Schaghticoke in the Late 19th. Century, continued ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
Let’s imagine we lived in the village of Schaghticoke in 1870.
What would that be like?
First of all, we would probably work close to home, very possible due to the mills and stores.
The mills even had some dedicated housing to rent to workers.
We could travel easily by train to Troy, but the village really offered all that we would need in the way of shops and services.
George and James Beecroft, E. M. Congdon, and Charles Herrick sold meat; Job Viall sold hardware and groceries; Garrett Groesbeck sold groceries; Andrew Sipperly sold groceries and general merchandise; Richard Gunner had a bakery.
Miss Mary Penman made dresses; there was a hat shop above the Opera House; Lorenzo and Charles Baker had a clothing store; Moses Wells sold shoes; Thomas Jackson made shoes and boots; Alonzo Doty sold groceries and shoes.
Andrew Rexford had a jewelry store.
Charles Albro had a hardware store.
Where we might have a department store, Woolworth’s or a dollar store, Mary Barker had a variety store and William Bryant and Julius Butts were called “general merchants.”
Where we would have businesses connected with cars, the village of Schaghticoke had James Camfield’s and Jacob Cookingham’s carriage shops, Albert Hurley’s blacksmith shop (Hurley was an ancestor of our current Hurley’s Garage in Melrose), and Peter Denegar’s harness shop.
James Nutt had a furniture store.
Mrs Mary Richards and T.A. Hayden had drug stores.
Hayden also dealt in paint, oils, glass, dye stuffs, perfumery, and fancy articles.
There were also the marble shop of Patrick Prendergast, who made tombstones and provided stone for construction; the paint shop of William W. VanSchaick, who painted signs and decorated carriages as well as houses; and the carpenter shop of William Smith.
Julius Habersack made cigars in the basement of Searle’s store.
The village also offered a number of services.
Alphonzo Merrill (Merrell), Elihu Butts, and E.E. Frost had law offices; Charles Gerhausser a barber shop; S.S. Congdon an insurance agency and telegraph office; Dr. James Hornbrook was a dentist, Hiram Button a dentist and deputy sheriff; P.H. Ragan the undertaker, Drs. E. N. Beale and Tarbell the doctors.
Randolph (John Robert) Hinds was listed as physician and surgeon.
There was a post office, in Congdon’s insurance agency, and a train station.
The 1870 Rensselaer County Directory also included J.D. Comstock a “photographic artist.”
His office was over Hayden’s drug store.
And there were several “saloons”, upstairs “halls” for meetings, and the opera house for theatrical performances.
Residents could choose among the Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian, and Catholic Churches in the village, and the Lutheran and Dutch Reformed elsewhere in town.
The churches were major social centers in town, sponsoring all kinds of events, from theatrical performances to lecture series, to fairs, to offering Bible study and the chance to sing in the choir.
The village had three one-room school houses, but if students wanted to go to high school, they would have to travel elsewhere.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Schaghticoke in the Late 19th. Century, continued ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
Let me tell a bit more about some of the more prominent community members of 1870, first the attorneys.
The life of one, Dr. Elihu Butts, is easy to report, as he paid for a full page biography in Sylvester’s “History of Rensselaer County”, published in 1880 (p. 442-443).
Elihu was born in Rome, Oneida County in 1813.
He married Mary Ann Minerva Hartwell, daughter of a doctor in Rome, in 1833.
They had two sons, Julius and Charles.
He moved to Albany about 1835, and while running a drug store studied medicine at Albany Medical College, graduating in 1848.
He moved to Schaghticoke in 1850 and set up his medical practice.
The family lived just south of the bridge over the Hoosic River, across the street from the Catholic Church.
Elihu was elected a Justice of the Peace for the first time in 1858 and became interested in the law.
He studied law and was admitted to the New York State bar in 1861.
Though he continued to be a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, he became a lawyer.
His ad in the Troy “Times” for March 31, 1863 read “Attorney and Counsellor at law in Schaghticoke: Being furnished with blanks of the most approved form for securing pensions, bounties, etc. also deeds, bonds, mortgages, contracts, etc. with the requisite revenue stamps…is prepared to dispatch business…upon short notice and to the satisfaction of those who may entrust business in his hands.”
Elihu’s bio in Sylvester states “his health became somewhat impaired” and the physical demands of being a physician on-call were too much for him.
