USA > New York > Orange County > Newburgh > Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical > Part 33
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PHOTO. BY ATKINSON,
EUGENE A. BREWSTER.
made in 1870 to hond the city for $500,000 in aid of the Midland Rail- road. He has always advocated the formation of a new county, with Newburgh for the county seat. In connection with Enoch Carter, Thomas C. Ring, Major Sherman, Dr. N. Deyo, Peter Ward and J. J. S. McCroskery, he took part in the formation of Cedar Hill Ceme- tery Association, and has ever since been a trustee and officer. He has been a director of the National Bank of Newburgh ever since its first organization, and is the only one of the original Board now in of- fice. He has been a member of the vestry of St. George's Church about twenty-five years and is now Junior Warden. He has always acted with the Democratic party.
WILLIAM D. DICKEY was born in Newburgh, January 11, 1845. His father, William Dickey, was for many years a prominent mason and huilder. After graduating from the New burgh Academy, and Mt. Retirement Seminary, at Deckertown, N. J., in 1861, he began the study of law in the office of Scott & Drake. He left his
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studies in May, 1862, joining the 19th Regiment of this city, and served with it first as a private and afterward as sergeant, for the term of three months. Returning home, he resumed his law studies,
COLONEL WILLIAM D. DICKEY.
but a week later again went into the service, this time as a Second Lieutenant in the 168th Regiment, New York Volunteers. He served for the term of nine months, was promoted to be First Lieu- tenant, and then was commissioned Captain in the 15th New York Artillery. He continued in the army to the close of the war, and participated in about twenty general engagements, including the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Weldon Railroad, besides numerous skirmishes. He was promoted to the rank of Major (May 11, 1865), and for " gallant and meritorious services" the Presi- dent conferred on him the brevets of Lieutenant- Colonel and Colonel. At the Battle of the Weldon Railroad he was for a time in command of a brigade, all of his superior officers having been killed or wounded.
He was only twenty years of age when he return- ed from the war, in the Fall of 1865. Within a week after his arrival home he entered the Albany Law School. After his graduation, in the following Spring, he commenced, in his native city, the practice of his profession, which he has ever since pursued with great success and honor. His natural talents for his calling, his keen insight into the law, his commanding presence, indomitable energy and absolute fearlessness quickly earned the respect of his brethren at the bar and gave great weight to his opinions with the court. He was elected Colonel of the 19th Regiment of the State militia June 17, 1868, and filled the position till the disbandment of the regiment in 1876. Colonel Dickey was a member of the Committee on Military, having in charge the arrangements for the military divisions
in the great procession at the Newburgh Centennial in 1883, and was Marshal of the Second Division.
He was Corporation Counsel in 1872, 1878 and 1879. For several years he was Marshal of Hudson River Lodge, F. & A. M. As a citi- zen he has been spirited and enterprising, always ready to contribute of his time, talents and means to the advancement of the public in- terest and the general good. On all local questions of the times his views receive the highest consideration. In partnership with his brother Joseph M., he conducted one of the greatest operations in real estate in the history of the city, and which in an inestimable degree contributed to the material advancement and prosperity of the place. This enterprise concerned the opening up of the Washington Heights section of the city, referred to at length elsewhere in this volume. The enterprise, foresight and courage of the man were here manifested, in that he accepted an opportunity, and is successfully carrying out a project, which older and wealthier, but less discerning citizens, ne- glected, or dared not attempt.
Colonel Dickey was married in June, 1868, to Kate W., daughter of Theodore Richmond, of Newburgh, and has four children, Frank R., Annie L., Kate G. and Henrietta E.
HON. ABRAM S. CASSEDY is the grandson of Archibald Cas- sedy, who emigrated from the north of Ireland about the time of the Revolution, and became one of the pioneer settlers of Rockland County, in this State. He was imbued with the indomitable industry and moral principles characteristic of the Scotch-Irish, and became a successful and respected member of the community. His son Archi- bald engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits, and married Lydia Gurnee, daughter of Judge Gurnee, of Rockland County, who was of French descent. They lived at Ramapo, where Abram S. was born November 29, 1833.
