USA > New York > Dutchess County > The history of Dutchess County, New York > Part 70
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
Thomas Reed received a good education for his times in the schools of his native town, and his later reading made him an unusually well informed man. His first employment was in the dry-goods store of William B. Platt in which he afterward became a partner, in all covering a period from 1837 -1850. He then went to New York as buyer for the wholesale dry-goods house of L. & V. Kirby, from thence going to Saugerties, N. Y. where under the firm name of Wilbur, Reed & Russel he engaged in the wholesale bluestone and general merchandise business. He con-
761
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.
tinued there until 1864 when he became a member of the New York Stock Ex- change. His first partner as a stock broker was C. N. Jordan (the firm being Reed & Jordan) afterward sub-treasurer at New York. Mr. Reed's fine sense of honor, his unfailing courtesy, his recognized business integrity made him a great favorite in Wall Street, and he was "Uncle Tom" to a very large proportion of the members. He was always a public spirited man, a Republican in politics, and a devoted Churchman.
June 7, 1851 he married at Rhinebeck, N. Y., Julia Van Keuren, daughter of Garret Van Keuren and Sarah Hagadorn. They had six children as follows; Cora, wife of Rev. Lewis A. Mitchell; Anna, unmarried; Sarah, wife of Frank Herrick; Thomas, an attorney and Counsellor at law and a member of the New York Stock Exchange, who died Oct. 27, 1907 .; Helen, wife of Theo. de Laporte and Julia who is at home.
Mr. Reed died at Rhinebeck, Sept. 3, 1899, two years before his wife. His daughters are all living in the home town. .
ALLEN S. REYNOLDS, attorney, was born in the city of Poughkeepsie January 12, 1882, and graduated from the Poughkeepsie High School in 1899. He then en- tered the law office of Benjamin M. Fowler, and later that of George Card. His- legal education was supplemented by a course in the New York Law School, and in June 1904 he was admitted to the Bar and has since been engaged in the prac- tice of his profession in Poughkeepsie.
Mr. Reynolds is a member of the Poughkeepsie Club and the Euterpe Glee Club.
WILLIAM THACHER REYNOLDS, senior member of the firm of W. T. Rey- nolds & Company, was born in Poughkeepsie, December 20, 1838. In 1860 he be- came a member of the firm of Reynolds & Company, in partnership with his father, William W. Reynolds, and his uncle, James Reynolds, Jr.
James Reynolds, grandfather of William Thacher Reynolds, born in Rhode Is- land April 7, 1777, was the son of William Reynolds, ensign in a Rhode Island Reg- iment in the Revolutionary war.
James Reynolds came to Poughkeepsie about 1800 and soon entered into part- nership with Aaron Innis in the operation of a line of packet sloops, running from what was known as the "Upper Landing" to New York. In 1811 two sloops, the "Mary "and the "Driver," left for New York on alternate weeks, carrying freight and passengers; they were replaced in 1816 by the "Huntress" and "Counsellor," and then still later by the barges "Clinton" and "Republic." Reynolds and Innis, in 1818, gave notice in the columns of the Poughkeepsie Journal ,"to the Farmers and Merchants of Dutchess County that the subscribers have taken the mill lately occupied by Martin Hoffman and Co., and tender their services to the customers of that firm in the milling business." About 1820, James Reynolds added a general store which, with the mill, were natural outgrowths and feeders of the transporta- tion line.
The two sons of James Reynolds, William W. and James Reynolds, Jr., succeeded their father about 1840, as W. W. and J. Reynolds, and later developed the whole- sale flour and grain branch of the business.
762
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
In 1849 the warehouse at the Upper Landing was built, and the business conduct- ed there until 1871. Increased railroad facilities and through freight lines had then changed the methods of transacting business, and a location where freight could be received by rail was necessary, which led to the erection of the present warehouse opposite the passenger station of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, in 1872.
At the death of James Reynolds, Jr., in 1865, the firm became Reynolds & Son; in 1869, when John R. Reynolds, son of James Reynolds, Jr., entered it, W. W. Rey- nolds & Co .; in 1874, at the addition of George E. Cramer, Reynolds & Co .; in 1889, at the death of John R. Reynolds, Reynolds & Cramer; and in 1899, when George E. Cramer died, W. T. Reynolds & Co.
