OSCAR S. GREENLEAF, proprietor of the Greenleaf Hotel of Otisville, N. Y., was born July 16, 1876. He is a son of John E. Greenleaf, born September 15, 1852, and Sarah Jennie (Shaw) Greenleaf, born August 16, 1853. In 1884 John E. Greenleaf rented the hotel, then known as the Blizzard House, and conducted it two years, after which he purchased the Washington Hotel, which he continued until his death, April 22, 1894. His wife died March 25, 1905.
There were seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. John E. Greenleaf, Charles D., born September 28, 1874, superintendent of the Borden Creamery at Thompson, Pa.; Grace M., wife of Charles Hoyt, of Mount Hope, born March 15, 1878; Edwin H. born July 22, 1880, residing at Newburgh, N. Y., plant superintendent of the Hudson River Telephone Company; Lillian, born May 22, 1882, residing in New York City; Frank B., born August 8, 1884, assistant agent of Erie Railroad at Otisville, N. Y.; James Acker, born June 6, 1886, and Oscar S.
The primary education of our subject was obtained at the district school at Mapledale in the town of Wallkill, after which he assisted his father in the hotel until his death. He then assumed the management of the hotel. Mr. Greenleaf was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Craig, daughter of A. J. and Mary Etta Craig, of Otisville, N. Y., May 6, 1903. One child has blessed this union, Oscar B., born March 27, 1905. Socially Mr. Greenleaf is a member of Hoffman Lodge No. 412, F. and A. M., of Middletown, N. Y., and Midland Chapter No. 240, R. A. M. In politics he is a republican.
JOHN L. GREGORY, one of Middletown's representative and esteemed citizens, was born September 28, 1841, at Monroe, Orange County, N. Y. His father was John S. and mother Nancy R. (Strong) Gregory. Mr. Gregory attained his early education at the academy at Monroe. After his schooling he learned the harness trade with his father, who died in 1906 at the age of eighty-eight years. The son assumed control of the business, which he conducted successfully for twenty years. His mother died in 1905 at the age of sixty-five years. Mr. Gregory came to Middletown and erected a handsome flat building called the "Gregorian," and is largely identified in real estate interests in the city. He married Angeline Babcock, of Monroe, November 27, 1877. Five children have been born to this union, Anna Louise, born August 17, 1878; Ruth B., born July 31, 1880; C. Alice, born June 18, 1886; and Marguerite, born August 18, 1896. Mr. Gregory and his estimable wife are members of St. Paul's church. In politics he is a republican.
ANDREW J. GUMAER was born at Godeffroy, Orange County, N. Y., November 4, 1833. His parents were Peter E. Gumaer and Ester Cuddeback. Our subject obtained his education at the district school and the Goshen Academy. After his schooling he worked in a general store and on the farm at Godeffroy. In 1872 he removed to Guymard, this county, and opened a general store, which he has since continued.
He married for his first wife Anna E. Strong, October 8, 1862, daughter of Augustus and Mary (Comstock) Strong. They had one child, who died in infancy. Mr. Gumaer chose for his second wife Adelia P. Strong, January 4, 1868. To this union were born three children, William J., Andrew and Annie E. In politics Mr. Gumaer is independent. The family attend the Dutch Reformed Church.
