USA > New York > Ulster County > The history of Ulster County, New York > Part 61
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Mr. Matthews is a member of Kingston Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M., and of the K. of P. He has been twice married; his first wife was Sarah M. Dart, whom he
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married in 1870. In 1901 he was married to Carrie E. Smith, of Oneida County. He is the son of Egbert R. and Sarah E. (North) Mathews, natives of Ulster County. Our subject is a man of public spirit, devoted to the welfare and progress of the county, and in whom its citizens repose the utmost confidence and esteem.
ALBERT MAUTERSTOCK, contractor and builder, of Kingston, N. Y., was born in Rondout, February 10, 1851. He attended the schools of Rondout and Kingston Academy and then learned the carpenters' trade. In 1872 he began busi- ness for himself on Holmes (now McEntee) Street, where he remained eight years and then removed to his present quarters on Broadway. He is engaged in the manufacture of mouldings, fancy woodwork, etc., and has an extensive building trade. Among the notable structures he has planned and erected may be mentioned the Court House, Burgevin Building, No. 3 School, Stock and Cordts' furniture store, John N. Cordts' store, corner of Strand and Hasbrouck Avenue; McMillan and Hales' store, pavilion and band stand at Kingston Point, and the residence and buildings of Francis H. Leggett at Stone Ridge. In 1905 he opened a general in- surance agency in connection with his other business. Mr. Mauterstock is now serving as city assessor. He is a member of Rondout Lodge No. 343, F. & A. M., a charter member of the Y. M. C. A., and was for many years one of its board of directors.
He married Joanna F. Cotting at Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, N. Y., January 13, 1883. They have three children, Jennie A., Elizabeth C. and Ethel. The family are members of Trinity M. E. Church, of which Mr. Mauterstock has served as steward and district steward for over thirty years, and trustee of the Kingston District since its organization. He is also a member of the Board of Conference Sessions of the New York Conference.
Mr. Mauterstock's ancestors emigrated to Ulster County from the Palatine dis- trict, on the Rhine, in 1716. His father, Levi Mauterstock, was born in Katsbaan, Ulster County, March 30, 1816, and died in 1873. He learned the carpenter trade at Saugerties and worked at ship and house building until his death. His wife died in 1892. His father, Jacob, was born in the old homestead at Katsbaan, which property was granted to the Mauterstock family in 1723 by the King of England.
DAVID MAXWELL, Supervisor of the town of Saugerties, is a native of that village. He was born July 8, 1863, attended the local schools and early in life be- came interested in the bluestone business. He is a nephew of the late John Max- well, who in his day was the most extensive operator in bluestone in this county. Mr. Maxwell is financially interested in and supervises the bluestone business inaugurated by John Maxwell's Sons. He has extensive yards across the lower Esopus, where a very heavy stock of bluestone is stored ready for shipment, either by boat or rail. He keeps a large number of hands busy dressing and handling this commodity. Mr. Maxwell is a member of the F. and A. M., and has served his town as Supervisor four terms. He is a staunch Republican in politics and wields considerable influence in Republican circles. Mr. Maxwell's family consists of wife and sons, Walter, Leslie and Stewart.
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JAMES T. MAXWELL, capitalist, of Saugerties, N. Y., is the eldest son of the late John Maxwell, who with his parents settled in Philadelphia in 1827, and a grandson of Thomas Maxwell, a soldier of the British Army under Sir John Moore and the Duke of Wellington, who were engaged in the Spanish Campaign, and he was with Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo. For meritorious conduct and bravery on the battlefield in that great fight, Thomas Maxwell received a medal which is now in the possession of our subject. James T. Maxwell's father was one of the most progressive business men of his day. He was very extensively en- gaged in the bluestone industry, employed about eight hundred men, and during the summer months his pay-roll at Malden alone amounted to some three thousand dollars weekly. He maintained wholesale departments at Rochester, N. Y .; New- ark, N. J .; Philadelphia, Pa., and at Malden. He was a staunch Republican and a Member of Assembly in 1867. In 1877 he was nominated for Congress against D. M. DeWitt and defeated by only seventeen votes. He died in 1885, universally mourned by all classes, who felt that in the death of Mr. Maxwell they had lost a sincere friend, and many of them a benefactor.
James T. Maxwell succeeded his father in the conduct of the large interests which came into his possession upon the latter's death. He has not, however, confined his operations alone to the bluestone industry, but has identified himself with many of Saugerties' most important industrial and fiduciary institutions, in which he has become an important factor.
