History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 175

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 175

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

history. Mr. Towndrow was born in Derbyshire, England, on the 7th of May, 1810. He came to this country when he reached his majority, and early engaged in giving instruction in short-hand writing, having many distinguished pupils.

The next newspaper, however, published in the town was

THE VILLAGE NEWS, a small sheet which started on the 27th of June, 1868, with A. W. McDonald as editor, who soon associated Mr. S. E. Holdredge with him ; but Mr. Mc Donald shortly after retired. The paper, having been published about seven months, was changed into

THE WEEKLY SENTINEL, I. Edward Ireland be- ing the editor. This paper was first printed in Janu- ary, 1869, in the early fall of which year a new name was assumed, and the first number of

THE CHRONICLE was issued September 25, 1869, with Charles A. D. Meyerhoff as editor and proprie- tor. In the second number Mr. Meyerhoff appears merely as publisher, and Mr. Joseph S. Wood as ed- itor and proprietor. The motto of this paper is " In- dependent in everything, neutral in nothing." Mr. Wood conducted this journal with marked ability and usefulness until 1884, when it passed into the hands of Mr. Daniel Lewis, under whose administra- tion it has sustained its well-earned reputation. It is said that Mr. Wood is a frequent contributor to its columns. A semi-weekly issue of this paper com- menced on the 2d of March, 1886.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY DEMOCRAT. - The first number of this sheet was published April 15, 1870, but its career was of such short duration that it barely deserves mention.

The publication of the Chronicle was continued without competition until September, 1879, when another paper, also neutral in politics, was started under the name of the

EAST CHESTER INDEPENDENT .- The publishers were David Brown & Co., of Mount Vernon, who were succeeded by Whyte & Young, and at last by David C. Young. This paper was well conducted and deserved a better fate. The last number was pub- lished in July, 1879.

THE MOUNT VERNON ARGUS, in March, 1879, was established as a Democratie journal by Sidebotham & McClelan, as proprietors and editors, and soon obtained a commanding influence. On the 1st of January, 1884, Mr. Sidebotham withdrew, and the paper came under the exclusive control of Mr. Mc- Clelan. This gentleman is a son of a former District Attorney of the County, Hon. P. L. McClelan, and is himself a Trustee of the village of Mount Vernon and Clerk of School District No. 4.

The proprietors of the _frgus started, in September, 1855, a daily sheet under the name of

THE MOUNT VERNON DAILY ITEM, which con- tinues to be published.

In 1884 the want, which had been long felt, of a

paper in the town devoted to the Republican party was met on the 6th of February, under the auspices of Mr. James S. Spencer, by the issue of the first number of

THE WESCHESTER COUNTY RECORD, a six-col- umn paper, twenty-four by thirty-six. Mr. Spencer retired after a short service of four months, and was succeeded on the 23d of July by Mr. Benjamin F. Ashley. Mr. Ashley was formerly editor of the Jef- fersonian of Danbury-the Stamford Herald and the Port Chester Journal, and in his two years of editorial labors in our midst has justified his already well- earned reputation of "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed."

MAILS, POST-OFFICES, STAGES .- That the town participated in the advantages of the permanent mail arrangements set on foot by Governor Dongan, in 1685, appears by a record in the second book of town minutes (p. 36): " 1694, paid sine in the same ycar on Church acco. By Mr. pinkn, for a letter brought by the post, Os. 9d." The delivery was once a week 1 in summer, and once in two weeks in winter. In the middle of the eighteenth century, under Benjamin Franklin, the facilities for communication were in- creased by a weekly mail the year round. After the Revolution it would seem, from a letter of President Adams of 1797, already given, that there were no postal arrangements with East Chester up to the elose of the eighteenth century.

The following persons are known to have been post- masters at East Chester, till the present day : George Faile, Fisher Valentine, Richard Arnow, Alexander Lane, Theodore Pine, William H. H. Barker, James Barker.

A post-office was established at the Bronxville depot of the Harlem Railroad in 1846, and has been contin - ued there until the present day, under the faithful management of Lancaster O. Underhill, who also has been for many years the ticket agent at that station.

Post-office advantages at even an earlier date were given to the quarry people at Tuckahoe. Mr. John R. Hayward, Mr. A. M. Dederer and Mr. Peter U. Mor- gan are remembered as having had charge of the mail matter at this point.

