History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 151

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 151

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He came to White Plains, Westchester County, iu 1859, when he made a short visit. Upon his return from England he settled in this place, and has been engaged in the practice of his profession to the pres- ent time. With a devoted love of science, Dr. Schmid, while in Japan, made many valuable collec- tions for the Smithsonian Institution, which led to his being made a member of the Oriental Society, aud of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science.

In his profession he has enjoyed a very extensive practice, and is justly considered one of the leading physicians of the county. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the State Medical Society and the Westchester County Medical Society. As a prominent citizen of the village he is president of the Board of Health, aud of the Board of Educa- tion, and is a member of the vestry of Grace Episco- pal Church. He is also the physician in charge of St. Vincent Retreat for the Insane. He married Eu- genia, daughter of Eugene T. Prudhomme, of White Plains, aud they have three children-Theodora, Gertrude and Permetta.

CHARLES J. NORDQUIST.

The father of Charles J. Nordquist, M.D., the well- known physician, was Lars Peter Nordquist, who was born at Sounerly, in Sweden, March 29, 1781. He was a surgeon in the Swedish army, which he entered April 22, 1802, remaining in the employ of the government till his decease, in 1824. He was an eminent physician and was the recipient of many high appointments both in military and civil life. On the 16th and 17th of March, 1809, he accompanied the Royal Mouuted Life Guards in their retreat upon ' the ice over the Gulf of Bothnia, and afterward be- came surgeon to Bernadoth, King of Sweden. On January 3, 1812, he married Sophia Christiua Weu-

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Honestschmil,

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

gren (daughter of Ivan Weugren and Sophia Chris- tina Habicht) who was born December 18, 1782, and died June 10, 1830.

Charles J., their son, was born at Jousercd, near Gottenberg, Sweden, on the 16th of July, 1821. He was left at three years of age in the care of his father's cousin, Lars Peter Afzelius, dean of Alingsas, who sent him at the age of nine to the high school in that place. Here he remained for eight years, when he removed to Stockholm for the purpose of acquaint- ing himself with the drug trade. After three years of practical experience as a pharmacist, he entered the Carlingasta Institute, where he studied medicine, | in the surgical history of the war of the Rebellion.

graduating in 1842. A year spent in traveling through Europe followed his graduation, after which he sailed for the United States, arriving at New York in 1843. He engaged first as a drug clerk, but iu 1848, having meanwhile mastered the English language, he es- tablished a store of his own on the corner of Broome and Mulberry Streets, New York.

Disposing of this at a profit to himself, he en- gaged until 1854 in the fitting out and selling of drug-stores. He then en- tered the University Med- ical College of the city of New York, from which he graduated in 1856. After practicing two years in New York City, he removed to Tucka- Ch& F. Nordquist MA hoe, N. Y. In 1861 he joined the Ninth Regiment as surgeon, and like his father's, his army life was an eventful one. From the time he was commissioned, [ is a member of the Lutheran Church, and is well- he rose rapidly in favor with his superiors and received known for his liberality. He married on April 28, 1846, Harriet Louise Goodwin, and has had three children, all daughters, of whom one died in early youth and two still survive and are married. one mark of respect after another with enviable rapid- ity. He was appointed chief surgeon of the Third Brigade, medical director of the Second Division, and finally medical inspector of the First Army Corps.

On February 1, 1864, lie received a note of thanks from the commanding general for the efficient manner in which he had performed his duties ; and two years after the departure of the Ninth Regiment from New York, he was presented by its non-commissioned officers and privates with a handsome gold watch and chain as a token of their respect and esteem.

Unlike some of the officers of the late war, Dr.

Nordquist did not make use of his official power to shirk his duty in the hour of danger, but was pres- ent and actively engaged at every battle, in which his division participated. On the fields of Harper's Ferry, Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Thor- oughfare Gap, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam, First Fredericksburg, Chancel- lorsville, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania and Coal Harbor he was present in per- son, administering the comforts of his profession to the sick and dying soldiery. As a surgeon, he was most successful, and several of his cases are mentioned

At the battle of Gettys- burg, on the 1st of July, 1863, he was taken prison- er by the Confederates and was held for three days and nights upon one pint of flour without the means of preparing it for food. Being placed by his cap- tors in one of the churches of the town, he escaped by crawling into the stee- ple and remaining con- cealed till the advauce of the Union troops. On June 23, 1864, he closed his career in the army and sought again the quiet of his home in Tuckahoe. Here he has since re- mained, honored and re- spected among his asso- eiates in the profession and looked up to with pleasure by the many friends who surround the home of his adop- tion.

