Orange County New York

Headley, Russel. The history of Orange County, New York. Middletown, N.Y.: Van Deusen and Elms. 1908.

Biography of William Henry Seward

William H. Seward was born May 16, 1801, in the village of Florida, Town of Warwick, Orange County, New York. His father, Dr. Samuel S. Seward, was a physician of good standing and the first Vice-President of the County Medical Society. Dr. Seward was a farmer, as well as physician, and also the magistrate, storekeeper, banker and money-lender of the little village. He lived to a good old age, dying after his son’s election to the United States Senate, in 1849. The family was of New Jersey origin. John Seward, the grandfather of William Henry, served in the war of … Read more

Biography of Major Edward Carlisle Boynton

Major E. C. Boynton, a graduate of West Point Military Academy, and for many years an instructor in that institution, is chiefly distinguished as the author of the “History of West Point and the Origin and Progress of the U. S. Military Academy,” and several technical works, all of which are regarded as standard authorities on the subjects of which they treat. He was appointed as a cadet at the United States Military Academy, July 1, 1841. After graduation in 1846, he was assigned to the Second Artillery as Brevet Second Lieutenant and ordered to join the army in, Mexico, … Read more

Biography of Joel Tyler Headley

Historian and journalist, was born Dec. 30, 1813, at Walton, Delaware County, N. Y. He died at Newburgh, N. Y., in 1897. He was the son of a Presbyterian minister settled at Walton. Early in life he determined to follow the ministry as a life work, and after graduating at Union College in 1839, he took a course in theology at Auburn Theological Seminary. After being admitted to the ministry he was settled over a church at Stockbridge, Mass. His health failing shortly after he was compelled to relinquish his chosen profession, and in 1842 traveled in Europe. His “Letters … Read more

Biography of George Clinton

For many generations the name of Clinton has been a name for New York State to conjure with. The public achievements of George Clinton and his fame as a farseeing statesman have been somewhat obscured by the later brilliancy of DeWitt Clinton, of the same clan. George Clinton was born on July 26, 1739, in what is now the Town of New Windsor, Orange County, N. Y. He was the youngest son of Charles Clinton, who came from the North of Ireland. He was born in 1690 and died in Orange County in 1773. It should be stated by way … Read more

Biography of Ethel Lynn Eliot Beers

Ethel Lynn Eliot Beers. Goshen’s Sweet Singer, Mrs. Ethel Lynn Eliot Beers, who wrote under the nom de plume, of “Ethel Lynn,” was born at Goshen, Orange County, N. Y., in 1825 and died at Orange, N. J., in 1879. Mrs. Beers who was a woman of rare literary gifts, was a frequent contributor to the leading periodicals of her time. Perhaps her best known poem is “All Quiet Along the Potomac,” written during the civil war, which attracted wide attention, and occupies a permanent place in standard poetical literature. “All Quiet Along the Potomac” was first published in Harper’s … Read more

Biography of Dewitt Clinton

DeWitt Clinton was born at Little Britain, Orange County, N. Y., in. 1769. He died suddenly while engaged in official duty at Albany, February 11, 1828. His paternal ancestors, although long resident in Ireland, were of English origin, and his mother was of Dutch-French blood. He was educated at Columbia College, graduating with high honors. Choosing the law for his avocation, he studied law under Samuel Jones, afterwards Chief Justice of the United States Superior Court. He was admitted to the Bar in 1788 and entered immediately into political life, being an ardent supporter of his uncle, George Clinton. He … Read more

Biography of David Halliday Moffat

David H. Moffat, one of the empire builders of the great West, was born at Washingtonville, Orange County, N. Y., in the year 1839. He died in New York City on March 1S, 1911. He was the youngest child of David Moffat and Catherine Gregg Moffat. The life of David H. Moffat can be properly termed one of the romances of the great Middle West, for he was connected with almost every important development between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, particularly in the vicinity of Denver. He commenced his business career as a clerk in a New York … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Nathaniel Parker Willis

Born in Portland, Maine, January 20, 1806, died at his country home, Idlewild, Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, January 20, 1867. His chief works are: Melanie, Lady Jane and other poems; Pencillings by the Way; Inklings of Adventure; Romance of Travel, comprising Tales of Five Lands; People I Have Met, or Pictures of Society and People of Mark; A Health Trip to the Tropics; Out of Doors at Idlewild; Paul Fane, or Parts of a life else Untold, a Novel. Edgar Allen Poe, in a review of the literary work of N. P. Willis said: “As a writer of `sketches’ properly so called, Mr. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Edward Payson Roe

Edward Payson Roe was one of Orange County’s most distinguished writers. He was born in Moodna, Orange County, N. Y., in 1838, and died at his home near Cornwall-on-Hudson in 1888. He is best remembered as a novelist whose works achieved great popularity in America and abroad, several of his novels being translated into foreign languages. He studied for the ministry, but illness caused him to abandon his studies while attending Williams College before graduation, but he afterward received a Bachelor’s degree, studied at Auburn and Union Seminaries, and in 1862-65, was a chaplain in the volunteer service during the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Edward M. Ruttenber

Journalist and historian, was born in the Town of Bennington, Vt., July 17, 1824. He entered the office of the Vermont Gazette as an apprentice to the printing business in 1837, and removed to Newburgh in 1838, where he became an indentured apprentice in the office of the Newburgh Telegraph, of which he became the owner in 1850. He was thereafter connected with Newburgh journalism as editor and publisher during his entire life, dying at the advanced age of 83 years on December 4, 1907, at Newburgh, N. Y. As a historian he was thorough and exhaustive, and to him, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Benjamin Barker Odell

Benjamin B. Odell, thirty-seventh Governor of the State of New York, was born at Newburgh, N. Y., January 14, 1854. He was the son of Benjamin Barker and Ophelia (Bookstaver,) Odell. He graduated from Newburgh Academy in 1874, and entered Bethany College, in Bethany, W. Va., the same year. He remained there one year, after which he entered Columbia College, New York City, where he continued until 1877. He married Estelle Crist, of Newburgh, April 25, 1877; she died in 1888. His second wife was Mrs. Linda (Crist,) Traphagen, a sister of his first wife, whom he married in 1891. … Read more