Landmarks of Albany County, New York online

of Benjamin and Avis (Hunt) Green, of Westerlo; they have five children: Marga-
ret, Ella, Alida, Lillian, and Anna, who died aged nine years. Mr. Lockwood com-
menced his business career as a clerk for S. I. Peabody & Co. of Troy, where he re-
mained four years, then one year for T. Saxton of South Westerlo. He then, in
partnership with Robert S. Cryne, bought out Mr. Saxton in 1859. In 1860 his part-
ner died, and he was then five years associated with J. B. Taetsin the same business.
In 1865 he bought out Mr. Taets and has since conducted the business at the old
stand, where he carries a general line of goods found in country stores. He owns
the old Lockwood homestead of 106 acres, which he carries on. He is a Republican
and a member of J. M. Austin Lodge, No. 557, F. & A. M.

Relyea, Abram, was born in Guilderland, November 19, 1835. David D., his
grandfather, was a native of Guiiderland and a farmer by occupation. He reared
five sons and si.\ daughters, all of whom he provided liberally for. Peter D., his
father, was also a native of Guilderland, born in 1808. He came in possession of
his father's homestead, where he spent most of his life. His wife was Magdalen
Mann, and their children were Mrs. Sarah Miller, Abram, Mrs. Adeline Van Patten,
Mrs. Mary Jane Schermerhorn of Schenectady, Mrs. Catherine Van Buren, and
Emma. He died in 1848 and his wife died in 1883. Abram attended the common
schools, and at his father's death he was twelve years of age. and was obliged to
care for himself. He then went to Cato. Cayuga county, and engaged at farm work,
and also lived in Onondaga county. He later worked at blacksmithing for a short
time and spent five years in Schenectady, and in 1862 came to New Scotland, where
he was on a farm until 1864. He then enlisted in the 11th New York Independent
Battery and served until the close of the war. Upon his return to Voorheesville he
engaged in the meat business and later engaged in carpentry and followed contract-
ing and building until 1893. He erected the Presbyterian church in Voorheesville,
several of the prominent residences, and some of the stores. He was elected justice
of the peace in the town of New Scotland in 1880, being the first Democratic justice
elected in thirty years. He was constable for some time and was deputy sheriff for



68

nine years, and was also court crier in 1895. He has often been chosen delegate to
County and Assembly Conventions, and was chairman of the Democratic town or-
ganization, and is now a member of the general Democratic county organization.
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Noah Lodge No. 754 of Altamont, and is
also a member of Temple Chapter No. 5, Commandery No. 2, and the Shrine of
Albany. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows' fraternity. No. 068 of Voorhees-
ville, in which he has passed through several of the chairs and is now trustee and
treasurer, and at one time was treasurer of the Presbyterian church and also of the
Driving Association. In 1868 he married Amelia M. Earl, born in New Scotland
and daughter of Benjamin and Margaret (Stalker) Earl. Their children are Charlie
A. and Grace. The Relyeas were originally French Huguenots, who fled from
France to Holland, whence they came to America.

Huested, Dr. Alfred B., son of Reuben (died 1841) and Mahala (Birch) Huested,
was born in the town of Clifton Park, Saratoga county. May 15, 1840, and came
with his mother in 1852 to Albany, where he was educated in the public schools and
Boys' Academy. He read medicine with Drs. Arrasby and Pomfret and in 1862 be-
came hospital steward of the 113th N. Y. Inf. (afterward the 7th N. Y. Heavy Art.),
with which he remained until 1863, when he returned home, resumed his studies and
was graduated as M. D. from the Albany Medical College. He then passed his ex-
amination before the State Military Examining Board, returned to his regiment
(the 7th H. A.) and in March, 1864, was commissioned assistant surgeon, a position
he held until he was mustered out in Denver, Col., in 1866. Returning to Albany
he entered upon the active practice of his profession, but in 1867 engaged in the
retail drug business on the corner of Hudson avenue and Eagle street, whence he
moved in December, 1886, to his present location on the corner of State and Eagle
streets, admitting at the same time Garrett V. Dillenback as a partner under the
firm name of A. B. Huested & Co. He has been president of the State Board of
Pharmacy since 1884, is a member of the American and New York State Pharmaceu-
tical Associations, was president of the latter two years, and is a member of Temple
Lodge No. 14, F. & A. M. He was appointed professor of botany and materia
medica in the Albany College of Pharmacy in 1883, and still holds that position. In
186'? he married Margaret A., daughter of Dr. James E. Pomfret of Albany, and
they have three sons: Frank P., James E. and Alfred B.

