USA > New York > Orange County > The history of Orange County, New York > Part 96
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
977
BIOGRAPHICAL.
from Mount Washington, six from Cleveland, six from Milwaukee, six from Toledo, three from Indianapolis, New London and Portland, Me., each, two from New York, and one each from Cape May, Cheyenne, Escanaba, Leavenworth, San Francisco, St. Louis, Washington, D. C., and Wilmington.
Special attention is called to the number reported at New York, only sixty miles south of Newburgh, due in part no doubt to the artificial lights of the great city.
One hundred years ago auroras were regarded as most abundant near the poles, and as very rare in our latitude, but we now know that they are most bril- liant and probably most numerous in the medial zones between the poles and the equator, that is in the sones of the earth having the greatest diurnal range of temperature, say, in the temperate zones on their polar sides.
Mr. Weed has been led by his observations to believe that the phenomenon is purely meteorologieal. In support of this view he has witnessed many a time the aurora on the top of the clouds, and in one instance on the top of a detached rain-cloud going southeast, the existence of which was brought to his attention by the rain falling upon him. It was then noticed that the cloud was surmounted by a fine display of auroral streamers physically connected with it and directed to- ward the coronal point.
The three features, cloud, rain and streamers, kept on together to the horizon, affording the best possible conditions for establishing their physical connection. In connection with this there occurred another remarkable appearance and standing alone among his many cloud observations.
When the auroral rain-cloud reached the mountains, on the area where the rain fell the mountains were covered by an exceedingly brilliant white fog blanket, conforming to all the irregular forms of the slopes and passing when the cloud passed. During the same evening a little later heavy showers occurred, the clouds going in the same direction, and in the inter-cloud spaces auroral streamers were abundant, but the openings were not large enough to determine their physical con- nection with the clouds, but taken in connection with the preceding cloud there can hardly be a doubt but that the same relation existed between the rain, cloud and streamers.
On two different occasions a gleam of lightning appeared in the middle of the dark segment north, half way between the horizon and the crown of the segment, and in both cases, instantly, there rose from that identical spot a single fine auroral streamer. The apparent physical connection in these two cases is sup- ported by the fact that the streamers usually have their origin in the arch of light surmounting the dark segment; that they do not ordinarily appear singly even there, and that in a long experience our observer does not remember ever having seen a single lonely streamer originate in the dark-segment. Quite frequently ["'sheet lightning is seen in the south with an aurora in the north, and sometimes IFboth are seen together in the north, but they never seemed physically connected, except in these two instances. The fact that both of these gleams had the same
978
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
position in the dark-segment, and were both instantly followed by the rare eruption of a single streamer would seem to remove the phenomenon from the possibility of having been a coincidence.
On one occasion during a great aurora which lasted the whole night and out into the full twilight of the morning, another observation was made tending to show kinship of the aurora with meteorology.
First, let us mention that the crowning glory of the aurora and its highest point is regarded as the corona, a point just south of the zenith toward which all of the streamers converge when the aurora has passed further to the south. Several times the corona formed under the clouds during the night of this great exhibi- tion, a singular feature of the phenomenon being the invisibility of the clouds except when illuminated by the light of the corona. The clouds were cirro- stratus going rapidly southeast. They were specially looked for at other times, but could not be seen. Does not this prove that the whole of a first-class aurora was within the cloud-bearing regions of the atmosphere? Its highest part was below the clouds, and therefore it was below the clouds in its entirety. It was a great aurora, as shown by the repeated formation of the corona. It was a great aurora also because it continued through the entire night into the morning twi- light and it suggests a meteorological origin.
Another appearance occurring occasionally during an aurora is the "Luminous White Cloud Band" crossing the sky from east to west, cutting the hori- zon about east and some north of west, and when fully formed crossing the meridian near the coronal point. Our observer hias scen this arch a number of times and regards it as one of the most instructive features of the aurora. Some observers have doubted its connection with the Aurora Borealis, but Mr. Weed does not share in this doubt, he having, on April 13, 1871, witnessed its entire formation, and having seen the most convincing evidence of its connection with the aurora. This is what he saw: At 10 P. M. a dark segment north by east crowned with the ordinary auroral arc of light and with streamers above this; in other words, an Aurora Borealis. Then another segment of seventy degrees alti- tude of the most fascinating, bright, attractive luminosity, bounded by a perfectly sharp outline. The sky was cloudless throughout, and south of this line, of normal hue. The perfection of the line of demarkation between the normal and auroral sky was a most extraordinary thing, and it teaches this, that the aurora had a clearly defined and definite border on its advancing side. Then, in this cloudless sky, streamers-like cloudlets began to form on the upper side of this line in the normal sky at both the east and west horizon, rapidly succeeded by others until they met on or near the meridian completing a white cloud band. The base of these cloud-streamers blended together on the curved line and were pointed above and directed toward the coronal point of the aurora. After the band was com- pleted it was noticed that it was moving south and this motion continued until it came to rest at the star Delta Leonis in the region of the coronal point of the ordi- nary auroral exhibitions. As the cloud arch moved south from its initial point it brightened into an intense luminosity, was much agitated internally, and showed
979
BIOGRAPHICAL.
