History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 23

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 23

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1 Sco " Life of James Otis, " by William Tudor (Boston, 1>23).

YONKERS.

Price and Dr. Priestly ; look into all the French con- stitutions of government ; and, to cap the climax, look into Thomas Paine's "Common Sense, Crisis and Rights of Man,"-what can you find that is not to be found in solid substance in this vindication of the House of Representatives ?"

This fugitive pamphlet, the fundamental argument on which Constitutional liberty rests, presented in clear array the whole armory of reasoning with which the statesmen of the Revolution fought their later battles. This was followed two years later by "The Rights of the Colonics Asserted and Vindicated," writ - ten with ability and spirit, but making apparent conces- sions to the authority of Parliament, which excited great distrust and caused a loss of confidence in the steadiness of his judgment which was never fully re- covered. His last work appeared in 1765, under the title of "Considerations on behalf of the Colonists, in a Letter to a Noble Lord," an eminently patriotic and useful contribution to the discussion ; but presenting views concerning a consolidate empire and parlia- mentary representation of the colonies, not shared by many persons on either side of the contest. 1

"Harrison Gray Otis, nephew of the preceding, was born in Boston October 8, 1765 ; died there October 28, 1848. He graduated at Harvard College, 1783, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1786. In 1796 he was elected from Boston to the State Legis- lature, and succeeded Fisher Amcs in Congress, where he soon became a leader of the Federal party. He served two terms in Congress, and in 1801 was ap- pointed United States district attorney for Massa- chusetts. Subsequently he became a member the of State Legislature, and was Speaker of the House from 1803 to 1805 and president of the Senate from 1805 to 1811. He was chairman of the legislative commit- tee, which in 1814 reported in favor of calling a con- vention of the New England States at Hartford to con- sider the best mode of redressing the grievanees in- flicted on those States by the war with Great Britain. He was a leading member of that convention, and was one of three commissioners appointed by Massa- chusetts to go to Washington and make a representa- tion to the Federal government. In 1814 he was ap- pointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Massa- chusetts, which office he held till 1818, when he took his seat in the United States Senate, to which the Legislature had elected him in the preceding year. In 1820, in the debate on the Missouri question, he advocated with great force the restriction of the ex- tension of slavery. In 1829 he was elected mayor of Boston, and in 1832 retired from public life. He was distinguished as a popular orator, and during his later years strongly opposed the abolition movement."

Harrison Gray Otis, until his election without op- position for three successive terms as mayor of Bos- ton, had been prominent in public affairs almost from

the time of his leaving college. In 1788, when twen- ty-three years of age, he delivered the Fourth of July oration before the town authorities. He was a man of courtly manners and winning address. His style of oratory was much admired in those days; but his published specches and addresses fail to sustain the reputation which he held among his contemporaries. His political popularity had been on the wane for some years, and he could not forbear making a pa- thetic reference to the fact in his first inaugural ad- dress as mayor. This address, delivered in Faneuil Hall in the presence of a large assembly of citizens, had for its principal object the vindication of Mr. Otis' political career. To afford him an opportunity for so doing, in a sort of semi-official way, was proba- bly the chief inducement to his acceptance of the of- fice. His connection with the Hartford Convention having been made the basis of a charge of disloyalty, he took occasion to " distinctly and solemnly assert that at no time in the course of my life have I been present at any meeting of individuals, public or pri- vate, of the many or the few, or privy to any corre- spondence of whatever description, in which any proposition having for its object the dissolution of the Union, or its dismemberment in any shape, or a separate confederacy, or foreible resistance to the government or laws, was ever made or debated ; that I have no reason to believe that any such scheme was cver meditated by distinguished individuals of the old Federal party."

Hon. Stephen Otis, a member of the State Legis- lature of Vermont, born December 20, 1773, was also a man of distinguished ability, and was widely known for his public spirit and for his liberal tendencies. He was a gentleman of much learning, and was looked up to by those around him for advice and counsel, not only in political but in financial and private matters. Mr. Otis was the father of six children, the youngest of whom, Elisha G. Otis, so well known as the in- ventor of the Otis elevator, was born August 3, 1811. Like his father, Mr. Otis began life as a farmer, re- maining thus engaged till his nineteenth year, when he first began to turn his attention in the direction of mechanical pursuits.

