USA > New York > Ulster County > The history of Ulster County, New York > Part 54
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Dr. Decker has been twice married. His first wife was Rebecca Norris, daughter of Albert M. Norris of Ulster Park, and two children were born to them-Albert Norris and Naomi Belle. Mrs. Decker died April 1, 1883, and the two children died of diphtheria in 1885. He married for his second wife, in 1884, Mrs. Jane (Perrine) Jones, daughter of James H. Perrine of Rifton, and they have one son, McDonald.
ADDISON E. DEDERICK was born at Catskill, Greene County, N. Y., in 1850, and obtained his education in the schools of that place. In 1870 he came to Kingston to learn the carpenter trade, and in 1888 engaged in business as a general contractor and builder. Among the notable buildings he has erected are the residences of Dr. E. H. Loughran, Judge G. D. B. Hasbrouck, George Coyken- dall, ex-Congressman George J. Smith, Judge Betts, Ogden Winne, Charles Freer, Sheriff Webster and many others. The Holy Cross Church, the Jewish Synagogue of Kingston and the Catholic Church of Stony Hollow were built by him. He
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also constructed the plants of the Standard Oil Company at Kingston and New. burgh.
Mr. Dederick, always an active Democrat, served five years as Alderman of the Second Ward and as Assessor under the Brinnier administration. In 1872 he was married to Anna B. Knight, a descendant of the Chambers and Hasbrouck families ; they have seven children. M.r. Dederick is of German and French Huguenot descent. His father, Peter Z. Dederick, a resident of Greene County, died in 1891 in his sixty-second year. He was married to Sarah Wrightmyer, a member of the Wrightmyer-Overbaugh families of Catskill, who were of French and Holland descent.
DR. WILLIAM C. DERBY, a leading dentist at Ellenville, is a descendant of a family which has been prominent in Orange County for over two hundred years. The Derbys were among the first settlers of this region, owned large tracts of land under original grants from the English Sovereigns. Isaac Derby, our subject's grandfather, was born in Orange County, and was left, not deeded, 200 acres of land where the City of Newburgh now stands. Representatives of the family took an honorable and distinguished part in the early history of our country, especially during the Revolutionary War. William C. Derby, our subject, was born June 6, 1828, in Wallkill Township, Orange County, spent his boyhood on his father's farm and attended the district school until he was fifteen years of age. In 1851 he came to Ellenville and studied dentistry with Dr. H. H. Doan. He then estab- lished himself in business in Ellenville and has enjoyed for about fifty-five years the leading patronage of the vicinity. On December 28, 1853, he married Miss Elizabeth Smart, and to them were born five children, three of whom died at an early age. Frank S. is a dentist in New York. Harry C. is also a dentist, practicing with his father. Dr. Derby has taken a prominent part in politics and is a member of the Democratic party. He was Town Clerk nearly fifty years ago, and has been both President and Trustee of the village, and in 1881-1882 served as Supervisor. Socially, he is a Mason, for fifty years a charter member of the lodge at Ellen- ville, and is much esteemed by the people in Ellenville and wherever known.
WILLIAM DERRENBACHER, manufacturer and wholesale and retail dealer in confectionery, was born in Rondout, N. Y., August 10, 1857. He attended the schools of his native city and then engaged with his father in the grocery trade, with whom he remained five years. He spent ten years in New York in the manu- facture and sale of confectionery, with Henry Heide. In 1888 he returned to Rond- out and established a confectionery business, and in 1903 established the Washing- ton County Confectionery, in which he has been eminently successful. The Derren- bacher's confections find a ready market throughout the States of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. His factory gives employment to between thirty-five and forty hands.
JOHN R. DEVANY, Attorney-at-Law, of Ellenville, N. Y., is a native of Tompkins County, New York. He was born May 21, 1862, educated in the Cort-
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land Public Schools and Cornell University, and began the study of law with George L. Waters of Cortland, N. Y. He then entered the office of his preceptor, completed his course with Schoonmaker & Linson of Kingston, and was admitted to the bar in 1888. Mr. Devany began the practice of his profession in Walden, remaining there only six months, when he removed to Ellenville, where he has since resided and practiced. In 1883 he taught school in Accord in the old school house where Judge Alton B. Parker formerly taught. His family consists of wife (formerly Miss Lizzie Decker, a daughter of Marcus Decker and a first cousin to Mrs. Alton B. Parker), and a family of four children, Ione, age seventeen, Norma, eleven, Margaret, nine and Ella, seven.
