USA > New York > Westchester County > Manual of Westchester county.Past and present. Civil list to date 1898 > Part 25
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Purdy Station, on the Harlem Railroad, is situated near the junction of the Kitchawan or Croton and Mutighticoos rivers, in the western section of the town.
Croton Falls, also a station on the line of the Harlem Railroad, is in the north-west section of the town.
Salem Center and North Salem are also prosperous localities within the township.
The population of the town, according to the numerous census enumerations taken, has been as follows: In 1830, 1,276; in 1835, 1,178; in 1840, 1,161; in 1845, 1,228; in 1850, 1,335; in 1855, 1,528; in 1860, 1,497; in 1865, 1,522; in 1870, 1,754; in 1875, 1,583; in 1880, 1,693; in 1890, 1,730. The present population is estimated at 2,000.
The assessed valuation of land in the town is fixed by the town Assessors last year, was: Real, $1,341,428; personal, $326,983. The tax rate this year is $5.007 per $1,000 on assessed valuation. The rate the preceding year was $8.102 per $1,000. The town has
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no indebtedness, and has no back taxes due. There has been for some time no occasion to sell property for non-payment of taxes.
The late Odle Close, as Supervisor, represented the town in the County Board of Supervisors for twenty-four consecutive years.
The present town officials are as follows: Isaac Purdy, of Purdy Station, Supervisor; Albert J. Lobdell, of Salem Center, Town Clerk; Elbert S. Wilson, Odle J Whitlock, Walter K. Ritch and Robert F. White, Justices of the Peace; Friend J. Palmer, of Brews- ter, Collector of Taxes.
TOWN OF OSSINING.
This town was formerly a part of the town of Mount Pleasant, which bounds it on the east and south, and was made a separate or- ganization under the name of Ossinsing, on May 2, 1845, by an act of the Legislature. It was originally included in the Manor of Philipsburg. Historians in explaining the source from which the town received its name, say that Ossin-ing, the proper Indian or- thography of the word, variously written Sin-Sing, Sing Sing, Sin- Sinck and Sink Sink, is derived from Ossin (a stone) and ing (a place) or "stone upon stone." The name is certainly characteristic of this beautiful town, whose shore is guarded by a vast munition of rocks and ancient boulders. In the early days the section now occupied by the town was in the possession of a strong Mohegan tribe called the Sint Sings.
The ancient boundary line of 1684, which divided the two col- onies of New York and Connecticut, passed a short distance south of Sparta, in the lower part of this town.
By an act of the Legislature, passed March 14, 1846, the name of the town was changed from Ossinsing to that of Ossining.
At the first town meeting, after the organization of the town, Joseph Hunt was elected Supervisor and George Sherwood Clerk.
The town officials for 1897-8 are as follows: Supervisor, Gil- bert M. Todd; Town Clerk, Robert P. Dennis; Justices of the Peace, Thomas Leary, Wm. G. Valentine, Stewart Baker and Alonzo Mc- Neil; Assessors, Wm. F. Mezzer, A. J. Nowicki and Ebenezer Fow- ler; Receiver of Taxes, J. William Myers; Commissioners of High- ways, Edgar F. Wheeler, Stephen Brown and Bouregard Van Cort- landt; Town Auditors, James A. Hart, John E. Barlow and James Bedell; Town Health Board, Town Officers and S. G. Ellegood, citizen member; Town Health Officer, Dr. Hiram Barber.
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The population of the town, as shown by the several census enumerations, has been as follows: In 1845, 3,312; in 1850, 4,939; in 1855, 5,758; in 1860, 6,766; in 1865, 6,223; in 1870, 7,798; in 1875, 8,533; in 1880, 8,769; in 1890, 10,058.
But a small quantity of the land in the town is used for farm- ing purposes, it being considered too valuable, especially that which commands any kind of a view of the Hudson River, on the banks of which the town is situated. Handsomely-laid-out villas, attractive country seats and other homes, of those who delight in the beauties of nature, are to be seen everywhere. A fair average price of land per acre is named as $1,000. The town tax rate of last year was $12.46 per $1,000, inside the village of Sing Sing, and $16.88 out- side. The town tax rate this year is, in the village, $3.6644; outside, $4.48174.
The assessed valuation is: Real, $7,997,426; personal, $1,117,- 512. There is no town indebtedness.
Back taxes are payable to the Supervisor. Property sold for unpaid taxes is usually bought in by the town. The address of all town officers is Sing Sing, N. Y.
