USA > New York > Ulster County > The history of Ulster County, New York > Part 49
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John B. Alliger, the eldest of the family of Cornelius D. and Maria Alliger, both of whom were of French Huguenot families, who had intermarried with the Dutch, spent his early life on the farm and in attendance at the district school of Kyserike. In 1863 he entered Fort Edward Institute, where he remained one and one-half terms, and during the winter of 1864-5, taught the Cottekill District School in the town of Rosendale. May 30th, 1865, he came to Rondout, and for two years was employed as clerk in a hardware store. In February, 1867, he entered the National Bank of Rondout as teller, and remained with that institu- tion twenty-five years; the last seven years of that period he served the bank as . cashier. In January, 1902, he was made a director and vice-president of this bank and is now serving as such.
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When the Ulster County Savings Institution was reorganized in 1892, Mr. Alliger was chosen one of its trustees, and later in the same year was appointed its treasurer, which office he still retains in 1907. During his administration the assets have been doubled.
Mr. Alliger has been identified with the Rondout Presbyterian church since being a resident of Kingston, of which he was trustee for twenty years, during twelve of which he served as its treasurer. He has also been identified with the Young Men's Christian Association since its organization, of which he has been recording secretary and one of its directors. He served as trustee of Ulster Academy from 1885 to 1894.
He was made a Mason in 1869, in Rondout Lodge No. 343, F. & A. M., of which he was Master in 1885-6-7. He was for three years Assistant Grand Lecturer of the Grand Lodge of New York for the Third Judicial District, was District Deputy Grand Master of the Tenth Masonic District during the Grand Lodge year of 1893-4 and was also Representative of the Grand Lodge of Kansas. He was ex- alted in Mount Horeb Chapter No. 75, R. A. M., of which he is Past High Priest, was knighted in Rondout Commandery No. 52, K. T., of which he is Past Eminent Commander. He was the fourth member to be knighted after the commandery was organized in 1871. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Scottish Rite bodies of New York City, Northern Jurisdiction, and is a member of Mecca Temple of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Alliger is a Republican; he has aspired to no political office and has held none except upon the organization of the police force of Kingston in 1891, he was made one of the first commissioners and served six years. On October 27th, 1869, he was joined in marriage with Mary A. Smith, daughter of John B. and Elizabeth Hudler Smith. They have only one child, Alice N., now the wife of Henry C. Connelly, Jr.
CAPTAIN ABSALOM ELTINGE ANDERSON was born at Saugerties, N. Y., January II, 1856. At the age of four years his parents moved to Esopus, where he obtained his preliminary education, later attending the Military Institute at Neshanic and Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie. He then began his career on the Hudson River in connection with the steamer Mary Powell, of which he has been Captain and part owner for the past eighteen years.
In 1881 Captain Anderson was married to Fannie V. Elmore, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Captain Anderson is one of the most popular commanders on the Hudson and eminently fitted for the position he occupies. His father, Captain Absalom L. Anderson, was born at Croton, N. Y., in 1812 and died in 1895. He came from an honored family who traced their ancestry back to 1530. Among the notable vessels he owned and commanded were the Robert L. Stephan, The Thomas Powell and the Mary Powell. The Anderson family have for many years been prominently identified with business and social affairs of Ulster County.
DUBOIS G. ATKINS, Attorney of Kingston, was born in the town of Platte- kill, Ulster County, September 5, 1866. He obtained his education first in the dis- trict schools of Clintondale, and later entered Claverack Academy, subsequently
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pursuing his studies at the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn. After leaving the University Mr. Atkins became principal of the Perrinesville, New Jer- sey, High School, remaining one year. He then served as principal of the school at Eddyville, Ulster County, where he remained two years. In 1890 he accepted an offer from the Vermont Episcopal Institute at Burlington, Vermont, where he held the chair of Professor of Mathematics and Military Tactics for one year. In the fall of 1891 he was elected principal of School No. 11 of the City of Kingston, and shortly thereafter resigned and accepted the position of Deputy County Treas- urer, which office he held for three years.
Mr. Atkins began reading law in the office of Bernard & Fiero in Kingston, in 1888. He later continued his law studies with Schoonmaker & Linson; at this time he was teaching school and read law evenings and Saturdays, and was ad- mitted to the Bar December 5, 1893. February 15, 1899, he was admitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and also to the Circuit Court. He has also taken a great interest in the public schools of the city. He has been a member of the Board of Education for fourteen years. In 1902, he was instrumental in having the schools consolidated; this caused a hard and bitter fight. Before consolidation there were five Boards of Education in the City of Kingston. Consolidation made one, and upon the organization of the new Board of Education Mr. Atkins was elected President, and has been con- tinuously elected for five years.