Over the rest of his life, he served off and on as a Justice of the Peace in Schaghticoke and had a vigorous law practice.
He was also health officer and justice of the peace for the village of Hart’s Falls, and elected “justice of sessions” in 1878.
I believe this latter would be the highest criminal court in the county.
As of 1870, Elihu’s law office was in the Geddis Building, which was on the east side of Main Street, just north of 2nd Street.
Elihu seems to have become very interested in criminal law.
The Troy newspaper included quite a few articles about his cases both as lawyer and judge.
One of Elihu’s sons, Charles Edward, was a music teacher in the village, and usually lived with his parents.
The other son, Julius, married Carrie, the daughter of a local merchant, Charles Stratton.
As of the 1870 directory, Stratton was a dealer in dry goods and general merchandise in the “Brick Block”.
Sadly, I do not know which building this was, but I am sure it was located on lower Main Street.
Julius and his family moved with his in-laws to Brooklyn in 1874.
At that point the Methodist Church minutes record his departure and state he had been organist and choir director at the church for twenty years, and that he would be missed.
Father Elihu and his wife were always active in the Schaghticoke Presbyterian Church.
Elihu was director of the choir in his old age.
The Butts were certainly a musical family.
The newspaper record Elihu’s activity as a lawyer through 1884.
1885 was a very bad year for the family.
Elihu died January 3.
His cause of death is listed as diphtheria.
Wife Mary Butts died January 13.
And unmarried son Charles died December 23.
All are buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
Let me tell a bit more about some of the more prominent community members of 1870, first the attorneys.
The life of one, Dr. Elihu Butts, is easy to report, as he paid for a full page biography in Sylvester’s “History of Rensselaer County”, published in 1880 (p. 442-443).
Elihu was born in Rome, Oneida County in 1813.
He married Mary Ann Minerva Hartwell, daughter of a doctor in Rome, in 1833.
They had two sons, Julius and Charles.
He moved to Albany about 1835, and while running a drug store studied medicine at Albany Medical College, graduating in 1848.
He moved to Schaghticoke in 1850 and set up his medical practice.
The family lived just south of the bridge over the Hoosic River, across the street from the Catholic Church.
Elihu was elected a Justice of the Peace for the first time in 1858 and became interested in the law.
He studied law and was admitted to the New York State bar in 1861.
Though he continued to be a member of the Rensselaer County Medical Society, he became a lawyer.
His ad in the Troy “Times” for March 31, 1863 read “Attorney and Counsellor at law in Schaghticoke: Being furnished with blanks of the most approved form for securing pensions, bounties, etc. also deeds, bonds, mortgages, contracts, etc. with the requisite revenue stamps…is prepared to dispatch business…upon short notice and to the satisfaction of those who may entrust business in his hands.”
Elihu’s bio in Sylvester states “his health became somewhat impaired” and the physical demands of being a physician on-call were too much for him.
Over the rest of his life, he served off and on as a Justice of the Peace in Schaghticoke and had a vigorous law practice.
He was also health officer and justice of the peace for the village of Hart’s Falls, and elected “justice of sessions” in 1878.
I believe this latter would be the highest criminal court in the county.
As of 1870, Elihu’s law office was in the Geddis Building, which was on the east side of Main Street, just north of 2nd Street.
Elihu seems to have become very interested in criminal law.
The Troy newspaper included quite a few articles about his cases both as lawyer and judge.
One of Elihu’s sons, Charles Edward, was a music teacher in the village, and usually lived with his parents.
The other son, Julius, married Carrie, the daughter of a local merchant, Charles Stratton.
As of the 1870 directory, Stratton was a dealer in dry goods and general merchandise in the “Brick Block”.
Sadly, I do not know which building this was, but I am sure it was located on lower Main Street.
Julius and his family moved with his in-laws to Brooklyn in 1874.
At that point the Methodist Church minutes record his departure and state he had been organist and choir director at the church for twenty years, and that he would be missed.
Father Elihu and his wife were always active in the Schaghticoke Presbyterian Church.
Elihu was director of the choir in his old age.
The Butts were certainly a musical family.
The newspaper record Elihu’s activity as a lawyer through 1884.
1885 was a very bad year for the family.
Elihu died January 3.
His cause of death is listed as diphtheria.
