USA > New York > Orange County > The history of Orange County, New York > Part 91
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 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97
He married Miss Sarah Owen and two sons were born: George O., a lawyer in New York, and Robert E., who resides at Westtown. In 1902 Mr. Sayer was ap- pointed postmaster, and the management of the farm passed to his son. Robert E., who was born in 1876, and educated at the schools of Hackettstown. He chose for his wife Miss Frances Horton.
WILLIAM BENJAMIN SAYER. The Sayer family is of English extraction and is mentioned as living at Poddington. England. in 1309. This is the line from which the Thomas Sayer descended, who came from Bedfordshire, England. to Lynn, Mass., and from whom the Sayers in this country are descended. He built the old Sayer single house in 1648 at Southampton, Long Island, New York, said to be the oldest English house standing in New York State.
The Sayers came to Orange County in 1750. William Benjamin Sayer, a descendant of the above mentioned Sayers, now owns and occupies the stone house
936
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
situated on Main street, Warwick, N. Y., which was built by Francis Baird in 1766. It was called the Stone Tavern and was used as one until 1830. The mechanics who built this house came from New York City, and when completed it was considered the model house in this section. The most of the timbers are hewed oak with wide pine plank floors. This house has been in the Sayer family since 1858. Among the distinguished persons who stopped at the house are General George Washington and wife, and the room on the northwest corner on the second story is said to have been the room where they slept. Here are kept a number of old time relics to show to friends. The present owner. W. B. Sayer, was born in this room, March 14. 1866, and has always lived in the house with his sister, Miss M. Eva Sayer.
Rev. James Manning, a Baptist minister, and his wife, from Providence, R. l., took dinner here Sunday, September 12, 1779. He said in his diary: "We had an elegant dinner and were treated very hospitably by Francis Baird."
Marquis De Chastelliux, major-general in the French army serving under Count Rochambeau, stayed all night here with his aides. December 6, 1781. He says: "I lodged at Warwick. at a very good inn kept by Mr. Smith, who rented of Francis Baird, and had every reason to be content with this establishment."
Henry Pelton, a prominent local historian and grandfather of our surveyor of that name, when he first came here, in 1805, stayed his first night in Warwick in this house. A picture of this house will be found in this volume.
THE SCHRADE CUTLERY COMPANY, of Walden, N. Y., is the youngest of the industries that have made that village the Sheffield of America. Estab- lished in a modest way April 19, 1904, by George and J. Louis Schrade, its growth has been very rapid and the value of their product now exceeds $100,000 worth annually. The plant which the company erected is a substantial frame struc- ture, thirty by eighty-five feet, three stories in height, equipped with modern machinery and up-to-date methods of manufacture, employing about one hundred hands. One hundred different styles of pen and pocket knives are produced and the goods find a ready market all over the United States. The Schrade brothers are natives of Wlliamsport, Pa. George. the president of the company, has resided in Walden since 1894, and is the inventor, patentee and for ten years the sole manufacturer of the press button knife in connection with the Walden Knife Works. Mr. J. Louis Schrade came to Walden in 1904. He had previously been engaged in the manufacture of self-playing pianos in New York, Boston, London and Paris. Both brothers are members of the Masonic fraternity.
CHRISTIAN H. SCHARFF was born at Amsterdam, Holland, February 26, 1834. He came to America with his father, and the family settled in Newark, N. J. He was graduated from Princeton College in 1853, and studied law with Joseph P. Bradley (justice of supreme court). With James Buchanan, Henry formed the law partnership of Henry & Scharff, at No. 14 Wall street, New York City. Frances A. (Seward) Scharff was born at Florida, N. Y., April 16, 1836. She attended the Seward Institution at Florida and later the Grove Hall Seminary for young
937
BIOGRAPHICAL.
ladies at New Haven, Conn. She was united in marriage to Christian H. Scharff, January 27, 1859.
R. ED. SCHOFIELD was born at Port Jervis, N. Y., December 10, 1853. Ilis parents were James H. and Marguerite Cole ( Elston) Schofield. His early educa- tion was obtained at the public school and Port Jervis Academy. After his school- ing he read law in the office of Judge O. P. Howell, and was admitted to the bar in 1885. October, 1890, he entered into partnership with Judge O. P. Howell and Mr. Parshall, the firm being Howell, Parshall & Schofield, which continued until September, 1893, when Mr. Parshali withdrew from the firm. Mr. Schofield con- tinned with Judge Howell until January, 1896, and since that time has con- tinued alone. He married Miss Mary J. Finn, of Port Jervis, N. Y., January 28, 1885. Their two children are James 11. and Anna C., residing at home. In politics Mr. Schofield is a republican and has served the town in various offices. He has been clerk of the board of education for twenty-five years and is now presi- dent of the Co-Operative Loan and Savings Society. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church.
