USA > New York > Westchester County > Manual of Westchester county.Past and present. Civil list to date 1898 > Part 12
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DAVID CROMWELL.
David Cromwell, a former County Treasurer, was born in New York City, on May 25, 1838, a son of John and Letitia (Haviland) Cromwell. When he was eight years of age his parents removed to New Windsor, N. Y. He was educated at the Corn- wall Collegiate School, from which he graduated as a civil engineer and surveyor, which profession he fol- lowed for about one year; then he went to New York city and became engaged in the grain trade. In 1862 he removed to Eastchester, in this
LEWIS C. PLATT.
Eng by E. C. Williams & Bro NY+
Isaac A. Mills
The New York Harry Co
Brugaby Saamaral Sartain.
Photo by Sargnay.
David Cromwell
Ena by E. G. Williams & Bro NY
Ben L.Fairchild
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county, and established a general store, where he continued in busi- ness until 1879. He was elected Su- pervisor of the town of Eastchester in 1877, and re-elected the two fol- lowing years, as the Republican candidate. In the fall of 1878 he ran as the nominee of his party for County Treasurer and was success- ful. This office he held twelve years. He became a resident of White Plains on becoming County Treas- urer, in 1879, and has since resided there. He was chosen president of the White Plains Building and Loan Association in 1888 and still holds that position; was elected President of the village of White Plains in 1894, and served two years. He is president of the Citizen's Associa- tion of White Plains. He was in- strumental in the organization of the White Plains Bank and was elected its first president in 1893; this office he retains. He is also president of the Home Savings Bank of White Plains. He was Treasurer of the village of White Plains from 1889 to 1894. He is a Director in the People's Bank of Mount Vernon, is chairman of Group VI. of the New York State Bankers' Association, elected in Oc- tober, 1897; is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Presby- terian Church of White Plains, has been a member of Hiawatha Lodge, No. 434, F. & A. M., for twenty-five years. Mr. Cromwell was married December 3, 1873, to Miss Fannie Deuel, daughter of Thomas W. and Julia Deuel, of New York City.
JOHN HOAG.
John Hoag, a former Supervisor and County Treasurer, is a native of Westchester County, having been born in the town of North Castle, on August 3, 1847. He is a son of Is- rael G. Hoag and Phebe Carpenter, daughter of Rees Carpenter, of North Castle. He was educated in the Mount Pleasant Military Acad- emy, at Sing Sing. For years Mr.
Hoag has devoted much time to farming and horticultural pursuits, on the Hoag homestead, situated a mile or so north of the village of Sing Sing, and which has been in the possession of the Hoag family
since 1835. The residence is built in the Colonial style of architecture and was erected in 1812; the site commands one of the grandest river views along the Hudson, overlook- ing as it does the whole theatre of the Arnold-Andre conspiracy. The old, massive barn was erected dur- ing the Presidential campaign of 1840, and was named, by the farm- ers who assisted at the "barn-rais- ing," as "Tippecanoe," in honor of William Henry Harrison, and it has since been known as "Old Tippeca- noe." Mr. Hoag was married on October 4, 1870, to Miss Elizabeth Celeste Acker, daughter of Sylvester and Esther M. (Gerling) Acker, of Sing Sing. He has three sons- George F., John, and Henry B. His wife died December 14, 1897. In politics Mr. Hoag has always been identified with the Democratic party, and from his party has received many honors. He was elected Su- pervisor of the town of Ossining, to serve during the years 1873-74-78- 79-80-81. In 1882 he was elected to the Assembly and served one term. He was next elected as County Treaurer and served from 1891 to 1897 (when a candidate for re-elec- tion to this office, in 1893, no can- didate opposed him). Mr. Hoag is also a trustee of the First Baptist Church of Sing Sing, a trustee of the Dale Cemetery Association, a trustee of Mount Pleasant Military Academy, a trustee of the Sing Sing Savings Bank, a director of the First National Bank of Sing Sing, a director and vice-president of the White Plains Bank, and president of the Westchester Trust Company at Yonkers.
BEN L. FAIRCHILD.
