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(V) Richard
(2), son of Lewis (2) and Tryntje (Staats)
Morris, was born at Morrisania, August 15,
1730, died at Searsdale, April 11, 1810. He
was appointed high judge of the court of
admiralty, an office which had previously
been held by his father, retaining this
position under the crown until 1776, when he
resigned, for the reason that his political
principles would not permit him to continue
in it. On July 31 of the same year he was
unanimously appointed by the New York court
under the provisional government then
existing; and on October 22, 1779, he was
elevated to the chief justiceship of the
state of new York, successor to John Jay,
and being the second to act in that
capacity, in which he served until 1790. He
was one of the nine delegates elected for
New York County in 1788 to the famous
Poughkeepsie convention, which was called to
the consideration of the federal
constitution, to whose ratification, under
very difficult circumstances, he contributed
by his abilities and influence. Judge
Morris owned estates in Westchester County
at Mount Fordham and in the present town of
Scarsdale. His fine
Page 221
country seat of Mount
Fordham was burned by the British during the
Revolution. He married, June 13, 1759,
Sarah, daughter of Henry Ludlow. Children:
1. Lewis Richard, married (first), in 1786,
Mary Dwight; (second), Theodora Olcott;
(third) in 1801, Ellen Herst. 2. Robert,
mentioned below. 3. Mary, married Willian
Popham. Two other daughters who died in
infancy.
(VI) Robert,
son of Richard (2), and Sarah (Ludlow)
Morris, was born June 28, 1762, died at
Mount Fordham, February 22, 1851. He
inherited the fine estate of Mount Fordham
in Westchester County, New York and was a
successful merchant in New York City. For a
time he was resident at Claverack, Columbia
County, New York. He married, March 11,
1786, Frances, daughter of Isaac Ludlum, of
Goshen, New York. Children: 1. Mary, died
young. 2. Julia, born September 13, 1788,
died January 16, 1874; married William B.
Ludlow. 3. Mary, born December 25, 1790,
died May 24, 1869; married James A., son of
Alexander Hamilton, the statesman. 4. A
daughter, died young. 5. Richard Robert,
born April 22, 1794, died November 22, 1874;
married Martha Lynn Taylor. 6. James L.,
born August 10, 1796, died January 27,
1878. 7. Frances W., born March 24, 1799.
8. A daughter, died young 9. Robert
Hunter, born February 15, 1802. 10.
Willian Lewis, born June 13, 1804. 11.
Lewis Gouverneur, mentioned below.
(VII) Lewis
Gouverneur, youngest son of Robert and
Frances (Ludlum) Morris, was born at
Claverack, Columbia County, New York, during
a temporary resident of his parents there,
August 19, 1808, died at his residence,
Mount Fordham, Morris Heights, New York
City, September 19, 1900. He was privately
educated and lived at the home of his
parents, inheriting the Mount Fordham
estate. An enthusiastic agriculturist, he
devoted his attention particularly to the
improvement of the breeds of cattle in
America, imported many valuable animals, and
probably did as much towards increasing the
value of the live stock o the country as any
other man of his time. At the time of the
construction of the Croton Aqueduct Mr.
Morris took the leadership in the movement
of the citizens in the lower part of
Westchester County against the proposal of
the commission to carry the aqueduct across
the Harlem River on a low bridge, which
would have permanently destroyed the
navigation of that stream. He was appointed
in 1840 inspector of the fourth division of
the New York State militia, with the rank of
colonel. At the breaking out of the Civil
War he was active and prominent in support
of the national government, serving as a
member of the War Committee. He received
the appointment of colonel of volunteers,
August, 1862, and was instrumental in
recruiting the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth
Regiment (later the Sixth New York Heavy
Artillery), which was commanded by
Brigadier-General William H. Morris, son fo
the poet, George P. Morris, but was not a
member of the Morrisania family. He was
president of the New York State Agricultural
Society and a member of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England. He married
Emily, daughter of Jacob and Margaretta (Kuntze)
Lorillard. She died in 1850. Children:
11. Fordham, born July 23, 1842. 2.
Francis, mentioned below.
