USA > New York > Rensselaer County > Landmarks of Rensselaer county, New York, pt 2 - 3 > Part 2
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LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.
MRS. EMMA HART WILLARD.
MRS. EMMA HART WILLARD was born in Worthington Parish, Berlin, Conn., Feb- ruary 23, 1787, and was the lineal descendant through her father of Rev. Thomas Hooker, who figures prominently in the early religious history of New England. Her mother was the mother of ten children and the stepmother of seven more, Emma being the sixteenth child of this old-fashioned family. Inheriting the strong and sterling charactisties of her plain but worthy parents she manifested while yet a girl those attributes which inspire others to noble deeds and practical usefulness. Iler ambition as well as hier inclination seems to have been that of a natural educator, especially of her own sex. Beginning with seventy-five cents a week she became a teacher at the age of sixteen, and advancing rapidly she was called to the position of preceptress first in Berlin, Conn., and afterward in Westfield, Mass. In 1807 she became preceptress of a school in Middlebury, Vt., where she met and in 1809 mar- ried Dr. John Willard, who ably seconded her efforts during the remainder of his life. The robbery and failure of the bank with which Dr. Willard was connected led her to open a school for young women in Middlebury in 1814, and it was this venture which really marks the commencement of her career as a noted teacher and philanthropist. Hers had been a good New England training, well absorbed by a good New England character, energy, and idealism. Eager for all mental acquisi- tion and skill she was full of ideas which were then far advanced, and which were received by the older generation with some doubt and considerable disfavor. But her wonderful personality, combined with her rare taet and perseverance, triumphed, and her school soon became widely and favorably known. The contrast of the edu- cation then afforded to girls with that administration in the colleges at her doors led her to introduce many new studies and methods, and the wisdom of her innovations was very soon vindicated. She pre-eminently demonstrated the capacity of young women for higher studies, and Wellsley, Wells, Vassar, Smith, Bryn Mawr, and other noted colleges are now working upon lines which this pioneer teacher projected and established. Mary Lyon followed her audacious and triumphant lead, and others have taught the principles she laid down and developed. It all seems right now --- but at that time her ideas were held as elnmerical. She was a woman of rare intuition and force, of strong individuality, and of great decision and sympathy. Dr. Willard took her at her true value and was her ardent coadjutor.
In Middlebury Mrs. Willard perfected and set forth her plans for improving female education, which comprehended large public buildings a library, laboratory, philo- sophieal apparatus, a large staff of teachers, a body of trustees, and financial aid from the State Legislature. ' It was the nucleus of the present State Normal School system, and to her belongs the honor of developing the idea. To some it seemed revolutionary, impossible, utterly impracticable, but it obtained the warm approval and support of Gov. De Witt Clinton, of New York, who urged her to come to Wa- terford, and establish such an institution, which she did in 1819, removing it to Troy in 1821. Thenceforward she belonged to this State and especially to the county of Rens- selaer, where the remainder of her noble life was spent. By special act State funds were granted in the furtherance of her work, and the seminary she founded was under her charge as principal from May, 1821, until 1838, when she gave it over to her son
MRS. EMMA HART WILLARD.
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BIOGRAPIIICAL.
John II. and his wife Sarah L., who resigned their positions in 1872. Her husband, who had so trusted and seconded her sound judgment and generous labors, died May 29, 1825. Her death occurred in Troy on the 15th of April, 1870.
Mrs. Willard journeyed, wrote, and wrought to the last. Only the Omniscient can measure the fruit and the ever increasing harvest of so true a woman's work. Over 13,000 girls, of whom more than 500 became teachers, received and again dif- fused the influence of her benign labors. Her character, her womanly counsel, her divine precepts, have been felt in almost every community in the United States, for she laid the foundation and developed the system by which thousands upon thou- sands of women obtained those elements of learning that marks the higher educa- tion of to-day so essential to womankind. Many girls who have become prominent as teachers, missionaries, philanthropists, ete., were trained and graduated under her benevolent care, and there are hosts of wives and mothers who received from her that strong and elevating influence which guided them through the thorny paths of life into realms of womanly nobility and equality.