Mr. Devany served as Police Justice of Ellenville for four years. He is a member of the Board of Education and identified with the Masonic fraternity, Wa- warsing Lodge, of which he is at present Senior Warden.
HON. DANIEL M. DEWITT, of Kingston, was born in Paterson, N. J., November 25, 1837. In 1845 his parents removed to Brooklyn, where he resided until 1861. Mr. DeWitt graduated from Rutgers College in 1858, and in 1861 came to Ulster County and assumed the position of Principal of New Paltz Academy. He remained there one year, when he was elected to the office of District Attorney and re-elected in 1865. In 1872 he was elected a member of Congress and served one term. He also served one term in the New York State Assembly and one term as Surrogate of Ulster County.
Mr. DeWitt took up the study of law in New York and was admitted to the bar in 1858. For years he conducted a successful law practice in Kingston.
Mr. DeWitt is an author of wide reputation. In 1894 his book on "Mary E. Surratt" was published, followed by "The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson." He has also written numerous articles and reviews for historical and other magazines. He married Mary A. McDonald of New Brunswick, N. J., and five sons have been born to them, Charles, Richard, William C., David and McDonald.
William C. conducts a flourishing general insurance business in Kingston. In 1898 he married Ella Kerr, daughter of J. W. and Eliza (Davis) Kerr. One child has been born to them, John Warren DeWitt.
Richard DeWitt, deceased, was for years cashier of the National Ulster County Bank. One son survives him, Richard Herbert DeWitt.
Charles, the eldest son, and David are in the employ of William C. One son, Charles, and a daughter, Mary Antoinette, have been born to Charles and Mar- garet (Phelan), his wife.
McDonald. the youngest son and only lawyer of his generation, is a rising attorney in New York City.
CHARLES D. DEYO .- The old French Huguenot name of Deyo occupies a conspicuous place in Ulster County history, and the subject of this sketch is among the rising young attorneys of Kingston. Born at New Paltz, Ulster County, March 12, 1877, he obtained his education at Kingston Academy and a two
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years' course at Yale. He attended the Albany Law School, graduating from that institution in 1902, and has since been engaged in the practice of law at Kingston. Mr. Deyo takes an active interest in politics and is a firm believer in Democratic principles. He is a son of Dr. Charles W. and Cornelia (Wurts) Deyo, natives of Ulster County. His ancestors emigrated to America in the sixteenth century.
GEORGE DEYO, Assistant Superintendent of the Eastern New York Reform- atory at Napanoch, Ulster County, was born in Ellenville, March 4, 1862, and is a son of William H. and Susan (Haight) Deyo. He attended the local public and high schools and later engaged with Baily & Deyo, with whom he remained several years. During this time Mr. Deyo served as Town Clerk for two terms, and as Supervisor for a like period. He was elected County Treasurer, served out one term, was re-elected, but resigned before his second term had expired to accept the position of Warden of Clinton Prison, to which he was appointed January I, 1901. After serving six years in that capacity, he was appointed to the office he now holds. Mr. Deyo was one of the Commissioners who were appointed by Governor Flower in 1893 to erect this reformatory, and he has since taken a great interest in its development.
He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, Blue Lodge, Chapter, Commandery, Shrine, etc. His family consists of a wife, formerly Miss Nora Bates of Madison County, and two children, Barbara and William H., Jr.
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PHILIP DEYO was born in New Paltz, N. Y., in 1862, and received his educa- tion at the schools and Academy of his native village. He then engaged with his father in the New Paltz store, and in 1889 became a partner in the business under the firm name of S. Deyo & Son, dealers in general merchandise. Since his father's death in March, 1904, Mr. Deyo has conducted the business alone. He is one of the Trustees of the New Paltz Academy. He was united in marriage to Miss Ella Rogers and they have one son, Philip R.
Solomon Deyo, father of our subject, was a descendant of one of the oldest families in Ulster County, and a leading business man of New Paltz. The store which he established in 1857 is one of the most pretentious in Southern Ulster. He served as Secretary of the New Paltz Normal School, was President of the New Paltz Savings Bank, a director of the New Paltz National Bank, and was Secretary and Treasurer of the New Paltz Cemetery Association.