December 30th, 1890, he was joined in marriage with Wilhelmina, daughter of Calvin Winne, and they have one daughter, Helen.
MILTON O. AUCHMOODY was born at Esopus, Ulster County, December 3, 1872. He obtained his education at the Bontecoe District School of Ulster, and later attended the Academy at Kingston. He began the study of law in 1894 in the office of Charles Irwin, later continuing his studies with Hon. D. B. Deyo. He was admitted to the Bar in 1898 and engaged in practice with Chandler A. Oaks. This partnership was later dissolved and since January 1, 1906, Mr. Auchmoody has practiced alone. Politically he is a Democrat.
He is a son of Samuel L. and Catharine J. (Schoonmaker) Auchmoody, and his grand-parents, David Auchmoody and Jane LeFevre, on his father's side, were descendants of Gemes Acmoidec, who settled in New Paltz previous to 1730 and was the first Scot to settle there. Joshua Schoonmaker and Salina Vredenburg on his mother's side are among the early settlers in the County.
JOHN J. BAISDEN, a well-known ship and boat builder of Fly Mountain and Sleightsburg, was born at Chatham, England, August 24, 1831. He came with his parents to America, and his early school days were spent in Rondout and Kingston. He learned the trade of boat building with Bridger & Bishop, at Rondout, re- maining with them until 1849, when he went to New York City. He worked for Williams at Green Point until 1853, when he returned to Rondout and framed the barge Joseph P. Davis.
In 1854 Mr. Baisden moved to Mongaup, Sullivan County, N. Y., and built boats
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for the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, being in business there until 1857, when he returned to Rondout. In the fall of 1857 he moved to Hawley, Penn., and was again engaged in building boats for the Delaware & Hudson Canal Com- pany, also for the Pennsylvania Coal Company, remaining there until 1882. It was in that year that he moved to New Salem (Fly Mountain P. O.), and bought his present dock, where he has since been building and repairing boats.
Mr. Baisden was married January 1, 1852, in Kingston, to Miss Mary E. Schoonmaker, who was born in Kingston, September 10, 1833. (Died January 8, 1903.) She was a daughter of Stephen Schoonmaker. The fol- lowing children were born to them: Mary Felicia, born January 31, 1853 (died January 17, 1861) ; Tamar A., born February 20, 1855 (died December 30, 1860) ; Hannah Josephine, born February 18, 1857; Sarah Ida, born May 2, 1859; Martha A., born September 26, 1861; John Stephen, born March 13, 1864; Charles Ethan, born November 9, 1866 (died December 14, 1866) ; Lewis Hale, born March 14, 1868; William Nelson, born March 6, 1872 (died August 1, 1872) ; Walter Monroe, born June 16, 1876. He was married in Ocotber 26, 1904, to E. Katherine Ellison, daughter of the late Alfred L. Ellison, of Esopus, Ulster County.
Mr. Baisden is president of the Board of Trustees, Sunday School superinten- dent and class-leader of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Eddyville.
LAWRENCE F. BANNON, president of the Plumbing Board of the city of Kingston and prominent among Ulster County's successful business men, was born in Kingston, August 2, 1870. When eight years of age his parents removed to a farm on the Lucas turnpike, four miles from the city, and in the public schools of that neighborhood he received his education. At the age of thirteen he went to New York City and learned the trade of plumbing, after which he embarked on a tour of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan and China.
In 1896 Mr. Bannon returned to Ulster County and opened a plumbing estab- lishment in Rosendale, which he still maintains. In 1900 he established a place of business in Kingston and enjoys an extensive and profitable trade.
Mr. Bannon is Past Chancellor Commander of Golden City Lodge No. 63, of San Francisco, Cal., Past Ruler of the Knights of the Golden Eagles, Golden Gate Castle No. 5, San Francisco, and a member of Kingston Lodge No. 550, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is treasurer of the New York State Master Plumbers' Association. He is a son of Lawrence and Sarah (McDonald) Bannon, of Kingston, N. Y.
