|
When the war
was over he negotiated the sale of Roselawn
farm, and established a stock farm on the
place, where many of the faster trotters and
pacers of that day were bred, trained and
sold. It was at this point that his life
work really began, and during the yeas that
followed his skill as a breeder was brought
in the attention of the country and of the
horsebreeding and trotting world. After
carefully devoting his attention for nearly
half a dozen years to the development of a
stud, in 1872 he inaugurated the annual
trotting hose sales at Central Valley. The
sale, which it was of a purely experimental
nature, proved a decided success and brought
noted personages from at home and abroad to
partake of Mr. Taylor's hospitality. Among
Mr. Taylor's long list of celebrated horses
was one "Pierson", who was sired by Rysdvk's
"Hambletonian", dam by "Cassius M. Clay",
which hose was disposed of to Mr. David
Bonner. "Roselawn", the home of Mr. Taylor,
in addition to being a place that had been
known to all prominent horsemen and breeders
of fast trotting stock throughout the
country for many years, is also a
Revolutionary landmark. The colonial arms
under Washington passed by this house of
many gables in the trying times of '76. Mr.
Taylor was a brilliant entertainer and a
gentleman of the old school. He had a vast
stock of anecdotes relating to the vanishing
figures and the delightful associations of
forty years that proved most pleasing and
entertaining to the visitor. His powers of
memory were very great and he insisted upon
the strictest accuracy when speaking of
horses, their flights of speed, their
pedigrees, and the like, even when the
events dealt with happened as far back as
nearly forty years ago.
He married (first) Gertrude Culver of
Brooklyn, New York, who died in 1898,
daughter of John W. Culver. He married
(second) Henrietta, daughter of John E.
and Clara (McLoughlin) Kuntze, of Charleston,
South Carolina, who after the war came
north and purchased eight hundred acres
of land outside of Springfield, Illinois.
NICOLL.
Dr. John Nicoll, the founder of this
family, was the son of Alexander Nicoll,
of Haddieweel, parish of West Calder,
Edinburghshire, Scotland. He emigrated
to this country about 1734, and died in
New York City, October 2, 1743, aged sixty-three
years. He married Rebecca (Dowding)
Ransford, of Boston, Massachusetts.
Children: 1. John, referred to below.
2. Margaret, married (first) Dr. Isaac
Du Bois and (second) the Rev. Alexander
Cumming.
(II) John
(2), son of Dr. John (1) and Rebecca (Dowding-Ransford)
Nicoll, married, September 7, 1736, Frances,
born in Little Britain, Orange County, New
York, July 14, 1709, daughter of the Rev.
John and Frances (Fitzgerald) Little.
Children: 1. John, born August 18, 1737,
died September 27, 1783: married, January
26, 1766, Hannah Youngs. 2. Leonard
Dowding, born May 27, 1739, died June 12,
1815; married, December 18, 1768, Ruth
Birdsey. 3. Isaac, referred to below. 4.
William, died September 1, 1808.
(III) Isaac, son of John (2) and
Frances (Little) Nicoll, was born July
19, 1741, died at Schraalenburg, Bergen
County, New Jersey, October 9, 1804.
He lived for a while at New Windsor, then
at Goshen, New York, and finally settled
at Schraalenburg, near Hackensack, New
Jersey. He married, May 20, 1763,
Deborah, born March 3, 1739, died April
27,
Page 300
1807, daughter of
Nathaniel and Sarah (Smith) Woodhull, of
Mastic, Long Island. Children: 1. Frances,
born May 31, 1764, died April 30, 1832;
married, April 30, 1789, Albert Zabriskie.
2. John, born March 6, 1767, died September
25, 1795; unmarried. 3. Sarah, born
September 25, 1768, died January 26, 1770.
4. Nathaniel Woodhull, born July 16, 1770,
died before May, 1801; married Ann Froeligh.
5. Walter D., born March 15, 1772, died May
1, 1807; unmarried. 6. William, referred to
below. 7. Sarah, born December 23, 1776,
died April 24, 1860; unmarried. 8.