He received an academical education, graduating in his twentieth year from the State Normal School. He studied law with Judge Wil- liam F. Fraser, at Clarkstown, N. Y., and with Wilkin & Gott, at Goshen, N. Y., and was admitted to practice in 1857. Dr. Charles Drake was then County Clerk, and Mr. Cassedy was by him appoint- ed Deputy County Clerk, and filled the position for two years. Then for the next four years he was clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Orange County, which met annually at Goshen. Meanwhile, in 1859, he moved to this city and entered upon the practice of his profes-
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RESIDENCE OF COLONEL WILLIAM D. DICKEY, Corner of Bay View Terrace end Overlook Plece-Washington Heights.
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sion. In 1862 he was elected District Attorney of the County on the Democratic ticket, and served three years. In 1869 he formed a partnership with Charles F. Brown, son of Hon. John W. Brown, and the firm of Cassedy & Brown acquired a large clientage.
PHOTO. BY ATKINSON
HON. ABRAM S. CASSEDY.
The partnership continued till Mr. Brown became a Judge of the Supreme Court. Since 1886 he has been in partnership with his son W. F. Cassedy, under the firm name of A. S. & W. F. Cassedy. In 1874 Mr. Cassedy commenced a term in the Board of Education, and served one year as its President; he declined the nom- ination for a second term. In 1875-78 he was Corporation Counsel.
In 1880 he was nominated by acclamation by his party for Mayor, and was elected by a large majority. During his term the Quassaick Creek bridge was built, the West Shore Railroad was building, and the first steps were taken to perfect arrangements for the Centennial celebration. He has been urged to accept nominations for both the Legislature and Congress, but has hitherto declined. Mr. Cassedy has been a Director and the attorney of the Quassaick National Bank for over sixteen years. He has been and still is the owner of consid- erable real estate in Newburgh and St. Paul. In conjunction with E. T. Skidmore he bought the A. J. Downing property of ex-Mayor Carson in 1889, and on a portion of this he has erected recently a handsome residence for himself. Cassedy & Brown represented in part the Erie Railroad in this county, and they were attorneys at Newburgh for the North River Construction Company, which built the West Shore Railroad. They paid out about $700,000 for the Company in procuring the right of way through the city and imme- diate vicinity. He was local attorney for the West Shore, and after- ward for the Receivers. In October, 1885, he was appointed by the Court, Refcree in the matter of the foreclosure sale of the West Shore Railroad, and in November of that year sold the road at the New- burgh Court House for $22,000,000, and distributed the proceeds among the creditors. It is worthy of mention that in making this distribution he issued one check for $1,068,000, and three others for more than half a million dollars each. Since then he has represented
the New York Central and Hudson River Company Railroad in Orange County. Mr. Cassedy is an able lawyer, painstaking and conscientious in all his acts, and has won in a marked degree the confidence of the community.
He married Margaret J., daughter of Dr. Charles Drake, of New- burgh, in 1861. His younger son, Frank H., is practicing law in Newburgh on his own account.
NEHEMIAH FOWLER, Justice of the Peace, is of English an- cestry, and a descendant of Isaac Fowler, who settled in the Town of Newburgh in 1747. He is a son of Daniel W. and Lucretia A. Fowler.
Mr. Fowler was born October 13, 1844, in Newburgh, and soon afterward his parents removed to the country, where his early life was spent on his father's farm. In 1864 he commenced the study of law with James B. Beveridge; the next year he entered the Albany Law School and was graduated in 1866; since then he has practiced his profession in Newburgh. He became a studious and painstaking lawyer and soon came into notice as a trustworthy man.
In 1868 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace to fill a vacancy, and appointed a second time in 1885. The following year he was nominated and elected to this office as the candidate of the Republican party, and in 1890 re-elected for another term of four years by 2,269 majority over the Prohibition candidate-the Democrats declining to nominate a candidate against him. His decisions have always been regarded as sound, and none has ever been reversed upon appeal.