He is a Republican in politics, and held the office of coroner for four years. He

D. JEROME SANDS.

To chronicle within the limits of this work, all that is either important or interesting in the record of a family prominent in English and American history for a period of more thau eight hundred years would be impossible, and but a brief outline ofit can be given here.

The first trace of the family is found in the reign of

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

Edward the Confessor (son of Ethelred and Emma) before the conquest, 1042 to 1066, when Ulnod dwelt in the Isle of Wight, in the County of Hampshire, at a place called Sandes. From this the surname (at the time of the Holy Wars) of Sandes, Sandis, Sandys, Sands is derived. Sir John Sandys of Hampshire was a knight-baronet, in the reign of Richard II., 1377-1399. John Sands, born in 1485 at Horborm, Straffordshire, died in 1625 at the age of one hundred and forty. His wife lived to be one hundred and twenty years old. Sir William Sandys was the first baron of the name. By his eminent services to the Kings Henry VII. and VIII., he advanced his family to wealth and honor. He was prominent in the sup- pression of the Cornish Rebellion, and was created Lord Sandys in 1524 by Henry VIII., who ap- pointed him Lord Cham- berlain in 1526. The same king made him a Knight of the Garter and employ- ed him in the wars with France, after which he was created Baron.

Sir William, Lord Sandys, his grandson, was a member of Parliament, and one of the commis- sioners appointed by Queen Elizabeth for the trial of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, Jan- nary 16, 1571; also for that of Mary Queen of Scots, October 12, 1586, and Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, April 18, 1589. He was imprisoned for a short time in 1600 for joining with Robert, Earl of Sussex, in an insurrection in

Jerome Lands MS

London. His princely man- sion at Basing- stoke, called the Vine, was famous as the reception place of the State embassy sent by King Henry IV. of France to Queen Elizabeth in 1601.

Edwin Sandys, D. D., was an eminent Prelate of Eng- land. He was born in 1519, became Master of St. Cath- erine College in 1547, Prebendary of Peterboro in 1549 and of Carlisle in 1552. He was Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University in 1553, and a strong advocate of the reformation. He preached a sermon in favor of the royal claims of Lady Jane Grey, and refused to proclaim Mary Queen of Scots, for which he was deprived of his honors, sent to the Tower and after- ward to Marshalsea, where he was imprisoned for seven months.

Pursued by the persecution of his enemies, he escaped from England in May 1554. In 1558, after the coronation of Elizabeth, he returned to England. Under her, he held many important positions. He was one of the nine Protestants sent to dispute with nine Catholics before Parliament, and in 1559 became Bishop of Worcester. He was appointed by Queen Elizabeth one of a commission under Bishop Parker to prepare a new translation of the Bible, known as the Bishops' Bible. In 1570 he became Bishop of London, and in 1576 Archbishop of York. He died at the Archiepiscopal palace of Southwell, July 10, 1588, and his alabaster tomb and effigy are looked upon by visitors to this day with peculiar interest.

1 Sir Edwin Sandys, son of the preceding, born in Worcester, 1561, was an English statesman of great ability. He travel- ed extensively on the continent, after which he published "Europæ Spec- ulum, or a Survey of the State of Religion in the Western part of the World." He was knight- ed by James I. in 1603, and became an influen- tial member of the Sec- ond London Company for Virginia, into which he introduced the vote by ballot. He was the trea- surer or chief officer of the company, and was indefatigable in promot- ing public prosperity and security. In 1620, Span- ish influence having been exerted against him, King James, in violation of the charter, forbade his re-election. 2 George, a bro- ther of Sir Ed- win, was a fa- mons English poet. He was educated at Ox- ford, and published "A Relation of a Journey Begun A.D. 1610, in Four Books, Containing a Description of the Turkish Empire, of Egypt, of the Holy Land and of the Remote Parts of Italy and Adjoining Islands ;" also a " Translation of Ovid's 'Metamorphoses.'" In 1621 he became colonial treasurer of Virginia, where he distinguished himself by his public zeal. He executed all orders concern- ing staple commodities ; to him is due the build- ing of the first water mill; he promoted the establish- ment of iron works in 1621, and in the following

1 From Appleton's " Encyclopædia."

2 Also from Appleton.

Norman R. Freemans M.D.

