History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 79

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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These he took upon a fishing sehooner to Province- town, at the extreme end of the Cape, and disposed of them by peddling from house to house. He entered the law school of Harvard College September, 1845, and continued his law studies at Cambridge and in the office of the late Charles D. Thomas, of Boston, till April, 1848, during which time he taught two terms of three months each, one at Dennis and one at the academy in his native town, at which he prepared for college. He was admitted to the bar in Boston, February 12, 1848. Shortly after he opened an office in Court Square, and to make the most of his time he took board and opened an office also at South Read- ing, Middlesex County, at which he did business in the evening each day after his return from Boston. The business placed in his hands was conducted with such active energy that his practice rapidly increased both in city and country. The result of the first year was an income of three thousand dollars, and he con-

tinued his practice until May 1, 1853, at which time he had accumulated ten thousand dollars, besides having assisted his two sisters and a younger brother to attend school, and repaid with interest the small amount which his father had been able to advance to- wards his education. October 28, 1850, he married Martha G. Wiley, daughter of Benjamin B. Wiley, Esq., of South Reading, and to her wisdom and pru- dence, devotion and support, he attributes his subse- quent success not less than to his own efforts.

In 1851 he became connected with a lawsuit invol- ving a contract for manufacture of a newly invented sewing-machine. This proved to be one of the most important events of his business life. His elients, seeing his interest in their invention and success, proposed to admit him as a partner with an equal in- terest upon most favorable terms.

Accepting the proposition, he embarked all his savings in the manufacture of this machine in Bos- ton, while he continued to work at his profession. This manufacturing and consequent commercial business developed so rapidly that he removed to New York, to direct it from that centre, where he has resided since 1853. The sewing-machine busi- ness was soon afterward incorporated as a stoek com- pany, and Mr. Potter became its president and has remained so to the present time. His unshaken faith in the progress and future development of New York City eaused him to invest largely in real estate, and there have been few seasons when his workmen have not been adding to the taxable property, beauty and business capacity of the city, He is now en- gaged in completing one of the largest and finest structures in the city, eleven stories high and entirely fire-proof, at the corner of Park Row and Beekman Street, which furnishes over two hundred separate of- fices above the first story. To it the public have, by common eonsent, given his own name.

In 1869 he purchased a large farm upon the Hud- son, near Sing Sing. Here he established his sum- mer residence and has indulged, to the fullest ex- tent, his love for agriculture and its advancement. His farm occupies nearly five hundred acres, upon which he keeps two hundred eows and a large herd of young stock of his own raising. In summer he personally directs and participates in the work of the farm and the care of the stock, while coming daily to the city to attend to his business interests.

In political life Mr. Potter was originally connected with the Whig party and voted with it till 1860, when he cast his vote with Mr. Lincoln. In 1861 he attached himself to the Democratic party, and since that time has been its staunch supporter. Upon the 14th of August, 1861, he laid before the Secretary of the Treasury (Chase) a plan which must ever rank him among the benefactors of the country. This plan was for the establishment of our national bank- ing system and a national currency, and its wisdom and importance are fully recognized at the present

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time, when, instead of a fluctuating and uneertain State eurreney, we find the notes of the National Banks seenred beyond the possibility of failure, and eireulating with equal value from Maine to California and from Oregon to Texas.

How clearly Mr. Potter comprehended this system and its results, an extraet from his letter to Secretary Chase, writen August 14, 1861, urging its adoption may show. In that communication he said: "The objeets which will be secured by this plan are: First. It is obvious that the bills thus secured will have, in whatever state issued, a national circulation, and be worth the same in all parts of the country ; nay, these bills would be worth their face wherever Ameri- can commerce is known. A ready medium of ex- change would be always at hand throughout the country and between all parts of it, and all fluetua- tions and trouble in this respect would be forever ended.

"Second .- The fact that in this way banks and bank- ers could obtain a national circulation for their bills would make United States stocks eagerly sought after by them, and their price would be always maintained at or above par, though they bore only a low rate of interest. Four per cents could never fall below par after this system is fairly understood and at work.