Elizabeth, born January 2, 1779, died may
30, 1836; unmarried. 9. Margaret, born
August 13, 1781, died August 30, 1846;
married, march 23, 1812, George Monell. 10.
Julia, born April 18, 1783, died June 6.
1868.
(IV) Captain
William Nicoll, son of Isaac and Deborah (Woodhull)
Nicoll, was born April 20, 1774, died in
command of his vessel in the Chinese waters,
August 7, 1807. He owned and commanded
various merchant ships, and had his home at
New Bridge, New Jersey. He married, June
16, 1796, Euphemia, born in New York City,
July 1, 1776, died at New Bridge, New
Jersey, November 4, 1821, daughter of
Frederick and mary (Ten Eyck) fine, of New
York City. Children: 1. William, born May
2, 1707, died May 23, 1870; married,
September 28, 1823, Mary Monfort. 2. John,
referred o below. 3. Mary Fine, born June
3, 1804, died November 4, 1868; married,
November 27, 1826, Lewis Moore.
(V) John,
son of Captain William and Euphemia (fine)
Nicoll, was born in New Bridge, New Jersey,
June 25, 1799, died in Washingtonville,
Orange County, New York, February 24, 1874.
He lived in New York City and in
Washingtonville. He married (first) June
28, 1831, Julianna Howell, born October 9,
1811, died September 16, 1832, daughter of
the Rev. Andrew and Elizabeth (Howell)
Thompson, of Blauveltville, Rockland County,
New York. He married (second) April 23,
1835, Elizabeth Howell (White) Denniston,
born January 8, 1808, died December 21,
1855, daughter of Judge Nathan Herrick and
Fanny (Howell) White and widow of Harvey A.
Denniston. Children, one by first
marriage: 1. William, born April 24, 1832,
died August 2, 1859; unmarried. 2. John
Morgan, born February 10, 1836, died July
23, 2862; unmarried. 3. Augustus White,
married October 3, 1866, Mary Curren
Garvin. 4. Isaac, born February 14, 1840,
killed at the battle of Gettysburg, July 2,
1863; unmarried. 5. Juliana Thompson,
married, December 3, 1862, John Boyd Vroom.
6. Charles, born august 4, 1844, died May
10, 1848. 7. Edward, born February 24,
1847, died March 13, 1867; unmarried. 8.
Charles referred to below. 9. Elizabeth
White, married, May 9, 1877, Andrew Siddons
Glover.
(VI)
Charles, son of John and Elizabeth Howell
(White-Denniston) Nicoll, was born on the
old homestead in ?blooming Grove township,
Orange county, New York, May 25, 1850, and
is now living at Washingtonville, Orange
County. He received his education in the
district schools of Orange County, and until
his father's death assisted him on the
farm. Since then he has conducted the farm
as a dairy farm. He is widely known as a
most successful farmer, is a member of the
Grange and has been trustee for the town of
Washingtonville for many years. He is a
member of the Blooming Grove Presbyterian
Church. He married, June 13, 1877, Catalina
Maria, daughter of Peter Delameter, and
Eliza Hervey Cameron (Van Doren) Vroom, of
Jersey City, New Jersey. Children: 1.
Isaac, born December 14, 1878; married Ethel
Holman. 2. Alfred Vroom, born June 20,
1881. 3. Elizabeth H., born October 18,
1889.
CHADWICK.
The English family of Chadwick, originated
at Chadwick, a hamlet in the neighborhood
of Rochdale, county of Lancashire.
The arms of the Chadwicks are: Gules
on Escutcheon, within an Orle of Marletts
Argent. Crest: A Lily Argent
Stalked and Leafed Vert. The motto
is: In Candore decus.
A ranch of the family in Cornwall, England,
bear similar arms, and show the relationship:
Crest on a Ducal coronet of Marlett.
