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He had been a member of the bar of New
York City for nearly half a century and
had probably tried more important cases
then any of his legal brethren. By general
consent he had been conceded to be the
ablest jury lawyer in the metropolitan
district since the death of James T. Brady,
having a profound knowledge of human nature,
being quick and ready to debate and thoroughly
posted on the fundamental principles of
law. He was pre-eminently a great advocate,
and as a cross-examiner was in his prime
without a peer.
His youth was passed on his father's
farm and in 1837 he was graduated with
honors from Union College, having made
his way through school by teaching. Subsequently
he studied law and was admitted to the
bar in 1840. He at once commenced practicing
in Goshen. He soon moved to Newburg, where
in the next few years he was retained
on one side or the other in most of the
leading cases tried in this and adjoining
counties. In 1852 he as called upon to
try a very important case in the second
judicial district of New York State. It
happened that his opponent was Charles
O'Conor, then recognized as the most prominent
leader of the bar. The case was tried
in Brooklyn and though closely contested
resulted in the success of young Fullerton.
Mr. O'Conor was impressed with the ability
of his determined adversary and invited
him to become a partner, the proposition
was accepted. He at once joined Mr. O'Conor
in New York and took the high place in
his profession which he ever afterwards
maintained.
Perhaps the most noted effort in the career
of Mr. Fullerton was in the cross-examination
of Henry Ward Beecher, in the great case
of Tilton vs. Beecher, which, on account
of the distinction of the parties concerned,
was extensively reported, and excited
more public notice than perhaps any other
tried in the United States. It was a combat
of intellectual giants and Mr. O'Conor
characterized Judge Fullerton's cross-examination
as the ablest ever conducted.
In 1867 while in Canada on his annual
fishing trip with Chester A. Arthur and
other friends, he was appointed justice
of the supreme court, to fill a vacancy
in his district, this being without his
knowledge. The appointment thus made him
ex-offico member of the court of appeals,
and at the following election the people
of the district elected him without opposition.
Judge Fullerton's service in the court
of appeals added to his reputation as
an advocate and
Page 62
jurist. On December 30, 1867, John K.
Porter, a member of the court of appeals,
wrote a letter from Albany to Charles
O'Conor in which he said he proposed soon
to resign. It was his expressed desire
that Judge Fullerton should be appointed
as his successor. Mr. O'Conor was thoroughly
in sympathy with Judge Porter and sought
to induce Mr. Fullerton to accept the
appointment, but the attraction and emoluments
of his career as an advocate led Mr. Fullerton
to continue in active practice to the
end.
Judge Fullerton married, in 1840, Cornelia
M., daughter of Henry Gale, a merchant
of Orange county (see Gale VII). They
had children as follows: 1. William, who
completed his musical studies in Heidelberg,
Germany. Many of his compositions were
published and won immediate recognition.
He died in England in 1888 in his thirty-fourth
year. 2. Augusta, married E. B. Rudd and
has one daughter, Alice R., who married
Mr. Otis, and now resides in Newburg,
New York: children: William Fullerton,
born in 1893; Charles Augustus, 1895;
Philip Stewart, 1900. 3. Mary. 4. Anna.
The two latter died in infancy.
(IV) Judge Stephen W. (2) Fullerton,
son of Stephen W. (1) and Esther (Stephens)
Fullerton, was born October 7, 1823, died
in Goshen, New York, in 1902. He was admitted
to the bar of New York in 1844. It would
not be easy to define the qualities which
distinguished Stephen W. Fullerton above
his fellows as a lawyer. He had that strange
faculty which his sometimes spoken of
as "presence," sometimes as
"magnetism," which compels men
to recognize and acknowledge those who
possess it as the appointed leaders of
their fellows. It was chiefly in the trial
of causes that he excelled; and so marked
was his skill in this, the most difficult
department of a lawyer's work, that attorneys
from neighboring counties have been known
to remain at our county seats over night
merely in order that they might watch,
for a few hours longer, the methods of
a master-workman.
It is useless, however, to attempt to
convey any idea of the man himself by
mentioning separate traits of his character.
His great charm lay in his personality.
