History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 67

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

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Jonathan Odell, of Greenburgh, N. Y., the third son, married Margaret Dyckman, and died Sep- tember 23d, 1818, aged eighty-seven ; his wife died March 20, 1783, aged fifty- one.

They had nine children, one of whom was Colonel John Odell, of the Conti- mental Army. Colonel Odell was descended in the line of William, 1, of Fair- field; William, 2, Jr., of Rye; John, 3, of Ford- ham; John, 4, Jr., of Ford- ham; and Jonathan; 5, of Greenburgh, and that he was the great-great-grand- son of William, of Rye.1

Isaac Odell was born in the town of Greenburgh October 16, 1820, on the old family homestead, which had been the dwell- ing-place of his grand- father, Joseph Odell, and his ancestors before him. His father, Joshua Odell, married Jane, daughter of Jacob Lent, and Mr. Odell remained with his parents till he reached the age of twenty-two, when he start- ed to seek his fortune, and went to New York, where he first obtained employ- ment in a grocery store.

A year later he began the business on his own ac- count, and eontiuned it for twenty years. In 1862 he established a sugar refinery, which he condneted till National Bank, having been eonneeted with it as di- rector since 1857.

From 1875 to 1882 he was president of the Merean- tile Bank. Owing to declining health he resigned this position and retired from active business, spend-

1 Rufus King, in Magazine of American History, vol. iv. p. 389.

ENG

"LAKESIDE." RESIDENCE OF JOSEPH STAPLES. JR., HARTSDALE, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N. Y

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ing a large portion of his time upon his farm in Green- burgh.

This farm, which was the early home of his wife, has an historical interest as being the place where Washington encamped his troops after the battle of White Plains, and still bears the name of " Washing- ton Hill," and is on the north side of the old road from Dobbs Ferry to White Plains.

The old homestead of the Odell family stood on the east side of the Saw-Mill road, on the north side of Jackson Avenue; and four acres at the corner of those roads, which are now in the possession of Mr. Odell, include the site of the ancient mansion, which was destroyed about 1830. It was built long before the Revolution.

Mr. Odell married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Hopkins. Their children are Charles M., Emma E., Arthur L., William I. and Isaac Herbert. Mr. Odell has long been connected with the Methodist Episco- pal Church and for many years was a trustee of the old church in Duane Street, and at the present time is president of the board of trustees of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, on Seventh Avenue New York City. He is known as one of the old citizens of New York, and has been a witness of its rapid growth, and there are few who are better ac- quainted with its business interests. He has long been one of the trustees of the Northern Dispensary of New York, and takes a deep interest in its work of usefulness.

Of the villages or hamlets on the castern borders of the township, and on or near to the Bronx River, the one farthest to the south is Greenville. It is situ- ated on the Boulevard, or the Westchester continua- tion of the Central Park, or Eighth Avenue, about nineteen miles north from the Grand Central Depot in New York City, and about a mile and a half north- west from the Scarsdale depot, just across the Bronx, on the New York and Harlem Railroad. It has a population probably of about one hundred, or per- haps a little over. The only church in the place is the Reformed Dutch Church, whose beginnings date back to 1840, though it was not actually organized as a church until 1842, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Victor M. Hulbert, of Yonkers. It has had since then a succession of ten pastors. The present pastor is the Rev. James E. Graham, who was installed on May 14, 1885. The consistory reports a congregation consisting of about eighteen families, and a member- ship in full communion of fifty-one.

About two miles to the north of Greenville, along the same Boulevard, or Central Avenue extension, are the almost connected villages or hamlets of Hart's Corners and Hartsdale. The former lies more toward the west, the latter toward the east, on a road crossing the Boulevard, and running southeast to the Bronx River. The depot of the New York and Har- leni Railroad is at Hartsdale, directly on the west, or Greenburgh, bank of the Bronx, a trifle over twenty

and one-half miles from the Grand Central Depot in New York City. The two places, if two they can be called, are pleasantly situated in a region of hills and valleys, and together have probably a population of about one hundred and fifty or two hundred. There is but one post-office, which is at Hartsdale. There are two stores, a carpenter, a wheelwright and a black- smith-shop, and three saloons at the depot. There is only one church, the Methodist Episcopal, which was organized and the church built "in 1832, during the first cholera season." The little church at the Rocks of Scilly, north of it, was absorbed into this, and the present edifice, in which the worship is now held, , was erected in 1872. The church has a membership of probably not more than sixty altogether. The Rev. D. W. C. Van Gaasbeck is its present pastor.