PETER BARMAN, of Kingston, N. Y., was born in Germany in 1846. He at- tended the public schools of his native country and in 1858 came with his father to America. They located in Rondout, where his father Jacob died four years later, his mother having died in Germany some years previously. Peter Barman, soon after his arrival in Rondout, secured employment with his uncle, Mr. Schwal- bach, who conducted a brewery in Kingston. He remained in his employ, proved a faithful and efficient helper and eventually succeeded to the ownership of the
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property. The Barman brewery is now one of the important industries of the county.
In 1876 he married Miss Susan Bender, of Germany, and eight children have been born to them, six of whom are living; two of his sons are employed in a clerical capacity in his office.
ANDREW N. BARNES, one of the leading business men of Kingston, was born in that city in 1847. He obtained his education at private schools and the Kingston Academy, after which he entered the employ of Merritt & Crosby as a clerk, with whom he remained thirteen years. At the end of that period he, with others, pur- chased the business at Rondout and continued it for several years. In 1876 he was appointed postmaster of Rondout and held that office during the following ten years. In 1886 he bought a half interest in the Hudson River Furniture Co., at 661 Broadway, Kingston, and it has since been conducted under the firm name of Gregory & Barnes.
Mr. Barnes has served the city as Republican Alderman of the Second Ward and is a member of the old Washington Engine Co., No. 3. His father, George Barnes, a Baptist minister, was born in Colchester, England, and came to New York City in 1832, where he remained two years, during which time he married Charlotte Twitchet, of London, Eng. In 1834 he removed to Kingston. Andrew N. Barnes married Miss Sarah K. Willis, of Kingston, and C. Everett Barnes is the only son.
LOUIS BEERES, cashier of the First National Bank of Rondout, was born in Illinois in 1871. He became associated with the above institution in 1888, served seven years as teller and in 1906 was promoted to his present office. Socially he is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias. He married Miss Keokee Davis, of Ulster County, and they have two children. Mr. Beeres is one of Kingston's highly respected citizens and is ably fulfilling the duties of the re- sponsible office he occupies.
GEORGE N. BELL, civil engineer of Kingston, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1859. He was educated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, St. John's School, Manlius, N. Y., Kansas State University and the School of Mines, Columbia Col- lege. His first employment was with the U. S. Government at Newport, R. I., where he remained six years, engaging in private practice and as inspecting en- gineer of the Newport Sanitary Protection Association, R. I., where he remained six years. In 1887 he removed to Philadelphia and opened an engineering office. In 1890 he went South in the employment of boom town promoters to lay out town sites, which lasted some two years, and in 1892 again entered the employ of the government as Assistant Engineer in fortification work. In 1899 Mr. Bell came to Kingston, and in 1900 was appointed City Engineer for a term of two years, during which time his plans for large sewerage systems of the 2nd and 9th wards were adopted. He is now engaged in private practice, making a specialty of landscape engineering, sewerage and water systems. Mr. Bell's family consists of his wife, who was Miss Elizabeth Eicher, and four children.
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LEWIS F. BENNETT, Supervisor of the town of Denning, was born in the city of Kingston, in 1853. At the age of three years he removed with his parents to Dewittville, and received his education at the public schools of that place. He has been engaged in the manufacture of bed springs and mattresses for the past fifteen years, in which he enjoys an extensive trade. He also conducts a farm of three hundred and fifty acres.
Mr. Bennett is identified with the Masonic Order, the Odd Fellows, and the Maccabees. He has always taken an active interest in politics and with the ex- ception of two terms has served as Supervisor, continuously since 1895. He mar- ried Miss Martha A. Dixon and they have four children, Bertha E., Lewis J., Reuben J., and Henry D.
REUBEN BERNARD, Attorney of Kingston, was born in the town of Platte- kill, Ulster County, February 24, 1830. He obtained his education at New Paltz Academy and Armenia Seminary. In 1849 he took up the study of law with the well-known firm of Forsyth & Hasbrouck at Kingston. In 1851 he entered the law school then located at Ballston Spa, and in 1852, after examination at Albany, was admitted to the bar, and has since been admitted to the bar of the United States. He began practice in Kingston, where he has since remained.
Mr. Bernard has been officially connected with the various banks in Kingston and vicinity. In 1852 he was chosen attorney for the Huguenot Bank, then being organized at New Paltz. In 1858 he became attorney for the Kingston National Bank, in 1868 a director and in 1877 was elected its president, which office he still holds. He was also the attorney for the Ulster County Savings Institution from 1855 to 1870, and has served the New Paltz Savings Bank in that capacity since 1877. He was president of the Kingston & Rondout R. R. four years and for a number of years was a director in the Wallkill Valley R. R., and has acted as attorney for each of these corporations.