Ben Lewis Fairchild, a former member of Congress, was born in Sweden, Monroe County, N. Y., Jan- uary 5, 1863, and is the son of Ben- jamin Fairchild and Calista Schaef- fer, and is of English and German descent. The Fairchilds originally settled in Connecticut at an early period, the family name spreading throughout the country from that point. The American ancestor on the maternal side came over in Wolfe's army in revolutionary days,
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settled and married in New York, had one child, a son, who also had but one son, Jacob Schaeffer, the grandfather of Ben. Lewis Fair- child. Mr. Fairchild's father, at the outbreak of the civil war, enlisted as a private and served through the entire war, at the close of which he had suffered the loss of both prop- erty and health. He was severely wounded during the campaign of the Wilderness. This change in cir- cumstances at the close of the war necessitated the removal of the fam- ily to Washington, D. C., where young Fairchild, then two years of age and the youngest of three chil- dren, was reared and educated. At the age of thirteen he had finished the course in the public schools. For nine years following until 1885 he was in the various departments of the government. His spare hours after business were spent in study. After graduating from a business college he entered the Law Depart- ment of Co ax bia University, grad- uating in 1885 with the degree of LL. M., having previously received the degree of LL. B .; then he re- signed his position in the Treasury Department, was admitted to the Washington bar, and desiring a broader field, removed to New York city. Spending a year in the office of Henry C. Andrews, he passed his examination and was admitted tc the New York State bar in May, 1886. Entering the law office of Ewing & Southard, he became a member of the firm in 1887, un- der the firm name of Ewing, South- ard & Fairchild, General Thomas Ewing, the senior member of the firm, being a former member of Congress from Ohio, Mr. Southard being a former member of Congress also from the same State. In 1893, General Ewing retiring, the firm name became, as now, Southard & Fairchild. Mr. Fairchild's profes- sional career has been devoted to general practice, and he has ap- peared in many important cases. In 1887 Mr. Fairchild took up his resi- dence in Pelham, Westchester County, where he now resides. As a public-spirited citizen he has done more than any other one man to- ward the development of the present beautiful residence village of Pel- ham. In 1893 he was a Republican
candidate for delegate to the Con- stitutional Convention and carried Westchester County, but was de- feated by the Democratic majority in the New York city part of the district. In 1894 he was the Repub- lican nominee for Congress in the Westchester County district, which he carried by fifty-five hundred ma- jority against an opponent who car- ried the district in the previous Congressional election by sixty-five hundred majority, thus securing the distinction of being the only Repub- lican elected to represent the dis- trict, excepting Hon. William H. Robertson, who was chosen for one term, at the close of the war. A friend relates an interesting inci- dent or prediction relative to Mr. Fairchild's going to Congress. When he left Washington in 1885 to seek his fortune in New York, an old friend of the family, on bidding him good-bye, said, "My son, I know you will succeed, and I expect to see you back here in ten years' time as a member of Congress." Mr. Fair- child laughingly replied that such a thing was not probable; that he was going to New York, not to a Western State. He did appear in Washington within ten years, just as his friend had predicted. In Con- gress Mr. Fairchild was accorded a prominent position and was en- abled to be of particular service to his constituents. At the end of his term he again received the regular party nomination, as the courts have decided, but owing to the offi- cial ballots having been wrongfully printed without his name in his party column, he was defeated of a re-election. In February, 1893, Mr. Fairchild married Miss Anna Crum- bie, daughter of the late James and Ann E. Crumbie, an old New York family, and has one child, a son, Franklin Crumbie.
ALSOP H. LOCKWOOD.
Alsop Hunt Lockwood, son of Horatio Lockwood and Bethia (Close) Lockwood, was born at Poundridge, this county, September 17, 1814. Was married December 22, 1836, to Miss Mary Eliza Rey- nolds, daughter of Gideon Reynolds, of Cross River, this county, who
ALSOP H. LOCKWOOD.
ZIBA CARPENTER.
ADDISON JOHNSON.
BENSON FERRIS.
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was the proprietor of the stage route from Danbury, Conn., to New York city. He entered the mercan- tile business and until 1852 con- ducted a general country store at Poundridge. In his early days he was interested in military affairs and was colonel of the Thirty- eighth Regiment New York State Infantry, receiving his commission from Governor Marcy. He served as Supervisor of the town of Pound- ridge from 1844 to 1853 and 1856 to 1868, and at times acted as chair- man of the board. In 1852 he was elected Sheriff of the county and was member of Assembly in 1864 and 1865. Associated with the Hon. William H. Robertson, he was a Commissioner from Westchester County for the erection of the bridge over the Harlem River, at the terminus of Third Avenue, Mor- risania. After his term as Sheriff he resided on the old homestead at Poundridge, which had been in the family since 1740, until 1872, when he sold the property and removed to New York city, where he died December 8, 1874. Like his father, he was a life-long Democrat, and was prominent in the councils of his party for many years.