(VIII)
Francis, son of Lewis Gouverneur and Emily
(Lorillard) Morris, was born July 13, 1844,
died February 12, 1883. He was graduated at
Annapolis; was in the naval service of the
United States during the Civil War, rising
to the rank of commander; was present at the
attack on Fort Fisher and was subsequently
executive officer of the "Tennessee". He
married Harriet H., daughter of Henry and
Josephine (Homer) Bedlow. Children: 1.
Alice P., married Frank S. B. Cheesman. 2.
Lewis Gouverneur, mentioned below.
(IX) Lewis
Gouverneur (2), son of Francis and Harriet
H. (Bedlow) Morris, was born at Newport,
Rhode Island, June 4,. 1883. He was
graduated from Harvard University in 1906,
and after leaving college took up residence
in New York City, engaging in the brokerage
business, being a member of the New York
Stock Exchange. He is a Republican in
politics, and a member of the Episcopal
Church. He is a lieutenant in the Eighth
Regiment C. A. C., and belongs to the Union
Club, Harvard Club, Society of Colonial
Wears and the Badminton Club. He married,
at New York City, April 20, 1908, Alletta
Nathalie Lorillard, daughter of James
Muhlenberg and Alletta (Remsen) Bailey.
There has been one child, Alletta Nathalie,
born April 2, 1912.
Page 222
TAPPAN. There
are two well-known families of long American
descent bearing this name, which is also
used in the form of Tappen. The probability
is that both names have a Dutch origin. It
has been claimed by members of the
Massachusetts family that the surname was
originally written Topham, or De Topham, and
was assumed from a place of that name in
Yorkshire, England. The family of Topham
anciently possessed the greater part, it is
said, of the vale of Coverdale, in
Yorkshire, and Richard Topham, from whom
there has been a continual male succession,
held the lordship and property of Caldburgh,
in Coverdale, during the time of Henry V.,
1420. The earliest mentioned of York is
found in the will of John Topham, of
Yorkshire, dated May 1, 1403. In England,
it has been claimed, the name is spelled
Tophan, Toppan and Tappan; while in America
the three spellings Tappan, Tappen and
Toppan are in common use. Of this a writer
says: "It is, however, more probably that
the English family of Tappan was brought by
the family from the Netherlands rather than
that it changed the Saxon patronymic of
Topham into Tappan. No other branch of the
Tophams is known to have made such an
alteration, and it is difficult to conceive
of an English family discarding or modifying
their own name to 'Dutchify' it." the name
of all the Tappans, Tappens and Toppans is
therefore very likely Dutch in origin. To
complicate the problem still further, there
was in the New Netherland a Flemish family
from Luxembourg, which spelled its name
Tapin, Tappin or Tappen, and pronounced it
Tappan, and in later years one of the
offshoots spelled it to conform with the
pronunciation. "The Massachusetts race has
been pre-eminent for intellectuality,,
philanthropy and practical Christianity; the
Luxembourg for professional attainments;
while the Knickerbocker stock has gained
renown by its sturdy manhood, its high
character, public spirit and mental
attainments."
It seems
probable that a number of the Tappans
crossed over from the Netherlands to England
during the religious troubles of the
seventeenth century, and that those who came
here through Great Britain, and the others
who came direct from Holland were related.
From the time of Henry VIII, to Charles I,
there was a small but constant migration of
Hollanders into England. They belonged
mostly to the artisan class, and had a
considerable reputation as builders and
weavers. The New York Tappans were at any
rate artisans of great ability. In the old
records they are referred to as weavers,
glazemakers, shipsmiths, and builders. The
family came to New York or New Amsterdam
about 1630, and after remaining a brief time
in Manhattan went to Fort Orange, where it
settled and remained for many years. It then
broke asunder, the main line removing to
Kingston, where it became distinguished in
matters of the state and nation. The junior
line remained in the neighborhood of Albany,
and sent out some of its members to the
west, so that the family is now prominent in
many states.
