USA > New York > Ulster County > Marlborough > The history of the town of Marlborough, Ulster County, New York: from the first settlement in 1712, by Capt. Wm. Bond, to 1887 > Part 14
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borough. He was a well-to-do farmer. He was married four times, first to Hannah Sears; second; to Elizabeth Mackey ; third, to Hannah Coutant, and fourth, to Phebe Van Tassel. He had eleven children :
1, Benjamin, born 1805.
2, Isaac, born May 6, 1808.
3, Francis, born January 20, 1810.
4, Samuel, born October 15, 1812.
5, Stephen B., born July 17, 1814.
6, Tamer Ann, born December 19, 1816.
7, Elizabeth, born June 17, 1819.
8, Caroline, born December 23, 1821.
9, Daniel Wesley, born May 11, 1825.
10, Peter C., born December 22, 1827.
11. Catharine E., born February 7, 1835.
I. Benjamin was a successful lawyer in N. Y. city.
II. Isaac married Elizabeth Griggs, and had three children : 1, Sey- mour, dead ; 2, Mary ; 3, Louisa, dead.
HI1. Francis married twice, first, Sarah J. Owens; second, Betsey St John Had eight children : 1, Samuel, died Sept. 19, 1885; 2, James Win. ; 3, Gilbert ; 1, Charles ; 5, Mary Jane; 6, Margaret Ann; 7, Hannah ; 8, Phebe.
IV. Samuel, married Elizabeth Halstead. and had three children : 1, Mary Ann, now dead ; 2, Catharine Jane, now dead ; 3, Sanmel N.
V. Stephen B., married Mary Ann Presler and had eight children : 1, Charles; 2, George; 3, John ; 1, William, now dead ; 5, William ; 6, Mary ; 7. Ellen ; 8, Sarah Ann.
VI. Tamer Ann, married James Underhill and had five children : 1, Hannah E. : 2, Jane C. : 3, Mary; 1, James ; 5, Henry.
VII. Caroline, married John R. Terwilliger, and had seven children : 1, Agnes; 2, Hannah J .; 3, Susan; 1, Mary F .; 5, Caroline; 6, John E. : 7, Stephen B.
VIII. Elizabeth, married James H. Ferguson, and had three children : 1, Charles ; 2, Reuben ; 3, William.
IX. Daniel Wesley, married Lucretia Terwilliger, daughter of William R. Terwilliger, of Plattekill; died May 19, 1874, leaving three children : 1, Nehemiah ; 2, William; 3, Anna. Nehemiah is a successful lawyer at the city of Newburgh, N. Y., and is Justice of the Peace. William C. (2) is a minister of the gospel, living and preaching at Livingston, Montana. Anna is married, re- siding at South Norwalk, Connecticut.
X. Peter C., had six children : 1, Phebe E. ; 2, Isaiah P .; 3, Elias O .; 4, Rachel Francis ; 5, Eugene J. ; 6, Hannah Elizabeth.
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XI. Catharine E., married John Ellison ; removed many years ago to Missouri, and died May 14, 1882, leaving four children : 1, Irene ; 2, Francis; 3, Milton J. ; 4, Estella.
Daniel S. Fowler, of Marlborough, is the grandson of John Fowler, who settled near Cedar Hill cemetery. John Fowler died in 1859, leaving a son Daniel Fowler, who lived at Roseton. His other children were Anna, Glorianna, Matil- dla, Martha, Jane, Charlotte, Henry, Samuel and William
The children of Daniel are Daniel S., Barbary, Rachael A., Matilda, Orrin, Kate, Eleanor, George and Daniel S. The latter is the only one living in Marlborough.
The following branch of the Fowler family settled in Marl- borough in 1840 :
Jeremiah (3), of Rye, son of William (2), of Flushing, settled at Rye, Westchester County ; died 1766. He left the following issue :
FOURTH GENERATION.
1, David, born 1728; died 1806.
2, Jeremiah, died 1793.
3, William.
4, Sarah.
5, Elizabeth.