He was the first president of the Kingston Board of Trade and held that office many years. He has been a member of the Fair Street Reformed Church since 1861 and has at various times held offices in the Church. He was superintendent of the Sunday School for many years and has served as president of the Ulster County Sunday School Association.
On June 3, 1856, Mr. Bernard was married to Jane Catherine, only daughter of Dr. Garrett DuBois Crispell, who was for over half a century a practicing phy- sician of Kingston. They have three daughters, Mary Lawrence, Amelia, wife of Henry S. Crispell, of Rondout, and Sarah Crispell.
JAMES A. BETTS, Justice of the Supreme Court, is a native of Fulton County, New York. His early education was begun in the district school at Mills Corners and later continued in the graded schools of Broadalbin, Fulton County. He fin- ished his studies at the Albany State Normal School, from which he graduated June 18, 1875. In September, 1875, he came to Kingston and became the principal of Public School No. II. He occupied that position two years, during which time he began the study of law in the office of Schoonmaker and Linson, and in No-
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vember, 1880, was admitted to the bar. For several years he acted as managing clerk for the above firm of lawyers. He was the first secretary of the State Civil Service Commission, which was organized in 1883. In 1890 he was elected clerk of the Board of Supervisors and re-elected the year following. In 1891 he was chairman of the Democratic County Committee, and in 1892 was unanimously nominated to the office of Surrogate of Ulster County, being elected for a term of six years. In 1898 he was elected Justice of the Supreme Court of this district for a term of fourteen years, and is administering the duties of that honorable office in an able and dignified manner.
Judge Betts is vice-president and one of the managers of the Kingston City Hospital, and a member of the Senate House Association. He served two years as president of the Kingston Board of Education, and has been a member of the Board of Trade since its organization. He is president of the Kingston Savings Bank.
October 16, 1884, he married Frances M., a daughter of the late William D. Hill, of Kingston. She died June 15, 1905. He has one child, Fanny Hill Betts, born January 27, 1899.
ASA BISHOP, son of Jacob and Catherine (Eckert) Bishop, was born in the town of Olive, Ulster County, in 1842. At the age of nineteen years he enlisted in Company D of the Twentieth N. Y. S. M., and served three years in the Civil War, being severely wounded at the battle of Gettysburg. At the close of the war he returned home and engaged in quarrying for several years. In 1885 he purchased his present store, which was established in 1860 and the oldest in the town, and has since been engaged in a general mercantile business. He has served five years as town clerk and sixteen years as Justice of the Peace. He is a mem- ber of the G. A. R., the Knights of Pythias and the I. O. O. F. In 1866 he mar- ried Miss Josephine B. Bardin. They have one son, Legrande D., born December 9, 1881, a son Lewis, born in 1867, died before reaching his majority.
His father, Jacob Bishop, was born at Olive in 1795 and at the age of four years became blind, remaining so through life. He conducted a farm and operated a grist-mill. His father, Asa Bishop, came to Olive about 1790 from Nine Partners, Dutchess County, and became one of the leading men of his day in Ulster. Bishop Falls, in the town of Olive, was named for the family. Jacob Bishop married Catherine Eckert, and their twelve children grew to maturity. Of their children, Asa, the subject of this sketch, and Ephraim M. still reside at Olive.
Ephraim M. was born at Olive Bridge, January 22, 1832, married Eliza Ann Wood and has eight children, six of whom are now living, namely: Ernest, Bertha, Schuyler C., Mabel, Charles and Bessie W. He conducted a woolen mill ten years and a general store thirty years; was postmaster twenty years and town clerk two terms.
DANIEL BLACK, JR., son of Daniel and Ellen (Abernethy) Black, was born at Whiteport, Ulster County, in 1845. After finishing his studies at the schools of Wilbur, he aided his father for a time, in the cultivation of his farm on the
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Rosendale road, known as the Abernethy plantation. He then engaged in boating for a number of years, between Le Fevre Falls and Philadelphia. He was iden- tified with the cement industry in this county from 1882 to 1900, both in connection with the Rock Lock and Rosendale Cement Co., and the Lawrence Cement Co.
Mr. Black has served as trustee of the New Paltz Savings Bank since 1890. He is a charter member of C. S. Clay Lodge No. 586, I. O. O. F., and a member of the Reformed Church. In 1884 he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza E. Hoffman, daughter of Henry and Sarah A. (DuBois) Hoffman, of Rosendale.