At the settling of Mount Vernon it was found ex- pedient to establish a post-office in the western part of the town, and one was located at Hunt's Bridge, Mr. Joshua Huestis being the first postmaster. After a short while the office was transferred to the village of Mount Vernon, and Mr. A. M. Hix and afterward Mr. George Gould became the postmasters. Mr. Gould was displaced by J. S. Van Court, who, in turn, was succeeded by Jackson Hart, in 1857. Mr. Jona- than A. Searles, in 1861, and Mr. Andrew Bridgeman, in 1862, were appointed to the position. Mr. Bridge- man retained the office for twenty-three years. Mr.

1 X. Y. Col. MISS., vol. iv., p. 317.

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EAST CHESTER.

David Qnaekenbush became the postmaster on the 1st of July, 1885. At the starting of this office, letters from New York were received onee a day ; now there are four deliveries from that eity and four directly from the East.

Maryand Coffe

BIOGRAPHIES.

JOHN B. DUNHAM.

John Barclay Dunham, formerly an extensive manufacturer of pianos, was born in the city of New York, April 2, 1799. His father died when he was a child, and he learned the trade of a cabinet- maker, at which he worked for many years. About 1834 he commenced the manufacture of pianos, as a member of the firm of Stoddard, Wooster & Dunham, their establishment being at the corner of Third Avenue and Fourteenth Street. A manufactory was subsequently built on Thirteenth Street, near the Bowery. The business was afterward removed to One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Street, and here he con- tinucd it till his death, which occurred February 9, 1873. It was maintained by his sons till the recent opening of Morris Avenue, which destroyed part of the building. Mr. Dunham was one of the five men who founded the Chatham Bank, and one of the first directors. During the whole of his life he was actively engaged in business, and held a high reputation as a manufacturer and eitizen. He married Mary A., daughter of Aaron B. Jackson, a prominent business inan of New York. Their children were Edgar (de- ceased), who married Mary H., daughter of Peter Pirnie, and had one child, Annie, now living in New York; David, who married Josie, daughter of Alex- ander H. Van Pelt ; and John B., who married Carrie Alden, and has three children,-Johu B., Maud and Alden B.

In 1853 Mr. Dunham purchased a residence in East Chester. The estate, which is the old Pinkney farm, is an ancient landmark situated on the west side of the old road from East Chester to New Ro- chelle.

Mr. Dunham was a member of the Duteli Reformed Church in Mount Vernon, and one of its most liberal supporters, and left behind him the reputation of an honest and upright eitizen, known and honored by all who knew him. In his business affairs he was, ' in his time, one of the foremost manufacturers of New York, and well known for his integrity and skill.

FERDINAND W. CHIVVIS.

The ancestor of the family of which Mr. Chivvis is the representative was William Chivvis, who came from England, purchased a plantation and settled in Virginia in 1746.

Soon after his arrival he married Rebecca Pendleton, a lady of great amiability of disposi- tion. The children of this marriage were Wil- liam, born in 1748, and Rebecca, born in 1750. The latter married Rev. Argyle White, of Nor- folk, Virginia. They had four children-Mary, Caroline, Wiley and William. After the death of her husband, Mrs. White came to New York with her family, where she remained until her death, in 1830.

William Chivvis the elder dicd in 1760, and his wife survived him only three months. The children were then cared for by a maternal uncle, who sold the property and took them to his own home, where they received a good education for the times. Some time after, the son William went to reside with some friends in Norfolk, where he remained till the break- ing out of the Revolution, when he joined the first volunteer corps that went from Virginia, and endured all the hardships and privations of the campaign, continuing in the service till the elose of the war. One who remembered him well thus describes him in after-life : "He was plain but extremely neat in dress. In manner polished, but simple and quiet in his deportment. In business lie was strictly just and honest, and required the strictest fulfillment of duty from all in his employ, which doubtless gave him a name of being severc." About 1779 he removed to Monmouth County, New Jersey, where, in 1781, he married Anna Maria Paulson. They were the parents of nine children-Rebecca, born April 15, 1782, who married James Kirk, of New York; William, born April 18, 1786, who married Elizabeth Travers and had one child, Katharine, who died young; John, born April 18, 1786, who married Maria Arrismith, of New Jersey (they were the parents of six children- Benjamin, William, Louisa, John, Edmund and Jane) ; Cornelius, born July 22, 1788, who married Mary H. I. Woodward, of New York (they were the parents of five children-Jane D). and Anna M. (twins, both deceased), Daniel S., Mary B., Anna M.

