USA > New York > Orange County > Newburgh > Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical > Part 55
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Mr. Miller is a man of strong will and of great courage and per- sistency; of an original and incisive mind he throws himself heartily into whatever cause he espouses; he is reticent and self-contained; by his kindness and generosity he attaches strongly to himself those whom he admits to his confidence and friendship. For many years he has been a very active member of the Associate Reformed Church at Newburgh, and in this he has followed strictly in the footsteps of his father. In politics, he has always been an enthusiastic Democrat, and that not simply in the technical and political sense, but in the hearty respect he feels for manhood by whomsoever it may be shown.
THEODORE MERRITT is a native of Newburgh and of the fifth generation of George Merritt and Glorianna Purdy, who came to the Town of Newburgh in 1747, in company with the Purdy and Fowler families, all being related by marriage. Thirteen children, the fruits of the marriage, came with them, and their direct and collateral descendants have been identified with the history and development of the town and city almost from the time of their found- ing. His lineal descent is from Daniel, the son of Underhill, the son of Humphrey, the son of George, the son of John, Sr., who came from England in or about 1680, and settled in Rye, Westchester County. The homestead of the family at Middlehope was purchased by Hum-
NEWBURGH.
307
phrey Merritt in 1758, passed to Underhill Merritt; thence to Daniel Merritt, and is still held by Hiram and Daniel H., brothers of Theo-
father's farm at Middlehope in 1853, entering the employ of John R. Gorham, Sr., as a druggist's clerk. Application to the study of the
dore. Daniel Merritt throughout a long life was a representative farmer and a man with whom the principles of the Christian religion were not only always in- telligently present in his dealings with his fellow- men, but made their im- press upon his children. His memory is widely cherished as a man of firm convictions, yet "with malice toward none, with charity for all."
The wife of Daniel Merritt and the mother of Theodore was Eliza, daughter of John Hait. She was born in the Town of Marlborough, N. Y., April 26, 1805. The duties of a Christian mother she lovingly discharged, and " her children rise up and call her blessed." She was amiable, of noble bearing, exemplary, and those lov- ed her most who knew her best. Her home was a model of order and comfort. She retained all her mental and physical faculties
RESIDENCE OF THEODORE MERRITT-86 Grand Street.
details of the business soon gave him qualifica- tions on which he might reasonably command suc- cess, and in 1859 he pur- chased the business of John F. Van Nort, and became his successor. In 1868 he purchased the store formerly occupied by John D. Phillips, then the leading merchant in the drug and paint trade, which he now occupies. Mr. Merritt's business as a wholesale and retail dealer and manufacturer of drugs, medicines and proprietary articles has grown to large propor- tions, and he has main- tained a character for integrity and honorable business methods. The business occupies tlie whole five floors of No. 40 Water Street.
Mr. Merritt, aside from his business, is accounted a representative and sub-
stantial citizen. He has always been identified with the Republican party and maintained its principles. He has been the chairman of
M.N-CO
THEODORE MERRITT.
unimpaired until the very end of her long life. She died August 5, 1891, aged 86. Theodore came to the Village of Newburgh from his
1- 60
C. EMMET CRAWFORD.
the Republican County and City Committees, a delegate to State Conventions several times, and frequently to county and city
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assemblies of his party, but with the exception of one term in the Board of Education he has never held nor desired official position. He served his time with Cataract Engine Company.
He married Sarah, daughter of Dr. George Hunter, of Crawford, and has four sons: Hiram, of New York; George H. and Daniel, pharmacists, who are with him in business, and Theodore A., student. His wife died February 23, 1873.
C. EMMET CRAWFORD was born in the Town of Wallkill in 1849. His father, James B. Crawford, was a farmer. He was educated at the Wallkill Academy, in Middletown, and at Eastman's
THEODORE MERRITT
DRUG GIST,
AND
40
DRUGS
WATER STREET.
TOILETARTICLES
THEODORE MERRITT
40
THEODORE MERRITT'S STORE-40 Water Street.
Business College. He remained on the farm till he was married, in 1870, to a daughter of the Rev. C. A. Harvey, D. D., of Middletown. For two years thereafter he was employed in George B. Adams's dry
goods store, at Middletown, and then bought out the old furniture house of Hiram Brink, in Middletown. A year later he bought out the long established crockery house of I. O. Beattie, a household
NEW YORK FURNITURE CO 102
102. NEW YORK FURNITURE CO . 102
NEW YORK FURNITURE COMPANY'S STORE-102 Water Street.
name in that section of the county, and combined the two businesses, which had occupied adjoining buildings at Nos. 44 and 46 North Street. It is now the largest business house in Middletown, com- prising twenty-five thousand square feet of store-room.
