By Bill Kleppel
Life on Poughkeepsie’s Main Street during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was frenetic and teeming with activity.
The lifeblood of the city flowed through this arterial, transporting and distributing everything that was needed for Poughkeepsie to survive and thrive. It expanded exponentially during this period, developing its own culture that reverberated beyond its Hudson River banks to the rest of the World.
It may seem hard to believe, but it really did.
This era of Main Street has long since died. Yet, bits of its skeletal carcass remain. If you walk the street today, and try hard enough, you can still feel the haunting resonance of its vibrancy, chaos, harmony, disorder, pageantry, ugliness, beauty, and community resilience.
On occasion, I’ll give random examples of what made our Main Street so very special more than 100 years ago. By early next year, I plan to give a series of presentations to experience what life might have been like on nineteenth century Main Street.
Main Street in the 1860’s (Dutchess County Historical Society)
The Farrington’s
George W. Farrington and William R. Farrington had the same surname, but were of no relation. In 1830, George opened Farrington & Ring’s China and Pottery Shop in Poughkeepsie.
In 1849, young William decided to enter the shop at 266 Main Street to ask if he could work as an apprentice.
Little did these Farringtons know they would be associated with this business for the next 80 years!
Farrington & Co.; 1856 Poughkeepsie City Directory
William’s apprenticeship on Main Street concluded in the mid 1850s. George was so thrilled with his work that he helped William begin a career for himself in New York City for the prestigious china house of E.V. Haughwout & Company.
He plied his trade in the new E.V Haughwout Building on the corner of Broome Street & Broadway, which was built in 1857. The building still exists today, and was installed with the first working passenger elevator by Elisha Otis.
E.V. Haughwout Building, 488-492 Broadway, New York City.
In 1859, William was sent to the company’s Paris headquarters to work as an agent. He traveled throughout Europe visiting the leading factories that produced the finest china, earthenware, and cut glass on the continent.
While living in Paris, he met Brooklyn, New York, born Eleanor Daly. They married in Paris in 1863.
His increasing expertise in the field and his boundless work ethic made William extremely successful. The company eventually decided to give him full control of the European operations, and the brand was soon re-named Haughwout & Farrington in 1866.
The company continued to thrive in the United States while William was across the Atlantic. Earlier in the 1860s, Mary Todd Lincoln visited New York and contracted the business to paint the official White House china for her husband’s new administration.
Lincoln White House Service Set; 1861
William spent 16 years overseas. He even endured living in Paris while it was under siege during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.
In 1875, he decided it was time to return to the United States and to the City of Poughkeepsie. After a short respite, he went back into business with George Farrington, who was still residing in the shop where it all began at 266 Main Street.
William took over the business when George retired in May of 1877. George W. Farrington died August 9, 1881.
William R. Farrington & his niece Annie Farrington (Card); 4 Sep 1875 (Vail Photo Collection)
William continued to sell the finest wares he could find at his Main Street store. He frequently took trips back and forth to Europe in order to procure them, as well as seeking the most exceptional china created in America. An article from the Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle in 1898 sums up his success during his years as sole owner of the shop:
“It is safe to say that Mr. Farrington carries the finest stock of china and glassware in the country. He has always taken care to satisfy his customers, and it would be a hard matter to find a more agreeable merchant to deal with”.
William also became known throughout Poughkeepsie as a local philanthropist. In 1886, he donated $1000 to Vassar College to help them build a large greenhouse. It was named the Eleanor Conservatory, after his late wife Eleanor Daly Farrington, who died on December 13, 1885. The greenhouse was the first of its kind on campus grounds, and stood for many years.
Eleanor Conservatory at Vassar College – built in 1886
In another Poughkeepsie Journal Eagle article from May 2, 1886, concerning the opening of the conservatory:
“Mr. Farrington, by his gift, not only increases the resources of the Natural History Department, but provides for all the students of Vassar College a source of enjoyment that few colleges in the country afford.”
18th Century ceramic vase created by Josiah Wedgewood and given as a gift to Vassar College from William R. Farrington and his family in 1910
William married a second time, to Mary Elizabeth Goodsell in 1889. He ran his business as Farrington’s until he passed away from pneumonia on March 8, 1910, at the age of 78. His wife Mary died the next day. She was 52.
Both William and Mary Farrington were buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
Even with the passing of the Farringtons, the company endured! The business was bought by James Ackley and his sister, Cora Ackley. The store at 266 Main Street went through various incarnations, selling pottery, china, and jewelry, until the entire business was sold in 1925.
References
- I. Underhill’s Poughkeepsie City Directory. J.I. Underhill, 1856.
- “For Twenty One Years.” Com, Poughkeepsie Eagle News, 3 May 1898, newscomny.newspapers.com/image/114043474/?match=1&terms=%22William%20R.%20Farrington%22&pqsid=B7V3dFOlFvoOMSqWpv4sRQ%3A32204%3A466477562.
- “William R. Farrington.” Com, Poughkeepsie Eagle News, 9 Oct. 1889, newscomny.newspapers.com/image/114924953/.
- Nevius, Michelle & Nevius, James (2009), Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, New York: Free Press, ISBN141658997X101-103
- Replica of The Portland Vase. 26 May 2016. Poughkeepsie, NY.
- “Vassar Greenhouses.” Vassar Encyclopedia, vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/buildings-grounds-technology/grounds/greenhouses/. Accessed 31 July 2024.
- Zirkel , Kenneth C. E V Haughwout Building . 25 Nov. 2017. New York, NY.
- Evanson, Tim. “Haughwouts in America; Porcelain and Presidents.” Dacey Haughwout, www.daceyhaughwout.com/our-story. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.
- “W. R. Farrington Died On Tuesday.” Com, Poughkeepsie Eagle News, 9 Mar. 1910, newscomny.newspapers.com/image/114065923/.
- “Mrs. Farrington Died Wednesday.” Com, Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle, 10 Mar. 1910, newscomny.newspapers.com/image/114066150/.
- “Will Conduct Crockery Business.” Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s – Newspapers.Com, Poughkeepsie Eagle News, 6 June 1910, www.newspapers.com/image/114389244/?match=1.