His plant in Philadelphia, handling principally granite and cut stone, is fitted with special machinery for the purpose and is one of the most important of the kind in the country. Mr. Maxwell is heavily interested in the Saugerties and New York steamboat line and also owns an interest in about fifteen coastline schooners. He is also an extensive dealer in real estate. His family consists of wife, Mrs. Charlotte A. (Haley) Maxwell, and three children, William L., John and James T., Jr.
GIRARD L. McENTEE, of the City of Kingston, was born June 8, 1847, in the old Mansion House, which stood on the site of the present hotel that bears that name in Rondout.
James S. McEntee, a civil engineer, the father of Girard, was born in the west- ern part of New York State in 1800, and about 1821 located in Kingston and be- came one of its most enterprising citizens. He was associated with John B. Jervis, chief engineer of the Erie and D. & H. Canal. He acquired considerable property and at one time owned a large tract of land, embracing what is now Chestnut Hill. He was for some years engaged in steamboating and towed coal from the D. & H. Canal to New York City. He built all the docks in Rondout Creek for the D. & H. Canal Company and also built the dock at West Point in 1855 when Robert E. Lee was its superintendent. He ran stages, from Rondout to Delhi and Ellenville, and for a number of years owned the Mansion House of Rondout. In 1864 and 1865 he was chief engineer in the preliminary survey of the Rondout and Oswego R. R., now the U. & D. His was a successful career, and his death, which occurred. in 1887, ended a long life of activity and usefulness. He had seven children,
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namely : Jervis, the celebrated American landscape artist; Mary; Augusta, wife of Joseph Tompkins; Maurice W., an officer in the U. S. Navy, who was with Farra- gut in Mobile Bay; Sara, who graduated in medicine; Lucy, wife of General John N. Andrews, of the U. S. Army, who participated actively in the Civil and Cuban Wars, and our subject, Girard L.
Girard L. McEntee, when only thirteen years of age, enlisted in the 20th N. Y. State Militia, and was stationed on the line between Baltimore and Washington. After receiving his discharge he went to New York City and was employed in a printing press manufactory until 1876, when he returned to Kingston and em- barked in the insurance business, which he has since conducted.
He married Mary Isabella Nichols, of Kingston, and six children have been born to them : Charles, died in 1903, aged 25 years; James S .; with the American Tobacco Co. of N. Y .; Girard L., Jr., a lieutenant in the U. S. Army, stationed in the Philip- pine Islands; Dwight, connected with the First National Bank of Rondout; Flor- ence and Jansen.
Mr. McEntee is a Republican in politics and has served as a member of the County Board of Supervisors and as Alms Commissioner two terms. He is a member of Kingston Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M., and is an exempt fireman.
JOHN L. MCGRATH, of Phoenicia, was born in that village on the farm owned by his father, the site of the railroad station being a portion of the original prop- erty belonging to his parents. His birth took place February 26, 1845, and until he was thirteen years of age he assisted his father on the farm, obtaining his educa- tion in the public schools. He was then employed at different times by various lumber firms. When twenty-six years of age he engaged in the mercantile and bluestone business, which he has since carried on. From a small beginning his business has grown to be extensive, and he has of recent years also added a livery business to his other branches.
On November 1, 1871, Mr. McGrath was married to Elizabeth, a daughter of Nicholas Brown, and to them five children have been born: Mary Agnes, Theresa E., John J., Rosa A., and William J.
The two eldest daughters were educated at St. Joseph's Academy, Long Island, and are graduates of that institution. Politically Mr. McGrath has always been a staunch Democrat. He served as Supervisor of Shandaken township in 1891-92 and was postmaster from 1884 to 1888. He is also a director in the Ulster Savings Bank.
HENRY E. MCKENZIE was born in Brushland, Delaware County, N. Y., in 1852. At the age of five years he removed with his parents to Port Ewen, where he attended the grammar and high schools. He then studied law in the office of Reuben Bernard and the Albany Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1873. He acted as managing clerk in the office of Bernard & Fiero until 1880, when he opened an office in Port Ewen, where he has since practiced, holding the office of Police Justice eight years and Justice of the Peace sixteen years. Mr. Mckenzie
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has also served as Associate County Judge, Deputy County Clerk and Clerk of the Surrogate's Court.