He was gentle as a child, but merciless
to those who sought to wrong his clients.
Courageous was he, to a marked degree,
but cautious withal. Tactful and adaptive,
but never waiving his clients' rights.
He was modest, unassuming, and free from
pretense, but always resourceful and self-reliant.
But above all he was the most loyal and
unselfish of friends, not in any mere
sentimental way but in actual helpfulness
to the extent o self sacrifice on his
own part. His generosity knew no limit
except that imposed by his own circumstances.
With him, it was no dividing of his last
crust with a friend. If the situation
demanded it the friend would be free to
the whole crust.
Judge Fullerton married Mary Halstead
and one son was born to them, Frank.
(The
Gale Line)
The word "Gael" means an Irishman
or Scotchman in the original Gaelic or
Celtic language of Ireland and Scotland.
The Faclair Gaidhlig or Gaelic Dictionary
of E. MacDonald and Company. (Edinburgh,
1902), says: "The difference between
the Irish and the Scots is geographical
only and not racial; as the records of
both amply and abundantly prove. Both
call themselves 'Gaidhael' (Gael) in their
own language, and fraternize instantly
as soon as English, the language of disunion
is dropped." Gale therefore may very
easily be a form of Gael. Gael may, however,
be just as easily a form of "Gall."
Which in Gaelic means "foreigner
or stranger." This appears indeed
a more probable derivations than the other,
the name presumably being applied originally
to some stranger appearing in a Gaelic
speaking territory of Ireland or Scotland.
Still another derivation has been given.
Thus Lower in his "Dictionary of
Family Names of the United Kingdom; London,
1860" says "Gael. The Gaels
of Charlton Kings, co. Gloucester, have
written themselves at various periods
Galle, Gale, Gael, and originality De
Galles. If this be correct the family
may have been of Welsh origin in Anglo-Norman
times when the country was known as Gales
or Gales."
(I) Edmund Gale, the supposed first American
ancestor of the Gales here dealt with,
was born probably in Great Britain or
at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Nothing is
known of his wife but his supposed children
were: 1. Thomas, who probably married
be-
Page 63
fore coming to America, settling at New
Haven, Connecticut, where he had: Martha,
baptized march 18, 1660; Abigail, baptized
June 22, 1660. 2. Robert, who receipted,
May 14, 1659, sugar of William Hollingsworth
at Salem, and again in 1660 receipted
three thousand nine hundred lbs. of Muscovado
sugar at Salem. 3. Ambrose, married Deborah
--------. 4. Bartholomew, married Deborah
-------. 5. Edward, married Sarah Dixey.
6. Abell, mentioned below. 7. Eliazer,
married Elizabeth Bishop.
(II) Abell, son of Edmund Gale, was probably
born at New Haven, Connecticut, probably
died at Jamaica, Long Island, New York.
He first appears as having granted to
him "a lot to set his house on"
in Jamaica October 18, 1665. He was called
"husbandman" and in 1683, his
rate list contained two horses, two oxen,
four "cowse," two three-year
olds; three two-year olds; six swine;
total value ninety-eight pounds sterling
ten shillings Subsequent to this date
he occasionally bought and sold land as
shown by deed s still on record. The history
of Jamaica shows that the first settlers
were from Massachusetts and that Abell
was a member of the First Presbyterian
Church. He married a woman whose first
name was Dinah, but whose other name remains
unknown. Children: 1. John, mentioned
below. 2. Jacob, a house carpenter, died
in 1720. 3. Nehemiah, who was a weaver.
4. Thomas, also became a weaver. 5. Sarah,
married Benjamin Smith. 6. Andrew, whose
will was dated December 24, 1742, probated
in the court July 26, 1743.
(III) John, eldest son of Abell and Dinah
Gale, was born probably at Jamaica, Long
Island, New York, died at Goshen, New
York. He owned mills in Jamaica, Long
Island, and was a miller until 1721 when
he sold out for one thousand five hundred
pounds sterling and removed the same year
to Goshen, where he became one of the
proprietors of the new town. The records
of Jamaica say but little about the Gales.