ZIBA CARPENTER.
Ziba Carpenter, a former Sheriff, was born in the town of Harrison, on February 6, 1834, of Quaker par- entage. A son of Isaac W. and Amy (Ackerman) Carpenter. He was educated in the district schools of his native town. Was married in 1857 to Miss Catherine C. Sniffin, daughter of Jonathan P. Sniffin, of Harrison. His wife died in 1885. Mr. Carpenter was again married in 1886 to
Miss Amelia Leonard, daughter of George L. and Virginia Leonard, of Port Chester. From 1862 to 1868 Mr. Carpenter was a conductor on the Harlem Branch of the New York Central Railroad and his popularity in that position is at- tested by the fact that the patrons of the road presented him with a gold watch, and on his retire- ment, with a silver service valued at $1,800. He served as sutler in the late civil war as a member of the Henry Ward Beecher Brooklyn
Regiment. In politics Mr. Carpen- ter has always been a Republican. He was elected Sheriff of Westches- ter County in 1873 and served from 1874 to 1877; was a United States Post Office Inspector under Presi- dent Arthur's administration; in 1886 he ran as his party's candidate for Assemblyman, but was defeat- ed; in 1888 he was elected a Trustee of the village of White Plains; in 1892 he was unsuccessful as a can- didate of his party for County Clerk; in 1896-7 he served as Com- missioner of Public Works of the village of White Plains. Mr. Car- penter has been engaged in the hotel business thirty years and at one time kept the Westchester House, on the present site of the Grand Union Hotel, Fourth Avenue and Forty-second Street, New York city; was the proprietor of the Stock Yard Hotel, at West Albany, 1868 to 1870; purchased the Ora- waupum Hotel and became its man- ager in 1870, retiring from same on his election as Sheriff; he was also proprietor of the Third Avenue Theatre, more recently Harry Mi- ner's Theatre, New York city.
ADDISON JOHNSON.
Addison Johnson, former Sheriff, was born at Greenwich, Conn., on January 22, 1857, a son of Hugh and Fannie (Rankin) Johnson. When he was ten years of age his parents removed to Port Chester, in this county, where he has since contin- ued to reside. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and in the schools of Port Chester. He is unmarried. Mr. Johnson cannot, truthfully, be termed an office seeker. When he has been chosen to official position it has been the case of the office seeking the man. He has always been popular, especially with the younger element of all political par- ties. This characteristic frequently suggested his becoming a candidate for office, but it was not until 1892 that he consented to become a can- didate, then he was elected Super- visor of the town of Rye, by an un- precedented majority, and served in that office until he was elected and qualified as Sheriff, in 1895. Sheriff
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Johnson proved a most efficient official, ever on duty and attending personally to every detail of his office. It is due to his persistent ef- forts that the Board of Supervisors of the county was convinced that the old county jail had outlived its usefulness, and that to secure the safe keeping of prisoners entrusted to the custody of the Sheriff a more modern and better equipped jail had to be built forthwith. Several Grand Juries commended the offi- cial action of the Sheriff and sup- ported his efforts in favor of better jail facilities. The new jail now being completed is the result. Mr. Johnson is a prominent Republican, one of the recognized leaders of his party in the county. When his term as Sheriff expired, Mr. John- son decided that he would not again be a candidate for public office, and when his townsmen, in the spring of 1898, nominated him for Supervisor, he promptly declined the nomina- tion. In April, 1898, the Trustees of the village of Port Chester unan- imously elected him Village Asses- sor, and overcame his inclination to decline by proving to him that his fellow-citizens demanded that he serve them in this capacity, at this time, notwithstanding that it might be at a personal sacrifice.
STEPHEN S. MARSHALL.