It was not far from Hart's Corners and Hartsdale, but across the Bronx, that occurred one of the prelim- inary collisions between the British and the Ameri- can troops a few hours before the battle on Chatter- ton's Hill. Referring to the British advance nortli- ward, up the east bank of the Bronx toward White Plains, and toward Chatterton's Hill, in Greenburglı, it is stated in the " Battles of the United States," by Henry B. Dawson, Esq., vol. i. p. 178, that

" The light infantry and chasseurs drove before them the pickets and ad- vance parties from the American camp until a party of two thousand East- ern troops, under General Spencer, which had been sent out to check the enemy's progress, were encountered, near the present village of Hart's Corners, a little more than a mile south of the lines. This party was advantageously posted on the old York road, and gave the advancing Hessians a full discharge of musketry, which threw them into disorder ; yet they themselves appear to have been terror-stricken at what they had done, and retired from their position, passing through the Bronx at the 'ford,' a short distance below the railroad bridge, between White Plains and Hart's Corners, and, seeking refuge in the hills of Greenburgh, closely pursued by a brigade of Hessians, commanded by Count Rahl, who afterwards abandoned the chase, and took a position on a hill, south from Chatterton's Hill, on the western margin of the Harlem Railroad."

The distance is not over a mile and a half, or two miles at the farthest, up the Boulevard from Hart's Corners and Hartsdale northward to the almost trian- gular extension of the village of White Plains, which here projects itself across the Bronx River into the township of Greenburgh. On the south side of this extension stands Chatterton's Hill, famous in history as the spot upon which was fought the chief part of the battle often spoken of as the battle of White Plains, but in reality the battle of Chatterton's Hill, in the township of Greenburgh, on Monday, October 28, 1776.

Sir William Howe, not deeming it prudent to at- tack the fortified camp of the Americans on New York Island, made a movement to cut off Washington's communications with the Eastern States by landing troops on the north shore of Long Island Sound, to penetrate up the country, and, at the same time, Oc- tober 9, 1776, sent three frigates, under Captain Hyde Parker, up the Hudson River to Tarrytown, partly to embarrass the communication with the west shore of the Hudson, and partly to excite an uprising of the

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Westchester Tories. Captain Parker at that time vis- ited the Philips' Manor-Ilouse in Sleepy Hollow, but although its proprietor had no sympathy with the col- onies struggling for their independence, his mission, owing to different causes, was not attended with suc- cess.

Washington, however, saw through the designs of General Howe, and having withdrawn from the city of New York, moved his army slowly up the western bank of the Bronx River, but keeping his front to the east, toward the British, who were moving up on the opposite bank. In this way he proceeded toward White Plains, in the heart of Westehester County, taking care, however, that his left was always in ad- vance of the British right.

"General Washington," says Ramsay, in his " His- tory of the American Revolution," page 309, " while re- treating from New York Island, was careful to make a front towards the British, from East Chester almost to White Plains, in order to secure the march of those who were behind, and to defend the removal of the sick, the cannon and stores of his army. In this man- ner his troops made a line of small detached and in- trenched camps on the several heights and strong grounds 1 from Valentine's Hill on the right (down near the southeast corner of the old township of Youk- ers) to the vicinity of the White Plains on the left."

It was in the execution of this movement that the two hostile armies came together, and the battle was fought on Chattertou's Hill. As the general Revolu- tionary History of Westchester County has been as- signed to an eminent historian, who is facile princeps in this department, there is no occasion here for going into detail, and the reader is referred for a fuller ac- count to his interesting paper in another part of this work.

The merest outline will here suffice. General Wash- ington having strongly intrenched himself north of White Plains village, in anticipation of a British at- tack, sent, on October 27, 1776, two militia regiments south westward across the Bronx, to throw up intrench- ments on Chatterton's Hill. The next morning. the 28th, he ordered Colonel Haslet, with his Delaware regiment, with a battalion of Maryland troops and others, for the most part militia, numbering about sixteen hundred, to join those already on the hill. The whole force was under the command of General McDougall.