John, however, it is recorded, obtained
leave of the town to set up a great mill"
April 1, 1704. He was a soldier in Captain
Peter Schuyler's company in 1692, probably
to serve against the French; February
4, 1708-9 was rated sixteen shillings
and eightpence on minister's salary and
was a vestryman in 1717. In Goshen, John
was appointed an elisor in a suit by the
court in 1726. His will was dated May
3, 1746, and proved October 24, 1750.
He named apparently all his children in
his will. He married a woman whose first
name was mary. Children: 1. John. 2. Daniel.
3. Thomas, mentioned below. 4. Abraham.
5. Hezekiah. 6. Joseph, married Rebecca
---------. 7. Benjamin, born in 1715.
8. Catherine, married Mr. Ludlow.
(IV)Hon. Thomas Gale, third son of John
and Mary Gale, was born at Goshen, New
York, New York, died in 1770. He was a
member of the New York general assembly
from October 9, 1739 to 1750 and judge
of the common pleas court of Orange County
from 1740 to 1749. Judge Gale and his
brother Abraham were petitioners for a
grant and patent for Minisink in 1700,
but Judge Gale, having died in the spring
of that year and having previously sold
his interest, the patent was issued in
the name of the purchaser and Abraham
Gale. Thomas Gale married and had issue:
1. Thomas, mentioned below. 2. Richard.
3. Henry. Tradition says that his children
were known as Tom, Dick and Harry.
(V) Thomas, eldest son of the Hon. Thomas
Gale, was born at Goshen, New York. he
lived at Wallkill, New York. Children:
1. John. 2. Henry, mentioned below. 3.
Rebecca. 4. Sarah. 5. Abigail.
(VI) Henry, second son of Thomas Gale,
of Wallkill, New York, was born in Orange
county, died at Newburg, Orange County,
New York. The name of his wife is unknown.
Children: 1. Cornelia M., mentioned below.
2. Benjamin, born September 15, 1819,
married Elizabeth C. King.
(VII) Cornelia M., daughter of henry
Gale, was born at Wallkill, New York,
September 17, 1817. She married William
Fullerton, son of Stephen W. and Esther
(Stephens) Fullerton. (See Fullerton IV.)
SMITH.
The early immigrants to New England were
mostly artisans and most of them men of
little learning. That they were possessed
of strong characters is evidenced in a
thousand ways to the student of history.
While the pen was an awkward instrument
to many of them, they were industrious
and conquered
Page 64
the wilderness, establishing the foundation
of the civilization which we now enjoy.
Among the most useful men in the colonies
were the smith who made all the nails
used in the construction of buildings,
and nearly all implements of every sort
employed in the rude life of the pioneers.
A century previous the country people
in England had taken surnames, and it
fell out that many who were smiths by
occupation took the word for a patronymic.
In the midst of these, where Christian
names were oft repeated, it has been difficulty
to trace a line of descent in many cases.
(I) Among the numerous Smith families
of the first settlers of Connecticut,
was a family of four brothers and a sister,
who settled in Hartford and vicinity,
of whom further. It is now known that
their parents came to this country. 1.
Mary married William Partridge. 2. Christopher,
resided at Northampton and died without
issue. 3. Simon, who was one of the twenty-eight
original proprietors of Haddam, Connecticut,
coming from Hartford. 4. Joseph, settled
in Hartford, and had fifteen children.
5. William, settled in Wethersfield.
(II) Benjamin, son of Simon Smith, was
born in 1664, in Haddam, and married Hannah
Scoville. They had sons, Benjamin, jacob,
Deacon Joseph and Daniel, of whom further.
(III) Daniel, son of Benjamin and Hannah
(Scoville) Smith, was born in 1714, in
Haddam, and married in 1739; the name
of his wife is not preserved. She died
in 1745, and he died July 29, 1793, in
Haddam.
(IV) William, son of Daniel Smith, passed
his life in Haddam, in the old house just
north of the present jail. He was a seafaring
man in the West Indies trade, owned and
commanded vessels, and lost his life when
only forty-years of age. His wife's baptismal
name was Martha, and their children were:
1. Jeffrey, of whom further. 2. Jonathan.
3. Ezra. 4. Lucy, married Captain Brainerd
of New York City, and lived to the age
of 106 years. 5. Esther, married Luther
Boardman of Higganum. 6. Martha, married
George Kelsey, of Haddam. All of the sons
were soldiers in the Revolution.