For seven years Mr. Crawford conducted this large establishment alone; then he took his brother, O. Clark Crawford, into partnership. The next year they opened the store of the
NEW YORK FURNITURE COMPANY
in Newburgh. They first occupied the Chandler building in Water Street. This business also grew rapidly from the start. In 1887 O. C. Crawford retired from the firm to study for the ministry. After a time the business outgrew the Chandler building, and the company Jeased the two upper floors of the Whited building (No. 86). Then they rented three upper lofts of No. 89 Water Street, and the whole of a large building in South Water Street. In 1887 the large factory, Nos. 110 and 112 Front Street, was started as auxiliary to the store, and manufactured parlor furniture, lounges and mattresses, both for their own store and the general trade. The company was then a tenant of five landlords, and desiring to concentrate, they leased
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the property No. 102 Water Street, and Nos. 73, 75, 77 and 79 Frout Street.
A handsome building, especially adapted to the business, and costing fifteen thousand dollars, was erected on the Water Street site and connected with the Front Street building. The former has five floors and the latter four, connected by elevators, and altogether it is the largest house-furnishing establishment on the Hudson River. It has a large stock of crockery and a large stock of carpets, all in addition to the great stock of furniture. With every facility for the business, it is deemed the best arranged household furnishing house in this section. In Middletown the company has four floors in each of its two buildings, a loft in the Press building, and the upper loft in the large Empire block. The company carries about sixty thousand dollars' worth of stock, embracing, besides furniture, crockery and carpets, a large assortment of silver-plated ware, lamps and general house-furnishing goods. The supply of each is of the most comprehensive character, from the plainest to the most elegant and costly. Whatever is esteemed as adding to the comfort and elegance of the household is here to be found at the lowest prices of moderation. As a consequence, their trade is very large, extending up and down the river and into the interior. They also have a store in Brown's Block, Main Street, Matteawan, for the sale of their entire lines; and a store in Port Jervis exclusively for the sale of the product of their factory-parlor furniture, lounges and mattresses. Mr. Craw- ford says "the keynote of the New York Furniture Company's suc- cess is honesty and strict attention to business. We are never tempted to say a thing is better than it really is; and it is our utmost endeavor to give satisfaction to purchasers." To this end, the company is very lib- eral in its terms. They sell either on instalments, or ou time, and of course for cash, and seek to accommodate patrons in every reason- able way. In February, 1891, Elting D. B. France, James W. Crawford and Charles H. Mapes, all of Middletown, were admitted into partnership in the Middletown store and the upholstering factory in Newburgh.
FORSON & ROSS, steam granite and marble works, Nos. 99- 103 Front Street. This business was established about the beginning of the present century and is the oldest in its line in the city. The predecessors of the present proprietors were John W. Mccullough,
THE CARROLL MONUMENT-In St. Patrick's Cemetery- Made by Forson & Ross.
David Miller and Thornton M. Niven. The works are supplied with steam power and every modern facility for the working of granite and marble, and the production of the finest monumental and ceme- tery work. The firm carry in stock a fine display of monuments, headstones and memorials, and are prepared to make any style desir- ed promptly to order. Designs and estimates are furnished and the finest class of monument work is erected. The copartners, David
H. Forson and Thomas M. Ross, are both gentlemen of large ex- perience and established reputation in this line of enterprise, and give their close personal attention to all the details of their business.
WILLIAM H. MAPES was born in Newburgh, on March 12, 1861, and with the exception of two years spent on the river and in New York City in the employ of the Homer Ramsdell Transportation Company, has continued to live in his native place ever since. He was educated partly by private instruction and partly in the public schools, and is proud of having been an " Old Academy" boy, from which institution he graduated in 1878. He comes from an ancestry in which is com- bined the blood of the Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Frenchman and Hol- lander, and which fought nobly for freedom in the war for indepen- dence, aud is descended through his mother from the Warren family,
WILLIAM H. MAPES.
noted in Massachusetts history. His paternal ancestor, Thomas Mapes, was born in Wales and emigrated to America early in the 18th century, settling in what is now the Town of Monroe. He was one of the first settlers of Orange County, and Sheriff of said county during the latter part of the Revolution. His great-grandfather, James Mapes, was a soldier in the Revolutionary Army and is known to have helped defend the Highland forts against the British, and to have fought under Wayne at the storming of Stony Point. His grandfath- er, Robert B. Mapes, of Marlboro, Ulster County, was a wheelwright by trade, and in the latter years of his life built and conducted the Farmers' Hotel at that place. He was an officer of cavalry and a prominent figure in the militia of that section.