Sing Sing, within the town of Ossining, was incorporated as a village under an act of the Legislature passed April 2, 1813. The first village election was held on first Tuesday in May, 1813, when "seven discreet freeholders," resident within the said village, were elected trustees. The bounds of the village were fixed by the act of incorporation as "the district of country in the town of Mount Pleasant, contained within the following limits, that is to say: Be- ginning at the Hudson River, where a run of water, between the lands of Daniel Delevan and Albert Orser, empties into the said Hud- son River, north of Sing Sing, from thence eastwardly on a straight line to the house occupied by Charless Yoe, and including the said house, thence southwardly on a straight line until it intersects the Highland turnpike road on the south line of Samuel Rhodie's land, from thence westwardly on the south line of William Street's land, to the Hudson River, and thence northwardly along the said river to the place of beginning, shall hereafter be known and distin- guished by the name of "The Village of Sing Sing."
The oldest book of records in possession of the present village authorities is the minutes of the Board of Village Trustees for 1853. Former records were unfortunately destroyed by fire. The first meeting mentioned in this book was that held by the Village Trus- tees on Monday evening, Nov. 21, 1853, in the office of A. H. Wells. President of the Village, Adrian K. Hoffman, father of the late ex-
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Gov. John T. Hoffman, presided, and Trustees Stephen Todd, J. Clement Yoe, Malborough Churchill, David McCord and Stephen Ayles, and Thomas E. Bridger, Clerk, were present.
The site of the present village is supposed to be the same on which the ancient Indian settlement of Sing Sing stood, two hun- dred years ago. Its situation upon the banks of the Hudson, 180 feet above tide water, overlooking the magnificent scenery of the Tappan Bay, makes it one of the most charming spots along that majestic river. In early times, it is said, Sing Sing was a favorite landing place for shipping the various marketable produce raised in the interior, and through its post office residents of the interior towns receive their mail matter.
The State Prison, which has been the cause of several attempts on the part of citizens to have the name of the village changed, was erected under an act of the Legislature, passed March, 1824, and was completed in 1830; the present site was selected owing to its exhaustless bodies of marble, its healthy situation and its access- ibility by water. A fire which occurred in Dec., 1855, did consid- erable damage to the prison buildings. The State Legislature on March 11, 1856, passed an act appropriating $14,000 to the rep- aration, alteration and rebuilding of the shops connected with the prison thus destroyed. Many new additions to the prison main building and outbuildings have been constructed quite recently, making it at the present time one of the most valuable pieces of prison property in the State. Many of the convicts belonging to the prison are now employed on the village streets, building redressed stone retaining walls, etc., without charge for their services to the village. The last State Legislature authorized the expenditure of $30,000 for improvements at Sing Sing Prison. Many' residents of Sing Sing consider that the presence of the prison in their midst is detrimental to the growth of the village. They want the prison to retain the name of Sing Sing and the village to be given another title.
Mining operations were formerly carried on to a considerable extent in this vicinity, owing to the belief that silver ore lay buried in the earth near by. Old shafts sunk at the time are still visible.
Its population, according to the census enumeration, taken in January of this year, is 8,160. In 1880 a census gave the population at 6,578, and in 1890 as 9,352.
The act to provide a public water supply for Sing Sing was passed April 18, 1887.
For date of organization of local banks, see special article under head of "Banks" in this book.
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The village officers for 1897-98 are as follows: President, William Brandreth; Clerk, John M. Terwilliger; Trustees, Bernard C. Feeny, Edwin T. James, Albert I. Tompkins, Seth G. Ellegood, Geo. H. Eldridge, Romaine Williams, J. Edward Holla, John Cuatt and Matthew McCabe; Corporation Counsel, John Gibney; Village Treasurer, William Terhune; Receiver of Taxes, J. William Myers; Police Justice, Milton C. Palmer; Chief of Police, George E. Carri- gan; Chief of the Fire Department, James M. Jarvis; Village Health Board, Dr. E. B. Sherwood, Joseph Thompson and John E. Kinney; Village Health Officer, Dr. Hiram Barber; Postmaster, John I. Kane.
TOWN OF PELHAM.
The town of Pelham was formed March 7, 1788. The name, conferred upon the town by the Pells, is said to be derived from the lordship of Pelham, Herefordshire, England. The town is bounded on the east and north by the town of New Rochelle, on the west by the Hutchinson's (Aqueanouncke) river, and Eastchester, and on the south by Long Island Sound. The Hutchinson's river, which sepa- rates the town from Eastchester, was named in honor of the heroic Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, who was the leading spirit in a colony of sixteen persons which settled in the vicinity of Pelham Neck, and who was, with several of her friends, murdered by Indians.
