History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 155

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 155

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In 1856 he married Cornelia, daughter of Cor- nelius Glen Van Rensselaer, Esq., of Greenbush, Rensselaer County, N. Y.

Mr. C. W. Bolton is the author of" The Shepherd's Call," the "Sunday-school Prayer-Book" and other publications. In 1854 he edited Jay's "Female Scripture Characters" and Jay's "Autobiography and Reminiscences." In 1881 he edited and pub- lished his brother Robert's " History of Westchester County."

Edmund March Blunt, the nautical writer, was for many years a resident of Sing Sing. He was born at Portsmouth, N. H., June 20, 1770, and died at Sing Sing, January 5, 1862, in the ninety-third year of his age. He was the publisher of the Newburyport Herald, and in 1796 hc published his first "Coast Pilot," which is still iu usc, and which has been translated into most of the languages of Europe. Healso published "Strangers' Guide to New York City" in 1817, and

numerous nautical books and eharts. He lived about forty years in the house in State Street, Sing Sing, now owned and occupied by Dr. Wm. H. Helm.

Mrs. Aun Eliza Bleecker, the poetess, was at one time a resident of Westehester County, having lived at Poughkeepsie a year or two just after her marriage. Mrs. Bleecker was the youngest daughter of Brandt Schuyler, and was born in the city of New York in October, 1752. Iu 1769 she married Mr. John J. Bleecker, of New Rochelle, and removed with him to Poughkeepsie. After leaving Poughkeepsie, Mr. and Mrs. Bleecker settled at Tomhaniek, a beautiful little village about eighteen miles above Albany. She died there November 23, 1783. Her poems were written without a view to publication, but several of them were printed in the earlier numbers of the New York Magazine. A collection of her poems and stories was published in 1793, under the supervision of her daughter, Margaretta, who added a number of verses and essays from her own pen.

Gulian C. Verplanck belongs to the literary ehar- acters of Westchester County by right of residence, for many years dividing his time between the eity of New York and the Verplanck homestead at Fishkill Landing, on the Hudson, a well-preserved old man- sion, in which the Society of the Cincinnati was founded. A graduate of Columbia College, he studied law, was admitted to the bar and after spending several years in Europe returned to New York, and was elected a member of the Legislature. In 1818 he delivered the first of the series of public addresses on which his literary reputation mainly rests. About 1820 he was appointed professor of the Evidences of Christianity in the General Protestant Episcopal Seminary, and in 1824 published a volume of essays on this subject. In 1825 he was elected a member of Congress from New York City and remained in the House eight years. He was especially prominent in advocacy of the bill extending the term of copyright from twenty-eight to forty-two years. For several years he was a member of the New York Senate. In 1827 Verplanek, Sands and Bryant united in the production of an annual called The Talisman. Mr. Verplanck also wrote a number of essays on a variety of subjects and published an edition of Shakespeare's plays, with notes from various sources, ineluding some from his own pen. Mr. Verplanck, who was born in New York City August 6, 1786, died there March 18, 1870. His private life, says Bryant, " was as beautiful as his public life was useful and benefi- eent."

James Fenimore Cooper is another distinguished name which may be ineluded among the literati or Westchester County, for his first novel was written while he resided at Mamaroneck. Cooper was born at Burlington, N. J., September 15, 1789. His father, Judge William Cooper, removed the following year to the neighborhood of Otsego Lake, N. Y., where he had purchased a large tract of land on which he

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established a settlement, to which he gave the name of Cooperstown. In this frontier home, in the midst of a population of settlers, trappers and Indians, young Cooper imbibed that knowledge of backwoods life and of the habits of the aborigines which afterwards served him so well in the construction of his romances. At the age of thirteen he entered Yale College, and after remaining there three years received an ap-

of the bishop of Western New York. They settled in the village of Mamaroneck, in Westchester County, and not long after Cooper's mind was accidentally turned to the field of fiction. One day, after reading an English novel, he remarked to his wife that he be- lieved he could write a better story himself. To test the matter he wrote " Precaution." He had not intended to publish the novel, but was induced to do so by his

R.S.BROSS.

S. Tenemore Cooper

pointment as midshipman in the United States Navy. In the latter he obtained, during the six years of his service, a familiarity with nautical life which he utilized with splendid results in his famous sea-stories.

