The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-03-27
CAP'N JOHN BILL HOFFMAN
EHE SUDDEN RISE ~ THE World or
A OIrAUTBRM ~ MISTER'S DUlIR

A ldttte UnrrOOm on tue Dhffti"W"i"' -
North River A IBig Mansion In Red hooh'
ond Wb,poo tho uia Mansion Came.
Johu william Hoffman was poor few
...rs,y,. IIeisnow very rich. In Tatrytown.
Dutchess county, N. v. In the shadow OF an
enorp ous Ioehouse, a iitilo building stand. win
kre,t dlnicultv, nRe having weakcned It. IL has
Eottled UuevenlY into It's foundation, until u
looks IN front like the weather tOuRhcned lace
Of an old man, held roguishly on one side, WIN
hi, chin SUM- down beiind his nechtle. Ihe
tycs nrc there In two wind d)ws. ono closed WIN
y green blind ike patch; door In Inc ceh'ro
represents nose. red with long exposure
rortico roof. rakishy tipped out Of the h'ti1 m
H. i.thc ak Of y cap on the jolly old Fellows
head On tho front of his cap "a Inscribed
HSsIoon." and around II fingers the fume OF
applet ck.
"You sec that thcro placef" and the writer's
attention wa, directed from the railroad station
10 the tumilinG building by BnrYiownian.
l. Wall, tn rs where Csp'n John Dul usVd to
keep l. bar"
"AnI who IA Cantan J phn Biilf"
"C4un John Bin llonman-ihats what We
cali Inn round here. Everybody In the county
knows Cip'n John lli reck'n. Yes sir. re-
membc, his placo lko 1t was yc,terday, and
'twaut ~ nv ve1is alo, nlthcr Al the BOYS on
the dob drlnk't his applet e., aud whishev, and
he want ltoud IN them days. lie was poor, too
.-roor ~ any OF us hut dorned enierrri'ing.
lie was always rcaly TO chuck The dice with
ANYBODY tor tho drinka for .hc crowd, and trust
u luck for profit"
"whorc does he live nowY'
"OVcr TO 'he heu iip"N' h'e'tNoSs' "o ."'S
that his home, though he goes down To New
York iva or three da,s awcck lIantyou heard
cell of Cap'r Dii's hpusef Cost morr'n twenty
Nuus nd dollars, nnd there aint nOthia ike it
in tipsp utfts"
an. mus, berlch. then"
owen, re- koni'
"t,,, dhscc, ht.,n,neV7"
- uu tell.
al don't know"
.S,,,,rodo1 N,.r,,~o doea ,,,vNodv ,r,unf
N' '"''e w - wv ~ N"'' "''S ''.. '''"'
here. me sys its apccn ton All o' US
knoN'd Cap'n John Eli wh,n lie was in the
,,o,, 49,, .h.,o a., ,i,, ,,iI
r''"'"' ~" Wv" w '''' ''''"' u"
u MADISON she was the old ste 'mboat that used
[, ram from here 10 New York; but how he
-, i,. ,,,.,,,.,,,, . ,,,,... 10. .,, ,,,, .uess
uiss ~ TnH wouLp.
The loon ON the wharf was found TO contain
tue ''"'" '' ''' "'''' " 10 ' ~
pfinci' 'alli stove 'ir'lF 'i men sp'uhR on H.
And stock e nppleiic>. Al n'cryals. not vary
ing much from ten minutes each. the sizzling OF
,, a., ~, L -. - 49,, -.
topac'' jhco on we STOW 'H''s 70 "h t"e 'nV"
repl ulshod with appl'iick. The " itcr @ silly
turned tbo conversntton mo, C,p, Uof.