"Third .- This will enable capitalists in the older States, by investing in United States stocks, to en- gage in banking and furnish a currency to the younger States which will be equally serviceable to them as if issued in their own States. A bill thus secured issued in Boston will circulate as well in Ore- gon as if issued in Oregon, and probably better."

Mr. Potter is an earnest advocate of the right and duty of local self-goverment for municipalities, subject only to the Constitution and General Laws of the State. He has devoted much time and effort to secure this to the city of New York. He took a lead- ing part in seenring the passage of laws under which the city debt is being refunded at a low rate of inter- est and put upon a course of extinguishmient. It was largely owing to his influenee that the law for the destruction of the Forty-second Street Reservoir was deelared unconstitutional by the court and repealed by the Legislature and the reservoir saved for the city.

His name is intimately connected with the chari- table institutions of New York. He has besides a Home for Poor Children upon his own farm, and sup- plied from his garden and dairy, under his personal care. Perhaps the secret of his success may be found in the fact that he has the complete mastery and con- trol of all the details of his business. The cultivation of his fields and the construction of his warehouses and buildings are alike under his supervision, while in the many important law cases which have come under his eare he has proved himself to be foremost among his equals, and his persevering industry and undaunted conrage have made the humble farmer's ii .- 31

boy the man of wealth, high social standing and po- litieal honor.

Mr. Potter's wife, Martha G. Wiley, died Febru- ary, 1879, leaving one son, Frederick, who is a mem- ber of the New York bar, and three daughters, Mar- tha, Mary (wife of Walter Greer, Esq.), and Blanche.

Mr. Potter was married a second time, April 13, 1880, to Miss Mary Kate Linsly, daughter of Dr. Jared Linsly, of New York, who, like Mr. Potter's father, was a native of Northford, Conn.

The election of Mr. Potter to represent the eleventh congressional district was a worthy recognition of the professional and business eminence to which he had at- tained by long years of active industry and energy. From the day when he took his seat in the halls of national legislation, the weight of his influence and the power of his reasoning and eloquence were devoted to the advancement of the business interests of the nation. Possessing much oratorical power, his speeches uever failed to attract attention and command respect. With his thorough knowledge of monetary affairs it is not strange that his principal efforts were directed to the consideration of the national financial system, and one of his ablest speeches was delivered in the House of Representatives January 15, 1885, on "Refunding the Bonded Debt of the United States." He was also influential in extending the free-delivery system, thus adding greatly to the usefulness and efficiency of the postal service; and in short it may be justly said that during the whole of his congressional career he was the worthy representative of the class to which he belongs, the eminent and successful business men of the great metropolis.

The scenery at Sing Sing, indeed, from the hills and terraces of every portion of the town of Ossining, is extremely beautiful. There is no portion of the valley of the Hudson River more picturesque than this. The broad expanse of the Tappan Zee, and of the Haverstraw Bay, divided by the long and narrow peninsula known to the world as " Teller's Point," of Revolutionary fame; the Palisades, far to the south; the triple-headed mountain, known as the "High Taurn," rising eight hundred and fifty feet above the river level, in the northwest; with the distant domes of the rugged Highands far to the northward, em- braces a stretch of over thirty miles, with flourishing villages and hamlets here and there, all in full view ; the bosom of the noble river is whitened with the sails of a multitude of eraft of every sort, from the delieately modeled private yacht, the fishing smaek, the plain, old-fashioned market sloop or schooner, to the more pretentious coasting brig, and sometimes the old ships-of-the-line, on their way to West Point, or on their return ; to these must be added the ever- moving steam craft, tugs, ferry-boats, propellers, and the floating palaces, for which our river is famous. These are some of the elements, ever-varying, which conibine to make a scene of indescribable and unsur- passed loveliness, which gives an attractiveness to

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the homes in Sing Sing, unknown to the dwellers of most portions of our beautiful country. It is not surprising that M. De Tocqueville, when standing on the eastern heights of Sing Sing, gazing upon this scene, burst forth in the following strain, "I must ex- cept the view of the Bay of Naples, out of deference to the opinion of the civilized world, but with that exception, the world has not sueh scenery."

