USA > New York > Dutchess County > The history of Dutchess County, New York > Part 63
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Col. de Peyster belonged to many social clubs, including the Union, Knickerbock- er, Metropolitan of New York, also the St. Nicholas, Holland, Historical, and Hu- guenot Societies. He was one of the oldest members of the military order of the
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Royal Legion, having been elected in April, 1866. He was a member of Societies of the War of 1812 and Colonial Wars. He joined the Grand Army of the Republic in 1870 and held many prominent positions in the order. For many years he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Republican League of the State of New York from Dutchess County. He died May 27, 1903 at Tivoli.
WRIGHT DEVINE, merchant and representative citizen of the village of Pleas- ant Valley, N. Y., was born in that locality December 13, 1838; a son of Jonathan and Catherine (Van Vlack) Devine, and a grandson of Abram Devine who was born in New Jersey and died at the Pleasant Valley homestead in 1850.
Wright Devine finished his studies at the Nine Partners School, and for a time was engaged in teaching. In 1867 in connection with his brother Albert he pur- chased his present store, and after a partnership of two years became sole proprietor.
Mr. Devine is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in 1893-94, was master of Shekomeko Lodge No. 458; he has also served as treasurer of that Lodge.
Mr. Devine was married in 1866 to Julia M., daughter of James Way. Two chil- dren were born to them, Grace E. and Seward W.
JOHN PETER DEWINT, for many years prominently identified with the develop- ment of Fishkill Landing, N. Y., was a son of John DeWint, who came from Holland and settled on the island of St. Thomas in the West Indies, and there married Eliza- beth Groebe. In 1874 he and his wife came to New York, where Mr. DeWint was engaged in trade with the West Indies. He bought a tract of land near Tappan, N. Y., where he lived with his wife and one son, John Peter, the subject of this review, who was born in 1787. The DeWint homestead at Tappan has been purchased by the State of New York as it was one of Washington's headquarters during the Revolution. Later John DeWint bought, further up the river, on the opposite east shore, a tract of about 2000 acres of land and gave it to his son, John Peter. On this land the vil- lage of Fishkill-on-Hudson was built. September 11, 1814 John Peter DeWint mar- ried, at Quincy, Mass., Caroline Amelia Smith, grand-daughter of John Adams, the second president of the United States. To them were born the following children: Caroline Elizabeth (Mrs. J. J. Monell); Julia (Mrs. W. A. Van Wagenen); Elizabeth (Mrs. C. P. Cranch); Anna Maria; John; William Stephens Smith; Isabella Adams (Mrs. Gabriel Furman); Emily Augusta (Mrs. Frederick Withers); Arthur; Francis Adams; Mary Catherine (Mrs. George Seaman). The homestead of Mr. DeWint stood on the bank of the river, a short distance north of the village of Fishkill-on-Hud- son. It was totally destroyed by fire in 1862, and was never rebuilt. Besides the management of over a thousand acres of land Mr. DeWint had the care and mainte- nance of the ferry at Newburgh, and other business on the river and in New York. His life was very active and hospitable. He gave the land on which the Dutch par- sonage and burial ground stands; also to the Methodist church he gave a tract of land on Main street, on the site now occupied by Sherman Brothers. He also gave the land for a public school on the site now occupied by the Dutchess Tool Works.
Mr. DeWint died November 18, 1870. His wife perished in the disaster which re- sulted from the burning of the steamer "Henry Clay," while racing with the steamboat "Armenia."
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JOHN J. DONNELLY, attorney, Fishkill-on-Hudson, was born at Matteawan, N. Y., August 19, 1876. After graduating from the Matteawan High School in 1900. he pursued the studies for the legal profession at the Columbia University Law School, and in the office of former County Judge Samuel K. Phillips. He was admitted to the Bar in 1905. Mr. Donnelly holds the office of Justice of the Peace of the town of Fishkill, and is Corporation Counsel for the village of Matteawan.
CYRENUS P. DORLAND, attorney, Poughkeepsie, was born February 28, 1848, at Matteawan, N. Y. After finishing his studies in the schools of his native town and the Dutchess County Academy he entered the law office of his father, Peter Dorland, who was then Surrogate of Dutchess county. He was admitted to the Bar in 1875. In 1879 Mr. Dorland was elected one of the Justices of the Peace of the city of Poughkeepsie, and re-elected to that office, serving, in all, seven years. In 1886 he was elected City Recorder, and at the expiration of his term was elected to the office of Surrogate of Dutchess county, to which he was re-elected in 1896.
