JOHN 81
VAIL WILLIAM EDGAR 82
VAIL, C. WILBER 333
VAIL, ELIAS 82
VALENTINE, ELI 194
VALENTINE, NATHANIEL B. 292
VALENTINE, WILLIAM G. 402
VAN COURT, JAMES SEGUINE 482
VAN TASSEL, AMBROSE 266
VAN WART, ISAAC 287
VAN ZELM, JOHN A. 443
VARIAN, HENRY A. 444
WALSH, GEORGE 262
WALSH, MICHAEL J. 477
WARD, THOMAS B. 434
WARD, WILLIAM J. 127
WARING, CHARLES E. 65
WARING, JOHN T. 378
WASHBURN, H. E. 273
WATSON, JAMES 391
WEIMAR, JACOB 469
WEIS, JOHN A. 143
WHITLOCK, AARON BURR 471
WILLIAM P. PLATT. 145
WOLFE, WILLIAM H. 313
WOOD, JAMES. 42
WYCKOFF, CHARLES F. 286
YOCOM, ED S. 214
YOUNG, FRANK L. 395
DYKMAN, JUDGE J. O.
For more than thirty years Judge Dykman has been a resident of White Plains, Westchester county, New York, and he has a warm place in the hearts of the people of this place, while for integrity and justice he enjoys a reputation that extends beyond the bounds of the state.
Judge Dykman is a native of the Empire state. He was born in the town of Patterson, Putnam county, New York, and is a descendant of one of the early settlers of that county, his great-grandfather, Joseph Dykman, having settled in what is now the town of Southeast, Putnam county, in colonial days, where he became well known and influential; he was a captain in the Continental army in the Revolutionary war.
The youthful days of the subject of our sketch were spent in a manner similar to those of other farmer boys, — in attending school in winter and working on the farm in summer. By the time he reached manhood he had obtained a fair education, enough to enable him to teach a common school, and for some time he was engaged in teaching. Choosing the law for his profession, he entered upon its study in the office of the Hon. William Nelson, then a distinguished lawyer of Peekskill, Westchester county, under whose able instructions he was diligent in study and made rapid advancement. Being duly admitted to the bar, he engaged in the practice of his profession in his native county, at Cold Spring, and shortly afterward was honored, with official position there, first being elected to the office of school commissioner and subsequently to that of district attorney of the county.
Since the spring of 1866 Judge Dykman has been a resident of White Plains. Two years after locating here, in the fall of 1868, he was elected, by a handsome majority, district attorney of Westchester county, a responsible position which he filled with marked ability, particularly distinguishing himself by the successful manner in which he conducted the famous Buckhout murder trial. In the fall of 1875 he was again honored with official position, this time being elected to the high office of justice of the supreme court of the state of New York for the second judicial district.
He was nominated and supported as the regular candidate of the Republican party and at the election received a majority exceeding ten thousand, his support at the polls coming alike from Democrats and Republicans.
Judge Dykman's career on the bench has shown that the confidence of the people was not misplaced. Sound judgment, discretion, kindness, absolute fairness and impartiality, and a wide and deep knowledge of the law, are among his chief characteristics. Simple in habits, and modest and polite in manner, he has a happy way of ingratiating himself with all with whom he comes in contact, and those who know him best esteem him most highly. He is in many ways an illustration of what may be accomplished in this country of ours, with its republican institutions, where all positions are within the grasp of those who desire to obtain them. Without the aid of wealth or influence, and through his own energy and perseverance, he has ;gained the high position he adorns. On neither his public nor private character does there rest a stain.
Judge Dykman has had a long and happy married life, and is the father of two sons, both lawyers, — William N. and Henry T. Mrs. Dykman was formerly Miss Emily L. Trowbridge, of Peekskill, a descendant of one of the New Haven families of that name. In her character is found a noble -example of the devoted, loving wife and mother and benevolent Christian woman. Of their sons we further record that William N. married Miss Belle Annan and is a resident of Brooklyn, where he is successfully engaged in the practice of law. Henry T. married Miss Ella B. Cline, of Dutchess county, and is located at White Plains, where he has acquired a large clientage and good practice.
Politically the Judge is a Democrat in the broadest sense of the term, and his religious creed is that of the Protestant Episcopal church, of which he is a consistent member.
MASTERTON, Sr., ALEXANDER
We of this end-of-the-century period, representing the most electrical progress in all lines of material activity, are too prone to not give due heed to those elemental values which touch upon the deeper essence of being. We cannot afford to hold in light esteem those who have wrought nobly in the past, nor fail to accord honor to those who have given a heritage of worthy thoughts and worthy deeds, and have aided in laying fast the foundations of the greatest republic the world has ever known. He to whose life history we now turn attention was known and honored as one of the representative citizens of Westchester county and as a successful business man of our national metropolis. By his quiet, earnest, useful life and by his example the world was enriched, for the fructifying influences of a noble character expand in constantly widening angle as the years fall into the abyss of time.
Alexander Masterton was a distinct man — distinct in his individuality, in the inflexibility of his principles and in his labors as a man among men. He was born in the picturesque burg of Forfar, in the beautiful vale of Strathmore, Scotland, in the year 1797, coming of stanch Scottish stock and inheriting the sturdy independence and sterling virtues of that hardy race, in the land of "brown heath and shaggy wood." His educational advantages were limited in extent, but his alert and vigorous, mentality enabled him to effectively supplement his early training through the discipline and associations of his active and successful business life.
At the early age of seventeen years Mr. Masterton bade adieu to the beautiful hills and vales of his native land, severed the cherished ties which bound him to his home, and set forth to seek his fortunes in the New World. He embarked on a sailing vessel bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he arrived in due course of time. In his native land he had learned the stonecutter's trade, and the proficiency of the Scottish masons is proverbial. Thus it was not strange that the young man soon found use for his services. He remained in Halifax until he had earned sufficient money to repay to a friend the amount which he had borrowed to defray his expenses for the ocean voyage. He then came to New
