Miss Janet Clark. To them were born six
children — Walter and Chester, who died in
infancy; Mary, who wedded James Wood;
236
COVMEMORATITE BIOGRAPHICAL BECOED.
George, who married Eniil\- Tripp: Mina, who
married Lewis Waldron: and Harry, who died
in infancy. (2i Betsy married William Smith,
a farmer of Dover Plains. Dutchess county,
and they had two children— Frances, who
married Charles Cooper: and Jane, who mar-
ried James Deacon. (3) Charles, subject of
this sketch, was the next in order of birth.
(4) Silas, a hat manufacturer, enlisted in a
Connecticut regiment, and served all through
the war of the Rebellion. He married Miss
Margaret Abbott, but no children were born
to them. (5) Sarah was never married. (6
Theron was engaged in the foundry business.
and married Miss Anna Hart, by whom he had
three children — Mary. John and Albert. (7)
Henr}- carried on farming in the West. He
married Miss Margaret O'Conners. but they
had no children. All of the above-named
family were born in the town of Dover, Dutch-
ess county, and were there educated.
The subject proper of this sketch was born
in the town of Dover. Dutchess county, in
1824. and like the other members of the fam-
ily attended the common schools near his
home. He earh- became familiar with the
work that falls to the lot of the agriculturist,
and made farming his life work. He was a
highly-respected citizen, having the confidence
and esteem of all who knew him. and man\"
friends mourned his death.
Mr. Davis was united in marriage with
Miss Elizabeth Benson, a daughter of Jeffer-
son and Fannie (Glenn) Benson, of Amenia.
Dutchess county, and they became the par-
ents of eight children, namely: George, bom
in 1S49. has for several j-ears been a conductor
on the Harlem railroad: he married Ellen
Duncan, and has one child — Ed J.: John.
born in 185 1. was for years conductor on the
Harlem railroad, and had his arm crushed in
1891: William, bom in 1853. was on the same
road for years, and is now on the Brooklyn
bridge: he married Eliza Benson, and has
eight children — Charles. Albert, Nellie. Anna,
Emma. Sophia. Arthur and Lula. Edward,
born in 1855. died at the age of nineteen years.
Frank, born in 1857. was a conductor on the
Staten Island road, and was killed in a colli-
sion in 1893: he married Katie E. Spencer.
Walter, born in 1859, is a fireman on the
Harlem road: he married Jennie Proper, and
has two children — Ida and Ethel. Jefferson,
bom in i860, is an engineer on the Brooklyn
bridge: he married Emilv Duncan, and has
three children — Edith. Harry and Mabel.
Arthur, born in 1862. was a policeman at the
time of his death in 1888: he married Georgia
Schamerhorn, and had one child — Katie E..
who died in infancv.
BENJAMIN N. BAKER. M. D., one of the
ablest and most successful medical practi-
tioners of Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, was
bom October 2. 1833. in Montgomery county,
Pennsylvania.
His family is of English origin, and has
long been established in Nottingham, England.,
where his grandfather. John Baker, was a well-
known resident in his day. Rev. John J. Baker,
our subjects father, was the first of the family
to come to America, and fifty years of his life
were spent as a devoted minister of the Baptist
Church in Philadelphia and in different towns
in New Jersey. He married Miss Elizabeth
Nicholson, daughter of Benjamin Nicholson, a
Revolutionan,' soldier, who was at one time
imprisoned in a man-of-war in New York har-
bor. Thirteen children were bom of this union,
of whom the following seven lived to adult age:
Benjamin N.. William. Lansing B.. John J.,
Catherine. Margaret and Allie. The father
died in 1890. and the mother in 1S91.
Dr. Baker received a good education in his
youth, graduating in 184S from the Central
High School in Philadelphia, to attend which
he walked three miles each day. Soon after
leaving school he engaged in the drug business
in the same city, and later took the general
course in medicine in the Pennsylvania Med-
ical College, and was graduated in 1S57. He
then began the practice of his profession at
Lawrenceville. N. J., and remained there twelve
years, with the exception of one year in the
army, in 1862-63. He entered as second as-
sistant surgeon of the ist N. J. C and later
became first assistant of the 28th N. J. I., and
then first surgeon of the Third Division, Second
Corps. Hospital in the field, and was mustered
out while holding this rank. He returned to
LawTenceville. but in 1S68 moved to Rhine-
beck, and has been in general practice there
ever since, winning an enviable reputation
throughout the surrounding countr\' for the
successful and scientific treatment of difficult
cases. In his professional work he is naturally
a diligent reader, and he keeps well informed
also on the topics of the day. Political work
he has left entirely alone. He votes the Dem-
LL^
<^
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
237
ocratic ticket, though formerly a Rcpubhcan,
and he is interested in all movements for the
public benefit, and has been health officer for
several years.