Stephen Sherwood Marshall, a former County Register of Deeds, was born in the village of Sing Sing, in the town of Ossinsing (now Ossi- ning), this county, on August 5, 1837. He is a son of Stephen and Margaret (Sherwood) Marshall. His education was obtained in pri- vate schools of Sing Sing. Mr. Mar- shall became a resident of White Plains in the year 1855. He was married on September 24, 1862, to Miss Hannah J. Anderson, daughter of Isaac and Eleanor Anderson, of New York city. When but nine- teen years of age, in 1856, Mr. Mar- shall was appointed Deputy County Clerk. He continued in this office until 1859, when he resigned to ac- cept appointment as the first Dep- uty County Register of Deeds ever named in this county. In this latter position he served until the end of
1861, when he resigned, owing to having been elected Register of Deeds. Though very young, then only twenty-four years of age, Mr. Marshall was quite well known among public men of the county, and was deservedly popular. How he came to be nominated for Regis- ter is very interesting, and gives a fair exhibition of the energy and pluck that characterized the then styled "boy politician." The county had for years been strongly Demo- cratic, but in 1860-1, at the com- mencement of the civil war, the "War Democrats" and the Republi- cans combined, forming what was known as the Union party, and threatened to play sad havoc with former Democratic majorities. Available candidates on the Demo- cratic side were very few; in fact, when the leaders met in the fall of 1861, to agree on a candidate for Register, men who had been consid- ered in connection with the nomi- nation peremptorily declined, fear- ing an overwhelming defeat. It was when the leaders had about con- cluded to give up in despair that young Marshall came to the front and offered to be the party stand- ard-bearer, remarking that he was confident that a determined and well-directed effort would bring success to the party-anyway, he was willing to take the nomination and make the effort. Surprised, yet pleased, the leaders gratefully ac- cepted the gritty young Democrat and he was duly nominated. Young Marshall in that contest proved himself to be one of the greatest campaigners of which the county ever boasted. His opponent was an elderly gentleman favorably known and prominent as a member of the Union party. Mr. Marshall was elected by a handsome majority, and in 1862 he entered upon the dis- charge of his new duties; he was twice re-elected and served until 1871. From 1877 to 1878 Mr. Mar- shall served as Supervisor of the town of White Plains. Since the latter date he has devoted himself industriously to the practice of his profession, that of law, having of- fices in New York city and in White Plains. As to the official his- tory of Westchester County, as to acquaintance with public men of
STEPHEN S. MARSHALL.
WILLIAM POPHAM PLATT.
JOHN M. DIGNEY.
GEORGE J. PENFIELD.
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the past and present and political knowledge generally, Mr. Marshall is doubtlessly one of the best in- formed.
WILLIAM POPHAM PLATT.
William Popham Platt, former District Attorney, was born in White Plains on May 16, 1858, a son of Judge Lewis Canfield and Laura (Sherbrook Popham) Platt. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and on graduating be- gan the study of law in the office of his father. In 1879 Mr. Platt was admitted to practice at the bar and in the same year his father made him his partner, and the firm of L. C. & W. P. Platt rapidly took a po- sition in the front rank of leading Westchester County lawyers. When the elder member of the firm died in 1893, his son succeeded to the practice, which had steadily grown; soon after Mr. Platt formed a part- nership with Ffarrington M. Thompson, under the firm name of Platt & Thompson, which firm still continues. Following in the foot- steps of his father, Mr. Platt be- came prominent as an advocate be- fore the Surrogate's Court, not only in his home county, but also in the County of New York; by Surro- gates of both counties he has been appointed administrator of import- ant estates, as well as executor and trustee of large properties. As a criminal lawyer, Mr. Platt has a wide reputation; his defence of Frank Brouty, charged with having murdered a Mount Vernon police officer, attracted attention and sug- gested his election as County Dis- trict Attorney. Mr. Platt's first vote was cast for candidates of the Dem- ocratic party, and to that party he has always continued to render faithful allegiance. Up to 1890 he persisted in declining to accept nominations for office, being kept too busily engaged by his law prac- tice, but in the latter year he yielded to the urgings of his friends and became the Democratic nominee for District Attorney of Westchester County. He was elected by a good majority; he was re-elected and served two terms, until 1896. In 1895 Mr. Platt was the nominee of
the Democratic party for County Judge, and though he ran far in ad- vance of his associates upon the county ticket, he was defeated. His popularity has caused Mr. Platt to appear at times disobliging, as was the case when of recent date he was urged to accept nominations for various high and honorable offices, and though success was quite as- sured, his business compelled a de- clination. Since his retirement from the District Attorney's office Mr. Platt has appeared for the de- fense in several most important cases very successfully, among oth- ers the Peter James case, the bur- glar who was put on trial for shoot- ing and killing grocer Walker B. Adams, at Bedford Station, August 19, 1896; in the case of James Kelly, charged with murdering his father- in-law, William Mead. Mr. Platt is a member of the Medico-Legal So- ciety of the United States, a mem- ber of White Plains Lodge, No. 473, F. & A. M., a member of the Dem- ocratic Club, a member of the Knollwood Club, and a member of the New York Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, being eligible to membership in the latter organization from the fact that his paternal grandfather served as a captain in the revolutionary war, and that his maternal great-grand- father also served during the revo- lution as major and aid to General Stuben, and that his maternal grandfather fought for his country in the war of 1812. Mr. Platt was married October 1, 1890, to Miss Sara Stuart Dean, daughter of Moses W. and Sara Stuart Dean, of White Plains, and has one child, a son, Stuart Dean.