While the enemy were moving northward, up the east bank of the Bronx, as if to attack the intrenched position above the village, it was observed by Colonel Haslet that they suddenly halted. The British otli- cers held a council of war on horseback in a wheat-

field south of the village, and immediately afterwards their forces, instead of moving northward as before, began to move westward toward the Bronx, intending evidently to dislodge the Americans on Chatterton's Hill. They placed some dozen cannon or more on the high ground opposite, and east of the hill and the river, and opened a furious fire on MeDougall and his forces, Meanwhile, under eover of the fire, the Brit- ish constructed a temporary bridge over the Bronx and prepared to cross.

To receive them, MeDougall placed two cannon on the rocky ledge fronting the river, which did fearful execution among his assailants. Captain Alexander Hamilton, who afterwards perfornicd so important a part in his country's history, was then a young officer of artillery, and had the two cannon in charge. Many years afterwards, standing on the spot, and describing the battle to a friend at his side, he said, " For three successive discharges the advancing column of British troops was swept from hill-top to river." Finding it impractieable to scale the rocky ascent, the enemy moved southward down the river, and joined the foree under Colonel Rahl, who had already crossed over to the western bank, a quarter of a mile below.

By this movement General MeDougall, being sub- jected to an attack upon his right flank, was obliged to fall baek. Although he disputed every foot of the ground to the summit of the hill, the British cavalry finally gained the top, and made a charge upon the militia, before which they were compelled to give way. The Delaware regiment and a part of MeDou- gall's brigade made a last stand behind a fenee on the hill, but to no purpose. The Americans effected an orderly retreat back to the intrenched position above the village, and cast of the Bronx, and the British did not attempt to follow up their advantage. The British commander seemed at one time to contem- plate an attack upon Washington's main position, but he finally gave it up as an unpromising attempt and moved off, foiled of his intention, first to Dobbs Ferry, and then to King's Bridge, where lie en- camped on the 13th of November. The Americans lost about eighty prisoners and one hundred killed and wounded, and the British lost about two hundred and twenty-nine.

In regard to the battle at Chatterton's Hill and to the forces engaged in it, the following recent state- ments are given in a volume published by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1884, entitled, "The Hessians and other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. By Edward J. Lowell, with Maps and Plans," on pages 76 to 78.

"On the 2sth of October Sir William Howe found Washington's army novantageously posted behind the village of White Plains, It numbered somewhat more than thirteen thousand men, of whom abont fifteen hun- dred occupied Chatterton Hill, on the extreme right of The American position, and were separated from the main body by the river Bronx. Sir William determined lo attack this right wing. Une English and two I lessian regiments, supported by the lessinn grenadier, fondled the

1 It was probably during this northward march through Greenburgh that Washington had his headquarters at the place, heretofore referred to, known as " Washington Hill," n nume given to the neighboring ele- valiou on the west, from the circumstance that he sometimes reported to it to make u reconnoisance.

Leans Roberts

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Bronx and scaled the steep and rocky sides of the hill. The regiment Von Lossburg was obliged to charge through a burning wood and to face the heaviest American fire. Its loss in killed and wounded was not far from fifty men. The result of the contest might have been doubtful had not Colonel Rahl, commanding his own regiment and that named after Knyphausen, also forded the Bronx, outflanked the Americans, and as- sisted the troops which were making the attack in front. The river was deep, and the Hessian soldiers hesitated to enter it. Lieutenants Wiederhold and Briede dashed in first to set them an example. We shall hear more of the former of these officers. The second fell a few days later at the taking of Fort Washington.

"Some of the Americans fought fairly well on this occasion against much superior numbers. They had an undoubted advantage of position, and made good use of it, inflicting a loss of about two hundred and eighty killed and wounded on their enemy. llowe mentious iu his dis- patches the good service done by the English and llessian artillery. Heister's adjutant-general says that the Hessian field-pieces made such a 'thunder-storm ' that one could neither see nor hear. The Americans had but three small cannon on the hill.