Mrs. Chivvis died in 1789 and after her decease Mr. Chivvis married Jennie Doty, of Summerville, N. J. They were the parents ofsix children-James, born September 17, 1791, who married Margaret Fer- don and had three children, all deccased; Anna, born March 15, 1793, who married John Odell, of New York ; Daniel, born September 6, 1795, died young ; Margaret, born April 30, 1798, who married Ferdi- nand Wilsey, M.D .; Jefferson Burr, born March 3, 1800, died young; Elizabeth, born September 15, 1802, married James Meeker ; Peter, born December 8, 1804, who married Mary Hipper, of New York City, I and had five children .- Ferdinand W., (the subject of

760

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

this sketch), Leonora (wife of R. S. Pyke,) William G., Mary A., (wife of William H. Conkling, of the firm of Conkling & Chivvis) and Peter C., deceased.

After his second marriage Mr. Chivvis removed to New York, where,he lived until the time of his death, in 1823. He was the owner of the Mulberry farm, below Canal Street, which was so called from the number of trees of that species growing there. Mul- berry Street derived its name from the farm, through which it ran. Hle was a member of the Dutch Rc- formed Church on Franklin Street, and esteemed as a worthy and useful citizen, and at the conclusion of an upright life was laid to rest in the Dutch burying- ground on North Street.

Ferdinand W. Chivvis was born in New York June 27, 1843. Upon the death of his father, which occurred when the son was only nineteen years of age, he endeavored to supply the parent's place and fulfill the last wish of his mother by keeping the fam- ily together until they were separated by death or by removal to homes of their own. His first introduc- tion to business life was as errand boy in the employ of William P. Dayton, whose store was at the corner of Broadway and Bleecker Street. After a year he left to attend school for the next two years, and then entered the employ of Ubstel, Pierson & Lake, the firin after many changes known as James McCreery & Co., and remained with them twelve years.

In 1872 he began business on his own account, having as a partuer William H. Conkling (who sub- sequently became his brother-in-law), and established at 763 Broadway the firm now extensively known in the business world as Conkling & Chivvis. They started with a capital of fifteen thousand dollars at a time when a depression in business brought ruin to many older concerns, but success attended their efforts and their sales during the first year amounted to three hundred thousand dollars. Circumstances enabled them to buy at reduced rates, and by liberal advertising they soon established a large business, which has been constantly increasing to the present time. Five years later (during which period their place of business was greatly enlarged) they followed the course of trade and removed to their present loca- tion, at Sixth Avenue and Twenty-third Street. This is the famous Booth's Theatre property, but is so greatly changed that it would no longer be recog- nized under its former name. The great cost of the theatre made it a financial failure and seriously em- barrassed its owner, and it was sold to the banking firm of Fish & Ward, who have, within the last two years, furnished so conspicuous an example of dis- astrous failure, and it is now rented from the receiver of the late firm by its preseut occupants. There are few things which reeall so vividly the changes that constantly occur in the great metropolis, and one can hardly realize that in the rooms now thronged by busy purchasers crowds once listened spellbound to the thrilling tones of the American tragedian.

The reputation of the firm is fully established and their place of business as well known as any in the city, embracing Nos. 70, 72, 74 and 76 West Twenty- third Street, and 368, 370, 372 and 374 Sixth Avenue. Their sales amount to more than one million dollars annually, and both members of the firm are justly recognized as representatives of the successful busi- ness men of the present time.

Mr. Chivvis married Annie E., daughter of Henry McDongal. Their children are Adele, Carrie E., Leonora, Frederick Wilsey, Ferdinand W. and Harry Conkling (the last being a curious instance of a child born with perfectly developed teeth). The last two are deceased.

In 1875 Mr. Chivvis purchased a place at Mount Vernon, in this county, formerly owned by - Mor- gan, Esq., and later by W. H. Archer, and has since made this his home, while still actively engaged in business in New York.

ALFRED H. DINCOMBE.

Alfred H. Duncombe, one of the oldest residents of the town of East Chester, was born in Middletown, N. Y., November 3, 1803. His father, Nathaniel Duncombe came from England, and married Nancy, daughter of Samuel Taylor, of Fairfield, Conn. Upon the deatlı of his father, which occurred in 1806, his mother re- moved to New York, where some of her relatives resided, and her son was apprenticed to Daniel Ber- rian, a manufacturer of brushes, who was then doing an extensive business at 365 Pearl Street. He re- mained with Mr. Berrian till he reached the age of twenty-one, when he went into business on his own account, being assisted by his former employer. His establishment was on Water Street, where the United States Hotel now stands. In 1832 he removed to Franklin Square and opened business on a site whichi is now owned by the well-known publishers, the Harpers. In 1842 he purchased the estate in New Rochelle known as the "Pintard farm," containing about one Inindred acres, at what was then consid- ered a fair price, twenty-five dollars au aere. In 1844 he retired from business and resolved to spend liis days in the country. In 1846 he sold the farm in New Rochelle and removed to East Chester, where he bought what was known as the "Pinkney farul," and built the house now owned by the heirs of John B. Dunham. About 1857 Mr. Duncombe bought a portion of the farm which was formerly the homestead of Philemon Fowler, the representative of the ancient family of that name. Upon this tract he built the elegant stone mansion which he has since made his home. It is situated on the west side of Third Avenue, in South Mount Vernon, and here he passes the evening of his days in quiet and retire- ment.

