he came to Poughkeepsie, and engaged in the
carriage and sleigh-making business with John
P. Myers, afterward carrying it on on his own
account until 1853, when he took George
Lockwood into partnership with him. The
firm prospered, and in 1888 they sold their
business and retired. Mr. Streit invested in
real estate in Poughkeepsie, which at the pres-
ent time is very valuable. In politics, he was
a Republican, although he never sought public
office, was made a member of the board of
village trustees of Poughkeepsie, and repre-
sented the Fourth ward as alderman in 1854.
In early manhood he became connected with
the Presbyterian Church, with the interests of
which he was associated until his death. He
was twice married; by his first wife, Martha
Wigg, daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (De
Groff) Wigg, and born December 23, 181 r,
married January 31, 1838, died in October,
1861, two children were born: a son who died
in infancy, and a daughter, now Mrs. Elizabeth
Raub, of Poughkeepsie. By his second wife,
Rebecca Matilda Duncan, he had one child, a
son who died in infancy. Mr. Streit died
March i, 1891. He will always be remem-
bered as an honorable, upright man, who
gained and held the respect and esteem of his
fellow citizens. He was identified with the
industries of the city, and for many years was
a director in the Poughkeepsie National Bank.
His taste and enterprise, courtesy and probity,
were noteworthy, and in no sphere was he more
honored than in the Church where his name
was recorded nearly all his manhood. His
widow is living at the old home, and in 1886
she purchased her own old homestead at
Unionvale, near Millbrook, New York.
Elizabeth Streit (the daughter of our
subject by his first wife) was born in the city
of Poughkeepsie, married James M. Raub, of
Raubsville, Penn., who died July 20, 1872;
they had two daughters: Alma, now Mrs.
Halsey Haines Cheney, and Lena, now Mrs.
John Morton Swift.
ROBERT FORSTER (deceased) was born
in Canada March 14, 182 1, of English
and French ancestry. The father died when
Robert was a small boy, and the latter went to
New York City, where he received his early
education.
Mr. Forster learned the machinist's trade
with John Matthews, with whom he lived for
several years. While in Mr. Matthews' em-
ploy as foreman of the factory, our subject was
married June 6, 1843, to Emma Manning. In
1846 he came to Poughkeepsie, and followed
his trade, that of a machinist. In 1S47 he
built the apparatus for the manufacture of soda
water, and engaged in the bottling business,
in which he was the pioneer in Poughkeepsie.
He first started in the retail business, which
soon rapidly increased to wholesale, and he
supplied the trade of Poughkeepsie and other
cities. He was an active member of the fire
department, but would never hold a political
office. His business, which is now the largest
in the city, is carried on by his widow, she has
an adopted son, George, who assists her. He
married Miss Emma Louise Hager, and they
have three children: Grace T. , Emma N.
and Robert. Mrs. Forster also has in her
employ James Du Bois, who has been with her
14fJ
cojoiEJiOBArrrs biograpbical record.
since 1S55. and Robert William Polhemus. a
nephew, who has been with her since 1873.
Mr. Forsier died in Poughkeepsie June 2S,
1863.
Charles Manning. Jr.. the father of Mrs.
Forster. was bom at Hyde Park. Dutchess
county, in 1795. where he spent his boyhood
attending public schools. He was a soldier in
the war of 1S12. On Januajy 4. 18 17. he
was married to ^^iss Maria Tra\-is. who was
bom in the town of Pleasant Vallej-. August
16, 1795. and children as follows were bom to
them: Elizabeth and Hester ^^both deceased^ :
Emma: Sarah, who married William S. Pol-
hemus, of Poughkeepsie: James, and Charles.
the latter being deceased.
Mr. Manning was
engaged in farming in Hyde Park until i S26,
when he went to New York City and went into
business there. Later he returned to Dutch-
ess county, and died January 2. 1S57.
Charles Manning, the grandfather of Mrs.
Forster. was a farmer in the town of Hvde
moved to the town of Egremont. Berkshire
county, where he carried on agricultural pur-
suits until bis death, which occurred August
II, 1870.