(V) Jeffrey, eldest child of William
and Martha Smith, was born in 1763 in
Haddam, and grew to manhood in his native
place. He served an apprenticeship as
a blacksmith, and then settled in Madison,
Connecticut, locating on the Neck, where
he bought a small farm, which he cultivated
in connection with his work in the smithy.
He built a fine dwelling house on this
tract, and there spent his life, dying
February 1, 1846. He served during the
entire period of the Revolution in the
Continental Line, and was among the soldiers
who drove the cattle across the Hudson
River on the ice in the movement of Washington's
army. Both his brothers who were captured
died on board the Jersey prison ship in
New York Harbor, and were buried near
the monument erected at Wallabout Bay
to the memory of the unfortunate men who
thus perished. Jeffrey Smith survived
the hardships of a long and most arduous
service, and drew a pension in his old
age. He married Dorothy Hubbard, a native
of Haddam, who died in Madison, July 13,
1836. Children: 1. Jonathan, January 4,
1785. 2. Daniel Hubbard, March 23, 1787.
3. Ezra, of whom further. 4. Esther, born
October 16, 1790, married Dudley Brainerd.
5. Austin, died in infancy. 6. Austin,
February 9, 1794. 7. Marvin, 1796. 8.
David, 17989. Samuel, August 16, 1799,
lived and died in Madison in the house
where he was born. 10. Junius, March 25,
1801. 11. Helena, died in her fourth year.
(VI) Ezra, third son of Jeffrey and Dorothy
(Hubbard) Smith, was born December 16,
1788, in Madison, and died there April
12, 1875. He married, October 3, 1813.
Martha Stone, who was born in East Guilford,
march 12, 1786, and died June 12, 1849.
She was a descendent of John Stone and
Governor William Leete, two of the original
settlers of Guilford. Children: (probably
not in order of birth) 1. Catherine, married
Elihu Kelsey and left three children:
Ezra, Sarah M., and Mary E., and eight
grand-children. 2. Rosalind, whose daughter
Rosalind Coe, and grand-daughter Harriet
Coe, are living on the Neck, at Madison.
3. Mary, born July 6, 1814, died March
29, 1887, married Edwin Watrous and had
five children: Martha, Julian F., John
N., Andrus, and Franklin W. 4. Ezra Stuart.
5. Thomas Hubbard, born November 29, 1824,
died February 18, 1884, leaving
Page 65
three children. 6. Andrew Norman, of
whom further.
(VII) Andrew Norman, youngest child of
Ezra and Martha (Stone) Smith, was born
January 28, 1828, in Madison. He married,
April 16, 1850, Lydia Smith Kelsey, born
January 6, 1826, in Saybrook, daughter
of John and Lydia (Bushnell) Kelsey, of
that town. Children: 1. Gerrit, of whom
further. 2. Thomas Andrew, born march
2, 1858; has three children: Gerrit A.,
Martha Stone, and Newman, and resides
on the Neck in Madison. 3. Martha Stone,
born May 7, 1860; resides in Montclair,
New Jersey, where she has a home; unmarried.
4. Lydia Bushnell, born December 28, 1862;
resides in Florence, Italy. 5. Elizabeth,
born January 7, 1869; married, in November,
1891, Thaddeus F. Leete, a direct descendent
of Governor :Leete; she has three daughters,
Emma, Dorothy and Caroline, and resides
in Madison.
(VIII) Gerrit, eldest child of Andrew
Norman and Lydia S. (Kelsey) smith, was
born January 8, 1854, in Madison, attended
the district schools and also Lee's Academy
in that town. In 1873 he entered Yale
College, from which he graduated in 1877,
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Following
this he attended Yale Law School, and
graduated in 1880. At the September term
of the superior court, at New Haven, in
1882, he was admitted to the bar, and
in the same month was admitted to the
supreme court, second department, in Kings
County, New York. He located in the City
of New York, and for ten years maintained
a law office at No. 33 Wall Street, and
for the succeeding ten years was located
at No. 43, on the same street. for seven
years he was located at 52 Broadway, and
in 1908 removed to the United States Express
building. He has built up a large and
lucrative law practice making a specialty
of corporation, real estate, and probate
law. With his family, Mr. Smith is affiliated
with the Congregational Church, and politically
he is a Republican, though not active
in practical politics. He is a member
of Empire State chapter, Society of American
Wars.