There were Chadwicks from Healey Hall
who came to this country in 1640 and settled
in Massachusetts. It is not,
however, possible at present to ascertain
the relationship with them, but it exists
nevertheless, as the present owner of
Healey Hall is related to Joseph Chadwick,
of this review.
The first of the name of whom there is
posi-
Page 300A--Picture
of Joseph Chadwick.
Page 301
tive information was
Nicholas Chadwick, born about 1340, in the
reign of Edward the third, and who married
Maud, daughter of Thomas de Paris, acquiring
lands in Spotland, Honersfield and
Castleton, in Lancashire.
Thomas
Chadwick, descendant of Nicholas Chadwick,
was the progenitor of the Chadwicks from
which the name here dealt with springs
from. He was born in 1535, and the line
from him to the present generation is as
follows: Anthony, born 1580; Thomas, born
1605; Thomas, born 1631; Thomas, born 1661;
Thomas, born 1692; Thomas, born 1713;
Thomas, born 1737 (who built one of the
first cotton mills in Heywood, spinning
cotton wool as it was then called, and
purchased an estate called Captain Fold in
1778, this being in the possession of the
family at the present time); John, born
1776; Thomas, born 1800; and was the father
of Joseph, of whom further.
Joseph
Chadwick, the first member of this family in
this country, and a representative of the
Castleton branch, was born at Croft Bank
House, Captain Fold, between Heywood and
Rochdale, Lancashire, England, October 24,
1841. He was educated at Town Head,
Rochdale. He acquired a practical knowledge
of his present business in Manchester, and
cotton spinning in Rochdale. He came to the
United States in 1865, and shortly afterward
secured a lease of the Boiling Spring Bleach
and dye Works, New Jersey, conducting the
same for a period of ten years. In 1871 the
site of the Newburg Bleachery was purchased
and the present buildings were erected,
these being among the largest and best
equipped of the kind in the country,
bleaching, dying and finishing the finest
cotton fabrics made. Mr. Chadwick is
president of the company, and head of the
firm of Joseph Chadwick & sons. Mr.
Chadwick has been a resident of Newburg
since 1878. He has been for many years a
trustee of the Newburg Savings Bank, and in
1906 was elected president of the
institution, serving in that capacity until
recently, when he resigned the office of
president in order to go abroad. He is a
member of the Merchants' Club, of New York,
the Powelton Club, of Newburg, the City Club
of Newburg, the New York Chamber of
Commerce, and the Newburg Chamber of
Commerce.
Mr. Chadwick
married Margaret, daughter of William Smith,
of Manchester, England, who was a teacher,
dyer, and finisher of cotton goods.
Children: 1. Thomas F. 2. Willian E. 3.
Joseph. 4. Margaret L. One grandson, Thomas
M., born 1910, and two granddaughters,
Dorothy, born 1911, and Barbara, born 1913.
FITZ
GERALD.
There is no name perhaps generally
recognized as more distinctively Irish
than the famous surname of the Geraldines,
yet the name itself is not Milesian Irish
or Gaelic, but Norman French in origin.
A branch of the Fitz Geralds were down
to the reign of Queen Elizabeth earls
of Desmond, and had immense possessions
in that ancient principality, which was
later called Cork and Kerry. Another
branch became barons of Offaley, the ancient
Gaelic name for the present King and queen's
counties, earls of Kildare, and dukes
of Leinster. The Geraldines who
arrived in Ireland from Normandy, through
England in the eleventh century in course
of time joined the Irish in their conflicts
with England, and were charged by English
writers as having became Irish in language
and customs; hence the origin of the expression
"Ipsis Hibernis Hiberniores"
or "More Irish then the Irish Themselves".
The Fitz Geralds who were created earls
of Desmond became one of the most powerful
families in Munster and several of then
were lords deputies of Ireland in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Gerald Fitz Gerald, the sixteenth earl
of Desmond, was one of the greatest noblemen
in Europe; he held the rank of "Prince
Palatine" with all the authority
of a provincial king. having resisted
the reformation in the reign of Elizabeth
and waged war against the English government,
the forces of the earl of Desmond were
after long contest defeated, and he himself
was slain ina glen near Castle Island
in the county of Kerry; November 11,
1583; his head was cut off and sent to
Englander by Thomas Butler, earl of Ormond,
as a present to Queen Elizabeth, who caused
it to be fixed on London Bridge.