D. DE WITT SCHOONMAKER was born at Middletown, Orange County. N. Y. His early education was acquired at the Wallkill Academy, where he graduated in 1878. For two years he was engaged as traveling salesman, and one year in the merchandise business in Goshen, N. Y. Mr. Schoonmaker has not sought prominence in life, but has devoted himself entirely to his business. In 1882 he associated himself with the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co., holding the position of bookkeeper for three years and assistant superintendent for seven- teen years. He has been identified with the Borden Condensed Milk Co. since 1902, and for the past three years has held the position of superintendent. April 21. 1897. he married Miss Mary J. McNish, of Middletown, N. Y. He is a member of Hoffman Lodge No. 412, F. and A. M., and served as foreman of Excelsior Ilook and Ladder Company for three years.
JOHN SCHOONMAKER, for nearly half a century the foremost dry goods merchant in Orange County, was born in the town of Gardiner. Ulster County, N. Y., January 25, 1830, and died at his home in Newburgh, N. Y., January I, 1904.
The Schoonmaker family is one of the oklest in this section of New York State. The progenitor of the family in America was Hendrick Jochemsen Schoonmaker, who came to America in 1654. in the military service of the Dutch West India Company. The records show he loaned money to Governor Stuyvesant "in time of need," and was active in the military duties made necessary by the troublous times. 1lis grandson, Captain Frederick Schoonmaker, was one of the patriots and soldiers of the Revolution, who gave himself and his property to his country in its struggle for freedom from the British yoke.
John A. Schoonmaker, father of the subject of this sketch, was a son of Major
938
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
Abraham Schoonmaker of Revolutionary fame (Fourth Regiment, Ulster County Militia). He married Rachel, eldest daughter of Gustavis and Maria (Terwilliger) Sammons. Ten children were born to them, of whom John was the tenth in order of birth. He was educated at Amenia Seminary, Dutchess County. He began work upon his father's farm and continued until he was twenty-two, teaching school at Gardiner for the last winter that he remained at home. In March, 1852, with his brother Jacob, he opened a general store at Tuttletown. Soon afterward his brother lost his life in the Henry Clay disaster on the Hudson, and in a short time the Tuttietown store was sold, Mr. Schoonmaker moving to Newburgh in the fall of 1853. His first employment was with Stephen Hayt, on Water street, for his board. In three months he took a clerkship with Isaac Wood, Jr., for three years, after which he had a position for a year with Mr. Parmalee, and again returned to the store of Isaac Wood, Jr., where, under Mr. Wood's guid- ance, he received and acquired experience that was invaluable to him in later years.
In 1863 Mr. Schoonmaker, with Samuel C. Mills and A. Y. Weller, purchased the dry goods business of Colonel Wood, at the northeast corner of Water and Third streets. They conducted business under the firm name of Schoonmaker, Mills & Weller. Half a dozen lines of boats between New York and Newburgh and market wagons from the surrounding country made Newburgh an active business center, where stores were open as early as five o'clock in the morning and frequently as late as eleven o'clock at night. In 1878 the firm occupied its newly completed building at Nos. 94 and 96 Water street. This was considered a notable improve- ment and the firmi even then had the largest dry goods store in the city. Although at first only part of the building was occupied, in a few years increased business made it necessary to occupy the whole. Mr. Mills retired in 1885 and Mr. Weller January 1, 1898. Mr. Schoonmaker's son, Samuel V., purchased Mr. Weller's in- terest and the firm became John Schoonmaker & Son.