Socially he is identified with the I. O. O. F., Knights of Pythias, Ex-State Coun- cilor and State Council Secretary for seven years of the O. U. A. M., and Ex- National Councilor of the Daughters of Liberty, Chairman of Board of Education and Vice-President of Esopus Co-operative Fire Insurance Co.
In 1875 he was married to Miss Josephine Secor Beeres, who died in 1905. Three sons, Kenneth Grant, Charles Beeres and Harold E., were born to them, the latter being the only one living. He is engaged in business in New York City.
ARCHIE MCLAUGHLIN, Ulster County's Treasurer, is a native of New York City, where he was born August 31, 1852. His grandfather, William McLaughlin, was a native of Cailalis, County Antrim, Ireland. Thomas L. and Peter, both sons of William, received an excellent education and both learned the profession of civil engineering. In religious faith he was a strict Presbyterian and reared his family in that faith. Thomas L. Mclaughlin, the father of Archie, was born in Cailalis, Ireland, and about the year 1848, when nineteen years of age, he came to America and settled in New York City, while his brother, Peter, who accompanied him, located in Vermont. Thomas was engaged in contracting for the New York Cement Company while living in New York, and in 1857 he removed to South Rondout, where he was engaged for the same company in getting out limestone. Two years later he was placed in charge of their quarries at Lefever Falls and shortly thereafter met with an accident that destroyed his sight. About 1851 he was married to Sarah MacKinley, of New York City, and seven children were born to them. He died in 1877 and his wife in 1889.
Archie Mclaughlin began work with the New York Cement Company at eighteen cents a day, cutting linings for barrel heads. He was gradually advanced until he became superintendent of the plant at Rosendale, which position he held seventeen years. On January Ist, 1901, he was appointed by Governor Odell to the office of Treasurer of Ulster County, to fill the vacancy caused by the resigna- tion of George Deyo, and the year following he was elected to that office and was re-elected in 1905.
Mr. Mclaughlin was married in 1871 to Mary McAllister, by whom he had two children, Matthew and Mary. In 1878 Mrs. McLaughlin died, and in 1880 he was joined in marriage with Amelia Dunbar, and eight children have been born to them, as follows: Archie, Millie, Thomas, Frank (who died in infancy), Harry, Mabel, Fred and Robert. Mr. Mclaughlin is a member of Kingston Lodge No. IO, F. & A. M.
HENRY McNAMEE, of Eddyville, has been prominently identified with the business and political affairs of Ulster County for many years. He was born at Wurtsboro, Sullivan County, N. Y., August 24, 1854. He attended the public schools of that place, and later St. Francis Xavier Academy in New York. At the age of twenty-one he came to Eddyville as bookkeeper for Dimon & Kerin. His business sagacity and enterprise soon manifested itself, and shortly there-
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after he became a partner in the business. Mr. McNamee, like many others who located on the D. & H. Canal, shared in its prosperity for many years and likewise endured the loss consequent upon its decline and final abandonment.
In 1904, under the firm name of McNamee & Rice, he engaged in the contract- ing business, in which they have been uniformly successful. Notable examples of their work are the Waterworks at New Paltz, the State road from Kingston to Ellenville and from Kingston to Rifton, paving of the Strand at Rondout, the Hudson River Telephone Company's underground conduits, underground tunnel for Frederick W. Vanderbilt, Hyde Park, the Hurley and Saugerties roads and various other roads leading into Kingston were constructed by them under the auspices of the Ulster County Road Improvement Association.
Always an ardent Democrat, Mr. McNamee has served as Police Justice for the town of Ulster, and was a member of the Board of Supervisors fourteen years, serving as Chairman during three terms. In 1893 he was elected a mem- ber of the State Assembly.
Energetic and reliable, Mr. McNamee is numbered among Ulster County's public-spirited and progressive business men.
JOHN McVEY .- The subject of this sketch has been a citizen of Kingston for nearly half a century. He was born in Ireland in 1850 and at the age of ten years came to America with his parents, who located at Rondout. John McVey at once set out to earn a livelihood and took up the trade of gardener. He laid out the grounds, planted trees and built greenhouses on Gen. H. A. Sampson's place, where he remained five years. He was then employed for three years on the General Montgomery place. In 1870 he purchased his present property on Flatbush Avenue, erecting extensive hothouses and has devoted his attention continuously to the cultivation of plants and bulbs. His wife, who was Ellen M. Cunningham, of Providence, R. I., died very suddenly Thanksgiving morn- ing, November 24, 1904. Mr. McVey is without relatives in this country, but his generous and sympathetic nature have won for him a host of friends. He is president of the Veteran Firemen's Association of Kingston.