(I) Jurian
Teunisse Tappan, glasemaecker, the immigrant
ancestor of the Tappan and Tappen family of
New York, was born in Holland about 1600,
died at Albany, New York, in 1677. A
tradition of the family says that he came
here from Wales. Jurian T. Tappan when he
came to this country about the year 1630
must have brought considerable property with
him from the old world, as he appears to
have been in easy circumstances, if not
affluence, from the first. He was popular
with the people and on terms of warm
friendship with the patroons and leading
merchants. A devout member of the Dutch
church, during the inclement winters he
devoted a certain number of his hours every
week to visiting and caring for the sick
poor. The same kindly spirit actuated him in
his dealings with the Indians, who called
him "The good Chief." From 1654 to 1677 he
kept an inn. In the latter part of his life
he seems to have operated largely in real
estate, buying, selling and exchanging
village lots and farms upon a scale
indicating the possession of large means.
In 1670 he exchanged a house and lot in
Albany for the farm of Cornelis Cornelise
Viele at Schenectady, which he sold in
1672. In 1671 he took title to a bouwery
between Wynant's and Poesten Kills, which he
sold the next year for six hundred beaver
skins. He married a daughter of Wybrecht
Jacobse, and they made a joint will in
1661. At that time, they had no children
living. Children: 1. Tunis, mentioned
below, 2. Jurian.
(II) Tunis,
son of Jurian Teunisse Tappan, was born at
Albany, New York, about
Page 223
1635, and appears to
have died before 1661. He probably had
sons, Tunis and Christopher. The Tunis
Tappan who settled in Kingston, and there
married in 1695, Sarah Schepmoes, was
undoubtedly a grandson of Jurian Teunisee
Tappan, of Albany. Schoonmaker's "History
of Kingston" states that he was the son of
Jurian and he father of Christopher. The
Kingston church records give a very full
account of the family of Tunis Tappan, of
that town, who married Sarah Shepmoes, in
1695. They had children baptized at
Kingston from 1696 to 1707, but there is no
Christopher among them, and the Christopher
of the next generation, was born long before
the marriage of Tunis Tappan and Sarah
Shepmoes,. He was presumably a brother of
Tunis, of Kingston.
(III)
Christopher, said to have been a son of
Tunis Tappan, is said by the family records
to have been born at Albany in 1661. He
settled at Esopus, where he died August 7,
1740. It is said that he had brothers,
Tunis and Peter. He married, April 21,
1715, Cornelia Vas, born in Holland,
daughter of Dominie Vas. Only one child is
recorded in the Kinston church records,
Petrus, mentioned below.
(IV) Peter (Petrus),
son of Christopher and Cornelia (Vas)
Tappan, was baptized at Kingston, January
29, 1716, and resided in Esopus. He married
(recorded in Kingston), July 2, 1736, Tjatje
Wynkoop, the family says, daughter of
Cornelius Wnykoop. The latter has numerous
children recorded at Kingston, but no
daughter of this name. There were numerous
other Wynkoops in Kingston, none had a
daughter of this name recorded. she may
have been born and baptized at Esopus, but
this is improbably, as nearly all the Esopus
people were recorded in Kingston at that
time. Children: 1. Christoffel, baptized
in 1737, died young. 2. Peter, 1738, died
young. 3. Cornelia, 1740, died young. 4.
Christoffel, mentioned below. 5. Cornelia,
baptized November 25, 1744. 6. Petrus,
June 24, 1748. Cornelia became the wife of
Governor George Clinton. Peter (Petrus),
who was a physician, was first lieutenant in
Captain John Schenck's company, Dutchess
County militia, under Colonel Jacobus
Swartwald, February 19, 1776, and was
surgeon of the hospital department from 1776
to 1780.
(V)
Christopher (Christoffel), third son of
Peter (Petrus) and Tjatje (Wynkoop) Tappan,
born at Esopus, baptized June 17, 1742, in
Kingston, died at Kingston August 3, 1826.