James Fitz Gerald, nephew of Gerald, earl
of Desmond, attempted to recover the estates
and honors of his ancestors, took up arms
and joined the standard of Hugh O'Neill,
earl of Tyrone, and claimant to the monarchy
of Ireland. This James Fitz Gerald
was styled earl of Des-
Page 302
mond, but the title not
being recognized by the English, he was
designated by them as the "sugan earl",
which signifies the "earl of straw". His
force being at length defeated and he
himself taken prisoner he was sent to
England along with Florence Mac Carthy, heir
of te ancient kings of Munster, and
imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he
died in 1608, and thus the illustrious house
of Fitz Gerald was brought low. The vast
estates of the family were confiscated in
the reign of Queen Elizabeth and divided up
among various English settlers, and the old
proprietors were reduced to tilling the soil
on their ancient patrimony.
The
Geraldines, as this great family are often
called, clain to be descended in the line
along which they derive their surname, from
the same stock as the Gherardini, a noble
Florentine family, whose progenitor,
Rainariao, flourished in A. D. 910. It is,
however, sufficient for the antiquity of
this distinguished race to state that their
pedigree is perfect up to Otho, who passed
into England before the conquest, The name
itself is derived from that chief's
descendant, Maurice, the son of Gerald (filius
Geroldi), and great-grandson of Otho.
Maurice Fitz Gerald accompanied the Normans
in their eleventh century invasion of
Ireland, and thus built up the fortunes of
the family. "Fitz" is a Norman French
prefix and signifies son, being a
contraction of the Latin "filius" or French
"fils". Like "Ap" among the Welsh, and
"Mac" and "O" among the Milesian Irish, the
Fitz prefix to the father's name was the
only surname in use for a period among noble
families. The origin of the word "Fitz",
which has much puzzled some antiquarians, is
this: In contracting the word "filius", the
old scribes drew a stroke across the "l" to
denote the omission of the following "I",
and thus assimilated it inform to the letter
"t". The character "z" is the usual
contraction of "us". Then the word looked
like "fitz", and came to be so pronounced.
The armorial bearings of the Fitz Geralds of
the house of Desmond are thus heraldically
described: Ermine a saltire gules, Crest:
A boar passant, ermine fretting gules.
Supporters : Two Male Griffins argent
chained and spiked on the and shoulders or.
Motto: Crom Aboo.
The following
is the pedigree of the family through
sixteen generations as deduced from the
Linea Antiqua and other authentic sources:
(I) Otho
Geraldino, according the Battle Abbey book,
went into England from Normandy with William
the Conqueror and was one of his chief
commanders, and, according to Sir William
Dugale's "Baronage of England" was the sixth
of that kind, created a baron. This Otho
has two sons, Waltero and robert. Waltero
was the ancestor of all the Fitz Geralds of
Ireland, and of all the barons of Windsor
until the male issue of the Windsor line
became extinct.
(II) Waltero,
son of Otho Geraldino.
(III) Gerald
from whom the surname of Geraldine was
change to Fitz Gerald.
(IV) Maurice
Fitz Gerald was the first to assume the name
of Gerald, which thus became hereditary. He
was one of the first and principal invaders
of Ireland, A. D. 1169. From this Maurice
descended the two principal lines of the
earls of Desmond and the dukes of Leinster.
(V) Gerald
Fitz Gerald.
(VI) Maurice.
(VII) Thomas,
baron of Geashill, was the first of the
family to get into Kildare, where he built
the Castle of Geashill, and was made baron,
as he was also of Sligo, Tirconnell and
Kerry.
(VIII) John,
the first earl of Kildare.