Wife Mary Butts died January 13.
And unmarried son Charles died December 23.
All are buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Schaghticoke in the Late 19th. Century, continued ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
Alphonzo Merrell was another lawyer in town.
He was born in 1827 in Easton to parents Frederick and Loenza Merrell.
His father was a tailor.
As of the 1850 US Census, the family lived in the village of Schaghticoke: parents Frederick, 47, and Louisa, 39, plus children Jane, 19; Harriet, 11; and Frederick, 4.
Where was Alphonzo?
Perhaps this is when he was studying to be a lawyer.
As of the 1855 NY Census, he was living back at home, at age 28, listed with no occupation.
His sisters had married, so the family included his parents and brother Frederick, just 9.
By the 1860 US Census, Alphonzo remained in the village as a lawyer, living with Ann Perry and her son Charles, but his parents and brother had moved back to Easton.
On June 3, 1868, he married Phebe L. Sherman in the Methodist Church.
The 1865 NY Census listed three Sherman sisters in the village of Schaghticoke: Margaret, 32, Louise, 30, and Phoebe, 28.
Margaret and Phoebe were milliners.
Alphonzo and Phoebe lived in the first house on the west side of Main Street, just north of where the American House hotel stood - now a fenced in yard just beyond the World War I statue.
As of 1880, Alphonzo’s law office was upstairs in the Congdon Block, which was on the east side of Main Street between First and Second Street.
Alphonzo served as clerk and treasurer for the new village of Hart’s Falls after 1867, as well as Justice of the Peace for the town, and as U.S. Postmaster in the village.
He was involved in the Republican Party, listed as a local representative to the County Convention in 1871.
He was also an informant for Nathan Sylvester when he wrote his “History of Rensselaer County” in 1880.
He was a prominent member of the Methodist Church, where he was married.
Unlike Elihu Butts, accounts of Alphonzo Merrell’s cases do not appear in the Troy newspaper.
I feel he did the kind of legal work that many people need - wills, deeds, and other civil matters.
He also witnessed at least two patents by local people: an improved potato sorter by D.A. and A.B. Banker in 1878, and a new bed spring by Josiah Rising Masters in 1882.
He was a pillar of our community until his death of stomach cancer in 1884.
His will left his house in Easton to his mother, and provided for the care of the family lot in Elmwood Cemetery, where his dad was already buried.
His brother Fred, who lived nearby in Easton, received his wearing apparel right away.
Widow Phoebe received the rest of the estate.
She died in 1897.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
Alphonzo Merrell was another lawyer in town.
He was born in 1827 in Easton to parents Frederick and Loenza Merrell.
His father was a tailor.
As of the 1850 US Census, the family lived in the village of Schaghticoke: parents Frederick, 47, and Louisa, 39, plus children Jane, 19; Harriet, 11; and Frederick, 4.
Where was Alphonzo?
Perhaps this is when he was studying to be a lawyer.
As of the 1855 NY Census, he was living back at home, at age 28, listed with no occupation.
His sisters had married, so the family included his parents and brother Frederick, just 9.
By the 1860 US Census, Alphonzo remained in the village as a lawyer, living with Ann Perry and her son Charles, but his parents and brother had moved back to Easton.
On June 3, 1868, he married Phebe L. Sherman in the Methodist Church.
The 1865 NY Census listed three Sherman sisters in the village of Schaghticoke: Margaret, 32, Louise, 30, and Phoebe, 28.
Margaret and Phoebe were milliners.
Alphonzo and Phoebe lived in the first house on the west side of Main Street, just north of where the American House hotel stood - now a fenced in yard just beyond the World War I statue.
As of 1880, Alphonzo’s law office was upstairs in the Congdon Block, which was on the east side of Main Street between First and Second Street.
Alphonzo served as clerk and treasurer for the new village of Hart’s Falls after 1867, as well as Justice of the Peace for the town, and as U.S. Postmaster in the village.
He was involved in the Republican Party, listed as a local representative to the County Convention in 1871.
He was also an informant for Nathan Sylvester when he wrote his “History of Rensselaer County” in 1880.
He was a prominent member of the Methodist Church, where he was married.
Unlike Elihu Butts, accounts of Alphonzo Merrell’s cases do not appear in the Troy newspaper.
I feel he did the kind of legal work that many people need - wills, deeds, and other civil matters.