Mr. Fowler is counsel for the Newburgh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and has been their counsel continuously since its organization in October, 1876. He was a charter member of Storm King Lodge, No. 11, Knights of Pythias, of this city, at its institution in 1869; early in the history of the Lodge he passed through its chairs, and became Past Chancellor; and for twelve years has been Keeper of Records and Seal. He always retained his membership in said Lodge and enjoys the distinction of being the oldest Knight (in point of membership) in Newburgh. He has represented his Lodge for several years in the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He served one term as District Deputy Grand Chancellor, during the years 1880-81; and, at the session of the Grand Lodge held July, 1891, that honor was again conferred on him in his appointment as Deputy of the 20th District, com- posed of the Lodges in New- burgh, Cornwall and Highland Falls At the institution of North River Lodge, No. 1218, Knights of Honor, PHOTO. BY MAPES. of this city, on NEHEMIAH FOWLER. October 3, 1878, he became a charter member, and has continued therein ever since; he has been Reporter of the Lodge since 1879. He was created a Past Dictator by the Grand Lodge of the State of New York, at its session held at Elmira, N. Y., in 1886. Mr. Fowler reported the pro- ceedings of the Board of Supervisors of Orange County during the session of 1886 for the press of Orange County.
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Mr. Fowler married Nancy M. Merrill, daughter of Nathaniel Merrill, of Albany, N. Y., in 1868; has a son at Cornell University and a daughter at the State Normal College at Albany, N. Y.
MICHAEL H. HIRSCHBERG is a native of Newburgh, and was born April 12, 1847. The first principles of his education were re- ceived in the public schools of this city. At the age of ten he was sent to Cincinnati, where he attended a public school for one year. During the two years following he was a student at a private institu- tion in New York city. Returning to Newburgh, he entered the Academy, and was graduated in 1862. Then a year's classical course under Hugh S. Bauks completed his schooling. Endowed by nature with brilliant talents, and with a capacity and eagerness for study, the training of the schoolroom was to him but the guideboard show- ing the way to that higher scholarship to which he has attained by unceasing and well-directed private study.
By some strange mischance the distinguished lawyer of to-day be- gan business life as a clerk in a dry goods store in Madison, Indiana. Whether or no he developed into a good salesman during the three years thus employed does not appear; but in 1866 we find him in his proper sphere, studying law in the office of the Hon. Stephen W. Ful- lerton in the city of his birth.
In May, 1868, he was admitted to the bar. In March, 1869, he formed a partnership with David A. Scott, who had recently retired from the office of Surrogate after eight years incumbency. It was a happy combination of legal talents which these two men made to serve a common purpose. The firm was successful from the beginning; it continued for more than twenty years, and was dissolved only by the death of Mr. Scott.
Without tracing Mr. Hirschberg's every step, or attempting to set a value on a career which has not yet reached its zenith, we may yet indicate a few of the milestones he has passed on the way to the place in the world's favor he has already reached. Under the training of a Fullerton he rapidly developed into a good lawyer, and at a very early age acquired a considerable practice. When only twenty-three years old he was elected to the Board of Education, and was twice re-elect- ed, so that for twelve years he was prominently identified with our
RESIDENCE OF HON. M. H. HIRSCHBERG-132 Grand Street.
public-school system. For several years he was President of the Board. During that period Grammar School No. 2 and the Library
HON. M. H. HIRSCHBERG-District Attorney of Orange County
building were erected, Grammar School No. I was enlarged, and the colored school abolished.
In 1875 he was elected Special County Judge for three years. Since January, 1890, he has been District Attorney of Orange County, and during the year and a half that has passed since he assumed the duties of that office he has rid the county of a gang of desperadoes, and, altogether, has secured forty- one convictions from forty-four indictments.
As a lawyer Mr. Hirschberg has a high place in the estima- tion of the community. Learned in law and general literature, fluent, forceful and eloquent in speech, brilliant and witty in repartee, he is capable either of the most profound reasoning, or the most biting sarcasm. Well equipped for his profession, he is ready to cross swords with the best, and is fearless of any controversy. While to the masses he is best known for his ability as a trial lawyer, and public speaker, he has had a large general office practice. He has had much to do with the busi- ness of estates, and with commercial litigation and surrogate matters. As for criminal cases, he has been on one side or the other of the most important trials of his time. He was defend- ant's attorney in the Buck trial for assault with intent to kill, the Karlson-Meeker murder case, the Cossiano murder trial, the McCann murder trial, the White murder case, the Russell mur- der case, and the Myers throat-cutting case.
As a public speaker he has been heard with pleasure on many important occasions in the county. Besides the honors conferred upon him by the Republican party which we have named, he was once nominated for Mayor, and once for Con- gress, but both nominations he declined. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association and was one of the com- mittee having in charge the recent centennial celebration of the U. S. Supreme Court. Ile is a Trustee of the Law Library Association, a Director of the Associated Charities, a Director of the Highland Bank, and President of the Newburgh Street
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Railway Company. He was a member of the Newburgh Centennial Committee of Five, and was once Master of Newburgh Lodge F. and A. M. He married Elizabeth McAlles in 1878, and has three children.