Witbeck, Andrew H., was born in 1824, and is the son of John W. Witbeck ami
grandson of Walter Witbeck, who was one of the early .settlers in the northern part
of Coeymans, in Manhattan Hook. John W. Witbeck was born April 10, 1773, at
Manhattan Hook, a little valley in the northern part of Coeymans. about four miles
from where Andrew H. now lives. On the 20th of May, 1795, in company with his
father (grandfather of Andrew H.) he purchased the farm, now the homestead of his
â–  son, Andrew H. The latter lives on the farm where he was born, and where his
father settled, when married, and lived until his death in 1853. He left five sons:
Walter, John, Jasper, Peter and Andrew H., as above, w^ho married Lidia E.,
daughter of Frederick and granddaughter of John E. Powell. They have one .son,
John W., and three daughters, Hannah E., (Mrs. Clifton Bedell) Sarah E. and Jen-
nie, (Mrs. A. C. Koonz.)

Baker, George Comstock, was born in Comstock N. Y,, Aiiril 29, 1868. He is a



60

son of Isaac V. and Laura D. (Clark) Baker, and is a descendant of John Baker, who
was a soldier in King Philip's war and who lived in Swanzey, Mass. George C.
Baker is the seventh in direct descent from John Baker, the names of those inter-
vening being John (2), John (3), Reuben (1), Reuben (2), Isaac V. (1), Isaac V. (2).
Mr. Baker received his preparatory education in private schools and was graduated
from the Granville Military Academy in 1885. The year of 1886 he spent at Will-
iams College and the years of 1887 and 1888 at Union, taking a partial course in
the arts and literature. While at Union he was class poet and a member of the
Psi Upsilon fraternity. He vi'as graduated from the Albany Law School in 1889, and
in 1891 was graduated and received the degree of LL. M. from Cornell Universit}\
During 1892 and 1893 Mr. Baker was in the law department at the attorney-general's
office. He is vice-president of the Society of the War of 1812 in the State of New
York ; registrar of Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons of the Revolution ; treasurer of
the Albany Chapter Society of the Colonial Wars; member of the Sons of the Amer-
ican Revolution ; member of the Society of the Old Guard, and a member of the
Fort Orange and Albany Camera Clubs. Mr. Baker is also a thirty-second degree
Mason and holds office in several Masonic bodies. In 1895 he married Mary Louise,
daughter of Jasper Van Wormer of Albany.

Ball, David, was born in the town of Berne in December, 1817. His grandfather
was a native of Berne and his parents were immigrants to America from Switzer-
land. John Peter Ball, the father, was also a native of Berne, born in 1788, and
spent his life as a farmer. Once while plowing in his field, during the war of 1812,
he was suddenly confronted by Indians and taken prisoner on his own horse; after
being gone some time he persuaded the Indians to release him and he returned
home with his horse unharmed. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Ephraim Bo-
gardus, and their children were Robert, Ephraim and David. He died in 1865 and
his wife survived him several years and died when seventy-eight years of age.
Mr. Ball is one of the leading farmers of the town of Berne. He received a very
limited district school education and when a lad of but fifteen, began life for him-
self. Having a natural mechanical turn of mind, he engaged to learn the carpenter's
trade; this he followed as a journeyman until twenty-five years of age, when by the
financial failure of others, he lost what he had earned. He then married and be-
gan life anew, this time as boss or contractor of carpentry jobs, which he succeeded
in and followed the business over forty years. In connection with this business he
also conducted a farm, and during forty years (from the time he was thirty-five
years of age) by hard and industrious work and practice of strict economy, he
amassed a fortune of over §40,000; from time to time he has added to his real estate
possessions, until he now owns some 590 acres, his homestead containing 200 acres.
I'Vn- many years he vi'as an extensive sheep grower, turning off large wool clips. Mr.
Ball was elected commissioner of highways and filled the office for nine consecu-
tive years. His wife was Louise M., daughter of Peter Reinhart, and they had
live children: Caroline (wife of Hiram Wilsey), Christana (wife of Luzene Deitz),
Catharine (wife of John D. White), Ephraim, and Theodora (wife of Dr. Wallace K.
Deitz of Berne); Ephraim resides on the home farm and assists in its management.
His wife was Esterloa Delemarter, and they have two children: Louisa and Mertie.