He married (first), November 22, 1882,
in New Haven, Connecticut, Leila Wood,
born March 27, 1856, in Berlin, Connecticut,
daughter of Charles Wood. She died in
New York City, July 6, 1903. He married
(second) at the Brick Church, New York
City, October 4, 1904, Gertrude (Hitchcock)
Diehl, born November 8, 1862. Children
of fist wife: Reynold Webb, of whom further;
Helen Marguerite, born September 9, 1889.
Child of second wife: Wolcott, born July
16, 1905.
(IX) Reynold Webb, son of Gerrit and
Leila (Wood) Smith, was born May 28, 1885.
He graduated at Andover in 1904, and from
Yale Scientific Department in 1907, and
has since been employed on the new barge
canal being built by New York State. He
married, on December 18, 1909, Edna Maurer,
children: Gerrit Brainerd, born at Albany,
January 6, 1911; Leila Josephine, at Brewerton,
September 12, 1912. The family resides
at present in Brewerton, New York.
MILLARD.
The surname Millard is French, the family
being of French Huguenot stock. There
is an English form of the name, formed
by dropping the "w" from Millward,
meaning the "ward or guardian of
the mill", just as the "w"
dropped from Woodward leaves Woodard.
The name first appears in American colonial
records in 1654, when lands in Massachusetts
and afterwards in New Hampshire were granted
to Luke Millard. In 1670 John Millard
had a grant of land from William Penn
in Pennsylvania and another had lands
in Virginia. Through intermarriage the
Millards are connected with many of the
oldest families of the United States,
notably the Coffins, Folgers, Starbucks,
of Nantucket, and Massachusetts; the Greens
and Browns, of Rhode Island; the Akins,
of Dutchess County, New York; the Ten
Eycks, of Albany; the Bellons and Goulds
of New Haven, and many others.
(I) John Millard, the progenitor in America
of the family of the Millards here dealt
with, was born probably about 1600, died
in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. No details
are available in the records indicating
his occupation, but he was admitted a
freemen of New Port, Rhode Island. He
married, all that is known of his wife
being that her first name was Elizabeth.
Page 66
(II) Robert, son of John and Elizabeth
Millard, was born in 1632, died in Rehoboth,
Massachusetts, March 16, 1699. Very little
is known of the events of his life, but
it is probable that he was a farmer, and
a man of wealth and influence in view
of his good marriage. He married, November
24, 1663, Elizabeth, second child of William
Sabin, the immigrant ancestor of the Sabins
in America. William Sabin first appears
in 1643 at the organization of the county
of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. It is not
known when or how he came to America.
He was a Frenchman, and it is believed
that after leaving France, he settled
for a time in Wales, and the south of
England. He was a man of wealth, culture
and an exceedingly fine and generous nature,
if one can judge from his gifts to relieve
the wants of those who suffered from the
Indian raids. He was a leader in Plymouth
public affairs, in the church and in the
schools of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. His
first wife died in 1660. Her name is now
known. He married (second) Martha, born
December 11, 1641, (twin of Mary), daughter
of James and Anna Allen of Medfield. William
Sabin died about 1687./ His will was probated
in Boston, Massachusetts, July 17, 1687.
In it he names sixteen of his twenty children,
the second of them being the wife of Robert
Millard.
(III) Nehemiah, son of Robert and Elizabeth
(Sabin) Millard, was born in Rehoboth,
Massachusetts, June 8, 1668, died July
23, 1751. Beyond the bare records of the
birth and death of Nehemiah very little
is known of him. It is probably that he
combined with the agricultural pursuits
in which everyone to some extent engaged
in those days, professional or mercantile
work of some kind. He married (first)
Judith, the daughter of a Mr. Mason, and
(second) Phoebe Shore, who died march
11, 1717.