Henry E. Codding, bom June i6, 1S26.
obtained his elementary education in the com-
mon schools of Berkshire county, and com-
pleted his literarj- training in the old Lenox
.â– \cademy. His active business life was all
devoted to farming in the town of Egremont,
where he died November 24, 1S96. A con-
scientious, earnest. Christian man. for several
years he was deacon in the Baptist Church,
and officially served as justice of the peace,
being appointed by the governor of Massachu-
setts. In December, 1S49, he was united in
marriage with Miss Emeline. daughter of
Stephen Eldgerley. of Glendale. Berkshire Co.,
Mass.. and thej- became the parents of three
children: Marcia R. . who was bom November
9. 1S50. and is now the wife of .\lfred J. Hub^
bard, of LeRov. N. Y. : Clara G., who was
Park, where he was bom July 17, 1771. He bom May 11. 1S32. and died in June. 1S92;
married Miss Elizabeth Myer. who was bom
April 20. 1772. and they had fourteen chil-
dren. Charles Manning, the great-grand-
father, was one of the early pioneers of the
town of Hyde Park. Isaac Travis, the ma-
ternal grandfather, was bom in the town of
Pleasant Valley. February 10. 1763. and was
married to Miss Elizabeth ConkUn, who was
bom June 3, 1760. They had nine children,
of whom. Maria, the mother of Mrs. Forster,
was the fifth.
GEORGE H. CODDING. M. D.. a leading
_ ph\'3ician and surgeon of Amenia. Dutch-
ess count\'. was bom at Egremont. Berkshire
Co.. Mass.. August i, 1S54, and comes of a
family that for several generations have been
prominent agriculturists of that county. His
great-grandfather. Cobb Codding, whose birth
occurred at Taunton. Mass.. in 1774. became
a prosperous farmer and lumberman in the
town of Washington. Berkshire county.
There. Ephraim Codding, the grandfather.
was bom Febniarj- 20. iSoo. and spent his
da\-s upon his father's farm. .\t
<. Conn., he married Miss Ann Eliza
Remington, who died in 1872. and to them
'.V - - — - '-^ children: Henry E.. the
ect. and Ann ElLza and Sarah
i -ed. After a short resi-
c -?. he in March, 1S45, re-
and George H.. of this re\new. The mother
of these children was called to her final rest
May 26. i860, and Mr. Codding again married,
his second union being with Cornelia Eggles-
ton. daughter of David Eggleston. of the town
of Northeast. Dutchess Co.. New York.
Dr. Codding was reared upon the home
farm in the town of Egremont. Berkshire Co.,
Mass., and attended the Egremont Academy,
after which he taught school for a year and a
half, and in 1S7S took up the study of medi-
cine with Dr. Henr\- M. Knight, of Lakeville,
Conn. On the death of that gentleman, be
continued to pursue his medical studies under
the instruction of Dr. John C. Shaw, at that
time superintendent of the Kings County In-
sane Asylum at Flatbush. Long Island, and
subsequently graduated at the College of Phy-
sicians and Surgeons in New York City, in the
class of Si.
The Doctor then entered Kings County
Hospital at Flatbush. as assistant physician,
and later was appointed second assistant at the
Kings CountA' Insane Asylum, thus gaining
much practical knowledge. On January 9.
1SS2. he arrived in Amenia. where for three
years he was in partnership with Dr. Desault
Guernsey, but since that time has been alone,
and is now at the head of a large practice. He
is a member of the Dutchess Countj- Medical
Society, and was one of the founders of the
New York State Medical .Association.
COMMEMOIiATirE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
143
On March 28, 1883, Dr. Codding was mar-
ried to Miss Irene Hinman Warner, daughter
of Sherman B. Warner, of Southbury, Conn.,
and to them were born two children — Joel
Hinman, born May 29, 1884; and Desault
Guernsey, born September 28, 1886, and died
July 23, 1887.
CHARLES BROWN HERRICK(de-
_ ceased). Among the prominent citizens of
Foughkeepsie, Dutchess county, who have
passed to the unseen world in recent years,
the late Charles B. Herrick held an honor-
able place, and the announcement of his
death at Haines' Falls, in the Catskills,
July 29, 1896, caused sincere and wide-spread
grief among all classes in the city where the
best of his years had been spent. Although
it was well-known that he was stricken
with a serious ailment — locomotor ataxia —
his unvarying composure under suffering had
led many of his friends to hope that the
disease would not prove fatal. In the prime
of life, having just crossed the half cen-
tury line (for he was born August 15, 1845),
he had scarcely begun to reap the rewards and
honors due to his able and conscientious work
in the legal profession, while the community
which he had faithfully served in the various
official capacities has lost an untiring supporter
of its best interests.