THOMAS J. DEYO, a prominent business man of Wallkill, Ulster County, was born in the town of Newburgh, Orange County, September 7, 1839. His ancestors were early settlers in Ulster County of Huguenot stock, being lineally descended from Pierre Deyo, one of the patentees, through Abraham Deyo, his second son, who was born at Hurley, Ulster County, October 16, 1676, and married Elsie Clear- water. He died in 1725, leaving one son, Abraham, who married Elizabeth Dubois, who had a son Daniel, who married Margaret LeFevre, and they left a son Abraham, who married Ann Brodhead, by whom he had one son, Daniel A. (father of our subject), and two daughters, Maggie, who married Abraham Deyo, and
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Polly, who married Andries Bevier. Daniel A. Deyo was born March 10, 1788. Was first married to Maria Elting, who died in 1816, leaving two children, Catharine, born 1812, and Abraham D., born 1815. Mr. Deyo's second marriage was to Petro- nella LeFevre, by whom he had four children: Cornelia, born 1819, who married Andrew Bloomer Brodhead, born 1820, and died 1889. Andrew, born 1821, died 1824. Johannes L., born 1825, died 1862. Their mother died 1826 and in 1836 Mr. Deyo married Arabella Hallock, who was born 1815, died 1880, leaving two daughters, Anna and Margaret, both living. Margaret, the widow of John H. Sillick.
Thomas J., who married Mary E. Richmond in 1869, at once took up his residence in Wallkill, where he established a coal and lumber business and for three years was the local agent for the Wallkill Valley R. R., from which he resigned and gave his entire time to his business, to which he added fire insurance and real estate, with the idea in view of building up a successful business. As a thoroughly public spirited citizen Mr. Deyo has devoted time and capital in promoting business enter- prises for building up the village, and always loved to see it grow and prosper. Mr. and Mrs. Deyo were blessed with three children, Catharine W., Abram Hallock, who died at the early age of twenty-five, leaving a widow, Elizabeth Senior Deyo, the second son, Warren V. Deyo, is now a partner in his father's business and has lately taken for his wife Alice E. Graham, a descendant of George G. Graham, who represented Ulster County for two terms in the State Legislature in the early part of the last century.
WM. H. DEYO, of Ellenville, is a lineal descendant of Christian Deyo, a member of the great French family, Sixes De Ion, who, fleeing from Catholic vengeance, came to this country and became, about 1675, a Founder of New Paltz. The Sixes De Ion were mountain chieftains, A. D., 1050, holding at Chateau De Ion, in the Jura, the pass from France to Switzerland, later Knights of the Crusades, Huguenot Grandees, etc. Christian Deyo married Jeanne Vebau; all of their five children were born in Europe. From Pierre their only son was born between 1646 and 1650, who married Agatha Nicol, Wm. H. Deyo is in direct descent, and is of the eighth generation in this country, being the third son of Christian Deyo, 4th.
Wm. H. Deyo, our subject, was born in Ulster County, Town of Rosendale, September 25, 1835. He attended the local schools and after leaving school learned the trade of paper-making. In this he was engaged for some six years. He then came to Ellenville and followed boating upon the D. & H. Canal; later he engaged in the lumber business, and in 1872, in association with Edwin J. Bailey, purchased the Tuttle & Bro. business, which they have since conducted. Mr. Deyo has served as President of the village of Ellenville, for several years, and as Village Trustee for ten years. He is also Vice-President of the Ellenville Savings Bank. He is a stanch Republican in politics, and a member of Wawarsing Lodge No. 582, F. & A. M. His family consists of wife (formerly Miss Susan Haight) and three children, viz., George, who was warden of Dannemora Prison and is now Assistant Superintendent of the Eastern New York Reformatory at Napanoch; Lelia, married to John C. Johnson, and Helen, married to William R. DuBois.
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Honor and integrity have ever characterized Mr. Deyo's methods, and he will leave to his descendants the priceless heritage of a good name.
R. F. DIEDLING, M.D., is a native of Greene County, N. Y. He attended the Catskill Academy and Union University and graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1896. Dr. Diedling for two years following his graduation was Physician and Surgeon in the Elmira Reformatory. In 1898 he settled in Saugerties and has just erected (1906) in that town a very commodious and substantial residence. His family consists of wife, formerly Miss Maud Caroline Brockner of Saugerties, and two children, Margaret and Rudolph.
Dr. Diedling is a member of the County Medical Society. He was class orator at the Catskill Free Academy and class poet at the Albany Medical College. He is also identified with the Masonic Brotherhood of Saugerties, of which he was Senior Warden in 1905.
THOMAS DINAN, brick manufacturer at East Kingston, is a native of Nyack, Rockland County, New York. where he obtained his education. He farmed for a time and then engaged in the coal business a few years. He was elected Superin- tendent of the Poor of Rockland County, serving six years, and has been a Director of the People's Bank of Haverstraw for the past twenty years.