On April 7, 1858, he was married to Miss
Sarah S. Exton, daughter of Thomas Exton,
a well-known citizen of Clinton, N. J., and
granddaughter of Hugh Exton, who came
from England at an early date and purchased
one thousand acres of land, now known as
Union farms. T-hey have had eight children,
four of whom are now living: Lizzie, who
married Edward Holley, of Hudson, N. Y. ;
Ella, the wife of R. R. Jarvis, of Arlington,
N. J.; Harriet, the wife of Thomas J. Sinclair,
of Philadelphia; and Mae, who is at home.
The Doctor united with the Presbyterian Church
in his youth, but he and his wife are now active
members of the Reformed Dutch Church. The
Doctor takes great interest in the G. A. R.,
being a member of Armstrong Post, and he also
belongs to the Masonic order.
THOMAS W. EMBLEY, M. D., of Fish-
kill, Dutchess county. Among the tal-
ented young physicians of this region, we
should name the subject of this sketch as hav-
ing demonstrated in an unusually short time
the possession of native ability for his profes-
sion, as well as the thorough training which,
however necessary to a successful practitioner,
is useful only where the other exists to be de-
veloped.
Dr. Embley is a native of Fishkill-on-Hud-
son, where he was born July 22, 1874. His
family originated in England, and for 300 years
there has been a Thomas Embley in the direct
line of descent. The Doctor's great-grand-
father, Thomas Embley, lived in Lancashire,
England, and was a mason by trade. He was
accidentally killed by the falling of a scaffold,
and left a small family, among whom was a
son, Thomas, our subject's grandfather, who
was born at Clitheroe, in northern Lancashire.
He became a carder of cotton goods in his
youth, and later followed teaming, but finally
engaged in the grocery business. He died in
1857, aged seventy-five \'ears, and his wife,
Ann (Tiplady), followed him a year later, aged
fifty-eight. Her father, John Tiplady, was a
lead miner of Yorkshire, England. Thomas
and Ann Embley were devout members of the
Church of England. Of their three children,
the youngest, Thomas, our subject's father, is
now the only survivor. Mary A. married
William Fitton, now deceased, and Alice was
the wife of the late John Seddon.
Thomas Embley, the Doctor's father, was
born at Hyde, Cheshire, England, August 6,
1839, and was the only one of the family to
cross the ocean. The first eleven years of his
life were spent at his native place, and he then
became a switch-tender in a railroad j'ard at
Gorton. At fourteen he went to Manchester
to learn the art of decorating interiors, and for
several years he was successfully engaged in
painting and paper-hanging. In 1873 he came
to America, and visited Fishkill and neighbor-
ing towns in his search for a suitable location.
The prospects there being favorable he began
working at his trade, but in 1876 he estab-
lished a saloon business at Fishkill Landing,
and has met with marked success. In 1889
he built the brick block at the corner of Wal-
nut and Main streets, where he has since con-
ducted his business, and until taking possession
of that place he was also engaged to some ex-
tent at his old trade of decorator. At present
he is treasurer of the Liquor and Beer Deal-
ers' Association of Fishkill.
In his political views Mr. Embley is inde-
pendent, voting for the best men and measures
without regard to party. He inclines toward
the Episcopal Church, having been a member
of the Established Church before coming to
the United States. While living in Godley,
England, he was active in Church work, and
was a teacher in the Sunday-school. He also
joined the I. O. O. F. in his native land. He
was married in the old country, August 6, i S69,
to Miss Lucy J. Fisher, daughter of William
Fisher, of Leiston, Suffolk, England. Only
one child, our subject, lived to adult age, and
to him we will now return.
Dr. Embley was educated in Fishkill, and
on completing his course in the local schools
he began the study of medicine with Dr. J. G.
Dawson, of Matteawan. After eighteen months
of preparatory reading he was enrolled in Oc-
tober, 1893, as a student at Hahnemann Med-
ical College at Philadelphia, Penn. He was
graduated in 1896, and in July of that year
opened his office at Fishkill village, where he
is making his way by his own merits. He has
already had some difficult cases, and was asso-
ciated with Dr. Dawson, his former preceptor,
in a very important operation requiring intelli-
gence and skill, by which they saved a leg for
238
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
a man who had been run over by the cars. So
far the Doctor has not donned the Hymeneal
yoke.