a motion to the west, as it always does, and, in dissolving, showed a wavelet struc- ture and cloudlike aspect.
Half of the journey of the band was made before the line separating the base of the cloud-arch and the auroral sky was in the least disturbed.
That this cloud arch formed on and moved with the luminous auroral segment on its journey and rested at the coronal point proves it to be uuroral, and the formation of this luminous cloud in contact with the aurora, in an otherwise cloud- less sky, also proves the close relationship of the aurora and clouds and here bring in actual contact with cloud, that the aurora was in the cloud bearing region of the atmosphere, and again suggests a meteorological paternity for the Aurora Bo- realis.
BENJAMIN WELCH, of Little York, Orange County, was born October 11, 1832. His parents were Gabriel and Eliza Welch, and they had nine children, three of whom are living-Benjamin; Susan, wife of Martin V. B. Horton, of Warwick, and Mary, wife of Edsal Stage. Benjamin learned the carpenter's trade when he was twenty years of age, and followed that occupation several years. He was connected with the Brown & Bailey Creameries of Amity and Edenville five years. On March 1, 1871, he removed to Pleasant Valley and managed his father's farm until the death of the latter, when he became its owner. To this he added by pur- chase the Rynear Stage farm of one hundred and twenty-six acres, which in- creases his lands to two hundred and sixty acres. He has a large dairy, and is one of the extensive peach growers in Orange County.
July 9, 1863, he married Miss Mary E. Davenport, of Warwick. Their three children, all living, are George, born March 26, 1864; Olive, born October 8, 1865, and Daniel, born January 22, 1867. George was married to Mary F. Feagles, of Pine Island, December 31, 1904. The father was an Odd Fellow many years. His homestead farm has belonged to the family since 1844.
ALANSON Y. WELLER, president of the Newburgh Planing Mill Co., was born in the town of Crawford, Orange County, N. Y., in 1837. He was educated at Montgomery Academy, and in 1857 became a clerk in the store of the late A. K. Chandler, Newburgh, where he remained until 1863, when the dry goods firn of Schoonmaker, Mills & Weller was formed. In 1886 Mr. Mills retired from the firm and the two remaining members continued the business until January 1, 1898, when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Weller retiring from a mercantile career which had proved very successful. In 1899 Mr. Weller succeeded to the planing mill business of Thomas Shaw's Sons, which was established in 1837, and which is among the important industries of the city. Mr. Weller is a director of the National Bank of Newburgh, trustee of the Newburgh Savings Bank, and inter- ested in many local enterprises. Much of his time has been occupied in managing the estate of his deceased brother, Joseph H. Weller.
980
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
GEORGE S. WELLER, wholesale and retail coal dealer of Newburgh, was born in that city July, 1871, and is a son of A. Y. Weller. He graduated from the academy in 1888 and entered the employ of J. W. Matthews & Co., with whom he remained as shipping clerk until he started his present business in 1890. He is also president of the Highland Drug Co. Mr. Weller married Miss Constance, daughter of Rev. J. A. Farrar.
JOSEPH H. WELLER, a prominent merchant of New York City, was born in Montgomery, Orange County, in 1846, and died at his home in New York, No- vember 14, 1886. At the age of fourteen he came to Newburgh to clerk in the dry goods firm of A. K. Chandler & Co. He went to New York in 1868 to become salesman for the firm of Wentz, Hartley & Co., afterward becoming a member of the firm of J. M. Wentz & Co. He remained a member of this firm until its dissolution. In 1879 he became member of the firm of Teffts, Griswold & Co., and three years later of the new firm of Tefft, Weller & Co., wholesale dry goods mer- chants of New York. In 1876 Mr. Weller married Miss Frances Cronkright, of Elizabeth, N. J., whose death occurred five weeks prior to that of her husband. The loss of his beloved wife prostrated Mr. Weller with grief and contributed largely to his death. Mr. Weller is buried in the family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Mr. and Mrs. Weller left surviving four children, Lillian C. Weller, who is now the wife of Ralph S. Tompkins, of Fishkill-on-Hudson, N. Y .; Edith M. Weller, who is the wife of Mr. Leonard M. Hills, of New York City; Alfred E. Weller, who resides in Newburgh, N. Y .; and Joseph Francis Weller, who is a student at Yale University.