William W. Reynolds married a daughter of the Rev. William Thacher, a des- cendant of Hon. John Thacher, of Yarmouth, Mass. The latter served with dis- tinction in King Philip's war, 1675, and was for many years a member of the Gov- ernor's Council. Their son, William Thacher Reynolds, the subject of this sketch, is president of the Board of Trustees of the Washington Street Methodist Church; president of the Vassar Brothers Home for Aged Men; trustee of the Old Ladies' Home, of Vassar Brothers Hospital, of the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, and di- rector of the Fallkill National Bank, and of the Poughkeepsie Savings Bank. He married July 6, 1864, Miss Louise Smith, and has two children, Harris Smith Rey- nolds, a graduate of Yale, and a member of the firm of W. T. Reynolds & Co., and May Louise Reynolds ..
JOHN P. RIDER, president of the New York Rubber Company, Matteawan, N. Y., was born at Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, January 28, 1835, and received his early education in the schools of his home town; he also later attended the Rhine- beck Academy. When sixteen years of age he accepted a clerkship with his uncle, John F. Jennings, in Kingston, N. Y., where he began his business career. Two years later he returned to Rhinebeck to act as deputy postmaster to his father who had been appointed postmaster by President Pierce. In 1855 Mr. Rider accepted a position in a wholesale drygoods house in New York City, and in 1863 was appoint- ed secretary of the New York Rubber Company, which position he held in New York City until 1883, when he was made vice-president of the company, and took charge of their plant at Matteawan, where he has since made bis home.
Politically Mr. Rider is a Democrat, and in 1886 was elected Supervisor of the town of Fishkill; a year later he was re-elected, and was chosen chairman of the Board. Later Mr. Rider was nominated and elected president of the village of Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, serving one term. Mr. Rider has taken various chairs in Masonry, including the Shrine and Scottish Rite order.
R. RAYMOND RIKERT of Rhinebeck, N. Y., was born in that village Novem- ber 14, 1871. He received his education at DeGarmo Institute, from which he was graduated in 1891, and then entered the employ of his father as book-keeper.
January 1, 1893, in connection with William R. Tremper, he purchased the Rhinebeck News, July 1, 1894, he purchased his partner's interest, and also ac-
763
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.
quired the Gazette, and conducted the business alone until January, 1907, when he disposed of the same. In 1900 Mr. Rikert was made secretary and general manager of the Rhinebeck Light, Heat & Power Company, and he is an officer in various other corporations. He is secretary and manager of the Rhinebeck Water Com- pany; treasurer of the Rhinebeck Coal Company, and president of the Realty and Development Company. Mr. Rikert is a Past Master of Rhinebeck Lodge, F. & A. M., and trustee of the Starr Institute.
JAMES ROY, Sr., was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1816. Learning the business of Calico engraving he became the foreman of his father's business when but a boy.
When 18 years of age he came to America, living for a short time at Stockport, N. J., being foreman engraver at the print-works at that place. In 1837 he re- moved to Wappingers Falls, working as an engraver at the print-works for about 10 years. In 1848 he opened a drug business which he conducted successfully until his death, which occurred in 1868. This business is still carried on by his sons un- der the firm name of James D., William K., and Albert M. Roy. James Roy was married May 25, 1843, to Susanna M., daughter of Sheriff Seth Darling of Fall River, Mass. Settling in Wappingers Falls, they reared a family of five children: James D., married to Carrie A. Orr, has two children; Emma D., married to Edward Griffin, of Newport, Rhode Island has two children; William K., unmarried; Albert M., married to Priscilla Ackermann, who died in 1907 after a career of much promise; Elizabeth C., married to George H. Kelley, of Newport, Rhode Island, has two children. Susanna M. Roy, the mother, died in February 1898.
James Roy, Senior, during his life took an active part in all matters of public interest, especially in the cause of education. He was largely instrumental in building up the present excellent school system in the county. He was one of the small number who secured the grounds and laid out the beautiful cemetery at Wappingers Falls, of which association he was Secretary and Treasurer up to the time of his death. In politics, like his sons, he was a staunch Democrat; and in all the relations of life proved himself a most loyal and honorable man whose in- fluence did not cease with his death.
JAMES S. ROY, eldest son of James and Susanna M. Roy, was born at Wappin- gers Falls, March 5, 1849; was educated in the public school of the village, served his apprenticeship in the drug business under his father, and on his death in 1866 succeeded him in the business. Mr. Roy has been much interested in the growth and welfare of his native village, having served as Village Treasurer and on the Board of Health, and having been a Village Trustee for five terms and Village Presi- dent for seven consecutive terms. During his incumbency many marked improve- ments were carried out; the curbing and grading of the street and the laying of water mains were largely done under his supervision. The purchase and laying out of the beautiful village park was mainly effected through his efforts. He has been connected with the Wappinger Savings bank as Trustee and President for thirty-three years. In 1879 Mr. Roy was married to Carrie A., daughter of James Orr, the founder of the well known firm of Sweet, Orr & Co. In 1898 his wife died
764
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
leaving him with two children: Edna E., and William A. Mr. Roy is one of Wap- pingers most prominent and substantial citizens, a man of sterling character and conservative business habits, retaining throughout his career the respect and con- fidence of his friends and associates.