(IX) Thomas,
second earl, died 1390.
(X) Maurice,
fourth earl, died 1410.
(XI) John
Cam, sixth earl, died 1427.
(XII) Thomas,
seventh earl, died 1477,
(XIII)
Gerald, eight Earl.
(XIV) Gerald
Oge, ninth earl, was impeached of high
treason, and in September, 1534, died in the
Tower of London. "Silken Thomas", the
famous general, who died in 1537, was the
tenth earl.
(XV) Edward,
second son of Gerald Oge.
The Fitz
Gerald pedigree is brought down through a
great many branches to the present day.
(I) John Fitz
Gerald lived near Sterling, New York, where
he was a farmer. He owned several acres of
land, and engaged to a certain extent in
commercial pursuits. He married and had
children: 1. John. 2. Albert. 3. Horatio.
4. William. 5. Sydney, mentioned below. 6.
James. 7. Joshua. 8. David. 9. Martha.
10. Pauline.
(II) Sydney, son of John Fitz Gerald,
was born near Goshen, New York,
February 6,
Page 303
1801, died in 1858. He
attended the district schools, and ha a farm
on which he lived all his life. He married
Hannah, daughter of Benjamin and Mehitable
(Green) Conkling, of Goshen, New York.
Children: 1. Harriet. 2. Harvey, died
young. 3. Edward, married mary Howell. 4.
Loise. 5. Harvey, married Carrie Tichnor.
6. Emma. 7. Pauline. 8. Henry M. 9.
David C., mentioned below.
(III) David
C., son of Sydney and Hannah (Conkling) Fitz
Gerald, was born near Goshen, on his
father's farm, July 4, 1843. He was
educated in the country schools of Goshen,
and graduated at Eastman's business college,
Poughkeepsie. He then he then became a
clerk in a manufacturing house in New York,
and later became connected with his brother,
with whom he continued in partnership for
the next twenty-eight years in the
manufacture of varnish. In 1887 he
purchased a farm of one hundred and forty
acres, part of which was called Brooks Farm,
in the town of Blooming Grove, and later
another Brooks Farm of one hundred and forty
acres. Both of these farms he still
retains, living on one of them and engaged
in the dairy business and in general
farming. He is a member of the Grange, is a
Republican in politics, and is a member of
the Presbyterian Church. He married, in
1878, Virginia, born in 1847, died in 1908,
daughter of F. Beekman Brooks. There has
been one son, Sydney B., born December 3,
1881, a graduate of Berkeley School, New
York, and for the past nine years connected
with Fisk, Robinson Banking House, of New
York City.
RUMSEY.
Robert Rumsey or Rumsie, the founder
of this family, was in Fairfield, Connecticut,
as early as February 23, 1664, when his
name appears for the first time on the
town records. He married Rachel
---------. Children: 1. Benjamin.
2. Isaac. 3. Robert, referred
to below. 4. Rachel.
5. Abigail. 6. Elizabeth.
7. Daniel.
(II) Robert
(2), son of Robert (20 and Rachel Rumsey,
was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, and died
there. His wife's name is unknown.
Children: 1. Joseph, referred to below.
2. Daniel, born in 1724, died February 7,
1761; unmarried. 3. John, born in 1726,
died December 28, 1790; married, march 19,
1752, Esther Jones. 4. William. 5.
Nathan.
(III) Joseph,
son of robert (2) Rumsey, was born in
Fairfield, Connecticut, about 1720, died in
Redding, Connecticut, November 26, 1760,
aged forty years. he married Sarah
---------. Children: 1. Isaac, referred to
below. 2. Sarah, married, February 19,
1766, James Russica. 3. Joseph, married,
December 2, 1762, Sarah Morehouse. 4.
Daniel, baptized February 25, 1753. 5.
Hezekiah, baptized May 9, 1756. 6. John,
baptized October 8, 1758.