He also witnessed at least two patents by local people: an improved potato sorter by D.A. and A.B. Banker in 1878, and a new bed spring by Josiah Rising Masters in 1882.
He was a pillar of our community until his death of stomach cancer in 1884.
His will left his house in Easton to his mother, and provided for the care of the family lot in Elmwood Cemetery, where his dad was already buried.
His brother Fred, who lived nearby in Easton, received his wearing apparel right away.
Widow Phoebe received the rest of the estate.
She died in 1897.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Schaghticoke in the Late 19th. Century, continued ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
One more man, Chauncey B. Slocum, apparently was also an attorney in 1870.
I say apparently as the only place I found him listed as one is in the 1870 County Directory.
Every census gave him a different occupation: in 1850 he was a “mechanic” in Pittstown, with $6000 in real estate; in 1855, he was a surveyor in Schaghticoke; in 1860 he was a “gentleman” in Schaghticoke with real estate of $2000 and a personal estate of $500; in 1865, he was a manufacturer, in 1870 a “general agent,” with real estate of $9,500.
I know he was also the Rensselaer County Deputy Clerk in 1859, a U.S. Postmaster in the 1850’s, village trustee in the new village of Hart’s Falls after 1867, and Justice of the Peace in the town.
He was one of the first trustees of the new Elmwood Cemetery in 1863, and secretary of the new Victor Masonic Lodge, founded in 1867.
Chauncey was also a busy father.
He and his wife Charlotte Crapo had eleven children.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
One more man, Chauncey B. Slocum, apparently was also an attorney in 1870.
I say apparently as the only place I found him listed as one is in the 1870 County Directory.
Every census gave him a different occupation: in 1850 he was a “mechanic” in Pittstown, with $6000 in real estate; in 1855, he was a surveyor in Schaghticoke; in 1860 he was a “gentleman” in Schaghticoke with real estate of $2000 and a personal estate of $500; in 1865, he was a manufacturer, in 1870 a “general agent,” with real estate of $9,500.
I know he was also the Rensselaer County Deputy Clerk in 1859, a U.S. Postmaster in the 1850’s, village trustee in the new village of Hart’s Falls after 1867, and Justice of the Peace in the town.
He was one of the first trustees of the new Elmwood Cemetery in 1863, and secretary of the new Victor Masonic Lodge, founded in 1867.
Chauncey was also a busy father.
He and his wife Charlotte Crapo had eleven children.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Schaghticoke in the Late 19th. Century, continued ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
I’d like to mention one man who had a rather new occupation in 1870.
Joseph D. Comstock was listed in the 1870 County Directory as a photographer, with a studio above Hayden’s drug store on Main Street.
I found that Joseph lived in Lansingburgh with his wife and children, so he was a commuter.
I thought he may have had a studio in Lansingburgh as well, but he is just listed as living there.
Photography was a new and short-lived occupation for Joseph.
As of the 1865 NY Census, he was listed as a printer.
He was the editor of the “Lansingburgh Chronicle.”
By the 1875 NY Census, he had moved with his family and parents to Broome County, where he was listed as a farmer.
In 1886 he was elected Justice of the Court of Sessions in Broome County (Troy Daily Times Oct. 19, 1886).
This may have led to still another career.
Beginning in 1900, when he was 69, the census listed him as a lawyer.
He died in Nineveh, Broome County in 1915, at the advanced age of 84.
His obituary in the “Binghamton Press” on October 12, 1915 said he was the oldest lawyer in the county and “well-known and highly respected” by all.
What an interesting man!
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
I’d like to mention one man who had a rather new occupation in 1870.
Joseph D. Comstock was listed in the 1870 County Directory as a photographer, with a studio above Hayden’s drug store on Main Street.
I found that Joseph lived in Lansingburgh with his wife and children, so he was a commuter.
I thought he may have had a studio in Lansingburgh as well, but he is just listed as living there.
Photography was a new and short-lived occupation for Joseph.
As of the 1865 NY Census, he was listed as a printer.
He was the editor of the “Lansingburgh Chronicle.”
By the 1875 NY Census, he had moved with his family and parents to Broome County, where he was listed as a farmer.
In 1886 he was elected Justice of the Court of Sessions in Broome County (Troy Daily Times Oct. 19, 1886).
This may have led to still another career.