Mrs. Willard left mnumerable friends who within recent years have songht to perpetuate her memory in a more enduring form than personal acquaintance conk maintain, and perhaps the most striking result of their efforts is the Emma Willard statne, which was created in bronze by Alexander Doyle, the celebrated New York sculptor, and which stands a worthy monument to her womanhood and work in the grounds of the Troy Female Seminary. The figure is life-size, sitting, and rests on a pedestal of Quiney granite, six and one-half by eight feet, on the narrow face of which is a bronze tablet with this inscription:
In honor of Emma Hart Willard Who on this spot established A. D. 1821 The first permanent seminary in America for the advanced education of women. Erected by her pupils and friends A. D. 1895.
The statue was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies on May 16, 1895 On the same day the Russell Sage Hall, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Sage, of New York, and the last of the present group of buildings comprising the seminary, was formally dedicated.
GILBERT ROBERTSON, JR.
HION. GILBERT ROBERTSON, JR., came from the best Scotch ancestry, his grand- father, William Robertson, having emigrated from Scotland in 1742, and settled in Washington county, N. Y., where he purchased a large tract of land and resided un- til his death in 1823. William Robertson married Mary Livingston, of Greenwich, in 1775, and among their issue was Gilbert Robertson, father of the subject of this sketch. He married Elizabeth Dow, a native of Scotland, in 1802. Gilbert Robert-
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son, jr., after attending the common school, prepared for college at the academy in Cambridge, Washington county, and at the academy in Herkimer in charge of Dr. Chessel, then a celebrated teacher, and entered Union College in 1833, whence he was graduated in 1837. After leaving college young Robertson taught school at Chat . ham, Columbia county, N. Y., for two years, and in July, 1839, entered the law office of Crary & Fairchild, at Salem, and continued it until November, ISto, when he re- moved to Troy and studied law with Hayner & Gould, then a distinguished firm of attorneys and counselors in that city. He was admitted to the bar in 1843, and at once began the practice of his profession with Judge Isaac MeConihe, and ever since continued in it.
In 1843 Mr. Robertson was elected a trustee of the public schools of Troy, and served for three years, originating many reforms in the system then in operation, and by his earnest advocacy securing an appropriation for the promotion of the cause of education twice as large as that which heretofore had been devoted to the purpose. Mr. Robertson was one of the earliest members of the Young Men's Asso- ciation of Troy, and by his counsel and efforts contributed much to its successful de- velopment. Ile served with great usefulness as corresponding secretary and presi- ' dent of the association. In 1867 the governor appointed Mr. Robertson a justice of the Justice's Court in Troy. In the following year the office was made elective, and he was twice chosen to the position, holding the office live years, during four of which he also served as police magistrate, leaving a record behind him of official in- tegrity and stern administration of justice. In 1851 he was elected recorder of Troy for four years, by virtue of which office he was judge of the Recorder's Court and a member of the Common Council. As a member of the council he exercised a com- manding degree of influence in all matters of importance, and was the warm friend and advocate of all local improvements calculated to beautify the city or promote the health and happiness of its inhabitants. It was in the position of police magistrate and recorder that he first demostrated the possession of those qualities of unyielding firmness, combined with judicial fairness and impartiality, and an intelligent appre- ciation of the law, which he subsequently exhibited in an eminent degree while gracing the office of judge of Rensselaer county, to which he was elected in 1859, and re elected in 1863. Hle discharged the duties of this position with serapulous fidelity to every public and private interest, holding the scales of justice with equal poise between man and man, lending a personal dignity and charm of manner to the office which few men have ever surpassed, and winning the respect and confidence of the community by the nprightness of his course, the honesty of his purpose, the clearness of his decisions, and his mastery of the principles of the law and their ap- plication to the rules of evidence and the practice of courts. Judge Robertson also had a long and honorable political career. In December, 1869, President Grant ap- pointed him United States assessor of internal revenue for the Fifteenth district of New York State. In 1873 he was appointed postmaster of Troy by General Grant, was reappointed by President Hayes in 1877, and was again reappointed in 1881 by President Arthur. During his ineumibeney of the office he spared no pains to make its administration acceptable to the people, introducing many improvements, and giving greatly increased facilities to patrons. So great was the publie confidence in his integrity and the public appreciation of his intelligent service, that ou both occa- sions when his term was abont to expire, almost every business firm and prominent citizen of Troy, irrespective of party, petitioned for his reappointment.