Albright, Peter S., was born in New Scotland, near New Salem, on the Albright



70

homestead, February 8, 1821. Hendrick Albright (or Albrecht), his great-grand-
father, was born in Germany in 1716 and came to America in 1740 and settled on a
farm of 400 acres, which he afterward divided between his four sons. One of the
farms (the homestead), now owned by Jacob Albright, brother of Peter S., has
ever since been in possession of the Albright family. He (Hendrick) married Han-
nah Poland in 1742, by whom he had seven children. As an instance of his aversion
to the Tory element of his time, it is related that a son-in-law named Strauss joined
the British army during the Revolution. At the close of the war on his return to his
family he was emphatically ordered by his father-in-law to quit America, and
evidently considering discretion the better part of valor, he withdrew to Canada for
the remainder of his days. Hendrick erected a large store house on the homestead
in 1783, which stood for over a hundred years and was finally destroyed by fire in
1894. He died in 1783, and was succeeded on the homestead by his son Jacob, who
was born there in 1762, and where he spent his whole life. Jacob was twice married,
first to Hannah Arnold, by whom he had three children. His second wife was
Elizabeth Wheeler, by whom he had fourteen children. He died in 1829. Isaac, his
son, was born in the old stone house June 11, 1797, and was married in 1820 to Sicily
Simmons, daughter of Peter Simmons of Clarksville, by whom seven children have
been born: Peter S., Jacob, Harriet, Sarah, Emeline, Mary and Isaac. Isaac
Albright, sr., in early life united with the Reformed church of New Salem and was
a faithful attendant until a few weeks before his death. Although a firm adherent
of the doctrine of his own church, he was free from the bigotry common in churches
years ago, and was a firm friend of the persecuted Methodists of the early days.
Following his father and grandfather, he allied himself with the Democrats and was
a firm adherent to the party of his choice, casting his last vote with them. He gave
to each of his sons a farm, and after a long and honorable career died January 21, 1888.
Peter S. remained on his father's farm until twenty-five years of age, when he and
his brother Jacob took the homestead farm to work, and were later given each a farm
by their father. In 1854 Mr. Albright purchased another farm of ninety acres ad-
joining the homestead, on which he erected fine and large buildings, where he has
ever since made his home and conducted a successful mi.\ed husbandry. His son is
now occupying one of his farms. In March, 1846, he married Catherine Ellen Hal-
lenbeck, who was born in Bethlehem in 1828, and was a daughter of Ephraim G.
and Mary Magdelene (Bartlett) Hallenbeck. Mr. and Mrs. Albright have eight
children living: Mary M. Moak, born in May, 1848; .Sarah M. Jones, born in Novem-
ber, 1849; Isaac S., born in July, 18.52; Emeline Fowler, born in March, 1858; Rocelia
Hurst, born in February, 1860; (ieorge H., born in February, 1862, died November,
1882; Catherine, born in March, 1864; Adelbert, !)orn in March, 1871; and Cordelia
Finch, born in September, 1873.

Boardman, George, born August 10, 1834, in Albany, is the son of William Boardman,
a native of Wethersfield, Conn., who was supervisor of the Fourth ward of Albany for
several years. George Boardman was educated at the Boys' Academy under Dr.
Beck, and at Prof. Anthony's Classical Institute, and immediately after leaving
school he became a clerk in a hardware store in New York city. After two years he
returned to Albany and entered the employ of N. B. Miles, a hardware dealer, and
three years later became bookkeeper for Warner Brothers & Co.. manufacturers of



ri

lime and cement in Troy and Albany. Later he was engaged in mercantile business
in Buffalo and subsequently in Troy until 1877. Meantime he had established, with
his brother Albert, a successful wholesale tea and coffee business in Albany,
and in 1877 removed hither to give it his whole attention. Afterward another
brother, Frank, was admitted under the firm name of George Boardman & Brothers,
which is now styled George Boardman & Brother, the junior ^jartner, Albert, having
died in 1891). They employ a number of traveling salesmen and have a large trade
in the city and vicinity.

Blodgett, William, was born in Coeymans and is the son nf Wolsey Blodgett,
whose father settled in Coeymans at an early day and was a farmer. Wolsey Blod-
gett had five sons, and died on the homestead in 1887. William Blodgett married
in 1874 and in 1877 settled at Bethlehem Center, where he is a farmer and has always
been prominently identified with the town affairs, being elected assessor in 1885,
which office he held for three years. In 1886 he was appointed justice and at the
following' election was re-elected and held that office until he resigned in 1896, to
take the office of supervisor of the town, which office he now holds; he was also as-
sociate judge. His wife is Emma, daughter of Frederick Hungerford, and they
have si.\ sons: Burton E., Frederick, Samuel, Charles, Mosher and Arthur. Mr.
Blodgett is master of the Bethlehem Grange No. 137, P. of H.