He was a member of the New York provincial
congress from 1775 to 1777. He was a man of
marked ability, became prominent in early
life, and during a long career held many
offices of honor and importance. Chief
among these was membership in the first,
third and fourth provincial congresses,
where he took strong ground in favor of
colonial liberty and independence. He was a
trustee of Kingston, being chairman of the
board, a magistrate and president of the
board of magistrates. From 1759 to 1812 he
was deputy county clerk, and clerk from 1812
to 1821. His home was destroyed on the
burning of Kingston by the British during
the Revolutionary War. At this juncture he
displayed a gallantry and patriotism worthy
of notice. When the attack began it was
evident that there was no hope of a
successful resistance, and there was barely
enough time for its citizens to save the
private property, Christopher had before
him the alternative of preserving either the
public records or his own personal
belongings, including family heirlooms,
deeds, and other evidences of wealth. He
did not hesitate, but took his own horses
and wagons to the court house and removed
the public records to safety, leaving his
home to the torch of the foe. After the
evacuation he rebuilt the family home,
constructing it with stone and brick, and
making it as nearly fireproof as the
resources of that century would permit.
Here he kept open house, as had been the
habit of his father and mother. The mansion
was the favorite resting place of Governor
George Clinton, who was Christopher's
brother-in-law, as well as of the state and
national leaders. In the time of the
Revolution he was major of Colonel Charles
De Witt's regiment, Ulster County, New York,
minute-men, entering it December 21, 1775.
He married, May 9m 1761, Anatje, daughter of
Tobyas and Lea (Leg) Wynkoop, baptized
November 11, 1744; at Kingston. Children,
baptized at Kingston: 1. Petrus (Peter),
mentioned below. 2. John, baptized 1766.
3. Cornelia, March 6, 1770. 4. George,
April 13, 1772. 5. Catharine and 6.
Anatje, twins, august 28, 1774, (the first
died in infancy). 7. Catharina, December
8, 1776. 8. Christopher, January 1,
1784. John, born 1766, died April 30,
1831. He received a good education and
studied law, being finally admitted to the
bar.
Page 224
He did not, however,
follow the profession his father had mapped
out for him, but took to literature and
journalism. He began to contribute to the
press even before he attained his majority,
entered journalism and became a popular and
influential editor. His best remembered
work was done while he was editor and
proprietor of the Plebeian, which
afterwards became the Ulster Gazette.
The paper was anti-Federalist and through
its epigrammatic and argumentative force
exerted a great influence upon the
nineteenth century. The family records also
note a daughter Polly, born 1762, and
another daughter, died in infancy, born
1763.
(VI) Peter
(2), eldest son of Christopher and Anatje (Wynkoop)
Tappan, was baptized November 4, 1764, at
Kingston. He entered the military service
when about sixteen years old, on the staff
of his uncle, Major-General and Governor
George Clinton. At the age of seventeen, on
August 21, 1781, he was commissioned a
second lieutenant in the second regiment of
the Continental Artillery, commanded by
Colonel John Lamb, in which regiment he
served with the Continental Army until the
end of the war. He settled in New York
City, where he died in 1846 and was buried
in the vault belonging to the family of his
daughter-in-law, wife of Henry P. Tappan
(who was a Livingston), in the churchyard of
the old First Presbyterian Church at Fifth
Avenue and Twelfth Street. On account of
the anger of the mob during the Draft Riots
of July, 1863, against the family friends,
Arthur and Lewis Tappan. Abolitionists, and
against all persons of the name, living or
dead, the coffin was taken from the vault
after midnight and conveyed secretly to
Greenwood cemetery where it was deposited in
the Tappan plot. The name plate was removed
from the coffin and has recently been placed
in the same plot. He married, at Kingston,
February 16, 1764, Ann De Witt, baptized
November 16, 1764, at Kingston, daughter of
Colonel Charles and Blandina (Du Bois) De
Witt. Children, baptized at Kingston: 1.