CHAUNCEY I. GUMAER was born February 20, 1860, at Godeffroy, Orange County, N. Y. He attended the district school, after which he removed to Alma, Colorado, in 1879, engaging in the general mercantile business for a period of twenty-three years. He was also identified with mining at the same place. He returned to Orange County in 1902, and has since been engaged in mining at Guymard, for the Guymard Lead and Zinc Mining Company, of which Mr. Gumaer is president, he married Miss Bell Graham, of Westtown, for his first wife, and she died in Colorado. For his second wife he married Alma G. Petterson, of Alma, Colorado. Their three children are Lucile G.. Helen J. and Alma M. In politics Mr. Gumaer is independent. His father, Peter L. Gumaer, was born January 29, 1827, in the old stone house near Godeffroy, Orange County, N. Y. When he became fifteen years of age he engaged in the general merchandise business with his brother, which they conducted for a period of twenty years. He afterward removed to Guymard and opened a general store and conducted a summer hotel, which was destroyed by fire in 1892. He has been postmaster at Guymard since 1865. Mr. Gumaer married Sarah Jane Mulock, of Greenville, N. Y., in 1853, and she died November 30, 1907. There were six children born to them, Georgeina I., Laertes W., Chauncey I., Franklin P., George S. and Marie Louise. Mr. Gumaer was formerly a member of Hoffman Lodge, F. and A. M. Peter L. Gumaer with his brothers, built the road connecting the Neversink Valley road with the Newburgh, Goshen and Carpenter's Point turnpike. They also constructed the suspension bridge across the Neversink River. It was through this movement the lead and zinc mines at Guymard were discovered, which has produced twenty million tons of lead and zinc ore.
SAMUEL [HADDEN,] a well known citizen of Chester, N. Y., (a portrait of whom appears in another part of this volume), is of French Huguenot descent, and was born in Rockland County, March 19, 1828. His father died of cholera in 1832, and in 1835 his mother married Edward Bellamy. They removed to Florida, Orange County, in 1839, where Samuel attended school and also assisted on the farm. When eighteen years of age he learned the trade of carriage making at Vail's Gate, Orange County. On April 12, 1852, he accepted the position of foreman of James Hallock & Sons carriage manufactory at Sugar Loaf. March 8, 1854, he removed to Chester Depot and purchased the business of Henry Wood, which he conducted until 1888. He was president of the village of Chester two terms, has been town collector and supervisor five terms and for twenty-five years has served as inspector of election. He joined the Presbyterian Church March 17, 1849, and since that time has been a consistent and active member, serving as elder of the church for thirty years. He is a member of the local grange. He married Eliza Jane McGill, of Cornwall, May 7, 1851, and they have had three children, Alice J., Clara and Eugene. Clara died at the age of thirty years. Mr. Hadden's wife died March 10, 1903. His mother's children, two sons and two daughters by her first husband, and one son and a daughter by her second, are all dead, excepting Samuel and John. The mother died in her eighty-first year. Mr. Hadden's farm of one hundred acres is the farm on which the ancestors of Secretary Seward were born and raised. This locality was at that time called Sommerville. He exhibited vehicles at the state fair held in Elmira, N. Y., in 1855, and secured second premium. His exhibits at the Orange County fair have always taken first premium.
JESSE HALBERT was born on a farm near Lake, Orange County, August 20, 1842. He and a brother, Albert Ruggles, are the only two living of the six children of Ezra and Phila Ann Halbert. His mother died in 1844 and his father in 1873. Jesse acquired his education at the district school, after which he followed agricultural pursuits and has remained a farmer. He has a dairy farm of two hundred and sixteen acres and is a breeder of Holstein cattle. He married Miss Emily Bates, of Morristown, N. J., May 29, 1878, and their two living children are Ezra, horn May 5, 1879, and Clarence, born July 25, 1881. Another son, Alfred, born January 13, 1883, died January 11, 1900. Ezra and Clarence have three hundred and seventy acres. Ezra is a member of Warwick Grange, a Republican and an energetic and progressive farmer.
DR. CHARLES H. HALL, a practicing physician at Monroe, N. Y., was born in Warwick, Orange County, in 1861. He was educated at the State Normal School at Albany and received his medical training from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore. He graduated in 1891 and has since practiced at Monroe. In 1901 he was appointed surgeon to the Erie Railroad. Dr. Hall is a member of the county and state medical societies and enjoys an extensive practice. He married Miss Tillie J. Mitchell, of New York and three daughters have been born to them. Dr. Hall is a son of Alva and Dermeda (Hunter) Hall. His ancestors settled in Orange County previous to the Revolution and took an active part in the nation's struggle for liberty, his great-grandfather, John Hall, being a Revolutionary soldier, who, it is supposed, was a son of Lyman Hall, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.