The town is situated on the line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and on the Harlem branch road of same rail- road, about fifteen miles from New York city.
Thomas Pell, said to have come from Fairfield, Connecticut, cleven years after the Hutchinson massacre, in 1654, succeeded in buying from the Indians a large tract of land covering a good part of what was afterward the town, and also the towns of East and West Chester. In 1666 a large portion of the Indian grant of 1654 was confirmed by Gov. Richard Nicholls, of New York.
The Pells, who succeeded each other as lords of the manor, were Thomas Pell, who died in 1669. John Pell, a nephew of the for- mer, who represented the county in the Provincial Assembly, and was a judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1688 to 1695; he was drowned while sailing a pleasure boat which foundered in a gale off City Island; his eldest son, Thomas, succeeded him as lord of the manor, and died in 1739 at the manor house. Joseph Pell, grandson of Thomas, was the fourth and last lord of the manor, and
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died in 1776. The town has an interesting history connected with the American Revolution.
City Island, a locality of considerable pretensions, with an- other section of the town, was annexed to the City and County of New York by an act of the State Legislature passed in 1895. Hart's Island, which lies to the east of City Island, is occupied by the De- partment of Charities and Correction of New York city for hospital purposes. High Island is located near the south shore of Pelham Neck. Pelham Bridge connects Pelham Neck and the Westchester shore. Pelham Bay Park, belonging to New York city, is situated within the old town limits.
The population of the township as shown by various census enumerations has been as follows: In 1830, 334; in 1835, 255; in 1840, 789; in 1845, 486; in 1850, 577; in 1855, 833; in 1860, 1,025; in 1865, 1,043; in 1870, 1,790; in 1875, 1,538; in 1880, 2,540; in 1890, 3,941. The present population of the town is estimated 1,600; the decrease can be credited to loss of territory recently annexed to Greater New York city.
The assessed valuation of property in the township, fixed by assessors last year, was as follows: Real, $2,161,259, personal, $59,- 950. The town tax rate this year is $12.98 per $1,000 of assessed valuation outside the villages, $12.80 per $1,000 in side village of North Pelham, $11.82 per $1,000 inside village of Pelham, $10.327 per $1,000 inside village of Pelham Manor. Last year the rate was, in the order given, $38.55, $18.27, $16.14, $12.77 per $1,000 of as- sessed valuation.
The present town officers are as follows: John M. Shinn, (of Pelham Manor,) Supervisor; Louis C. Young, Frank M. Lyon, Theo- dore M. Hill and A. G. C. Fletcher, Justices of the Peace; P. J. Marvil, (of North Pelham,) Town Clerk; John T. Logan, (of North Pelham,) Collector of Taxes.
Within the town's limits are three villages, Pelham Manor, Pelham and North Pelham. Each of these villages are distinctively residence localities, containing the choicest of residence sites, afford- ing desirable homes for many prominent business men of New York city, as well as for others.
Pelham Manor was incorporated as a village in 1891. Accord- ing to a census enumeration taken in January, 1898, it has a popula- tion of 436. The village is a station on the Harlem Branch of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, ten miles from New York city. Travers Island, on which is located the Club House and ground of the New York Athletic Club, is in this village. The
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present village officers are: E. P. Gillaland, President; William K. Gillette, and W. B. Randall, Trustees; John Doty, Clerk; C. F. Rupert, Collector of Taxes, and John H. Day, Treasurer.
The village of Pelham was incorporated in 1896, and has a population, according to census of January, 1898, of 142. The vil- lage is a station on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Rail- road, fifteen miles from New York city. The present village officials are: S. Cushman Caldwell, President; R. K. Hubbard and Howard Scribner, Trustees; George K. Perry, Clerk; William Webster, Col- lector of Taxes, and John Butler, Treasurer. This village is sup- posed to be the smallest in this country; it was incorporated by special act of the Legislature, at the request of seven persons.
The village of North Pelham was incorporated in 1896, and has a population, as shown by census enumeration of January, 1898, of 627. The village lies on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, fifteen miles from New York city; the villages of Pelham and North Pelham share the one and the same railroad station at Pelham. These two latter villages are connected with Mount Vernon by trolley cars.
TOWN OF POUNDRIDGE.
This town has the distinction of being one of the first organized in the county, the date of its creation being March 7, 1788. It gets its name, according to general belief, from the ancient "Indian Pound," which formerly stood at the foot of a "high ridge," a little south of the present locality known as Poundridge, and where the Indians set their traps for wild game.
By the first settlement of the boundary lines, on May 14, 1731, Poundridge was transferred from Connecticut to the Province of New York. In 1744 John Crawford, it appears, was appointed first Assessor; Joseph Lockwood was the first chosen Clerk at a town meeting held April 1, 1760.