Like many of the foremost citizens of the
country, he was born and reared upon a farm,
and his father, William Herrick,. still resides
at the old home at Salt Point, Dutchess coun-
ty. Our subject prepared for college at East
Hampton, Mass., and was graduated from
Yale College in 1869. His legal studies were
prosecuted in the office of Thompson & Weeks,
and in 1870 he began to practice, his office
being located in the old " Lawyers' Row," on
Market street at the site of the present post
office. In 1876 he formed a partnership with
Col. Henry E. Lose}-, which continued until
his death. Mr. Herrick's interest in educa-
tional and literary pursuits was shown in many
ways; he was a trustee of Vassar Institute, and
also served three years as a member of the
board of education. In politics he was an act-
ive worker, and for a number of years pre-
vious to his death he was chairman of the
Democratic City Committee. When the
water board was organized he was appointed
clerk, which office he held for several years.
and his work as city attorney under the ad-
ministration of Mayor Elsworth and of Mayor
Ketcham reflected great credit upon him, and
was satisfactory in the highest degree to the
people. The Poughkeepsie Courier said at
the time of his retirement from office:
During Mr. Herrick's incumbency, suits aggregating
between Sl.')0,000 and S200,000, have been brought against
the city, and the total recovery has only been S^J.TOO.
This is quite a remarkable record, most of the actions
for damages resulting from slii)[)ery sidewalks. In addi-
tion to defending all suits against the city, Mr. Herrick
has been the right hand man and confidential adviser of
two mayors, and the official adviser for six years of all
the city boards, at the same time has attended to a large
private practice. \'ery little business, however, will re-
main uncompleted at the close of bis term. Only one
suit is pending against the city.
In all relations of life, Mr. Herrick was a
typical American gentleman. Dignified in ap-
pearance, at the same time he was pleasing in
manners, and he fully appreciated the value of
the friendship and esteem of his associates.
Although he was always earnest in the support
of any cause which he espoused, he never
made use of any methods that were not hon-
orable and straightforward, and neither in
public or private life was he ever swerved by
criticism, ridicule, or invective from the dis-
charge of his duty as he saw it. His innate
kindness and justice were displayed in his
characteristic reluctance to express an opinion
where character or reputation was involved.
His legal brethren held him in the highest
esteem, and a meeting of the Bar Association
of Dutchess County, held shortly after his
death, was largely attended, and eloquent
tributes of respect were paid by Messrs. Frank
Hasbrouck, ex-Judge Henry M. Taylor, Frank
B. Lown, Gifford Wilkinson, J. Hervey Cook,
Safford Crummey, Martin Heermance. and
others. Resolutions of condolence with the
sorrowing relatives were adopted, and the
words of praise of the life so prematurely
ended voiced the feelings of all present.
Mr. Herrick left a widow, formerly Miss
Ada Van Benschoten, daughter of Philip and
Jane Ann (O'Dell) Van Benschoten, of the
town of Lagrange, and three sisters and a
brother also survive him. The funeral serv-
ices were held at the home of the deceased on
Hooker avenue, and his remains were interred
in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, a large
company of friends gathering to pay the last
token of affection. For several years the de-
ceased was a member of the University Club
of New York City.
COMMEMORATIVE BIOQBAPHICAL RECORD.
145
cratic airs of the other lines, calHng their home-
steads after different castles of the local Lord
Livingstons in Scotland, to whom, according
to the investigation published in the " Curio,"
Vol. I., 1 887-1 888, pages 45 and 46, they can-
not trace their connection. Burke says as
much in his " Lost Peerages." Even E. Brock-
hoist Livingston, F. S. A.: Scot., who has
written so largely on the subject, admits he
cannot supply " the missing link " ("Curio,"
I., 46). There were almost as many so-styled
"Livingston Manor houses" as there were
well-to-do heads of families of that name.
Nevertheless, there was only one real "manor
house," situated on the north shore of the Roe-
liff Jansen Kill, near the railroad station, just
to the north of its junction with the Hudson
river, which was burned down in the preced-
ing century, never rebuilt, and the possession
of its site has passed into other hands.
Like the Hapsburg family, who boasted of
the growth of their possessions by marrying
heiresses, the first Livingston laid the founda-
tion of his fortune in his union with the widow
of a Van Renssalaer. Mrs. Martha J. Lamb,
in her " History of ' the City of New York,"
Vol. I., pp. 275 and 276, furnishes a pen pic-
ture of him, moral and physical, and his de-
scendants have not lost his peculiar character-
istics to this day.
The different scions of the Watts family,
moved by affectionate recollections of the old
home in Scotland — once just without, now
within the city limits of Edinburgh — called all
their rural residences in the Province and State
of New York, "Rose Hill," the title borne by
their forefathers' mansion for several hundred
years. The simple appellation " Rose Hill "
was a common weal. They did not arrogate
to their homes the titles of different castles of
Earls and Lords in Scotland, scattered through-
out the realm, not aggregated, as here, in a
small district.