Mr. Dinan has been engaged in the manufacture of brick since 1884, conducting yards at Haverstraw and Fishkill. In 1904 he purchased his present yard in Ulster County, with a capacity of 12,000,000 brick annually, giving employment to seventy- five men. He married Miss Anova Butler and they reside in Newburgh, N. Y.
ALICE DIVINE, M. D., daughter of Dwight and Millicent J. (Hatch) Divine, was born at Ellenville, N. Y., in 1868. After finishing her preparatory education at the High School, she entered the Medical Department of Cornell University, from which she graduated in 1900, and has since been engaged in the practice of medicine in Ellenville.
Dr. Divine is a member of the County and State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association. She is also a member of the New York Academy of Medicine and occupies a prominent position in both professional and social circles.
C. DWIGHT DIVINE of Ellenville, New York, was born January Ist, 1873. He attended the public schools of the village, and finished his education in Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. Immediately after completing his studies, Mr. Divine became associated with his father, Dwight Divine, Sr., in the manufacture of cutlery in his native town. He has had direct charge of these extensive knife works since 1892 and in the superintending of this business, has exhibited most excellent ability. He has become interested in other important financial institutions, is a Director in the First National Bank of Ellenville, President of the Board of Education, and a member of the local Fire Department. Mr. Divine is a Republican in politics and has served as Chairman of the Republican Town Committee. He is also a member
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of the F. & A. M. Mr. Devine married Jessie Battershall Donaldson, a daughter of James W. Donaldson, and they have one daughter, Millicent Frances.
DWIGHT DIVINE, President of the Ellenville Savings Bank and a manu- facturer, of Ellenville, was born March 18, 1841, at Divines Corners, Sullivan County, New York. The Divine family is of French descent, and the founders of the American branch were early settlers in New England, prominently identified with public affairs, and later with the anti-slavery cause.
John H. Divine, father of our subject, was a school teacher in Sullivan County and in the State of Ohio in his early manhood. Later (in 1866) he became interested in merchandising at Ellenville, under the firm name of Decker & Divine. In 1873 he organized the trading firm of Divine, DuBois, Parks & Co., at Living- ston Manor, N. Y. He was one of the original incorporators of the Union Bank of Monticello and of the First National Bank of Ellenville, and for many years was a Director in both institutions. He was also active in organizing the Ellenville Savings Bank and for years was one of its trustees. He was intensely loyal during the war for the Union and rendered much valuable service, by encouraging enlist- ments and assisting families of soldiers. In 1839 he was married to Maria, daughter of Richard D. Childs, of Sullivan County. She died November 13, 1850, leaving two children, Dwight, our subject, and James, who died August 10, 1870, age twenty- two years.
John Divine departed from this life October 5, 1895, leaving to his descendants the record of a successful life, and an unblemished reputation.
Dwight Divine received his education in the common schools and the Monticello Academy. Shortly after arriving at his majority, he enlisted as a private in the One Hundred and Forty-third Regiment, N. Y. V. I .; was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company C September 1, 1862, and was promoted to First Lieutenant, March 30, 1863. On the battlefield of Bentonville, N. C., March 19, 1865, he was promoted to Captain and was later commissioned Brevet Major.
Mr. Divine served with his regiment in the defense of Washington until early in 1863, when his command was sent to the front. From that time to the close of the war, they were constantly in active service. A few months after his enlistment Mr. Divine was ordered with a small detachment of his regiment to New York City to help enforce the draft that had been stopped by the riots that occurred while the Gettysburg Campaign was in progress. While absent, on this service, his regiment was transferred from the Army of the Potomac and assigned to Hooker's Twentieth Corps, Army of the Cumberland, and participated in the engagements at Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and the continuous battle from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Detached service not being to Mr. Devine's liking, he applied to the War Department to be returned to service in the field, rejoined his regiment, in Georgia, participated in Sherman's march to the sea and was constantly with his regiment, until Johnson's surrender, which ended the war; the marches and manœuvering of his regiment from Bridgeport, Ala., to Washington, covering over seventeen hundred miles. The regiment ranked among the best in the service and in Gen. Hooker's farewell address, delivered from the front of the Astor
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House, New York City, he said, "He could truthfully say, of the One Hundred and Forty-third Regiment, what could be said of but few fighting regiments, the Johnnies never saw their backs." Mustering out with his regiment at New York in July, 1865, Major Divine returned home.
