Biography

Jeffrey Wisner was a man of remarkable energy and great force of character. 
He represented the township as supervisor during 1812-1813 and 1819-1823, and 
for several years served as justice of the peace. His sons, Gabriel, James, Richard 
and Jeffrey Amherst, have done much toward building up the interests of War- 
wick, and his grandson, Clinton W. Wisner, is well known throughout the town 
and county.


THE WISNER FAMILY. — One of the early pioneers ni Orange County was 
Johannes Weasner, a native of Switzerland, who came to Long Island about the 
time that a special effort was being made to settle the Wawayanda Patent — Jo- 
hannes purchased land near Mount Eve, the deed being granted June 23, 1714, 
making him one of the first settlers of the county. His son, Hendrick Weasner 
settled near Goshen. 

Henry, the son of Hendrick, was born in 1720, and served in the New York 
Colonial Assembly, 1759-1769; was a member of the first Continental Congress, 
1774; a delegate to the New York Provincial Convention, 1775-1777, and a dele- 
gate to the second Continental Congress, 1775-1777. He voted for the Declaration 
of Independence, but was called to New York before it was engrossed on parch- 
ment and was ready for signing. He took an active part in the manufacture of 
gunpowder, having mills in both Ulster and Orange Counties. He was also made 
a senator of the first legislature of Xcw York State in 1777, serving until 1782. 
He died in September, 1790, and was buried in the family burying ground near 
Phillipsburgh, in the present town of Wallkill. He had two sons, Henry, Jr., and 
Gabriel. His son, Ensign Gabriel Wisner, was killed in the battle of Minisink, 
1779. Henry G. Wisner, a prominent lawyer of Goshen, was a son of Ensign 
Gabriel Wisner and the ancestor of the Goshen branch of the family. 

John, the second son of Hendrick Weasner, was a captain in the French and 
Indian War, and served as a scout in 1757. He was also a captain in the Revolu- 
tionary War under Colonel Nicoll, of Goshen. His early home was at Mount 
Eve, but later he established Iiis home near Wickham's Pond, having received a 
grant of land, direct from the crown, consisting of more than a thousand acres, a 
portion of which included the present farm of Jesse Durland, which was the 
Wisner homestead for several generations. John Wisner was the ancestor of 
most of the Wisner families of Warwick. 

His second son, Henry Wisner 3rd (sometimes written Jr.), was born July 11, 
1742, and lived on the homestead farm. In the Revolutionary War he was made 
captain of the "Pond Company," under Colonel Hathorn, September 22, 1775, and 
later was made lieutenant-colonel, February 19, 1778. He was a member of the 
first State Assembly under the Constitution, serving from 1777-1778 and 1788-1789. 
He died May 29, 1812, and his remains now rest in the Warwick Cemetery by the 
side of his son, Jeffrey Wisner. 

Jeffrey Wisner was a man of remarkable energy and great force of character. 
He represented the township as supervisor during 1812-1813 and 1819-1823, and 
for several years served as justice of the peace. His sons, Gabriel, James, Richard 
and Jeffrey Amherst, have done much toward building up the interests of War- 
wick, and his grandson, Clinton W. Wisner, is well known throughout the town 
and county.