In 1872 Mr. Dorland was united in marriage with Catherine S. Cary of Pough- keepsie, and to them have been born three children: Leslie C., Clarence, and Mary W.
JOSEPH H. DOUGHTY was born at Salt Point, Dutchess county, April 18, 1854. After finishing his education in the public schools, he learned the carpenter trade with his father, and was for a time employed in Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1903 he re- turned to his native county and engaged in farming, on the old Perkins' homestead in the town of Poughkeepsie.
Mr. Doughty was married September 13, 1882 to Amelia E. Perkins. They are the parents of one daughter-Esther.
ROBERT W. DOUGHTY, attorney, at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, was born at Matteawan, N. Y., December 13, 1869. He received his preliminary education in the schools of Matteawan, and was graduated from the University of Michigan in 1892 with the degree of B. A. He then entered the law office of his brother, Edward M. Doughty of Fishkill Landing, and was admitted to the Bar in 1901. He is trus- tee of the Fishkill Savings Institution; vice-president of the Citizens' Land Improve- ment Company of Fishkill Landing; trustee and deacon of the Pilgrim Baptist Church of Matteawan, and president of the Hudson River Central Sunday School Convention.
In 1896 Mr. Doughty was married to Grace Gobel of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the following children were born to them: Elizabeth G., Edna R., Grace R., and Thomas J.
CLARENCE J. DRAKE, was born at the town of Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, New York, on the 24th day of June, 1874, and is the son of Edward C. and Annie E. Drake. He was educated at the Poughkeepsie Military Institute and the De Garmo Institute, of Fishkill-on-Hudson, N. Y., and in 1898 entered the law
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offices of Hon. Martin Heermance and Hon. C. W. H. Arnold, and later studied in the office of Charles F. Cossum, Esq., from whose office he was admitted to practice in the year 1902. He is still engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Mr. Drake is active in Republican politics and has held several offices in his town and county. He belongs to the Masonic and other fra- ternal orders and clubs.
JOHN C. DUBOIS, a merchant at Wappingers Falls, was born in this village in 1857. He obtained his education in the public schools. He began life as a clerk in his father's store, and has been engaged in business for himself since 1878. Mr. DuBois is president of the National Bank of Wappingers Falls, which was or- ganized and opened for business February 1, 1909. He has served as trustee of the village of Wappingers Falls, and also as village president.
DR. THEODORE WELD DUBOIS, the oldest practitioner of dentistry in the city of Poughkeepsie is the only surviving son of the late Peter F. duBois and Caro- line Dean duBois of Pleasant Valley; Mrs. duBois having been a sister of the late Judge Dean of Poughkeepsie.
Dr. duBois' father was a direct descendant of Jacques duBois, who with his brother Louis duBois of New Paltz first brought the ancient name of "duBois" to the new world in 1660 and they wrote their name as it was invariably written six hundred years previously, with a small "d" and a capital "B" thus "du Bois".
In consulting the oldest genealogical authors and books of heraldry in the Bib- liothique National at Paris, only one name is now extant of equal antiquity-that is the name of Pierrepont-which like that of "duBois" has come down for many centuries unaltered in a single letter.
In the heraldic records preserved in the "Royal Library" of Paris, under the head of "duBois" it is expressly said "that this name is one of the oldest of the noble families of contention in Normandy; that genealogy beginning with the name of Geoffroi duBois, a knight under William the Conqueror, whom he accompanied to the Conquest of England in 1066.
Dr. duBois' great, great, great grandfather, Peter duBois was the first elder of the 1st Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie, while his brother Louis duBois was the 1st Elder of the Reformed Church of New Paltz in Ulster County.
Dr. duBois has in his possession an heirloom which has come down to him from his forefathers (in fact was brought with them when they fled to America to escape Popish bigotry, tyranny, and persecution) in the shape of an old Dutch Bible printed in 1690, nearly a foot in thickness and perhaps eighteen inches square. This sacred volume is still well preserved, with heavy brass clasps and bindings, and is a daily reminder of his Huguenot ancestors-bold and fearless upholders of civil and religious liberty-Louis duBois of Ulster County and Jacques duBois of Dutch- ess County.
Dr. duBois was a student at the old Dutchess County Academy, under the late Wm. McGeorge, a noted instructor. He studied his profession with Dr. Clarke of Albany, N. Y. and began his practice in Poughkeepsie in 1860. Dental Colleges
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were comparatively unknown at that time, but Dr. duBois soon attained such pro- ficiency as an operator, that he was unanimously chosen by President Raymond and the Board of Trustees of Vassar College to act as dentist to that institution, retaining that position for a decade or more.