(IV) Rev. Robert (2) Millard, son of
Nehemiah and Judith (Mason) Millard, was
born at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, April
2, 1700, died at Nine Partners, New York,
march 7, 1780. He was a minister of the
Baptist Church, his last charge being
Pawling, Dutchess County, New York, where
he continued until a short time before
his death at the age of eighty. He married,
March 7, 1726, Hannah, born in Bristol,
Rhode Island, daughter of Eleazer and
Elizabeth (Cobb) Eddy, grand-daughter
of John and Deliverance (Owen) Eddy, great-granddaughter
of the first American ancestor, Samuel
Eddy, and his wife, Elizabeth. Samuel
Eddy was the son of the Rev. William Eddye,
vicar of St. Dunstan's, Cranbrook, England.
Children: 1. John, of whom further. 2.
Jonathan.
(V) John (2) Millard, son of Rev. Robert
(2) and Hannah (Eddy) Millard, was born
January 15, 1736, at Rehoboth, Massachusetts,
died in November, 1813. He married Christine
Rust, born November 21, 1742, died June
17, 1831. Children: 1. Charles, of whom
further. 2. Rufus. 3. Philo, a musician.
4. Ira, a manufacturer at Wappinger's
Falls, Dutchess County, New York 5. Russell,
a resident of Connecticut.
(VI) Charles, eldest son of John (2)
and Christina (Ruth) Millard, was born
at Cornwall, Connecticut, in 1763, died
at New Hamburg in 1827. He spent some
years at Cornwall, being educated in the
schools of the locality, though his studies,
like every transaction of any kind, were
interrupted by the events and disturbances
preceding and accompanying the outbreak
of the Revolutionary War. Charles served
in the war during its last year, as he
was a mere youth during most of the time
it continued. He was in the army of Newburg
under Washington, when Arnold the traitor,
fled from West Point. At an early age
he settled in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County,
New York. But after the war he settled
finally at Marlboro, Ulster County, New
York, and there he conducted a cord factory
run by water power on Buckley's Creek.
Part of the old factory was still standing
some years ago. To his cord factory he
joined a lumber business and seems to
have been an energetic and capable business
man. He took considerable interest in
public affairs though there is no record
tot he effect that he held or sought to
hold any public position. He was, however,
one of the first of the bench of ruling
elders of the Presbyterian Church, Marlboro,
being installed into this office in 1810.
He married Lydia, daughter of John and
Magdaline Pride, of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess
County, New York. Mr. Pride was proprietor
of the halfway house between Albany and
New York on the old post road north of
the city of Poughkeepsie. Children: 1.
John, of whom further. 2. James, who was
a lumber merchant at Catskill, New York.
3. Charles, who was a merchant at New
Orleans. 4. William, who was a man
Page 67
of means, and travelled extensively.
5. Walter, who was engaged with his father
in the cord and lumber business at Marlboro
and elsewhere. 6. Cornelia, married Hackaliah
Purdy, a farmer of Ulster County. 7. Catherine,
became the wife of Elam Dunbar, a farmer
of Connecticut, who previously had conducted
a hat factory in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess
County, New York. 8. Caroline, died unmarried.
9. May. 10. Franklin.
(VII) John (3), eldest son of Charles
and Lydia (Pride) Millard, was born at
Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York,
May 2, 1789, died in Brooklyn, New York,
about 1871. He was in Poughkeepsie only
in his early years, having moved to Marlboro
with his parents. It was in Marlboro that
he was brought up and attended the district
schools. In 1812 when he was about twenty-three
years old he began to teach school himself,
but did not stay long at that avocation.
In course of time he removed to Brooklyn,
New York, where he engaged in the wholesale
grocery business. He continued in this
business for a considerable number of
years, building up a trade of considerable
size and gathering together a comfortable
fortune. When he thought that it was time
to retire he purchased a great deal of
real estate, some of which is still in
the possession of the family, and spent
the rest of his life in looking after
his property and watching its development.