About this time he left his home at Halifax for the city of Troy, New York, where for five years he took an active part in building operations. While here, June 2, 1834, he married Miss Susan A. Houghton, of Halifax, Vt., (who died February 25, 1842, leaving two sons, Charles R. and Norton P.), and four years after- ward, in 1838, returned to Vermont, where he engaged in the manufacture of wagons and carriages, continu- ing thus till 1845. In August, 1846, he married, for his second wife Mrs. Betsey A. Boyd.

Mr. Otis then removed to Albany, N. Y., where he assumed charge of the construction of machinery in a large manufactory in that city. After four years' service in this eapacity he started a factory of his own, but the undertaking not proving successful, he

1 Delano A. Goddard, " Memorial History of Boston," Vol. III. p. 140

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

was obliged to give it up, and accept the invitation of a firm in Hudson City, N. J., to the superintendeney of its works at that place. In the following year (1852) the business of the company with which he had identified himself was transferred to the location now occupied by the Plow-Works, in Yonkers.

Here Mr. Otis assumed entire guidance of the machinery department of what was then ealled the bedstead-factory, also having charge of the ereetion of some of the buildings connected with the establish- ment. During the building and equipment of this factory it became necessary to construet an elevator for use on the premises, during the erection of which Mr. Otis developed some original devices, the most important of which was one for preventing the fall of the platform in case of the breaking of the lifting rope. This machine attracted the attention of some New York manufacturers, and soon after he received an order for two or more of these machines to go to that eity. This was the beginning of the elevator business, which in late years has assumed sueli gigan- tie proportions.

For a number of years he continued the construe- tion of elevators as he received orders for them, com- bining, however, very many branches of mechanical business.

Finally he separated himself from the Bedstead Manufacturing Company, and started in a general manufacturing business on his own account, leasing a part of their building for this purpose. At the opening of the World's Fair at the Crystal Palace, in New York City, Mr. Otis placed a small elevator on exhibition, containing the improvements made by him up to that time. He attracted considerable attention by getting upon the platform, running it up some distance and then cutting the rope, thus demon- strating the safety of his invention against accident and consequent loss of life. This action gave pub- licity to his invention, and from that time forward the business increased till, at the time of his death, in April, 1861, it had become the principal business of the works, and the Otis Elevator was widely known.

Mr. Otis was a man of varied attainments and great mental power. He was possessed of much mechanical and inventive ability and eould with equal facility and skill perform the duties of a journeyman mechanic or direct large numbers of workmen in the line of any of four distinct trades. He was a man of great energy and enterprise, pursuing whatever he under- took with great enthusiasm and never failing to ac- complish his purpose within the time set. Business was to him a recreation and a pleasure, and many of his richest and most original ideas were the fruit of his leisure hours.

Among the inventions of Mr. Otis which have added lustre to his name, and which have formed the groundwork of many similar inventions in later days, are a machine for making blind staples, an auto- matie wood-turning machine, a railway bridge for

carrying trains across a river without impeding navi- gation and at the same time doing away with the dangers of a draw, a very ingenious automatie steam- plough and a rotary oven for use in the manufacture of bread.

From early life he entertained ardent temperance and anti-slavery views and towards its close frequently gave utterance to the prediction that slavery would be swept from our country within ten years,-a prediction which was verified within five years subsequent to his death. Mr. Otis was a member of the First Methodist Church, and was greatly beloved not only by its people, but by the community at large for the interest of which he was an ardent worker. He left two sons, Charles R. and Norton P., the oldest of whom, Charles R. Otis, was born in Troy, N. Y., April 29, 1835. Mr. Otis followed all the varied movements of his father preparatory to his final success, attending schools both at Halifax and in Albany, N. Y. Like his father, he early developed a fondness for machinery and machine work, and at the age of thirteen he entered the factory with his father, learning his trade as a machinist and remaining in the business till its sale in 1882. At the age of fifteen Mr. Otis became infatuated with steam-engines, and secured for him- self the position of engineer in the manufactory at Hudson City (then Bergen, N. J.).