Dr. duBois was married in 1861 to Mary C. Perkins of Philadelphia, Pa. One daughter, Mrs. P. S. Swain of New York City being their only surviving child. In 1889 Dr. duBois was again married to Cornelia M. Baldwin of Patterson, Putnam Co., N. Y., she being a lineal descendant of Elder Wm. Brewster who came over in the Mayflower. Theodore Weld duBois, Jr. is the only child of this marriage.
DANIEL A. DUGAN was born at Brinckerhoff, Dutchess County, N. Y., on August 31, 1880. He is the son of Mary and the late Charles Dugan, who was born near Bantry, County Cork, Ireland where his ancestors had resided for over two hundred years, and which is still the family home. They were engaged in agricul- tural pursuits and took active interest in local affairs. John Dugan, the grand- father of our sketch, had ten children of whom Charles was the oldest. He came to this country in 1855 and located on Staten Island where he resided for two years. He then came to Fishkill, N. Y., and engaged in farming in which occupation he continued until his death 1901. Three other brothers, Timothy, Stephen and Dan- iel came to this country; Daniel served as a volunteer in the Civil War and Stephen who had just graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, came to this country to enlist but the war was over when he arrived. Timothy still resides on Staten Island
Charles Dugan was the father of ten children-Annie, John, Charles (who died in infancy) Stephen, Francis, May, Charles, Daniel, Edward and William.
Daniel A. Dugan attended the district school at Swartwoutville, and then entered the Fishkill Union School at Fishkill Village, from which he graduated after two years. He taught school for two years in Dutchess County and for four years near Carmel, Putnam County, N. Y., after which he entered the Albany Law School and graduated with the degree of L. L. B. after a two years' course. He was admitted to the Bar and opened a law office at Fishkill-on-Hudson where he is now practicing. He is a member of the Roman Catholic Church. In politics Mr. Dugan is a Democrat taking active interest in local affairs and in the advancement of the success of his party. He is a member of Trinity Council, Knights of Columbus, Brotherhood of Elks, Poughkeepsie Lodge, Fishkill Eyrie of Eagles, Protection Engine Company No. 1 of Fishkill, and an honorary member of Tompkins Hose Company of Fishkill Landing.
JOHN PETER DUGAN, president of Fishkill Village, N. Y., born at Brinck- erhoff, Dutchess county, July 20, 1862. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and in 1880 began his apprenticeship as a blacksmith and horse- shoer with Peattie Bros. of Fishkill Landing. After learning his trade he followed this calling throughout the Eastern and Middle States for several years, finally em- barking in business for himself in Newark, N. J. In the spring of 1890 he built a shop at Brinckerhoff, N. Y., which he conducted for nine years, and in 1898 purchas- ed the property and blacksmith business of Jeremiah Wilbur at Fishkill, in which he is at present engaged.
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For several years Mr. Dugan has taken an active interest in local public affairs, and in 1905 was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of Fishkill Village, and was re-elected in 1907. In March, 1909, Mr. Dugan was elected to the office of president of the village. Socially he is a member of Trinity Council No. 445, Knights of Columbus, and is also affiliated with the Order of Eagles.
June 20, 1884 Mr. Dugan was united in marriage with Miss Josephine Purcell of Wappingers Falls, N. Y.
IRVING DUTCHER, Supervisor of the town of Beekman, was born in the town of La Grange June 7, 1860, where he obtained his education in the district schools. At the age of twenty he engaged in the mercantile business at Billings. From 1887 to 1895 Mr. Dutcher resided in the State of Texas, and upon his return to Dutchess county in 1895 he opened a general store at Green Haven, N. Y.
Politically Mr. Dutcher is a Republican, and from 1898 to 1906 held the office of town clerk of the town of Beekman, and in 1906 was elected a member of the Board of County Supervisors. He is a charter member of Acme Lodge No. 219, Knights of Pythias, of which he is also Past Master.
JOHN BOWDISH DUTCHER has been long and successfully associated with finance, agriculture, stock raising and the railroad industry.
