Moses Stivers Sr. 1828-1895
Moses Stivers was born in Beemerville N.J. ,Sussex County . He finished high school at age 17 and then taught in the local schools for ten years. He moved to Ridgebury N.Y. just outside of Middletown in 1855 and opened a pharmacy/general store which still stands today and is now a deli. At this time, one needed no license to dispense “medications” and pharmacists often formulated their own concoctions and dispensed them based on their own knowledge (or lack thereof). Moses Stivers was known to collaborate closely with local physicians and chemists and was well respected in his trade. In 1858 his interest in politics was increasing and he went to Illinois to hear the Lincoln – Douglas debates. He was enthralled by Lincoln’s speech as well as becoming closely aligned to the abolitionist cause. In 1864 while Lincoln was running for his second term, Moses was elected county clerk of Orange County. He also became involved with publishing and was partner in several (radical republican/abolitionist leaning) newspapers. During these war years Moses became close friends with General Charles Van Wyck who lived in Bloomingburg, again just outside of Middletown. He became an aide to Van Wyck and travelled to the battlefield several times to visit his brother Jesse Stivers on the battlefield, rally the troops, deliver and collect letters to and from the troops ( many to be published in his newspapers) , and to get much needed intelligence for Van Wyck and the Union cause. In 1863 he gave the acceptance speech for the City of Middletown for the Union Flag being returned to the women of Middletown by the Wallkill Guard, one of three regiments mustered out of Orange County. After the war in 1868, he became the sole owner and publisher of the “Orange County Press” newspaper formerly owned by well-known abolitionist John Hasbrouck and his wife, the world renown feminist Lydia Sayer Hasbrouck who Stivers was partners with before buying the newspaper from them outright. In 1869 he was appointed US tax collector by president Grant and in 1888 he won the US House of Representatives seat for his district and served under president Benjamin Harrison. Moses died in 1895 leaving two of his sons to run the newspaper. A third son, Moses Jr., won a meritorious service award for performing surgery under fire in WWI subsequent to becoming chief of Surgery at Horton Hospital in Middletown. Moses Stivers Sr. also had a daughter, Christina Stewart Stivers, who married one of Middletown’s first physicians, Dr. Theodore Denton Mills. Their son and grandson (Samuel Mills Sr. and Jr.) became chiefs of surgery in Middletown and another grandson became the youngest mayor of Middletown and the first Orange County Executive, (Louis V. Mills). All of the aforementioned individuals as well as many other Mills, Stivers, and other Stivers descendants are buried at Hillside Cemetery. A great great grandson, Andrew Mills is currently a board member at Hillside.
Moses Stivers was born in Beemerville N.J. ,Sussex County . He finished high school at age 17 and then taught in the local schools for ten years. He moved to Ridgebury N.Y. just outside of Middletown in 1855 and opened a pharmacy/general store which still stands today and is now a deli. At this time, one needed no license to dispense “medications” and pharmacists often formulated their own concoctions and dispensed them based on their own knowledge (or lack thereof). Moses Stivers was known to collaborate closely with local physicians and chemists and was well respected in his trade. In 1858 his interest in politics was increasing and he went to Illinois to hear the Lincoln – Douglas debates. He was enthralled by Lincoln’s speech as well as becoming closely aligned to the abolitionist cause. In 1864 while Lincoln was running for his second term, Moses was elected county clerk of Orange County. He also became involved with publishing and was partner in several (radical republican/abolitionist leaning) newspapers. During these war years Moses became close friends with General Charles Van Wyck who lived in Bloomingburg, again just outside of Middletown. He became an aide to Van Wyck and travelled to the battlefield several times to visit his brother Jesse Stivers on the battlefield, rally the troops, deliver and collect letters to and from the troops ( many to be published in his newspapers) , and to get much needed intelligence for Van Wyck and the Union cause. In 1863 he gave the acceptance speech for the City of Middletown for the Union Flag being returned to the women of Middletown by the Wallkill Guard, one of three regiments mustered out of Orange County. After the war in 1868, he became the sole owner and publisher of the “Orange County Press” newspaper formerly owned by well-known abolitionist John Hasbrouck and his wife, the world renown feminist Lydia Sayer Hasbrouck who Stivers was partners with before buying the newspaper from them outright. In 1869 he was appointed US tax collector by president Grant and in 1888 he won the US House of Representatives seat for his district and served under president Benjamin Harrison. Moses died in 1895 leaving two of his sons to run the newspaper. A third son, Moses Jr., won a meritorious service award for performing surgery under fire in WWI subsequent to becoming chief of Surgery at Horton Hospital in Middletown. Moses Stivers Sr. also had a daughter, Christina Stewart Stivers, who married one of Middletown’s first physicians, Dr. Theodore Denton Mills. Their son and grandson (Samuel Mills Sr. and Jr.) became chiefs of surgery in Middletown and another grandson became the youngest mayor of Middletown and the first Orange County Executive, (Louis V. Mills). All of the aforementioned individuals as well as many other Mills, Stivers, and other Stivers descendants are buried at Hillside Cemetery. A great great grandson, Andrew Mills is currently a board member at Hillside.