Mr. Duncombe married, in 1828, Helen HI. Stock- ton Opie. They were the parents of three children,

Alfred I Duncombe

Mit forkling

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EAST CHESTER.

two of whom, Alfred and Charles, died at an early age, and onc, Adeline, is now living in Mount Ver- non.

Mrs. Duneombe died in 1877, and a stately monu- ment in St. Paul's Church-yard marks her resting-place. He subsequently married Naomi Lamoreux.

Mr. Duncombe is a representative of the success- ful business men of the old school, and enjoys the reputation of a worthy and useful citizen. For more than forty years he has been one of the wardens of St. Panl's Church, of which he is an active and lib- eral supporter, and by his financial skill the church has twice been relieved from the burden of embar- rassing debt.

Mrs. Nancy Dnncombe, widow of Nathaniel Dun- eombe, died June 10, 1846, at the age of seventy-one, and was buried in St. Paul's Church-yard, East Ches- ter. After her decease Mr. Duncombe tore down the old honse, which was built before the Revolution, and ereeted the residenee now owned by the heirs of John B. Dunham.

WILLIAM HOWARD CONKLING.

The ancestors of Mr. Conkling eame from South- old, L. I., the first of the name being John Conk- ling, a native of Nottinghamshire, England, who came to Salem, Mass., before 1649, and settled at Southold about 1655. He was made frecman of the colony of Connecticut, of which Southold was then a part, in 1660. He was a large landholder, a prom- inent and influential citizen, and has left many de- scendants in all parts of the country. He died in 1683, leaving his wife, Mary, and five sons,-John, Jacob, Benjamin, Joseph and Timothy.

The eldest son, John Conkling, was born in Not- tinghamshire in 1630, and came to Southold with his father. The inscription upon his tombstone, which may be seen in the aneient burying-ground in South- old, states that he died April 6, 1694. His wife, Mary, died November, 1688. Their son, John Conk- ling, the third of the name, married Sarah, daugh- ter of Barnabas Horton, a descendant of one of the oldest families on Long Island, in 1680. They were the parents of eight children,-John, Henry, Thomas, Joseph, Sarah, Rachel, Mary and Elizabeth. John Conkling, the father of this family, died in 1706.

Henry Conkling, the second son, was born in 1690, and died July 26, 1753. He married Temperanee, daughter of Stephen Bayley, in 1716, and after her decease he married "Widow Mary Bndd." His children were Henry, (born 1717), Benjamin (1719), John, Temperance, Elizabeth, Jonathan, Thomas, Deborah and Jeremiah.

Henry, the eldest son of this family, was the father of Henry Conkling, who lived at Mendham, N. J., and was born in 1752, and died October 1, 1820. He married Lydia Hudson April 5, 1778. She sur- vived her husband and died June 2, 1831. Their

children were Enther, born January 10, 1780, died October 12, 1845; Polly, born June 20, 1782, died 1802; John, born November 6, 1783, died July 14, 1785; Josiah, born June 14, 1786, dicd October 25, 1868: Hannah, born September 16, 1788, dicd June 2, 1793; Puah, born December 22, 1792, married John Byram and died February 25, 1823; Hannah Riggs, born July 5, 1794, died May 26, 1848 ; Sally, born October 28, 1798, died September 20, 1875.

Luther Conkling, the eldest son, married Re- becea, daughter of Joseph Sutton, Angust 11, 1803. Their children were Charles Hudson, born August 18, 1804, died October 7, 1871, and Henry, born April 18, 1807, died October 24, 1845. Both Henry Conkling and his son Luther were prominent citi- zens of Mendham, N. J., and their names are fre- quently mentioned in the annals of that town.

Charles Hudson Conkling married Jane, danghter of Henry and Rachel Cooper, January 29, 1829. She was born February 14, 1805, and dicd February 26, 1874. The children of this family were,-

1. Mary, born October 26, 1829. She married Ja- cob Vough, and had three children,-Henry H., born Deeember 7, 1856 (deceascd) ; William C., born November 13, 1858; and Mary, born Dccem- ber 2, 1864.

