and esteemed for his many sterling qualities.
law in the law office of Tristram Coffin, with
whom he remained two years, and then en-
tered the Albany Law School, graduating with
the class of '76. Returning to the old home-
stead, he has here been engaged in farming
ever since.
On January 14, 1885, Mr. \'ail was mar-
ried to Miss Gertrude B. Flagler, who was
born at Overlook in the town of Lagrange, a
daughter of Philip D. Flagler, a farmer. Mr.
and Mrs. Vail have two children: Elias C. and
Lavina C. In 1895 our subject purchased a
house on the corner of South Hamilton and
Barclay streets, Poughkeepsie, which is one of
the finest residences in Poughkeepsie. He is
a Republican, and one of the foremost citizens
of the place.
Elias D. Vail, the father of our subject,
was also born at Verbank, as was also Isaac,
the grandfather, and Elias, the great-grand-
father of our subject. Isaac, the grandfather,
was the father of thirteen children, of whom
Elias D. was the youngest. The latter grew
to manhood on the farm, and married Miss
Lavina Cornell, who was born in the town of
Beekman, a daughter of George Cornell, a
farmer. The Cornell family was also of Hol-
land stock. To Elias D. and his wife chil-
dren as follows were born: Willard C. ;
George E. and Edwin G. (twins), the former
of whom died at the age of sixteen years,
while the latter is a farmer on the old home-
stead. The mother died October 22, 1861;
the father lives on the old homestead; he is a
Republican in his political preferences.
WILLARD C. VAIL, of Poughkeepsie,
was born in Verbank, Dutchess coun-
ty. May 17, 1856, and is a descendant of Hol-
land ancestors. He spent his boyhood on the
old farm, and attended the district schools,
from which he went to the Oswego Institute,
and spent one year at the Poughkeepsie Mili-
tary Institute. Later he entered the hard-
ware store of X'alentine & Coleman, in Pough-
keepsie, holding the position of clerk and book-
keeper. Next he commenced the study of
JOHN VINCENT HUMPHREY. Among
the prominent business men of Poughkeep-
sie few names are better known than that
of the subject of this sketch, who, since 1874,
has successfully conducted a drug business
there. He is a native of Dutchess county,
born in the village of Beekman, October 20,
1853, and is a son of John Humphrey, whose
birth also occurred at that place, in 1818.
There the father engaged in farming until he
was called from this earth, when our subject
was only a few days old. At Stormville he
was united in marriage with Catherine E.
Storm, a daughter of Abram Storm, and to
them were born four children: Helen R. ;
Latitia C, deceased wife of William M. Ouin-
tard ; Abram and John V. The paternal grand-
father, who bore the name of Abram Hum-
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD
315
phrey, also engaged in agricultural pursuits at
Beekman.
The boyhood days of our subject were
passed in Poughkeepsie, where he attended,
and completed his literary education in, the
Dutchess County Academy. He began his
business career as a partner in the drug store
of his brother, Abram S. Humphrey, who was
then conducting the drug business, and in 1882
purchased his brother's interest, since which
time he has been connected with the drug
trade in Poughkeepsie. His first place of
business was at No. 3S4 Main street, where he
remained two years, and then removed to No.
386, there carrying on operations for five
years. He then purchased his present store at
No. 388 Main street, where he carries a full
and complete line of drugs, patent medicines,
etc. As a business man he is enterprising, en-
ergetic, always abreast with the times, and
has been rewarded with a well-deserved success.
Mr. Humphrey was married at Poughkeep-
sie, October 3, 1877, to Miss Sarah Millard,
daughter of John P. Millard, and four children
grace their union: John Huson Millard, born
November 29, 187S; Abram Storm, born April
16, 1880; Ogden Hoffman, born July 16, 1883,
and Olive, born January 28, 1897. Mr. Hum-
phrey is a man of generous impulses, giving
liberally of his time and money to all worthy
causes, and in everything he does he tries to
make the world brighter and better. He holds
membership with the Second Reformed Church
of Poughkeepsie.