In 1811 Cooper resigned his commission in the navy and married Miss De Lancey, a member of the well-known New York family of that name and sister E7

wife and his friend, Charles Wilkes. The deserip- tions of English life and scenery gave it great popu- larity in England where it was re-published. The " Spy," which followed, was as thoroughly American, and obtained great success, not only in this country, but abroad. It was almost immediately re-published in all parts of Europe. "The Pioneers " was the first of the series of frontier and Indian stories, on which

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the novelist's reputation chiefly rests. It was fol- lowed by "The Pilot," the first of his sea-stories. Other novels followed in quick suecession, and Cooper's reputation grew apace. He was also sharply criticised and became involved in various contro- versies, which culminated finally in a series of libel suits against his detractors in the newspapers. In 1826 he visited Europe, and upon his return to this country made his home at Cooperstown, N. Y. Dur- ing his residence abroad (1826-33) he was every- where received with marked attention. His literary activity was unehecked by his wanderings, and dnring his stay in Europe he wrote a number of novels. After his return to this country he wrote the "Naval History of the United States," which excited an acrimonions discussion as to the correctness of his account of the battle of Lake Erie. In one of his libel suits Cooper defended, in person, the accuracy of his version of the battle. A lawyer, who was an auditor of the closing sentences of his argument, re- marked, " I have heard nothing like it since the days of Einmet." Cooper continned to write with amaz- ing fertility and vigor almost to the elosc of his life, which was terminated by dropsy, September 14, 1851. Notwithstanding his defects of style, his romances are conceded to be among the most vivid and original of all American works of fiction. He was the first of his countrymen who obtained a wide recognition in other portions of the world. His works were trans- lated into many languages, and the Indian tales especially were nniversal favorites in Europc. The great French novelist, Balzae, said of him, “With, what amazing power has he painted nature! How all his pages glow with creative firel Who is there writing English among our contemporaries, if not of him, of whom it can be said that he has a genius of the first order ?" "The empire of the sea," says the Edinburgh Review, " has been con- ceded to him by acclamation ; " and the same journal adds, " In the lonely desert or untrodden prairie, among the savage Indians, or scarcely less savage settlers, all equally acknowledge his dominion."

Of all the writers who have in any way been associated with the history of Westchester Connty, Washington Irving is perhaps the most illustrious. Born in New York City, his whole life, with brief in- tervals, was spent within the borders of the county, and some of his very best work bears the impress of local influences. On the "lordly Hudson " Irving " chose and built the home where he lived for many years, and in which he did much of his life's best work, and here he died." 1

" Westchester," said another eulogist of Irving, " has a claim peculiarly her own, for, while we are joint- heirs with others of his fame, Irving was here honored during his life for other qualities besides

those of the gifted author, as he was here also known as the good citizeu, the genial neighbor and the Christian gentleman." 2

Irving first came to know Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow when a lad of fourteen or fifteen. He spent some of his holidays here, and formed an attachment for the spot which never left him. Irving was born on the 3d of April, 1783, in a house which stood on William Street, New York City, next to the corner of Fulton. He was the youngest son of William Irving, a merehant and native of Scotland, who had marricd an English lady. Hc had an ordi- nary school education, but early developed a taste for literature. At the age of sixteen he began the study of law. His brother, Dr. Peter Irving, edited the Morning Chronicle, and for this paper Washington Irving wrote a series of essays on the theatres, man- ners of the town and kindred topics, with the sig- nature of Jonathan Oldstyle. In 1804 for the benefit of his health he visited the south of Europe, returning by way of Switzerland to France and proceeding thence after a sojourn of a few months in Paris to England via Flanders and Holland. While at Rome he forined the aequaintanee of Washington Allston, the artist, with whom he studied painting for a time with the idea of himself becoming a painter. After an absence of two years, however, he returned to New York, in March, 1806, and again took up the study of law. He was admitted to the bar, but never practiced. About this time he wrote and published his portion of the "Salmagundi " papers, whiel ap- peared as a serial. Panlding wrote a portion of the work, William Irving the poetry and Washington Irving the remainder. In December, 1809, he pub- lished " Kniekerbocker's History of New York," an extravagant burlesque, which excited general laugh- ter, although it was gravely held up to reprelien- sion in an address before the Historical Society of New York. Its grotesque deseriptions of Dutch manners and customs in the colony of New Nether- lands are full of humor. After the publication of this work Irving engaged as silent partner with two of his brothers in mercantile business. The second war with Great Britain breaking out, he joined the military staff of Governor Tompkins, with the rank of colonel. After the war he paid a visit to the British Islands, and intended to make a tour of the Continent, but business reverses involving the ruin of his firm compelled him to abandon his purpose. Irving now turned to literature for support, and through the friendly aid of Sir Walter Scott, secured the publication of the "Sketch Book " by Murray, the great English publisher, who bonght the copy- right for two hundred pounds, which he subsequently increased to four hundred pounds.

In 1820 Irving took up his residence in Paris, where he formed the acquaintance of Tom Moore. While in

1 Address of Chief Justice Noah Davis at the Irving anniversary, al Tarrytown, N. Y., April 3, 1883.

2 Address of James Wood, Tarrytown celebration, 1883.

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Paris he wrote "Bracebridge Hall." The winter of 1822 was spent in Dresden. Returning to Paris in 1823 he published, in December of the following year, his " Tales of a Traveller," for which he received from Murray the sum of £1500. In 1826, after spending a winter in the south of France, he went to Madrid, where he wrote his "Life of Columbus," the English edition of which brought him 3000 guineas. His "Conquest of Granada " and " Alhambra " followed. In July, 1829, having been appointed Secretary of Legation, at London, he left Spain for England. In 1831 he received, from the University of Oxford the degree of L.L.D. After an absence of seventeen years he returned to America, in May, 1832. His arrival was commemorated by a public dinner in New York City, at which Chancellor Kent presided. A few months later he made a journey west of the Missis- sippi, which he described in his "Tour of the Prai- ries." In 1836 he published " Astoria " and subse- quently the "Adventures of Captain Bonnevill." From 1839 for two years he contributed a series of papers to the Knickerbocker Magazine. A number of these papers, together with others, were published in 1855, in a volume which received the title "Woolfert's Roost."

In 1842 Irving was appointed Minister to Spain, an office which he retained for the next four years. He then returned home and for the rest of his life resided at his cottage residence "Sunnyside," near Tarry- town, the spot which he had described years before in the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow " as the castle of the Herr Van Tassel, and of which he wrote-" If ever I should wish for a retreat whither I might steal from the world and its distractions, and dream quietly away the remainder of a troubled life, I know of none'more promising than this little valley." Here in this re- treat he lived in the midst of a family cirele composed of his brother and his nieces, hospitably entertaining luis friends and engaged in writing his biographies of Goldsmith and Mahomet and his "Life of Washing- ton."

His life at "Sunnyside " was simple, kindly and affectionate. He was a good friend and neighbor and a devout communieant at Christ Episcopal Church in Tarrytown. For many years he was a vestryman and warden, and it was his practice during the greater part of this time to take up the collection at the Sun- day services. He never married, having lost by death his betrothed wife, Matilda Hoffman, a beautiful young girl. His death occurred at Tarrytown, No- vember 28, 1859, and he was buried in the beautiful cemetery of Sleepy Hollow. The ivy upon the tower of Christ Church was taken from "Sunnyside " and planted by Irving himself. It was originally brought from Melrose Abbey. His pew in the church is marked with his name and was set apart years ago by the vestry for the use of any members of the Irving family who might wish to worship there. As near the pew as it could be placed is a mural tablet

erected by the vestry to his memory. In the centre is the Irving coat of arms and on the stone the fol- lowing inscription :

Washington Irving, Born in the City of New York, April 3, 1783.

For many years a communicant and warden of this church,

And Repeatedly one of its delegates to the Convention

Of the Diocese. Loved, Honored, Revered. He fell asleep in Jesus, Noventber 28th, 1859.

Irving died at "Sunnyside," having just taken leave of the family-circle. Three days later he was buried in the old Dutch Church cemetery, where he had some time before selected the spot for his grave, and where the remains of the brothers and sisters who had died before him were buried. An account of the funeral says : " It was a remarkable assemblage from the city, of men of worth and eminence, the friends of his youth and mid- (le-life, and universally of the population of the town and adjacent country, where he was beloved by all. The area of Christ Church, Tarrytown, where the funeral services of the Episcopal Church, of which he had been a member, were performed, was much too lim- ited to contain the numbers which thronged to the simple ceremony. The neighboring hillside was cov- ered, and the road to the cemetery lined with specta- tors, villagers and others, elad in their Sunday attire. The shops of Tarrytown were all elosed. This was borne to the grave with simple but heartfelt honors all that was mortal of Washington Irving. Eulogies, res- olutions and addresses from civie, religious, literary and other societies followed his death. The city gov- ernment of New York, the Atheneum Club, the New York Historical Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, heaped these honors on his tomb, while per- sonal tributes in sermons, editorial articles and vari- ous reminiseences were called forth in great num- ber."

" By his will, says the same account, "which made ample provision to continue the home at 'Sunnyside' i to the brother and nieces by whom Mr. Irving had been surrounded, he left his manuscripts to his neph- ew, Pierre M. Irving, who had been his assistant in some of his more important labors of research, as his literary executor." Mr. Irving afterwards published a memoir of his distinguished uncle. Mr. George P. Putnam, the New York publisher, issued a uniform edition of Washington Irving's works, in 1847, which yielded Mr. Irving and his representatives more than $150,000.

On the 3d of April, 1883, the centennial anniver- sary of Irving's birth was commemorated at Tarry- town by " The Washington Irving Association," which had been formed on the 19th of March for the purpose of appropriately observing the anniversary. The ex-

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ercises took place on the evening of April 3d, at the Second Reformed Church. Judge Noah Davis pre- sided, and from New York, Brooklyn and many adja- cent points many came to swell the assemblage. The church was beautifully decorated with flowers and ever- greens. As a preludeto the addresses, Miss Hawcs played the overture from the opera of " Rip Van Win- kle" on the organ. Addresses were delivered by Judge Davis, Mr. James Wood, president of the Westchester County Historical Society ; Rev. James Selden Spen- cer, Donald G. Mitchell, Charles Dudley Warner and Professor William C. Wilkinson. A pocm by Mr. Stephen H. Thayer, of Tarrytown, was read by Rev. Washington Choate. Letters of regret from a number of invited guests were also read, among them being responses from Governor Cleveland, John G. Whit- tier, George William Curtis, John Jay and President Porter, of Yale. Miss Sears sang " The Lost Chord," and Professor T. S. Doolittle, D.D., pronounced the benediction. At the request of the committee of ar- rangements the Misses Irving opened "Sunnyside " to the public, and for several days persons from all parts of the country availed themselves of the oppor- tunity to visit " Woolfert's Roost," which remained as it was at Mr. Irving's death. A memorial volume containing an account of the commemoration, with the addresses and poem, was afterwards published by the Irving Association. It is embellished by fine steel portraits of Irving and Matilda Hoffman and by views of " Sunnyside," Christ Church, the old mill in Sleepy Hollow and "Woolfert's Roost."

Among the literati of Westchester County the name of Henry B. Dawson suggests itself, at once, as among the most prominent of those identified with the work of historical research in America. Although not a native of the county, he has been so completely a part of its social and literary life for more than a generation, that he may justly be regarded as one of its representative men.

Henry Barton Dawson was born at Gosberton, in Ein- colnshire, about ten miles southwest of Boston, Eng- land, on Friday, June 8, 1821. His father, Abraham Dawson, was born in July, 1795, at Wisbeach, in the neighboring county of Cambridge, where his grand- father, originally of Lincolnshire, was then residing. His father's mother, a Miss Culy, belonged to a family of French Huguenots, who lived on a farm called Guyhirn, near Wisbeach. His mother was Mary Barton, second daughter of John Barton, of the parish of Bicker, five miles north of Gosberton. Mr. Barton was a respectable farmer. His daughter, Mary, mar- ried Abraham Dawson, May 15, 1820.