(IV) Isaac,
son of Joseph and Sarah Rumsey, was baptized
as an adult, in the First Congregational
Church of Redding, Connecticut, April 16,
1778. He married, May 23, 1761, Abigail St.
John. Children: 1. Jeremiah, referred to
below. 1. Abigail, baptized February 28,
1762. 3. Ruth, baptized April 10, 1765.
4. Noah, baptized June 5, 1768.
(V) Jeremiah,
son of Joseph and Abigail (St. John) Rumsey,
was born in Redding, Connecticut, an
baptized in the First Congregational Church
there. He removed from Redding and
purchased a farm near Cromwell Lake, then in
the town of Monroe, Orange County, New York,
where he died in 1860, aged ninety years.
He was a blacksmith and farmer. He married
three times, and had nine children bit his
first wife, and five by his second, among
whom were 1. Samuel D., referred to below;
2. Alfred T., born in 1804, died in
February, 1878, married Catharine
Alexander.
(VI) Samuel D., son of Jeremiah Rumsey,
was born in what is now the town of Woodbury,
June 9, 1797, died in Orange County, New
York, April 1 5, 1868. He was educated
in the county schools, and learned the
trade of carpenter, at which he did an
extensive business through Orange County,
building several mills and water wheels.
In 1832 he bought a farm of fifty-two
acres of land an afterwards purchased
sixteen acres of his father's farm.
This land he tilled until his death.
He also owned considerable mountain land,
comprising one hundred and fourteen acres
bordering on Twin Lake and fifty acres
on Summit Lake, which belonged to Selah
after his father's death. He married
(first) Rebecca Lent and (second) Jane
Lent, the sister of his first wife.
Children of first marriage:
1. David. 2. Abigail. 3. Juliet.
4. Phoebe. 5. Samuel.
6. Hannah; children by second marriage:
7. Martha. 8. Elizabeth, married
Charles Lewis, of Woodbury Falls, New
York. 9. Selah, referred to below.
Page 304
(VII) Selah,
son of Samuel D. and Jane (Lent) Rumsey, was
born in the Rumsey homestead, April 14,
1851, in what is now the town of Woodbury,
Orange County, New York, and is now living
in Central Valley, in the same county. He
received his education in the district
schools of the county and at Cornell
Institute in Woodbury, and until his father
died helped him on the farm. He then
purchased the interest of the other heirs of
his father and conducted a dairy farm and
built up an extensive trade until he sold
out to the Harriman interest a few years
ago. He was also a horse breeder in a small
way. He is a Methodist in religion, and a
Republican in politics. He married, in
1882, A. Estelle, daughter of Alonzo Decker,
of Newburg, New York. Children: 1. Frank
D., born in 1887, graduate of the Jamaica
Normal School, took a special course at
Columbia University, and is now a teacher of
manual training at Columbus, Ohio, married
Maude Clayton, of Lakewood, New Jersey;
child, Alice Lydia. 2. Leslie, A., born in
1891; now attending the Stout institute,
Menominee, Wisconsin
FITCHETT.
This surname appears to be French.
The Fitchetts were of French origin.
The immigrant ancestor of this family
in America probably came here early in
the eighteenth century. During the
Wyoming massacre the family was driven
from Pennsylvania. One division
of it went south and located on the eastern
shore of Maryland. Another division
went with stock across the Delaware and
then, going up the Hudson River, settled
in Poughkeepsie, New York. Another
party settled at Coxsackie, New York,
and some of its members went on to East
Troy, New York, and so on to Canada.
Thus traces of the family can be found
at all the places mentioned above, though
the exact links binding them together
elude research. One branch of the
family settled in Canada, while members
of other branches are found in Pennsylvania,
New York, and in the west and south.
The most that an be don is to follow individual
lines back for some generations, with
the ultimate hope that the links may be
eventually combined, presuming that there
was a common origin in the majority of
cases.