6, Mary.
7, Reuben.
8, Annc.
Jeremiah (4), son of Jeremiah (3), had five children :
FIFTH GENERATION.
1, Gilbert, of Harrison.
2, Dayid.
3, Marcus.
4, David.
5, Abigail.
Gilbert (5), son of Jeremiah (4), had seven children :
SIXTH GENERATION.
1, Ann, buried at Town of Rye, Westchester Co.
2, Woolsey,
3, Hannah,
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4, Abigail, ..
5, David, died 1882; buried at Middle Hope.
6, Richard, died 1886, at Holly, Orleans Co., N. Y.
7, Phœbe, died 1887.
David (6), son of Gilbert (5), was a merchant in New York, until 1810, when he removed to Marlborough, Ulster County. He was a farmer,
The History of Marlborough.
and an influential citizen. He held the office of Supervisor of the Town of Marlborough. He in later years moved away and died in 1882, and was buried at Middle Hope. He had eight children :
SEVENTH GENERATION.
I. David H., of New York city.
IE. George W., of Newburgh; has three children : 1, Lillie; 2, Ida; 3, Fred.
III. Woolsey R., of Brooklyn ; has three children : 1, Gracie ; 2, Marian ; 3. Justin.
IV. William H., a prosperous merchant of Newburgh. Has one child, Clarence.
V. Sarah Ann, now dead.
VI. Phobe A., wife of Charles Harcourt, deceased.
VII. Mary E., wife of John S. Purdy.
VIII. Emma E., now dead.
SOPER.
William Soper moved to Marlborough in ISIO, coming from Shawangunk. He was in the slooping business, and bad a store, living where Townsend's hotel is located. Hc was justice of the peace and supervisor from 1820 to 1824; also in '38 and '39. He transacted a great deal of legal busi- ness, drawing up papers, etc., although not a lawyer. He married Eleanor Dickinson, of Shawangunk. Their children were : Abram D. and William Soper, both of whom became lawyers, one dying in Virginia, the other in Wisconsin. Nancy Mary, who married a Hanford, and went to New York, afterwards to Ohio, where she died. Emma, married Curtis Woolsey Northrip (father of C. S. Northrip). Char- lotte, married Nathaniel Clark, lived in Milton, and is buried there.
Abram D. Soper was postmaster in Milton in 1830. Wm. Soper also held the office, and when politics changed turned it over to his sister, Nancy Soper. The office was then lo- cated where E. W. Pitcher now has a flower house.
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The History of Marlborough.
Following is a copy of the commission granted William Soper as a coroner for Orange County, now in the posses- sion of C. S. Northrip, of Milton, his grandson :
"The people of the State of New York, by the Grace of God free and independent : To all to whom these Presents shall come, greeting. Know ye, that we have constituted and appointed, and by these presents do constitute and ap- point William Soper, gentleman, to be a Coroner of our County of Orange, with full power unto him to use, execute and enjoy all and singular the power, jurisdictions and au- thorities to the said office belonging or appertaining. To have and to hold the said office of Coroner for our said County of Orange, together with the Fees, Profits and Ad- vantages to the same belonging, unto him the said William Soper, for and during the term of one whole year, from the date hercof.
"In testimony whereof, we have caused these our letters to be made patent, and the great scal of our said State to be hereunto affixed. Witness, our truly and well-beloved John Jay, Esquire, Governor of our said State, General and Com- mander-in-Chief of all the Militia, and Admiral of the Navy of the same, by and with the advice and consent of our Counsel of Appointment, at our city of Albany, the seventh day of April, in the year of our. Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-Eight, and in the Twenty-second year of our Independence.
"Passed the Secretary of State's office, the 20th day of April, 1798.
JASPER HOPPER, D. Sec'y."
Attached is a great wax seal, three and a half inches in diameter, and half an inch thick, with a rising sun depicted in the centre, the word "Excelsior" underneath, and "The Great Seal of the State of New York" carved above.
NORTHIRIP.
