the Re- publican party since its organization, and has always taken a deep interest in its success.

His residence is one of the historical land marks of Westchester County. It is the old Livingston mansion, formerly the residence of Van Brugh Liv- ingston. It was at this house that General Washing- ton, Governor Clinton and General Sir Guy Tarleton met on the suspension of hostilities, May 3, 1783, to arrange for the evacuation of New York. The man- sion, which is a well-preserved relic of olden times, stands on the east side of the old Albany post road, a short distance below Livingston Avenue. The place was sold by Van Brugh Livingston to Steven Archer in 1836, and was his residence till the time of his death. which occurred in 1877, and was purchased from his heirs by Dr. Hasbrouck in 1882.

Dr. Levi Wells Flagg was born in West Hartford, Conn., February 14, 1817. After receiving a thorough primary education, he became a student of Yale Col- lege, where he graduated in 1839. Among his class- mates were Charles Astor Bristed and John Sher- wood, of New York, Rev. Francis Wharton, joint

author of " Wharton and Stille's Medical Jurispru- dence," and Hon. H. L. Dawes, of Massachusetts, ex- Governor Hall of Missouri, Prof. J. D. Whitney, of California, the eminent chemist and geologist, and others who have become distinguished.

After graduating he went south and spent three years in teaching in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Re- turning to his native place in 1842, he studied medi- cine for a year with Dr. Pinckney W. Ellsworth. At the expiration of that time removing to New York City, he entered the office of Prof. Willard Parker, with whom he remained two years. In 1847 he graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons (old Crosby Street school), and in the following year established himself in Yonkers as an allopathic physi- cian. Shortly afterward he was induced to investi- gate homeopathy, the result being a conviction as he said of its superiority over the old system of practice. He at once became its strong advocate and the pioneer practitioner in the county. His suc- cess in introducing the new system was most marked ; he grew rapidly in favor with the community, ac- quiring wealth and a pre-eminent position among the physicians of the locality.

Notwithstanding his change of faith, the relations between himself and his old teacher, Professor Par- ker, greatly to the honor of the latter ever continued of the most friendly character.

Dr. Flagg avoided politics entirely, and never held any public office of a political character. He always devoted himself wholly to his profession, in which he was a zealous and untiring worker ; a portion of a year spent in Europe and a short time in Mexico, being almost the only relaxation he al- lowed himself between the commencement of his practice and his death on May 15, 1884.

When, in 1865, the Westchester County Homco- pathic Medical Society was organized, he was elected its president and held that office for three years. He was also a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy.

He married on May 17, 1848, Charlotte Whitman, of Hartford, Conn., and had eight children, five of whom are still living. Their names are Howard W., Marietta W., Lucy W., George A. and Robert N. Flagg, M. D., who succeeds to the practice of his father.1

It is with pleasure that we present our readers with the above brief outline sketch of one of the most popular and successful physicians as well as most useful and upright citizens that it has ever been the good fortune of Westchester County to possess. Dr. Flagg came to Yonkers when the village was in its infancy and for thirty-six years watched its develop- ment and growth. No one was or could be better known than he. By his steadfast integrity, his pro-

1 The above with slight modification is from the " Biographical cyclo- pedia of honuropathic physicians and surgeons." (S. A. George & Co. 1873.)

588

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

fessional ability and his genial and winning mauuer he won for himself the respect of the business com- munity, an extensive aud lucrative practice and a high social standing. His death not only creates a vacancy beside the family hearth, but is also a loss to the city and county in which he lived, which is irre- parable.

ADRIAN K. HOFFMAN.

Dr. Adrian K. Hoffman, who is remembered as one of the most distinguished physicians of Westchester County, was born at the Manor of Livingston, in Columbia County, March 26, 1797. Entering the pro- fession of medicine at an early age, his first experi- ence was on a three years' cruise as surgeon's mate on board the United States man-of-war "Franklin," commanded by Commodore (afterwards Admiral) Charles Stewart. After his return Dr. Hoffman set- tled at Sing Sing, and for nearly half a century prac- ticed his professiou with great success. His reputa- tion was widely extended, and he was justly esteemed by his fellow-citizens as a wise and skillful physician and a prudent and able man of business. He was chosen several times as president of the village of Sing Sing by unanimous elections.

He married Jane, daughter of Dr. John Thompson, of Saratoga County, with whom he had studied medi- cine. The issue of this marriage were Cornelia, who married Alfred Buckhout, and died in January, 1866; John Thompson, who became in succession twice recorder, twice mayor of the city of New York and twice Governor of the State, and who married Ella, daughter of Henry Starkweather, of New York; Mary E., wife of Colonel Charles O. Joline; Emma Kis- sam, who married Rev. M. M. Wells, and occupies the homestead at Sing Sing; and Katharine, who first married Captain Charles C. Hyatt, United States Army, and, after his decease, married General Wil- liam H. Morris.

After a long life of active usefulness Dr. Hoffman died May 6, 1871, universally beloved and mourned by all his neighbors. On the day of his funeral the houses and places of business were draped in mourn- ing and all business was suspended. He is spoken of with loving respect by those who knew him and yet survive, and by the children of others, with whom his name is a household word.

HENRY ERNEST SCHMID, M.D.

Henry Ernest Schmid, M.D., who is a well-known member of the medical profession, was born in Sax- ony, Prussia, May 1, 1824. His father, who was a publisher and connected with the famous family of Tauchnitz, intended him to follow his profession. After receiving his early education at the great Latin school at Halle, Dr. Schmid commenced a higher literary course for that purpose. His father, unfor- tunately, incurred the censure of the government, and this changed the whole tenor of the son's life. The

latter emigrated to this country in 1853, and soon after his arrival went to Virginia, and having an early predilection for the study of medicine, pursued that branch of science at Winchester and at the Uni- versity of Virginia. For a while he was connected with a newspaper iu Richmond, and in 1859 was seut, under the auspices of the Episcopal Board of Foreign Missions, as medical missionary to Japan. While in that country he organized a hospital and his practice increased to au enormous extent among the natives, who were quick to learu the superiority of foreign practitioners. Owing to the failure of his health he obtained a position on board the flag-ship of an Eng- lish surveying fleet as interpreter. In this capacity he visited Corea and northern China, Borneo, Java and Sumatra. The ship, having narrowly escaped destruction in a typhoon, went to Cape Town for re- pairs, and Dr. Schmid embraced the opportunity to make an extensive tour in southern Africa. He after- wards went to St. Helena and the Azores, and thence to England, returning to this country iu 1862.

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

History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 150

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1354

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1354