JAMES EDGAR SADLIER, M. D. Among
the young followers of .Esculapius who have
" won their way unaided and attained promi-
nence in their profession, is James Edgar Sad-
lier, of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county. He
was born at Walden, Orange Co., N. Y.,
March 28, 1S65, of French ancestry.
James Sadlier, Jr., the father of our sub-
ject, was a native of France, the son of James
Sadlier, Sr. , also a native of France, who, at
the time of his son's birth, was visiting with
other members of his family in England.
When James Sadlier, Jr., was five years old,
his parents removed to the United States, and
located in New York. His education was re-
ceived at the public schools of that city, and
on leaving school he at once entered the busi-
ness world. He established himself in the to-
bacco business at the corner of Broadway and
Maiden Lane, where he remained until 1873.
In Orange county, N. Y., he was married to
Miss Ann Jeannette Woodruff, daughter of
Richard and Charlotte Woodruff, prominent
residents of that county. Si.x children were
the result of this union, three of whom died in
infancy; the others are: Charles Whittemore,
secretary and treasurer of the Walden Savings
Bank, and teller of the Walden National Bank;
James Edgar; and Augustus, who is at the old
home in Walden, N. Y. The father of this
family passed to his final rest January 4, 1876,
at the age of fifty-one years. He was a man
highly esteemed for his many sterling qualities,
and well liked by all who knew him for his
genial nature, a characteristic of the French
nation.
James Edgar Sadlier, the subject proper of
this review, received an unusually good educa-
tion, first attending the public schools of his
native town, later attending an academy at
Montgomery, Orange Co., N. Y. , and also one
at New Paltz, Ulster Co., N. Y. He decided
to enter the medical profession, and accord-
ingly went to Pine Bush, Orange county, and
began the study of medicine under the careful
tuition of his uncle. Dr. William H. Woodruff;
after studying with him for sometime our sub-
ject, in 1S84. was enrolled as a student in the
Medical Department of Union College at Al-
bany, N. Y. , completing his course in 1887.
His advantages had well disciplined his mind,
and his careful attention to detail had given
him a reputation before leaving the class room
that years of practice often fail to acquire.
On leaving school he was appointed on the
staff of the Albany City Hospital for the period
from October, 1887, to April i, 1889. After
his term at the hospital had expired he came
to Poughkeepsie, and began the regular prac-
tice of his profession. His untiring and un-
ceasing labor, coupled with his skill. Foon won
recognition, and he, by his own exertions, had,
in a short time, built up a large and lucrative
practice. In July, 1891, he was appointed
one of the attending physicians of Vassar
Brothers Hospital, which position he is still
holding. He is also physician for the pension
department of this district.
On June 18, 1891, Dr. Sadlier was united
in marriage with Miss Hattie C. Millspaugh,
daughter of Theron L. Millspaugh, of W'alden,
N. Y. No children have been born to them;
Socially the Doctor is a member of Armor
Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and in the social
810
COMMEMORA TIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
life of the city he and his charming wife are
\vell-i
as secretary of the Dutchess County Medical
Societ}- from January, 1891, to January, 1897,
when the society elected him delegate to the
New York State Medical Society for the ensu-
ing three years, which necessitated his resig-
nation as secretary.
SHERMAN NICHOLAS HAIGHT. The
subject of this sketch is a representative
of tlie ninth generation of the Haight family
in America. Simon Haight, the founder of
the family on this side of the Atlantic, came
from England to Massachusetts in 1628. His
son Nicholas (i) married Susanna Joyce, and
had a son, Samuel, whose son Nicholas {2)
married Patience Titus, and, purchasing land
from the Nine l^artners, came to Dutchess Co.
from Long Island. Jacob 1 1), son of Nicholas
(2), was born on Long Island and married Sarah
Hicks; they came from Poughkeepsie in an
ox-cart, and settled on the farm where Clem-
ent Haight now lives. The place was then a
wilderness, and wolves were numerous; they
built a log cabin, the door of which was bark.