There are few things that show to a greater extent the rapid increase of wealth in the country and the elevation of popular taste than the immense amounts expended for floral decorations, which are used alike to adoru the festive board, the social gathering, the public banquet and to decorate the resting-places of the dead.

Charles Frederick William Klunder, who at the present time is the acknowledged leader in the busi- ness of florist and decorator, is a native of Prussia and was born in the village of Jingst, on the island of Rugen, January 3, 1838. He carly developed a pas- sionate love of flowers and was accustomed when a boy to decorate the humble home with the wild flowers which grew in the vicinity. He soon entered the employ of a florist in his native country and gained a thorough knowledge of the business. Being naturally of an ambitious disposition, he resolved to seek a home in the New World and landed in New York on the 16th of April, 1866. The first thing he did after obtaining lodgings was to advertise for a situation as assistant gardener and he shortly obtained a position as gardener with Mr. Edward Ridley, of the well known firm of dry goods merchants. The skill and taste which he exhibited in preparing some bouquets for a church festival, so pleased Mr. Rid- ley that he made him a present of twenty dollars, the first money he ever received in the business, in which he has since become famous.

Anxious to find a wider sphere, he became aequain- ted with Mr. Pilat, who at that time held a prominent position in connection with Central Park. Mr. Pilat had recently become the possessor of a place at Sing Sing formerly owned by Mr. Locke, who had expen- ded so much money in beantifying the premises that they had acquired the name of the " Lockadian Gar- dens." It was proposed that Mr. Klunder should lease this place and engage largely in the business of raising flowers for the New York market. It was thus taken for a year and the work of transforming it in- to an extensive floral establishment at onee com- menced. At the end of the year, Mr. Klunder pur- chased the property and has since made this his home. In 1875, the premises were enlarged by the purchase of adjoining land, and the whole is now occupied with an extensive series of green houses covering an arra of more than sixty thousand square feet. Mr. Khuinder first opened a store of his own in New York. October 11, 1869, in what was known as the " Ileck- sher House " on Broadway between Twentieth and Twenty-first Streets, but afterwards removed to his

present store directly opposite. Here is exhibited the finest display of cut flowers to be found in the city, offering a spectaele which never fails to attract the attention and exeite the admiration of all observers. The trade is of immense proportions ; more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in value of flowers have been sold annually and ten thousand dollars worth was supplied for a faney dress bail upon one occasion. In addition to his establishment at Sing Sing, Mr. Klunder has also extensive green-houses in New Jersey, with ample facilities for producing the choicest flowers in the greatest profusion. The resi- denee at Sing Sing commands a very extensive view of the river and the villages on its banks for miles in either direction, while the grounds under his skillful care have become miracles of beauty. Mr. Klunder not only leads in the quantity and excellence of his roses and other flowers, but likewise makes a specialty of rare and ornamental plants proeured at great expense and requiring the greatest care.

Besides the private orders for flowers which are very extensive, Mr. Klunder does a wholesale trade all over the United States, sending large quantities to florists in various cities and towns.

The whole business, which has been built up from a small beginning, has been the outgrowth of constant activity and enterprise, and his acknowledged success is the result that naturally follows when a man of talent gives his whole time and thought to one par- tieular thing.

Mr. Klunder married Mary Broseman, who is like himself a native of Germany. They are the parents of four children, Alma, Meta, Henry and Charles.'

Sing Sing is a location of remarkable salubrity, and has always enjoyed an extraordinary exemption from infectious and malarial diseases. In the year 1869 the writer had occasion to refer to the salubrity of this township in his official report, as sanitary inspector, under the Metropolitan Board of Ilealth, from whose published volume for that year? the following extraet is taken, and what was then written is applicable and quite true to- day.

" From the facts above stated, it would naturally be presumed that the people of the town of Ossining would enjoy a remarkable immunity from diseases of all kinds, excepting such as are due to general epi- demic influences, or to the vicissitudes of season, or other meteorological conditions not subject to sani- tary control. Its freedom from swamps, marshes, ponds and stagnant water ; the universal prevalence of springs of clear pure water, and hence of living streams ; the elevation and inclination of the surface; the absence of shops and factories in which occupa- tions are carried on dangerous to life or deleterions lo the surrounding air or adjacent water; the general prosperity and intelligence of the people, which find

1 Thin sketch of My Rionder was contributed by The Exhitor.

: Fourth Annual Report of the Metropolitan Board of Health of the State of New York, 1869, p. 165-166.