WILLIAMIK. ROY, second son of James and Susanna M. Roy, was born at Wappingers Falls, N. Y., December 31, 1853, and graduated from Union Free School No. 1, Wappingers Falls in 1870. He competed for and won the Cornell University scholarship, and entered that institution in 1872, graduating with his class, with the highest honors, in 1876. He then entered into partnership with his brothers in the drug business at Wappingers Falls, with which the name has so long been identified in this county. Mr. Roy entered actively into the strenuous Tilden political campaign, and was for many years a member of the Democratic County Committee, and also served for several years as its chairman.
He was town clerk of Poughkeepsie Township for two terms, and was also Super- visor, acting during his term as Democratic leader in the Board of Supervisors. In May 1887 he was appointed by President Cleveland, Postmaster of Wappingers Falls. In July 1892 he resigned the Postmastership to become index clerk of the State Assembly at Albany. In 1896 he was again appointed Postmaster serving out his full term of four years. He was mainly instrumental in the building of the notable Stone bridge at Wappingers Falls, was active in securing the introduction of the telephone line and of the electric trolley line, of which he has been a director since its organization. He has served for many years as Secretary and Chairman of the executive committee of the Wappingers Savings Bank; and he has been a Trustee of the Grinnell Library since its incorporation; is Chairman of its Library Committee and has served as the Secretary of the Library Board since its estab- lishment. He has been a member of the Board of Park Commissioners for the village ever since the office was created, has served as Consulting Engineer of the Water Supply Committee of the village, and was Clerk of the Village Board for two terms.
JOHN J. RYAN, who is engaged in the hotel business at Wappingers Falls, was born at Cold Spring, Putnam county, November 8, 1874. After finishing his edu- cation in the public schools of his native place he began life as a clerk in a hotel, and in 1888 moved to Dutchess county to accept a clerkship. In 1898 Mr. Ryan purchased his present hotel business. Socially he is a member of the Red Men, the A. O. H., and the Wappingers Falls Fire Department.
JAMES E. SADLIER, M. D., was born at Walden, Orange county, New York on March 28, 1865, his parents being James and Ann Jeanette Sadlier. The paternal grandparents were natives of France; the maternal side of the house have lived in Orange county, New York for over 100 years, and prior to that time, in the old colonial days, were residents of Long Island, a certain section of which to the pres- ent day bears the name of the family, viz., Jessup's Neck.
765
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.
The subject of the sketch received his early education in the public and private schools of his native town, and afterwards at the academies at New Paltz, UIster county, and Montgomery, Orange county. At the age of eighteen he began the study of medicine with his uncle who was a physician practicing in that vicinity, and later in his 19th year entered the Medical Department of Union Universitiy at Albany, from which he was graduated in 1887 at the age of twenty-two.
Upon competitive examination he was awarded a position as resident surgeon of the Albany Hospital and served in that capacity for two years, at the expiration of which time, May 1, 1889, he located at Poughkeepsie, New York for the purpose of practicing medicine. One year after locating in Poughkeepsie he was appointed one of the attending physicians at Vassar Brothers' Hospital, and retained that position until 1898 when the staff was disbanded.
The first several years of practice were that of general practice, but a natural in- clination for surgical work led to the gradual abandonment of general practice to take up surgery and specialize in that branch. During the year 1899 he spent a period of several months doing clinical work and pathology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Md. In 1902 and 1905 several months were spent in the study of surgery in Europe, attending clinics in many of the large medical centers of that country.
Dr. Sadlier is the author of several medical articles, conspicuous among which are the following: "Consistency in Aseptic Surgical Technique", read at the Detroit meeting of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in 1907; "A Study of the treatment of Appendicitis", read before the Dutchess County Medical Society in 1903; "Report on Cases of Intruabdominal Hemorrhage", read at the centennial meeting of the Dutchess County Medical Society; "Acute, Diffuse Septic Peritonitis", read before the Dutchess Medical Club in 1909.
In 1899, he established a private hospital strictly for surgical work, which at the present time and for a number of years past has been in full performance.