Zephaniah Northrip was a nephew of Noah Woolsey, an
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carly settler in Milton, and came from New Jersey when a lad, and was brought up by his uncle. He married and had two children : Rebecca, who married Elcazer Gedney, of Orange County, and Curtis Woolsey Northrip, who was born in the house where Benjamin Allen lives, near C. Meech Woolsey's. He farmed in his younger day, and then went to New York city for nineteen years, returning to Milton in 1846, and taking up farming again.
C. S. Northrip, son of Curtis Woolsey Northrip and Em- ma Soper, resides about one mile south of Milton village, and follows fruit farming. He served one term as justice of the peace, and is a trustee of the Presbyterian church.
, HARCOURT. /
The Harcourt family is said to have been originally a Norman family, and under the name of "de Harcourt" to have entered England with the victorious cohorts of William the Conqueror. Since that time the family has been an in- fluential and prominent one in many parts of England, and is prominently represented to-day in Oxfordshire and Berk- shirc.
Richard Harcourt is believed to have been the first of the family to settle in this country, and first located at Oyster Bay, Long Island. About the year 1754 he removed to Marlborough, where he purchased a tract of land compris- ing about one thousand acres, lying between the villages of Marlborough and Milton, and extending west to the Lattin- town road. His homestead was where Jesse Lyons now re- sides. He was commissioned "One of Her Majesty's Jus- tices for the Colony of New York." He occupied a promi- nent place in the town and drew many of the carly deeds and papers for his section. His wife was Mercy Latting, and his children were Nathaniel, Hannah, Esther, Ann, John and Mercy. His remains were interred in the burying ground at Lattintown. Nathaniel, the eldest son of Richard, was born in 1748, and by law of primogeniture the estate of
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his father descended to him alone. The latter, however, he voluntarily divided with his brother John, and both re- mained in town. Nathaniel married Mary, daughter of Joseph Carpenter, one of the first settlers of the town. He died June 13, 1823, and his wife May 3, 1839, aged 88 years. They had children : Sarah, Mary Deborah, Richard Joseph, Benjamin, Nathaniel and Mercy. Mary became the wife of David Baker, of Saratoga County ; Deborah married John Pinkney, of Dutchess County ; and Mercy married Cornelius DuBois, of Marlborough. All of the sons settled in town and died there. Nathaniel Harcourt, though not a public man, wielded a wide influence in the town, and held a num- ber of precinct and town offices. He was notoriously loyal to the patriot cause during the trying days of the Revolu- tion, and contributed liberally to the support and encourage- ment of the Continental army, in which, though of weak condition, he performed some active service at West Point. He was bitterly opposed to the Tories of his section, held no part nor lot with them, and was possessed of great firm- ness of character. He was strictly fair in all his dealings, honest and conscientious, and died in 1823.
Benjamin Harcourt, son of Nathaniel Harcourt, was born in Marlborough on Nov. 3, 1788, and passed the earlier years of his life upon his father's farm. His educational ad- vantages were such as the district schools of his locality af- forded. Upon attaining manhood he engaged in agricul- tural pursuits upon a portion of his father's farm. In 1828 he purchased a farm of 4073 acres in Lattintown, and occupied it until his death, on Dec. 14th, 1866. Mr. Har- court, aside from his farming pursuits, was an influential man in the town and county, and engaged extensively in other business enterprises. In politics he was a Democrat, and held various offices of trust and responsibility. He was justice of the peace for several years, supervisor of the Town of Marlborough in 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829 and 1831, and in No- vember, 1831, was elected sheriff of Ulster County, serving his full term. While a member of the Board of Supervisors he purchased the ground for the county poor house, and
.
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furnished it throughout. He dealt extensively in real estate, was drover and cattle dealer, had an interest in the trans- portation business on the Hudson, and passed an active, earnest and industrious life, enjoying meanwhile the respect and esteem of all with whom he came in contact. He was one of the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Lattintown, and a regular attendant of the Presbyterian Church of Marlborough. When twenty-one years of age Benjamin Harcourt was united in marriage to Eleanor, daughter of Matthew Wygant, of Marlborough, who died Feb. 18, 1862, and by whom he had seven children, Sarah, Deborah, James Clinton, Eliza, Charles A., Althea and Eli.