Classen, Frederick Luke, M. D., was born in Albany, N. Y., July 7, 18.57. He is
of Holland-Dutch and English descent. His grandfather, Hermann Classen, was a
distinguished soldier in the German army, and after the battle of Waterloo, was by
the Emperor Frederic decorated with the Iron Cross, a mark of the greatest honor.
This cross descends to the oldest son of each generation and is now in the possession
of Dr. Classen. Dr. Classen received his early education in the public schools and
the Albany High School, after leaving which be entered the drug store of Dexter &
Nelligar, and while learning pharmacy there attended the Albany Medical College,
from which he was graduated, receiving his degree in 1881. He immediately opened
an office and began the practice of medicine. In November, 1888, he was appointed
coroner's physician and held the place for three consecutive terms. Dr. Classen is a
member of the New York State Medical Society and the Albany County Medical
Society. He is a prominent member of the Masonic order, being a 32° Mason. He
is also a trustee of the First Presbyterian church. In July, 1891, he made an e.N-
tended tour through Europe. Dr. Classen married Ella J. McCracken, and has one
son, Philip Luke Classen.

Felter, James, was born in Rensselaerville, August 3, 1840. and is a son of Andrew,
born April 27, 1S08, and Jemima Felter, he born in Rensselaerville and she in West-
erlo, Albany county. The grandfather was William, a son of Jacob Felter, a native
of Holland who came to America before the French and Indian war and fought in
that war; he died in Kingston, Ulster county. The grandfather of Mr. Felter came
to Rensselaerville and took up land and there died ; his wife was Jane Joy, of Eng-
lish descent, a daughter of John Joy of England, and died in Ulster county. The
father was a farmer and lived in Rensselaerville. He sold his first farm and about
1853 bought the farm now owned by Mr. Felter, and died in the village of Rensse-
laerville in 1894, at the age of eighty-six, and his widow now lives at Rensselaer-
ville, aged eighty-two. He was supervisor for two terms, 1858 and 1859, and was



also commissioner of highways and assessor. Mr. Felter was reared on a farm and
educated in the common schools. He is a farmer on the old homestead of 160 acres.
In 1868 he married Mary Eckerson of Seward, Schoharie county, by whom he has
one son, Charles H., born July 39, 1869, educated in the common schools, and is a
farmer by occupation, and also an engineer. February 6, 1892, he married Mary
Brown of Albany, and has one son, Frank, born August 18, 1893. Mrs. Feltur is a
daughter of William Ecker.son and Jenette Miller, who lived and died in Schoharie
county.

(jove, Ralph A., son of Aurelius Gove, the oldest resident of Loudonville, and one
of the oldest residents of the old town of Watervliet, was born at Loudonville, July
37, 1849. His boyhood days were spent on his father's farm; he attended district
school No. 11 from six years of age until old enough to work. He worked on the
farm in the summer and attended school in the winter until 1867, when he attended
the Literary and .Scientific Institution of New London, N. H. In 1868 he entered
the grocery store of James Seamans of Brookline, Mass., as clerk and worked for
$100 a year. In 1869 he attended Fulsom's Business College of Albany. In 1871
he opened a grocery store at Loudonville. In 1873 he vv-as appointed postmaster and
has held the office until the present date. In 1882 he was elected commissioner of high-
ways for the town of Watervliet; for three years he was elected supervisor, and
again in 1889, but prevented from holding office by a fraudulent vote. In 1876 he
married Miss Matilda Van \'ranken of Watervliet, by whom he has had two chil-
dren. Florence M., born in 1877, and Ralph, born in 1888. Aurelius Gove, the
oldest resident of Loudonville, was born of Quaker parents at Montpelier, Vt., March
28, 1820. His parents moved to Watervliet in 1823 and three years later to Albany,
where his father engaged in the stoneware business. In 1832 they moved to Duane,
Franklin county; returning in 1832 they moved to Watervliet, of which town Mr.
Gove is still a resident. He was educated in the public schools in Albany and was
married in 1843 to Hannah S. Everett, and has Hved on the farm for fifty-two years
which he purchased shortly after his marriage. Mr. Gove has taken an active part
in the affairs of the town and has been for several years president of the Colonic
Farmers' League, an organization which was largely instrumental in the division of
the town of Watervliet, and which has done much for the good government of the
new town. Mr. Gove is also well known among boatmen on the Hudson, having
been for many years engaged in buying produce for the Ne.w York markets, also in
bringing glucose meal from Long Island to Albany and Troy.