Poundridge affords good farming land; the soil consists prin- cipally of a gravelly loam, and is well adapted to grass and pasturage, also excellent for orchard and fruit trees of all kinds. Hickory, chestnut, red, white and black oak trees abound. A fair average value of land is placed at $40 per acre. The rate of taxation in the town last year was $6.3567 per $1,000 of the assessed valuation. This year the rate is $6.99 per $1,000.
Property sold by the town for unpaid taxes is usually bought in
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by the town. Information as to this subject will be furnished, on application, by the Supervisor.
Back taxes are collected by the Supervisor of the town.
The assessed valuation of property is: Real, $853,141; per- sonal, $183,885. There is no town indebtedness.
The climate is announced by residents to be "perfectly de- lightful," and the town is so healthy that no physician has been able to find a lodgment here (but when real necessity demands physicians from neighboring towns can be readily summoned), and the town is so restful and peaceful that not even one lawyer is attempting to eke out an existence in this locality. The town has no banking in- stitution nor newspaper within its borders.
The population, according to the census enumerations taken in the several years, was: In 1830, 1,437; 1835, 1,426; 1840, 1,407; 1845, 1,427; 1850, 1,486; 1855, 1,439; 1860, 1,471; 1865, 1,299; 1870, 1,194; 1875, 1,008; 1880, 1,034; 1890, 830.
The churches in the town are a Presbyterian Church, Rev. J. J. Moffatt, pastor, and a Methodist Church, Rev. Frank Wales, pastor, in Poundridge; Eastwood Methodist Pro. Church, Rev. I. B. Brown, pastor, East Poundridge; Great Hill Methodist Church, no regular pastor, South Poundridge.
The postmasters are: Frederick R. Scofield, at Poundridge; Sivori Selleck, at Scotts Corners; Joseph W. Waterbury, at Bouton- ville.
The town officials for the year 1897-98 are:
Supervisor, George I. Ruscoe, Scotts Corners; Town Clerk, William Jones, Poundridge; Justices of the Peace, George I. Ruscoe, Scotts Corners, W. A. Reichester, Poundridge, Charles H. Abbott, Boutonville, James H. Bedell, Long Ridge; Assessors, Henry C. Brown, Geo. N. Fancher and Henry W. Miller; Commissioners of Highways, Sivori Selleck, Russell Scofield and Gardner Marshall; Collector of Taxes, Elbert Barhite, Poundridge.
Collectors of School Taxes: District No. 1, Jared Potts, Long Ridge, Fairfield County, Conn .; District No. 2, John O. Waterbury, High Ridge, Fairfield County, Conn .; District No. 3, George H. Todd, Poundridge; District No. 4, Isaac Valien, Vista; District No. 5, Elbert Barhite, Poundridge; District No. 6, Charles H. Abbott, Boutonville.
The nearest railroad station to Scotts Corners and Poundridge is at New Canaan, Conn., on the New York, New Haven and Hart- ford Railroad.
The Supervisor, Justice of the Peace and Town Clerk compose
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the Town Health Board and the Board of Town Auditors. Dr. William G. Stowe, of Cross River, town of Lewisboro, is Town Health Officer.
TOWN OF RYE.
The present town of Rye dates its organization from March 7, 1788. Prior to this it included territory now forming the towns of Harrison and White Plains, and is one of the oldest settlements in the county. The town is bounded on the east by the State of Con- necticut, on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west and north by the towns of Harrison and North Castle. It is named in honor of Rye, County of Sussex, England. The name the Indians gave the town was Peningoe, Peninggoe or Poningoe, supposed to be derived from Ponus, the name of the chief who controlled the territory in about 1640. The first grantees under the Indians of Poningoe were the Dutch West India Company, who secured in 1640 a grant of land extending from Norwalk, Conn., to the Hudson river, which gave the Dutch, up to the purchase and settlement by the English, full possession of Westchester County. For a period Rye was a part of the Colony of Connecticut, as was the town of Bedford. The Gov- ernor of the Colony of New York at the time protested against Connecticut's claim to possession of the said towns, and an appeal to the King had to be made; the latter decided that the towns properly belonged to the Colony of New York. On May 14, 1731, the town lines were established as we find them to-day.