Beginning in 1900, when he was 69, the census listed him as a lawyer.
He died in Nineveh, Broome County in 1915, at the advanced age of 84.
His obituary in the “Binghamton Press” on October 12, 1915 said he was the oldest lawyer in the county and “well-known and highly respected” by all.
What an interesting man!
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Schaghticoke in the Late 19th. Century, continued ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
Turning to doctors in town, I have written about one of the men before.
Daniel H. Tarbell was a Civil War veteran.
He was born in Brandon, in Franklin County, near Malone, in 1842, where his parents were farmers originally from Vermont.
He enlisted in the 98th NYS Infantry in 1861 as age 19.
Unusually, he moved on to the 14th U.S. Infantry Regiment, in the regular U.S. Army, soon after.
I believe he was a hospital steward.
He must have gone to medical school directly from the Army, as he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1866, according to the pension file of fellow veteran and Schaghticoke resident Henry Simmons.
He married Katherine Child, whom he knew from home, in 1868, and moved to Schaghticoke about 1874.
His office was on the east side of Main Street, somewhere in the vicinity of current Diver Library.
Presumably his war experience made him want to become a doctor.
Daniel and Kate were prominent citizens of the village of Schaghticoke.
According to the “Journal of the American Medical Association”, he served as President of the village, coroner of the Northern District of Rensselaer County, and health officer of the village for 28 years.
Daniel was one of the founders of the local post of the G.A.R., the Civil War veterans’ group in 1884.
Kate was a member of the Methodist Church, while Daniel was an elder in the Presbyterian Church.
He was also “Past Grand” of the local Odd Fellows, a member of the Troy Lodge of Elks, and the Rensselaer County Medical Association.
Sadly though the Tarbells had three children, they all died young: Florence died of cholera infantum aged one month, Earnest Arthur drowned at age 13, and a third child was not even named.
An article in the August 5, 1882 Troy “Times” reported that Arthur and two friends were “bathing” (swimming) - about 200 feet downstream from the powder mill dam in the shallow water near the shore of the Hoosic River.
Arthur went a little too far out and slipped into the much deeper water of the river.
His friends tried to reach him but couldn’t.
His body was recovered in twelve feet of water.
Of course his parents were reported to be “much afflicted” by this event.
Daniel died in 1905 of a stroke.
His obituary in the Troy “Daily Times” (November 11, 1905) stated he was “one of the best known residents of the northern section of Rensselaer County.”
He was “a physician of the old school that is rapidly disappearing."
"He entered into the families of his clients as a friend and counselor."
"Their sufferings were his sorrow and their joys were also his.”
“Genial and kindly”, his worked for the betterment of his community.
In addition to being a doctor and coroner, he was also the Schaghticoke correspondent for the newspaper for many years.
Wife Katherine survived until 1931.
They are buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
Turning to doctors in town, I have written about one of the men before.
Daniel H. Tarbell was a Civil War veteran.
He was born in Brandon, in Franklin County, near Malone, in 1842, where his parents were farmers originally from Vermont.
He enlisted in the 98th NYS Infantry in 1861 as age 19.
Unusually, he moved on to the 14th U.S. Infantry Regiment, in the regular U.S. Army, soon after.
I believe he was a hospital steward.
He must have gone to medical school directly from the Army, as he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1866, according to the pension file of fellow veteran and Schaghticoke resident Henry Simmons.
He married Katherine Child, whom he knew from home, in 1868, and moved to Schaghticoke about 1874.
His office was on the east side of Main Street, somewhere in the vicinity of current Diver Library.
Presumably his war experience made him want to become a doctor.
Daniel and Kate were prominent citizens of the village of Schaghticoke.
According to the “Journal of the American Medical Association”, he served as President of the village, coroner of the Northern District of Rensselaer County, and health officer of the village for 28 years.
Daniel was one of the founders of the local post of the G.A.R., the Civil War veterans’ group in 1884.
Kate was a member of the Methodist Church, while Daniel was an elder in the Presbyterian Church.
He was also “Past Grand” of the local Odd Fellows, a member of the Troy Lodge of Elks, and the Rensselaer County Medical Association.
Sadly though the Tarbells had three children, they all died young: Florence died of cholera infantum aged one month, Earnest Arthur drowned at age 13, and a third child was not even named.
