Elting Biographies
From the History of Ulster County, 1880
Noah Elting & Family
Noah Elting and his Family
It seems a fitting tribute to the memory of the first settlers of the town of
Lloyd that their names have a place in its history. They have for years been
sleeping in our burial places; no pictures of them are left us, but the work of
their lives has left their impress on this
region; by their industry and perseverance they changed the wild and unbroken
land into farms, founded our churches and schools, laid out our roads, and
commenced our villages. Among a list of these we claim a place for the name of
Noah Elting and his descendants. He was of Huguenot descent, being the fourth
generation from Roelof Elting, who came from Holland about the year 1660. Noah
Elting was born in the year 1763; he settled on a tract of land of five hundred
acres, extending from the Hudson River three miles back; the south line was a
little below the ferry-slip, with a river front of a quarter of a mile. He
married Hannah Deyo, a worthy and energetic woman. They lived near the ferry
(which he established), in a dwelling on the site of the present residence of
the heirs of Andrew S. Lefevre. Their family consisted of five sons and three
daughters. He died in 1813, aged forty-nine years and five months. His widow
survived him many years, dying in 1849, aged eighty-seven. His land was devised
to his five sons, Abraham, Henry D., Joseph, Philip, and David. Philip, the
fourth son, was born Sept. 17, 1797; he received for his share lands about one
mile from the river; he was married twice; his first wife, Electa Deyo, died in
1826, aged 26 years. The children of this marriage did not long survive their
mother. In 1828 he married Jane E., daughter of Charles H. Duncombe, a former
merchant of Poughkeepsie, and one of the founders of the Methodist Church of
that city; the membership consisting of eight persons, meeting for worship at
his house.
Philip Elting was a genial, kind-hearted man, with good
business capacities, enterprising and public-spirited. About the year 1832, on a
part of his farm, he commenced the village now called Highland, building therein
five dwellings, - a store, blacksmith-, wagonmaking-, and boot- and shoe-shop.
The first occupant of the store was Dewitt C. Ransom; the other business was
under his own supervision. Ransom moving to Michigan in the spring of 1836, he
took the store and carried it on until his death. The enterprise was ridiculed
by some, who, in derision, named the new village Philip’s Folly. A few years
since the name of the post-office was changed from New Paltz Landing to
Highland, since which time the village has been known by that name. The land on
which the Methodist Episcopal church now stands was a gift from him, of which
church himself and wife were members.
In 1831 a charter was obtained for the New Paltz turnpike; it
was completed in 1833; in this road he was a stockholder, manifesting much
interest in it, he, with others along its route donating the land through their
farms. In the midst of his activity and usefulness he was called from time. He
died in 1839, aged forty-three. His illness was caused by exposure in repairing
damages done the turnpike by a great freshet. The care of the three children,
Orlando H., Charles W., and Nelson D. (the eldest being ten years old), and the
management of the property now devolved on his widow. She was an intelligent and
active woman and devoted mother; she proved herself worthy of the trust; by
economy and good management she paid the debts of the estate, keeping it entire
until the rise in property and the demand for building lots made it profitable
for her to sell. She survived her husband nearly twenty-five years, dying June
30, 1864, respected by all that knew her and mourned for by her family.
Charles W. Elting, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, ;is
the second son of Philip and Jane E. Elting. He was born July 24, 1831; was
educated in the common school, excepting one year in Poughkeepsie. In early life
he was a clerk in several of the stores of his native village; was for a short
time a partner with Henry J. Perkins in the mercantile business; he next engaged
with his brother Orlando in the manufacture of scythe rifles, sawing and
turning. They dissolved partnership in 1865, since which he has given a part of
his time to fruit-growing. He is one of the justices of the peace of the town;
was first elected in 1855, and has held the office since, with the exception of
one term. Has been a Republican in politics since the organization of that
party. He is the present supervisor of the town; was elected to the office at
the annual town-meeting held on the 2d day of March, 1880. He was married Jan.7,
1863, by the Rev. M.F. Liebnau, then pastor of the Presbyterian Church, to
Josephine, daughter of John H. Coe, of the same town. They have three children,
- Philip, Mary and Maggie. He still lives in the house built and occupied by his
father overlooking the village of Highland.
Note: Some of the genealogical information appears to be incorrect.
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