His ancestors were among the staunch band of French Huguenots who fled to Holland after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, many of whom came later to this country. The Dutcher family was founded here early in the seventeenth century by Ruloff Dutcher and his wife Jannette Brussy. Gabrial Dutcher, their son, married Elizabeth Knickerbocker, granddaughter of Horman Janse van Wye Knickerbocker, of Dutchess County, New York. Their grandson Parcefor Carr Dutcher, married Johanna Low Frinck, daughter of Stephen Frinck and Anna Low both of whom were of distinguished Holland stock. Among Mrs. P. C. Dutcher's ancestors was Conrad Ten Eyck, who, coming from Holland in 1650, became the owner of what is now known as Coenties Slip in New York. Her maternal grand- father was the Revolutionary officer, Captain Peter Low.
John B. Dutcher was born at Dover, N. Y., on the 13th of February, 1830, the son of David and Amy Bowdish Dutcher. He early followed his father's pursuit of farming, at first in his native place and later in the adjoining town of Pawling. He has, indeed, never entirely relinquished his farming operations, despite the ex- tent of his financial and railroad interests. Politically he is a Republican, and was a member of the State Assembly in 1861 and 1862, and of the State Senate in 1864 and 1865. In 1864, he was a delegate to the National Convention which renominated Lincoln, and in 1880 he was sent to the Convention that placed Garfield's name at the head of the ticket.
Mr. Dutcher's long association with railways commenced in 1864 when he became a director of the New York & Harlem, a position he still retains. In the following year he became the General Live Stock Agent of the New York and Hudson River Railroad. He has occupied that position ever since, holding the same relations also with the New York and Harlem, the West Shore, the Fall Brook and all of the New
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York Central System East of Buffalo. Of the New York and Harlem, and the Spuyten Duyvil & Port Morris Railroad he is a director.
On the 22d of May, 1860, he married Christina Dodge, of Pawling. Their son, John Gerow Dutcher, was born on the 18th of September, 1865, married Helen Willets in St. Thomas's Church. He is also a member of the Union League Club, is a graduate of Yale in the class of 1885, and has a New York residence at 504 Fifth Avenue. The home of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Dutcher, "Maplecroft," is at Pawl- ing and has been occupied ever since the year following their marriage.
Mr. Dutcher has been a member of the Union League Club since 1868. His name is on the rolls of the Saint Nicholas and Dutchess County Societies the New York Produce Exchange and the New York Chamber of Commerce:
DUTCHESS FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY. Among the earliest of the mutual fire insurance companies organized in the State of New York, few bore a more excellent reputation in the insurance world than the Dutchess County Mutual Insurance Co., of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., which was incorporated May 14, 1836. For, more than sixty-four years, it operated without interruption and with a satisfactory measure of success as a mutual company. To conform to the changed conditions under which the modern insurance business is conducted, it was reorganized July 1, 1900, as a stock company, and under the efficient administration of president Lewis H. Vail, it has become a prosperous and growing corporation. The other officers of the Company are: M. A. Fowler, vice-president; J. J. Graham, Secre- tary; F. L. Vail, assistant secretary.
DUTCHESS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, manufacturers of "Dutchess Trousers" in the city of Poughkeepsie. The business of this company, which is national in scope, has been built up through more than a quarter of a century of in- telligent and progressive management. It was founded by the late Hon. J. Frank Hull, and was conducted by him until his death in July, 1907. "Dutchess Trous- ers" have always been distinctively a Poughkeepsie product, carrying the name ex- tensively to every city in the United States. The present officers are: W. J. Leahey president; Mrs. J. Frank Hull, first vice-president; C. Vail, second vice-president, and C. B. Palmer, secretary and treasurer. The policies incorporated by Mr. Hull for the management of the business have been successfully continued by the present officers.
DUTCHESS TOOL COMPANY ,THE, Fishkill, N. Y. began business in April, 1886, in a very small way; in the following October, the Rothery Factory in Mattea- wan, in which they were located, was entirely destroyed by fire. They secured oth- er quarters, however, and again began the business, which was the manufacture of a Baker's Oven Illuminator. After the re-building of the Rothery Factory, they again moved into it and continued the business there until the Fall of 1891, when they moved into the old Public School building at Fishkill Landing, which had been abandoned for school purposes and which the Company purchased and refitted for their factory. They have continued business at this location ever since, having
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enlarged the premises very much. Their business is devoted to the manufacture of Bakers' Machinery, which is sold in all parts of the United States.
JACOB W. ELSEFFER, for over half a century a prominent lawyer of Dutchess county, was born at Red Hook, N. Y. September 6, 1822, and died November 15, 1907. He was a son of former Assemblyman John Elseffer. His mother's maiden name was Katharine Whiteman. His ancestors were among the early settlers in this county, and for a hundred and fifty years prominent in local history.