JOHN HUDSON PECK.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
Judge Robertson was originally a Whig. Upon the formation of the Republican party he joined that organization, and held many responsible trusts under it. He was made chairman of the first Republican committee of Rensselaer county over formed, and with the exception of one year, retained the position for twenty-one years continuously. Ile was a member of the Republican State Committee for sev- eral years, and for three years a member of the executive committee of that body. Hlis influence extended throughout the State, and his counsel and judgment were invoked in deciding some of the most important questions relating to party manage- ment and the enunciation of political principles. He attended, either as a delegate or spectator, almost every convention of his party held in the State within the past twenty-five years, and the same may be said of his attendance upon National Con- ventions. Judge Robertson was true to every official and personal relation of life. His professional brethren respected his legal abilities and attainments as greatly as the people honored him for his faithfulness to all the interests committed to his hands. As a politician, it may be said of him that the offices he held were in no sense commensurate with his merits. In 1886, on the passage by the Legislature of the State of New York of the law creating a State Board of Arbitration, Judge Rob- ertson was appointed a member of said board by the governor and Senate. In iss?, under an act passed by the Legislature creating a State Board of Mediation and Arbitration and enlarging the powers of the board. Judge Robertson was reap pointed, winch position he held until a few weeks before his death. Judge Robert- son married, in 1852, Angeline Daggett, daughter of the late Dr. Joseph Daggett, of Troy, by whom he had three children: Gilbert Daggett, Mary Ehzabeth, and John Livingston. He was born in 1815 and died April 23, 1896, aged eighty-one.
JOHN HUDSON PECK.
JOHN HUDSON PFER, LL. D., of Troy, N. Y., president of The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was born at the city of Hudson N. Y., on the 7th of February, 1838, Ile is the eldest son of the late llon. Darius Peek (born 1802, died 1879), who was for many years county judge of Columbia county, N. Y. His descent on his father's side is from early l'unitan settlers of New England. William Peck, his earhest progenitor in America, emigrated to this country with his wife and son, Jeremiah, in the ship lector, with the company of Governor Eaton and the Rev. John Davenport, and was one of the founders of the colony of New Haven, Conn., in 1638. John Hudson Peek's natal year therefore marked the completion of two full centuries since his earliest American ancestors came to this country.
If space and time permitted, the continuous line of descent, nearly equally divided between farmers and professional men, could be traced to the ninth generation. John Peck, in the sixth, was a soldier in both the French and Revolutionary wars. His patriotic services are commemorated in the Society of Colonial Wars by the mem- bership of the subject of this sketch. The Rev. John Peck, a noted divine of the Baptist church, represented the family in the seventh generation. The Hon. Darius Peck, father of John II. Peek, married, in 1838, Harriet M. Hudson (born 1813, died 1863), youngest daughter of Horace Hudson. She was a sister of Mrs. John II.
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Willard and Miss Theodosia Hudson, for many years respectively principal and vice- principal of the Troy Female Seminary, one of the oldest and most noted institutions for the higher education of women in the country,
John II. Peck was prepared for college under the instruction of Mr. Isaac F. Bragg and the Rev. Elbridge Bradbury at the Hudson Classical Institute. He was grad- uated from Hamilton College at Clinton, N. Y., with the class of 1859, from which seat of learning his father was graduated in the class of 1825. He chose law for his profession and studied at Troy under the direction of the Hon. Cornelius L. Tracy and the Hon, Jeremiah Romeyn, and was admitted to the bar at Albany in Decem- ber, 1861. At that time he formed a partnership with Mr. Romeyn which was dis- solved in 1867 whereupon he formed a partnership with Mr. Traey, his former in- struetor, which was only terminated by the final illness of Mr. Tracy,
Since its dissolution Mr. Peck has been intrusted with the legal business of the Troy & Boston railroad, the Troy Union railroad, the Troy Savings Bank and with that of several private trusts and estates involving large interests. By his fellow citizens he is regarded as a conservative, judicious lawyer, thorough in application, assiduous in caring for the interests of his clients, and entirely honorable in his methods.