WILLIAM S. MEAD, proprietor of Mead's Hotel, is the pioneer among the many famous hotel keepers in the Catskill Mountains. In 1864 George Mead, the father of William, purchased one hundred acres of wild land on Overlook slope in the mountains, about two miles from the present village of Woodstock, and erected this hotel, which he conducted with the assistance of his son until his death on March 25, 1905. The house is located on Overlook Mountain, two thousand feet above the Hudson, and fifteen hundred feet above the village of Woodstock, and commands a fine view of the mountains and valleys in every direction. It accommodates one hundred guests. The house is supplied with milk, butter and poultry from the farm.
William S. Mead was born in Kingston in 1862. With the idea in view of perfecting himself as a hotel manager he spent several years in Hartford, Con- necticut, at one of the large hotels, learning all branches of the business and
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mastering every detail. He married Anna Thomas, of Hartford, Connecticut, and they have one daughter, Genevieve, who will graduate from the Hartford High School in 1907. Mr. Mead holds the office of Deputy Warden of both County and State League of American Sportsmen and is active in enforcing the game laws of the State. Sherwood Mead, the grandfather of William, was a native of Ridgefield, Connecticut, and at the time of his death in 1896 was the oldest member of the Masonic order in that State, having joined that order in 1826.
GEORGE H. MERIKLE of Whiteport, N. Y., was born at Shokan, N. Y., Novem- ber 8, 1858, and attended the district schools of his native place. In 1871 he went to New York, and after spending four years in the schools of that city, entered the employ of J. B. White & Co., leather manufacturers, with whom he remained until 1887, when he returned to Ulster County to accept the position of Superintendent of William J. Turcks, lumber establishment, where he remained over fifteen years. He then engaged in the clothing business for a time, but as that venture did not prove profitable, he accepted the position in March, 1905, as Superintendent of the Heading Mill of the Consolidated Rosendale Cement Company, at Whiteport, New York.
Mr. Merikle is an active worker in the Republican party, and served as Super- visor of the first department of the City of Kingston from 1901 to 1903. Socially he is a member of Franklin Lodge, and K. of P. He was united in marriage to Lizzie S. Houghtaling of Hurley and they have two children, George Lewis and Louise V.
PROFESSOR MYRON J. MICHAEL, A. B., A. M., son of Abraham and Matilda (Peck) Michael, was born April 16, 1851, in Lasselsville, Fulton County, New York. He attended the district schools and at the age of sixteen entered the Clinton Liberal Institute at Clinton, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1871. Four years later he graduated from Tufts College (Mass.) with the degree of A. B. He then entered upon his career as an Instructor, which has proved so successful. Teaching for a year at Esperance, Schoharie County, he resigned to become Prin- cipal of the Union Free School at Palatine Bridge, N. Y., where he remained five years. He then organized the school system at Chatham, New York, remaining there until 1885, when he accepted the position as Superintendent of Schools at Rome, N. Y. In 1893 he resigned to become President of the Faculty of the Clinton Liberal Institute, and two years later came to Kingston to accept the position as Principal of Kingston Academy.
During his twelve years' service in Kingston he has been very active in fostering all matters pertaining to educational advancement, notably his efforts in securing the establishment of the City's Public Library of which he is a Trustee and Secre- tary of the Board. He has held the principalship of Kingston Academy, founded in 1774, for a longer term than any of his predecessors.
Mr. Michael is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He has been President of the Hudson River Schoolmasters' Club and has always been active in the state Educational organizations.
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He married Miss Hattie N. Burton. Their elder son, Herbert L., a graduate from Tufts College, is an engineer in the employ of the State on highway improvement under the State Engineer and Surveyor, and their younger son, William W., is a student in the engineering department of Tufts College.
JAMES MILLARD was born in England in 1833, where he learned the trade of Mechanical Engineer. He came to America in 1857 and in 1858 located in Kingston, where he has since resided. He was employed with James W. Baldwin until 1865, when he embarked in business for himself. Although he began without capital, Mr. Millard has achieved success in the industrial world as a sequence of earnest labor and capable management.
Mr. Millard now owns a large and flourishing foundry and machine shop and also conducts the leading automobile garage and repair shop.
Socially he is identified with the Masonic Fraternity and the I. O. O. F. In 1860 he was united in marriage to Miss Leah Roosa, daughter of Andrew P. Roosa, by whom he had three children, two daughters and a son, John R., a member of the firm of James Millard & Son.
