History of New Paltz, (Ulster County) New York United States of America

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Biographies:

Jacob Lefever, representative, was born at New Paltz, N.Y., April 20, 1830; son of Garrett and Catharine (Dubois) Lefever, grandson of Jonathan and Catharine (Freer) Lefever and a descendant of Simon Lefever "The Patentee." He was educated at New Paltz academy, and Amenia seminary; and became a prominent banker. He was supervisor of the town of New Paltz, 1861-62; a member of the state assembly, 1863-67; a delegate to successive Republican state conventions and to the Republican national convention of 1888; and a Republican representative from the eighteenth district of New York in the 53d and 54th congresses, 1893-97.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

James Le fevre, clergyman, was born at New Paltz, N.Y., Jan. 19, 1828; son of Nathanael and Magdalen (Hoornbeck) Le Fevre, and grandson of Johannes and Elizabeth (Du Bois) Le Fevre and of Cornelius and Mary (Graham) Hoornbeck. His first ancestor in America, Simon Le Fevre, emigrated from France, and was one of the twelve men who in 1663, purchased 144 square miles from the Indians on the banks of the Waalkill river, in Ulster county, N.Y., and established a "palatinate" which they called "New Paltz" and over which they and their successors ruled for over a hundred years. His ancestor, the Rev. James Le Fevre, was a forelight of the reformation in France, whose philosophical writings and translation of the New Testament gained for him the title "Light of his Age." James attended the district schools of New Paltz, attended academies in Poughkeepsie and Newburg, N.Y., and was graduated from Rutgers college in 1854, and from the Theological seminary at New Brunswick, N.J., in 1857. He was married, June 18, 1857, to Cornelia Hasbrouck. He was ordained to the ministry in 1857, and was pastor of the Reformed Dutch church at Raritan, 1857-75; and became pastor at Middlebush, N.J., in 1875. He was erected a member of the Huguenot Society of America in 1892. The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred on him by Rutgers college in 1893. He is the author of: History of the Reformed Church of Middlebush, N.J. (1884); and The Huguenot Patentees of New Paltz (1896).

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Henry Harrison Fay, educator, was born in New Paltz, Ulster county, N.Y., April 5, 1835; son of the Rev. Dr. Eliphaz and Mary Helen (lee) Fay, and a descendant on the paternal side from Samuel Morse, who came from England to New England in 1635, and on the maternal side from John Lee, who came from Essex county, England, in 1634. His father, Eliphaz Fay, was president of Watervilla college, afterward Colby university, 1841-44. Henry was an honorary graduate from the University of Rochester in 1857, and received the degree of A.M. from that institution in 1859. He took up his residence in Newport in 1854, and there established his school for boys, which became one of the most prominent college preparatory schools in America. During the period of the civil war, aside from his regular school duties, he prepared a large number of young men to enter the U.S. naval academy. His success was so marked that the secretary of the navy made a personal recognition of the fact. The school continued under his management until he retired in 1875. He was a delegate to the Republican national conventions at Baltimore, in 1864, and Philadelphia in 1872. He was appointed by President Grant a member of the board of visitors to the U.S. military academy in 1875. He was one of the original members of the board of state charities and correction; a member of the Rhode Island general assembly, 1875-80; lieutenant-governor of the state, 1880-84; again a member of the general assembly, 1884-85, and in that body was the chairman of the committee on education, and a member of the finance committee. He was a member of the school board; superintendent of the public schools of Newport; a director in the Redwood library, 1874-97, and vice president of the library, 1885-97. He was postmaster of Newport, 1889-93, and a director of the First National bank for twenty years. He was a frequent contributor to the press on educational, literary and political subjects. He was married in 1864, to Ida, daughter of William and Mary Alexandria (Jones) Garland of Baltimore, Md. He died in Newport, R.I, Sept. 8, 1897.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor