History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 144

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

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. II > Part 144

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2 Magazine of .Imerican History, January, ISSO. " The Allied Armles before New York, in 1751." In that article Rochambeau's force is'estl- muted at ten thousand men.

respectfully you. 7 elliot 6. 6

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NEW CASTLE.

1, 1779, on his forced march from Yonkers to Pound- ridge and Bedford. It was occupied, probably, at different times, when our army was in the vicinity, as a hospital for sick and wounded American soldiers, and many of their graves, unmarked by any monu- ment, are in the old burying-ground about St. Mark's Church.

The people of that period were chiefly Republican, willing to make sacrifices and endure distresses for the cause of liberty ; but there were Tories in this town, as elsewhere throughout the county, who did not scruple to act as foragers and sutlers to the Brit- ish army, and incurred the hatred and contempt of their neighbors thereby. Opportunities for that sort of service were easy in the furnishing of supplies and the driving of cattle from the farming district to the city or to points within the British lines, and the pay was good. The names of some of these men are still remembered and their memory is still execrated.1

The town sent soldiers to the War of 1812, but the writer has been able to obtain but a few of their names and does not deem it proper to mention those while others equally deserving cannot be ascertained.

The War of the Rebellion found New Castle thor- oughly loyal to the government. Although a large part of the population belonged to the Society of Friends, wlfose peaceful creed has always disinclined them to encourage war or bloodshed in any form, their devotion to the principles of freedom kept them firm in their allegiance throughout those trying years. No record of the volunteers who responded to the first calls of President Lincoln has been kept in the town. They enlisted in various regiments, and their identity has not been preserved, nor can their num- ber be accurately stated. They formed a respectable body of men, both in number and in character.

When, in the second year of the war, volunteering began to decline, special meetings were held and lib- eral sums of money were voted "to be used for the encouragement of volunteer enlistment." Later, meetings were repeatedly called to provide for substi- tutes for drafted men. The sums thus voted, includ- ing moneys raised for the support of the families of absent soldiers, amounted to about forty-eight thou- sand dollars. The town, as was usual in this part of the State, issued bonds for the amounts voted, which were paid off year by year, in convenient instalments. The last of the war debt was paid in 1871.

THE TOWN AT PRESENT .- The surface, like that of most of the northern part of the county, is broken into well-defined ridges and valleys, whose general direc- tion is nearly north and south, or bearing to northeast and southwest. In the western part of the town these ridges are varied by numerous separate hills and rang- es of rough land, much of which is rocky and cover-

ed with the trees common to this region, among which the graceful and tapering cedar of the Hudson River slopes is conspienous. In the eastern part of the town the surface is smoother and better adapted to farming. Farmers are to a considerable extent throughout the town engaged in the milk business. There are extensive orchards, and great quantities of apples, especially of russets, are shipped from Chap- paqua in good seasons. For several years past many farmers have made a specialty of raising cucumbers for pickles, and there is a factory, or pickle-house, at Chappaqua, where they are purchased.

Among the many beautiful farms and residences in New Castle, that belonging to the late Hon. Elliot Christopher Cowdin deserves mention. Mr. Cowdin was born in Jamaica, Vermont, Angust 9, 1819. He was educated and trained for a commercial life in Boston, where he lived when he was not absent in Europe, as the representative of the large importing house with which he was associated. In 1852 he es- tablished the importing house of Elliot C. Cowdin & Co., in New York and Paris, and marrying, in 1853, the daughter of Samuel W. Waldrou, of Boston, he resided abroad till 1858, when he returned to New York for a permanent home.

Although an ardent Republican in politics, and a man of strong convictions, as well as a facile publie speaker, Mr. Cowdin did not appear very prominently before the publie until the stirring times of the late war, when he assisted in the foundation of the " Union League Club," together with the Rev. Dr. Bellows, his pastor, and a few others, and through and with the club exercised considerable influence in political affairs. He was also a member of the " New England Society," and for two years its president, and was almost invariably one of the speakers at the annual dinners, and was also a prominent member of the Century Club. As a zealous member of the "New York Chamber of Commerce," from whose meetings he was rarely absent, Mr. Cowdin influenced public and commercial affairs. As chairman of the exeen- tive committee of that body, it fell to his lot to move many of the resolutions which have been from time to time recorded by the press, and to make many of his ablest reports and addresses. Upon subjects which interested him he spoke with readiness, directness aud point. He was in Paris at the outbreak of the Franco-German war, went to Germany during the siege, but returned in time to witness the excesses of the Commune, and delivered an able paper on the subject at Cooper Institute upon his return to this country. He crossed the Atlantic eighty-six times, and, curiously enough, was a personal witness of every revolution from 1848 down to the last abortive strug- gle of the Communists. Iu 1878 he attended the ex- position as the representative of the United States, and wrote the able report on silk culture which is on record in the State Department.

In the autumn of 1876, Mr. Cowdin was urged by

1 "A part of the farm now owned by Samuel Washburn was confiscated soon after the Revolutionary war, because of the aid and sympathy given the British by the sons of the owner of the land. The farm was bought by Abraham Hyatt."-Mt. Kisco Weekly, April 9, 1886.

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his friends of the Chamber of Commerce to accept a nomination for the Assembly. He was elected and during the following winter endeavored to introduce and pass bills '"To reduce the excessive taxation of Bank Shares," "For Cleaning the Streets of New York," and a " Bill for the Retrenehment and Re- form in the Municipality of New York." He labored daily eighteen hours of the twenty-four while he was in the Assembly, zealous for the public good, and though often unsuccessful, he left behind him a rec- ord for intelligence, public spirit and legislative ability seldom surpassed.

In 1877 Mr. Cowdin retired from commercial life. Ife purchased a farm at New Castle, and went quite seriously to work to turn his acres into a model farm. He was still engaged in this manner when his death took place, April 12, 1880.

As a resident of Westchester County, Mr. Cowdin was solicited by the Republicans of the Twelfth Con- gressional Distriet to take the nomination for the place made vacant by the death of Alexander T. Smith, of Yonkers, which, owing to his desire to re- main in private life, he declined. . Unquestionably he would have been the next nominee, for he was greatly popular through the district. His Republicanism was strong ; the result of thought, habit and convic- tion. He always took a lively interest in political affairs, which had for him a keen pleasure and at- traction, and at the last election, although he de- elined the nomination for Congress, he was active all through the campaign, and presided at the great " merchants' meeting " at Cooper Institute, when Senator Blaine delivered his address. This was Mr. Cowdin's last appearance in public.

His sudden death took from the arena of public life one who was single-minded, sincere, upright and one of the very kindest-hearted of men from West- chester County, an intelligent and faithful citizen and a kind neighbor.

The soil of New Castle is chiefly a elay loam. There is very little of a sandy or gravelly nature within its limits. Owing to its broken surface, the town is par- tieularly well watered with springs and streams. The Kisco River flows northerly through the eastern part of the town into the Croton, which forms the northern boundary for nearly a mile, and again touches the town at the western extremity. Roaring Brook tun- bles down through a noteh in the Chappaqua Hills just west of the Harlem Railroad track, midway be- tween Mount Kiseo and Chappaqua, and finds its way into the Kisco. Three of the principal streams of the county, the Bronx, the Saw-Mill River and the Pocantico, take their rise in New Castle-the first in Dark Hollow, about two miles east of Chappaqua, near the North Castle line; the Saw-Mill River, a mile or more west of Chappaqua ; and the Pocantico, in the val- ley east of Merritt's Corners. Near the last-unmed place there is also n mineral spring, known as the Pool Spring. It is situated on the farm of William

E. Eustace, ealled from it the Pool Farm, in a very picturesque and romantie spot. It is said to possess valuable medicinal properties, and many years ago a hotel was built and an attempt made to bring the place into favor as a publie resort, but though some notori- ety was acquired, the enterprise did not sueceed, and was long sinee abandoned.

The chief manufacturing establishments of the town are the Speneer Optical Manufacturing Company and the Chappaqua Shoe Manufacturing Company. The works of the former are on the Kisco River, a short distance below the village of Kirbyville, having been removed from New Haven, Conn., in the spring of 1874. The officers are James E. Spencer. president ; John S. Spencer, secretary and treasurer, and C. Elliott Spencer superintendent in charge.

The world is indebted to the Spencer Optieal Man- ufacturing Company, of New York and Mt. Kisco, for the introduction of the diamond spectaeles. The ex- tensive business of this corporation was begun in 1858 by J. E. Spencer & Co.

Before that time manufacturers of spectacles were more intent upon getting up a cheap article, by which they could command the market, than something which would really improve and preserve the sight of the wearers. The Messrs. Spencer decided on an op- posite eourse. They devoted themselves to the pro- duction of glasses which would combine cvery quality of execllence with reasonableness of cost. The result of this study was the perfecting of the diamond spectacles in 1869.

The business, which was started originally by J. E. Speneer and John S. Spencer, has grown and ex- tended with such rapidity that the Spencer Optical Manufacturing Company now run the largest spec- tacle mannfactories in the world. Theirs are the only factories in existence which make everything pertaining to spectacles, including the lenses. There are at present nearly two hundred workmen em- ployed, although the capacity of the machinery is equal to three hundred and fifty hands when re- quired. The product of the factory last year amounted to the enormous total of five hundred and fifty thou- sand pairs of spectacles. The finest as well as the less expensive grades are made, and every kind of machinery peculiar to this work is used, from the ponderous lathes which make the tools to the delicate and complicated deviees for finishing the lenses ready for the frames. The warehouse of the company is at No. 15 Maiden Lane, New York.

Many of the machines in use at the works are the invention of Mr. Spencer, and are novel in their de- sign and construction. Some of them are automatic, and were designed particularly for optical work. This firm were the first regular manufacturers of steel spectacles and eye-glasses in the United States, and they are at present the only makers of celluloid optieal goods. Some of the last of these-the eellu- loid tortoise-shell and amber shades-are most at-

James & Shine

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tractive in appearance. They are much lighter than any others. Twenty-five pairs of the frames weigh only one ounce, being made from fibrous material. They are much stronger and more durable than any others, and they can be dropped without injury upon the hardest substance. Their beauty far surpasses the ordinary tortoise-shell, rubber and steel frames com- monly in use. They are not affected by atmospheric changes, being equally well adapted to either warm or cold elimates. The springs are made of a combi- nation of metals, which will neither rust nor be affected by heat or frost. These frames are set with fine lenses, accurately focused to suit all sights, which, with their many other advantages, make them very popular. Reading glasses and many other

The following is a copy of the judges' report of the forty-eighth exhibition of the American Institute on optical goods, held in New York in October and No- vember :

" The important exhibit of the Spencer Optical Manufacturing Com- pany of a variety of articles, the exquisite art with which they put to ac- count every material in nature fit for optical work, appears to fully jus- tify their claims to being the largest manufacturers of spectacles and eye- glasses in the world. Their spectacles and eye-glasses in infinite variety, the beauty, the lightness, the elegance of their frames of an almost artistical workmanship, cannot be surpassed. With this lightness of work they combine substance and durability .

"Their celluloid frames should be not passed without special men- tion. They manufacture their own lenses, produce them entirely color- less, making them free from polarization of light. The accurate grind- ing of those lenses should not be left unnoticed. The extremely low price at which they can sell their products is not the least important feature of the working of this company.

13 MAI

LANEN

CAL

SPENCER OPTICAL

GLASS WORKS

MANUFACTURING

REDMAN& KENNEY.

SPENCER OPTICAL WORKS.

artieles are also made by the company from these materials, they having the exclusive right to man- ufacture optical goods from them.

The jury on optical goods of the Centennial Expo- sition unanimously awarded to the Spencer Optical Manufacturing Company the highest honors in their gift, placing them at the head of all their competitors, both American and foreign, as will be seen from the following extract from the official report :

"The undersigned having examined the products herein described, re- spectfully recommend the same to the United States Centennial Counmis- sion for award for the following reasons, viz. :

" Good workmanship, variety and elegance of pattern and cheapness. The glass used Is excellent in quality and the frames of various ma- terials, including the metals, shell, rubber and celluloid. The excellent temper of the steel frames is particularly noticeable.

"F. A. P. BARNARD." (Signature of the judge.)

"The judges consider this exhibit of great value and decided superi- ority, and recommend that a medal of superiority be awarded to this company.

" The medal awarded. "A true copy of this report on file, "JOUN W. CHAMBERS, Secretary."

These reports speak for themselves and award the Spencer Optical Manufacturing Company the high- est honor, thereby placing them in a position they have striven, through the merits of their goods, to at- tain. . The products of this company are at present sold and used throughout the United States, Canada and many other countries in all portions of the globe.

On the evening of April 21, 1877, the main factory of the company took fire and was completely de- stroyed. But such great energy was displayed by John S. Spencer and others that, although delayed in various ways, they had replaced the building and

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

were moving machinery into it in thirty-five days from the commencement of its construction. During the period between its destruction and replacement the company manufactured their goods at Birming- ham, Conn.

James Edwin Spencer, the enterprising young business man, who founded the Spencer Optical Manufacturing Company, was born in the city of New York in 1839, his father being at that time extensively engaged in building operations there. Shortly after his birth his family removed to Guilford, Conn., where the youth attended school till his eleventh year. At that time he succeeded in persuading his parents to allow him to reside and work upou the farm with his grandfather, Mr. Samuel Spencer, also of Guilford, which he did, attending High School during the winter till his sixteenth year, at which time he coni- menced his business career as an apprentice to the firm of Brown & Kirby, manufacturers of optical goods in New Haven.

He remained in this position for four years, at the conclusion of which, feeling strongly the necessity for a more thorough education, he returned to Guil- ford and entered the institute at that place, con- tinuing a course of studies for one year. After leaving the institute, the firm of Brown & Kirby having meanwhile retired from business, he rented their factory and started in a small way to manufacture optical goods on his own account. Many difficulties were at first experienced, but the venture, however, owing to his indomitable will, proved successful. Additional help was hired, the business was moved to a larger building, new and improved machinery was brought into requisition and the concern was estab- lished upon a permanent basis. In 1861 Mr. Spencer admitted as an apprentice his brother, John S. Spencer, who, a few years later, became a partner the firin being known as J. E. Spencer & Co. The name was again changed in 1869 to the Speneer Optical Manufacturing Company, owing to the ineor- poration of a stock concern, which enabled the brothers to work more advantageously. Of this eom- pany Mr. Spencer is president. His courage in taking hold, with a limited capital, of a business abandoned by its former proprietors, together with his untiring efforts in its subsequent condnet, entitle him to a fore-

most place among the live business men of the time. | which Mr. Spencer was made one of the directors,

The factory now under his control, and the business of which forms the principal industry of Mount Kisco, whither it was removed from New Haven in 1874, is one of the largest of its kind in the United States, furnishing employment to nearly two hundred per- sons.

John Stowe Spencer, well known in business circles as secretary and treasurer of the Speneer Op- tical Manufacturing Company, was the youngest of seven children. He was born in Guilford, Conn., April 6, 1845. His father, Isaac S. Spencer, was a son of Samuel Spencer, of Guilford, and was, for

several years previous to 1839, au extensive builder in New York City. In that year he removed to Guil- ford, where, in 1854, he purchased, in connection with his eldest son, Christopher, an iron foundry and manufacturing business.

The Spencer family was remarkable for longevity. Samuel Spencer died at the age of ninety-six, his wife also at ninety-six and her sister at ninety-eight. Their three graves are side by side in the Guilford Cemetery and are objects of curiosity.

Mr. Spencer attended public school till his twelfth year, when he entered the Guilford Institute, where he remained until he was sixteen. He early gave evidence of the spirit of independence (which has sinee characterized his life) by working on a farm during the summer for money to pay for his schooling in the winter, though this course was unnecessary, his father being abundantly able to bear the expense. After leaving the Guilford Institute he entered, as apprentice, the optical manufactory of his brother James, at New Haven, where, after two years' hard labor, he came to be considered the first workman in the factory. Being naturally ambitious and anxious to advance, he proposed to his brother the advisability of allowing him to make a trip through the United States for the purpose of introducing his goods. The proposition was accepted, aud at the age of eighteen he commenced the occupation of a traveling sales- man, at which he remained for six years, visiting the principal cities in twenty-two States. At the end of this time the business had inereased to such an ex- tent that he was admitted as a partner, the firm being known as J. E. Spencer & Co. The salesrooms of the house were also removed to New York, and from that time Mr. Spencer remained in that city.

From 1864 to 1883 the firm carried on the manufac- ture of jewelry, but in the latter year, owing to the inerease of the optical business, this branch was dropped.