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

year introduced ship building. While in Virginia he translated the last ten books of the " Metamor- phoses," and, after returning to England, in 1626, he published the translation of the whole. Ile also wrote poetical versions of the Psalmns, of the Book of Job, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, ete., and of the Song of Solomon. His life, by the Rev. J. H. Todd, is pre- fixed to "Selections from Sandy's Metrical Para- phrases." (London, 1839.) Samuel Sandys, who, in 1741, accused Sir Robert Walpole of fraud and eor- ruption, was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 1742; created Lord Sandys by George II., 1743; was First Commissioner of the Board of Trade, 1761 ; and died 1770. These and many other gentlemen whose naures are conspicuous iu English history, were members of the family in the direct line. Though mnauy of their descendants have also been prominent in this country, the family is still influential in Eng- land. Its present representative there is Baron Augustus Frederick Arthur Sandys, born March 1, 1840; married, August 3, 1872, Augustus Ann, second daughter of the late Charles Des Voeux, Bart. His seat is at Ombersley Court, Droitwich. The first known member of the American family was Heury Sandy, who came to Boston, Mass., and established himself as a merchant. He was prominent as a relig- ious worker, and upou oue occasion, when he, with others, was in the act of starting a new church at Rowley, a elerk called him Sands, which was the ori- gin of the preseut spelling.

D. Jerome Sands, M.D., president of the village of Port Chester, and one of the first physicians in West- chester County, is one of his direet descendants. In his qualities of perseverance and persisteney in sup- port of principle, Dr. Sands strongly resembles his illustrious ancestry. He was born November 26, 1814, and was the second ehild of David Sands and Elizabeth Brady, of New Castle, N. Y. His father, who was a farmer and civil engineer, early sent him to the school at his native place, after which he also attended a higher academy at Sing Sing, N. Y. After leaving Sing Sing he spent a year or two in farming and study together. At the elose of this time he en- tered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the city of New York, graduating in 1840. Shortly after this he begau the loug and successful professional eareer, in Port Chester, which has ended not only in the possession of an extended and lucrative practice, but in winning a host of warm and steadfast friends.

Dr. Sands has given much of his time to outside work. Ile is at present a director of the First Na- tional Bank of Port Chester. For over ten years he was trustee of the village, and is now its president. He is also health offieer of the town and a member of the County Medical Society. He married, on the 27th of April, 1842, Miss Ann Maria Green, of Port Chester, and has had three children,-one daughter, who died in childhood, and twosons, who are still living. Morton J. Sands, M.D., the oldest, practices with his

father, and Purdy G., the youngest, who holds the position of town clerk, is a civil engineer at Port Chester. Dr. Sands has also a grandchild,-Benjamin J., a son of Morton J.

NORMAN K. FREEMAN.

Norman K. Freeman, M.D., who is the oldest physician in the southern portion of Westehester County, was born in Warren, Herkimer County, N. Y., May 3, 1814. The ancestors of the family were three brothers who came from the north of England, where the home is still found, in the latter part of the seventeenth century. They landed in Philadelphia, but one of them went to Massachusetts, and has many descendants in that portion of the country and in the northern part of this State. Another of the brothers was drowned in the Delaware River, and his widow, with the surviving brother, made their home at Woodbridge, N. J., where four generations of their descendants are interred in the old burying-ground.