> EV. JAMES NILAN. D. D., pastor of
St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church,
Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, is a native of
Ireland, born in County Galway, in 1836. At
the age of seventeen he came to this country,
and was educated at St. John's College, Ford-
ham, N. Y., from which he graduated with
the first gold medal conferred by Archbishop
Hughes. Subsequently he pursued his theo-
logical studies at Rome, where, in 1S63, he
was ordained to the priesthood, at St. John
Lateran.
On his return to this country he was as-
signed to missionary service at the Church of
the Holy Cross, New York, and in 186S he
was sent by Cardinal McCloskey to the charge
of the Catholic Church at Port Jervis, N. Y.
Here, during his pastorate, he succeeded in
securing the erection of one of the finest
church buildings in that diocese. In Novem-
ber, 1877, on the appointment of Dr. Patrick
McSweeney to St. Bridget's Church, New
York, Dr. Nilan was transferred to the pas-
torate of St. Peter's Church, Poughkeepsie.
During the pastorate (1S44-187OJ of Rev.
M. Rlordan, the present St. Peter's church
building was begun and completed, two large
school buildings and a rectory being also
erected. In 1872, during the pastorate of
Rev. Dr. McSweeney, the rectory was en-
larged, and arrangements were made whereby
the parochial school buildings were placed
under the control of the city board of educa-
tion. The parish of St. Mary's was estab-
lished in the upper part of the city. During
Father Nilan's pastorate the church building
has been enlarged, and provided with stained-
glass windows at a cost of $10,000. Its Sab-
bath-school numbers nearly seven hundred.
It has five sodalities for the young members of
the congregation; a young people's literary
society, with a good library; a boys' temper-
ance society of over 300 members; and a total
abstinence and benefit society of several hun-
dred men and women. The average income
of the church is $8,000, nearly $5,000 of
which is from pew rent.
Few churches present a more complete ar-
ray of parish organizations, in successful oper-
ation to-day, than does the Church of St.
Peter's. Dr. Nilan's pronounced temperance
principles, his warm sympathies with the hum-
blest of his flock, and his frank acceptance of
all the responsibilities of citizenship, have com-
bined to give him an enviable position, not only
with the members of his parish, but in the
community at large. In the general benevo-
lent, temperance and literary movements of
the city. Dr. Nilan has always taken a promi-
nent part, and he possesses in a marked degree
the esteem of all classes of the people.
MT. PULTZ, M. D., a prominent physi-
_ cian of Stanfordville, Dutchess county,
is a great-grandson of one of the pioneer agri-
culturists of the town of Khinebeck, David
Pultz, who came from Germany at an early
day to make a home in this country. His son,
Michael D. Pultz, our subject's grandfather,
was reared to the occupation of farming, and
also worked at the carpenter's trade. He was
a member of the old militia, and took an act-
ive part in the local affairs of his day. He
and his family belonged to the Lutheran
Church, attending at Wurtemburg. By his
first wife, who was a Miss Cookingham, he
bad six children: Julia, Reuben, Mary, Mar-
tin, Griffin and Lavina, of whom Mary is now
the only survivor.
Martin Pultz, our subject's father, always
resided at the old homestead, receiving his
education in youth in the neighboring schools.
In politics he was a Whig, and in movements
of his time and locality he was influential, be-
ing especially interested in the early agitation
of the temperance question, and an active
worker in the Sons of Temperance. He mar-
ried Catherine Traver, a daughter of Phillip I.
Traver, of Milan. His death occurred in
1850; his widow makes her home with our
subject.
Monroe Traver Pultz, the only child of
this union, was born at the old home farm
July 17, 1843. After making the most of the
somewhat limited facilities afforded by the
local schools, he studied for some time at
Rhinebeck Academy, then one year at Wilbra-
ham Academy in Massachusetts, and a year at
Fort Edwards, N. Y. He then for a time
pursued the scientific course in Union College
with the class of '6"/, and later began the
study of medicine with Dr. I. F. \'an Miet, at
Rhinebeck, after which he took a three-years'
course in the College of Physicians and Sur-
COMifEMOIiATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
239
geons. New York City, graduating in 1868.
In June of the same year he located at Stan-
fordville, where he has since practiced with
great success, his native abilities and fine
scholarship giving him high rank in his profes-
sion. He has been twice married, first to
Miss Emma Amelia Bailey, a daughter of
Richard Bailey, a well-known resident of
Rhinebeck. She died in 1877, leaving two
sons, Fred A. and Lee, the latter a graduate
of the Albany Medical College in the class of
'95. In 187S Dr. Pultz was married, the sec-
ond time, in the town of Stanford, to Miss
Alice Clark, daughter of Almon Clark.