-, a.,
ana U1tehed an hour 70 "reminiscences OF tue
n, his ,ve.Itb Tho as.erlly knew ittla. exc.ut
-. ts,,, J.. ~, aS,,s., =, .on,.,,,.,,.
ths ohrc ihcs 'hht he Eau u'puieu u sohtn""
within few years. They were fu OF wonder
,,,ont at tho .nIendor of hIa rssidence ana oave
'.O", " s-,.'., .',
e,ow,ne uosv,,r,ons ., ~ ou' W imef M Vnu'u ,D'
oes.fal method OF sccumul!tins money; lhey
RED Hook Is three iSiiss bsct Of i Tr,town
d n trr t,de over hilly. muddy road, was m ade
'lntere.ting by the ttlk Of the farmer who had
been hired to provlie tho transit. The theme
and his ideas Of the rich mans susiucs. we're
Yer, crude. lie, too, guessed it was "srccnla-
SAW V res"TdIns S'c eertaim purcna.e Of onism..
"Th t'l net me seven thousand dollars" Just
on the cage OF the u tie village he storped rs
tor-es aud ssid. " There's C'pn John mn.
house The structure, although large and
handsome. would not attract notice IN or near a
citY nut In It's place Ia indeed rsmakihic.
Most of the houses thereahout are common
back country res fences. aud Il seems palh
10y comparison. 1t was erected last year. and 4.
sn astounding thing to the people Of that paft
~ Dutrbcss county. The polished woods. the
Zig panes OF plate glass. the bronze door fittings
the system Of water pipes. the heating apna,
residcnce, were subjects OF wondering discus
eion. Holman had been known until lattery
&C cen, md nd c"tions Of TrsspcTity in his manner Of
enriched him. lie soon occupied the house.
with his family, and they lived uxuriousY em-
ploying many setVants, driving numerous
horses, Qnd wearing expensive clothes. Al,
thouGn the peoI le became gradually accustomed
70 hlr OF ioIthhess Ht hoN fth-u 10
be the talk OF the town, the thing TO exhibit to
ptrHncers. "a would be- any phenomenal growth.
tiis hruae Ia shown 10 STRANGERS MS a curiosity,
for thu VIII ger, r-g'id 1t 40 being suroassed by
few structures n where. l. divides admira-
zion with the new Dutche.s Railroad. on which
Two passenger trsius Il day roll lIZly through
the place.
- HRAvY INVESTMENTS.
3 NJ, lo.s ,so uon,,,, nnt n l,rea ,n,, ~
sonosv s"id ,o no s15 IN i,to ,hs Hcts ~ 'h,c ~
~ W,,nsm. e., ~ ~ e., Sinn =, :, " - ~ n
ds,.tis ~ ~. husincs. vbich - cond"e,n ~,
I,ad Inn ~ ,a ho hna 'O tnrsstad ." - go, go as
s"o,mt Of oait In 40 line of bssses TO tno bc.
twren Uhinecl,r and Nav Yort cNnte"ti', "
t,,ith tha Dutchas. II iirnad In which no Ia
Hn.nciaiiy Interes,ad rhesa eyiden"as of ~ a
sI.n,,if,de N its nnsssssiona rnny,uced sven
.ns.IcSttcs ,yhn ran,emIsrin, ,ne - ~ In
Ii ., - iSe uapryta,yn 6,,r,on, fonnd 4, harr
t"Tcleyc tSa, he had risen so ia"h in nruserfy
AnIoWyh Jl"rman's ",idden enricm,n,nt n y.
ocen !, ~ nv mtstary to most of MS toyn.nen
~. rI,~s"i ~, go " tst mo- eTnia,,t,,,, =, -
-. 20 in ',, "a ,,, ',ryhoI :, II, W pA H. 1,i
- 'rcu ~, "a ,, a. al 80 b c o
t NJ Vnr ocn slnnIi, s,d Lnoyy' so,nct bins
- ~, III o,,,si % s 81, ctr o"r, ,c,,,,f, 10
c,utiplsly, for Capt. John Rill's" disrleasure
tiwhims" , - a' "ntso ~ ..n W
tht',,.,h fra nnsrfatr's.tsr,, na,,,, -, y