Hartman, Christian, was born in Hessen-Darrastadt, Germany, in 1830. He was
a son of Peter Hartman, who was one of three sons born to Peter Hartman. He
was a blacksmith by trade, and his children were Christian, Peter and Henry, the
two former coming to America. Peter came over in 1851 and Christian came in
ISiil. Mrs. Hartman died when Christian was three weeks old, and his father lived
to be sixty-seven years of age. Mr. Hartman learned and worked at the blacksmith
trade with his father until he came to America. He came direct to Albany county,
where he worked for three years at his trade in the railroad shops. In 1860 he re-
moved to the village of Guilderland, where he established in his present location a
blacksmith shop, in connection with which he later engaged in the manufacture of
wagons and sleighs. He began life in a strange land with nothing but the knowl-



::!

edge of his trade; lie has been more than ordinarily successful. He owns two fine
residences and has other property. In 185T he married Elizabeth Miller, born in
1831, and daughter of Adam Miller, by whom two children have been born: Louis
and John, who now conduct the business with their father. Louis is married and
has one child, Delia. Mr. Hartman has been trustee of the Presbyterian church in
(Juilderland and is now filling the office of trustee of the Prospect Hill Cemetery.

Deitz, Charles E., was born in the town of Berne, July 13, 1840, the son of Isaac
and Maria (Shufeldt) Deitz, son of Johan Jost A., son of Adam, who was a son of
Han Henrich, a native of Switzerland. Charles E. was educated in the common
schools and Schoharie Academy and taught school when he was sixteen years old.
After leaving the academy in 1857 he was a clerk in the store of his brother-in-law,
H. Willsey in Berne. Six years after, upon the death of Mr. Willsey, he and his
father purchased the store and stock and continued the business under the name of
Deitz & Son. In 1873 Charles E. purchased his father's interest and has continued
the business to the present time. In 1867 he married Laura J. Ludden, a native of
Virginia, daughter of Rev. A. P. and Marion Caroline (Grove) Ludden and grand-
daughter of Col. John W. Grove of Virginia. They have had .seven children : Stan-
ton L., Rev. Archibald E., Bertha, wife of Everett L. Hevenor, Grace, Leona, Ray-
mond and Marion. Stanton L. married Isabel, daughter of Jacob S. Haverly of
Berne in 1895. Archibald E. married, in 1893, Carrie Secor of Rhineheck and has
one son, Vernon I. Mr. and Mrs. Deitz are members of the I^utheran church, and
he is a Republican. He has been postmaster during every Republican administra-
tion from Lincohi's time to the present.

Weaver. George B , was born in New York city in 1848, and was a son of Hamil-
ton Weaver, a merchant of that city and a native of Oneida county. His boyhood
was pa.ssed on a farm near Deerfiekl, Oneida county. His education was completed
at a private school in Utica; so rapid was his progress and so complete his grasp of
knowledge in detail, that immediately upon attaining legal majority he received
an appointment in the State Department of Public Instruction and continued for
twenty-five years in that line of work. His duties were largely classical in connec-
tion with the department, and he has become very prominent and efficient in edu-
cational matters in the town of Colonie where his home is situated. He has been
very active in public life and recently served as assessor and upon the town Board
of Education.

Baker Albert W., was born in Greene county. He is the son of John S. and
grandson of Schuyler Baker, Mr. Baker's father. John moved to Westerlo in 1844.
He was a farmer and died in 1877, leaving four sons; Albert, Edward, John and
William. Albert, who is a miller, married Adelaide, daughter of T. S. Robbins of
Westerlo, and after being a miller there for years he came to Alcove where he is in
company with B. T. Briggs and carries on a general milling business.

Bradt. John Van Der Heyden, is an old and prominent landmark of Albany
county, and was born in the town of Bethlehem, now New Scotland, December 26,
1831. The first Bradt dates back in America to 1633, and the first one in the town
of New Scotland was Adam, the greatgrandfather of John Y. D. H. Bradt. He
with a man named Sager walked from Albany through the woods in search of a



r4

location on which to build them a home; they found it in Bethlehem and Mr. Bradt
staked off too acres near where now stands the village of Jerusalem, erected him
a log house and began to clear the land to make him a home. He was a typical
pioneer, a soldier in the French and Indian war, and reared two sons: Peter A. and
Stoltes, between whom he divided his farm. Capt. Peter A., the grandfather of
John Bradt, was born on his father's homestead in Bethlehem. When the war for
independence broke out he offered his services and was captain of a train of team-
sters. He afterward journeyed to New York winters during the Revolutionery war