CHRISTOPHER J. MILLER of Milton is a native of Germany and has con- ducted business in Milton for over forty years. About thirty-five years ago he erected a block which was afterwards burned, but Mr. Miller immediately erected another in which he now conducts an extensive clothing and furnishing business, together with a tobacco and cigar store and barber shop. "He is assisted by his son Frederick. Mr. Miller's family consists of five children, Mary, married to William Ellis; Elida, married to William P. Fischer; Paulina, Frederick and Grace. Mr. Miller has served on the Board of Education of Milton and as Notary Public. He is one of the substantial men of Milton, and is highly regarded wherever known.
EDWARD B. MILLER, proprietor of "Roxmor," a secluded resort in the Catskills, was born in New York City in 1864. In 1898 he came to Ulster County and secured one hundred acres in the town of Shandaken, where he erected a modern home-like hotel, with accommodations for seventy-five guests.
Mr. Miller has recently created what is known as "Roxmor Colony," whereby lots are leased, the lessee erecting the building to suit his own preference, ranging from a simple camp to a complete cottage. This plan is meeting with much success and many New Yorkers and people from other cities who enjoy summering in the Catskills have secured leases and erected cottages on this tract.
THOMAS MOONEY, who has been Superintendent of the Schultz Brickyard for twenty-five years, is one of the best and most successful brick burners in the Hudson Valley, and the strength, beauty and evenness of color for which the Schultz brick is noted is due to his unceasing efforts in that direction.
Associated with the same concern is his son, John Mooney, who has filled the office of Assistant Superintendent since 1902. He is one of Ulster County's native sons and was born in 1881. After securing a liberal education he entered upon his
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present vocation. He also holds the office of Police Justice for the town of Ulster. In 1906 he was united in marriage to Miss Veronica Bostel.
JOHN J. MORAN, who has been connected with educational work in his native city for over a quarter of a century, was born August 15, 1855, in the city of Kingston, where he obtained his preliminary education at the parochial and public schools, finishing his studies at St. Vincent's College, Westmoreland County, Pa. In 1876 Mr. Moran accepted the Principalship of No. I School, Kingston, where he remained three and one-half years, and in July, 1881, was elected Principal of School No. 15, which he held until January 1, 1888, when he was elected School Commissioner, and during twelve years of conscientious service in that capacity, raised the efficiency of the schools in the city of Kingston and towns of Hurley, Kingston, Saugerties and Ulster.
In 1903 Mr. Moran became Associate Principal of Spencer's Business School, Kingston, where so many of Ulster County's young men and women have been prepared for a successful business career, Mr. Moran always having in mind the greatest good of the individual pupils as future members of society and of the State.
DAVID MOSHER, M. D., was born in Kingston in 1851. He attended the public schools of Woodstock and Kingston Academy and finished his preliminary education at the Albany State Normal School. He graduated from the University of the City of New York with the degree of M. D. in 1878, and has practiced in the village of Marlborough since 1881, serving as Health Officer of the village for the past six years.
Dr. Mosher is Vice-President of the Ulster County Medical Society, and is a member of the State and Newburgh Medical Societies and the American Medical Association. He is also identified with the I. O. O. F. He married Irene 'A. Grinley. Samuel A., the father of Dr. Mosher, was a resident for many years of Woodstock, N. Y. His wife, who was Miss Lucy Knapp, is also a native of Ulster County. This union was blessed by eight children, all of whom are living.
MOUNT MONGOLA HOUSE and grounds are located in the heart of the Shawangunk Mountains, about three miles east of the village of Ellenville. A. J. and F. J. Farr, the proprietors, are sons of Adam Farr, who settled there in 1860. In 1890 the brothers began taking a few boarders and at once foresaw the pos- sibilities along that line. They began making improvements on the premises to accommodate their ever increasing patronage and now have a modern hotel with a capacity of seventy-five guests.
Mount Mongola is situated on one of the highest peaks of the Shawangunk range, two thousand feet above sea level, and commands a view of the broad, fertile valley of the Wallkill on the east and the Rondout valley on the west. The air at this height is dry and invigorating and natural springs furnish water, at all times pure and cold. Many places of natural or historic interest are in the vicinity-Sam's Point is perhaps the most interesting-while the wonderful ice caves in the vicinity, where ice abounds the year around, attracts thousands of visitors.
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