George W. Mapes, his father, who died suddenly in 1884, will be re- membered by most Newburghers for his genial nature and pleasant ways while keeper of a restaurant and market in the old building on the northwest corner of Front and Third Streets, which while under his management was for many years a popular place of resort. He was a Knight of Honor, and for a number of years served in Col- umbian Hose Company.
Mr. Mapes is a natural artist. The first attempts of his fingers to use a pencil when a child were to imitate the objects he saw around
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him, and from that time till the present he has been a devoted student of nature and of art. Athletic in build and delighting in out-door ex- ercise, he has since boyhood wandered over the hills and valleys of " Old Orange " sketching here and there and studying the beautiful, in hope of reproducing it for the pleasure of others.
He has made a number of creditable paintings which have found ready purchas- ers, but since 1885, when he opened his studio at No. 64 Water Street, he has given most of his attention to pho- tography. All of the recent views, many of them of the most difficult nature, requir- ing skill of the highest grade and untiring patience, and a large number of the por- traits in this book, were made by him. Always striv- ing to excel, and having al- ready been recognized by high authorities as a promis- ing operator, he hopes in time to take rank with the foremost men in his profes- sion. Mr. Mapes is an Epis- copalian in belief-a member of St. George's Church. Since 1882 he has been connected with the Young Men's Christian Association and prominent in its de- bating societies. He was the first teacher in the Association Gymna- sium, a position which a dangerous accident compelled him to relinquish. Mr. Mapes was married in 1885 to Louise D. Greene, daughter of William R. Greene, of Balmville, and they have two children, both girls, named respectively Sidney and Helen.
TURNER, SHIPP & OSBORN (successors to Turner & Sanford). The history of Newburgh would hardly be complete without some mention of the well known firm of real estate and in- surance agents, Turner, Shipp & Osborn, No. 50 Third Street. For more than fifteen years, first as E. S. Turner, down to a later period, and since the present members assumed charge of the business, the fortunes of this con- ceru have been closely identified with the steady growth and prosperity of our city. The individual members of the firm have been among our foremost and active citizens who are always ready to lend a helping hand to every private or public measure which would benefit the people. In return the PHOTO. BY MAPES. SAMUEL E. SHIPP. people of Newburgh and surrounding country have given the firm a large share of their patronage, and it is safe to say that the house is as well and favorably kuown as any agency in the State. In addition to the Newburgh business they have representatives in nearly every village aud town in Orange County, who do business
through them. Among their long list of companies are numbered some of the strongest and most successful in the world, such as the Royal, Liverpool and London and Globe, Hanover, North British, Guardian, Insurance Company of North America, and others equally as good. They also represent the Mutual Life of New York, with its enormous as- sets of more than one hun- dred and fifty million dol- lars. In addition the firm in- sures against loss by torna- do, explosion of boilers and accident. Their real estate business is large and increas- ing, and besides they deal extensively in first mort- gages.
TURNER, SHIPP & OSBORN'S OFFICES-50 Third Street
SAMUEL E. SHIPP, the senior member of the firm, was born in Princess Ann County, Virginia, in 1851. He was educated at Colum- bian College, Washington, D. C., and at the close of the war began business in Richmond. He was soon af- terwards appointed Assist- ant Postmaster, and held that position until appointed treasurer of Norfolk City. Mr. Shipp soon tired of public life, however, and returned to Washington, where he engaged ac- tively in the real estate business until he came to Newburgh in 1888. After he came to this city he purchased an interest in the real estate and insurance firm of Turner & Sanford, and on the retirement of Messrs. Turner and Sanford from the business reorganized it by as- sociating with himself his present partner and conducting the busi- ness under the present firm name.
Mr. Shipp is an active, energetic and aggressive business man, and his name for the past three years has been prominently associated with nearly every important enterprise, both public and private, that has come before the cit- izens in our town. He is a firm believer in the fu- ture growth and prosper- ity of Newburgh, is a strong advocate of home investments, and is " broad gauge " in all his ideas concerning public improvements. Although a comparative stranger he has already won the confidence and esteem of our people and is receiv- ing a large share of their patronage in his line of business.