In politics the Doctor is a Democrat, but
he takes no share in party work, although he
is a supporter of all measures tending to the
public welfare, and has served as health offi-
cer of the town of Stanford. He is a member
of the Christian Church, and of the F. & A.
M., Rhinebeck Lodge; he holds a prominent
place in the Dutchess County Medical Associa-
tion, in the New York State Medical Asso-
ciation, and in the American Medical Associa-
tion.
E\DWIN R. PEASE. Among the old resi-
: dents of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county,
probably none were better known that the late
Edwin R. Pease. Mr. Pease was born June
22, 1820, and died March 16, 1885. He was
a son of Dudley S. Pease, an early settler in
the village, who came from the East.
In early life Mr. Pease learned the shoe-
making industry, and at the age of twenty-two
years he established business for himself, man-
ufacturing shoes and running a retail store.
He started in business on the north side of
Main street, near Bayeau street, where he re-
mained for about a year, when he moved to No.
309 Main street, and there continued the bus-
iness up to the time of his death. He was one
of the most prominent merchants of the city,
always identified with all matters of public in-
terest. Although one of the most substantial
and respected residents, and owner of much
real estate, he never aspired to official honors.
He was a Democrat, but never held any polit-
ical office, except that of police commission-
er, which incumbency he was hol^ding at the
time of his death. For many years he was a
trustee of the old Cannon Street M. E. Church,
to which he was a liberal contributor.
Mr. Pease married January 11, 1844, Cor-
nelia Stanton, a daughter of Morris and Eliza
Stanton. Morris Stanton, the father of Mrs.
Pease, was born in Ulster county, and followed
the cooper's trade. Eliza Stanton, the mother
of Mrs. Pease (more familiarly known as Eliza
Bates, which name she inherited by marriage
to her second husband, Joseph I. Bates, in
June, 18351, was born November 10, 1798, in
a house on Academy street, standing where
George W. Scott's livery stable is now located.
She built the handsome building now occupied
by the Dutchess Restaurant and the Dutchess
Club, at No. 309 Main street, where she lived
for many years, and died February 25, 1888,
honored as the oldest Methodist in Pough-
keepsie. She was a member of the first
Methodist Sunday-school in Poughkeepsie,
holding their meetings in the old church on
Jefferson street. She was a daughter of Til-
man Seabury, a sergeant in the Revolutionary
army, who married Cornelia Kip, a direct
descendant of Anneka Jans, of Trinity-Church
fame.
Tradition affirms that while the Revolu-
tionary soldiers were stationed at Poughkeep-
sie, Tilman Seabury, wishing to make the
acquaintance of Cornelia Kip, whom he had
seen, purchased some handkerchiefs, and
asked her to hem them for the soldiers, as
the "girls" were all anxious to do work for
the soldiers. She accepted, and an acquaint-
ance was then formed which resulted in court-
ship, and the records of the old Dutch Church
at New Hackensack show that on February
27, 1778, Tilman Seabury and Cornelia Kip
were married by the Rev. Isaac Rysdyke.
Mrs. Stanton (Mrs. Bates) was a grand-
niece of Bishop Seabury, the first Episcopal
bishop in America. Mrs. Stanton (Mrs. Bates)
was also a direct descendant, through Samuel
Seabury, of John Alden and Priscilla Mullens,
who came to this country in the " Mayflower."
Mrs. Stanton, by her marriage to Morris
Stanton, had three children : Sarah, who
died August 14, 1873, unmarried; Cornelia
(Pease), who lives at No. 117 Academy street,
and Mary, who married the Rev. B. D.
Palmer, now living at Paterson, New Jersey.
Dudley S. Pease, the father of Edwin R.
Pease, came from Connecticut to Poughkeep-
sie, where he engaged in the shoe business.
He also kept a grocery store. He was.
785, and died March 17,
March
born
1855. On November 14, 1805, he married
Lewrelly Loomis, bj- whom he had two chil-
240
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
dren, Charles and Sylvia L. For his second
wife he married, June 14, 18 10, Maria Seares,
by whom he had two children, Maria L. and
Albert. For his third wife he married, De-
cember I, 18 14, Sarah, daughter of Samuel
(and Margaret) Killey, a descendant of Seth
Killey, of Yarmouth, by whom he had six sons
and two daughters: Richard P., Margaret,
Edwin R., Catherine J., Franklin, Albert S. ,
Walter S. and Egbert K., all of whom are
now dead except Albert S., who lives at Sara-
toga, N. Y. Edwin R. and Cornelia Pease
had four children — two sons and two daughters
— all of whom are now living.