In 1866, in association with John Divine, John H. Decker, Nathan C. Clark, and George B. Childs, and under the firm name of Decker & Divine, he became the managing partner in a general mercantile business at Ellenville. Subsequently, Mr. Divine had become largely interested, as stockholder and auditor, in the Ulster Knife Company, a corporation which had, through the failure of its selling agents, become so badly crippled that his associate stockholders determined to abandon the enterprise. He was so averse to this, that he became sole owner and has through many obstacles built up one of the most important industries in the region, employing a large force of skilled mechanics and sending his product to every State and Territory.
Mr. Divine is President of the Ellenville Savings Bank and the Ellenville Water Works. In 1886 he was married to Mellecent J., daughter of Cornelius Hatch, of Monticello, N. Y. They have four children, Allie, Charles D., Jennie and John H. He is Past Commander of Ward Post, No. 191, G. A. R., and a member of Wa- warsing Lodge, No. 582, F. & A. M.
WALTER C. DOLSON, Postmaster of Kingston, was born in that city, Novem- ber 19, 1854. He attended the Kingston Academy and upon leaving school began learning the trade of painting and decorating with his father, Peter J. Dolson, who established the painting business in 1857. In 1881 Walter Dolson became a partner with his father and together they ran the business until the latter's death in 1891, when the son succeeded to the business and has since conducted it at the original location.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Dolson has been prominent in the local field for many years and has occupied various important offices. He has twice held the office of Alderman. He has for the past seven years been a member of the Board of Education and was for six years a member of the Board of Health. In 1897 he was appointed Alms Commissioner. In May, 1902, he received the appointment of Post- master of the City of Kingston and is acceptably filling that responsible office to- day. Mr. Dolson is a member of the Kingsotn Lodge of Masons, the C. S. Clay Lodge, I. O. O. F., the Wiltwyck Lodge, K. of P., the American Mechanics and Kingston Encampment, I. O. O. F., and is an Exempt Fireman. He has one son, Arthur.
REV. JAMES A. DOOLEY, of Milton, pastor of the Roman Catholic Church, of that village, is a native of New York City. He was educated at the Troy Seminary and St. Joseph's College and ordained to the priesthood at Troy, N. Y., by the Bishop of Albany, in 1889. Following his ordination for ten years he was located in New York and in 1900 was appointed pastor of the church at Milton, where he has since officiated and he is most highly regarded. He is an accom- plished scholar and profound theologian.
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DANIEL E. DONOVAN was born in County Cork, Ireland, on the IIth day of November, 1827, and came to America in August, 1844. He first engaged in business in the manufacture of lime at Wilbur in 1850, and in connection with that conducted a grocery, flour and feed business. In 1860 he entered the wholesale North River Bluestone business at Wilbur. From 1884 to 1887 he was engaged in the construction of the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad, and in the latter year commenced the making of crushed stone at Round Island in the Hudson River, retiring from active business in 1903. Mr. Donovan served as one of the Commissioners of the Wallkill Valley Railroad for five years. He was married in 1856, having nine children, four of whom survive.
C. L. DUBOIS, of Highland, Cashier of the First National Bank, is a descendant of one of the original patentees of New Paltz. He was born in Highland, February 7, 1877, and is a son of Theron DuBois. Mr. DuBois attended school there and in Poughkeepsie, and entered the bank in 1900. He is identified with the Masonic Fraternity and Odd Fellows Lodge, and is one of the most highly regarded and progressive young business men in Ulster County.
NATHANIEL H. DUBOIS was born in the village of Marlboro, December 27, 1815, in the old DuBois homestead. He is a grandson of Colonel Louis DuBois, who was born September 14, 1728, presumed to be a son of Louis DuBois, a delegate to the Provincial Congress in 1775 and later. Prior to the year 1760, Col. DuBois settled in Ulster County, purchasing 3,000 acres of land lying on both sides of the Old Man's Kill, and built the house in 1770, now occupied by John Rusk, and in which Nathaniel H. DuBois was born. Col. DuBois was actively engaged in the War for Independence. He had held the rank of Major in the British Militia, entered the "Continental Line" as Captain in James Clinton's regiment, was subsequently promoted to Major of a Newburgh regiment, and November 17, 1776, was commissioned Colonel of the Fifth Regiment under Gen. Clinton. Major DuBois, as he was commonly called even after his promotion, served with distinction and was highly recommended to Congress by the Governor. In the spring of 1777 he was stationed in the Highlands and was there when Fort Clinton and Montgomery were taken by the British in October of that year.
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