The New York Dry Goods Chronicle of November 20, 1886, paid the following tribute to the memory of Mr. Weller :
"His sudden death has created a profound feeling of grief and sorrow, not only throughout the dry goods trade in which he was so prominent, but to all com- mercial circles in this great commercial city. Seldom has a man so young been so universally mourned. He left his impress on the trade and commerce of the metropolis. He did this by the force of his ability, his energy and affability. He was a superior man in business and in the charm and gentleness of his manner. His judgment was sound, his executive ability rare, his energy wonderful, and his mastery of details complete. He possessed to an eminent degree the qualities of a great merchant. He was ambitious but not at the expense of others. He was helpful-never harmful. In his ascent to success and distinction he never crowded others from the path but rather encouraged them with sympathy and cheer. His crowning glory was his charity, his kindness. It shone in the family, in the social circle, at the store and elsewhere that business duties called him.
"In the brief career of Joseph H. Weller there is the history of a busy life. It was not length of days that gave him opportunity to rise, it was what he did and how he did it that gave him prominence. He acted nobly and well his part."
981
BIOGRAPHICAL.
THEODORE A. WELLER, retired merchant of Middletown, N. Y., was born in the town of Wallkill, Orange County. He was educated at the district schools and Middletown Academy. His dry goods career in Middletown began with a clerkship for the firm of Hayt & Adams. At the end of six years he purchased Mr. Hayt's interest, and the firm of Adams & Weller was formed in 1876, which continued ten years. This was succeeded by Weller, Demarest & Swayze, and in 1888 the well-known store of Weller & Demarest was established, which continued until January, 1908, when Mr. Weller's health caused him to retire from active business.
Mr. Weller is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, including membership in Hoffman Lodge, Midland Chapter, Cypress Commandery and Mecca Temple of the Mystic Shrine.
FRANKLIN JOSEPH WELLES, an artist, for twenty-six years a resident of Greenwood Lake, has taken a deep interest in its legendary history. His wife Annie Estelle is a daughter of the late Professor Henri Appy, of Rochester, N. Y. the distinguished violinist and teacher, who at the age of twelve years graduated with the highest honors of any pupil from the Royal Conservatory of Amsterdam, Holland. He was given a laurel wreath decoration by William of Orange, grand- father of Wilhelmena, the present Queen of Holland. Some years after the death of Jean Appy, who conducted the King's Orchestra, his son Henri Appy succeeded to the position. He later came to America and played with Jenny Lind in concerts at Castle Garden, and the piano owned and used by her is now in the Welles home at Greenwood Lake. Professor Appy made many concert tours, conducted the orchestra at the old Niblo Garden in Newport, and taught at the Convent of the Sacred Heart. His wife was Annie Paine, a singer at Grace Church, N. Y. He later moved to Rochester, N. Y., to conduct the Philharmonic Society there. Two children survive him, Annie E. and Ernest Frederic, professor of music in the college at Xenia and Granville, the latter of Newark, Ohio. He is a musician and teacher of marked ability and has purchased land and expects to reside perma- nently at Greenwood Lake. Henri Appy died in Rochester, N. Y., November 16, 1903, at the age of seventy-nine.
THOMAS WELLING was born April 28, 1864, on the homestead farm at War- wick, N. Y., which has been in the family continuously for one hundred and fifty- four years. His early education was obtained at the Warwick High School and Polytechnic Institute at Brooklyn, N. Y. After his schooling he returned to War- wick and took the management of the farm where he has since resided. He car- ried Marie L. Van Duzer, of Warwick, May 17, 1893, daughter of James Harvey and Sarah (Taylor) Van Duzer. Their one son, Thomas, Jr., was born April 3, 1896. Mr. Welling is a director of the First National Bank, second vice-president of the Warwick Savings Bank and is a trustee of the Warwick Cemetery Asso- ciation. He is identified with the Grange and attends the Dutch Reformed Church of Warwick. His father, Thomas Welling, was one of Warwick's representative
982
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
men. He took an active interest in matters pertaining to the town, was a director in the First National Bank and the Warwick Savings Bank and served as presi- dent of the Warwick Valley Milk Association. He died November 9, 1898.