Mr. Peck has identified himself with educational interests; he became a trustee of the Troy Female Seminary in 1883, and was elected president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1888, which is the pioneer school of civil engineering. He has given both of these famous institutions the benefit of his counsel and studies.
In public affairs Mr. Peck has always manifested an enterprising and progressive spirit. He has frequently been urged to appear before his fellow citizens as a can- didate for offices of power and honor; he has almost invariably declined, but his talents and counsel have always been at the command of the people. He was a val- uable member of the N. Y. Constitutional Convention of 1894, serving on two im- portant committees, education and legislative organization and apportionment.
Mr. Peck is one of the trustees of the diocese of Albany, and was named as an original incorporator of scenic and historie places and objects by the New York Leg- islature of 1895. lle is chairman of the New Court House Commission of his county and one of the trustees for the erection of the Hart Memorial Library. He has done much writing for the newspapers and has delivered occasional addresses. His man- ner of composition is clear, forcible and logical; moreover, his writings are charac- terized by dignity and stamped by culture. He was orator of the Society of the Alumni of Hamilton College at the commencement in 1889, and his discourse was spoken of by the Utica Herald as one of the ablest and most carefully prepared ever delivered before the association, characterized by scholarly thought and fine rhet- orie, The degree of LL. D. was conferred on Mr. Peck at Hamilton College in 1889, In polities he has always been a Democrat and influential in the councils of the party.
August 6, 1883, he married Mercy Plum Mann (born December 23, 1843), second daughter of Nathaniel Mann, of Milton, Saratoga county, N. Y., and a descendant in the eighth generation of Richard Mann, a planter and one of the original land proprietors of Scituate, Mass,
REV. PETER HAVERMANS.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
REV. PETER HAVERMANS.
REV. PETER HAVERMANS was born March 27, 1806, in the province of North Bra- bant, Holland, and received his education in the common schools of his native town, and through the tutorship of his uncle, Rev. John Beyserveld He later studied his harmonies at Thurnhourt, in the school of Dr. De Neff, and in the academy of that city. At the age of seventeen he entered the seminary at Hoeven, where he pursued the study of philosophy for one year, and of the Scriptures for four years.
Father Havermans was ordained with bright prospects by Bishop Von De Velde, at Ghent, June 6, 1830, and came to America in October of the same year. Ile first went to Norfolk, Va., and became a student at Georgetown College, learning Eng- lish. In St. Mary's county, Maryland, he labored twelve years, and largely through the efforts of Bishop Hughes of New York, he came to Troy in 1841, and was made pastor of St. Peter's church, then the only Roman Catholic church of Troy.
In 1843 he built St. Mary's church, of which he has been pastor so long, and in 1847 built St. Joseph's church and gave it to the Jesuit Fathers. While he was pastor of St. Mary's church he had charge of a territory which extended seventy miles north of Troy, from Saratoga to Massachusetts. He then built the old St. Francis church and the Troy Hospital.
His educational work included the founding of the Brothers' Academy, and the securing of what is now known as St. Joseph's Provincial Seminary, and also secured the Goddard school for the Sisters of Charity. On the invitation of Father Ilaver- mans, the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd came to Troy. He took an active part in the enlistment of recruits for the late Rebellion.
A thrilling episode in the life of this priest was the checking of the mob of six hundred armed men who were seeking to destroy the Troy Times office and the Colored Presbyterian church of Liberty street. It was the fearful day, when in oppo- sition to the draft of 1863, the city's streets were thronged with rioters. Father Havermans has always manifested a lively interest in the cause of good government and pure elections, and at the time of the organization of the Troy Committee of Republican Safety, he was made a member of that body, with which his name is still connected. Thirty years ago he made an extensive trip through Europe and visited Pope Pius IX.
MOSES WARREN.
HON. MOSES WARREN was born September 22, 1820. Ilis grandfather, Daniel Warren, participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. His father, Moses Warren, sr., was born in Peterboro, N. II., and removed to Rensselaer county, N. Y., in 1806, and was appointed sheriff in 1821 and elected to the same office in 1826.
