USA > New York > Westchester County > Manual of Westchester county.Past and present. Civil list to date 1898 > Part 19
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WILLIAM W. MILLS, M.D. PHYSICIAN.
RESIDENT
FREDERICK GRISFIELD, GLERK
County Superintendent of the Poor and
County Alms-House Officials-
HENR SUPERINTENDENT THE P
NICHOLAS H.FREELAND, M.D. VISITING PHYSICIAN.
ESSER, POOR
WESLEY BOYCE, KEEPERO.
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MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
NICHOLAS H. FREELAND, M. D.
Nicholas H. Freeland, M. D., ot Tarrytown, visiting physician at the County Alms House, at East View, was born in New York city, on March 28, 1845, a son of Henry C. and Elizabeth Louisa (Hildredth) Freeland. Was educated in Lock- wood's Institute at Cannon Station, Conn., Rowe & Davis' Institute, Tar. rytown, at the New York City Col- lege, and at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York city. Dr. Freeland has resided in Tarry- town about thirty years. He was married on May 4, 1869, to Miss Eleanor Reeves, daughter of Jere- miah and Cassandra (Norris) Reeves, of the State of Alabama. He has occupied his present office three years; has held the position of Health Officer of the town of Greenburgh and of Health Officer of the Village of Tarrytown; has
also served as Surgeon of the 16th Battallion of the N. Y. S. N. G.
WILLIAM W. MILLS, M. D.
Dr. Mills, house physician at the County Alms House, East View, was born in the town of Wallkill, N. Y .. on August 26, 1870. He is a son of Albert and Louisa (Linder- man) Mills. He received his early education in the schools of Wall- kill and Middletown, N. Y., and is a graduate of Bellevue Medical Col- lege, New York city. He was ap- pointed to his present position in April, 1897. Though in politics a Republican, Dr. Mills devotes his time more to the practice of his profession, than to the solution of mysterious political problems. The doctor is greatly respected by his poor patients whom he faithfully and ably serves at all hours of the day and night.
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Table of Tax Collections under the Liquor Tax Law.
Persons desiring to engage in the sale of intoxicating liquors, wine and beer, are required by law to first secure from the County Treasurer a license to sell. The County Treasurer, on being made satisfied that the applicant for such license has secured the consent of the required number of property owners, has complied fully with the law and is entitled to receive said license, may, on receiving the fee specified by the Liquor Tax Law, grant to said applicant a cer- tificate which provides the license petitioned for. The license year commences May 1. Following are the fees charged for certificates, graded according to population of localities:
Hotels and Saloons. Storekeepers.
In cities of 1,500,000 or more ....
$800
$500
In cities less than 1,500,000, but
more than 500,000 ..
650
400
In cities less than 500,000, but more than 50,000.
500
300
In cities or villages less than 50,- 000, but more than 10,000 ...
350
200
In cities or villages less than 10,- 000, but more than 5,000 ....
300
100
In villages less than 5,000, but more than 1,200
200
75
In any other place.
100
50
Druggists' certificates are granted at the uniform rate of five dollars per year, in all places.
The tax required to be paid in the several cities and villages of Westchester County is as follows:
Hotel and Saloon. Storekeeper.
Yonkers, city
$350
$200
Mount Vernon, city.
350
200
New Rochelle, village.
300
100
Peekskill, village
300
100
Sing Sing, village.
300
100
Port Chester, village.
300
100
Dobbs Ferry, village
200
75
Tarrytown, village
200
75
Irvington, village
200
75
Hastings, village
200
75
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
185
North Tarrytown, village.
200
75
Croton, village
200
75
White Plains, village.
200
75
Bronxville, village
200
75
Tuckahoe
200
75
Mamaroneck, village
200
75
Rye
200
75
Rye Beach
200
75
Pelham, village
100
50
Pelham Manor, village.
100
50
North Pelham, village
100
50
Larchmont, village
100
50
Mount Kisco, village
100
50
Pleasantville, village
100
50
All outside of incorporated villages.
100
50
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MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
Railroads that Traverse the County.
The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad runs along the eastern bank of the Hudson River through the whole length of the county, from Spuyten Duyvil Creek to the borders of Putnam County. Trains start from and enter the Grand Central Station, at Forty-second Street, New York city. The several stations on this road are: Ludlow, Yonkers, Glenwood, Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Irvington, Tarrytown, Scarborough, Sing Sing, Croton Landing, Oscawana, Crugers, Montrose and Peekskill.