CORNELIUS L. WARING was born at Balmville, a suburb of this city, in 1851. He studied law with Scott & Hirschberg, and was admitted to the bar in 1873. Not long afterwards he formed a partner- ship with ex-Dis- trict Attorney Russel Headley, which continned till 1878, when Mr. Waring was elect- ed Recorder by the Republican party. So ably did he perform the duties of the office that he was twice elect- ed, in 1882 and 1886; he declined to be a candidate for a fourth term and retired from the office Decem- ber 31, 1890. Dur- ing his twelve years on the bench he presided at every session of the PHOTO. BY ATKINSON. court, with the ex- CORNELIUS L. WARING. ception of about twenty, and dis-
posed of abont ten thousand cases. Mr. Waring was attorney for the Newburgh Street Railway Company at its organization, and secured its franchise against great opposition. He is Secretary and Attorney for the Newburgh Electric Light and Power Company, and is a Director of the Haverstraw Electric Light Company. In 1890 he was the Counsel of the Board of Water Commissioners. He has been a member of Ringgold Hose Com- pany many years; he was the Representative of the Company in the Fire Department Fund for six years, and is now attorney of that Board.
Mr. Waring has always taken an interest in athletic sports, and is President of the Newburgh Amateur Skating Association, Vice-President of the National Amateur Skating Association, a member of the Man- hattan Athletic Club of New York, a mem- ber of the Orange Lake Club of Newburgh, and a member of the Newburgh Athletic Club, and of the Newburgh Canoe and Boating Association.
course at Princeton, from which he was graduated. He was also graduated from the Albany Law School, and was admitted to the bar of this State, at the latter city in the Spring of 1865. Returning home he entered the law office of Hon. S. W. Fullerton, in this city, but soon afterward, in 1866, commenced the practice of law on his own account. From that time until his death he occupied the offices Nos. 7 and 8 in the Law Building, where the measure of success which attended his practice gave con- vincing proof of his talent and ability. He was Corpora- tion Counsel during the administration of Mayor Abram S. Cassedy, and was at one time at- torney for the Board of Alms House Commis- sioners for the City and Town of New- burgh.
He was one of the founders of the Woodlawn Ceme- tery Association in 1870; he had been a trustee since its incorporation in October of that year, he was treas- urer of the Board at the time of his death, and he took an active interest in the care, man-
PHOTO, BY ATKINSON.
HON. GRANT B. TAYLOR.
agement and control of the cemetery grounds. He was prominent in the Masonic fraternity-the only secret society with which he was identified. In early life he was advanced to the degrees of Knighthood, but at the time of his death he was a member and one of nine Past Masters in Hudson River Lodge, No. 607. His death created the first vacancy in the circle of Past Masters. He was a Re- publican in politics, and for many years was a familiar personage at the conventions of his party. He was a religious man, a Cal- vinist in faith, and one of a long line in his family of stanch supporters of the Presby- terian Church.
Death came to him in the prime of life on the 21st day of May, 1888.
Mr. Clark was a man of pronounced opinions and prejudices. His convictions were realities. It was therefore necessary to read his life between the lines. His mind was full of high principles, and he set him- self to the rigid discharge of all duties in life. But he could and did feel deeply for others, and helped them on the pathway of life. He thus endeared himself to a large circle of friends by silent, helpful ministeries of which the world knew nothing. Such is a fair and temperate record, of a successful, but not brilliant career.
GEORGE H. CLARK was the eldest son of the late George Clark, the first Mayor of Newburgh. He was born in the City of New York March 17, 1843. About 1854 he removed, with his father's family, to a farm Upon a beautiful knoll in Woodlawn, tonched early and late by the rising at Coldenham, in this county. Removing to GEORGE H. CLARK. Newburgh he entered the law office of Hon. Thomas George, while and setting sun, he and his revered father sleep side by yet a boy, but afterward prepared for college and took a classical side.