LEWIS D. BLACK, of the firm of Black Bros., Eddyville, who conduct the most extensive mercantile business on the Rondout Creek, was born at the Aber- nethy plantation on the Rosendale Road, Ulster County, in 1848. He is the second son of Daniel and Ellen (Abernethy) Black, who had a family of ten children.
He obtained his education at the public schools, and in 1872 opened the present store at Eddyville, which grew to generous proportions during the years the D. & H. Canal was in operation.
In 1882 Mr. Black married Miss Theresa Wurster, of Fly Mountain, who has borne him the following children: Theresa, Peter A., Nellie, Daniel (deceased), Lillian, Walter, Major, Abel, Mary, Ira, Jennie, Alton B. Parker, and B. Odell. Mr. Black is identified with No. 10 Lodge, F. & A. M., Mount Horeb Chapter, and Rondout Commandery. He is also a member of the I. O. O. F.
PETER C. BLACK, merchant of Eddyville, and one of Ulster County's promi- nent citizens, was born at the well-known homestead of the Black family on the Rosendale road. After finishing his education at the Kingston Academy and East- man's Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., he engaged in the mercantile busi- ness with his brother, Lewis D., under the firm name of Black Brothers. This firm has met with unusual success and enjoys an extensive trade throughout that section of the county.
Socially Mr. Black is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows. Although active in promoting the welfare and up- holding the principles of the Democratic party, Mr. Black has repeatedly declined to become a candidate for public office. He has been a delegate to several of the Democratic State Conventions, and was in attendance at the memorable National Democratic Convention at St. Louis in 1904. He is a director in the State of New York National Bank and has been a trustee of the Ulster County Savings Institu- tion, of Kingston, for many years.
Mr. Black is a son of Daniel and Ellen (Abernethy) Black, who had a family of four daughters and six sons, each of whom has achieved success in their chosen vocations.
WILLIAM HENRY DILL BLAKE was born in the town of Montgomery, Orange County, N. Y., January 17, 1843. After finishing his studies at Montgomery Academy, he enlisted December 31, 1863, in Company C, 56th N. Y. Veteran Vol- unteer Infantry. From a private he was promoted to Corporal, September 10, 1864,
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and to Regimental Commissary Sergeant, November 22, 1864. He was commis- sioned Second Lieutenant, September 19, 1865, with rank from September Ist, and honorably discharged from the service November Ioth of the same year.
In 1867 Mr. Blake entered the employ of Homer Ramsdell & Co., with whom he remained seven years, when he accepted a position as agent for the Newburgh & Albany Steamboat Line, also conducting a flour and feed store at Newburgh. In 1881 Mr. Blake removed to New Paltz, and purchased the farm of 250 acres where he now resides. In 1875 he was united in marriage to Miss Matilda R. Booth, daughter of Alfred Booth, of Campbell Hall, N. Y. They have three chil- dren living, Alfred Booth, William Culbert, and Matilda. Mrs. Blake died Novem- ber 19, 1904. Mr. Blake is Commander of Elting Post No. 212, G. A. R., and is one of the two historians who prepared and published the History of the 56th Regiment, New York Veteran Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil War from 1861 to I865.
John Blake, Jr., grandfather of our subject, was prominently identified with pub- lic affairs in Orange County during the greater portion of his life. He was nomi- nated for Sheriff by Dewitt Clinton in 1801, and from 1805 to 1809 was a member of Congress from the Orange County district. William Blake, his son, was born February 22, 1794, in the court house at Kingston, at the time John Blake, Jr., was administering the office of Sheriff of Ulster County, during the absence of the in- cumbent, Benjamin Sears.
HOWARD C. BOGARDUS, of Malden, New York, was born in that village, February 27, 1848. When sixteen years of age he secured a position as bookkeeper for the Bigelow Blue Stone Company, of Malden, and eventually became its cashier and secretary. In February, 1892, that company was reorganized into the Ulster Blue Stone Company, with B. Taylor Harris as its President, and in 1901 it was sold to the Hudson River Blue Stone Company, the present owners of the busi- ness. Mr. Bogardus is cashier and general manager of the Malden branch.
He was for a number of years assistant postmaster under his father, Hobart Bogardus, who came to Malden at an early day and became one of its foremost citizens. Mr. Bogardus is a direct descendant of Aneke Janus Bogardus, who married Everadus Bogardus, the first minister from Holland to America.
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