C. F. Munday

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expression in the neatness and beauty of their houses and grounds; to all of which may be added the ex- treme loveliness of the scenery, which all ean enjoy, combine to furnish the elements and conditions most favorable to health, happiness and longevity.

"Corresponding with these facts, we find that the inhabitants of this town have enjoyed a high degree of health for many years past, and that this locality has an exalted, yet merited reputation for salubrity and healthfulness; and, accordingly, large num- bers of the city population seek it for summer resi- dence."

The two most important desiderata for Sing Sing, at the present time, are a good system of sewerage and an ample supply of wholesome water. Then should follow the absolute abolishment of cesspools, and soil-vaults, which are the most dangerous and ab- horrent of all human devices ever permitted to exist in an intelligent and compact community.

The deep gulch, known as the Sing Sing Kill, affords by far the most direct and complete outlet for the main sewer of our village. It possesses depth, proper descent, and the additional advantage of water for the frequent flushing of the sewer, which can be made of large iron pipe, of tile or of brick masonry. Another sewer would be required to find its outlet through Cedar Glen, and thus the place could be effectually relieved of the accumulating sewage, which is our present chief source of danger to the public health.

CHOLERA VISITATIONS AT SING SING .- This place, in common with most towns in the United States, was visited in 1832 with the Asiatic cholera. It first made its appearance on the 17th of July, on which day it attacked five of the convicts at the State's Prison. The disease continued until about the be- ginning of September, during which time there were three hundred and seventy-six cases, one hundred and three of which proved fatal. Many of the prison officials were taken with the disease, but none died of it. There were but two fatal cases in the village, bothi of whom were dissipated characters who had come here from New York City. The health of the village was exceptionally good, with the exception of a con- siderable number of mild cases of diarrhea, believed to be of a choleraic type.

In 1849 the disease returned to this place, but took the reverse course from what it had taken in 1832. The village suffered on this occasion, and the inmates of the prison entirely escaped. The first case of cholera appeared near the docks; it was fatal, the victim being an Irish woman of intemperate habits, who was found dead in her bed on the 22d of August. The disease continued here for about a month, being chiefly confined to the laborers who lived near to where the disease began. The precise number of victims is not known ; it is said to have killed fifty or sixty, one-third of whom were children. During the prevalence of the pestilence a pest-house was erected

on the ridge, west of Havel Avenue, on the grounds above Dr. Parson's place, where a number of cases were taken for treatment.

On the 17th of July, 1854, a genuine case of Asiatic cholera occurred at the male department of the State's Prison, in this place. It was fatal. In the course of a month over forty additional cases occurred, of which eleven proved fatal. There were many cases of milder cholera, or choleraie diarrhea. The writer was at that time the physician and surgeon of the male and female departments of the prison. There were no eases among the one hundred female convicts. There were several cases in the village, some of which were fatal. It will be observed that the cholera began at the prison in 1832 and in 1854, in both years on the 17th of July.

GROWTH AND POPULATION OF SING SING AND THE TOWN OF OSSINING,-Soon after the close of the Revolutionary War a grist-mill was built and put in operation, near to the present position of the Arcade File Works. About this time there was one or more stores at the upper dock, Mark Yale being the best remembered merchant of that day, and here it was that most of the business of the town was transacted. At this period Sparta was engaged in an active compe- tition with Sing Sing, and for a time it was nip and tuck, as the former place threatened to outstrip the latter in growth and prosperity. The scale was finally turned, and Sing Sing gained the ascendency, and attracted business and population, especially after the construction of Highland turnpike, or Albany Post Road. The people to this day speak of the " Albany Post Road," and now and then, between here and New York York City, one of the old brown milestones is to be seen by the road-sid like a lonely tomb-stone, which it much resembles, in mourning for the days of yore.