Dr. Sadlier is a member and ex-president of the Dutchess County Medical Socie- ty; President of the Dutchess Medical Club; a member of the Medical Society of the State of New York and of the American Medical Association; a member, and at the present time First Vice-president of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. and also a member of the New York Academy of Medicine. He is one of the eleven representatives of New York State in the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association. A Democrat in politics and served as Pen- sion Examiner for this district from 1894 to 1897 under the late Grover Cleveland, and at present is one of the members of the Board of Public Works of Poughkeepsie.
Dr. Sadlier was also a member of the Committee from New York State to organize and prepare for the International Congress on Tuberculosis held in Washington in September and October of 1908.
In 1891 Dr. Sadlier was married to Hattie C. Millspaugh of Walden, Orange Coun- ty, N. Y.
JOHN K. SAGUE, the present Mayor of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., was born in this city, January 30, 1866. He was educated in the public schools and graduated from the Poughkeepsie High School in 1882. He entered the employ of the Pough-
766
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
keepsie Savings Bank in 1883 and is now the assistant treasurer of that institution. He was commissioned captain of the 15th Separate Company in 1895, and in 1898 his company became a part of the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry and on May 2d, were encamped with the regiment at Camp Black, Hempstead, L. I. The regiment was mustered into the service of the United States on May 20, 1898 and served un- til the following February. During this time Captain Sague was commissioned as Major and upon the muster out of the regiment from the service of the United States, he became Major in the First Regiment, N. G. N. Y.
Mr. Sague was nominated for Mayor of Poughkeepsie on the Democratic ticket in the fall of 1906 and was elected by a majority of 1527. He was again nominated in the fall of 1908 and re-elected by a majority of 684.
JOHN PETER SCHENCK, Jr., M. D. The Schenck family for several genera- tions were prominently identified with the history and development of the town of Fishkill.
The first factory in Matteawan-a cotton mill-was established in 1814, by Peter A. Schenck and Philip Hone. Mr. Schenck married Margaret Brett, grand-daugh- ter of Roger and Madam Brett. He built the Blossom house, now occupied by the Green Fuel Economizer Company. He was succeeded in the management of the cotton mill by his nephew Peter H. Schenck.
Henry Schenck, brother of Peter A., married and lived in what is now known as the Teller house, built by Roger Brett in 1709. Henry Schenck bought this house, together with a large tract of land adjacent, from his brother-in-law Theodorus Brett.
Abraham H. Schenck, at one time president of the Matteawan Company, was the father of Dr. John P. Schenck, who was born February 2, 1798, and was the first physician to locate at Matteawan, where he practiced for half a century. His son John P. Schenck, Jr., was born February 13, 1842. He also chose the pro- fession of medicine, and in his father's office acquired his preliminary medical training. He then entered the medical department of Columbia College, from which he was graduated in 1863. Enlisting as a surgeon in the Civil War, he served through General Mcclellan's Peninsular Campaign, when he resigned, and later be- came assistant surgeon on the receiving ship, "North Carolina," In the fall of 1863 he returned to Matteawan where he continued the practice of his profession for a period of 33 years. He died March 14, 1896.
Dr. Schenck was a member of the Dutchess County Medical Society; of the New York State Medical Association; and for twenty-three years was one of the visiting physicians of Highland Hospital.
He was united in marriage March 28, 1866 with Mary Elizabeth Bush of New York City. They became the parents of two children, John Peter and Grace. John Peter married Clare C. Rikert of Matteawan. They have two children, Evangeline M., and John Peter, the fourth. Grace is now the wife of William Lovett Sutphin of New York City. They have one daughter, Gladys Van Nydeck.
RICHARD A. SCHOUTEN of Staatsburgh, N. Y. was born in the town of East Fishkill, Dutchess county, in 1835, a descendant of J. Schouten, a Holland immi-
767
' BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.
grant, who located in the town of Fishkill, where his son, John S., grandfather of our subject, was born in 1776. He married Phebe Perry, and to them was born a son, Stockholm, (Dec. 20, 1803), the father of the subject of this review.
Stockholm Schouten conducted the homestead farm until the spring of 1850 when he removed to the town of Hyde Park, purchasing 260 acres of land. For a number of years Mr. Richard A. Schouten conducted a meat market at Staatsburgh, and in 1872 purchased his present property from William B. Dinsmore, and has suc- cessfully continued in the butcher trade to the present time, in which he is associated with his sons.