JAMES EDWARD WELLS was born at Dingmans, Pa., in 1834, and died sud- denly at his home in Goshen, May 6, 1907. He married Miss Francis E., daughter of William S. and Sarah T. (Wood) Conkling. He removed from the farm to the village of Goshen in 1901, and lived a retired life until his death. For years he was a director and superintendent of grounds of the Orange County Agricultural Society, and was one of the first members of the Goshen Grange. He was agent in New York and Jersey City for the Orange County Farmers' Milk Company, a director of the Milk Exchange, and a partner in the firm of Wells & Stage, milk commission merchants, with offices in New York. In religion he was a Presby- terian and in politics a republican. In 1894 he was elected supervisor of Goshen, and was afterward re-elected twelve times, which shows the confidence which his townsmen reposed in him. He was the descendant of William Wells, who emi- grated to America in 1635, whose father was the Rev. William Wells, rector of St. Peter's Church at Norwich, England. His widow and two children survive him. The son is William A. Wells, of the Goshen National Bank, and the daughter Mrs. Cornelius Christie, of Watertown, N. Y. James Edward's father, Alfred, was a native of Goshen, and his mother, Lydia W. Nyce, was a Pennsylvanian.
FREDERICK WILLIAM WENZEL, assistant postmaster, Newburgh, N. Y., is a son of George C. and Elizabeth A. Wenzel, and was born in Newburgh, Sep- tember 28, 1871. In 1890 he graduated with honors from the academy; and in 1895 succeeded his father in the manufacture of plain and fancy boxes. He was ap- pointed to his present position March 1, 1900. Mr. Wenzel was master of New- burgh Lodge No. 309, F. and A. M., in 1899 and 1900; a trustee of Highland Chapter No. 52, R. A. M .; member of Ringold Hose Company No. 1 ; a member of St. George's Church, and the Alumni of Newburgh Free Academy.
COLONEL CHARLES H. WEYGANT, ex-mayor of Newburgh, N. Y., was born in Cornwall, July 8, 1839, and educated at Ashland and Claverack Collegiate Institutes. In 1862 he was appointed senior captain of the 124th Regiment, N. Y. S. V., commanding Company A. He took active part in every general engagement of the Army of the Potomac. At the Battle of Gettysburg his superior officers were killed, leaving the regiment in command of Captain Weygant. He was shortly after commissioned major and July 2, 1863, was made lieutenant-colonel. In 1870 Colonel Weygant was elected sheriff of Orange County, and from 1878 to 1880 he served as mayor of the city of Newburgh. In 1886, in company with Henry T. McCoun, he purchased and developed the property now known as Washington Heights, Newburgh. He is trustee of Trinity M. E. Church; ex-commander of Ellis Post, G. A. R., and the author of the "History of the 124th Regiment, N. Y.
983
BIOGRAPHICAL.
S. V." Colonel Weygant married Miss Charlotte Sackett in 1868 and they have one daughter.
FRANK E. WEYGANT, formerly of the firm of R. F. Weygant's Sons, carriage manufacturers at Central Valley, N. Y., is a descendant of one of Orange County's old and prominent families. His father, Robert Francis Weygant, was the young- est child of Smith and Charity (Lamoreaux) Weygant. The original progenitor of the family in America was Michael, son of Rev. George Herman Weigand, a Lutheran minister of the Rhine Palatinate, who received a grant of land in 1708 from Queen Anne embraced in the territory now covered by the city of Newburgh. In 1745 Tobias, son of Michael, bought an extensive tract of land near the present village of Highland Mills. A number of his descendants made their homes in this locality.
Robert F. Weygant, who died September 3, 1902, established the carriage factory at Central Valley in 1867. This is now conducted by his sons, Fred and William. Frank E. Weygant is at present engaged in the automobile business at Ridge- wood, N. J.