Mr. Elseffer's preliminary education was obtained at Claverack Institute. He then entered Williams College, but instead of pursuing a college course, he took up the study of law in the office of Judge Rowley at Upper Red Hook. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1845 and at once began the practice of his profession. The fact that his earliest clients as well as their descendants adhered to him throughout his long and successful career, is proof sufficient of his ability and integrity.
In 1865, Mr. Elseffer was largely instrumental in the organization of the First National Bank of Red Hook, of which he was elected its first President. He con- tinued as a director and attorney for this institution for many years, and much credit was awarded to him for the favorable condition of its affairs.
Mr. Elseffer was united in marriage October 17, 1847, with Miss Delia Eliza Bonesteel of Clermont, N. Y., by whom survive their son John H. Elseffer of San Diego, Cal., and a daughter Katharine, wife of William P. Adams of Cohoes, N. Y., and two grand-daughters, Elizabeth Platt Adams and Katharine Elseffer Adams.
Mrs. Elseffer died October 20, 1888, and November 11, 1890, Mr. Elseffer mar- ried Harriet E., daughter of the late Frederick Mesick of Claverack, who died in April, 1907.
While he never held public office, Mr. Elseffer was nevertheless a representative man in the affairs of the Democratic party.
Socially, Mr. Elseffer was a Senior Past Master of Monumental Lodge No. 374 F. & A. M., and at the time of his death its oldest member. When this Lodge was at low ebb during the Civil War, it was through his timely advice and action that its charter was not surrendered, but instead removed to Tivoli where it has since prospered.
Mr. Elseffer was a man of intellectual power, brilliant in conversation, courteous in manner, and one who made friends and kept them.
THOMAS EMERSON was born at Thorn Hill, Scotland, December 25, 1842. He received his education in the public schools of his native place, and then gave his attention to floriculture and landscape gardening, being employed on several large estates of his native land. In 1870 he came to America and accepted a posi- tion of gardener on the country estate of William B. Dinsmore, Staatsburgh, N. Y. He has held the position of head gardener with Mr. Dinsmore since 1871.
FRANK ENO, attorney, at Pine Plains, N. Y., was born November 4, 1845. He finished his academic schooling at the College Hill institution, Poughkeepsie, and then began the study of law in the office of his father, the late William Eno; he
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was admitted to the Bar in 1868. Mr. Eno is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and was Master of Stissing Lodge for sixteen years. He has one son, Frank, who after finishing his preliminary studies at the Poughkeepsie High School, took up the study of law in the law department of Syracuse University and at the New York Law School. He was admitted to practice in 1908.
WALTER FARRINGTON, attorney, Poughkeepsie, was born in the town of La Grange, Dutchess county, in 1829. He obtained his education in the public schools and by private tutor, and began the study of law in the office of Judge Homer A. Nelson. He was admitted to practice at the general term of the Second Judicial Department held in Brooklyn December, 1857, and with the exception of his first four years as an attorney, during which time he was .located at Milton, Ulster coun- ty, he has practiced continually in the city of Poughkeepsie, and at the present time is the oldest member of the Dutchess County Bar. During Judge Nelson's term in Congress, 1863-'64, Mr. Farrington had charge of his law business, and occupied offices with him until 1866, when he formed a partnership with the late John P. H. Tallman, which existed until 1893. Mr. Farrington has since continued alone in private practice.
In 1865-'66 he was one of the representatives of the city of Poughkeepsie in the Board of County Supervisors.
In 1858 Mr. Farrington was united in marriage with Sarah E. Kay of Pleasant Valley, N. Y., and to them have been born two daughters, Cora E., now the wife of Thaddeus N. Benjamin, a druggist of Riverhead, L. I., and Jennie H., who re- sides with her father in Poughkeepsie.
GEORGE R. FINTON, steward of the Hudson River State Hospital, Poughkeep- sie, was born at Ovid, Seneca County, N. Y., December 23, 1867. He received a high school and business college education and graduated from Fairfield Military Academy in 1887. He served two years as telegrapher for the Lehigh Valley Rail- road Company, and from 1889 to 1903 was in the service of New York State at Willard State Hospital, Willard, N. Y. as stenographer and telegrapher. From 1903 to August 6, 1906, he held the position of head book-keeper at the Hudson River State Hospital, when he received the appointment of steward.
Mr. Finton is a member of the Dutchess Club; Dutchess County Society; Dutch- ess County Horticultural Society; and the Knights of the Maccabees.
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