Thomas Freeman, one of the descendants, was a soldier of the Revolution and a prisoner in the Sugar- House in New York, and on board a prison ship, from which he escaped by swimming. He married Sallie Moore, of Scoteh descent. Their children were John, Smith, Ariel, Thomas, Linus, Moores, Rachel (wife of Moses Freeman, her cousin), Polly (wife of Thomas Edgar) and Henry. Of these children, Heury Free- man was born June 21, 1789. In his early mauhood he learned the trade of a carpenter and subsequently went to Warren, where his unele Isaac resided, and was the builder of the first mill in that place. He remained there till 1822, when he removed to Rich- field, Otsego County, and purchased a farm on the west side of Canaderago Lake, which he made his home until his death, in 1869. He married, in 1813, . Merey, daughter of Holden and Rhoda Sweet, of Berlin, Rensselaer County, N. Y. Their children were Norman K .; George S., born August 25, 1815, and died unmarried Jan. 30, 1840; Emily, born Oct. 21, 1816 (wife of Borelli Ingalls); and Delos, born April 22, 1819. He died August 8, 1843, without descendants.

Dr. Norman K. Freeman remained on his father's farm, attended the district school, then taught school and worked by the month for the neighboring farm- ers, giving half his wages to his father and educat- ing himself with the remainder. At the age of twenty- one he went to New York and served, until 1837, as a elerk in a store on Maiden Lane. In 1838 he returned to Richfield, and studied medieine with Dr. Alonzo Churchill. Two years later he went to Geneva and continued his studies under the instruction of Dr. Thomas Spencer, who was then president of the Ge- neva Medical College. He graduated February 8, 1842, and his diligence and skill were so well known to Dr. Spencer that he was received by him as a part- ner. In the fall of that year he was compelled, by the failing health of his brother Delos, to aecompany him on a trip to the South, and after his death oe-

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

curred, in 1843, he came to Westchester and began practice with Dr. Wm. Bayard, a physician of great local prominence. He remained with Dr. Bayard till June, 1845, and then established a practice on his own account, which he has continued with unabated zeal tothe present. He was the physician of St. John's College, at Fordham, from 1845 till 1850, when the failure of his health compelled him to retire to his farm in Richfield. He remained there till 1852, and then returned and resumed his practice, aud purchased a homestead of William Simpson, on the west bank of Bronx River, which he has since made his resi- dence. Under the administration of President Fill- more, he was for three years postmaster at West Farms, and was assistant inspector of the Metropolitan Board of Health while it continued to have an exist- ence. Dr. Freeman was married, October 17, 1837, to Ann Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel W. Lowerre, of New York City, by whom he had four sons. Only two are now living,-Norman, who isa broker in New York, and Wm. Francis, who is in business in the city of Albany. Both are married and have children.

It is safe to say that there is no man to whom West Farms is more indebted for its present efficient Union schools than to Doctor Frceman. His exertions in this respect were crowned with well-inerited suc- cess, though his efforts met with the most determined opposition from many who might have been expected to show better judgment.

The Union school established by his active zeal and determination was the first organized in the State under the act of 1853. For twenty-one years he was a member of the Board of Education, and for twenty years of that time clerk of the board. He was one of the first to anticipate the time when the >parscly settled districts of Morrisania and West Farms would and he was among the foremost in promoting the cause of annexation.

become thickly populated portions of New York City, . West Farms. It is bounded on the west by the Mill

In all his views he has ever been greatly in advance of his times, and has had the satisfaction of seeing them in course of time adopted by the community, which at first opposed them. A strong advoeate of temperance, his practical devotion to the cause has been a prominent feature of his life, and the reward of his temperance is found in the fact, that at the age of seventy-two, and after a life of constant and severe labor, he is to-day as hale and hardy as a man of fifty. During his professional career his practice embraced a very large portion of the county, and there is no one who is a better representative of its local practitioners.

DR. JAMES BATHGATE.

The parents of Dr. James Bathgate, who is well known as the oldest resident physician in Morrisania, were Charles and Margaret Bathgate, who came from Scotland, and settled at West Farms. Their children were Charles and John (both deceased), Dr. James Alexander (now living in Morrisania), Jane, the wife