Sarah lived in Hampton, Orange County. Deborah mar- ried Alexander Young, and had two children, William and Marietta Y., who married Chas. G. Velie.
James Clinton was a resident of Marlborough, formerly engaged in farming, and has filled the offices of assessor, school commissioner and town clerk, and was supervisor of the town in 1854, 1863 and ISSo. For the last thirteen years of his life he was engaged in the freighting business with William C. Young, at the upper landing. He died Sept. 22, 1882. His wife was Helen, daughter of Abraham Wolley, of Lattintown, who died on March 8th, 1859.
Eliza E. married first Lewis Griggs, second Henry C. Griggs, and lives in Washingtonville. She had one son by her first marriage, James C. Griggs, who keeps the Morgan House, Poughkeepsie. By the second marriage was born Etta, who married and settled in Washingtonville.
Charles A. was a farmer in early life. In 1850 he married a daughter of David Fowler. He was afterwards in the shoe business in Newburgh, with David Bradley, and by himself. In 1868 he engaged in the furniture business, be- coming a member of the firm of Peck, Van Dalfsen & Co., of Newburgh, then located near the corner of Water and Third streets. For more than twenty years he was a prominent business man in that city. At one time he represented the Fourth Ward in the Common Council, and occupied other responsible positions. He was taken sick with a tumor
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in the stomach in 1885, and died in March, 1887, in Pough. keepsie, and lies buried in Cedar Hill cemetery, in Middle Hope.
Eli is a farmer and fruit grower in Marlborough. Aside from his farming pursuits he has held minor offices of trust and responsibility. He taught school in 1853, in district No. 8 for one year, and is now district clerk, having held the office for twenty-three years in succession. He has been commissioner of highways of the town for six years, is one of the trustees of the Presbyterian Church, and clerk of the present board. When twenty-four years of age he was mar- ried to Mahala, daughter of William Cosman, of the town of Newburgh, Orange Co., by whom he had three children, Annie, Benjamin and Crawford. Annie is the wife of Eu- gene, son of George W. Lawson. Benjamin married Carrie, daughter of William J. Purdy. Crawford married Hattie, daughter of George Gardner, of Plattekill.
THEODORE HANFORD
Was born in Marlborough, Dec. 6th, 1823, his boyhood being spent on the farm of his father. At the age of 16 he went to Newburgh, with Powell & Son, to learn the cabinet making trade, and while there he united with the Reformed Church. Having completed his trade, he went to New York city and worked at it until the gold fever partially de- veloped itself in 1849, when he started for the gold fields. Arriving at San Francisco he traveled for the mines, and at once commenced active operations. Being successful, he soon had an interest in several of them. He remained in the gold district four years, experiencing all the incidents of miners' life from handling the pick to the position of over- seer and superintendent of several mincs. Having com pleted his work in California he went to Australia. There he delved in the soil for two years morc, with his usual suc- cess, and at the end of that time he started for his native home.
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Having secured ample means to travel he now visited nearly all parts of the globe that are interesting to an in- quisitive traveler, and making the entire circuit of the world, he returned to New York in March, 1856.
Using his own words, his wild oats were sown, and it was time to turn his thoughts on a future home. To this end he formed the acquaintance of Catharine, the daughter of John Howell, of Newburgh. This friendship ripened into an en- gagement of marriage, which took place Sept. 3, 1856. Soon after he entered into partnership in the commission busi- ness under the firm name of L. Thorn & Co., where he rep- resented the company until 1875, when he withdrew from the partnership.
In November, 1881, he was called to join the silent ma- jority. He died respected by all who knew him.