In after-years there was also constructed the " Bed- ford Pike," sometimes called the Croton turnpike, a stage route run by Hachaliah Bailey, of Somers, front Danbury to New York in winter, and in summer connecting with the steamboat "John Jay," at the Sing Sing landing. Captain Bailey owned and com- manded the "Jay." " The Danbury Stage Road " ended where the First National Bank now stands, which spot was then occupied by the modest residence of Esquire Charles Yoe, an upright, sterling man, who for many years was the only justice of the peace in this section of the county. The writer well remem- bers, when a boy, to have paid " toll" at the " toll- gate " then swinging across " the pike," near the en- trance to Mr. John V. Cockeroft's grounds.

The earliest statistics of the population of Sing Sing which I have been able to obtain are from the Rev. Mr. Watson's historical sketch, which I have found a useful paper, which shows that abont the years 1828-30, the population of this village and its immediate vicinity amounted to eleven hundred in- habitants. It is now over seven thousand ; that of

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the township, inelnding the inmates of the prison, reaches about ten thousand.

In consequence of the numerous and extensive fires, an aeeount of which will be found in another place, as well as from the rapid transit afforded by the railroad, and many other causes, this village has made a good de- gree of progress, growth and improvement during the past third of a century. The writer took up his residence in this place as long ago as that, and has had a per- sonal knowledge of every change which this period of time has brought about. When he came to Sing Sing the entire amount of sidewalks, which consisted of little patches in a few places, if aggregated, would not measure five hundred feet in all. We walked along. Main Street on sidewalks of mud or ashes, and near where the Croton Aqueduct crosses this street were rude steps of boards and pegs. The long and handsome line of stores and neat sidewalks now to be seen is in striking contrast with the wretched little shops and tenements which then made np our Main Street. And everywhere the improvement and growth has kept pace with this. Many streets and hundreds of pleasant cottages now occupy what were then the pasture fields for stray village eows and migratory goats. Should the place continue to in- prove and grow at the same rate in the next third of a century as in the past, it will be a place of beauty and of much importanee. What the village partieu- larly needs is a number of factories to furnish work for our laboring people. Our village is not noted for the wealth of its citizens; on the contrary, for the most part, our families are in very moderate eireum- stanees, and dependent upon their occupations for their support. The place is in good order, and abounds in neat, commodious and pleasant homes, and is but slightly marred by unsightly tenements and squalid hovels.

The population of the town of Ossining at the time of its organization, in 1845, was three thousand three hundred and twelve. In 1855 it was five thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight.

ASSESSMENTS AND TAXES,-The total valuation of the real estate of the town of Ossining, as returned by the assessors for the year 1884, was nearly three mil- lions of dollars-accurately, two millions eight hund- red and eighty-four thousand two hundred and twen- ty-eight dollars. On this amount a tax of sixty-seven thousand dollars was levied and paid.

THE OFFICERS OF THE TOWN OF OSSINING are eleeted annually. The following is a list of the first set of officers, elected immediately on the organization of the town, in 1845: Supervisor, George Sherwood; Justices of the Peace, Charles Yoe, Henry Harris, Thomas Cotteral, William Pugsley (Mr. Pugsley de- clined to serve, and was succeeded by David MeBeth); Superintendent of Common Schools, Nichols J. Greene; Assessors, Caleb Smith, William Orser, Ste- phen Marshall; Commissioners of Highways, Edward

J. Bayles, David C. Coddington, John Ryder; Over- seers of the Poor, Willet Holmes, William Mangam ; Collector, Abraham Miller.

THE CHARTER AND OFFICERS OF THE VILLAGE OF SING SING .- The act incorporating the village of Sing Sing was passed April 2, 1813. It provided that on the first Tuesday of May, following, the freeholders and inhabitants who were qualified to vote should "meet at some place to be appointed by any justice or justiees of the peace, within the said village, who should notify the inhabitants thereof, at least one week previous to the said first Tuesday of May, and then and there proceed to elect seven discreet free- hollers, residents within the said village, to be trus- tees thereof." The trustees were to serve for one year. The limits of the corporation were fixed, sub- stantially, as they are at 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 79

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