To this pioneer couple were born the following
children: Elizabeth, John, Stephen, Nicho-
las (3), Jacob (2), Patience, Sarah, Samuel |2J,
and Phcebe. Nicholas (3) married Miss Mar-
garet Vincent, and in their family of several
children was Nicholas (4), who married Ph(ebe
Skidmore, and followed the occupation of a
farmer e.xclusively. Both he and his wife
were Quakers, and they reared the following:
Andrew, the father of our subject; Sally, who
died unmarried; Elias, who married Lavina
Vail, and was a farmer in the town of Wash-
ington; James, who married Eliza Smith, and
was a farmer on Chestnnt Ridge; and Louisa,
who died unmarried.
Andrew Haieht, the father of our subject,
was born in the town of Washington, May 16,
1805. He married Sarah Ann Sherman, a
daughter of Jedediah and Catherine (Gage)
Sherman, born October 17, 1803, either in
Dutchess or Saratoga county. After their
marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Haight settled on a
farm, and two children were born to them:
Nicholas, who died in infancj', and Sherman,
our subject. The father died September 10,
1877, and the mother on April 8, 1869. In
politics he was a Republican, and, religiously.
both he and his wife were followers of the
Quaker faith.
Jedediah Sherman, the maternal grand-
father of Sherman Haight, was a prosperous
farmer in the town of Washington, born Feb-
ruary 26, 1 78 1. His first wife (whose name is
not now known) was born June 8, 1 780. ]iy her
he had five children, of whom the following
is the record: (i i Mosher B., a miller at Lit-
tle Rest, first married Miss Barton, by whom
he had two children — Kate and Isaac — and for
his second wife wedded Miss Phcebe Conklin,
a sister of Isaac Conklin, a sketch of whom
appears elsewhere. (2) Howland R. , a dyer,
who married Caroline Innis, by whom he had
one child — Kate. (3) Jeremiah D., a mer-
chant at Mabbettsville and later a farmer, who
married Hannah Tabor, and they had children
as follows — Elizabeth, Sarah, Caroline, Philip
J., Martha, George, and Kate. (4) Leonard,
who first married a Miss Duncan, b\' whom he
had two children — Mary and Matilda; after
the death of his wife he again married, and
three children were born of this union — Jane,
Henrietta, and Charles. (51 The mother of
our subject.
Sherman Haight, the subject proper of this
sketch, was born in the town of Washington,
May 27, 1 84 1. He spent his boyhood on the
home farm, and on December 7, 1869, was
united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. Sisson,
a native of Washington town, and a daughter
of Henry and Eliza (Bryan) Sisson. After
their marriage our subject and his wife located
on their present large dairy farm, which is one
of the finest in Dutchess county. The follow-
ing children have graced the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Haight: Sarah Eliza, Anna Sisson, An-
drew Henry, Sherman David, and Samuel
Moore, all of whom are living and unmarried.
Politically, our subject is a Republican, and
he and his wife are prominent in social circles.
Henry Sisson, the father of Mrs. Haight,
was born in Washington township, April 10,
1S07, a son of Lemuel, Jr., and Sarah (Suther-
land) Sisson, the former of whom was a native
of Rhode Island, a son of Lemuel, Sr. , who in
turn was a direct descendant of old Huguenot
stock. The other children in the family of
Lemuel Sisson, Jr., were: Jacob, Job, William,
Anna, Richard, Lydia, Phoebe, Sally, Isaac
and Marah Deborah. On reaching manhood,
Henry Sisson was united in marriage with Miss
Eliza Bryan, who was born March 16, 1810,
in the town of Northeast, a daughter ot Amos
'.^/^y^^^i^c/^
J^^
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPBICAL RECORD.