He was a man of a deeply religious cast
of mind and was a regular attendant at
the Presbyterian Church of which he was
a member. His body was brought from Brooklyn,
new York to Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County,
New York, for burial. He married, August
24, 1812, Sarah, daughter of John and
Elizabeth (Jennings) Purdy, born April
17, 1793.
Children of John and Sarah (Purdy) Millard:
1. Lydia, who lived in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess
County, New York. 2. Elizabeth. 3. Hester,
who lived in Poughkeepsie. 4. Sarah. 5.
Charles. 6. Matthias J. 7. John P., who
lived in Poughkeepsie. 8. Samuel N., of
whom further. 9. James.
John Purdy, the father of Mrs. Millard,
was born in Westchester County, New York,
July 11, 1763, died September 23, 1856.
He was a patriot and when a mere boy served
in the Revolutionary War. He married,
March 21, 1786, Elizabeth, daughter of
Peter Jennings, who was born May 12, 1765.
Died in 1842. They had ten children. Elisha
Purdy, the father of John Purdy, was born
at White Plains, Westchester County, New
York; married Mehitable Smith, a daughter
of the Rev. John Smith, D. D., and they
reared eight children. Elisha was a farmer
in Westchester and Ulster Counties. Nathaniel
Purdy, the father of Elisha, was a native
of Westchester county, New York, and was
an Episcopal minister. His father was
John Purdy, a son of Joseph, a son of
Francis, who is said to have come from
some part of England in 1658, settling
in Fairfield,. Connecticut. The Purdys
were, according to one account, originally
from Wales, and are said to have settled
in the course of time in some part of
England. The two sons of Francis Purdy,
Joseph and Francis, were commissioned
surveyors by the Crown and sent to America
. The Rev. John Smith, D. D., of previous
mention, was born in England in 1702.
He was educated at Oxford and for thirty
years, until his death in 1771, served
as a pastor of the Presbyterian Church
at Rye, Westchester County, New York.
He married Mehitable Hooker, a great-granddaughter
of the Rev. Thomas Hooker, the founder
of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1636.
(VIII) Samuel N., son of John (3) and
Sarah (Purdy) Millard, was born April
13, 1829, at Brooklyn, New York. and died
June, 1901, at Newburg, Orange County,
New York. He was educated in the public
schools of Brooklyn, and when he left
school engaged in the silver plating business
in which he continued for some years.
In 1856 he went with his brother to Marlboro
and there started a business dealing in
lumber, coal, lime, and building materials.
In addition to these interests they engaged
in the produce business and owned the
screw steamer, "Wyoming," which
plied three times a week to New York and
back. Both Samuel and his brother were
successful in business, and in 1872 when
he was about forty-three years old Samuel
was able to retire, and live in Marlboro.
He was a member of the Fortitude Lodge
of Masons, Brooklyn, New York; member
of the Old Volunteer Fire Department,
Brooklyn and also a member of the old
Atlantic Baseball Club of Brooklyn. He
married, in September, 1869, Amelia, daughter
of Cornelius and marry (Pinckney) Weygant,
of Marlboro, New York, born February 18,
1845, who still
Page 68
resides at Marlboro. Cornelius Weygant
was a descendent of Michael Weygant, one
of the first settlers in Newburg, Orange
County, New York, and on the maternal
side a descendent of Louis DuBois, one
of the twelve New Paltz patentees.
There were three children of the marriage:
1. Hester, born March 13, 1872; married
Dr. W. J. Whitman, of Albany, New York.
2. Charles, of whom further. 3. Jessie
C., born April 18, 1889; married Alfred
E. Weller.
(IX) Charles (2), son of Samuel N. and
Amelia (Weygant) Millard, was born at
Marlboro, New York, February 16, 1876.
He was educated in the public schools
of Marlboro and at the Newburg Academy.
He has always led a retired life. He is
a member of the Newburg, City, and Powellton
clubs. He married, April 16, 1905, Frances,
daughter of Homer S. and Maude (Clarkson)
Ramsdell, Children: 1. Charles R., born
September 29, 1906. 2. Margaret A., born
June 13, 1908. 3. James P. R., born August
11, 1911.
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