Peter Disbrow, John Coe, Thomas Studwell and John Budd are named as the successors, in 1660, of the Dutch West India Com- pany and the first settlers of the town; they came from Greenwich, Conn. They also arranged independent purchases of land from the Indians. These owners disposed of the land at the rate of forty shillings per lot, payable in cattle or corn. The first settlement of the town was effected in 1660, near the ford, at the southern end of Manursing Island. Here was established a village to which its in- habitants gave the name of Hastings, in honor of Hastings, County of Sussex, England. Other localities subsequently settled were con- sidered as suburbs of the island village, the influence of the village extending as far north, on Poningoe Neck, as the present village of Port Chester. In 1692, by an act of the Assembly of the Province of New York, Rye was created a "Market town," entitled to the extra- ordinary privilege of holding a yearly fair, in the month of October. The first fair held under the act was in 1771.
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The Courts of Sessions were held in this town during the Colonial period.
The County Board of Supervisors was first organized in this town.
In 1739 a ferry was established between this town and Oyster Bay, Long Island. The ferry was continued many years.
In 1745 Peter Jay became a landed property owner in the town; in 1797 he devised by will this property to his brother, Hon. John Jay; the latter by deed conveyed it to Peter Augustus Jay, on Sep- tember 16, 1822.
The town's population as shown by the various census enumer- ations, has been as follows: In 1830, 1,602; in 1835, 1,607; in 1840, 1,803; in 1845, 2,180; in 1850, 2,584; in 1855, 3,468; in 1860, 4,447; in 1865, 4,675; in 1870, 7,150; in 1875, 5,936; in 1880, 6,576; in 1890, 9,477.
The present town officials are as follows: Charles Eldredge, Su- pervisor; George Grandison, Town Clerk; Stephen A. Marshall, Thomas M. Parker (of Port Chester), Bernard Baruch (of Rye) and Augustus L. Hains (of Rye Neck), Justices of the Peace; Thomas Jordan, Receiver of Taxes. Post office address, Port Chester, N. Y.
The town has but one village, that of Port Chester; though Rye Neck, a section of the town, is united with a section of the town of Mamaroneck in forming the village of Mamaroneck.
The present village of Port Chester was incorporated in 1868. Prior to 1837 the village was known as Sawpits, the name adopted April 23, 1823; the change of name was effected March 11, 1837. The village is situated on the west bank of the Byram (or Armonck) River, which forms the boundary between the States of New York and Connecticut, and which takes its rise from the Byram Lake. East Port Chester, which is an important and thickly settled suburb of the village of Port Chester, is situated on the east bank of the Byram River, in the State of Connecticut; the bridges connecting the two places were built at the expense of the County of Westches- ter and of the State of Connecticut jointly. Hawthorne Beach, in East Port Chester, is a favorite summer resort for residents of Port Chester and vicinity.
The population of the village was in 1880, 3,254; in 1890, it had increased to 5,274; according to a census taken in January, 1898, the present population is 7,257.
The village has a most excellent public library and reading- room, located in an imposing brick building, situated on Main Street, the whole the gift of the late Hon. Jared V. Peck. The act
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incorporating the library and reading-room was passed by the State Legislature in 1877.
Port Chester is a manufacturing center of no mean pretensions. Its several industries give employment to many hundred persons. It has direct communication with New York city by water, a regular line of steamboats running daily.
The present officers of the village are as follows: John W. Mc- Carty, President; Samuel Comly, William J. Foster, Joseph H. Mar- shall, James S. Merritt, John F. Mills and James Patterson, Trus- tees; J. Alvord Perk, Clerk; Thomas Jordan, Receiver of Taxes.
The unincorporated village of Rye is a station on the line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, twenty-four miles from New York city. It abounds in beautiful scenery and is an ideal residence place. Rye Beach and Oakland Beach, quite famous as summer resorts, and noted for fine bathing, are located in this vicinity, and are connected with the local railroad station by a line of public stages. The Mockquams or Blink Brook, a never-failing stream, runs through the place. The locality known as Milton is near by, not far distant from the local railroad station.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
WILLIAM P. ABENDROTH.
William Philip Abendroth, a former President of the village of Port Chester, was born in Germany on December 18, 1818. In 1832 his parents came to this country and settled in New York city. Young Abendroth did not remain long in the latter city, for very soon after his arrival in this country he is found working industriously as an apprentice in the foundry belong- ing to Dr. Eliphalet Nott, in Al- bany. Here he remained two years. His opportunities for gaining an education had been limited, and as he had an energetic, inquisitive, in- ventive mind, which craved for knowledge, he determined to make the best of hours he could spare from his daily toil. Like other lads who have to work all day for their livelihood, he turned to the evening public school for the desired assist- ance. He was a hard-working stu- dent as he was a diligent. trust- worthy apprentice. When Dr. Nott, in 1834, went to New York city and
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