317
and Elizabeth (Flint) Bryan, and to them
were born four children, namely: Emily, who
married Waltei? F. Conklin, a merchant and
musician; James B., a farmer and auctioneer,
who married Miss Helen Titus; Anna, who
became the wife of Samuel H. Moore, for
many years associated with Adriance Piatt &
Co., manufacturers of harvesting machinery;
and Sarah E. (Mrs. Haight).
Amos Bryan, the maternal grandfather of
Mrs. Haight, settled on the Bryan homestead
farm, in Northeast town, after his marriage
with Elizabeth Flint. They had a family of
nine children: David, Isaac, Ward, Ezra,
James, Laura, Mary, Sarah E. and Eliza.
William Cullen Bryant was related to this
family.
CHARLES IvIRCHNER, the well-known
_ ' proprietor of a large meat market at
Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, and one of
the most extensive real-estate holders of that
city, is a native of Germany, born May 31,
1835, in Otterberg, Rhenish Bavaria.
His ancestors were prominent residents of
that place for many generations, and William
Kirchner, his great-grandfather, was Dominie
in the Erst Reformed Church there. Frantz
Ivirchner, our subject's grandfather, a butcher
by trade, had six children: Catherine Good-
hart; William and Henry, who came to Phila-
delphia at an early date; Jacob, who was an
unusually fine specimen of physical manhood,
being over six feet in height, and was a mem-
ber of Napoleon's famous body-guard of three
hundred men in the ill-starred Russian cam-
paign, from which he never returned.
Conrad Kirchner, our subjects' father, born
in 1800, succeeded to his father's business,
and remained at the old home, where he died
in 1877. In I 82 5 he married Elizabeth Godel,
who was born in Otterberg in 1800, and died
in 18S0. They had ten children: Elizabeth,
the wife of Charles Nunce, of Newark, N. J. ;
William, who inherited his father's house and
business, and died in 1892; Caroline, who re-
mained in Germany and married John Hubing
there; Jacob (deceased), formerly a butcher at
Otterberg; Charles, our subject; Conrad, who
was a butcher in Otterberg for many years,
and died in Poughkeepsie in 1892; Wilhelmina,
who married (tirstj Christian Strause, and
(second) Baron Von Gutterman, both promi-
nent men in Germany; Louis, a butcher in
Poughkeepsie; and Philip and Henry, both in
the butcher business at Newark, N. J. The
brothers have all been successful in business.
The parents came to America in 1869 to visit
their sons, and the father, who was a man of
'fine presence and genial nature, made many
friends among the leading people of Pough-
keepsie. In the summer of 1875 Mr. and
Mrs. Conrad Kirchner celebrated their golden
wedding at their home in Otterberg, Germany,
for which occasion eleven members of the
Kirchner family in America proceeded to Ger-
many to be present at the event; there were
eighty members present.
Charles Kirchner, the subject proper of
this review, attended the schools of his native
town until he was fifteen years old. He made
good use of these opportunities, and has since
kept well informed on the topics which inter-
est all intelligent people. At the age of eight-
een he began to assist his father in business;
but soon after, in May, 1854, he came to
America, being the first of the sons to leave
the old country. After a short stay in New-
ark, N. J., he went to Poughkeepsie, arriving
there on July 5, same year. He secured a po-
sition as clerk with Jacob Petillon, remaining
six months, when he returned to Newark and
clerked in a butcher shop for a year and a
half. During this time he learned the trade,
also familiarized himself with the English
language, and in August, 1856, he engaged in
business for himself in Newark, continuing it
successfully until October, 1862, when he re-
moved to Poughkeepsie and opened his market
at No. 156 Main street, which he has now con-
ducted for more than thirty-four years. His
success in this line has been marked, and he
has also made some judicious investments in
real estate, which have proven profitable. At
one time he owned the Poughkeepsie Driving
Park, which he sold to Edwin Thorn, and at
present he pays the largest taxes on real estate
of anyone in the city. In 1872 he built
" Kirchner's Hall " for a State Armory, which
is allowed to be one of the best buildings in
the city, and in 1891 he converted it into a
public hall, for which purpose it is one of the
finest in the State. His rare judgment and
business skill have been widely recognized in
financial circles, and he is often consulted in
important enterprises.