Blandina, June 24,m 1787. 2. Anna Maria,
January 2, 1789. 3. Christopher Peter (not
recorded at Kingston). 4. Cornelia,
October 4, 1795. 5. Charles De Witt, June
24, 2898. 6. Sarah Du Bois, January 11,
1801. 7. Henry Philip, July 27, 2805. Two
of the sons, Charles De Witt and Henry
Philip, were clergymen, the former born May
25, 1708, and the latter, April 16, 1805.
(VII)
Christopher Peter, eldest son of Peter (2)
and Ann (De Witt) Tappan, was born September
20, 1791, in Kingston. He removed with his
father to New York, residing in the latter
part of his life in Brooklyn, where he died
January 6, 1877. He married, March 17,
1814, Mary Hurd. Children: 1. Harriet.
2. Ann. 3. Maria. 4. De Witt. 5.
Sarah. 6. Kate. 7. Mary. 8.
Christopher.
(VIII) Dr.
De Witt Tappan, son of Christopher Peter and
Mary (Hurd) Tappan, was born July 16, 1822,
in the city of New York. After attending
Professor Anthon's school in old New York,
he joined the class of 1844 at Yale
University. After one year at that
institution, he returned to New York, and
later graduated at the College of Physicians
and Surgeons, now the medical department of
Columbia University. He engaged in the
practice of medicine for a hew years only,
in new York and on Long Island, and died at
Dosoris in the town of Oyster Bay, August
10, 1887. He married, April 21, 1851,
Margaret, daughter of John Butler (2) and
Eliza Townsend (Casey) Coles, of Dosoris,
Long Island
(IX) John
Butler Coles, son of Dr. De Witt and
Margaret (Coles) Tappan, was born April 4,
1860, at Dosoris, where he grew up and
attended the local schools. In 1876 he
entered Yale University, from which he was
graduated in 1880, and in the latter year
became a student at the Columbia University
Law School, of New York City, graduating in
1882. In the latter year he was admitted to
the bar and has since been continually
engaged in the practice of law in New York
and Long Island, having an office on Wall
Street, New York, being now the head of the
legal firm of Tappan & Bennett. Mr. Tappan
is a man of strong individuality and has
taken an interest in public matters,
uniformly from the point of view of the
individual citizen, and not as an
office-seeker or office-holder. He has
become allied with various organizations in
whose work and principles he feels an
interest. He is a member of the Association
of the Bar of the City of New York, the New
York State Bar Association, New York County
Lawyers' Association, Nassau County Bar
Association, American Bar Association,
International Law Association of London,
Page 225
American Economic
Association, American Scenic and Historic
Preservation Society, American Society of
International Law, American Society for
Judicial Settlement of International
Disputes, Board of International
Hospitality, Civil Service Reform
Association, Navy League of the United
States, New York Peace Society, Sons of the
Revolution, and other kindred bodies. Among
the clubs with which he holds affiliation
may be mentioned the Yale, Nassau Country,
Reform, Republican, Sewanhaka Corinthian
Yacht. Whitehall, City Graduate Club , of
New Haven, Psi Upsilon, Glenwood Country,
Hempstead Harbor, Huntington Country,
Economic of New York, Piping rock Racing
Association. He was one of the founders of
the National Progressive party and
represented that party on the New York
electoral ticket in the presidential
campaign of 1912. He resides during part of
the year near Glen Cove, in the town of
Oyster Bay, and during the remainder of the
year in the city of New York, He married,
May 21, 1885, Caroline A., daughter of James
and Caroline (Valentine) Titus, of Glen
Cove.
COLDWELL.
Coldwell and Caldwell are different forms of
the same surname. "The name Caldwell," says
a writer, bearing the patronymic, "is a
pleasant treasure, for there is a tradition
yet told in England and Scotland that a
little company, centuries ago, discovered a
well of remarkable coldness. They pitched
their tents and later took up a continuous
abode near it. they were ever after called
Cold-wells, or, as it has since been
evolved, the Caldwells". The Patronymica
Brittanica asserts that the name means "cold
well", and says that the name is derived
from localities in various counties in
England bearing it. another writer suggests
that Caldwell is a synonym of wisdom and
authority; as the word Cold-wold in the
Scottish dialect of English was the
Hazel-wood or divinity rod, which hung for a
long time in Bavarian court rooms as a
symbol of authority and justice. The baton
of officers and the schoolmasters' rods were
of hazel in olden times.