An article in the August 5, 1882 Troy “Times” reported that Arthur and two friends were “bathing” (swimming) - about 200 feet downstream from the powder mill dam in the shallow water near the shore of the Hoosic River.
Arthur went a little too far out and slipped into the much deeper water of the river.
His friends tried to reach him but couldn’t.
His body was recovered in twelve feet of water.
Of course his parents were reported to be “much afflicted” by this event.
Daniel died in 1905 of a stroke.
His obituary in the Troy “Daily Times” (November 11, 1905) stated he was “one of the best known residents of the northern section of Rensselaer County.”
He was “a physician of the old school that is rapidly disappearing."
"He entered into the families of his clients as a friend and counselor."
"Their sufferings were his sorrow and their joys were also his.”
“Genial and kindly”, his worked for the betterment of his community.
In addition to being a doctor and coroner, he was also the Schaghticoke correspondent for the newspaper for many years.
Wife Katherine survived until 1931.
They are buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Schaghticoke in the Late 19th. Century, continued ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
Edward Newton Beal(e) was the other major doctor in town.
According to the catalog of Williams College of 1902, he was born in Spencertown, NY in 1834.
His obituary of March 17, 1902 recorded that he graduated from Williston Seminary in Easthampton Massachusetts, then Williams College in 1857.
He attended medical school at Michigan University, then graduated from Berkshire Medical School in Pittsfield in 1864.
He married Maggie Blinn there in 1862 and moved to Schaghticoke in 1865.
I think she and Newton, as he was known, had two children, Fanny, who died very young, and Alma, born in 1867.
Maggie died in 1869 and Newton married Elizabeth Munger in 1874.
Elizabeth was a school teacher and the daughter of Morgan and Amanda Munger.
Morgan was a market gardener in the village of Schaghticoke.
Newton served as Master of the Victor Masonic Lodge and an Elder in the Presbyterian Church.
He influenced several local young men to attend medical school.
He retained a large farm in Spencertown, probably where he had grown up.
The September 27, 1894 “Hudson Valley Republican” reported the death of his mother, Delia, widow of Matthew Beale.
She had lived with her son in Schaghticoke since the death of her husband twelve years earlier.
The April 14, 1898 edition reported that Newton had made extensive improvements in the buildings and fences on his large farm in Spencertown.
Newton’s office was in the rear of the grocery of Andrew Sipperly on the west side of Main Street, about where the bridge crosses now.
The March 11, 1902 Troy “Times” recorded that he was operated on by Drs. Ferguson and Roarke of Troy, assisted by Drs Hutton of Valley Falls and Tarbell and Beale of Schaghticoke, but died a week later of heart failure.
He had suffered from chronic laryngitis for the previous 15 months.
He and both wives are buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
Daughter Alma followed in his footsteps.
At the time of her father’s death, she was listed in the census as a physician in Baltimore, where she had graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1900, but she returned to Schaghticoke to set up a practice soon after.
Sadly, she died of heart disease at age 47 in 1915.
In her will, she established the Dr. Edward Newton Beale Scholarship at Williams College. (Williams College Catalogue, 1918)
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
Edward Newton Beal(e) was the other major doctor in town.
According to the catalog of Williams College of 1902, he was born in Spencertown, NY in 1834.
His obituary of March 17, 1902 recorded that he graduated from Williston Seminary in Easthampton Massachusetts, then Williams College in 1857.
He attended medical school at Michigan University, then graduated from Berkshire Medical School in Pittsfield in 1864.
He married Maggie Blinn there in 1862 and moved to Schaghticoke in 1865.
I think she and Newton, as he was known, had two children, Fanny, who died very young, and Alma, born in 1867.
Maggie died in 1869 and Newton married Elizabeth Munger in 1874.
Elizabeth was a school teacher and the daughter of Morgan and Amanda Munger.
Morgan was a market gardener in the village of Schaghticoke.
Newton served as Master of the Victor Masonic Lodge and an Elder in the Presbyterian Church.
He influenced several local young men to attend medical school.
He retained a large farm in Spencertown, probably where he had grown up.
The September 27, 1894 “Hudson Valley Republican” reported the death of his mother, Delia, widow of Matthew Beale.
She had lived with her son in Schaghticoke since the death of her husband twelve years earlier.