From the windows of the factory in Bergen, where he was engaged, the large Europeau aud other steamers could be seen going and coming, and he was soon possessed of a desire to become chief engineer on an ocean or North River steamer. This purpose con- tinued with him for several years and he spent much time in study and preparation for what he then in- tended should be the business of his life. A year later, however, upon his father's removing to Yon- kers, his early ambitions gradually gave way or be- eame merged in the dawning of the elevator business, about two years subsequent to the removal to Yonkers. Not more than two or three orders for elevators had been secured by his father when he believed he could see a great business in the future of the invention if properly pushed. He therefore urged strongly the abandonment of all other lines of business for the special manufacture of safety elevators, there being at that time no one in this country or in the world so far as known, who was exclusively engaged in this par- ticular line.

At this time (1854-58) his father was doing a small business, employing from five to fifteen men, of whom he had charge as foreman. Soon after (1859-60) the necessity for an elevator with its own independent engine, to run only as the platform or car was put in motion and capable of high speed, was felt, and his father designed, constructed and patented such an engine, consisting of two connected reversible oscil- lating cylinders, very compaetly arranged, and this hoisting-engine marked the beginning of the system of steam elevators now in extensive use throughout

Chospotis

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the United States, and without which it would be practicably impossible to carry on the business of the country within the space allotted to it, and especially in the high buildings which now characterize all our large cities. This engine proving somewhat defective in operation, Mr. Otis himself, in 1860-61, invented and patented an important improvement which effect- ually remedied its most troublesome defect, and from that time forward for several years this hoisting-en- gine continued to be the standard machine in its line.

On the election of Mr. Lincoln and the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1860 and 1861, there was a period of financial depression, during which the elevator business was prostrated, and losses and mis- fortune left it at the time of Mr. E. G. Otis' death in 1861, much encumbered and paralyzed. Mr. Otis, at this time twenty-six years of age, had accumulated in savings about fifteen hundred dollars. His brother, Mr. Norton P. Otis, had also a few hundred dollars, and together they decided to attempt a resuscitation of the business as a specialty, and if possible to work it up to a permanent, enduring and prominent industry. Other lines were dispensed with, and the Otis Brothers devoted their time and energy solely to the designing and manufacture of elevator machinery to meet every possible requirement and demand in that line. The following winter, 1861-62, the gradual revival in trade incident upon the opening of the war and the de- mands of the government for war materials began to be felt and elevators came in for a share in the im- proved state of affairs. The first two orders of the firm amounted to the munificent sum of seventy dollars. At this time, as in earlier and later years, Mr. Otis worked almost incessantly, and sometimes during the entire night. Many improvements were

made and brought out, elliefly in the direction of securing greater safety in the use of elevator appar- atns, and a large number of patents were taken out at various times as the business progressed, more than fifteen of which were the invention of Charles R., Norton P. also originating and patenting many valu- able devices. In 1862 the business amounted to not more thau fifteen thousand dollars, increasing grad- ually from that time till in 1865, the business for the year was $80,000. In 1868 the total business $135,000, and in 1872 it was $393,000. In 1881 it was $600,000, and rapidly increasing, so that when the Otis Brothers retired, in June, 1882, the business was firmly established upon a basis of a million dollars per annum or upwards. In the early portion of 1882 the long-continued overwork and insufficient rest and recreation began to take effect upon Mr. Otis' health, resulting in insomnia, which continued for several months. Finally it was deemed best to give up the business, which was accomplished by sale on the 1st day of June, 1882.

In 1867 the concern, which up to that time had been in the form of a partnership, was organized into a stock company, the Otis Brothers holding a large

majority of the stock. They afterwards purchased what was outstanding for a part of the period subse- quent to the company organization, so that at the time of retirement they were the sole owners.

On the organization of the company in 1867, Mr. Otis was chosen president, and remained in that capa- city to the end of his connection with the business.

He united with the Westminster Church, March 3, 1859, and was elected superintendent of the Sabbath- school in 1877, an office which he retained till 1884. On June 20, 1880, he became an elder, and at the time of the erection of the new church edifice rendered valuable service as chairman of the building commit- tee, both he and his brother having been large contributors toward the erection and furnishing thereof. During his whole business life he was closely identified with the manufacturing interests of Yonkers, and with the internal improvements of the city.