The Caldwells
appear in England in the reign of William
the conqueror; they were prominent in later
centuries in Ayrshire, Scotland, and their
names are recorded as borne by immigrants
from England, Ireland and Scotland, in the
early days of New England's story. In the
Domesday Book of England what would appear
to be the same name is spelled Caldwuuelle.
The name has been common for centuries in
England, Ireland and Scotland and France,
though of course few of the families bearing
it have any connection with each other.
Thus many of the Caldwells of Ireland and
Scotland were originally MacCawells, the
Gaelic form of the name being Mac
Cathmhaoill, Cathmhaoill, ninth in descent
from Farach, brother of the monarch, Murtogh
Mor, son of Earca, who is ninetieth on the
stem of the House of Heremon. Many of the
Caldwells or Coldwells of Britain and
Ireland have the right to bear arms. The
Coldwells or Caldwells here dealt with, as
far as their origin can ve traced, appear to
be of Yorkshire stock, England, this line
finding its way to America only in the
nineteenth century.
(I) Jonathan
Coldwell, or Caldwell, the immediate
progenitor in England of the family here
dealt with, was born at Staleybridge,
Yorkshire, England, about the year 1790, and
died at the same place. He probably was
engaged to some extent in farming, but the
evidence points to the probability that he
was engaged by regular occupation in the
iron trade. He married, probably about 1812,
but the maiden name f the wife remains
unrecorded. Children: 1. John, mentioned
below. 2. Jeptha. 3. Abel. 4. Joseph.
(II) John
Coldwell, eldest son of Jonathan Coldwell or
Caldwell, was born at Staleybridge,
Yorkshire, England, about 1814, died at
Matteawan, New York. He was by occupation a
grinder, and was engaged in the iron trade.
He came to America in 1841, with his family
and settled in Matteawan, New York, where he
was engaged by Mr. Rothery as a file
grinder. He continued in this sort of work
for a number of years, but finally left it
to engage in the grocery business, in which
he continued until his death. He and his
wife were buried in the Methodist Cemetery
of Matteawan, New York. he married about
1837, at Staleybridge, Yorkshire, England,
Hannah, daughter of a Mr. Ardron, who lived
in the same neighborhood. Children: 1.
Thomas, mentioned below. 2. Samuel. 3.
John. 4. Joseph. 5. Sarah, married
William Warwick. 6. Ellen, married John
Myers. 7. Anne, married James Terwilliger.
(III)
Thomas, eldest son of John and Han-
Page 226
nah (Ardron) Coldwell,
was born at Staleybridge, Yorkshire,
England, September 28, 1838, died at
Newburg, New York, July 28, 1905. He became
one of the pioneers in America among
manufacturers in the important line of
industry. He was so essentially American
and was so long engaged in useful labor on
this side of the sea that no one ever took
him as being foreign born. "I am generally
taken for an American", he once said, "and
a Yankee at that. My mother came from an
old Lancashire family of farmers, and owned
a small estate in that county, which had
been in the family from the time of
Cromwell. My father's family were of
humbler origin and belonged to Lancashire.
They were somewhat noted for their genius
and love of liberty, several useful
inventions having emanated from members of
his family, their love of liberty, and what
they considered the oppression of the
English laws, led them to emigrate to
American in 1841, and no more enthusiastic
and loyal citizen ever claimed America as
his home than my father."