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HON. GRANT B. TAYLOR, now Member of Assembly from this district, was born June 6, 1856, at Oxford Depot, Orange County, but has lived in Newburgh for the past twenty-nine years. He was grad- uated in 1872 from the Academy, and commenced the study of law in the office of ex-Mayor Cassedy and Judge C. F. Brown, of the Second Division of the Court of Ap- peals, in 1874; ad- mitted to the bar September 12, 1879. He remained in the employ of Cas- sedy & Brown till 1883, and since then has practiced his profession on his own account. In 1889 he was one of the incorpora- tors and directors, and is now attorney and manager of loans, of the Mer- cantile Co-opera- tive Bank, doing PHOTO. BY WHIDDIT. business at No. 29 HON. HOWARD THORNTON. Broadway, New York. In January, 1890, he was appointed receiver of the Manhattan Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company in an action brought against it by the State authorities. He has been an officer in a number of societies of the county, and is now a Director of the Young Men's Christian Association. Mr. Taylor has long been prominent in musical circles in the city and county, and by his voice has aided many benevolent schemes. He was elected to the Assembly in 1890, and appointed upon two of the Law Committees and the Com- mittee on Village Affairs, and the special committee on Canal Inves- tigation.
HOWARD THORNTON, the subject of this sketch, is the young- est son of the late General William A. Thornton, of the United States Army, and was born on Governor's Island-where his father was sta- tioned-on the 25th of February, 1849. His early boyhood was pass- ed in the atmosphere of a military life, with all its infatuations to the youthful mind, which turned his inclination in that direction. He re- ceived instruction in the public schools of New York City, and graduated from Grammar School No. 40, in 1865, and entered the College of the City of New York, where he remained two years.
In the meantime General Thorn- ton died, and by reason of his
death his son failed to secure an appointment to West Point, which was a severe disappointment to him. He then turned liis efforts to acquiring a profession and entered Union College at Schenectady, in this State, from which he graduated in 1872. Selecting the pro- fession of the law as his life work, he entered the office of Eugene A. Brewster, of this city, as a student, and subsequently attended lectures and graduated from the Albany Law School in the class of 1874.
He at once be- gan the practice of his profession, still continuing with Mr. Brewster until 1883, when he opened an office at 41 Third Street in this city, where he has built up a large clientage, his es- pecial line being what is termed " office practice."
L. W. Y. McCROSKERY-Recorder.
Mr. Thornton's ancestors were identified with the early struggles of the Republic in acquiring its independence. His great-uncle, Matthew Thornton, was one of the signers of the Declaration of In- dependence. His paternal grand- father, John Thornton, was a ma- jor of infantry in the Continental Army, while his paternal grand- mother was the daughter of Gen- eral Samuel Clyde, of Cherry Val- ley, and was one of the few children that was saved at the time of the terrible Indian massacre, her mother covering her with her apron and hiding in the woods. His ma- ternal grandfather was Dr. Gilbert Smith, at that time an eminent physician of New York City, while his paternal grandmother was Helena DeWitt, who was a des- cendant of the DeWitt family, who were prominent in the organization of the State of New York.
M.K.L
WILLIAM F. CASSEDY.
Mr. Thornton was married on May 23, 1876, to the second daugh- ter of the late George W. Town- send, and resides at No. 314 Grand Street. In his social relations he finds ample relief from tlie arduous duties of office work, being a mem- ber of a number of organizations. He is courteous, affable and en- gaging in his manners; true in his friendships and faithful to his cli- ents. These characteristics have pointed him out as worthy of posi- tions of trust, and for this reason
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we find he is a director in the National Bank of Newburgh; attorney of the Building and Loan Association; one of the counselors of the Home for the Friendless; a trustee of Hudson River Lodge; treasurer of Highland Chapter; vice-president of the Masonic Hall Association; he is also an honorary member of Lawson Hose Company, No. 5; a member of the University Club, of New York City, and of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
He was initiated in Free Masonry in Hudson River Lodge, No. 607, on the 15th of May, 1872, and was elected Master December 18, 1872, and served one year. He is also a member of Highland Chap- ter and Hudson River Commandery, K. T.
Mr. Thornton is an ardent Republican and has taken an active part in furthering the interests of that party. He was elected a mem- ber of the Assembly in November, 1891, by a plurality of 876.
LEWIS W. Y. McCROSKERY, the present Recorder of the city, is a son of ex-Mayor J. J. S. McCroskery, and was born in Newburgh
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