2. Henry Cooper, born February 24, 1834, and killed at the burning of a steamer on the Alabama River, in 1867.

3. William Howard (the subject of this article), born Dceember 24, 1836.

4. Charles, born March 2, 1841, now living at Newark, N. J. He married Louise Shafer June 27, 1863, and has one child, Belle H.

5. Isabelle T., born December , 1845, and mar- ried Horaee F. Baldwin, now living in Newark, N. J. Their children are Howard C., born January 22, 1875 ; Charles F., born December 12, 1876 (deceased) ; and Horace F., born November 8, 1879.

6. Annie J., born October 17, 1848, died 1854.

7. Clara F., born February 19, 1851.

William Howard Conkling, the third child, was born at Mendham, Morris County, N. J., and his early edncation was obtained at Mount Science Academy. His father was for many years postmas- ter of the village and the proprietor of a country store, in which the son was first introduced to busi- ness. The store was subsequently sold to a Mr. Boyd, and young Conkling was for awhile in his employ. In August, 1853, he came to New York and entered the store of William P. Dayton, where he remained a year, until Dayton's death, and then found a position with Union Adams, and was after- wards in the establishment of Bowen, MeNamee & Co., 112 Broadway. He next removed to Peters- burg, Va., where he was engaged with the firm of Davis, Abrahams & Lyon, and remained there until the breaking ont of the war, when he came North. and was for awhile a clerk in the establishment !

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

A. T. Stewart. Having received a very liberal offer, he went to Memphis in 1864, and stayed one year, and upon his return found a position in the employ of Lake & MeCreary, in New York, and two years later beeame the principal buyer for the house of J. & C. Johnston. In 1872 he commenced business on his own account in company with his present brother-in-law, Mr. F. W. Chivvis, under the name of Conkling & Co., subsequently changed to Conkling & Chivvis, an aeeount of which firm appears else- where.

Mr. Conkling came to Westchester County to reside in 1874. His present residence is the elegant mansion in Mount Vernon, at the corner of Eleventh Avenue and Fourth Street, and was purchased by him in 1885. He married Mary A., daughter of Peter and Mary Chivvis, May 6, 1878. Their children are How- ard Chivvis, born October 24, 1879; Ferdinand Wil- sey, born December 12, 1881; and Grace Cooper, born January 6, 1882.

Collateral Branches.

JAMES PIERSON (who was, doubtless, a descendant of Benjamin, the youngest son of Henry Pierson, one of the first settlers of Southampton, L. I., and who moved to New Jersey about 1690) was born October, 1750, and died March 28, 1777. He married Martha Pierson March 11, 1773. She was born July 12, 1754, and died at a very advanced age. Their children were Sylvanus, born December 28, 1773, who married Elizabeth Hinkle; aud Rebecca, born Mareh 11, 1776, and died 1778.

After the death of James Pierson, his widow, Mar- tha, married Joseph Sutton, who was born July 9, 1747, and died November 8, 1822. They were mar- ried April 16, 1778, and their children were Uriah, born 1779; Shadrack; Rebecca, born 1783, who mar- ried Luther Conkling, as mentioned above; Jona- than, born 1787 ; Elizabeth, born 1789; Martha Lup- ton, born 1792; James, born 1796, who married Julia Beaeh ; and Joseph Pierson, born 1798, who married Persi Horton, November 13, 1821.

DAVID QUACKINBUSH.

David Quackinbush, who has been for the past six years supervisor of the town of East Chester, and a well-known leader in political affairs, was born in the city of New York, November 11, 1832. His grand- father, James Quaekinbush, was a dry-goods mer- chant, and owned a house and farm on Murray Hill, now the most fashionable portion of the great city. Here he made his home till his death, in 1843, when he had attained the ripe age of eighty-three. The farm, which ineluded the land between Thirty-eighth and Forty-first Streets, was then divided into build- ing lots and sold for one hundred and fifty dollars cach. It is said that some of the purchasers con- sidered the price too high and made haste to dispose

of their holdings. His son, Benjamin Quackinbush, was born in 1797, and when twenty years of age established a drug-store at the corner of Charles and Greenwich Streets, with a stock of goods valued at one hundred dollars. He began business on the anniversary of Washington's birthday in 1817. As an illustration of the simplicity of those times, it may be mentioned that his rent for the first year was thirty-five dollars, his average sales two dollars per day, and the cost of living one dollar and fifty cents a week. In this business he is still engaged, and is now the oldest druggist in the city of New York, but in his eighty-ninth year he exhibits a greater vigor than many younger men.

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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 175

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