BOOK of GHOSTS
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The BOOK of GHOSTS ANCESTRAL LINES OF HERBERT DRAKE HALSE .. Gathered from various sources. Where the bulk or skeleton of a line is taken from one work it so states. The efforts of the HISTORIAN May not be appreciated by many but it has afforded him much pleasure and is dedicated to KATHLEEN GLADDING HALSEY With Affectionate Regard and the hope that she will exceed THE HIGHEST ATTAINMENT OF ANY OF HER NOBLE RO-W OF ANCESTORS He who builds, Never builds, As he would build, Who looks. PRIMARILY, the matter here presented from Title-page, to but not including ancestry of Adelia Vandervoort was gathered over a period of thirty years, as a purely personal entertainment and later put in readable form for the edifica tion of the younger members of the family trusting that they might take courage from the deeds of their ancestors. So many demands have been made for data regarding the different branches that it has been deemed advisable to print a limited number of copies and through the generous co-opera tion of a popular branch of the Halsey Family the number is substantially increased. No child has ever had the privilege of selecting its parents consequently it is not printed with the slightest suggestion of "SNOBBERY," but it is hoped that it will lead others to recogni:,e that Family History is a vital part of WORLD HIS TORY and spend a few hours in recording their own so that posterity may enjoy it. Such data, however, may not interest the one recording it, but it surely will be eagerly accepted by somebody sometime. In a cemetery at Yazoo City, Miss., there is a stone bearing this epitaph : Here lies two grandsons of John Hancock, first signer of the Declaration of Independence. (Their names are respectively Geo. M. and John H. Hancock) and their eminence hangs on their having had a grandfather. H.D.H. Copyright, 1927, by HERBERT D. HALSEY WHAT OF THE COMPILER? Evidently with the Knight of the Woful Figure in mind, Mr. Irving, in Knickerbocker avers that "The writer of a history may, in some re spects be likened unto an adventurous knight, who, having undertaken a perilous enterprise by way of establishing his fame, feels bound, in honor and chivalry, to turn back for no difficulty nor hardship, and never to shrink or quail, whatever enemy he may encounter," so,-Come on, then ye Dusty Musty Tomes and Fiery Obstructionists prepare to be cleft in twain; whilst a Right Royal Welcome awaits Sir Holesum Helps! To appreciate a work of this character, something must be known of the HISTORIAN. Balzac says that, "Historians are privileged liars." Genealogists it appears are also liars, but perhaps not in tentionally,-their method being guess, then search; if the guess is wrong, the find may be, thus the lie. We avoid one of these evils by ,..,n;n,,. th;., ., "rnn,l,..,.,,.,:i l·Hc:tnru n.f thP H!:11T11lv n.f ,, Wnrthv C'1t1?Pn '""Q.&&&&&6 M&&;,;;,t U. '°"V&&U'-'&&~'-U ,a..L&;,;;,t'-"-'&J v.a. _..,_ ,.. _.,,...,..,.,., -• - ..,,,- _., ._..,.,J ....., .....-.--•• of Midwout" and not a genealogfoal guide, altho every effort has been made to have it correct. This Worthy Citizen, the Historian, Herbert Drake Halsey, was born at Astoria, L. I., Saturday, Aug. 31, 1872, 3 A. M., in ·a French-roofed frame house, s.w. cor. Perrot Ave. and Franklin St., now 74 Franklin. He was the second child and son of George Augustus Halsey and Anna Mills; the first child Edwin Mills having been born at Burlington, N. J., Jul. 15, 1867. Burlington, besides being his birth-place, was also the birth-place of the first newspaper published in Jersey, called the "New Jersey Gazette," issued Friday, Dec. 5, 1777. The Burlington Library founded 1737 is credited as the oldest existing public library in this country. A well preserved volume of over 400 pages, bound in parch ment and the penmanship of the scribes now mingling with mother earth, still remarkably distinct, bears on its title-page, "Minutes of the Library Company of Burlington ; Extract from every flower is sweet." ( Pro. N. J. H. S., Apr., '27, p. 246). Burlington as a Historic center is deserving of more fame than it gets, but in this Vale of Tears, credit is rarely bestowed where it be longs. Hudson did not discover New York bay, the first so-called dec laration uniting the colonies was not signed at Philadelphia, George Washington was not our first President, Robert Fulton did not create the first steam-boat, nor did John Ericsson invent Theodore R. Timby's revolving turret. Verrazzano discovered the bay, the first