Guisbert, or Gilbert, who married Cornelia
Beekman, had Mills near Rock City, in the
town of Milan, and they were still in existence
and known by his name until recent date, if
not still in use. His eldest son, Robert Gil-
bert Livingston, married Catherine, daughter
of a wealthy man, John Mac Pheadris, who
was the first to introduce the mining and
smelting of iron in Dover Valley in Duchess
county. The brother of this John, known as
Capt. Mac Pheadris, afterward resided in Ports-
mouth, N. H., and built — 1718 to 1723 — a
10
famous mansion, described at length by Brew-
ster in his "Rambles about Portsmouth," ist
ed., pp. 138-140 inclusive. It cost i,'6,ooo,
equivalent to $30,000 Colonial coinage, pos-
sessing at that time a purchasing power equal
to $150,000 to-day.
Helen, eldest daughter of Robert Gilbert
Livingston and Catherine MacPheadris, mar-
ried Samuel Hake, a commissary general in
the British army, whose only daughter, again
Helen, married Frederic de Peyster, grand-
father of the subject of this sketch. Catherine,
another daughter, married John Reade, of
Poughkeepsie, who was the brother of Sarah
Reade, daughter of Hon. Joseph Reade, mem-
ber of the King's Council, etc. This Sarah
married James de Peyster, father of the Fred-
eric above mentioned. Samuel, only son of
Gen. Hake, having lost all his children, left
all his landed property in Duchess county to
the sons of his sister, Mrs. de Peyster, whence
(through his honored father, Frederic de Pey-
ster) it came into possession of' her grand-
child, the General. The Century for Decem-
ber, 1896, in the article " A Group of Amer-
ican Girls," alludes to these ladies.*
Helen Hake had for guardians Nicholas
William Stuyvesant and Vice-President Aaron
Burr, one of the most malignantly misrepre-
sented of mortals. She was married to Fred-
eric de Peyster, from the house of her great
uncle, Gilbert Robert Livingston, at Upper
Red Hook Landing, now Tivoli. This gentle-
man had been an officer in the British service,
and this fact saved his mansion, known as
" Green Hill," on the high ground overlooking
the river, between the Upper and Lower
Landings of the two freighting establishments
which are now embraced within the village of
Tivoli. This title was derived from the resi-
dence built by an old French gentleman, M.
Delabegarre, and by him styled the " Chateau
of Tivoli," of which the part of the original
walls of the '' cncicnte" were standing until
within the year, and the postern gate still re-
mains. M. Delabegarre was a visionary, and
among his other wild plans he laid out, for a
grand city, a large portion of the domain,
Rose Hill, now belonging to Gen. de Peyster,
as well as the " Chateau " at first given to his
second son, Frederic. The plotting and plan__
of this city, a perfect " Chateau en Espagne, ".
was drawn and engraved by the famous Saint
*I*erhaps the best succinct or properly digested genealogical
statement of Gen. de Peyster's family is to be fonnd in Munsell's
â– â– American Ancestry," Vol. I., Part 3, 18S8, Pages 83-86.
146
COyrMKMORATrVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Meniin, the artist who took and engraved so
many portraits of distinguished people about
1796, the same time that he laid out the pros-
pective city of Tivoli, in which not a spade
has turned a sod for any improvement, or any
structure great or small undertaken. On these
grounds the first — or at all events one of the
first — silk-worm mulberry groves was planted
in the United States. By the way, tradition
holds that Delabegarre was an Americanism
for L'Abbe de Seguard, which, if true, would
indicate that he was a waif of the French
Ke\olution who, like so many thousands of
Others, drifted to the United States.
General de Peyster's residence and asso-
ciations with Duchess county have been con-
tinuous since 1841. He was an early contrib-
utor to the Poughkeepsie Edg/c, in the office
of which a number of his works were printed
that won him high distinction at home and
abroad. One, "The Life of Torstenson," re-
ceived an honorable acknowledgment from
His Majesty, Oscar I., the king of Sweden,
accompanied by three exquisite silver portrait
medals. Several of his subsequent works
were reprinted in Europe, and one of them,
the "New American Tactics," was followed by
the inauguration of the ' ' New Method of Fight-
ing Infantry;" just as his "Winter Cam-
paigns," according to the opinion of Gen.