The Harlem Division of the New York Central Railroad extends through the central portion of the county, and the stations are: Mount Vernon, Bronxville, Tuckahoe, Yonkers Park, Scars- dale, Hartsdale, White Plains, Kensico, Kensico Cemetery, Union- ville, Sherman Park, Pleasantville, Chappaqua, Mount Kisco, Bed- ford, Katonah, Goldens Bridge, Somers Centre, Purdys and Croton Falls.
The New York and Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad, which connects with the Sixth Avenue and Ninth Avenue Elevated Railways at One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street, New York city, has stations in this county at the following places: Lin- coln, Dunwoodie, Bryn Mawr Park, Nepperhan, St. Andrews, Nep- pera Park, Mount Hope, Chauncey, Ardsley, Woodlands, Worthing- ton, Elmsford, East View, Tarrytown Heights, Tower Hill, Pocan- tico Hills, Briarcliff Manor, Hammonds, Millwood, Kitchawan, Cro- ton Lake, Yorktown, Amawalk, West Somers and Baldwin Place. Stations on the Yonkers branch of this railroad are as follows: Yonkers, Park Hill, Lowerre, Caryl, Mosholu, Van Cortlandt, Kingsbridge, Fordham Heights.
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad provides traveling accommodation for residents in the eastern section of the county, running as it does through the towns, cities and villages bordering on Long Island Sound. It traverses the whole country, to the Connecticut State line. The stations on this road within the county are: Mount Vernon, Pelham, New Rochelle, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Harrison, Rye and Port Chester. The New York City terminus of the road is the Grand Central Station, on Forty-second Street. The Harlem River Branch, of this railroad, has stations located at New Rochelle, Woodside, Pelham Manor, Bartow, Bay- chester, Westchester, Van Nest, West Farms, Hunt's Point, Casa- nova, Port Morris, Harlem River and 129th Street, New York city.
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MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
TOWNS OF THE COUNTY.
Until the passage of an act in 1849, Chapter 194, towns owed their creation to the will of the Legislature. The act mentioned gave power to the several Boards of Supervisors (except in New York County), by a two-thirds vote of the members elected, to divide or alter the bounds of any town or erect new ones, when such division does not place parts of the same town in more than one Assembly district. Application for such division or change must first be made by at least twelve freeholders of each town affected by the division, and a notice of intended application posted in at least five public places and published in all the county newspapers. A survey and map of the town or towns thus affected must also be filed in the State Secretary's office, together with a certified copy of the act of the board. The latter is published in the appendix to the laws of the following session. The Legislature still retains power to create towns by a special act.
By an act of the Board of Supervisors, passed in January of this year, the last Tuesday in the month of March was designated as the day on which shall be held town meetings and elections in this county. At these elections there shall be chosen, in years fixed by a statute, by ballot, for each town, a Supervisor, Town Clerk, one or more Justices of the Peace, one or more Assessors, a Col- lector of Taxes, one or three Commissioners of Highways, at least one Overseer of the Poor, three Trustees of Public Property, not exceeding five Constables, a necessary number of Inspectors of Elec- tion, a Game Constable and a Sealer of Weights and Measures. Three Town Auditors are provided for each town under an act of the Legislature passed June 5, 1886. This act authorizes the electors of a town, at any town meeting thereafter held, to determine by ballot whether such towns shall elect at the next succeeding town meeting, held in that town, a Board of Town Auditors, who shall exercise all the powers conferred by law upon such boards; all bills and claims against the town must be presented to such Auditors on the first day of their session. Freeholders only, of the town, are eligible to the office.
A Town Health Board is composed of the Supervisor, four Justices of the Peace, the Town Clerk, and a citizen member selected
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MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
by the last-named town officers. This Town Health Board on its organization elects a physician of the town as the Town Health Officer.
Prior to 1846, town officers were elected at town meetings (as is still the custom in most towns), excepting Justices of the Peace, who were appointed at a joint session of the County Board of Supervisors and the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas.
An act authorizing the election of Town Auditors in the sev- eral towns of Westchester County was passed by the Legislature March 17, 1874.
Under an act passed by the Legislature of 1898, the Board of Supervisors is authorized to change the time for holding town meet- ings from the spring to the days of the general election in the fall.
Towns are prohibited, by an amendment to the State Constitu- tion, adopted 1884, from giving or loaning their property or credit except for town purposes.