ANNIAS B. WHEELER was born August 31, 1846, in Craigville, town of Blooming Grove, and after his school education worked five years as a cotton spinner, then at farming, and then for the Erie Railroad. He tried to enlist six times as a soldier for the Civil War, the first time in 1861, and five times was rejected on account of his small size and light weight, but was finally mustered in August 22, 1864, in Company C, 56th N. Y. Infantry, when his weight was only ninety pounds. He served until wounded on December 29, 1864, at the crossing of the Tillafinny River, and was discharged in New York City, May 30, 1865. He then became a farmer until 1881, then was superintendent of the Middletown Ice Company five years, in 1887 was appointed a U. S. mail-carrier, and as such served the Government seven years, then was a traveling salesman two years, then com- missioner of highways for the town of Wallkill two years, and has since been in the insurance and brokerage business and a pension attorney in Middletown. He married Miss Hanna Oldfield, of Amity, town of Warwick, May 30, 1869, and they have had twelve children, only two boys and three girls surviving-Joel B., president of the common council of Middletown; Harrison W., driver for the Middletown Phoenix Engine Company No. 4; Melissa, wife of D. H. Jones, of Rutherford, N. Y .; Emma E., wife of John E. T. Clegborn, of Wellsburg, N. Y .; and Francis E., who lives with Joel B. Mr. Wheeler's father William was born In 1815 in New York City, and was a contractor. His mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Braffett, was born in 1827, and died in 1896.
ISAAC V. WHEELER .- The Wheeler family is of English lineage, and originally embraced eleven brothers and three sisters, all of whom were carly residents of Long Island, and at a later period removed to Orange County and made purchases of land. One of these brothers, Joel by name, is the progenitor of
984
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
the branch of the family from which Isaac V. is descended. Isaac V. Wheeler was a native of Warwick, and was born Marchi 4, 1823. He was the son of Colonel William F. and Juliet (Van Duzer) Wheeler, who were the parents of seven children. On the death of his father he became the possessor of the ancestral estate. He married June 21, 1853, Miss Phoebe, daughter of Jesse Bull. He was the father of six children, Juliet V., Caroline B., William F., Jesse C., who died October 7, 1881 ; Anna M., married William A. Hayward and died September 16, 1899 (two children survive her, Alice W. and William H .; Frank A. died in in- fancy), and Alice. In politics Mr. Wheeler was a republican, having descended from whig ancestry. He was one of the original incorporators of the Warwick Valley Farmers' Milk Association, and of the Warwick Savings Bank. His deatlı occurred April 9, 1876, in the fifty-third year of his age.
Shortly after the marriage of her son William F., Mrs. Wheeler with her four daughters left the farm and moved to the home in Warwick village, now known as "The Columns," which she purchased in 1883, and at her death be- queathed to her daughters, Juliet V. and Caroline B. Mrs. Wheeler died January 21, 1904, in the seventy-sixth year of her age. She was a devoted member of the Reformed Church. Her ancestor on the maternal side, Cornelius Board, came from Sussex, England, in 1730; on her father's side she was a descendant of the historic William Bull and Sarah Wells.
WILLIAM F. WHEELER was born May 22, 1859. He is the son of Isaac V. and Phebe (Bull) Wheeler. He married May 22, 1882, Miss Tillie A. Wisner, of Chester, Orange County, N. Y., and is the father of six children, all of whom are living : William F. Wheeler, Jr., Charles V., Jesse I., Mary A., Roe W., and Ralph. The loss of his father at the age of sixteen necessitated his leaving school at an early age and assuming the responsibilities of the farm, on which he now resides. Mr. Wheeler is an ardent republican. Five generations have lived upon the estate now owned by him, it having been in the name for over one hundred years. The property, consisting of two hundred and eighty-five acres, is at present known as Peach Grove Farm. The house in which he and his family reside was built by Colonel William F. Wheeler in 1850. The barn on this place was raised on the Fourth of July, 1776, and was built by Samuel Ketchum, a Revolutionary soldier, who took part in the battle of White Plains.
EDWARD WHITEHEAD, president of the Walden Knife Company, was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, England, a son of John and Sarah (Hill) Whitehead. His parents brought him to America when a child and at the age of fifteen years he learned the cutlery trade.
When the Walden Knife Company was organized in 1870 as a co-operative con- cern, Mr. Whitehead was one of the eighteen members, and held the position of superintendent. In 1874 the company was incorporated, at which time William G. Gowdy was elected president and Edward Whitehead secretary. In 1891 Mr. Whitehead was chosen president and the success of the industry since that time
985
BIOGRAPHICAL.
has been rapid. It is interesting to note that he is the only member of the orig- inal company now identified with this establishment, and his official connection with the cutlery industry stretches over a longer period than any other man con- nected with the business at the present time in this Sheffield of America.
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.