BLOOMER. -
Thomas D. Bloomer was a grandson of William Bloomer, who resided on the Dans Kamer farm before and during the Revolution. William Bloomer married Rachel Cosman, by whom he had seven children. The eldest, John, became a blacksmith and a farmer, and married Martha Denton, of Fostertown, and had three children: William, Thomas D. and Sarah. William went to Seneca Co., where he died in 1841. Sarah married Samuel Halsey, and died in 1855. Samuel D. died on his farm at Lattintown, July 31, 1887, be- ing eighty-two years of age. Until sixteen years old he re- sided on his father's farm, but at that period engaged as ap- prentice to Oliver Cromwell, a tanner of Canterbury, Orange County. Having finished his apprenticeship at twenty-one years, he returned to farming, joining his father in the pur- chase of the Dans Kamer farm, and afterwards the "old Bloomer farm," just south of Marlborough. In 1839 he pur- chased a farm at Lattintown of William D. Wygant, the property being the old Lattin homestead, after which family the village was named. There he spent the remainder of his life.
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November 18, 1835, Thomas D. Bloomer was united in marriage with Mary, daughter of Cornelius DuBois. They had six children, four of whom are living: John, Cornelius and William, fruit farmers, and Mary, wife of Charles A. Wolley.
Thomas D. Bloomer was a active Presbyterian, and an of- ficer of that church for fifty years. In 1856 he served the town as supervisor. He was a man widely known and re- spected.
William Bloomer was also supervisor of the town for several terms. Cornelius is an officer of the Presbyterian Church.
THE WOOLSEY FAMILY.
William and John Woolsey were brought up in Dutchess County, but came to Marlborough some time prior to 1762. John Woolsey's name appears among the contributors to the fund raised in 1763 to build the Presbyterian Church in Marlborough. William Woolsey was an ensign in the Con- tinental army. He left a son, Richard 1., who married Chlorine Woolsey, his cousin. Their children were David, Thomas and John, who all lived and died in this town. David married Lucy T. Mcech, of Westfield, Mass. Their children were George, William, Richard, C. Meech, Mary and Ellen. William and Richard lived in Milton, but are now dead. Mary married John Atkins, and went to Corn- wall, where she died. Ellen is the wife of Ira Wood, and lives in Cornwall. C. Meech is a lawyer, living in Milton. He has been honored with many public positions, from justice of the peace to the state legislature. At present he represents the town in the Board of Supervisors.
Richard Woolsey, of Marlborough, ancestor of Peter V. L. Purdy, John Ed. Woolsey, Mrs. John Lawson and others, is thought to have been a brother or cousin of William and John Woolsey.
William Woolsey (2) married a cousin, Chlorine Wool-
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scy, and settled in Jersey City, and had children -- David, Thomas, John and Electa.
PURDY.
Among the carly families who came to Marlborough none perhaps did more to interest and urge the speedy settlement ot the town than the Purdys. The Purdy family, according to a partially written genealogy, came from Yorkshire, Eng- land, and Francis Purdy was the first to come to this coun- try. He settled in Fairfield, Conn., and died there in 1658.
John Purdy was the first of the family born in this vicinity. He was the second son of Joseph and grandson of Francis, of Fairfield. He owned land and lived until death at a point near the village of Tarrytown, N. Y. Five children were born to him, three boys and two girls. The boys, Joseph, Elisha and Nathaniel, occupied the land set aside for them by their father in Marlborough, and grew up to be men of acknowledged ability.
From the genealogy of the family it appears that Elisha Purdy married Mehitable Smith, a daughter of Rev. John Smith. Nine children were born to him as follows: John S., Thomas, James, Hattie, Challie, Elizabeth, Winfield, Nancy and Diner. Elisha lived for a time in Middle Hope, Orange County, but soon returned to his early home, locating near the present village of Marlborough.
Of the immediate descendants of John S. Purdy (who was the eldest son of Elisha), Daniel D. Purdy, who occupies a handsome cottage on Grand street, in the village of Marl_ borough, is the only survivor.
JAMES S. KNAPP, M. D.