Both before and since his retirement from business Mr. Otis has interested himself considerably in real- estate matters, having built extensively in different portions of Yonkers.

He married, August 28, 1861, Miss Carrie F. Boyd, to whose uniform cheerfulness and untiring care and helpfulness he owes much of his past and present suc- cess. Though he has no children of his own, he has. brought up and educated several, some of whom have been orphans and some children of relatives. He is a deep student and delights in the perusal of classical and scientifie works, of which he has been enabled to collect a large number. He has been an exten- sive traveler, his latest tour having been a journey through Europe, from which he wrote several letters to the local papers, which were published and read with great interest by the public.

Hon. Norton P. Otis, the younger of the two sons of Elisha G. Otis and one of the most popular young men in Westchester Co., was born in Halifax, Wind- ham Co., Vt., March 18, 1840. He attended school in Halifax, Albany, Hudson City, N. J., and finally finished at District School No. 2, in Yonkers. In his eighteenth year he entered his father's factory, and after his father's decease, together with his bro- ther, assumed control of the business, the history of which has just been given.

Like his brother, he invested his all in the con- cern, and its advancement and subsequent success were largely due to his untiring activity and care- ful attention. During the first ten years a very considerable portion of his time was spent in visit- ing the various cities and towns throughout the United States and Canada for the purpose of intro- ducing the Otis elevators. Upon the incorporation of the company, in 1867, he was elected treasurer and retained that position till his retirement from business, in 1882. In the spring of 1880 Mr. Otis received the nomination of the Republicans for mayor of the city of Yonkers, and at the election

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following was chosen for the place by a handsome majority. His services as mayor were such as to win not only the approbation of his own party, but the con- fidence and esteem of the opposition. During his term the Fire Department was reorganized, the charter for the new public dock was obtained, the entire plan and system of public-school management was changed ( Mr. Otis appointing the first school board under the con- solidated system), a new pumping-engine was added to the water-works, and at the same time a reduction of more than seventy-five thousand dollars was made in the indebtedness of the city. In the fall of 1883 he

was nominated for Assembly, being again elected by a good majority in an overwhelming Democratic district. While in the State Legislature he brought forward many bills, which served to give him great popularity with all well-meaning and thoughtful people, among which was one giving protection to the Hudson River towns against being overrun by drunken Sunday ex- cursionists and New York roughs, and another for the reduction of exorbitant rates of fare on State railroads.

In 1877 Mr. Otis married Miss Lizzie A. Fahs, of York, Pa., a most estimable and accomplished lady, and has had four children, three of whom, Charles Edwin, Sidney and Arthur Houghton, are living, the youngest, Susan Elizabeth, having died in infancy.

He has been much interested in the Westminster Church, and his donations towards its erection and maintenance have been large and frequent. Mr. Otis was formerly a member of many social and benevolent organizations, and it is doubtful if any citizen at present in Yonkers has received more respect from or is more popular with the younger element of society in the place. On the whole, the Otis Brothers have been for years a power in the business, social and religious life of Yonkers and of the county at large.

THE YONKERS GAS-LIGHT COMPANY .- This com- pany was organized early in 1854, chiefly through the public spirit of Colonel (afterwards Judge) William W. Scrugham, who continued to be one of the most in- Huential men in its management till his death, in Au- gust, 1867. The articles of association were executed on the 14th of April, 1854, and named as directors Sylvester S. Batten, Timothy C. Dwight, Robert P. Getty, Thomas C. Cornell, Robert Grant, James Serymser, Josiah Rich, Francis S. Miles and William Warburton Serugham. The same gentlemen, with the addition of John Olmsted and Henry F. Devoe, were the original incorporators. The first meeting of the board was held in Colonel Serugham's law-office, then on the southwest corner of South Broadway and Dock Street, on the 8th of May, 1854. At this meet- ing JJames Serymser was elected president and Colo- nel Serngham secretary and treasurer. A contract was soon after made with S. S. Batten, of Newark, N. J., to build and equip works capable of supplying a daily consumption of ten thousand feet, with four miles of street mains, and under this contract gas was delivered in November, 1854.

