Livingston Manor Notables

The gentleman seated in front, with his arm's crossed, is A.L. Sherman. The row seated behind Mr. Sherman are, from left to right; Bill Gimmel; Mrs. Gimmel; George Woolsey; Mrs. Woolsey; F.B. Johnston. Standing in the back row, again left to right; Mrs. Sherman; Mr.DuBois; Mrs. Frank Johnston; Mrs. DuBois; Dr. Davis; Mrs. Davis

As evidenced by the Christmas decorations behind Mrs. Johnston and Mrs. DuBois, the photograph was taken during the Christmas season, but the year is unknown. Still, there are enough clues within the image that can give an approximate date.

Mr. A.L. Sherman, who sits in front, was, for a period of time, the editor of the Livingston Manor Times. William O. Ensign, publisher and owner of the newspaper during the beginning of the twentieth century, First called The Ensign and later changed to the Livingston Manor Times, tired of the newspaper business and joined his brother in prospecting for minerals in Montana. He probably also tired of the Manor, especially when he found that his wife was having an affair She eventually up and left him. Upon himself leaving for the West, Sherman took over as Mr. Ensign's editor of the newspaper during the spring of 1913. This lasted until Ensign sold the business to Harold Forbes in 1917. With Forbes now being the publisher, Elmer Myers became the new editor; Mr. Myers was my grandfather.

With A.L. Sherman being part of the group, the photograph would probably have been taken between the Christmas season of 1913 to the Christmas season of 1916.

The stern-looking gentleman sitting behind Mr. Sherman in the Who's Who photograph is George S. Woolsey, the youngest son of the lumber entrepreneur, P.H. Woolsey. George was trained to be a teacher and taught at the Livingston Manor school for many years, serving also as its administrator. He left the Manor for a short time and went to work for the YMCA, residing at Cortland and Syracuse. When Charles B. Ward purchased the weekly newspaper, in 1909, he enticed Woolsey to return to the Manor and serve as his newspaper's editor.

After spending three years at Ward's Liberty Register, and with William Ensign loosing interest in the Livingston Manor newspaper,
Woolsey joined up with Editor A.L. Sherman and helped publish the Livingston Manor Times. When Howard Forbes became the publisher and owner of the Times, Woolsey left the Manor for East Orange, New Jersey, where he and his wife lived until his death, not long after this photograph was taken, in 1921 at the relatively young age of 46 years.

Seated next to to Woolsey, to his left and in the white dress, is his wife, Nellie Dodge, daughter of Montgomery and Jenette Maybe
Dodge of Rockland. They married in 1899, moving into his recently built house on the corner of Pearl Street and Rock Avenue, next to the Presbyterian Church and its parsonage. Like his parents, George and Nellie were heavy contributors to that church, both in time and money, donating the "Woolsey Window", in memory of his parents who helped found the Manor church, during the church's first renovation.

Nellie did not share the same fate as that of her husband's early death, for she lived up to the age of 90 years, passing away in 1969.

Fred Fries - August 6, 2007

Another member of one of Livingston Manor's prominent families is standing in the back row, on the left. Louis DuBois was the son of Alvin Preston DuBois, who came to Livingston Manor in 1873 as a junior partner of the company "John H. Devine & Co.", which operated a department store at Ellenville and opened a branch at Morsston. The store sold everything from groceries to hardware and clothing.

When John Devine retired in 1881, the business then became known as "A.P. DuBois & Co.", with A.P. DuBois as president. Louis, after graduating from Colgate, returned home and went to work as a store employee, eventually becoming the secretary for the company. When his father died in 1907, Louis was elected president of the company, which was operated successfully until it finally closed in 1925.

Two years later, Louis started the fuel busines, handling coal, fuel oil and bottled gas. For a while he worked at the Livingston Manor
Bank, his daughter, Carolyne, and wife running the business. Besides the fuel business offices being located at the DuBois building, he
also conducted a haberdashery business there, as well as renting out business space to Charles Fallon, a barber, and Charles Fuhrer, who took over the George Lathrop pharmarcy.

Fred Fries - August 8, 2007

The fellow standing in the back row, on the right, of the "Who's Who" photograph is Doctor J. William Davis. Davis was a "homegrown" doctor which added to his immense popularity. His father, James "Wals" Davis, came from a family that settled in Morsston. After returning from the Civil War, "Wals" for a brief period operated the old Purvis Hotel, at Jacktown, eventually purchasing the manor house of Edward Livingston and converting it into a hotel that became known as the Manor House. In 1885, "Wals" sold the thriving hotel to W.F. Clay and began erecting another hotel across the street, which became known as the Hotel Davis, later known as the Hotel Sherwood.

After attending the local school, young Davis received his medical training at New York, returning to the area and opening his doctor's office at Jeffersonville in 1904. By 1910, he moved his practice to Livingston Manor and built his spacious home on DuBois Street, which included both his residence and office.

In 1933, while on his way to his hunting camp above Willowemoc with his wife and grandchildren, his car became lodged upon a stump. In his attempt to chop the obstacle away from his vehicle, he suffered a heart attack and dropped dead on the spot.

Fred Fries - August 20, 2007