In 1867 Mr. Kirchner married Miss Caro-
line C. Petillon, daughter of Jacob Petillon, his
first employer in this country. They have no
818
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHWAL RECORD.
children. Mr. Kirchner has thirty-five nephews
and nieces in German)' and America, to whom
he is most generous and affectionate, being
especially interested in their education. One
he has sent to the Bishop School; one to the
Bisbee Military School: one to the Theological
Seminary, at Rochester, while a niece gradu-
ated from V'assar in 1893. He is always ready
to risk something to help another, has been
bondsman for many city officers and bank
officials, and has never lost a dollar. As a
lover of horses, he delights in owning and
driving a fine team.
Mr. Kirchner has made four visits to the
Fatherland, one for four months, in 1861,
while he was in business in Newark; one of
seven months in 1874, and one in 1S80 at the
time of his mother's death, when he re-interred
his father's remains by her side in a new burial
plot, and erected a handsome monument. His
last visit was in 1890, when his wife accom-
panied him, and they traveled some eight
months, visiting many points of interest. He
and his wife are leading members of the I-ie-
formed Dutch Church, and in local affairs, he
is regarded as a friend of every progressive
movement. He is an intiuential worker in the
Republican party, and has been urged to be-
come a candidate for the office of mayor, but
he has never permitted his name to be used in
such connection.
Y.\N W'VCKS. The ancestor of the \'an-
Wycks in Dutchess county was Cornelius
Barents \'an Wyck, who, in 1650, came to
New Netherlands from the town of Wyck,
Holland, and in 1660 married, at Flatbush,
Kings Co., N. Y., Ann, daughter of Rev.
Johannis Theodorus Polhemus, the first Re-
formed Dutch minister in that county.
The Van Wycks, of Holland, are an aris-
tocratic family, and continue to use the same
coat of arms as those brought here by the
American Van Wycks upward of two and one-
half centuries ago. From the beginning of
the history of Dutchess county the Van-
Wycks have been prominent in the professions,
and in the public service, as judges, legislators,
congressmen, senators, and soldiers of all the
wars of our country, including that for Amer-
ican independence.
Theodorus Van Wyck, son of Cornelius
Barents \'an Wyck and Ann Polhemus, was
born in Flatbush in 1667. He rnarried Mar-
garet Brinckerhof; took oath of allegiance at
New Amsterdam in 1687.
Theodorus Van Wyck, son of Theodorus
Van Wyck and Margaret Brinckerhof, was the
surveyor and original purchaser of a tract of
900 acres of land in the town of East Fishkill.
He was a very prominent man of his time.
Together with Col. John Brinckerhof, he was
appointed one of the first judges of the Court
of Common Pleas, on the 24th of February,
1752, by George Clinton, Captain General
Governor, and Chief of the Province of New
York, and the territories thereon depending in
America, under King George H. [This old
document is now in the Armory Museum at
Poughkeepsie.] He married Elizabeth Creed.
Theodorus Van Wyck, son of Theodorus
\'an ^^^yck and Elizabeth Creed, was born in
1730, and died in 1797. He married Altje,
daughter of Col. John Brinckerhof and his
wife, Janetje Van Voorhees. He was a physi-
cian, and the earliest in the county; he was
among the first to renounce his allegiance to
King George, and because of his outspoken
sentiments was compelled by his Tory neigh-
bors, in 1775, to leave Fishkill. He removed to
New York City, and was elected a delegate to
the Second Provincial Congress in that year.