Now the firm purchased the adjoining building on the north, still further increas- ing its capacity for business. Mr. Schoonmaker took an active interest in the affairs of the firm until his sudden illness in the latter part of 1902, and after a protracted period of hope and fear he died on January 1, 1904, at his home, 135 Grand street. He had thus been for many years the head of Newburgh's dry goods trade. His business acquaintance was very extensive and few men enjoyed such a reputation for honor, integrity and probity, his friends and acquaintances placing implicit confidence in him, which, throughout his career, was never violated. He was a public spirited citizen, always interested in the welfare and progress of Newburgh and contributed generously to projects which promised well for its advancement, yet he never sought public office or cared to appear prominently in public. His increasing business prevented him from entering politics, although he was a member of the board of health from 1885 to 1888, in which he rendered conscientious service. He was one of the organizers of the old Newburgh board of trade, and of its successor, the Newburgh Business Men's As- sociation, of which his son was president. He earnestly aided by counsel and purse
939
BIOGRAPHICAL.
in the building of the Palatine Hotel. For thirty-seven years he was a trustee of the Newburgh Savings Bank and for a number of years its second vice-president. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, in which he was active and efficient, serving for many terms as trustee and elder. He was also deeply in- terested in Bethel Mission and chapel, serving as superintendent of the chapel while health permitted. He was a member of the Holland Society of New York from 1890 until the time of his death. He was married July 2, 1862, to Mary A. Vail. The children of this marriage, Samuel V. Schoonmaker, Mrs. W. Clement Scott and Miss Elizabeth M. Schoonmaker, are all residents of Newburgh.
THEODORE D. SCHOONMAKER was born in the town of Crawford, in the County of Orange, on the 28th day of December, 1836. He was the only son of Levi Schoonmaker and Julia Ann, his wife. Levi was a son of Edward Schoon- maker and Leah Rose, his wife, both of the town of Shawangunk, Ulster County, N. Y. Julia Ann was the daughter of Samuel Butler and Sarah, his wife, both of the town of Goshen, Orange County, N. Y.
The subject of this sketch received a common school and academic education, taught school in the counties of Chemung, Ulster and Orange for several years, was brought up a farmer, which occupation he followed till January 1, 1868, when he was appointed by the then surrogate, Honorable Gilbert O. Hulse, his brother- in-law, clerk of the surrogate's court of the county of Orange, which position he has occupied ever since continuously, being appointed by the successive surrogates to that office. He was stenographer to the surrogate's court from 1870 till the year 1903, and was also for several years assistant stenographer for the second judicial district of this state, and also served as county court stenographer under County Judges Honorables Stephen W. Fullerton and Charles F. Brown, and also stenographer to the Dutchess County court under Honorables Henry M. Taylor and B. Platt Carpenter. In 1889 he was elected one of the trustees of the village of Goshen, after a bitter and arduous campaign, to which office he has been re- elected for six terms of two years each, without any opposition, and is now one of such trustees.
He lias four children living, two having died in infancy : Anna Frances, wife of Thomas Mould, of the firm of Thompson & Mould; Theodore F., of Hartford, Conn., traveling salesman; Mary Adele, at home, and Charles B., civil and con- struction enginecr.
ANDREW SCHRIVER, residing on a farm near Chester, N. Y., was born De- cember 16, 1840, at Lagrange, Dutchess County, N. Y. His early education was obtained at the Unionville Seminary. He joined Company A, One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Volunteers, and served in the Civil War for three years, after which he joined the New York conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and actively followed the ministry for thirty-seven years, and for six years was presiding elder of the Newburgh district. Mr. Schriver is now retired and resides on the Oak Lane farm of one hundred and forty acres, near Chester, N. Y. He
940
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
makes a specialty of breeding and exhibiting Hampshire sheep, Guernsey cattle and fancy poultry. He married Alida Wiltsie, of Albany County, April 24, 1877. Their five children are: Hiram W., Newman E., Paul R., Charlotte and Frank. Mr. Schriver is a republican and takes an active interest in politics. He is one of the managers of the Orange County Agricultural Society.
FRANK A. SCOTT, architect and builder, of Newburgh, was born here July 18, 1830, a son of John and Jane (Gedney) Scott. The Gedney family is of French- Huguenot origin. David Gedney came from France and located in Newburgh in 1754. Mr. Scott attended the old Glebe School, of which some years ago he made a very accurate drawing from memory. At the age of seventeen he went to New York City to learn the builders' trade and study architecture. In 1863 Mr. Scott went west and was engaged in business in Montana, Colorado and Missouri. Since 1872 he has made his home in his native city and has erected many buildings in the Hudson Valley. In 1852 he married Miss Mary Banks, of Ulster County. They have two daughters: Elsie Banks and Anna Gedney. In 1894 Mr. Scott received from Mayor Odell the appointment of excise commissioner and served as presi- dent of the board. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and trustce of the Unitarian Church.