Mr. Speneer has given much attention to mechan- ical pursuits, and he has, during his business career, taken out eleven patents, the securing of which has had much to do with the success of the concern.

In November, 1869, the firm of J. E. Spencer & Co. was organized as a joint-stock company, to be known as the Speneer Optical Manufacturing Company, of

and was also chosen secretary and treasurer, posi- tions which he still holds. His motto has ever been "Original designs and every quality of excellence, with reasonableness of cost." His steady attention to the business of the salesroom, together with his personal supervision of the work at the factory in Mount Kisco, insure to his patrons the reliability of the firm. His energy has been highly useful to the industry of Westchester County.

The Shoe Company's Factory is at Chappaqua. The company was incorporated in 1885, with H. W. Bischoff as president and treasurer, and R. Farring-

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NEW CASTLE.

ton as secretary, both of whom, with William Bird, are trustees. The same parties had conducted the business as a private firm for several years previous to incorporation. There are employed about forty men and boys and thirty-five women and girls.

Henry W. Bischoff, for many years prominent as a manufacturer at Chappaqua, was born in the village of Destel, Westphalia, Prussia, November 13, 1834. He was educated in the public school at that place, which he left at fourteen, to work upon the family farm, and aid in the family support, his father hav- ing died while he was in his tenth year.

At the age of twenty he came to New York City, where he entered a grocery store as clerk, leaving it three years later to start, with his small savings, in the same business for himself, at No. 59 West Forty-fourth Street. He was successful in the ven- turc, and remained thus till 1863, when he sold out and removed to Chappa- qua. Here he became in the same year proprietor of the Askawau House, and simultaneously ob- tained the position of ticket agent for the Har- lem Railroad, which he retained for several years. He parted with his inter- est in the Askawau House in 1868, and soon after, in connection with Messrs. Farrington and Bird, started in the shoe manu- facturing business, under the firm name of Farring- ton, Bischoff & Bird. In 1876 their factory was de- stroyed by fire, causing the firm severe loss. Mr. Bischoff, however, imme- diately set about building a new establishment, which was occupied a few months afterward, and in which the business was carried steadily forward for a few years, at the end of which time he purchased the interests of Messrs. Farrington and Bird, managing the concern under the style of Henry W. Bischoff till 1885, when he formed, as has been said, the "Chappaqua Shoe Manufacturing Company," of which he is at present president.

Mr. Bischoff is a gentleman of much push and enterprise, and is highly esteemed, not only by his own townsmen, but also by a large circle of business and social acquaintances. He has been connceted with several organizations, prominent among which was the First Regiment of Cavalry, National Guard State of New York, in Company K of which he held the commission of second lieutenant. He is also a mem-

HENRY W. BISCHOFF.

ber of the Kisco Lodge, No. 708, Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has held the position of treasurer since December, 1872. In politics he is a Republi- can, and formerly served his town as commissioner of highways and postmaster.

He married, September 19, 1858, Miss Margaret Harms, of Kursted, in Hanover, Germany, whose sad death took place July 3, 1879. Six children were the result of this union, five of whom survive ; namely : Minnie (who married Edgar Johnson, of Pleasant- ville, N. Y.), Anna, Louisa, Henry and William.

'The villages of the town are Mount Kisco, which includes within its limits the older hamlets of New Castle Corner and Kirbyville, Chappaqua and Mer- ritt's Corners.

Mount Kisco lies partly in the town of Bedford and has been described in the chapter relating to that town. New Castle Corner is the name of an old village or hamlet a mile east of Mount Kisco Station, where the first settlement in this vicinity was made. Here the Epis- copal and Methodist Churches were early lo- cated. The town line passes through the build- ing where the post-office (New Castle) has been kept for many years. Kir- byville takes its name from Caleb Kirby, one of the earliest inhabitants. It lies contiguous to the last-named hamlet, con- sisting of some thirty or forty houses, situated along the Kisco River. Some twenty-five years ago a cotton-factory gave the place some importance and appearance of activity, which subsequently declined. It has now been somewhat revived by the establishment there of the Spencer Optical Works. A picturesque feature of the neighborhood is the mill-pond, still called Kirby's Pond, though it is owned by Hon. W. H. Leonard.

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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. II, Part 144

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286