ROBERT SANFORD, a prominent citizen
and a lawyer of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess
county, who has been a resident of that city
for the past forty years, was born in Albany,
N. Y., December 10, 1831.
When he was three years of age, his par-
ents, Nathan and Mary (Buchanan) Sanford,
removed from Albany to Flushing, L. I., where
they resided four years, or until the death of
the father in October, 1838. During the fol-
lowing two years, Mr. Sanford traveled with
his widowed mother, and at the age of ten
years entered schools at Hartford, Conn. , where
he remained for five years, then becoming a
pupil in the school of the celebrated instructor,
Dr. Muhlenberg, at College Point, L. I., where
he remained four years. During the next two
years he was under private tutors, one of them
being Rev. Dr. George H. Houghton, rector of
the historical "little church around the cor-
ner " on 28th street, just east of Fifth avenue,
New York City, who coached him in Greek,
and said to him: "Bob, you are the most
stupid jackass lever saw!" After that mental
castigation, "Bob" respected his tutor, and
improved in that ancient language so much as
to write a letter in Greek, into which the asin-
ine still existed, according to the worthy Doc-
tor. For one year after this he was a student
at the Kinsley Military Institute, West Point,
N. Y., and the next two years were passed by
him at Schenectady, N. Y. He then traveled
in Europe for a couple of years with his mother.
In 1857 Mr. Sanford located at Poughkeep-
sie, and began the study of law at the New
York State and National Law School, graduat-
ing with the class of '58. For two years he
was in the law office of Joseph H. Jackson,
and during the following two years practiced
law for himself. In i860 he set out on another
extended European trip, which occupied two
years, during which he attended a course of
lectures at the Sorbonne, in Paris, and was
presented at the Court of Napoleon III. Re-
turning to the United States, he practiced law
in Poughkeepsie for three years, or until 1865,
at which time he commenced his third trip
across the Atlantic, the winter being spent at
Ventnor, Isle of Wight, hunting, and the sum-
mer in London, where he was presented at
Court by his cousin, Charles Francis Adams,
then minister of the Court of St. James. At
the end of about two years he returned to the
United States, and to Poughkeepsie.
On May 23, 1867, Mr. Sanford was united
in marriage with Miss Mary Helen Hooker
Stuyvesant, eldest daughter of John R.
Stuyvesant, a resident of Edgewood, Hyde
Park, Dutchess county, and a great-grand-
daughter of Petrus Stuyvesant, Colonial Gov-
ernor of the State of New York. Five chil-
dren have been born of this union: Mary
Buchanan, Henry Gausevoort, Helen Stuyves-
ant and Desire McKean. Of these, Stuyves-
ant died August 13, 1890; the others are at
home with their parents.
Mr. Sanford in his political predilections is
a Republican, but no partisan, and while a
loyal citizen has always declined office. So-
cially, he is a member of the Sigma Phi Fra-
ternity, the Aztec Society (a Mexican war so-
ciety); the Amrita Club, of Poughkeepsie; the
Dutchess Hunt Club; the Union League Club,
of New York City; the Society for the Pre-
vention of Cruelty to Animals, in which
society he has always taken great interest; the
American Geographical Society; the Church
Club of New York, besides many others. He
is a trustee of the Church of the Holy Com-
forter, at Poughkeepsie; and was a member
of the board of education from 1862 to 1866,
having to resign on account of his going to
Europe.
Physically, Mr. Sanford, who is now (1897)
sixty-six years of age, is of about medium
height, and of the blonde type; is possessed of
a well-knit frame, having from his youth kept
up his out-door exercise — skating, riding, walk-
ing, etc., as well as fencing — in fact, he is a
moderate ^11-round athlete, without ever ex-
celling in any one exercise. Ventilation, sew-
erage, and sanitary matters in general, and,
above all, pure air, have been his "hobbies,"
so much so that he has sometimes been called
VOMMEMOBATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
241
a " crank " on these subjects; indeed, he claims
that the foul air of the court rooms finally drove
him away from active practice in them.
Mr. Sanford has a delightfully picturesque
home in Poughkeepsie, beautified with wide
lawns, winding walks, and a romantic little
brook; while the house is commodious, and
elegantly designed and furnished. Everywhere
are seen evidences of cultivated taste and re-
fined associations, while souvenirs of his travels
in foreign countries recall to him many pleas-
ant memories of years of sight-seeing. No
family stands higher than that of Robert San-
ford, and the hospitable home is always open
to a large circle of warm friends.
Sanford F.^mily. The ancient family of
Sontford, Sonforde, or Sanford of Sandford,
came to England with William the Conqueror,