The elections held in the several towns of this county on March 29 last were conducted in accordance with the new laws of 1897. Under these laws town elections will be held only once in two years commencing with the election in the spring of 1899. To make the new law effective the Supervisors and other officers (who were pre- viously elected for terms of two years or more) were at the last election chosen for a term of one year, so as to have their terms of office expire in 1899. Next year the term of such officers will be for two years, as heretofore. The law reads as follows:
Sec. 12. Election of Officers .- "There shall be elected at the biennial town meeting in each town, by ballot, one Supervisor, one Town Clerk, two Justices of the Peace, three Assessors, one Col- lector, one or two Overseers of the Poor (except in the counties of Richmond and Kings), one, two or three Commissioners of High- ways, not more than five Constables, and two Inspectors of Election for each election district in the town. If there shall be any vacancies in the office of Justice of the Peace in any town, at the time of holding its biennial town meeting, persons shall then also be chosen to fill such vacancies, who shall hold their offices for the residue of the unexpired term for which they are respectively elected."
Sec. 13 of the new law defines the term of office of the Super- visor, Town Clerk, Assessors, Commissioners of Highways, Collec- tors, Overseers of the Poor, Inspectors of Election and Constables to be for two years, when elected under the new law, beginning in the spring of 1899.
Justices of the Peace, under the new law, will be divided into
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two classes, two of whom shall be elected biennially. They are to continue holding office for four years, beginning on January 1 after their election.
Towns may decide by ballot as to whether they will have one, two or three Highway Commissioners, also whether they will have one or two Overseers of the poor, who shall be elected biennially for a term of two years. Or the electors may vote at a town meeting, on application of twenty-five resident taxpayers, to have one Overseer, and have him appointed by the Town Board.
Published elsewhere in this volume are the names of Supervisors who have served the several towns in former years.
TOWN OF BEDFORD.
This town was organized under act of March 7, 1788, though it had previously existed under patent in the colonial period. It de- rives its name from the town of similar title in Bedfordshire, Eng- land. The land was purchased from the Indians in 1655, and was at the time of such purchase known as "Catonah's land," in honor of the Indian Sachem Catonah, the undisputed owner. In his honor one of the sections of the town is now named. This town in the early period belonged to the Province of Connecticut; residents made a strong contest and succeeded, in 1700, in having the town made a part of the Province of New York.
Mount Kisco, Bedford, Katonah and Bedford Station, lying within the town limits, are situated on the Harlem Railroad.
Bedford shared with White Plains, up to the year 1868, the honor of being a half shire town. A Court House was erected in Bedford in 1787 and besides the holding of courts in the Court House, meetings of the Board of Supervisors were held there fre- quently during the end of the last century. Previous to the erec- tion of this Court House, courts had been held in the Bedford Presbyterian Church. The village of Bedford was burned July 2, 1779, during the Revolution, by British troops under Gen. Tarleton. The old Court House was recently converted into a Town Hall. The general surface of Bedford is described as "elevated, though broken by small hills and valleys; has very little of waste ground. The arable, pasture and meadow lands are in very just proportion for a good farming country, and the whole is well watered by springs, brooks and rivulets, the latter of good size for mills; the summits of the hills afford many extensive and interesting prospects; the
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land yields good crops of grain, grass and fruit." A fair average estimate value of land is $75 per acre. A large section of the town has been condemned and the land taken for purposes of the New York city watershed; particularly the locality known as Katonah, which has already been almost deserted, "before the flood," and its former inhabitants have, in many instances, not only taken up their beds and walked, but have taken up their houses as well, and carried the same into the locality known as "New Katonah," a few miles distant.
The population of the town, according to the several census enumerations, was, in 1830, 2,750; in 1835, 2,735; in 1840, 2,822; in 1845, 2,725; in 1850, 3,207; in 1855, 3,464; in 1860, 3,639; in 1865, 3,465; in 1870, 3,697; in 1875, 3,744; in 1880, 3,731; in 1890, 3,291.
The assessed valuation in the town this year is: Real, $1,500,- 000; personal, $150,000. Tax rate for 1898 is $7.46 per $1,000, out- side incorporated limits; $4.58 inside village of Mount Kisco per $1,000. The rate last year was $10.46 per $1,000. The town has no indebtedness. Back taxes are payable to the Supervisor. Prop- erty sold for non-payment of taxes is usually bought in by in- dividuals.
Following are names and addresses of the town officers: Su- pervisor, Isaac W. Turner, Katonah; Town Clerk, William B. Adams, Bedford Station; Justices of the Peace, Robert K. Clark, Bedford; J. H. Crane, Mount Kisco; John Knox, Mount Kisco; A. F. Avery, Katonah; Collector of Taxes, E. A. Arnold, Katonah; Assessors, Wm. H. Bates, Daniel J. Smith, Joseph W. Halstead.