declaration 4 The Book of Ghosts was signed at Burlington Jul. 2, 1776; Elias Boudinot, a resident of Burlington, president of the Continental Congress signed the Treaty with England and automatically became the first president of the United States. John Fitch of Bristol, opposite Burlington, built the first steamboat in 1786 and ran his third boat Oct. 12, 1788, with 30 passengers, from Burlington to Philadelphia a distance of 20 miles in three hours and ten minutes. His fourth boat ran to Trenton in 1790 all season, seventeen years before the "Clermont" caused John C. Ste vens to send his vessel, the "Phoenix," "outside" to Philadelphia and Burlington. Fitch introduced the screw propeller in 1794- Capt. James Lawrence whose dying lips uttered "Don't give up the ship !" was born in Burlington as was also our old favorite, James Fenimore Cooper who immortalized the Cornelius Van Wyck homestead at Fishkill as the Wharton House in "The Spy." The "Sea-lions" he wrote while at Sag Harbor. After this brief resume perhaps Burlington will awaken to a realization that she really isn't getting what is her just due, in the dis tribution of fame. Edwin of course had nothing whatever to do with the selection of a birth-place, for it happened that when his father and mother were mar ried his father was employed in a china-shop ( not as a bull, perhaps, yet it might have been, as you will see) in Maiden Lane. As was usual then, he asked if he might be married, and receiving an official 0. K., took the leap and while enjoying their wedding trip received the "blue envelope," to the effect that "his services could be dispensed with in future!" Farming seemed to appeal to the Newlyweds, so a fairly good sized one was purchased on the Delaware at Burlington. Like many others it proved beneficial only to the middleman, so after a short (and perhaps long) while, they sold out and returned to Astoria. A. T. Stewart, the pioneer in department stores, then occupying the Stewart Building, Broadway and Chambers, used the ex-farmer's services as collector, but the farm lasted just long enough for Edwin to add to the list of great things done at Burlington. The farm of 102 acres, (then known as the "Halsey Place," so called from a sign placed at the front gate, originally intended to adorn a short section of Perrot Ave., Astoria) the large farm-house with six windows in the parlor and the barn are today, except for age, just as they were in 1867. The house stands about 30 feet east of what was once a very pretty road with trees either side, running along the river bank and opposite the north end of Burlington Island. Sixty years ago the farm products were sent to Camden by boat,-the value of the farm was around $6,000 while in recent years it has been sold for $17,000. Owing to a proposed bridge across the river from Bristol, the Burlington end of which will adjoin the farm, the property is held at $8o,ooo. The name Herbert which the Historian bears was suggested by a friend of his mother, Mrs. Malvin Gladding, who afterward became his A Search for 512 Fathers 5 mother-in-law, thereby proving conclusively that, "Matches are made in Heaven !" The name Drake was bestowed out of respect for his grand father's sister, Mary Alling Halsey Drake, an unusually fine character who died Apr. 18, 1872, a few months prior to his birth. She married Judge George King Drake of Newark, a descendant of Cornelius Drake of Hanover, N. J. Up to the age of seven Herbert was schooled by his mother, then for two years he attended school kept by Miss Anna Vandervoort, sister of Mrs. Stephen B. Halsey, in the Vandervoort home, n.e. cor. Remsen and Franklin Sts., Astoria. Eliza Whiting's was next, for three years; located on Newtown Ave., opposite The Crescent; then for three years with the idea of entering college, the University Grammar School at Broadway and 4211d St., where the Times Building now stands. In Sep., 1887, he contracted Typhoid and did not fully recover till the fol lowing summer, consequently college was forgotten and Packard's Busi ness College selected. One year of this was plenty, so in Aug., 1889, he took it upon himself to "get a job" and joined the Theosophical Society, publishers of "The Path" as office-boy at $3.00 per, the office being at 132 Nassau St. George Wheat printed the magazine while a Colt press and an all-around printer constituted the mechanical dept. at 35 Frank fort. After 14 months the lure of Wall St. drew him to Edey Bros., brokers, in lower Wall and later 25 Broad. They shortly liquidated and reorganized under the name of Chas.