The site of the works was a part of the site still oe- cupied, on Woodworth Avenne, above Ashburton Ave- nuc. The price paid for the land, works, mains and equipments complete was $69,200, of which $5000 was paid in cash and $64,200 in the stock of the company. The capital stock was at first fixed at $70,000. But, August 29, 1860, it was increased to $100,000, and. July 13, 1864, it was further increased to $150,000. Again an increase was anthorized, February 16, 1877, to $300,000, only a part of which has been issued, the actual capital in 1884 being $200,000, with a bonded debt of a little over $100,000.

The gross sales of gas for the first year (1855) were about 1,000,000 feet, at $4 per 1000 feet, and the gas was about of the strength of twelve candles. In 1860 the sales had reached 4,200,000 feet ; in 1870, 11,259,- 000 feet ; and in 1875, 21,144,000 feet. Since 1875 there has been much competition in gas in Yonkers. The largest sale of this company in any single year was 33,000,000 feet. The illuminating power of the gas was increased from twelve candles in 1860 to eighteen candles in 1870, and sinee 1880 it has been at twenty-five candles. The price of gas was reduced to $3,50 in 1861, but, under the high priees of labor and material during the war, it was again raised, first to $4, and afterwards, when, as in 1865, gas coal went up from $6 to $17.50, to $5.75 a thousand feet. It was reduced in 1866 to $5; in March, 1870, to $4.50; and in March, 1874, to $4.

Street gas-lamps were first lighted in Yonkers in April, 1861, when fifty-two lamps were erected, of which twenty-eight were on the east side of Warbur- ton Avenue. These lamps were lighted with three feet burners, from one hour after sunset till midnight on the nights when there was no moon, at $2 per year for each lamp. By 1870 the number of lamps had increased to one hundred and fifty-five, when the ex- periment of lighting the streets with naphtha was made for one year. This did not prove satisfactory, and in 1871 gas was reinstated, with the number of lamps increased to three hundred and sixty-one. These were now lighted for every night and all night the year round, for $25 a year each. In January, 1873, a new agreement was made at $33.33 a lamp, with the number increased to four hundred. In the beginning of 1880 the Yonkers Gas-Light Company was lighting four hundred and seven lamps in the city at $27.50, and about one hundred in the district annexed to New York City at $30 each. The com- pany has now about thirty-five miles of mains in use and one thousand consumers.

The board of directors in 1886 consists of Robert P. Getty and Thomas C. Cornell (both in the board from the first), Geo. Peters, Samuel D. Babcock, S. H Condict, E. C. Moore, Warren B. Smith, James Slade and James Bruce. The following have also served as directors during the periods specified : Henry W. Bashford, July 18, 1855, to July 12, 1865; Ethan Flagg, July 15, 1857, to July 13, 1864; Anron

Thomas C Cornell Youun 10v. 1884

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Peck, July 18, 1858, to July 11, 1860; John Chad- wick, July, 1859, to July, 1862 ; John C. Littell, June, 1860, to his death, in January, 1874; Stephen H. Plum, from 1860 to his death, in 1885; Thomas W. Ludlow, July, 1863, to September, 1877 ; James M. Gardiner, July, 1865, to January, 1877; John Olm- stcad, June, 1872, to September, 1877 ; Henry Anstice, June, 1877, to June, 1880; Alexander Smith, Sep- tember, 1877, to his death, in November, 1878.

The following gentlemen have held office during the terms indicated : Presidents, -James Scrymser, May, 1854, to November, 1855; Robert P. Getty, No- vember, 1855, to July, 1857 ; Thomas C. Cornell, July, 1857, to the present. Secretaries,-William W. Scrugham, May, 1854, to August, 1867; James M. Gardiner, September, 1867, to 1870 ; Cyrus Cleveland, March, 1870; James M. Gardiner, Junc, 1871, to 1881; James D McIntyre, December, 1881, to the present. Treasurers,-William W. Scrugham, May, 1854, to 1858; Henry W. Bashford, July, 1858; Thomas C. Cornell, June, 1860, to the present time.

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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 23

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