of William J. Beck (deceased), of West Farms, and Margaret Ann. The father of this family was a skillful agriculturist, and noted for his superior horses and cattle, which he raised on his farm. He removed from West Farms to Morrisania, where the younger children were born. James first attended school at Harlem, from whence he went to Mount Pleasant Academy, at Sing Sing. He was subsequently a student in the University of the City of New York, and stndied medicine with Professor Joseph M. Smith, one of the professors of the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, and graduated from that iustitu- tion in 1847. He was for three years assistant and resident physician in the Medical Department of the New York Hospital, and subsequently physician in the New York Dispensary, but his health failing, he removed from New York and settled at Morrisania upon a farm which was purchased from Gouverneur Morris. From that time to the present Dr. Bathgate has devoted his time and attention to the practice of his profession. He is a member of the State Medical Association, and takes an active interest in all that teuds to advance its interests, and he enjoys a very extensive practice in Morrisania and the surrounding country. During his long practice at Morrisania he has never failed to command the confidence and re- spect of the community, in which his professional services have been uniformly successful. In political affairs he is a strong supporter of the principles of the Republican party, but without being a politician in the common acceptatiou of the term. The Bath- gate estate, in Morrisania, which is now rendered ex- tremely valuable by the advancement of New York City, is a farm purchased from Gouverneur Morris. The estate is bounded on the east by the old Patent Line, which separates Morrisania from the patent of

Brook, and extends south to the tract which was bought by Jordan L. Mott and others, who founded the new village of Morrisania, the south line being near One Hundred and Seventicth Street, and the north line a short distance south of One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Street.

The residence of Dr. Bathgate is very pleasantly situated on the west side of Third Avenue, and still retains much of the rural beauty that once distin- guished it, and here he enjoys a quiet home in the company of his brother and sister, who are, like him- self, unmarried. St. Paul's Church, of Morrisania, is on the south side of the estate, and the church lot was presented to the congregation by this family.

JAMES W. SCRIBNER.

Dr. James W. Scribner was born at Tarrytown, January 17, 1820. His grandfather, Enoch Scribner, was a resident of Bedford, Westchester County, to which place he is supposed to have moved from Con- necticut, and died July 18, 1848, at the age of eighty. He married Mary Miller, and they were the parents

James Bathgate. M.

James A Scribner

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

of two sons, Joseph M. and James W. The former was born May 11, 1793, and was a prominent physi- cian. He married Rebecca, daughter of Thomas Ward, of Sing Sing, of a family long kuown in this county, and died December 28, 1847, leaving four children,-Dr. James W., John C., Mary (wife of Robert Jameson) and Philip W. His son, James W., attended the public schools until he was fifteen years old, when he was transferred to the collegiate school of Bedford, of which Samuel Holmes was principal. Having acquired a good classical education, he com- menced the study of medicine with his father, who was then, and had been for many years, one of the physicians in charge of the Westchester County almshouse, where the son had ample opportunity of seeing much practice while yet a student. After at- tending three courses of lectures at the College of Physiciaus and Surgeons in New York, he graduated as " M.D." in 1847.

The next year he began practice in his native town, and continued it until the close of his life, being invariably favored with a large, remunerative aud responsible practice. He became his father's successor in the profession, and was appointed to fill his place at the Aliushouse.

During his entire life Dr. Scribner held a high position among his professional brethren in the county. So acute were his perceptions, so widely read was he in his profession, and so skillful in ap- plying his acquirements to practical use, that if he had made a specialty of any one department of med- icine, he would have become renowned as a leader in it. But he devoted himself to general practice, and was satisfied to gain a local reputation as a skill- ful physician, surgeon and obstetrician. It is seldom that any one becomes as accomplished in all these divisions of practical medicine as was Dr. Scribner. His counsel was frequently sought by physicians at a distance, and in his own neighborhood he was the one always sent for when consultation was required in cases of prolonged illness or in emergencies. He was devoted to his profession and to the friends he had acquired in following it, and could seldom be induced to withdraw himself from his work for relax- ation or amusement. During the last year of his life, while suffering from the acute pains of a malignant disease and from the depression naturally arising from it, he attended regularly to business day and night, without murmur or complaint, ministering unto hundreds who were far less in need of help than he was himself, until his force was all expended, and he laid down his labor and his life together. In all his professional relations lie was pre-eminently a silent man, never gossiping about his cases in the sick room, and seldom indulging in conversation, even upon topics of general interest. Though digni- fied and courteously reserved in his intercourse with the world, among his friends he was always cheerful and fully enjoyed light amusements and harmless jokes.

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History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 151

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