Thomas
Coldwell was only three years old when he
arrived in America in company with his
parents in 1841. As soon as he was old
enough to learn anything he was put to
work. The family having settled at
Matteawan, new York, he found employment in
the cotton factory there when he was eight
years old at a dollar a week. At the age of
eleven he was placed with John Rothery, a
file-maker, to learn the trade of file
cutting. He was with him for several
years, but did not like the business and
begged his father to put him where he could
learn to be a machinist. He worked with his
father at grinding for three years, and
then, as his father was leaving the
business, he was bound apprentice for three
years "to learn the art, trade and mystery
of file forging." He stayed at the file
business only two years, and for three years
after, assisted his father, who had gone
into the grocery business, by clerking for
him. In 1861 he took a contract from the
Washington Iron Works of Newburg to grind
and finish the brass work for use on gun
carriages. About the time the gun carriage
contract work was finished this company took
a large contract for building freight cars
and he secured a job in the car works,
running a lathe, and turning car axles.
This was his first real work as a machinist,
and he bent every energy to make the most of
his opportunity, and was so far successful
that in six weeks, he had entire charge of
all the wheel and axle work, and a few weeks
later took all the work by contract.
About that
time he made a file cutting machine, which
was his first real invention of any kind.
He interested the Eagle File Company of
Middletown in it, and they purchased
one-half interest for $500.000. But the
cutting machine was not a great success, but
it led him to invent a file stripping
machine, which was a great success, and on
which he took out his first patent. In 1865
he returned to his old home at Matteawan,
New York, and later entered the employ of H.
N. Swift, and while with him he made the
only lawn mowers in this country. The idea
of making a lawn mower was suggested to him
by Henry Winthrop Sargent, of
Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, who owned an English
mower which Swift had often repaired for
him. Thomas Coldwell made many improvements
to tools for Swift and among other things
invented the revolving cutter grinder, which
is now used in every lawn mower factory in
the country. He had a fellow workman named
George L. Chadborn, and between the two of
them they made a lawn mower and named it
"Excelsior." They interested L. M. smith
and Charles J. Lawson, hardware men of
Newburg, New York, in their new machine, and
they formed a co-partnership with them.
They made but one size machine, sold for
thirty dollars, and in 1870, they organized
the Chadborn and Coldwell Manufacturing
Company, with a capital of $4,000.00.
Thomas Coldwell was the president and he
held that position for over twenty years, in
fact, until he left the company. The first
year they made over three hundred mowers,
and the following year about one thousand.
About this time they bought out Swift's lawn
mower business as well as several other
businesses in the same line that had not
prospered. In 1876 Mr. Coldwell went to
Europe to introduce the company's mowers.
His trip was very successful and he placed
the company's mowers with a large firm
having houses in both London and Paris, and
four years later they established their own
house in London and Mr. Coldwell spent the
"lawn mower season" in Europe pushing the
trade. The principal event in connection
with the English business
Page 227
was the international
trial of lawn mowers held at Liverpool in
1886, which Mr. Coldwell attended. At this
exhibition, twenty-two different makers of
lawn mowers were entered, principally from
the United States and England, Mr. Coldwell
worked both the horse and hand mowers at the
trial, the result of which was that he
carried off both first premiums. "I felt,"
she says, "that it was the proudest day of
my life when I cabled the result to the
factory and friends at home."
In 1891 he
sold out his interest in the Chadburn and
Coldwell Manufacturing Company as he had a
desire to have a business he could control,
and he also wished to introduce some new
inventions in lawn mowers and also some
improved machinery for manufacturing the
same. He therefore at once organized the
Coldwell Lawn Mower Company. They built a
new plant, and stocked it with the best
tools and machinery. The panic of 1893
affected the new company, but in the
following year they had great success which
continued in the years that followed, during
which the plant had to be repeatedly
enlarged. They could finally turn out
twelve hundred hand mowers a day besides a
large number of horse and motor mowers.
They also had a large foreign trade and
exported mowers to nearly every civilized
nation in the world.
Thomas
Coldwell, married, in 1860, Josephine
Terwilliger, of Stormville, New York, born
June 27, 1837, and now living at Newburg,
New York. Children: 1. William H.,
mentioned below. 2. Jennie, married E. D.
Ross. 3. Harry T., mentioned below.
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