JOHN M. DIGNEY.
John McGrath Digney, a former County Clerk, was born in Saratoga village on July 22, 1853, a son of Patrick and Ann (McGrath) Dig- ney. Was educated in the public schools of his native village and at Charlton Academy, where he com- pleted the preparatory course for Union College. When about to en- ter college the death of his elder brother occurred and he was com- pelled to relinquish all hopes of a
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collegiate education and required to enter business pursuits to pro- vide means for the support of his mother, sister and younger broth- ers. He became a resident of Yon- kers in 1872 and there engaged in the hardware business. The first political position held by him was that of Clerk of the City Court of Yonkers, under Judge Ellis, ap- pointed in 1880. County Clerk James F. D. Crane, on January 1, 1883, appointed him Deputy County Clerk. The office of County Clerk becoming vacant in November, 1885, Mr. Digney was appointed to the position by Governor Hill, to fill vacancy until a successor could be elected at the following election. In 1886 Mr. Digney received the Democratic party's nomination for that office and he was elected by an unprecedented majority of 3,800. He was re-elected in 1889 and again in 1892, serving until 1895, when he declined his party's nomination for another term and retired from the office, for the purpose of devoting his time to the practice of his pro- fession. He was admitted to the bar in 1884, having completed his law studies in the office of Matthew. H. Ellis, of Yonkers. Mr. Digney became a permanent resident of. White Plains in 1895. Under the act creating a Water Board for the village of White Plains, he was ap- pointed a Water Commissioner and subsequently was elected president of that body. He is also counsel to the Board of Assessors of the town of White Plains. He is a member of the law firm of Digney & Hor- ton, at White Plains; a member of the New York Bar Association, of the State Bar Association, of the Westchester County Bar Associa- tion, and of the New York Press Club. He was a friend of Charles Stewart Parnell, in the latter's time; of John E. Redmond, of Mi- chael Davitt and other prominent Irish statesmen and politicians when the agitation was carried to the United States for the purpose of getting the moral support of this country to benefit the Irish cause. He is a member of many Irish pa- triotic societies, and has always taken a deep interest in the politi- cal struggles of the Emerald Isle. On February 20, 1879, Mr. Digney
married Sarah M. Shannon, of Yon- kers, daughter of John Murphy, of Malden, Mass. There are of this union two children-Robert E. Dig- ney and Sadie E. Digney.
G. HILTON SCRIBNER.
Gilbert Hilton Scribner, a former Member of Assembly, a former Sec- retary of State, etc., was born in Ogden, N. Y., on June 23, 1831. He was educated in the public schools of his native place, at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and at Oberlin College. At the close of his col- legiate course, in 1853, he went to New York city and there began life, unassisted by friends or acquaint- ances, but possessed of a large amount of determination to do and to win. He succeeded in securing a position in the law offices of Hon. Daniel B. Taylor. Here he indus- triously studied law, and, in 1855, was admitted to the bar. In 1858 he became a resident of Yonkers, and since that time has been closely identified with public affairs in Westchester County. Born of Whig parentage, he early attached him- self to that party, and remained a member while it had an existence. He attended the convention which nominated Fremont, in 1856, and since that time has been an able and earnest supporter of the Repub- lican party. In 1863 he was made chairman of the County Committee. The first official position held by him was that of Village Trustee, in 1863. In the fall of 1869 he was the Republican nominee for member of Assembly to represent the First District, and, though the district was considered Democratic by a good majority, was elected. His
success gave him considerable prominence in the State, and in the Legislature he became a leader of the "Young Men Element." He was instrumental in organizing the "Young Men's State Republican As- sociation," the object of which was to unite discordant elements and end the strifes which had impaired the usefulness of the party. This organization chose Mr. Scribner for its president, and having shown himself a competent and faithful leader, he was nominated by ac-
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