W. CLEMENT SCOTT, secretary and treasurer of the Newburgh Planing Mill, was born in Newburgh in 1869, and is a son of the late Hon. David A. Scott. His education was obtained at Newburgh Academy and Yale College, from which he graduated with the degree of A.B. in 1893. He has been connected with the above firm since 1899 and is identified with local social organizations. In 1897 he married Miss Mary L., daughter of John Schoonmaker. Two children have been born to them: Elizabeth M. and William C., Jr.
FRANK H. SCUDDER, treasurer of Middletown, was born November 19, 1871, in Otisville, Orange County, and graduated from the Otisville public school. He learned telegraphy and was operator for the Erie Railroad from 1888 to 1892, and for the Ontario & Western Railroad from the last date to 1900. He was then transferred to the traffic department of the Ontario & Western as assistant to the traveling freight agent, which position he still holds. He was elected city treas- urer of Middletown in 1904, and his third term in this office expired January I, 1908. He is a member of the Concordia Council, Royal Arcanum, and also of the Monhagen Hose Company. Politically he is a republican. He married Miss Eliza- beth E. Scott, of Jersey City, N. J., October 12, 1904, and both are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Middletown.
HENRY SEACORD, republican, who represents the first assembly district of Orange County in the assembly, was born September 19, 1829, at Lincolndale (for- merly known as St. David's Corners, or Decker's Mills). and has resided there since. The Seacord family are direct descendants of the French Huguenots that fled
941
BIOGRAPHICAL.
from Rochel. France, in the year 1682, went to England, and from there to America in 1684, and Amroise Sicard, a French Protestant refugee. of La Rochelle, France, who fled to England in 1682, and from there came to America in 1684. locating at New Rochelle, Westchester County, and in the year 1692, on February 9, bought from William La Count land on which is now the city of New Rochelle. Mr. Seacord's father represented Orange County in the assembly in 1846, as a free soil democrat, but when the republican party was organized he came out as a republi- can and was made chairman of the mass meeting and appointed the committee which organized the party in the county.
At an early age Mr. Seacord entered his father's blacksmith shop, to learn the trade, which he followed until the year 1891, when he left the forge and engaged in the real estate and insurance business, which he still follows.
He was present and took part in the organization of the republican party in Orange County in the year 1855, and has taken an active part in its councils ever since. He has attended many of the state, county and district conventions, and was acquainted with Horace Greeley, Roscoe Conkling, President Arthur and many others of their time.
He was elected to represent his town in the board of supervisors in 1876, being the first republican supervisor elected from the town of Hamptonburgh. In the fall of 1876 the town gave a democratic majority of sixty-seven out of a total vote of two hundred and ninety-five.
He was elected to the assembly in 1907, receiving 5.625 votes, while his democratic opponent received 4,871.
Speaker Wadsworth, in 1908, appointed Mr. Seacord a member of the assembly committees on insurance and agriculture.
WILLIAM H. SEACORD was born at Lincolndale, Orange County, N. Y formerly known as Decker's, July 17, 1860. After leaving the district school he learned blacksmithing, and when twenty-one years old engaged in business for him- self.
Ile married Charlotte E. Crans, May 31, 1883. Their children are: Barbara .A., Andrew W., H. Stanley, Charlotte C. and Ralph B. Barbara is a teacher in the Lincolndale school, and Andrew is taking a course in mechanical engineering at Cornell University. Mr. Seacord, besides his general blacksmithing business, con- ducts a carriage repository. He is a member of Hamptonburgh Grange No. 950.
BENJAMIN CHANDLER SEARS was born in Montgomery, February. 1836. where his father, Marcus Sears, M. D., then resided. His grandfather. Benjamin Sears, was appointed sheriff of Ulster County by Governor George Clinton, Febru- ary, 1793. His mother was a daughter of Richard Caldwell, captain of the Twenty- fifth United States Infantry, who, on the march to the Canadian frontier, died from exposure, and was buried at Champlain, N. Y., in 1812. Dr. Sears soon removed to Blooming Grove, and Benjamin C. attended the public school there. Chester Academy and Montgomery Academy, under Joseph M. Wilkin. He entered the
942
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
junior class of Rutgers College and graduated in 1857 with the Suydam prize for English composition, and the degree of A. B., receiving later the degree of A. M .; was a charter member of the Zeta Psi Club of New York and trustee of the chapter house of the Zy fraternity at Rutgers.