Wm. P. Wainwright, was succeeded by activ-
ity at a season in which, previously, armies
had rested or remained inactive. It is some-
what curious that his want of recognition has
been due to his having always been ahead of
his times. Just as he was the first to report
in favor of the mobilized twelve-pounder, or
Napoleon gun, which did so much service
during the "Slaveholders' Rebellion," just so
his indications were remarkable for their fore-
sight and his predictions for their fulfillment,
as in succession he wrote and published on
various militarj' subjects. That these claims
are not an afterthought or unfounded is sus-
ceptible of immediate and the fullest proof,
because his opinions and suggestions were all
in print or preserved in manuscript written long
previous to the events to which they referred.
To the case of General de Peyster most appro-
priately apply the lines:
" The man is thoufjht a knavt or fool
Or bigot plotting crimt-,
Who for the advancement of his age
Is wiser than his time."
In 1844 he was a staff officer in an Infantry
Brigade of the Northern Districts of Duchess
county, and next year colonel of the iiith
Regiment N. Y. S. Infantry, recruited in the
towns of Red Hook, Milan and Rhinebeck.
Rendered a Supernuinerary officer by the Act of
1845, although the youngest colonel in the
new 22d Regiinental District N. Y. — which
comprised the northern towns of Duchess
county and those in the southern half of Colum-
bia county, including the City of Hudson — he
was assigned, as a necessity for the complete
organization of the force, to its command over
the heads of a number of officers of his rank
holding older commissions. Within one year
the adjutant-general of the State complimented
him with the decision that Col. Willard, of
Troy, an old army officer, and himself, were
the only two who had completely enforced the
law in their districts, of which the population
were considered the most difficult to handle
and the most unruly at that date in the whole
State. In 1S51, when the militia law was
again changed, and anything but for the better.
Col. de Peyster was the first officer selected by
Gov. Washington Hunt for promotion as brig-
adier-general, and his was the first such appoint-
ment to a rank hitherto elective made by the
chief executive, independentl}', in this State.
Just as he had been assigned in 1849 for
"meritorious conduct ", he was made brigadier-
general for "important service". On 'this
occasion Gov. Washington Hunt wrote, in the
summer of 1850, to Hon. George Cornell, who
ran for lieutenant-governor in 1850 on the
same ticket with him, but was defeated, that
"if he had an army of 30,000 regulars he
knew no officer to whom he would entrust
their command with such perfect confidence
as he would to his friend General de Peyster;
but he was not so sure that he was as fit to
command militia and what was then styled
volunteers." His meaning was that the Gen-
eral simply understood the application of
"must", implying the enforcement of the
strictest discipline; whereas militia and volun-
teers — which latter did not signify at the time
— as afterwards — troops subjected to the
sternest articles of war — had to be coaxed,
which is something that the General could not
understand.
Sent out to Europe in 1851 as military
agent of the State of New York, confirmed and
endorsed in the strongest manner by the gen-
eral government, the young Brigadier, although
a great invalid, made such a thorough exam-
COMMEMORATIVE BIOOEAPHWAL RECORD.
147
ination into subjects in which he was expected
to take interest, that on his return tie handed
in a report which has stood the test of time as
to its merits, as will be shown. One of the
results of his observation and influence was the
establishment of a paid fire department with
steam tire engines, and the present municipal
police of New York City, to which fact letters
or certificates and testimonials exist. For
his reports Gov. Hunt presented to him a gold
medal with a most flattering inscription, and
his officers gave him another gold medal,
equally complimentary for his efforts in elevat-
ing and disciplining his brigade.
When Myron H. Clark was elected Gov-
ernor of the State of New York in 1854, he
tendered the position of Adjutant-General to
General de Peyster in the most flattering terms,
irrespective of political opinions; andon various
occasions, when the exigencies of the time re-
quired, conferred on his Chief of Staff all the
powers which the Chief Executive himself pos-
sessed, to meet and suppress riot and other
breaches of the peace. Although Governor
Clark put such implicit confidence in his Adju-
tant-General, he was surrounded by men who
were laboring solely for their own interests,
without regard to the interests of the service,
and did all they could to neutralize General de
Peyster's labors. By the advice of such gen-
tlemen as Ogden Hoffman, Attorney-General,
he determined to resign, but the result of his
honest labors in office manifested itself, and
won for him the most flattering attests from
officials most worthy of confidence, and the
best military judges. Perhaps the highest
compliment to his fidelity and judgment was
the privilege of selecting his successor, and he
chose Robert H. Pruyn, at one time United
States Minister to Japan, as one whose astute-
ness in politics fitted him to grapple with the
noxious elements which environed the Gov-