DAVID A. OSBORN, the junior member of the firm, was born in Green- field, Ulster County, N. Y'., in 1863, his early an- cestors being numbered PHOTO. BY MAPES among the pioneer settlers DAVID A. OSBORN. of eastern New York. He received a common-school education, and subsequently, wishing to en- ter a business life, after a course of mercantile study decided to locate in Newburgh. A position with a wholesale house in this city being offered him, he accepted it. At the expiration of five years he re-
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signed this position to take one as manager of the iusurauce depart- ment of the real estate and insurance agency with which he is now identified. Mr. Osborn having given much time, thought and atten- tion to the subject of insurance, in its many and varied forms, the ex- perience thus acquired fitted him in a marked degree to enter the firm as a partner, which relation he assumed at a later period and still holds.
SAMUEL J. OWEN, born in Goshen, June, 1841; died in New- burgh March 10, 1891. For many years Mr. Owen was prominent in the clothing trade of this city. He was the son of Nelson Owen.
MERCHANT TAILOR
FORHISHOHL: FOOD
SAMUEL J. OWEN'S STORE-98 and 100 Water Street.
His first employment was in a store in Port Jervis; later he came to Newburgh and entered the employ of James H. Phillips where he remained with Mr. Phillips eight years. Upon the death of ex-Mayor Robert Sterling he formed a partnership with Richard Sterling, nephew of the late proprietor, and purchased the clothing business, continuing at the old stand, corner of Front and Third Streets. When this partnership was dissolved Mr. Owen moved to his new building, Nos. 98 and 100 Water Street, and continued the business there till his death. He always took an interest in whatever tended to the advance- ment of Newburgh, and was a man of progressive ideas, was very
successful in business and accumulated a competency. He married Miss Gillespie, sister of the Rev. D. D. Gillespie, of Marlborough, who survives him, with one daughter.
PECK & VAN DALFSEN, dealers in furniture, carpets, oil cloth, etc., No. 114 Water Street. This business was established
SAMUEL J. OWEN
nearly fifty years ago by Charles U. Cushman, who was succeeded by W. E. & J. C. Peck in 1851, the store being at No. 75 Water Street. In 1855 Mr. Van Dalfsen became a member of the firm, and in 1868 C. A. Harcourt bought William E. Peck's interest, and the firm became known as Peck, Van Dalfsen & Co., and after the death of Mr. Harcourt, as Peck & Van Dalfsen. At No. 114 Water Street they have five floors each 40x80 feet in size, and on the opposite side of Fourth Street they have two floors of the large building Nos. 118 and 120 Water Street. Peck & Van Dalfsen were the first firm in this city to put a passenger elevator in their establish- ment. Their stock comprises everything connected with the furni- ture and carpet trade. They deal with the best classes of our citi- zens, and make a specialty of completely furnishing all sizes of houses, cottages, etc. The firm executes promptly all kinds of upholstering.
Jonathan C. Peck was born in the Town of Hamptonburgh; he learned the harness-making trade at Montgomery; came to New- burgh in 1837, worked for John R. Wiltsie nine years, and then started in business for himself. In 1851 he and his brother bonght ont the furniture and carpet business of Charles U. Cushman.
James T. Van Dalfsen was born at Coeymans, N. Y. His father was the captain of a river packet. He came here in 1845, when eight years old, his father having died. He at once obtained employment as an errand boy with the Lendrums, grocers, but found the work too heavy and went into the employ of Enoch Carter in stripping tobacco, at 75 cents a week. In 1847 he entered employment with Charles U. Cushman in the furniture and carpet business, and at
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length became a partner in the business. He was a member of the Board of Education from 1883-87, and from 1866-69 he was First As- sistant Chief Engineer of the Fire Department.
buildings. It is handsomely finished and furnished. The walls and ceiling, shelves, desk and railings are all of Georgia pine. A hall
ALBERT C. SMITH & CO., steam heating, plumbing and gas fitting, Nos. 487 and 489 Broad- way. This is the leading concern in this section making a specialty of steam heating and plumb- ing. Established in 1877, it has grown to large pro- portions in a comparative- ly short period. It is pre- pared to heat houses, offices and stores by steam on the most improved MITI GACOMTALC. PLUMBING 487 principles, guaranteeing satisfactory work at mod- erate prices. This firm carries in stock a full line of wrought-iron pipe, fit- tings, valves and brass goods; house-heating boilers, steam radiators, steam traps, etc., lead pipe, cast-iron pipe, con- ductor pipe, and fittings; tin and sheet iron work, sheet lead, solder, pumps and hydrants. Estimates are furnished for heating, plumbing and ventilating. The store and shop, erected ex- pressly for this business, was completed and opened February, 1890.