Mr. Schouten was married in 1857 to Laura J., daughter of Henry Velie of Hyde Park, and they have become the parents of the following children: Charles Henry; Alice L., deceased; Frances M., deceased; Richard Underhill, deceased; Laura Velie, deceased; Sterling Bird; Anna S .; and Emma D. Mrs. Schouten died May 15, 1905. Mr. Schouten is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Staats- burgh.
JACOB SCHRAUTH, retired baker and confectioner, was born at Kreuznach, in the Rhine Province, Germany. At the age of twenty he came to America and followed the trade of baker for three years in New York City, and in 1857 he located in Poughkeepsie, where he continued his trade for a period of nine years. In 1866 Mr. Schrauth engaged in business on his own account, and conducted the same until May 1, 1897, when his sons, William H. and Edward L., purchased the business of their father, forming a co-partnership under the name of J. Schrauth's Sons, which is still in existence. Schrauth's Sons are among the representative business men of the city of Poughkeepsie.
ALFRED B. SCOTT was born at Coldenham, Orange County, N. Y., January 1, 1846. He began his business career in New York City when a young man, and later became senior member of the drug firm of Scott, Platt & Co. Shortly there- after he placed on the market the proprietary medicine known as "Scott's Emul- sion," and through his extensive business interests became as well known in Europe as America.
Mr. Scott was united in marriage with Miss Ella F. Puffer of Boston, and four children were born to them: Walter Bowne, Allys Puffer, who married James Stowell Anthony of New York, Harold Churchill, and Walter B. Jr.
Mr. Scott died at his home "LE BOCAGE" Geneva, Switzerland, January 8, 1908.
WILLIAM SEWARD. The Seward family in Dutchess county dates back to William S., who located in New Hackensack, N. Y. in 1797. He was a retired clergy- man, and the family has been prominently identified in the public affairs of this coun- ty. William Seward, Brevet Brigadier General, N. G., S. N. Y., was born at New Hackensack, Dutchess county, August 19, 1837, a son of William Seward, and was educated in the High School at Newark, N. J. October 1, 1858 he joined the N. Y. National Guard, and served in the Civil War from 1861 to 1863. He was commis- sioned First Lieutenant while in the service of the United States, 1862; Adjutant
768
THE COUNTY OF DUTCHESS.
9th Regiment, 1866; Major in same, 1868; Assistant Adjutant General, Third Brig- ade, N. G., S. N. Y., 1870; Colonel, 9th Regiment, N. G., S. N. Y., 1882; Brigadier General, Brevet, 1898. He served his country thirty-eight years, and was finally re- tired at his own request. In political belief Mr. Seward was a staunch Republican. He died August 16, 1905, leaving a widow, Louisa M., and the following children: Elizabeth L. Madden of Troy, N. Y .; William Seward of Hartford, Conn .; Louise Roe Seward of New York; Edward Townsend Seward, New Rochelle, N. Y .; George Schermerhorn Seward, and Julia Lockwood Seward of New York City.
WILLIAM SHEEHY who for the past fifteen years has been engaged in the hotel business at Mabbetsville, town of Washington, N. Y., is a native of Ulster County.
In 1868 he came to Dutchess County, locating at Lithgow, where he entered the employ of Caleb Holmes, and received for the first eight months the meagre salary of $3.00 a month. He was later employed by Timothy Conklin with whom he re- mained twelve years and became manager of the place. The next three years he spent on the Homer Wheaton place, and a like period with Edwin Thorne. He then became manager of the property of E. Wright Vail where he continued nine years.
Socially Mr. Sheehy is prominently identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and has a large circle of friends throughout Dutchess county.
L. LAWSON SLATER was born in West Hurley, Ulster County, N. Y. Sept. 19, 1873 and became a resident of Poughkeepsie in the year 1882. He was educated in the public schools and at the age of 17 entered the printing office of Mr. A. V. Haight, where he continually advanced until in the year 1904 he was appointed Superintendent of the establishment. On January 1st, 1907 he was admitted as a member of the A. V. Haight Company and elected one of its directors.
Mr. Slater was for a number of years greatly interested in military affairs. He volunteered at the outbreak of the Spanish war and served as first Sergeant of Com- pany K Ist Regt. N. Y. V. in the Hawaiian Islands. On December 6, 1898 he was promoted 2nd Lieutenant and served as such until April 1890 when he was mustered out with his regiment. In December 1904 Mr. Slater received his Commission as 2nd Lieutenant in Company K 10th Regt. N. G. N. Y. and served in that capacity until May 2, 1907 when he resigned.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.