TOWN OF CORTLANDT.
This town's organization dates from March 7, 1788. As does the towns of Yorktown, North Salem, Lewisboro and Somers, it was formerly a part of the Manor of Cortlandt, which manor, ac- cording to actual survey, contained eighty-three thousand acres. The town, as was the manor, was named in honor of the influential family of the Van Cortlandts, the first grantees from the Indians. The name is said to be properly Corte-landt; the first syllable, Corte, or Korte, meaning in the Dutch language, short; the second, landt (land), literally the short land, a term expressing the peculiar form of the ancient Duchy of Courland in Russia; the Dukes Courland were on particularly friendly terms with the Dutch. The Van
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Cortlandts descended from one of the most noble families in Hol- land.
The town of Cortlandt lies most beautifully upon the easterly bank of the Hudson River. Within its limits are the villages of Peekskill and Croton, and the localities known as Verplanck, Mont- rose, Annsville, Crugers, Oscawana, Cortlandtville, Buchanan, Con- tinentalville, Pleasantside, Centreville and Groveville.
The State Camp of Instruction is located on the "McCoy Farm," about one mile northwest of the village of Peekskill. The ground for the camp was selected by the State authorities on March 31, 1882, and leased for a term of three years; on April 30, 1885, the State purchased the property, consisting of one hundred acres, paying for same $30,000.
Peekskill Creek, which runs through the town, empties in the Hudson River, near Peekskill; Furnace Brook, in this town, is also a tributary of the Hudson.
The population of the town at different periods, as shown by census enumerations, was as follows: 3,840 in 1830, 3,994 in 1835; 5,592 in 1840; 6,738 in 1845; 7,758 in 1850; 8,146 in 1855; 10,074 in 1860; 9,393 in 1865; 11,694 in 1870; 11,908 in 1875; 12,664 in 1880, 15,139 in 1890.
The surface of the town is hilly and on the northwest moun- tainous. The soil is fairly good for farming purposes, but more valuable as sites for villas and country residences. A fair average value of land per acre is $500.
This year's assessed valuation of the town is $8,829,327, of which amount $6,698,283 is of real estate, and $2,131,044 is of per- sonal property. The tax rate for this year, outside the villages, is $3.97 per $1,000. Last year's rate was $8.20 per $1,000.
The first recorded election for town officers is that of April 1, 1788, when Philip Van Cortlandt was chosen Supervisor, together with other officers.
The present town officers are: James H. Haight, Supervisor; S. Allen Mead, Town Clerk; Frank Wessels, Receiver of Taxes; John Halstead, Lewis Bleakly, James F. Lynch and William H. Baker, Justices of the Peace. Post office addresses of officials, Peekskill, N. Y.
The village of Peekskill was incorporated by act of the Legis- lature passed April 9, 1827, but the village was not organized until 1839. It is located on the east bank of the Hudson River, and on the line of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, forty-two miles from New York City. The population of the village
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was 6,560 in 1870, 6,893 in 1880, and 9,676 in 1890. The special census taken in January, 1898, gives the population as 9,496.
The first president of the village was Capt. W. Requa, in 1839; he was chosen by the Board of Village Trustees, composed of Morris Depew, Frost Horton, Capt. F. W. Requa, Daniel D. Smith and James Taylor.
The name Peeks Kill is derived from the fact that one Jans Peek, a Dutch navigator, undertook to sail up the Hudson on an independent voyage of discovery. He lost his bearings and car- ried his vessel into the creek (or kill), where he soon ran aground. This accident caused him to land about where the present village now stands. He gave the kill, which he discovered, his own name, and the village adopted the name given the creek or kill.
The village fire department was organized in 1826, prior to incorporation of the village. The department consisted of one engine company, under command of Nathaniel Bedell, its first fore- man.
The public streets were first lighted with gas in December, 1856.
The works from which the village derives its water supply were completed in 1875, under act passed in 1872. The local public and private schools equal any in the State. The town is noted for its large manufacturing concerns, which give employment to many thousand persons.
Peekskill has an interesting history associated with the Ameri- can Revolution, having been the scene of many stirring events, and was made to suffer much from the enemy's incursions.
The Westchester Bank, the town's principal financial institu- tion, was established March 31, 1833.
The Peekskill Savings Bank was incorporated April 18, 1859, with George F. Hussey, William Nelson, James Brown, George Dayton, Thomas Southard, Edward Wells, Truman Miner, Cyrus Townsend, Joseph B. Brown, I. L. Varian, Nehemiah S. Jacobs. Uriah Hill, Jr., Chauncey M. Depew, B. H. Field, G. B. Hart, W. R. Nelson, Calvin Frost, D. J. Haight, Edwin Briggs, R. A. Depew, Orrin Frost, John Henry, Edward Underhill and Saxton Smith as Trustees.