On graduating he came to the farm upon which he now resides, which was pur- chased by his great-grandfather, John Chandler, in 1793, containing about forty acres, which, by purchase, he has increased to four hundred acres. In carrying on the farm, he is associated with James B. Howell and his son, Marcus Caldwell Sears, who graduated from Rutgers in the class of '91 with first honor, taking also a special course in agriculture. The firm kept a dairy of one hundred or more cows, the milk from which is largely bottled on the farm, and until March, 1906, was delivered directly to consumers from the Blooming Grove Ayrshire Dairy, 445 West Nineteenth street, New York City, but now is distributed by others.
In 1866 he married Phoebe E., daughter of Edmund S. Howell, of Blooming Grove. In 1878 he was democratic candidate for state senator. A year later he was appointed on the commission to appraise damages to property in building the West Shore and Ontario & Western Railroads. For five years he was superintendent of the farm attached to Rutgers, the State Agricultural College of New Jersey, and associate lecturer on farming. For several years he was vice-president of the Ayr- shire Breeders' Association. He was director of the Orange County Agricultural Society from 1877 to 1899, and vice-president from 1889 to 1901. He was an elder in the Second Presbyterian Church of Washingtonville, until it was dissolved, and since then has been deacon in the Blooming Grove Congregational Church.
HON. ALBERT H. F. SEEGER, county judge of Orange County, N. Y., was born in the city of Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1859. His parents came to America in 1861, settling in Goshen, N. Y. In 1867 the family moved to New- burgh, and it was here the subject of this sketch obtained his education and has since resided. After graduating from the academy in 1875, he read law in the office of Judge Dickey, and was admitted to the bar in 1880.
Judge Seeger is a tireless worker and has built up a very extensive and lucra- tive practice. For a number of years he was assistant district attorney, and in 1903 was elected district attorney. In 1906 he was elected to the office of county judge.
GEORGE SEELY was born March 27, 1837. His parents were Edward and Julia Ann (Satterly) Seely. Mr. Seely attained his education at the district school and Old Chester Academy. He now occupies the homestead in which his grandfather and great-grandfather lived. The house is now over one hundred and fifty years old. George Seely was united in marriage to Miss Helen M. But- ler, of Rochester, N. Y., September 17, 1868. Their one child, Gaylord B., was born March 3, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Seely are members of the Chester Presbyterian Church and Mr. Seely is a member of the Chester Grange No. 984. In politics he is a republican and has served the town in various offices. His wife is a member of the board of managers of the Home for Aged Women of Middletown, N. Y.
943
BIOGRAPHICAL.
HOWARD DAVIS SEELY, who resides near Chester, was born January 27, 1878. He received his early education at the Chester Academy, afterward attend- ing for two years the Military Academy at Cornwall-on-Iludson, graduating in 1898. His father, Fred B. Seely, died in July, 1891. He was a man of sterling worth in the community. Howard assumed control of the farm after his father's death, which is located about two miles from Chester. He is a large breeder of Holstein-Fresian cattle, has exhibited his stock on several occasions at the Orange County Fair at Middletown, and secured first premium. The foundation of this stock was purchased of H. D. Roe, of Augusta, N. J. Mr. Roe has raised more world's champion stock than any one breeder in this part of the country. Mr. Seely married Miss Carrie A. Mills, daughter of George Mills, of Goshen, N. Y. They have one child, Pauline Augusta. He is a member of the Chester Grange, a republican and takes a lively interest in all questions of the day.
JOHN LANSING SERVIN .- Mr. Servin, who spent the last years of his life in Warwick, was born in Spring Valley, Rockland County, on September 6, 1835. After a course of study at Rutgers College, he was graduated from the University of the City of New York in 1858. He then commenced the study of law, and after obtaining his degree at the Albany Law School, and being connected for a time with the law firm of Hill, Cagger and Porter in Albany, removed to New York City, where he practiced his profession until 1865. He married Miss Sallie Ann Forsher, of Warwick, in 1864, and in 1865 removed to Warwick, where he pur- chased the Warwick Advertiser, which he conducted for some years, when ill health forced him to give up all active pursuits.
He was one of the founders of the Y. M. C. A. at Warwick and superintendent of the Sunday-school of the Reformed Dutch Church, and withal a liberal, well- educated and public-spirited citizen.
He died at Warwick, on October 8, 1881, and is survived by three children : Abraham Forshee, who is a practicing lawyer of Middletown, N. Y .; Sara, wife of Dr. Stephen W. Perry, of Belchertown, Mass .; and John Magie, of Warwick. A younger child, Walter Tinkey, died at an early age. His widow still resides at Warwick in the family home.
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.