A prominent physician and a well known and respected citizen of lower Ulster for many years was Doctor Knapp, a native of Orange County, boin May 17, 1824. He pursued
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the study of medicine under Dr. Houghton, of St. Andrews, afterwards graduating and receiving his diploma from the medical college of Castleton, Vermont, one of the oldest in- stitutions of the kind in this country. He commenced the practice of the profession in 1846, in the village of Milton, and some six years thereafter removed to the village of Marlborough, where he soon attained a high position as a physician. He died Sept. 23d, 1879, after a continuous prac- tice in this town of more than thirty-three years. He was a member of the Episcopal Church, and for many years was an officer of Christ church, of the village of Marlborough. Dr. Knapp also served a term as justice of the peace of this town, and was for a time the U. S. Loan Commissioner.
Of dignified deportment, hospitable and social disposition, he had many friends. To them and his patients his death was indeed a loss. In 1850 Dr. Knapp married Eliza Roe, of Milton, who survives him, as do their four children, three daughters and one son. A kind husband and father, and a domestic man in the true acceptation of the word, his chief delight centered in his family.
LOCKWOOD.
Major Lewis DuBois had a daughter named Margaret, who married Daniel Lockwood about 1775. He came here from Connecticut. She was widowed and married again to Gen. Nathaniel DuBois, (a distant relative) residing in New- burgh. By her first marriage there were four sons, Lewis, Daniel, Eli T. and Charles Lockwood. Eli T. Lockwood, sr., was born April 14, 1800, and married Ann Eliza DuBois, Jan. 4th, 1826. By this union eight children were born : Margaret, Daniel, Eli T., jr., Ann Eliza, Charles, Sarah Jane, Eugene V. and DuBois. Of these three are now living in Marlborough : Sarah J., married to Francis T. Anderson, and Eli T. Lockwood, living on Hudson street. Mrs. Ann Eliza Butterworth, resides in Brooklyn, and Chas. W. Lockwood in Orange County. Eli T. Lockwood, sr., was
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born in the family homestead, on South street, in 1800. He followed farming, and died in 1848. His son, the present Eli T. Lockwood, was for many years a steamboat engineer, but now resides in the handsome residence on the Terrace, built by him in 1885. His children are Mary Ella, married to Thomas Russell, proprietor of the large bookbinding es- tablishment in New Chamber street, New York, and Daniel Lockwood, who lives on the old homestead.
SANDS.
The first settler of this name in Marlborough was Benja- min Sands, who came here some time between 1760 and 1770, from Dutchess County. He was related to Samuel Sands, who was clerk of the Precinct of Newburgh in 1763. He bought about one thousand acres of land, of the Hallock family, located where the village of Milton now is. He re- sided north of where the Presbyterian Church now stands, and the old house is still in existence, being occupied by Mrs. Conklin. Benjamin married Amy Hallock, daughter of Edward Hallock, of Milton, and they were blessed with a numerous progeny as follows :
I. David Sands, married first a Hall, aunt of Hon. L. Harrison Smith, of Milton ; second, Sallie M. Booth, of Campbell Hall, Orange County ; and third, a Townsend, a glass manufacturer, still living, at an advanced age, in Philadelphia. Rachel also died there a few years ago.
II. Sarah, lost at sea.
III. Phebe, married Ebenezer Bull, of Hamptonburgh.
IV. Esther, married Daniel Erl, of Turners' Station, Orange County,
V. Rachel, who married first, a Barker, of Poughkeepsie, and as Rachel Barker became a famous Hicksite preacher. She married second a Dr. Moore, of Philadelphia.
VI. Emma, married first, Dr. Wm. Gedney, of Milton; second, Na- thaniel Harcourt, of Marlborough. She is still living in Poughkeepsie.
The children of David Sands by his first marriage were :
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The History of Marlborough.
I. Oliver H., died in the employ of the Government Navy Yard, Brook- lyn, where he was superintendent of the paint department.
II. Catharine, married first, James Stewart; second, Elliot Broek- way, a pioneer settler of Port Huron, Mich., deceased in 1854.
ILI. Judah P., died in New York city about twenty years ago.
The children of David Sands by his second wife were :
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