Henry Barton Dawson was their only son and the eldest of six children. He received his first instruc- tion from a school-mistress, who found him an apt and ready pupil. At nine years of age, having in the meantime had the care of the village school-master, he attended, for a year, the noted school of Mr. Moses of Donnington. The last school in his native county.

at which he was taught, was kept by Mr. Greenfield, a pupil of Mr. Moses, who carried him through a course of practical surveying.

In the spring of 1834 his parents, with their family, removed from England to the United States. They landed at New York on the 9th of June in the same year. His father's chief reason for emigrating was his dissatisfaction with the British government. At Man- hattanville, eight miles from New York, he established himself as a gardener, an occupation which he con- tinued to pursue until a short time before his death, in January, 1872. Henry attended the public schools in West Seventeenth Street, New York, and at Man- hattanville until the spring of 1836, except during the summer of 1835, when he was at work with his father. In March, 1836, he left school in order to assist his father, who was then gardener at the Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum. Before he left the trustees of the Public School Society tendered him a free scholar- ship in college, but the limited means of his father would not admit of his acceptance. He continued to work in the garden of the asylum with his father until the fall of 1837, when the family removed to Ithaca, N. Y., with the intention of settling on a farm. His father, however, resumed his occupation of gardener, and Henry continued to assist him for a short time. He then became an apprentice to a wheel-wright, Mr. Ira Bower, and soon after a clerk in the book-selling and publishing house of Messrs. Mack, Andrus & Woodruff, at Ithaca. In the winter of 1838-39 he left the latter to take the position of confidential clerk for Judge Gere, a wealthy resident of the town, and in April, 1839, returned to New York, where his cm- ployer had established a large lumber-yard. His salary at this time was one hundred and twenty-five dollars a year. Mr. Dawson continued in this business, under successive employers, until May, 1844, when he was engaged by Messrs. Comstock & Co., of Cortlandt Street, large dealers in patent medicines, as book- kecper. He also performed the duties of their cashier and corresponding clerk. In June, 1846, he became book-keeper for Messrs. Cumming, Main & Co., drug- gists, with whom he remained one year.

Although Mr. Dawson had contributed articles for the daily press, generally on political topics, as early as the winter of 1840, his first pecuniary venture in literature was brought about in a rather singular way. Having, in 1845, while still employed by Comstock & Co., advanced some money to the proprietor of The Crystal Fount, a weekly temperance and literary news- paper, he was obliged to take the printing-office and paper in repayment of his loan. For more than a year he edited and published the paper besides dis- charging his duties as book-keeper, and finding the work too burdensome, he finally, in 1846, gave up his position with Cumming, Main & Co., and devoted all his time to the newspaper. In November of the same year he was obliged to discontinue its publica- tion with the loss, not only of the original loan, but

Henry B.Danifon

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also of all his savings. The paper was the organ of the Order of the Rechabites, and Mr. Dawson's nncom- promising spirit having involved him in difficulties with the principal officers of the order, the paper suffered from the enmities thus aroused.

Mr. Dawson next accepted the agency of the Inter- national Art Union, and in the following year, that of the American Art Union, which latter he retained until the concern was closed by the Supreme Court. After this he was an officer of the Wall Street Ferry to Brooklyn, and was successively connected with three different insurance companies in New York. In 1856, owing to the failure of the company of which he was secretary, he was again left without employ- ment, and accepted an offer from Messrs. Johnson, Fry & Co., Publishers, to write a work for them on the military and naval history of this country. This was his first book, although he had already become known among historical writers, by "The Park and its Vicinity," written for and published in the " Man- ual of the Common Council of the City of New York" for 1855; the " Life and Times of Anne Hutchinson," written for the Baptist Historical Society ; and "The Retreats through Westchester County, in 1776," writ- ten for the New York Historical Society.

" The Battles of the United States by Sea and Land," which is the title of the military and naval work, written for Messrs. Johnson, Fry & Co., was published, as a serial, in forty numbers, the first number appearing in the autumn of 1858. Besides its merits as a popular work, it is of recognized value as an historical authority, the events of each battle being given in detail with copious references, the principal documents relating to the engagement, and, occasionally, biographical sketches of the prominent actors. The success of the work was so decided that he undertook to write a complete military history of the United States, but the Civil War stopped the work as it also did the progress of the " Life and Times of Governor Daniel D. Tompkins," which he had under- taken at the request of the family.

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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 155

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