Moses Warren, jr., was prepared for college at Ballard Seminary, Bennington, Vt., and entered Williams College in 1837 and was graduated in 1841. He studied law in the office of Rufus and Martin 1. Townsend for two years, was admitted to the bar in 1844 and began practice in Troy.
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LANDMARKS OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.
In 1845 he was appointed justice of the Justice's Court of Troy. In 1859 he was elected surrogate of Rensselaer county, and again in 1863, and by re-elections held the office altogether twenty-one years. In 1860 he was elected a director of the Central National Bank, and vice president in 1875; in February, 1883, he was elected president of the bank and has held that office since; he has been a director of that bank for thirty-five years,
He has always given considerable attention to the practice of the law, and at this date is a member of the firm of Warren, Patterson & Faulkner. He is regarded as among the strong and able lawyers of this part of the State, although his time has been about equally divided between his banking and legal business. In politics he is a Democrat, and is influential in the movements of his party.
In 1857 he was married to Mary M. Lord of Brunswick, by whom he has one daughter, Mary, wife of Edward T. Welsh.
JOHN A. MANNING.
JOHN A. MANNING was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1838. Ilis father came to Troy from the northern part of the State in 1834 and began the manufacture of stoves. In 1846 he engaged in the manufacture of rope manilla paper of great strength of fabric, for special purposes and later used extensively for flour sacks, sand paper and insulating paper. His wife was Susan P. Morrison. He died in 1856, and his wife November 3, 1891.
John A. Manning received his education at private schools and Troy Academy, but was obliged to leave school when seventeen years of age, owing to the death of his father, to take charge of the paper business; this business has grown to be the largest industry of its kind in the world, and has been brought to its present pros- perous condition through the energy and industry of Mr. Manning; he is the prin- cipal owner and the business manager. He is a director in the Troy City Bank and one of the managers of the Troy Savings Bank ; and is a member of the Troy, the Saratoga (of which he is vice-president), the New York, the New York Yacht and the West Island Clubs.
lle married Mary B. Warren daughter of George B. Warren of Troy, and has four children.
ELMER E BARNES.
ELMER E. BARNES, a prominent young lawyer of Hoosick Falls, was born in Corinth, Orange county, Vt., in 1862, a son of Mansfield T. and Lottie (Wilson) Barnes. His father is now a retired manufacturer. His paternal grandfather was a native of England and came to America about 1715, settling in Corinth, Vt. On the maternal side he is of Scotch descent.
Mr. Barnes received his early education in the graded schools of Corinth and at the Eastman Business College, from which he was graduated in 1583. Being in deli-
JOHN A. MANNING.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
cate health, he learned telegraphy and for a year was stationed at Eagle Bridge, fol- lowing which he was employed four years by the Fitchburg Railroad Company.
Deciding to follow the law as his life profession, he entered the office of John E. Madden at Hoosick Falls and went thence to the law department of Union Univers- ity at Albany, from which institution he was graduated in 1890. In 1888 he was elected justice of the peace at Eagle Bridge and held the office five years; during this time by persevering study he laid the foundation of his legal education.
In 1890, soon after his graduation, he opened an office in Hoosick Falls. where he has since practiced with an encouraging degree of success.
GERRIT VAN SCHAICK QUACKENBUSH.
AMONG the early settlers of Schaghticoke, N. Y., to whom certain franchises were granted by the State is found the name of John Quackenbosch, the final syllable. "bosch," being the Dutch spelling. G. V. S. Quackenbush was lineally descended from the sturdy Dutch stock of the last century. The Christian name of his father was Sybrandt. Shortly after the latter's marriage to a Miss Van Schaick he moved to Buskirk's Bridge, Washington county, N. Y. There, on December 12, 1801, was born the son who was destined to be prominently identified with the commercial development of Troy.
An old fashioned copy-book still exists in which this boy Gerrit made his first essays in penmanship. In it are sums in addition, in " s. d. accurately footed up, and specimens of penmanship in boyish writing. Throughout there is not a blemish nor blot, showing that in neatness and accuracy this " boy was father of the man." This boy, however, like most of the successful merchants of his generation in their youth, had but limited educational advantages. When a mere lad he went from the home farm to Albany and there found employment with an uncle, a then prominent business man. Industrious, energetic, economical and faithful to every trust, he eventually rose to be the chief clerk.
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