The April 14, 1898 edition reported that Newton had made extensive improvements in the buildings and fences on his large farm in Spencertown.
Newton’s office was in the rear of the grocery of Andrew Sipperly on the west side of Main Street, about where the bridge crosses now.
The March 11, 1902 Troy “Times” recorded that he was operated on by Drs. Ferguson and Roarke of Troy, assisted by Drs Hutton of Valley Falls and Tarbell and Beale of Schaghticoke, but died a week later of heart failure.
He had suffered from chronic laryngitis for the previous 15 months.
He and both wives are buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
Daughter Alma followed in his footsteps.
At the time of her father’s death, she was listed in the census as a physician in Baltimore, where she had graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1900, but she returned to Schaghticoke to set up a practice soon after.
Sadly, she died of heart disease at age 47 in 1915.
In her will, she established the Dr. Edward Newton Beale Scholarship at Williams College. (Williams College Catalogue, 1918)
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Schaghticoke in the Late 19th. Century, continued ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
A third physician practiced in Schaghticoke in 1870.
The public information about him is rather confusing.
The 1870 County Directory lists Randolph Hinds as a physician and surgeon, but the 1865, 1870, and 1875 Censuses for Schaghticoke list him as John Robert Hinds.
Ancestry.com says he was born in Hebron, Washington County in 1834.
According to a Hinds family genealogy, he married a woman named Anna in 1854.
They had two children.
Ella was born in 1855.
The 1865 census says she was born in England, the 1875 census in Oneida County!
By 1858, the family lived in the Minnesota Territory, where son William was born that year, and John was listed as a merchant.
Anna died and he married a woman named Fanny.
John and Fanny had daughter Jennie in Washington or Rensselaer County in 1862, and son Howard in Schaghticoke in 1871.
As of the 1865 NY census, John was listed as a physician here.
Where did he get his training?
Ancestry.com says he died in 1880, but I have no confirmation of that.
Certainly, by the 1900 US Census, widow Fannie was living in New York City with her daughter Jennie and her husband.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
A third physician practiced in Schaghticoke in 1870.
The public information about him is rather confusing.
The 1870 County Directory lists Randolph Hinds as a physician and surgeon, but the 1865, 1870, and 1875 Censuses for Schaghticoke list him as John Robert Hinds.
Ancestry.com says he was born in Hebron, Washington County in 1834.
According to a Hinds family genealogy, he married a woman named Anna in 1854.
They had two children.
Ella was born in 1855.
The 1865 census says she was born in England, the 1875 census in Oneida County!
By 1858, the family lived in the Minnesota Territory, where son William was born that year, and John was listed as a merchant.
Anna died and he married a woman named Fanny.
John and Fanny had daughter Jennie in Washington or Rensselaer County in 1862, and son Howard in Schaghticoke in 1871.
As of the 1865 NY census, John was listed as a physician here.
Where did he get his training?
Ancestry.com says he died in 1880, but I have no confirmation of that.
Certainly, by the 1900 US Census, widow Fannie was living in New York City with her daughter Jennie and her husband.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Schaghticoke in the Late 19th. Century, continued ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
One of the dentists in town had been in practice since about 1840.
He was James Hornbrook (Hornibrook, Hornabrook), who was listed on the 1840 census.
Both James and his wife Margaret were born in Ireland.
They were different from the many other Irish in town in that they had arrived before the potato famine of the 1840’s, were educated, and were Presbyterian rather than Catholic.
Son Robert was baptized in the Presbyterian Church in 1842.
They had a second son Albert, born in 1844.
The family lived and worked across the street from the Presbyterian Church on Main Street.
Albert enlisted to fight in the Civil War with the local regiment in August 1862, but did not serve, possibly due to his poor health.
Sadly, both sons died in 1880.
The 1880 US census listed Robert as a dentist with his dad and Albert as a bookkeeper, suffering from “general debility.”
He had been unable to work for a year.
Ironically, the 1882 edition of the Transactions of the Dental Society of New York State listed father and sons as dentists, two years after the sons had died.
It is not clear how much training any of them had.
Training was very informal at the time James became a dentist, and more formal but not rigorous or licensed for the sons.
James died in 1896 at age 80, and Margaret in 1907.
They are all buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
One of the dentists in town had been in practice since about 1840.
He was James Hornbrook (Hornibrook, Hornabrook), who was listed on the 1840 census.