A. C. SMITH & CO.'S BUILDINGS-487 and 489 Broadway.
room opening from the rear of the store is hand- somely furnished as a pri- vate office.
But the portion of the building in which the pro- prietor centers his interest is the workshop in the basement extension fitted up with the latest and best devices in tools and plumbers' outfittings. A work-bench extends along the whole western side; on the opposite side are cutting and thread- ing machines and similar implements. Down the middle of the shop is a long double row of com- partments from floor to ceiling, filled with num- erous varieties and sizes of small fittings used in the business. Fifteen me- chanics are generally em- ployed. The shop has also an entrance from Washington Street, and trucks load and unload on that side. It is al-
together a very complete establishment and has a fine trade.
PECK. V FURNITURE
DALE PARPETS
112 STOVE
-
PECK & VAN DALFSEN'S STORE-114 Water Straet.
Each building is 25 x 50, three stories, with one-story extension in the rear fifty fect deep. The store occupies the entire ground floors of both
SENIOR.
DRY GOODS & NOTIONS.
&A.SENIOR
AUGUSTUS SENIOR'S BUILDING- 32 Water Street.
AUGUSTUS SENIOR was born in the Village of Montgomery, N. Y. His father, George Senior, a retired merchant of that place,
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is the son of William Senior, who came to the United States from Dorsetshire, England, which was the stronghold of the Senior fam- ily. Augustus was educated at the Montgomery Academy and at Eastman's Business College at Poughkeep- sie. His first employment was in the store of his father and uncle (G. & T. H. Senior) at Montgomery. Then he came to New- burgh and entered the employ of the dry goods firm of Schoonmaker, Mills & Weller. Two years and a half later he formed a part- nership with Charles Mapes, under the firm name of Mapes & Senior; and three years later he purchased his partner's interest.
Mr. Senior has since continued his dry goods business without an associate. A few years ago he purchased the fine building, No. 32 Water Street, corner of Carpenter, and moved his business thereto. He deals exclusively in dry goods, and his store con- tains a large and varied assortment, and supplies a large trade.
Mr. Senior is a Trustee and an Elder of Calvary Presbyterian Church, and for five years has been Superintendent of the Sab- bath school. He has been a Director of the Young Men's Christian Association since its re-organization. He married Sarah, daugh- ter of Prof. John W. Doughty, M. A., in 1872.
HENRY CARTER.
HENRY CARTER, florist, was born in County Wexford, Ireland, thirty-nine years ago. When a small lad he was apprenticed to J. H. Harper, proprie- tor of the Park Nurseries at Wexford, and served four years. He af- terwards was employed at Cullen's Wood Nurseries near Dublin, and at the Botanical Gardens in Dublin. He came to this country iu the Fall of 1868, and was for three years employed at Daniel T. Weed's fruit farm and green-houses at Middlehope, and was afterwards in
ness alone. Having purchased a tract of two acres of land on North Street, at the junction of Grand Avenue and the Balmville road, he commenced the erection of hot-houses thereon, but also continued his First Street place till 1889, when the latter was discontinued. Mr. Carter has a large, attractive and very complete establishment. There are four houses each one hundred feet long, and six averaging seventy feet in length, together with the propagating-house, palmhouse, orchid-house, office, potting- house and boiler-sheds. All the green- houses as well as the residence close by are heated by hot water supplied by four boilers. A Manville windmill keeps the large tanks and cisterns supplied with water, with a strong head in all parts of the establish- ment. There is a great collection of the rarest and finest varieties of native and for- eign flowering-plants and shrubs, and also a select nursery stock. Mr. Carter makes a specialty of roses, violets, carnations and cut flowers, and his valuable experience and skill are often employed in laying out or beautifying gentlemen's country seats, and decorating interiors for festive occasions. Although most of his stock is grown by him- self, he is also a heavy purchaser from other nurserymen of novelties, as it is his aim to keep everything that may possibly be desir- ed. He has acquired a large patronage and been very successful. He was married in 1877 to Margaret E. Londergan, of New- burgh, and has two sons and two daughters-Henry Francis, James, Mary and Ellen.
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