"The American army at this time was largely composed of militia- men, sent by the various States for short periods of service. These militiamen were in great measure ill-armed and in rags, undisciplined and commanded by officers who had but a few months before left the desk or the plongh. While some of these improvised officers were per- sons of character aud talent, others possessed no merit but their ability to raise men. The men thus raised would consider and treat such an officer as an equal, 'and in the character of an officer,' says Washington, ' regard him no more than a broomstick.' Some of the Americans had distinguished themselves by deeds of valor, but, like all raw recruits, they were subject to panics, often entirely unreasonable. These facts must coustantly be borne in mind, or the story of the Revolution be- comes incomprehensible. Sir William lowe, on the other hand, com- manded a regular, disciplined soldiery, scarcely to be surpassed in Europe, and provided with everything desirable for the conduct of a war.

" For three days after the engagement at Chattertou Hill the armies stood facing each other and strengthened their fortifications. On the night of the 31st of October Washington retreated to a strong position above White Plains, and lowe on the morrow, after harassing the Amer- ican rear-guard, turned his attention to a new scheme."

It was at this battle on Chatterton's Hill that Joseph Gedney,1 a notorious Westchester Tory, put a brand of infamy upon his name and memory that time has never yet, after the lapse of over a hundred years, been able to efface. A thorough-paeed oppo- nent of the patriot eause to the end of the war, the national triumph made the country too warm to hold him, and so, leaving his country for his country's good, he emigrated to Nova Scotia. At the battle of Chatterton's Hill, after the failure of the enemy's attenipt to reach the top of the hill by ascending its steep and rugged face toward the east, he volun- teered as guide to the Hessians, and led them half a mile or so to the south, where the ascent is com- paratively easy. The attack was made from that direetiou, aud, thus taking our forees in the flank, it finally proved successful. He earned his reward with those to whom he afterwards went, but he earned for himself also a place within the scope of Moore's fiery malediction upon all traitors :

"Oh for a tongue to curse the slave Whose treason, like a deadly blight,

1 Lorenzo Sabine, in the first volume of his "Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution," Boston, 1864, p. 468, gives the orthography of his name as Gidney, and says " lle was the owner of the land ou which the battle of White Plains was fought, and conducted the British Army thither." This matter of orthography and owner hip are both doubtful. lle went first to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, and afterward removed to Digby Neck, where he died, at Bridgetown, in 1811.

Comes o'er the councils of the brave, And blasts them in their hour of might !"

A centennial celebration of the battle was arranged for, under the auspices of the Westchester County Historical Society, to be held on Chatterton's Hill, in Greenburgh, on Saturday, October 28, 1876. A platform had been erected there for the purpose, but the day proved stormy and disagreeable, and it rained so persistently that the large number of persons who eame to attend it could not be expected to stand during the exercises under the open sky. After the laying of the corner-stone for a monument to mark the spot, it was deemed necessary to adjourn from the battle-ground to the village of White Plains, on the' other side of the river, where the remainder of the proceedings were held in the Court-House. There the address was delivered by the Hon. Clarkson N. Potter, Representative in Congress from the distriet. The lower part of the pedestal for the monument was intended to be twelve feet square, and to have a can- non at each eorner. During its previous session, Congress had donated three cannon for that purpose. The front of the monument was designed to have the inseription : " Battle of White Plains, October 28, 1776," and the rear the inscription: "Erected by the People of Westchester County, October 28, 1876."

Mr. Lewis Roberts, widely known throughout social, religious and business cireles in Westchester County, is of Welsh descent. His great-grandfather, who was a relative of De Witt Clinton, came with tlie ancestor of that gentleman, Charles Clinton, to this country in 1729, and settled in Orange Coun- ty, N. Y. His son beeanie a merchant and manufac- turer at Salisbury Mills, also in that county, where his grandson, George Talmadge Roberts, father of Lewis Roberts, was born September 7, 1790.