(I) James
Fitchett, the first ascertainable ancestor
of the Fitchett family in America here under
consideration, was born in town of
Nanticoke, Westmoreland County, now Luzerne
County, Pennsylvania, July 23, 1776, died
March 4, 1862. He lived at the beginning of
the nineteenth century on the old road
leading out of Poughkeepsie. Not very much
is on record in regard to him, though he
appears to have been a man well known and
highly respected on the country side. He
was engaged in agricultural pursuits. There
is no evidence that he ever held or sought
to hold any public position, though he took
a considerable interest in public affairs.
He married Susan Myers, born September 18,
1782, died July 31, 1846. He had fourteen
children, among which are Charles Harvey,
mentioned below.
(II) Charles
Harvey, youngest child of James Fitchett,
was born at Poughkeepsie, New York, October
23, 1826, buried at Woodlawn with his wife.
He was educated in the Quaker schools
outside of Poughkeepsie, and his first
occupation was in transporting the mails and
packages for the United States government
from Albany to Chenango County. For years
he kept a livery and boarding stable. He
was at one time United States gauger, and
also held various local offices. He
belonged to the order of Free Masons, and he
served in the Twenty-first Regiment in the
Civil War. His rank was that of major, he
having been promoted from first
quartermaster under Colonel Wright. He was
an Episcopalian in religion, and a vestryman
of Holy Innocents Church at Highland Falls,
New York. He married Caroline, daughter of
Wilmet Roberts, of Chenango County, New
York.
(III) Frederick Roberts, son of
Charles Harvey and Caroline (Roberts)
Fitchett, was born at Lafayette Place,
Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, new York.
June 3, 1858. He was educated at
the Seminary at Amenia, New York, at Wilson's
School, East Hampton, and under Professor
Lyons on Sciences, No. 180 Fifth avenue,
New York City. On completion of
his studies he entered the dry goods business,
making a specialty of linens, white goods,
and laces with the firm of Bates, Reid
& Cooley, New York. He remained
in the business until 1895, when he retired,
and in 1907 he was one of the founders
and incorporators of the First National
Bank of Highland Falls, New York.
He was its first president, and he still
remains in that position. He has
been
page 304A-Picture of
William Ferguson
Page 304B-Picture of
James F. Ferguson
Page 305
president of the Morgan
{Public Library at Highland Falls, New
York, for several years, and is a member
of the Arch Deaconry of Orange,
Sullivan, Ulster, and Rockland Counties.
On Mr. Fitchett's father's side he is
related to the Swifts and Warners of Poughkeepsie
and the Holbrooks and Nashes of New York.
He married, June 3, 1902, Susie E., daughter
of Robert Burns, of New York City.
FERGUSON.
John Ferguson, the founder of the
family in this country, was born in county
Dollar, Scotland, and died in New York
City in 1846. He emigrated to America
previous to 1846 and landed at New York
from whence he made his way on foot to
Albany, where he engaged in the hardware
business, and became a very successful
merchant, eventually establishing a branch
of his business in Newark, New Jersey.
He was an extensive owner of real estate,
became prominent in banking and financial
circles, and was one of the founders of
the Chemical National Bank in New York
City. He married Janet, daughter
of John McNish, of Falkirk, Scotland.
Children: 1. Adam. 2.
William, referred to below. 3.
John. 4. James F., referred
to below. 5. Henry A.
6. George P.
(II)
William, son of John and Janet (McNish)
Ferguson, was born in New York City,
September 12, 1837, died in Central Valley,
New York, March 9, 1906. At the outbreak of
the Civil War he enlisted as a private
soldier in the Fifth Regiment new York
volunteers, known as the "Duryea Zouaves",
and served throughout the war, being
promoted to the rank of major, and honorably
mustered out of he service at the close of
the war. He then settled in New York City,
where he lived until 1902, when he removed
to Central Valley and purchased a farm on
which he resided until his death. He
married, in 1863, Amanda, daughter of Edwin
Houghton. Children: 1. William E.,
referred to below. 2. Jessie A., married
J. W. Mayfair. 3. Henry A., now a
physician practicing in New York City. 4.
Katherine. 5. Emma.
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