Both James and his wife Margaret were born in Ireland.
They were different from the many other Irish in town in that they had arrived before the potato famine of the 1840’s, were educated, and were Presbyterian rather than Catholic.
Son Robert was baptized in the Presbyterian Church in 1842.
They had a second son Albert, born in 1844.
The family lived and worked across the street from the Presbyterian Church on Main Street.
Albert enlisted to fight in the Civil War with the local regiment in August 1862, but did not serve, possibly due to his poor health.
Sadly, both sons died in 1880.
The 1880 US census listed Robert as a dentist with his dad and Albert as a bookkeeper, suffering from “general debility.”
He had been unable to work for a year.
Ironically, the 1882 edition of the Transactions of the Dental Society of New York State listed father and sons as dentists, two years after the sons had died.
It is not clear how much training any of them had.
Training was very informal at the time James became a dentist, and more formal but not rigorous or licensed for the sons.
James died in 1896 at age 80, and Margaret in 1907.
They are all buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Schaghticoke in the Late 19th. Century, continued ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
A second dentist listed in the 1870 Rensselaer County directory for Schaghticoke was Hiram Button, who was also listed as a deputy sheriff, an interesting combination.
I don’t know how he got his dental education.
According his obituary (Nov 11, 1907 Troy “Times”) Hiram was born in 1824 in Old Schaghticoke (meaning the area around the Knickerbocker Mansion) to John and Mary Button, who had come here from Rhode Island.
John died in 1832.
As of the 1850 US Census, Hiram still lived with his mother Mary, and worked as a carder, presumably of wool.
He was 25, and had brothers Horace, 27, and Harmon, 23.
I don’t know how Hiram received a dental education, but by the 1855 NY census, he was married, to Cynthia Louisa, had a daughter Alice, 4, and was described as a dentist.
Hiram had a personal estate of just $150 in the 1860 US Census, so was not a terribly prosperous dentist.
By that 1870 Rensselaer County Directory, Hiram and Cynthia Louisa had a son Charles Herbert, and Alice was working in the linen mill.
From his placement on the 1875 NY Census, it seems that Hiram could have been living south of the bridge.
He lived in a large household with the Joseph Slocum family, so did not have his own home.
He was listed in the 1882 edition of the Transactions of the Dental Society of New York as a dentist in Schaghticoke.
Hiram was still listed as a dentist in the 1900 US Census, when he was 75 years old.
His son Charles became a druggist.
Finally in the 1905 NY Census, Hiram, now 80, was listed with no occupation.
He died in 1907 and Cynthia in 1909.
Sadly, his obituary did not describe his life story.
Both are buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Posted by schaghticokehistory on May 14, 2019
A second dentist listed in the 1870 Rensselaer County directory for Schaghticoke was Hiram Button, who was also listed as a deputy sheriff, an interesting combination.
I don’t know how he got his dental education.
According his obituary (Nov 11, 1907 Troy “Times”) Hiram was born in 1824 in Old Schaghticoke (meaning the area around the Knickerbocker Mansion) to John and Mary Button, who had come here from Rhode Island.
John died in 1832.
As of the 1850 US Census, Hiram still lived with his mother Mary, and worked as a carder, presumably of wool.
He was 25, and had brothers Horace, 27, and Harmon, 23.
I don’t know how Hiram received a dental education, but by the 1855 NY census, he was married, to Cynthia Louisa, had a daughter Alice, 4, and was described as a dentist.
Hiram had a personal estate of just $150 in the 1860 US Census, so was not a terribly prosperous dentist.
By that 1870 Rensselaer County Directory, Hiram and Cynthia Louisa had a son Charles Herbert, and Alice was working in the linen mill.
From his placement on the 1875 NY Census, it seems that Hiram could have been living south of the bridge.
He lived in a large household with the Joseph Slocum family, so did not have his own home.
He was listed in the 1882 edition of the Transactions of the Dental Society of New York as a dentist in Schaghticoke.
Hiram was still listed as a dentist in the 1900 US Census, when he was 75 years old.
His son Charles became a druggist.
Finally in the 1905 NY Census, Hiram, now 80, was listed with no occupation.
He died in 1907 and Cynthia in 1909.
Sadly, his obituary did not describe his life story.
Both are buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
TO BE CONTINUED ...