George T. Roberts was a professional gentleman of mueh learning and ability, and for many years was connected with the public seliools in Ontario County, N. Y., where at one time he conducted a school of his own. Mr. Roberts married Miss Anna Fisk, who was born at Springfield, Mass. She was of English descent, her ancestors having been residents of New England for upwards of two hundred years. This lady, who had the misfortune to lose her parents in early life, was brought up under the guardianship of her unele, the eminent Baptist clergyman, Rev. John Leland, the influence of whose example and teachings was refleeted through her whole life, she being dis- tinguished for her strength of character and purity of life. Mrs. Roberts died in the western part of the State of New York in 1858.

Her husband, after relinquishing his profession, re- tired to a farm which he had purchased in York, Livingston County, N. Y. There Lewis Roberts, the fifth of eight children, was born June 6, 1826. When about six years of age his father removed to Parma Centre, Monroe County, N. Y., where the young man

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remained till the commencement of his business career. Between the ages of twelve and sixteen he attended a small private school taught by a Cougrega- tional clergyman, Rev. Mr. Carver, an eminent Chris- tian scholar and enthusiastie teacher, whose character and example left their impress on the mind of his pupil. He next entered the Brockport Collegiate Institute, where he pursued a two years' course, fiual- ly closing his school-days at that institution at the age of eighteen. He then began business as a clerk in the wholesale dry-goods establishment of W. H. Greenough, in Rochester. Here he remained for two years, when, in connection with his brother, Charles Roberts, he opened a general store at Parma Centre. In the spring of 1849 he sold his interest and became a partner in a large Rochester flonring-mill, where he continued till the spring of 1851, when he moved to New York City. He established the produce com- mission-house of L. Roberts & Co., which, for a quar- ter of a century, conducted a large and successful business, receiving flour and grain from more than sixteen States of the Union.

Mr. Roberts finally retired from the produce busi- ness to engage in the construction of railways, several roads, East and West, being the result of his efforts. He was also occupied extensively in the building of telegraph lines. He was at one time vice-president of the United States Telegraph Company, and, in connection with D. N. Baruey, Colonel E. B. Morgan and his brother Henry, of Aurora, N. Y., constructed the line owned by that company from Chicago to San Francisco. The magnitude of this enterprise will hardly be realized unless it is remembered that this line was built previous to the construction of any railroad west of the Mississippi River. Many of the poles used in its erection were hanled by four-horse and eight-ox teams for days across boundless prairies and over high mountains before reaching their final destination. This work was under a contract with Brigham Young, secured by Mr. Roberts, to whom the honor of making the erection of the line possible is largely due. The United States Telegraph Com- pany finally shared the fate of all opposition lines, and was sold to the Western Union. While engaged in telegraph construction Mr. Roberts was instrumen- tal in the erection of more than twenty thousand miles of poles, which, if stretched in one' direction, would support a line of wire almost sufficient to girdle the earth.

One of the most noteworthy features of Mr. Roberts' career is the prominent part which he took in the organization and promotion of the Mercantile Library Association of Brooklyn, now known as the Brooklyn Library. He was the first president of this associa- tion, and it was largely through his public-spirited efforts that the institution became the success that it now is. He devoted much time and labor to it, and was associated with many of the most prominent men in Brooklyn. Among those who, directly or indi-

rectly, contributed to the result, and co-operated with Mr. Roberts and the directors of the library, were Rev. R. L. Storrs, D.D., Rev. George W. Bethune, D.D., John H. Raymond, LL. D., Rev. Heury Ward Beecher, Rev. Dr. Farley, James P. Wallace, A. A. Low, L. B. Chittenden, J. I. T. Stranahan, Esq.

Sinee 1883 Mr. Roberts has been a member of the New York Stock Exchange and is now engaged'in the banking business at No. 18 Wall Street. For some time past he has been deeply interested in and has given much attention to the development of nat- ural gas for fuel throughout the western part of this State and in Pennsylvania.

Iu 1861 he moved his residence to Tarrytown and in 1871 began the purchase of land at Tarrytown Heights, where he owns now about six hundred aeres. His handsome residence is within these grounds. This tract is one offering peculiar attractions to the lovers of natural scenery, to whom it proffers an un- surpassed river view of more than twenty tuiles, and an extensive prospect of the lower range of the Cats- kill Mountains, as well as a noble outlook of vale aud hill to the east and south.

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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 67

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