The patriots becoming more bold and out-
spoken throughout the county, he returned to
his farm in the early part of 1776, and was
again elected to Congress in that year from
Dutchess county. During the Revolution he
was an active patriot. His family have from
time to time held many offices of trust. The
sons of Dr. Theodorus \'an Wyck and Altje
Brinckerhof, his wife, were Abraham \'an-
Wyck, John Brinckerhof \'an Wyck, and
William \'an Wyck.
Abraham Van Wyck held the commission
of major-general in the war of 18 12; he was
a large landowner in Fishkill. W'illiam Van-
Wyck was elected to Congress from Dutchess
in the early part of the century. John Brinck-
erhof Van Wyck married (first) Gertrude
Brinckerhof, and (second) Susan Scheiick; his
sons by his second wife" were: Alfred, John,
William and Edmund. He was a large land-
owner in Fishkill, and was a general in the
State militia. He was elected to the Assem-
bly of this State in 1812 and 18 16; was a
successful breeder of Merino sheep, and made
a fortune in wool and land. Old documents
in possession of the family show that he held
COMMEMORATIVE BIOORAPHICAL RECORD.
319
several civil appointments from Governors
John Jay and Dewitt Clinton.
Alfred Van Wyck, eldest son of John B.
Van Wyck and Susan Schenck, was a farmer
in the town of Fishkill, occupying the old
homestead. In i860 he moved to Illinois,
buying a tract of land that afterward be-
came a part of the town of Clifton. He died
in 1894, aged ninety-two years. He married
Miss Charlotte \'iets, by whom he had one
son, John B., and two daughters, Mary and
Charlotte.
John Van Wyck, second son, had an in-
clination toward a mercantile life; he became
a partner in a large dry-goods house in New
York City, and remained there for some years.
He afterward retired from business, and, return-
ing to Dutchess county, purchased a handsome
place at New Hamburg, where he died in 1878.
He married Miss Sarah Mesier;their family were
ten in number: four daughters — Kate, Cor-
nelia, Sarah and Mary; and six sons — Mesier,
Abraham, Henry, Edmund, John and Will-
iam.
William Van Wyck, third son, studied law
and was admitted to the bar. He died from
an accident in 1854. He married Miss Augusta
Forman ; they had no family.
Edmund Van Wyck, fourth son, was born
January 31, 18 18; he was a farmer, and always
lived in Dutchess county. After attending
private schools in Poughkeepsie and New York
City he traveled to some e.xtent through the
West. He married, January 9, 1845, Miss
Josephine Barnes, a daughter of the late David
Barnes, and the following children were born
to them: William (died in 1870 unmarried),
David Barnes, Stephen, Paul Schenck, Joseph,
and Alex. W. Mr. Van Wyck lived upon a
farm in the to\vn of Poughkeepsie. In 1852
he moved to the town of Lagrange, where he
resided until his death, September 10, 1888.
Mrs. Van Wyck died in 1861.
David Barnes, second son, a physician of
Lagrange, was born in that town April 24,
1852. His early education was received at
the little " Red School House " near Manches-
ter Bridge, and later he attended the Cary
Institute, a Quaker school in Poughkeepsie.
Upon leaving school he entered the drug store
of Van Valkenburg & Brown, where he re-
mained se\-eral years. He was also with Hop-
kins & Arnold, Chas. S. Bowne, and Webb &
Sherwood. He next went to Kansas, remain-
ing there nine years; studied medicine in the
Omaha Medical College, and then went to the
Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York,
from which he was graduated in 1889. He is
a member of Stissing Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
and Poughkeepsie Chapter No. 172, R. A. M. ;
also of the Dutchess County Medical Society.
Stephen, third son, was born June 28,
1854; his education was obtained at Pelham
Institute and at Manchester. He lived at
home until 1881, when he removed to Kansas
to enter the sheep business with his brothers,
David and Paul. He gave this up after a few
years to enter upon the study of law, and was
admitted to the Bar in the State of Kansas.