The Field Library was incorporated April 11, 1887.
Residents of Peekskill engaged in whaling had an act passed by the State Legislature on April 5, 1834, incorporating the West- chester Whaling Company; William Nelson, St. John Constant, John Hunter, Henry White, Niles Frost, Tyler Fountain, Solomon
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MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
Rundle, Jonathan Ferris, Philip Clapp, Wm. Watts and Gerard Crane were named as directors.
Samuel W. Bard was given a franchise for a ferry between Peekskill and Haverstraw, by an act of the Legislature passed May 4, 1835; a like franchise was given to Ward Hunter on same date.
Peekskill is connected with New York city by railroad and steamboats.
Its sewer system is one of the best. Its streets are creditable to so thriving a village.
Peekskill is certainly a manufacturing center, giving employ- ment to thousands of persons. Stoves and ranges are produced here in great numbers, and probably in a much larger quantity than in any other place of its size in the country. Factories for the man- ufacturing of hats and other wearing material are numerous; other manufactories also thrive here; in fact, the local residents offer special inducements to firms desiring to locate in a town possessing many special advantages, particularly excellent transportation facil- ities by rail or boat to and from New York city.
The present officers of the village of Peekskill are: George W. Robertson, President; George V. B. Frost, Joseph M. Fox, Warren Jordan, John S. Boyd, Gilbert L. Tompkins and David G. Montross, Trustees; John S. Boyd, President pro tem .; Charles R. Swain, Clerk; E. C. Wilson, Treasurer; Frank Wessels, Receiver of Taxes.
The village of Croton, situated in the southern portion of the town, was incorporated Feb. 12, 1898; in voting on the question of incorporation the electors of that locality, at a special election held for the purpose on the date stated, cast seventy-four (74) votes in favor of the proposition and twenty-one (21) votes against. The population at the time of incorporation was 1,244. The village is on the line of the New York Central and Hudson River Rail- road, the station being Croton Landing, thirty-five miles from New York city. It derives its name from the river which flows along its southern boundary. The village is attractive as a resi- dence locality and its citizens are progressive. The manufactories established here give employment to many persons. Large quan- tities of brick are annually made in the vicinity. The present village officers are as follows: Charles E. Gratten, President; Frank Decker and John Sharf, Trustees; Robert B. Wright, Clerk; Andrew Decker, Collector of Taxes; Charles Henry, Treasurer. Post office address, Croton-on-the-Hudson.
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MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
TOWN OF EASTCHESTER.
This town received its present name in the year 1666. It was first known by the name of Hutchinsons, and later as "The Ten Farms," the latter name being derived from its ancient division among ten owners. The lands were included in the Indian grant of 1640, given to the Dutch settlers. Thomas Pell, in 1654, secured a second grant from the Indians, which also included land upon which the town was founded. Further grants were secured from the Indians, it being found necessary to do so to confirm the settlers in their possessions and protect them from land grabbers. The town's northern boundary line lies next to the town of Scarsdale, on the east it joins Pelham and New Rochelle, on the south West- chester, and on the West Yonkers. The Bronx (Aguehung) River runs along the western boundary line, and on the east is the Hutch- inson (Agueanounck) River, or Eastchester Creek, which flows into a large bay of similar name, in the southeast.
In early days the Courts of Sessions for the county held terms in this town. The first election in the town of which there is record was the one at which Samuel Drake was chosen Constable, held on Feb. 3, 1672; in 1686 John Pinkney was elected Supervisor, to- gether with other necessary town officers. The first independent election for town officers, held under act of the Legislature, passed Oct. 23, 1779, took place Dec. 22, 1783, when Ebenezer Burling was elected Supervisor.
The population of the town has been, according to census enumerations of the several years, as follows: In 1830, 1,030; in 1835, 1,168; in 1840, 1,502; in 1845, 1,369; in 1850, 1,679; in 1855, 4,715; in 1860, 5,582; in 1865, 5,615; in 1870, 7,491; in 1875, 8,294; in 1880, 8,737; in 1890, 15,442.
By an act of the Legislature, passed March 12, 1892, that part of the town lying within the incorporated limits of the village of Mount Vernon was granted a city charter, and made a separate town. In 1895 an act of the State Legislature annexed portions of the town, lying east and south, and known as the villages of East- chester and Wakefield, to the city and County of New York.
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